 The Igbo people have had fragmented and politically independent communities . Before knowledge of Europeans and full exposure to other neighbouring ethnic groups , the Igbo did not have a strong identity as one people . As in the case of most ethnic groups , the British and fellow Europeans identified the Igbo as a tribe . Chinua Achebe , among other scholars , challenged this because of its negative connotations and possible wrong definition . He suggested defining the Igbo people as a nation although the Igbo do not have an officially recognized physical state of their own . 
