Many Nigerians have made this statement time without number that any place you can't find an Igbo man doing business is not a safe place. This statement is true because the Igbo people are business oriented and enterprising in nature. Although the Igbo man could do anything to make money in order to live a comfortable life. This can be gotten through the right or wrong channels but majority of Igbo people are good and do not need to beg you in order to survive. Today I'll be talking about the Igbo ethnic group that inhabits the Southeastern part of Nigeria and their uniqueness as a people in the entire globe. Greetings from 
The Uniqueness of the Igbo Apprenticeship Structure
One of the uniqueness of the Igbo people is their apprenticeship structure that's universal in all Igboland. This apprenticeship structure is culminated in a seven (7) years curriculum, where a little boy of 7 years and below ten years will leave his parents to serve an Igbo master in the city learning the trade of the master. The Igbo masters are usually owners of business ranging from the sale of building materials, plumbing supply, plywood sales and even clothings. An Igbo master could have about 7 shops within a city with apprentice manning the shops. The apprentice usually lives with their master in his house and are constantly available for house chores and other activities as stipulated by their master and his wife. They're fed on a daily basis but are not paid until the seven years apprenticeship programme is exhausted. The apprenticeship contract expires after the seven with conditions attached to the contract. In recent times most masters usually looked for means not to settle their apprentice. Also most Igbo traders users charms and other diabolical means to attract sales in their business line. I've witnessed some occasions where masters accused an apprentice for embezzling their business monies, although most apprentice are actual culprits of this fact but they justify their actions to the fact that they're scared of their master's not settling them after the seven years contract. This is also true about some Igbo businessmen. But be that as it may, prior to this mischievous attitude, in pre-colonial times the apprenticeship contract was preserved by oath taking which saw defaulters being struck by the deity they took the oath from. During this period the master-apprentice relationship was very cordial. But the introduction of Christianity in Igboland these acts of oath taking has faded away. After the apprentice is settled with a new shop of his own, he stays for some months and go back to the village to recruit other young boys as apprentice. That's how they tend to help one another to be strong both financially and in business. The apprentice circle will continue until the world ends.
The Uniqueness of the Igbo Language
The Igbo Language which Ibo is spoken in 5 different state known as the 5 Southeastern state of Nigeria. Since language and trade can not be separated, the Igbo traders usually make their language as the language of trade prior to the introduction of English language as the lingual franca of Nigeria. The Igbo language is usually a source of intergroup relations. Most other areas around the Igbo country speaks the Igbo language due to cultural diffusion. Marriage is also a factor of cultural diffusion between Igbo and her neighbors. Most languages at the borders of the Igbo country have been corrupted slightly by the Igbo language.
The Igboman Belief in Hardwork
The Igboman believes that everyone should work before they eat like the biblical verse that says no food for lazy man. This is visible in their going to shop on a daily basis. Although they're very religious but since most of them are Catholic they prefer attending 6:00am mass on order to open their shops after the mass. I believe in hardwork and not suffering, I don't know about you.
Some Cultural Tips about the Igbo People
- the Igbo people have their unique patterns of marriage and they are allowed to inter-marry with any other tribes in Nigeria. These inter-marriages have helped them in times of dispute between them and the communities of their in-laws. In-laws and grandchildren are instruments of intergroup mediations.
- Apart from marriage, the Igbo people are polytheists. This means that they serve more than one God. They're a very religious people. They worship Amadioha the god of thunder and lighting.
- They operate an age grade system and are acephalous in nature. They operate a gerontocratic system of administration based on elders.
Finally, don't live in a city without an Igboman because it might not be safe there.