The most important question in Igbo culture is not "Where do you live?" It is "Onye ebee ka ị bụ?" — Where are you from? In this episode, we follow Adaọma — 26, born in Antwerp, standing in her father's compound in Awka for the first time — as she answers the question that connects you to your ancestors. Drawing on historian Elizabeth Isichei's landmark 1976 study of Igbo civilisation, we explore why your hometown anchors your identity. Three sentences. One question. One answer. One full story.

Key Concepts: Igbo identity, obodo (hometown), origin as personhood, diaspora belonging, ancestral village, kinship through place

Scholar: Elizabeth Isichei — A History of the Igbo People (1976)

Proverb: Onye amaghị ebe o si, amaghị ebe ọ na-aga. — The one who does not know where they come from does not know where they are going.

Today's 3 Sentences:
Onye ebee ka ị bụ? — Where are you from?
A bụ m onye Awka. — I am from Awka.
E bi m na London. — I live in London.

Blessing: Ka ala nna gị nọrọ na-eche gị. — May the land of your fathers wait for you.

Resources:
Free practice workbook: www.learnigbonow.com
Elizabeth Isichei — A History of the Igbo People (1976)

This has been Igbo Daily Drops with Yvonne Mbanefo.

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