There is no question that contemporary Ibo society regards its women as secondary citizens. "They are denied the right to self-representation and treated like minors," says Nkiru Nzegwu, an Ibo woman. "Their economic lives are anything but pleasant." But how long Ibo women will remain disenfranchised and what the future holds for them are still questions to be answered. Felix K. Ekechi, an Ibo professor of history, reminds that "as with cultures of the rest of the world, Ibo culture is not static, but prone to change, and changing fast." Anything can happen.

Even more significant to the future of Ibo women and society are the challenges and pressures the new generation of young Ibo women are exerting. The generation of girls who will mature and become Ibo women at the turn of the twenty-first century want better lives than those of their mothers; they have...