TDIME OBI ANAMBRA SERIES — Our Igbo ancients are free thinkers. They turned everywhere into a classroom, even the place of buying and selling.
To the rest of the world, Onitsha, Nnewi, and Aba are just big markets. To Ndi Igbo, they are akwukwo ndu. The book of life. They are universities without walls.
A young Igbo boy would be sent to learn trade. He was called nwa boi. He did not go with school fees. He went with discipline, humility, and energy.
His classroom was the shop. His lecturers were the master and the senior apprentices. His exams came every market day.
The first lesson was character. Wake up early. Sweep the shop. Greet customers with respect. Don’t answer back. Don’t steal. Don’t lie.
The master would say, “Aka aja aja na ebute onu mmanu mmanu.” Hands that are dirty will later know prosperity.
Hard work brings reward. If you were lazy, the market would expose you fast. No one buys from a rude seller.
The second lesson was money. You learned how to buy in bulk, how to sell in bits, and how to keep profit. You learned credit.
Igbo traders gave goods to each other on trust. “Were zụọ, kwụọ ma i ree.” Take and sell, pay when you sell. That trust built empires.
You also learned record keeping without pen and paper. The brain was the ledger while the memory served as the bank.
The third lesson was community. Every market had its union. There were rules. There was welfare.
If a trader’s shop burnt down, others contributed. If someone died, the union buried them.
There were sanctions for cheats and praise for those who lifted others. The market taught you that business is not just about profit. It is about people.
This is why Igbo markets produced millionaires without formal degrees.
Because the market taught what no textbook could. Risk. Negotiation. Customer care. Travel and Language.
A boy who started as nwa boi in Onitsha could end up with shops in Lagos, Kano, and Accra. He learned it all on the floor of the market.
There was wisdom in this system in three ways. First was practical knowledge.
You were not learning theory. You were touching the goods, counting real money, dealing with real customers. Mistakes cost you, so you learned fast.
The Igbo proverb says, “Onye kwe, chi ya ekwe.” When you agree to work, your personal god agrees too.
Second was identity. The market told you who you are. You are Igbo. You are a trader. You are a builder.
That identity gave young men pride and direction. It stopped idleness. It gave them a path from nothing to something.
Today, the sight of young Igbo boys with sagged trousers and over size polos, roaming the premises of hotels during work hour pierces my heart .
Third was nation building. Markets linked villages to towns, Ala-Igbo and Nigeria to West Africa.
They moved goods, ideas, and people. They created jobs for drivers, porters, tailors, food sellers etc.
One big market fed an entire ecosystem. That is why when you touch a market in Igboland, the whole economy feels it.
Today, many young people want white collar jobs and certificates. But the market is still teaching.
The principles are still the same. Show up early. Be honest. Serve people well. Reinvest your profit. Lift others as you rise.
The Igbo did not wait for government to build universities for business. They built their own.
With wooden tables, tarpaulins, determination and loud voices. That is the mark of independent Igbo thinking.
Akwukwo ndu does not expire. The market is still enrolling students.
The Igbo ancients were smart!
Igbo Amaka!
