 The 19th @-@ century British colonization effort in present @-@ day Nigeria and increased encounters between the Igbo and other ethnicities near the Niger River led to a deepening sense of a distinct Igbo ethnic identity . The Igbo proved decisive and enthusiastic in their embrace of Christianity and Western education . Due to the incompatibility of the Igbo decentralized style of government and the centralized system including the appointment of warrant chiefs required for British indirect rule , British colonial rule was marked with open conflicts and much tension . Under British colonial rule , the diversity within each of Nigeria 's major ethnic groups slowly decreased and distinctions between the Igbo and other large ethnic groups , such as the Hausa and the Yoruba , became sharper . 
