Igbo: Eri and the City of Nri

Eri and the city of Nri is a version of the creation story formed by the Igbo people. It is one of the numerous myths about the creation story passed from generation to generation. These myths are not necessarily accurate in their information, but they serve to satisfy man’s quest for knowledge. Knowledge of the various things around him and most importantly, how the world came to be.

People have sought to know how human beings came into existence. Our ancestors created their own stories and these stories were generally accepted by everyone, especially in a particular tribe. The creation story varies from tribe to tribe. Myths play an important role by not only satisfying the people’s doubts, but also creating oral tradition and preserving the culture.
The story of Eri and the City of Nri conveys some information of how the people were, especially at the time these myths were formed. The myths reflect not only the life of the first human on earth but of the lifestyle of the people who created these myths. From the story, when Eri first landed on earth from the heavens, the land was a soggy plain.
Myths are created to satisfy human doubts and so they can not lacking even in our modern society. People of the present also form their own stories when they hit a wall in their quest for solutions to questions on nature. Some of these stories may not come in the same form as the ancient myths, nevertheless, they are myths. For example, some Igbo traditions do not allow people kill pythons. A myth goes that the python was sent by the goddess of the land to keep an eye on her children and bite those who sin. So, people do not kill the python, because they believe the goddess will get angry and destroy all of us. Also, a man who is bitten by the python is not given a burial, but he is cast into the bush, because they see him as a sinful person. There are other forms which these myths come nowadays, but they still do very much exist.

Myths are mostly comprised of the creation story. There are many versions of this creation story and they all have certain similarities. All creation stories identify that there is one “god” and all the stories often involve the sending of one man to populate the world. Also, all the myths agree that the first man came down from heaven.

The story gives some insight into the culture of the Igbo society. The practice of scar-making is very common amongst the Igbos nowadays and the same belief of identifying the children of Eri by the tribal marks is even borne up to today. According to the passage, it is custom for a person to welcome guests to his house and give them a place to sleep. This custom still holds up till today and because of it Igbos put a lot of importance in how guests are hosted. Also, in the passage, the names of the guests who visited Eri, Eke, Oye, Nkwo, and Afo, still stand for the days of the week in the Igbo calendar. Due to the advent of Christianity and education, these days have only been limited to the market days of the week. All around the Igbo land, markets come on different market days. The main market in a particular town is opened in just one day among the four different market days.

Although these myths are generally accepted by the Igbos and even some people from other tribes, the stories are only parables. In as much as they serve to satisfy man’s curiosity of his creation, they also serve to teach some values to the society. The story of the Eri and the city of Nri teaches the virtue of obedience. Eri obeyed Chukwu (God) and sacrificed his children, but was eventually blessed. It also teaches that we should accept guests even if we might not know them. This spreads love and sharing in the society.

Raymond Jacobs