Historical Fact about Traditional Red Cap in Igbo Land

The red cap, as it is known today, is not autochthonous to Ndigbo. I know some of us are shocked by this revelatory information. According to research, Chinedu Eliyahs in his book Clothing & Dress Codes traces that the origin of the headdress in Igbo areas, particularly in Onitsha and Asaba, came from the White colonizer—Mr Tubman Goldie of the United African Company (later National African Company) which we know today as the Royal Niger Company.

Tracing back further, the fez was adopted by the Ottoman Turks from the Byzantines, who got it from ancient Egypt. The traditional red cap was also the headgear adopted by the colonial Royal West African Frontier Force as military wear.

It took decades for the caps to be adopted as the formal headdress of traditional titleholders in many parts of Igbo land, especially members of the Nze-n’Ozo.

Thus, after the Biafran War, it became popular among traditional chiefs.

—Christopher Ononukwe—