History of Modern Africa class

I) Converts
I think that there are two main reasons that motivated some Ibo to readily convert to Christianity in their first encounter with the religion.
The first one, which is not explicitly mentioned in the book and might have a significant importance, is the fact that the Christian missionaries, led successively by Mr. Brown and the Reverand James Smith or the District Commissioner, progressively built Churches, schools, vineyard (Lord’s vineyard) and trading stores. Moreover, as the author points it out on page 182, “From the very beginning religion and education went hand in hand.”. Thus Whoever aimed at learning how to read and write or be part of the new government / economic organizations set up by the Missionaries was likely (if not forced) to convert.
But the second and most important reason is that this new religion offered an alternative to: 1. Those who were rejected by the clan according the traditional rules. Among them we can quote: * The efulefu (or “worthless man”) whose “word was never heeded in the assembly of people” and who did not have any title (Page 143) * The osu (or “outcasts”) who were excluded by the other member of the clan and wore “long, tangled hair” (Page 155) 2. Those who have lost things or people because of the ancestral rules such as: * Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son and who turned aside from the traditions that made him loose his friend (and almost brother) Ikemefuna as well as his twins siblings (Page 147) * Nneka, Amadi’s wife who saw the twins of her four pregnancies thrown away in the bush and joined the Chuch which accepted twins (Page 151) 3. Or simply those convinced by the new Church’s power * For instance those who joined the Church when they saw that nothing happened to the church despite its construction in the Evil Forest (Page 149 to 151)
Some