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Monday, 23 July 2012

IGALA PEOPLE OF KOGI STATE

From Kogi state, comes a great set of people...the Igala people. Igala are an ethnic group of Nigeria. They are people that practice different religions, such as; Islam, Christianity and animism.
These group of people are situated east of the river Niger and Benue confluence in Lokoja, Kogi state. Geographically, the area is approximately between latitude 6 30 and 8 40 north and longitude 6 30 and 7 40 east and covers an area of about 13,665 square kilometers (Oguagha P.A 1981). Reports show that their population is over 2 million. They are closely related to the Yoruba and Itsekiri language. For identification, the people of Igala have three deep horizontal marks on their cheeks with one vertical mark right at the top of the horizontal marks.
But with the coming of Islam and Christianity the practice has become less common. Like any group of people, the Igala people are ruled by a father figure known as the Attah (father). Attah Igala (which means father of Igalas).
The Igalas of the riverine Idah areas have fishing as their main occupation. But as usual, some engage in farming. In the 50's, researchers like Forde and Westermann and Bryan regarded Igala as a dialect of Yoruba due to the similarity of the two ethnic groups.

2 comments:

  1. Wat's the culture of igala and how has it assimilated the foreign culture?

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  2. Why do the attah have to sacrifice is daughter

    ReplyDelete