then
- The Ibo engaged in trade and commerce, using currency such as cowrie shells (as shown in Things Fall Apart, when Obierika's daughter's bride price is settled)
- Sacrifices and prayers were made to ancestors for protection
- Activities like storytelling between parents and children were commonplace. Mothers told stories like the story of the Tortoise in Things Fall Apart, which were generally considered childish or for "foolish women and children," as Nwoye (a fictional character in the novel) knows his father to believe. Fathers told stories "of the land - masculine stories of violence and bloodshed" (Achebe 46)
- Farming played a huge role in daily life, particularly during the planting and harvesting seasons. Men planted yams, considered to be a manly crop, and women planted women's crops, such as coco-yams, beans, and cassava
- Musical instruments, like the ogene, were used for entertainment and various other means
- Wrestling was a form of recreation/athleticism. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo gained fame for besting a famous wrestler
- Women were forbidden from various things, some of which were religious. During a ceremony in Things Fall Apart, the women "looked on from the fringe like outsiders" (Achebe 77), and when the egwugwu approach the women, they "all fled in terror" (Achebe 82).
- Men carried goatskin bags in which they carried drinking horns (Achebe 16) and snuffbottles (Achebe 56)
now
- Farming is still a part of the Ibo occupational market, and the division between gender and crops still exists. Land, owned by kinship groups, is let out to people to farm and build, somewhat like the serf system.
- Commerce is also still a part of the occupational market, with many Ibo taking part in wage labor due to expanding urbanization and the search (and finding) of oil
- Sports, like wrestling, still abound. Soccer has become increasingly popular
- Women are still considered second-class citizens, with such consequences as being forced to study typically "feminine" topics in school.
- Pieces of Ibo culture, like the breaking of the kola nut, still pervade