Do not put anything in the view part of the view controller in IB. Instead, set the nib name for the view controller in IB to the name of the nib containing the view. In the nib containing the view, set the file's owner to the view controller class and hook up its view
property to the view.
The result will be that when the view controller is instantiated, if it is instantiated from the nib (which you have not proved is what's really going to happen, but let's just say it is), it will find the nib and load the view from it.
Basically the rule is that it makes no difference where a view controller comes from, it will go through the same steps looking for its view in the same order, as I explain in my book:
http://www.apeth.com/iOSBook/ch19.html#_view_controller_and_view_creation
and in this webcast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIufcKpDIRo