AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR GIVES KEYNOTE SPEECH AT ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL IGBO CONFERENCE
Chimamanda spoke of her personal
experiences and shared stories about the Igbo precolonial history and culture.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was the keynote speaker at the seventh annual International Igbo conference on Saturday, April 21, 2018, where she shared her keynote speech titled ‘Igbo ku Igbo’.
The award-winning author shared true
life stories about the Igbo pre-colonial history at the conference which was
themed "Memory, Culture and Community: Remembering the past,
Imagining the future."
Chimamanda spoke
of her personal experiences and shared
stories about the Igbo precolonial history and culture.
She emphasised on
the preservation of the Igbo culture as well as the strength and dignity of Igbo women.
A major part of the writer's speech was
about the Nigerian-British Women comparison.
She said, “British Women did not own
properties. British women were in fact property themselves and were supposed to
be at home protected and not seen as autonomous beings who could make decisions
about their lives.
"Igbo women, on the other hand, were
traders and they could own properties, this was understandably alarming to many
of the British and I think it explains many changes that happened in Igbo land.
Chimamanda also spoke about the
misinterpretation of the Igbo culture in Nollywood.
“A lot of their representations of Igbo
culture are not only spectacularly inaccurate but really comical. So if there
is anyone here who is involved in Nollywood, please go to the village and ask
the real questions, or even just look at archives and see pictures of what
people were like before.... I mean, there is no need for imagoo mmadu adi
ka’mmanwu."
Chimamanda wrapped up her session with,
“We Igbo people need to create and recreate our history, this
time, not in the service of colonialism but in the service of our dignity”.
Watch the full speech below.
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