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.