The Igbo Race: Origin and Controversies

???Subsequent contributors to the debate have merely rehashed extant knowledge in fresh verbiage and yet arrived at the same destination as their predecessors. Two reasons explain this impasse. One is the absence of fresh evidence to permit a revisit of the status quo. The other is timidity or reluctance of younger people to challenge positions staked by older people assumed to be icons of Igbo studies. Humphrey Akaolisa has refused to be so ?intimidated? and to swallow hook, line and sinker the established viewpoints. To be sure, this book is not per se a work of dissent?? ???Akaolisa recognizes the inconclusive nature of the Igbo origin?s debate, stressing that the motive for his endeavour is not to lay to rest that debate but to open new vistas of inquiry. In this regard, it seems to me that he has been successful. For this book has resurrected and freshened old questions, challenged existing orthodoxies and provoked new lines of inquiry. I recommend it to anybody interested in the subject of Igbo origins and the surrounding controversies. Prof. Onwuka Njoku This work borne out of deep and intensive oral and book research is conclusive in tracing the origin of Igbo ?History??.. Indeed a glance through this book will convince you that it is many books in one??.. This work heralded a new dawn in the research on Igbo History. He has in my humble opinion succeeded more than anybody before in ascribing an original home base for the Igbo people with Igbo-Ukwu as the principal dispersal point. Cyril O. Ike ?For the first time, I enjoyed reading a work on Igbo origin. Anyone who has digested this enthralling work will never remain the same on this discourse??.. This book startles as much as it convinces and will certainly serve as a stimulant for many more works in this domain? Prof. Ikenga Metu ?A fantastic work, path breaking? Dr. Chukwuemeka P. Ezeife