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Saturday, August 1, 2015

Biafra needn't be definition of Igbo

Written by 'Tunji Ajibade 

'Tunji Ajibade 
Generational change can do a whole lot of harm. Well, it can do a whole lot of good too. 
The Western world shows the mix the most. Communities in that part of the world used to be scandalised if a man lived with a woman without tying the nuptial knot. Compare that to today when man and woman cohabit as partners, bear children, and no one blinks. It was a reason I had stated in the past that it was not enough for Nigerians to say same-sex marriage is against tradition and religion so it would never be permitted here. If Nigerians raise a next generation that's not as religious or tradition-minded, that next generation will care less if the constitution is changed to support the very practices that the present generation abhors.
In any case, the possibilities in generational change are already showing in Nigeria, and in Japan too. This is noted here because two stories make the headlines at about the same time in both countries.

The generation that witnessed the World War 2 in Japan was wary of war. For that reason, it felt comfortable living with a constitution that forbade Japan from raising an army for the purpose of engaging in war. Japan's military formation therefore hadn't been configured to globetrot wielding guns like the Americans, for instance. Now, the next generation cared less when Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, took it upon himself to get lawmakers to change the constitution and allow Japanese soldiers engage in battles. There are geopolitical and strategic calculations in Abe's preference. What's more in focus here however is that a new generation that cares less about war controls much of the votes; this gives Abe the confidence to go ahead and prepare Japan for war. Nigeria also has a post-civil war generation that doesn't mind fragmenting Nigeria, and cares less if it happens through war. This is as much as there's a connection between recent happenings in Japan and at Nigeria's backyard.

A Federal Government agency announced not long ago that it had been involved in a cat and mouse chase with managers of a radio station that broadcast what it called treasonable contents. The agency said, just like the internet where individuals have the freedom to post uncouth comments, the radio station in question had provided a platform for individuals with a dream to fragment Nigeria and create Biafra Republic an opportunity to express their views. The agency said it had blocked transmissions by the station several times but failed.

The matter was so serious that a Nigerian TV station did a story on it, warning of the dangers of allowing such a radio platform to exist. Commentators spoke, some saying there was nothing wrong in people expressing themselves, while others insisted that the unity of the nation was under threat. It's not the pros and cons of allowing such a radio station to exist that's my focus, rather it's what led to a situation whereby anyone would dream of a breakaway nation, as it was the case at the time the Nigerian Civil War broke out in 1967. What I shall state here has characterised my conversation with many (not even people of Igbo origin) who have expressed their desire to have this nation broken into ethnic enclaves because, as they argue, Nigeria does not accord them recognition and a fair share of the national cake.

I have always stated that it's a defeatist approach when citizens, rather than seek to properly manage their affairs, desire to withdraw to their ethnic cocoons instead. Withdrawal doesn't solve the problem. To me, desiring a country that's occupied by only one ethnic group epitomises an illusion that all humans don't have certain vices that they share in common, that a particular ethnic group is immune to some of the negativities that have ensured that successive Nigerian leaderships don't deliver to citizens in such a way that no section feels neglected. This is because over the years, I have come across people from one ethnic group complaining that people from a town among them has a tendency to dominate other towns, and they hate the accused for this reason. 
Now, I think that if people of Igbo origin do not get what they feel they deserve in Nigeria of today, the focus should be more about the need to take a look at the rules that guide the relationship among the components part of the country, rather than seek to create another nation with a homogenous population. More than that, a careful thought about what makes anyone feel dissatisfied with Nigeria will show an informed mind that fragmenting is not the best option, as attractive as the option seems not only to some people of Igbo origin but people from other ethnic groups also.

Why is Biafra attractive? Why is Oduduwa Republic or a variant of it attractive to some people that I have heard advocating it, or Middle Belt as a country? It's naïve to assume that only the younger generation desires Biafra Republic or Oduduwa Republic. Many public figures who declare their support for a united Nigeria in the public space express their desire for an ethnic-based country in their privacy. I have met not a few over the years. 

The only difference is that those who witnessed the Nigerian Civil War or any other war would not want such fragmentation to happen through another war. Some of the answers to why any Nigerian today would dream of creating fragments out of Nigeria are obvious? In it all, I think the cause of the desire to fragment is less about one ethnic group that's deliberately left behind in the scheme of things, but about a nation that has been so configured to be unable to deliver the best to all its citizens irrespective of where they come from. Every part of Nigeria is a victim of this situation, a reason why I state that creating another nation out of Nigeria isn't the way out. But I guess this view can't be understood by the mind that's frustrated and angry enough to utter the kind of comments that have been on the illegal radio station.

Some commentators said a resurgence in the desire for Biafra expressed on the said radio happened because the South-East lost out of the power game at the federal level. I think there's something limiting, a total lack of appreciation of the stature of an ethnic group if it understands its relevance only by the number of political offices it occupies, and so when it doesn't have them canvasses a withdrawal into ethnic cocoons. I've never been bothered even if no one from the South-West holds a political position at the federal level. I don't read the stature of the Yoruba race from the prism of political offices held. 

To me there's more substance to the Yoruba race than the holding of political offices; the more of the past and present of the Yoruba that I understand, the more convinced I am that the race can never be relegated whether or not Yoruba are represented at the federal level. I think it takes a high level of understanding and confidence as to what one's race is for one to feel that way. In the past, I had taken a different view on this page when a group from the South-West complained to a past administration about the Yoruba being marginalised. My view was that occupying political offices at the centre wasn't what made the South-West to produce men and women who had made the zone a force to reckon with; instead it was the Yoruba values, a committed leadership in the zone, and the revenue generated locally from the sweat of hardworking cocoa farmers in the 1940s and 1950s.

I think the South-Easterners have made significant contributions to give Nigeria its widely-acknowledged vibrant character nationally and internationally, and I'm proud of them. I therefore think the Igbo shouldn't define their relevance in Nigeria by the temporary political offices that they may or may not occupy at the centre. They should drop this on and off call for Biafra, and instead define themselves by the quality of men and women they have produced and will continue to produce to make the race remain one that can never be pushed to the backseat either within Nigeria or anywhere in the world.

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THE IGBO RANT

I am an Igbo, I was born an Igbo, I live the life of an Igbo, I come from Igbo, I speak Igbo, I like to be Igbo, I like to dress in Igbo, I eat Igbo food, my heritage, culture and tradition is Igbo, my parents are Igbo.

Am sorry I cannot help it if you hate my lineage. Am sorry I cannot help it if you detest Igbo, am sorry I cannot help it if you hate me because am Igbo. Igbo is who I am, my name is Igbo and I must die an Igbo.

You see Igbo as a threat, why? You call Igbo rapist, criminals, ritualist, prostitutes, kidnappers. You attribute all negative vices to represent Igbo? Why do you do that? You do because you feel threatened that Igbo might outrun the rest of the tribes. Why do you hate Igbo and despise us? You do that because we are creative, enlightened, hardworking, industrious, genius, intelligent, smart, rich, beautiful and amazing. But its difficult for you to admit it because you feel jealous of my race.

Igbo do not own politics, Igbo do not control the economy neither do we control the natural resources and the common wealth of the nation. You do, we don't and yet, despite the fact that you own everything, we still remain one indispensable race that has outshined the other race in all ramifications.

You fear us because you want to exterminate and annihilate our race, you deny us many things and yet we are stronger, richer and mightier. You fear us because we are everywhere. You fear us because no matter how rural a place might be, when Igbo steps in, they turn it into a Paradise. We have our own resources, which lies in resourcefulness, we do not bother you and your control over the polity, but yet when we cough you and the other race begin to shiver.

Am proud being an Igbo, am proud of my heritage and culture. Igbo means high class, Igbo means independence, Igbo means hard work and strength, Igbo means riches, Igbo means resourcefulness, Igbo means self belonging, Igbo means self esteem, Igbo means pride, Igbo means swag.

Udo diri unu umunnem.
# IgboAmaka
# AnyiBuNdiMmeri

Michael Ezeaka
------------------------------

This is beautiful poetry ...

In response to Alaba Ajibola, the Babcock Lecturer Hate Speech against Igbos.

BIBLICAL TRADITIONS OF NDI IGBO BEFORE THE MISSIONARIES CAME TO AFRICA* IGBO 101.

1. NSÓ NWANYĮ
In Igboland women live apart from their husbands and neither cook for them nor enter their husband's quarters when they are in their period. They are seen as unclean. Even up till today such practice is still applicable in some parts of Igboland especially by the traditionalists. Before a woman can enter the palace of Obi of Onitsha, she will be asked if she is in her period, if yes, she will be asked to stay out.

Leviticus 15: 19-20
When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean, anyone who touches her or anything she has sat on becomes unclean.

2. ANA OBI
An Igbo man's ancestral heritage, called “Ana Obi” is not sellable, elders will not permit this. If this is somehow done due to the influence of the West the person is considered a fool and is ostracized by the community.

1 Kings 21:3
I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors, and the Lord forbid that I should sell it, said Naboth.

3. IKUCHI NWANYĮ
Igbos have practiced the taking of a late brother's wife into marriage after she had been widowed until the white men came. Now it is rarely done but except in very rural villages.

Deuteronomy 25:5
A widow of a dead man is not to be married outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man's brother to marry her.

4. ĮGBA ODIBO
In Igboland, there is a unique form of apprenticeship in which either a male family member or a community member will spend six (6) years (usually in their teens to their adulthood) working for another family. And on the seventh year, the head of the host household, who is usually the older man who brought the apprentice into his household, will establish (Igbo: idu uno) the apprentice
by either setting up a business for him or giving money or tools by which to make a living.

Exodus 21:2
If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you for six years. In the seventh year he is to be set free without having to pay you anything.

5. IRI JI OFŲŲ
In Igboland , the yam is very important as it is their staple crop. There are celebrations such as the New yam festival (Igbo: Iri Ji) which are held for the harvesting of the yam. New Yam festival (Igbo: Iri ji) is celebrated annually to secure a good harvest of the staple crop. In the olden days it is an abomination for one to eat a new harvest before the festival. It's a tradition that you give the gods of the land first as a thanksgiving.

Deuteronomy 16:9
Count 7 weeks from the time that you begin to harvest the crops, and celebrate the harvest festival to honor the lord your God, by bringing him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing he has given you. Celebrate in the Lord's presence together with your children, servants, foreigners. Be sure that you obey my command, said the Lord.

6. IBE UGWU
In Igboland it's a tradition that the male children are circumcised on the 8th day. This tradition is still practiced till date.

Leviticus 12:3
On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised.

7. ÓMŲGWÓ
In Igboland, there is a practice known as "ile omugwo ". After a woman has given birth to a child, a very close and experienced relative of hers, in most cases her mother is required by tradition to come spend time with her and her husband. During which she is to do all the work of the wife, while the new mom's only assignment to the baby will be to breastfeed. This goes on for a month or more. In the Igbo old tradition, at this time, the new mom lives apart from her husband, would not cook or enter his quarters.

Leviticus 12:1-4
For seven days after a woman gives birth, she is ritually unclean as she is during her monthly period. It will be 33 days until she is ritually clean from the loss of blood; she is not to touch anything that is holy.

THE IGBO TRIBE AND ITS FEAR OF EXTINCTION

The Igbo tribe is in a serious problem and danger of extinction for the following reasons:

50% of Igbos are born outside Igbo land. Meaning that those children are not likely to live and work in Igbo land and cannot speak Igbo language but foreign language (Yoruba, Hausa, French, English).

40% of Igbos girls between the age of 25 & 45 are single with no hope of marriage because 35% of Igbo boys live overseas and they have all married white ladies.

75% of Igbo youths leave Igbo land every year in search of opportunities in Yoruba, Hausa land or overseas.

85 % of Igbos have family houses and own investments outside Igbo land. They strongly believe in one Nigeria but failed to know that NO Yoruba or Hausa man has a family house or investment in Igbo land.

Igbos are the only people who believe that living outside their land is an achievement.

Igbos are the only tribe that celebrate their tradition outside their land e.g. Eze Ndi Igbo, Igbo Village in America and this is because they have family homes in foreign lands.

Igbos have failed to know that the children you have outside Igbo land especially overseas will never think of living in Igbo land. So what happens to the properties you are building for them when you are gone?

Igbos are the only tribe who see their land as a place to visit or a tourist site than a place to work and live.

Igbos are the only tribe who instead of promoting and appreciating their culture through movies and documentaries they have sought to ridicule it by portraying rituals, killings, wickedness, love for money and other social vices which were not originally inherent in our culture thereby cursing more harm than actually promoting their culture.

Igbos are the only people who without hesitation believe their history and description when it is told or written by an enemy or a foreigner. E.g. that you do not love yourselves or that you love money.

Igbos are the ONLY largest tribe on earth who fought for their independence and failed to achieve their freedom after 40 years.

Igbos are the only tribe who fails to honour their brave heroes and heroines especially the innocent children starved to death during the Biafran war.

Igbos are the only tribe who embraced their enemy after a bloody civil war and subsequently become slaves.

Igbos do not find it necessary to teach their own version of history to their children.

Igbos fight for marginalisation in Nigeria but has no collective strength or teeth to bite.

Igbos how long are you going to fight for your relevance in Nigeria?

How long are you going to fight for a functional airport, rail networks and other structural establishments that underpin sustainable development?

How long are you prepared to wait for your enemy to guide you to your destiny?

Oh Igbos!
Where are your leaders?

Unfortunately, none of them live and work in Igbo land. If you wish to save the future of your children, your identity, your generation and your race then you need freedom and that freedom is Biafra.

Ukpana Okpoko gburu bu nti chiri ya!

By Chime Eze
#COPIED

The Igbo: We die for causes, not for personalities

Written by Emeka Maduewesi

~on fb. 28th September, 2016.


The Igbo will never die for anyone. We will not even riot for anyone. But the Igbo will die for any cause they believe in because the Igbo have a true sense of justice and a determination to obtain it.


The Igbo will not riot because one of their own lost an election. Operation Wetie was the Western response to a massively rigged 1965 election. The Yoruba doused fellow Yorubas in petrol and burnt them alife. Properties were burnt with occupants. The Igbo will never do this.


In 1983, the Yoruba went on a rampage again over the massive rigging by NPN. Lifes were lost and properties destroyed. The riots were over personalities.


Contrast that with Anambra State where Chief Emeka Ojukwu was rigged out by his own NPN, who also rigged out Chief Jim Nwobodo. The Igbo did not protest because the goat's head is still in the goat's bag.


In the North, ba muso was the battle cry when Sultan Dasuki was imposed on the Sokoto Caliphate. The riot and protest lasted for days and crippled economic activities.


The Igbo will riot over issues and causes. The Aba Women Riot was over Tax. The Enugu coal mine riot was about conditions of service. The Ekumeku Uprising was over British colonialization.


Those of "Ekumeku" ancestry - Umu Eze Chima and Umu Nri - were at the forefront of the struggles for Nigerian independence, with people like Dr. A A Nwafor Orizu and Chief Osita Agwuna serving prison terms. Any struggles the parents could not conclude is continued by the children by other means.


The Biafran war was a response to the genocide. The war in fact was brought upon us. The battlefield was Eastern Region. The war ended in 1970 but the issues and causes were not resolved. That is where we are today.


The Igbo will also jointly rise to fight evil in their midst. They did it in Onitsha in the 1980's, Owerri in the 90's, and with Bakkassi in the 2000.


The Igbo will not die for any man. But the Igbo will stand by any man who symbolizes their cause and their pursuit of justice. Even if the man dies, the struggle continues, and like the Ekumeku warriors, the children will pick up the baton from their parents.


This is the Igbo I know, the Igbo I am, and the Igbo we are. This is my story. Feel free to tell yours.

RT. HON. DR. NNAMDI AZIKIWE TO DR. CHUBA OKADIGBO (1981)

"My boy, may you live to your full potential, ascend to a dizzy height as is possible for anyone of your political description in your era to rise. May you be acknowledged world-wide as you rise as an eagle atop trees, float among the clouds, preside over the affairs of fellow men.... as leaders of all countries pour into Nigeria to breathe into her ear.

But then, Chuba, if it is not the tradition of our people that elders are roundly insulted by young men of the world, as you have unjustly done to me, may your reign come to an abrupt and shattering close. As you look ahead, Chuba, as you see the horizon, dedicating a great marble palace that is the envy of the world, toasted by the most powerful men in the land, may the great big hand snatch it away from you. Just as you look forward to hosting the world’s most powerful leader and shaking his hands, as you begin to smell the recognition and leadership of the Igbo people, may the crown fall off your head and your political head fall off your shoulders.

None of my words will come to pass, Chuba, until you have risen to the very height of your power and glory and health, but then you will be hounded and humiliated and disgraced out of office, your credibility and your name in tatters forever...”
THE REST IS HISTORY AS EVERY WORD OF THE CURSE ON CHUBA CAME TO PASS.

LET'S BE AS PASSIONATE AS WE WANT TO AND BE MODERATE IN OUR CONTRIBUTIONS IN PUBLIC DISCUSSION TO ISSUES AS WORDS OF OUR ELDERS ARE WORDS OF WISDOM

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