The Indigenous Igbo People Carved Into Kogi State: Exposing The Hidden History

Image: Ogbonnaya Okoro via Twitter

BY OGBONNAYA OKORO

Let me usher this discourse by first clearing the air that the Igbo presently in Kogi are not migrants. The places they are settled had been their ancestral lands and never Ịgala land as erroneously portrayed over the years. The Ịgala are the ones who migrated from Wukari in Taraba State and settled at a place called Amagede before they moved to the Idah area. There are still the Ịgala tribe in Taraba State today.

When they migrated, they met population of Yoruba, Benins and Igbo who already lived in the various places. These Wukari people emerged with them and through their influence produced the language known as Ịgala language.

To cement this historical narrative, let us hear from the Attah of Ịgala himself, His Royal Majesty, Dr. Michael Idakwo Ameh Oboni on his interview with the Punch published on 26 August 2017. Regarding the history of the Ịgala people he said and I quote him verbatim:

“Talking about the origin of the Ịgala people, a sizable group migrated from Wukari in Taraba State from where they came to Benue along the River Benue and continued very close to the confluence at a place called Amagede by River Benue and slightly down from Amagede downwards to Idah and they settled there. And there, they met a sizeable population of the Yorubas and the Benins and to some extent, some Igbo. So the migrant population from Wukari merged with them and produced a language called Ịgala as a people”.

Before the migration of these Wukari people, they were some Igbo indigenous people in Ịda. That’s why we have Ụmụịda in Enugwu Ezike, Igbo Eze North Local Government Area, Enugwu State. I traced the history to Ụmụịda and realised that there is a community called Ụmụshiene. They left Idah and settled in this place in Enugwu Ezike. Some fraction of the community left, leaving their land there.

They didn’t just leave the land, some of them still remained there. When I interviewed a man called Ayọgụ who is 80 and Itodo who is 85, they said that annually, their brothers from Idah which is now in Kogi State bring to them resources from the land they left many years ago and settled in Enugwu-Ezike. Their brothers there take care of the land. Their wives prepare palm oil and other things. During Iri Ji Festival, they bring jars of palm oil to them as produce of the Ụmụshiene land in Ịda. There is Ụmụshiene in Ịda Kogi State and Ụmụshiene in Ụmụịda, Enugwu-Ezike in Enugwu State. They are the same blood. The Ụmụshiene in Enugwu-Ezike are the senior brothers. Any male child from there will first take kola nut before anyone from the Ida side of Kogi.

The question is: who migrated from where to where? What was their original language and culture?

Ụmụshiene in Ụmụịda Enugwu-Ezike migrated from Ịda now in Kogi State. Ịda was their ancestral land. Some left while some remained. Those who remained still bring goodies for their brothers in Enugwu Ezike.Their language spoken from time immemorial had been Igbo and not Ịgala. There are few other communities in Ịda which languages of communication is Igbo. Their pure culture is Igbo. You can also locate some in Ankpa Area but they are in the minority due to the high population of the Ịgala.

Back to the Ịgala influence. When those people who migrated from Wukari touched the place known as Ịgala land today, they made Ịdah their center. That is why till now, Attah Ịgala lives in Ịdah. The Ịgala people scattered all over the state and beyond. Remember, during this period, there was nothing like state, local government etc. We know people by their community name which is basically clan. People can migrate and settle wherever they find themselves.

Ịgala people extended their influence to the northern Igbo, especially the Nsụka area. They intermarried with the Igbo. Just to prove to you that Ịgala language is the combination of different tongues base on different people found in that settlement according to their Attah, there are many things in common linguistically, between the Ịgala language and the Igbo language. Our market days are almost the same. Some lexicons are the same.

Researchers and historians like Professor Afigbo and co had researched on the influence of the Ịgala people on the northern Igbo. There is acculturation amongst them. Intermarriage. Language. Names. Even the Igbo descendants found in those places could understand Ịgala and also Igbo. Some Ịgala people can also understand Igbo.

An Ịgala man in his 70s by name Ọjọbọ told me:

“Some of our mothers are Igbo from Nsụka. I speak both Igbo and Ịgala”.

There are names the Igbo and Ịgala share in common. Such names as: Ọnọja, Itodo, Atama, Ozioko, etc.

But from my finding and from the introductory remarks of the Attah of Ịgala cited in this article, you can believe me that some people the Wukari migrants met at Ịda area were Igbo before they emerged. This means, some we refer to as Ịgala in those axis are actually Igbo. You heard it from the mouth of Attah. Ha bịara abịa wee zute ndị nọ there. This is why it’s so easy to intermarry with the northern Igbo.

Some left those axis and migrated to other parts. While others joined them. This is like the case of Ovoko who migrated before the war to Ikponkwụ in Okpuje area because their land was fertile. After the war, Ovoko migrated back.

The question is, where is Ikponkwụ today? This question will lead us to the following subtopic:

State Creation as Divide-and-Rule System of Dispersing Brothers.

State creation is a major tool causing identity crisis. When a people are being carved away from their brothers to join others who subject them as the minorities. But then, every sincere human devoid of political selfishness and spirit of self denial knows exactly his or her root no matter how long the truth behind the history has been distorted.

In Kogi State, apart from the Igbo communities mixed with the Ịgala, there are aboriginals and indigenous Igbo communities without mixture. They are fully Igbo. Take for instance, Avurugo.

1. Avurugo:

This community is fully an Igbo community. This place had been their ancestral land before some individuals from other parts of Nsụka joined them. How do one locate Avurugo? If you are going through Nsụka, you will pass through Ịbagwa Anị and connect to Okpuje. You can also access there through Okutu. While interviewing a 75 years old man here, he said:

“All of us here are Igbo but we are now in Kogi State”.

They have a market square called Eke Avurugo. This market makes some people misconstrue the name of the community as Eke Avurugo. No. Eke Avurugo is the market located in a community called Avurugo. The market is open only in Eke market days. The language of transaction is purely Igbo. There is no mixture of Ịgala and Igbo in the market. There is no speaking of English in the market. I understand whatever they speak. Their dialect is Nsụka dialect and some parts also have relationship with a few villages in Ụzọ Ụwanị and Okpuje area.

Sitting amongst three elderly people I heard them interact:

“Ụnụ abọọ?
Ị bọọ?
Ị dị agaa?
Deeje
Ala nụ”

In Nsụka dialect of Igbo which I am highly conversant with, “ụnụ abọọ?” is a morning greeting just as saying “ụnụ abọọla chi?” if loosely translated into the English language it means— have you waken up? “Ụnụ” is the plural form of “you”.

When one says: “Ị bọọ?”, it’s a singular form, meaning: “have you waken up?”

“Ị dị agaa” means how are you? Other Igbo dialects could have it as: “i mere aṅaa, ị dị aṅaa, ọlịa, kedụ, olee otú, kee ka i mere” etc.

Deeje is the Nsụka’s greeting inform of daalụ, Ndeewo. Salutation. While in Nsụka dialect, “ala nụ” means welcome just as “nnọọ” in standard Igbo.

People of Avurugo speak this way. Undiluted Igbo dialect. Their location as well have no much outside influence. They are neighboring town with Okpuje and Okutu.

There is another market called Ahọ Ekwurugbo. Remember that in Nsụka dialect, Ahọ is Afọ. This market is open only on the Afọ days of the Igbo week. I saw some people going to the market and I decided to follow them. The market is far from Eke Avurugo. When I got to the market, my jaw dropped. Language of communication is purely Igbo without any other linguistic interjection. I went to price yam, cocoyam, pepper in Igbo.

“Ego ole ka ị ga-akwụ?” (How much will you pay) They’d ask.

Interesting.

These are farmers. They produce everything they eat. They look healthy because they eat natural food. In this afọ Ekwurugbo, you will see that food items they sell are coming straight from the farm. Their fresh pepper and tomatoes are not coming from the north. They grow them in abundance themselves and sell to each other. Such perishable goods look very neat and healthy. Sparkling red colour. Everything is original. They do not import food instead they produce food and consume within.

Their ọkpa tastes like that of original Nsụka ọkpa. They cook ọkpa-cup and nylon ọkpa. I must confirm whether it’s the same. I bought some and devoured. I confirmed my curiosity. Remember, everyone in the market communicate in Igbo. I use general Igbo, they still understand me. Yes, every Igbo who can converse in any dialect of Igbo understands the general Igbo known as Igbo izugbe.

The people of Avurugo are happy people. They are peaceful and welcoming. Another interesting Igbo trait characterised in the prism of ile ọbịa. The Igbo welcome strangers and treat them well. Passing through this compound, an old man approaching 80 years smiled and waved at me. I had to stop. I greeted him. He offered me a seat. Conversation had began. He told me a lot. He said they are all Igbo carved to Kogi and put under Ịgala’s leadership. They have their kin in Igbo-Nsụka.

Another interesting finding about the Avurugo is the names of their villages. All are Igbo. The following are the villages in Avurugo:

* Ụmụọchịna
* Ekwurugbo
* Ụkpabiogbo
* Ụkpabioko
* Obinagụ
* Amaọhụrụ
* Nwa-Olieze
* Ere-Ane
* Ọzara
* Iheobune
* Nnọkwa
* Ekproko
* Alọme
* Agbataebiri
* Abụtaogbe
* Ọla
* Ịgabada
* Ọdọlụ
* Amaokwe

Please kindly read through these villages again. Check their names. Igbo or not? Before you conclude, let me also tell you that I visited all and confirmed my curiosity and shock that they are all Igbo people pushed into Kogi State. Their worldview, daily communication is purely Igbo. Just as every other Igbo villages, they do their thing. They have large expanse of land as well. Their vegetation is greenish. Their forests are neat. Fresh air and beautiful shed left and right.

2. Ikponkwụ

Ikponkwụ was once a community within Okpuje area in Nsụka but now a community in Kogi State. Because of their beautiful land for agricultural activities, Ovoko moved there and would finally return after the war. Ovoko is located in Igbo-Eze South L.G.A of Enugwu State. Some who could not return stayed back, some even extend to Avurugo and settled amongst them.

3. Akpanya

This community is fully an Igbo community. If you want to access Akpanya you can easily do so through Enugwu-Ezike. Assuming you are coming from Obolo-Afọ, you will pass Ụda, Amụfie before getting to Ogrute. From Ogrute, take the roundabout as if you are going to Ịbagwa-Aka, then take the first right turn leading to Ụmụịda. These places are located under Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugwu State. Immediately you pass through these places, you will get to Ụnadụ in Igbo-Eze South L.G.A which has the same topography with Akpanya which is now under Kogi State.

The first village by the boundary is called Agbedo Akpanya. I remembered the name of my professor in Nsụka, Professor C.U Agbedo immediately I got to this village and found out its name. He is from Enugwu-Ezike. The proximity between Enugwu-Ezike and Agbedo Akpanya as well as sharing the same dialectal similarities got me thinking. But then, that’s not the bone of contention here.

I targeted the market day. It’s called Orie Akpanya. The market is always full in Orie market day of Igbo week. People from different parts of Nsụka do visit the market. The language of communication in the market is Igbo. Not just the market, the entire village. They converse in Igbo. They think in Igbo.

When I interviewed some group of young men, about 6 of them, they told me plainly that all their parents are Igbo. Some for political reasons told me they are Kogi. As we continued discussion and it was getting interesting, one of them said:

“Forget that we are in the north central, our mothers are from Nsụka. All of them. Some married to Ịgala men that is why some speak both Igbo and Ịgala”.

One going by the name Amos Ọnụ said: “my ancestor was from Ngwuru Nsụka. He lived here”.

From the valuables and the elders I interviewed, I found out that while some Igbo were aboriginals, some Igbo also visited from other parts, migrate and joined them. As discussed from the outset, there was nothing like state or local government in the past but clans. The people of Akpanya are Igbo. If going deeper, entering into the heart of Kogi, you will see pure Ịgala communities and some having mixtures of Ịgala and Igbo.

The reason for such mixture is as a result of proximity and intermarriage. Most people in those places are bilinguals. They speak both Ịgala and Igbo accurately and respectively.

The pure Igbo villages within Akpanya include:

* Agbedo
* Oji Akpanya
* Ogboligbo
* Ịjagudu
* Ajịobi
* Ojiela Akpanya
* Akpabirikpo (Igbo/Ịgala)
* Ajịkele
* Oju Ogboligbo
* Ajekele Ogboligbo
* Agbọkete
* Apata
*Igudu
* Ọdụmọgwụ, etc.

These are Igbo speaking villages that can be found under Akpanya. Akpanya share boundary with Ụnadụ, Agụ Ịbagwa, Ichi under old Nsụka region. They have the same traits.

A man in his 40s whom I interviewed said:

“My grandfather’s mother was from Ịbagwa Aka; my direct father is from Ngwuru Nsụka. All the women in this place are married from Igbo land. All our fathers are born from Igbo women from Igbo land. But as you can see, we are in Kogi. North Central”.

Oji Akpanya was the first place the missionaries visited in the olden days while Ogboligbo is in the center. Agbedo is the getaway of the community.

If you leave Akpanya and go further, you will get to another community called: Amaka.

3. Amaka

Just as the name implies, you already know the language it belongs to. Amaka is an indigenous Igbo people whose language and culture is Igbo. But as a result of state creation, they have been carved into Kogi State. Church services are conducted in Igbo language just as every other communities I have previously mentioned. Their land had been their ancestral land and never Ịgala land as erroneously portrayed. They are just victims of state creation due to their location. They are pushed into Kogi State.

4. Ọnịcha Igo

This is another Igbo speaking community which can be found in Ofu L.G.A of Kogi State. There are different villages here. They mix with Ịgala too and intermarry. Some individuals here are bilingual speakers—Igbo and Ịgala.

5. Ịbaji

There are concentrated Igbo communities in Ịbaji. They don’t deny their Igboness especially those who never allowed state creation to demarcate them from their bloodline. The headquarters of Ịbaji is located at Odeke. Odeke has an ancestral connection with Agụleri now in Anambra State. They live close and share common boundary.

How do we confirm this?

During festivals, just as some would shout: “Igbo kwenụ!”, the Odeke people will say:

“Odeke-Agụlụ Kwenụ! Odeke-Agụlụ Kwenụ!”

But these people are now in Kogi State because state creation say: “Okeke you are Anambra, Okafọ you are now in Kogi”. But they still say till date: “Odeke-Agụlụ Kwenụ!”

Other Igbo settlements in Ịbaji include:
* Uchuchu Anaọcha
* Uchuchu Anapịtị
* Echọwa which they now corrupted as Echeño
* Ọbale,
* Omabo, etc.

These places are said to be originally farmlands of the Odeke people.

The Ịbaji live and connected to the Ogurugu and Ụzọ Ụwanị in Enugwu State and even share common boundaries with them.

There are three major clans of the Echọwa now called Echeño. These clans are:

* Ịkana
* Olugo and
*Nyagba.

The village called Ụmụọnụra in Echeño Ịbaji originated from Ezeawụrụ. Some clan migrated from Ifite Ọka (Awka) and settled there in Echọwa which was one of the farm settlements of the Odeke people who have root and bloodline with the Agụleri. Their oral tradition and citation during festivals say it all.

These Igbo communities in Ịbaji also connect to the Anam people of Anambra, then extend to Ịga, Ugbela, Ahịa of Ụzọ Ụwanị Enugwu State and Ojo Ogurugu in Enugwu State as well.

These communities lived together because there was nothing like state or territory. They interacted. They are bloodlines until statism happened and they are carved to the north central.

Till date, their culture is Igbo. They still have four Igbo market days, but then, the mixture with the Ịgala changed afọ to ede especially in the Echeño side but others as Eke, Orie, Nkwọ are in tact.

Their masquerades are Igbo masquerades: They have Ijele. They have Akpaakụ. Ofe nsala is their native soup and they still maintain the name—ofe nsala. They speak Igbo.

But then, there is Ịbaji dialect. It is a creolized language as a result of mixture of Igbo and the Ịgala. Not everyone in Ịbaji is Igbo. Some are Ịgala. They mixed with Igbo and created Ịbaji language. That’s why Echọwa changed to Echeño.

Some other unaffected Igbo villages in Ịbaji which are strictly Igbo and now regard as Kogi people include:

* Ụmụọbụ
* Ụmụoye
* Anapịtị
* Nwajala
* Eweli,
* Ubulie-Ụmụeze, etc.

Echeño people of Ịbaji bear Igbo name as Ujumma, Egwuatụ, Ifemere etc. Many I interviewed did not deny their origin.

6. Akolo

The full name of the community is Akolo Ukwueze— indigenous Igbo people community in Kogi State. You can easily access here through Okutu, Nsụka Local Government Area of Enugwu State. They are predominantly Igbo. No migration. Their location had been their ancestral land before they were said to be Kogi. These people are farmers.

Note: I have mentioned Amaka before. The full name of the community is Amaka Okpodu. They are pure Igbo.

Other Igbo communities in Kogi State include:

* Ugwuebonyi
* Ebokwe
* Ọzara
* Amaokwu
* Amadịefiọha
* Amaụfụlụ
* Amaụwanị
* Amankpo etc.

In conclusion, we have seen the effect of state creation as well as the migration of the Wukari people from Taraba state who came down to the lower Benue through Amagede and mixed with others then became what we know today as the Ịgala. They met some Igbo in the land especially those in Ịdah area. The blend and intermarriage has affected both languages to have similarities. State creation has moved some Igbo land to join Kogi. We have pointed out those people who still maintain their language and culture.

But the question is, why is it that the indigenous Igbo carved to Kogi are not even recognised as an ethnic group just as others? There is a ploy to hide this identity and push some narratives. Tales of lies have been told for some to believe that those Igbo living in Kogi are the Ịgala who learnt Igbo language because of their interactions, intermarriage and proximity with the Igbo people. BIG LIE. They know their identity. They have kinsmen in different part of Nsụka. They breathe Igbo. They live Igbo. They eat Igbo. They dream Igbo. They had been in their ancestral land before they were told to be Kogi immediately Kogi State was created.

Even Kogi government knows that these Igbo communities are purely Igbo; could it be the reason for absence of government intervention and development? The Igbo spirit in them help them to create their own world without being totally dependent on government. Nigerian factor has made them to neither feel the presence of Enugwu and Anambra government nor Kogi State government. These territories are like displaced people. But they have decided to make life out of everything. They created their own world and happily living in it. Only Ịbaji area where oil was discovered that government of Kogi State began to drag the territory with Anambra; Enugwu also joined hand. This shows that treasure is priority for recognition of people’s identity. That settlement is Igbo speaking part and Igbo land.

Finally, these are indigenous Igbo people who have been in their ancestral land before Kogi was created and they were pushed into it under the Ịgala leadership. They are not Ịgala people who speak Igbo because they are on the boundary side but Igbo people who through Nigerian definition of things carved out of their land to join others for the purpose of divide-and-rule system hidden under state creation..

This history should be preserved for posterity.

I paused!

© Maazị Ogbonnaya Okoro
Linguist, Writer, Researcher and Historian.

The Metamorphosis Of Ndi Igbo

If Igbo was the Igbo of the 40s 50s and 60s how would the elders keep quiet while the youths run around aimlessly in search of destruction?

When did a people with enviable commercial instincts learn to forget to do simple cost benefit analysis before frolicking let alone taking deep plunges like flirting with violent secession?

BY DR. UGOJI EGBUJO

VANGUARD NOVEMBER 21, 2015

“Igbo enweeze” ( Igbos have no kings) pays tribute not to disunity but to the independent mindedness of Igbos and their republican spirit. Igbos rightly believed that when the community ruled itself then arbitrariness and inequality that kings epitomized would not afflict them. ‘Igbo enweeze’ therefore is the enthronement of not just consensus and equity but also industry and meritocracy. Monarchy and feudalistic structures , despite all the historical sophistication ascribed to them , enthrone not mediocrity but also servitude. But the political docility that has beset Igboland now is startling.

The colonialists came and , in the name of civilization, adulterated Igbo culture. When they left, the legacy of messengers and headboys gave rise to a multiplicity of pseudo kings and contrived kingdoms , serviced by the logic of ease of administration. Autonomous communities proliferated supposedly to bring governance to the grass roots but, in reality, only allowed many maniacs become Ezes.

Now even Igbos in places far flung from Igbo land, who have come by some money, would not be left out in the craving for a whiff of royalty in that artificiality – ‘Ezendi Igbo’.

Ezendi Igbo, a potentially useful instrument for community organisation soon became a bogus social contraption for vainglory. Often bought , borrowed , usurped, snatched or stolen , that title is now emblematic of a much deeper rot in Igbo culture. Let’s ignore the Deji of Akure.

Despite a slower start, by the early 60s Igbos had established themselves through giftedness polished by hard work in the top echelons of all aspects of national life. Dick Tiger had become a world boxing champion , Kenneth Dike was vice chancellor of university of Ibadan while Eni Njoku headed the university of Lagos. Envy could not be excluded from what befell the Igbos.


After the civil war , Igbos , stripped to bare bones , faced institutionalized discrimination. Participation in government was curtailed, so individuals embraced industry and innovation and communities practiced communal self help and “onyeaghalanwanneya” ( be your brother’s keeper). With the determination that Enugu Rangers once represented, Igbos and their stock grew.

There were days when Igbo businessmen were known for frugality rather then exhibitionism. When they lived as tenants in one or two rooms till they owned more than 4 or five houses. Not because they lacked in refinement but because conservation was given priority and the flaunting of wealth was still obscene .

Those days when the worth of a man was measured by his nobility and his success by how many lives he had touched positively. And philanthropy was moral duty rather than a vehicle for personal aggrandizement and positioning for public office. Businessmen grew organically and their wealth could be explained.

The second republic came and Igbos returned to some reckoning. The northern establishment courted Igbos with the vice presidency and more. The days when Azikiwe won elections in Igboland because he was one of our finest and could easily lead Africa . And Mbakwe didn’t need billions or rigging or ballot box stuffing to win against the ruling NPN. And even the moneyed ones deferred to some tradition , and delegates weren’t available to be traded like ‘kulikuli. It is true that corruption has always been rife in our politics but politics then was not the commercial enterprise we have now.

That was before ‘419’ came and upset the order of things. Serious crimes lost moral pungency and lost that ability to attract opprobrium. Well known advance fee fraudsters and drug dealers reveled in fame and became the envy of Igbo youths. They and their philanthropy undercut the industry and took away whatever virtue was left in patience. Then many businesses left Onitsha and headed to Lagos where things could be conjured and decades could be reduced to days. The decadence was general but it would appear that Igbos with their innate cleverness were the masters of both the good and the ugly.

‘419’conmen assumed newly minted traditional stools in Igbo land where honesty and hardwork had always ruled. The commercial instincts of the Igbo youths became perverted and male school enrolments dropped drastically amongst a people who once nostalgically sang “ …….amataramsoroibemgara school, amataramsoroibemoo…” ( I wish I had followed others and taken to education) .

School and education became redundant nonsense as ‘ get rich quick ’ moved from being a mantra to being a religion. Graduate unemployment rose and left many of those who chose education and ended up as bus drivers inconsolable. Many became more certain that education was acostly superfluity.

When democracy returned in the 3rd republic, some other regions began reviving political cultures and structures while money took hold of Igbo politics. Igbos played peripheral shortsighted politics. And were very easily and cheaply bought. Semi literate businessmen became political godfathers. Elections were all about rigging and sane people left the show for thugs.

Some fraudsters became governors and legislators and made a mockery of democracy and all that Okpara and Louis Mbanefo had envisioned. They fended for their personal ambitions and their pockets while the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches quibbled, continued with their primitive political rivalry which would amuse Irish and English clergies. Nominal affiliation with a denomination by reprobates mattered more to priests whose endorsements many unfortunately relied on.

When a people lose the courage to condemn evil, let alone check it, they regress. But Igbo communities didn’t just stand aloof, they also valorized ill-gotten wealth and sanctified criminal careers in the worship of money. Neither drug trafficking, nor advance fee fraud was evil enough to be openly condemned by communities. Criminals were celebrated and atrocities became banal.

Survival of the fittest has always underlined the healthy competition and rivalry prevalent amongst Igbos of the old. But that sort of competition had the virtue of the recognition of abomination and sensitivity to sacrilege. It was once condemnable to abandon a brother in need. It was once obscene to brag about wealth let alone exaggerate ones achievements. It was once a sacrilege in Igbo land to steal because future generations would be tagged and smeared as Igbos believed that, like madness, stealing was transmitted along bloodlines. Times have really changed.

Little wonder Kidnapping came and found a foothold. All the bulwarks against the sort of moral degeneration that would permit the thriving of such evils have long been dismantled. Priests, by their conspicuous unrighteousness, trivialized priesthood and kidnappers showed no reverence. Churches have replaced shrines but they didn’t replace the deterrent dread of ‘Ala’ and ‘Amadioha’ and the immediacy of their retribution with anything comparatively exacting and decisive.

The priests are not wholly to blame for this, their God is a merciful one. The secular police the missionaries relied upon to maintain law and order have been made unreliable by corruption. Taboos have been demystified, the society is now naked. We are relentlessly emptying ourselves of content and the tradition.

Before tragedy befell Igbos, an Nnamdi Kanu in the throes of the most intense of hallucinations will not pretend to the leadership of Igbos. But he is not to blame. ‘Nkaramanya’ ( ‘open eye’ ) has displaced reason and decorum. You look at some of the persons who have become governors in the south east today and you struggle to hold back tears. NCNC was a phenomenon, NPP held the south east and had plateau and parts of Rivers and was forging national coalitions. 0ver 30 years after, the trademarks are now the disorderliness of a moribund APGA and the running of errands in the PDP? Igbo politicians now lack stature, lack vision and are extremely greedy.

If Igbo was the Igbo of the 40s 50s and 60s how would the elders keep quiet while the youths run around aimlessly in search of destruction? I know things have degenerated and courage has fled with morality but when did Igbos start to lack even prudence? When did they come to be associated with the sort of foolish risk taking that IPOB epitomizes?

When did a people with enviable commercial instincts learn to forget to do simple cost benefit analysis before frolicking let alone taking deep plunges like flirting with violent secession? Igbos are not cowards but they are not frivolous. If the events of 1966/1967 repeat themselves they will rise and defend themselves more robustly. But this inculcation of violence and hate in our youths by a shallow and intellectually wretched IPOB and other such groups is poisonous.

Some have suggested that if Buhari doesn’t handle Nnamdi Kanu’s matter well he could end up a Yusuf ( late founder of boko haram). And they implied that something more savage than Shekau will rise and IPOB and its deluded youths will become more barbaric than Boko haram. Buhari therefore should fret , perhaps cry. It’s a good cautionary tale. And I want the president to pay serious attention to the agitators.

But that reading of that cautionary tale lacks perspective. The tale bearers can’t understand that if IPOB becomes Boko haram then Igbo land will become worse than the desolate northeast. Why would anyone sufficiently this paranoid leave it to his ‘oppressors’, from whom he expects mischief and malice, to save him? Why wouldn’t Igbos then take their destiny in their hands and stop IPOB and other groups and their gospel of violence in the interest of Igbos.

Why are the churches quiet? Why are they so aloof even when Nnamdi Kanu has ridiculed Jesus Christ? Don’t get me wrong, if they wont act out of morality or civic duty, why won’t they do so out of prudence, self preservation?Why are the Bishops silent , why have they left it all to Father Mbaka to speak? Nnamdi Kanu may not be an anti Christ but he wants a Biafra, where Jesus is treated as a farce. He is entitled to that position but why would avowed Christians consider him sane let alone a freedom fighter ?

We know the traditional institutions have been bastardized but we still have a few respected traditional rulers. Igwe Nwokedi has spoken but why are the others sitting on the fence? If they support the position of violence and hate canvassed by IPOB they should be bold and say so.We know Igbo politics is largely “ cash and carry” but we have governors on whom the constitution has invested legal duties.

Why is it only Rochas Okorocha that has made a categorical statement? When did Igbo leaders become so cowardly? Igbos can be accused of brashness but not timidity. If Biafra is an immediate necessity why don’t they say so and give reasons? Why can’t we relocate the discourse from the streets to town halls and village squares so that reasons will be separated from emotions?

‘Igbo amaka’ shouldn’t be a mere chauvinistic slogan , it should be a call to the restoration and preservation of Igbo values , culture and interests which materialism has set ablaze.

COMMENT:

Dear Dr. Ugborji, with your level of education, knowledge and enlightenment, you're supposed to know that this contraption called Nigeria is a monumental fraud right from the beginning up till now, I'm surprised you do not know this. I expect you to be very angry that a country that had a person of your caliber, and thousands or even millions of others like you is still operating with a military constitution. which was drafted and doctored 20 years ago in the living room of one man called Addulsalam Abubakar, former Military ruler. This constitution and the structure it produced has shackled the Igbos that they remain dormant and docile in Nigeria

In case you don't know, Igbos are completely fed-up with this system, and by extension, Nigeria. I mean the majority of Igbos, young and old, which I can put to up to 95% of Igbo population. Those who still believe or hope on Nigeria are the privileged few like you, who were able to either amass wealth through crook or hook. Or got good university education abroad or in Nigeria and secured a good job that can support their families. This number is very few among the Igbos, which I put at 5% or more. Understand that Igbos are suffering in this country and they have lost hope in it. All over cities, towns, villages no matter how small in Africa, Igbos are there in thousands, jobless, stranded, living as vagabonds. In the desert Igbos are there in thousands stranded. Those Africans crossing the sea with rickety boats Igbos are among in their number both men and woman, some with their children. Some of the Igbo ladies give birth in the desert. All these are what the new generation Igbos who know the ingenuity gifted them by their God are suffering in Nigeria and you expect them not to react.

If you're truthful to yourself, you'll admit that this country Nigeria is for Housa/Fulani, it doesn't serve the interest of the Igbos. And they have been rude, crude and arrogant even with brazen impunity in demostrating it, at least you can bear the witness with your current President. Have you asked yourself, why is it that the north, Housa/Fulani upon the total mess and shame the country is in, they still resist change to the system.

You've been lamenting why Igbo leaders have kept quiet in the face of the ongoing protests in the SE and SS. Well, in case you don't know, those so-called leaders have all compromised themselves. Their leadership of Igbo has only served their selfish end and that of their families. The Biafra war ended 45 years ago, since then, this so-called Igbo leaders were in Nigeria, watching and abetting every northern leaders that came up. Instead of speaking truth boldly to the authority about the plight of the Igbo, to change the structure of the country, they're there scrambling for crumbs from the master's table. This has emboldened the northerners to shackle the Igbos and hold them hostage with savagery.

With the caliber of eminent people Igbos have produced all over the world, both before and after the war, till today. If they've good leadership, they ought to have put their heads together, to decide their future in this fraud, Nigeria. Also, if Igbo leaders have been brave and have the true spirit of Igbo, they would be bold to look the Nigerian authority in the face and say, "this is the system we want in Nigeria, if not acceptable to you, then let us find our destiny in our own country in peace”. Therefore, the so-called Igbo leaders have failed the new generation woefully. The result is what you're seeing today. What is wrong if Igbos with population of 40 million decide to live their destiny in a country of their own?. It's only the foolish Igbo that would argue against the ability or efficiency of the Igbo to master his destiny.

Igbos have lived in Nigeria like slaves, their leaders serving the Housa/Fulani as servants, never to argue with them. All these are what angered new generation Igbo, so they have decided to take their destiny in their own hands. You don't expect Igbos to live with this gargantuan injustice and impunity forever. They have decided to exercise their right of self determination, to establish their own country. It is the right of every people to decide their fate in a country they will live in joy, not living in perpetual misery like in Nigeria.

The only sense you make to me in your articles was that they should avoid violence and war. So, let it come through a referendum. So what you and those Igbo leaders you call upon should do is to intervene and halt the protests, by promising them that you should approach the Nigerian government to conduct a referendum to decide the future of the Igbos in Nigeria. And not to be calling the protesters absurd names as if they are rascals.

You've always emphasized on the investment of the Igbos outside of Igbo land, that being the reason Igbos should continue to live as servitudes to the northern nomads. Understand that no amount of financial investment, even in billions or trillions of dollars can compare to the destiny of the Igbos. Again, Igbos are leaving Nigeria in peace. It's only fools that fight war in this modern age. So, Igbos are not fighting war. Only that Nnamdi should be properly advised.

The destiny of Igbo race, including the generation yet unborn should not be tied to the financial investment of tiny minority of Igbos, for what one can rightly say is their own demonstration of insensitivity and crude mentality. Recall that Dim Emeka Ojukwu himself has advised, lament and even bemoaned Igbo people for their foolish behavior in this regard. But they were so callous they cannot listen. Because they take delight in developing another man's land while leaving theirs desolate.

Any Igbo that loves the truth, or can see future will know that Nigeria is hopelessly in a void. Since 1970 till today, it's shredding Igbos while their leaders are too afraid to talk or they’re pursuing their pockets. Therefore, Igbos are looking for a Moses to deliver them from Nigeria, to their promised land. If it is not Nnamdi Kanu, there must be another person that will save Igbos from the prison call Nigeria. Israelites were in slavery in Egypt for 400 years at the end, God saved them. So God must elect an Igbo man that will lead them out of this slavery in Nigeria in peace without them losing any of their investment. Thank you.

-----------------------------MRS HELEN MOMOH

The Bitter Truth About The Igbo

Femi Fani-Kayode

BY FEMI FANI-KAYODE

PREMIUM TIMES

AUGUST 8, 2013

Permit me to make my second and final contribution to the raging debate about Lagos, who owns it and the seemingly endless tensions that exist between the Igbo and the Yoruba. It is amazing how one or two of the numerous nationalities that make up Nigeria secretly wish that they were Yoruba and consistently lay claim to Lagos as being partly theirs. Have they forgotten where they came from? I have never heard of a Yoruba wanting to give the impression to the world that he is an Igbo, an Ijaw, an Efik or a Hausa-Fulani or claiming that he is a co-owner of Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Kano or Kaduna. Yet more often than not, some of those that are not of Yoruba extraction but that have lived in Lagos for some part of their lives have tried to claim that they are bona fide Lagosians and honorary members of the Yoruba race.

Clearly it is time for us to answer the nationality question. These matters have to be settled once and for all. Lagos and the South-west are the land and the patrimony of the Yoruba and we will not allow anyone, no matter how fond of them we may be, to take it away from us or share it with us in the name of ”being nice”, ”patriotism”, ”one Nigeria” or anything else. The day that the Yoruba are allowed to lay claim to exactly the same rights and privileges that the indigenous people in non-Yoruba states and zones enjoy and the day they can operate freely and become commissioners and governors in the Niger Delta states, the North, the Middle Belt and the South-east, we may reconsider our position. But up until then, we shall not do so. Lagos is not a ”no-man’s land” but the land and heritage of the Yoruba people. Others should not try to claim what is not theirs.


I am not involved in this debate for fun or for political gain and I am not participating in it to play politics but rather to speak the truth, to present the relevant historical facts to those that wish to learn and to educate the uninformed. That is why I write without fear or favour and that is why I intend to be thoroughly candid and brutally frank in this essay. And I am not too concerned or worried about what anyone may think or how they may feel about what I am about to say because I am a servant of truth and the truth must be told no matter how bitter it is and no matter whose ox is gored. That truth is as follows. The Yoruba, more than any other nationality in this country in the last 100 years, have been far too accommodating and tolerant when it comes to their relationship with other nationalities in this country and this is often done to their own detriment. That is why some of our Igbo brothers can make some of the sort of asinine remarks and contributions that a few of them have been making in this debate both in the print media and in numerous social media portals and networks ever since Governor Fashola ”deported” 19 Igbo destitute back to Anambra state a while ago.

In the last 80 years, the Igbo have been shown more generosity, accommodation, warmth and kindness and given more opportunities and leverage by the Yoruba than they have been offered by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria. This is a historical fact. The Yoruba do not have any resentment for the Igbo and we have allowed them to do in our land and our territory what they have never allowed us to do in theirs. This has been so for 80 long years and it is something that we are very proud of. As I said elsewhere recently, to be accommodating and generous is a mark of civilisation and it comes easily to people that once had empires. The reason why many of our people take strong exception to the apparent outrage of the Igbo over this ”deportation” issue and the provocative comments of my friend and brother Chief Orji Uzor Kalu when he described Lagos as being a ”no man’s land” is because the Igbo have not only taken us for granted but they have also taken liberty for licence.

We cannot be expected to tolerate or accept that sort of irreverent and unintelligent rubbish simply because we still happen to believe in ”one Nigeria” and we will not sacrifice our rights or prostitute our principles on the alter of that ”one Nigeria”. Whether Nigeria is one or not, what is ours is ours and no one should test our resolve or make any mistake about that. ”One Nigeria” yes but no one should spit in our faces or covet our land, our treasure, our success, our history, our virtues, our being and our heritage and attempt to claim those for themselves simply because we took them in on a rainy day. It is that same attitude of ”we own everything”, ”we must have everything” and ”we must control everything” that the Igbo settlers manifested in the northern region in the late 50’s and early and mid-60’s that got them into so much trouble up there with the Hausa-Fulani and that eventually led to the terrible pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days. Again it is that same attitude that they manifested in Lagos and the Western Region in the late ’30’s and the early and mid-40’s that alienated the Yoruba from them, that led to the establishment of the Action Group in April, 1951 and that resulted in the narrow defeat of Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Western Regional elections of December, 1951. As a matter of fact they were the ones that FIRST introduced tribalism into southern politics in 1945 with the unsavoury comments of Mr. Charles Dadi Onyeama who was a member of the Central Legislative Council representing Enugu and who said at the Igbo State Union address that ”the domination of Nigeria and Africa by the Igbo is only a matter of time”.

That single comment, made in that explosive and historic speech, did more damage to southern Nigerian unity than any other in the entire history of our country and everything changed from that moment on. To make matters worse, in July 1948, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe made his own openly tribal and incendiary speech, again at the Igbo State Union, in which he spoke about the ”god of the Igbo” eventually giving them the leadership of Nigeria and Africa. These careless and provocative words cost him dearly and put a nail in the coffin of the NCNC in the Western Region from that moment on. This was despite the fact that that same NCNC, which was easily the largest and most powerful political party in Nigeria at the time, had been founded and established by a great and illustrious son of the Yoruba by the name of Herbert Macauley. Macauley, like most of the Yoruba in his day, saw no tribe and he happily handed the leadership of the party over to Azikiwe, an Igbo man, in 1945 when he was on his dying bed. How much more can the Yoruba do than that when it comes to being blind to tribe? Can there be any greater evidence of our total lack of racial prejudice and tribal sentiments than that? If the NCNC had been founded and established by an Igbo man, would he have handed the whole thing over to a Yoruba on his death bed? I doubt it very much.

Again when northern military officers mutinied, effected their ”revenge coup” and went to kill the Igbo military Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th 1966 in the old Western Region, his host, the Yoruba Col. Fajuyi (who was military Governor of the Western Region at the time), insisted that they would have to kill him first before taking Aguiyi-Ironsi’s life and the northern officers (led by Major T.Y. Danjuma as he then was) promptly obliged him by slaughtering him before killing Aguiyi-Ironsi. How many Igbo know about that and how many times in our history have they made such sacrifices for the Yoruba? Would Aguiyi-Ironsi, or any other Igbo officer, have stood for Fajuyi, or any other Yoruba officer, and sacrificed his life for him in the same way that Fajuyi did had the roles been reversed? I doubt it very much. Yet instead of being grateful the Igbo continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce. Unlike them, we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and when it comes to the professions we were producing lawyers, doctors, accountants and university graduates at least three generations before they ever did. That is the bitter truth and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since. For example the first Yoruba lawyer Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams was called to the English Bar in 1879 whilst the first Igbo lawyer, Sir Louis Mbanefo, was called to the English bar in 1937. Again the first Yoruba medical practitioner, Dr. Nathaniel King, graduated in 1875 from the University of Edinburgh whilst the first Igbo medical practitioner, Dr. Akannu Ibiam, graduated from another Scottish University in 1935.

Yet despite all this and all that they have been through over the years and despite their terrible experiences in the civil war we are witnessing that same attitude of ”we must control all”, ”we must own all” and ”we must have all” rearing its ugly head again today when it comes to their attitude to the issue of the deportations from Lagos state and when you consider the comments of the Orji Kalu’s of this world about the Igbo supposedly ”owning Lagos” with the Yoruba and supposedly ”generating 55 per cent of the state’s revenue”. It is most insulting.

And I must say that it is wrong and unfair for anyone to lay the blame for the perennial suspicion and underlying tensions that lie between the two nationalities on the Yoruba because that is far from the truth. We are not the problem, they are. Pray tell me, in the whole of Nigeria who treated the Igbo better than the Yoruba after the civil war and who gave them somewhere to run to where they could regain all their ”abandoned property” and feel at home again? Who encouraged them to return to Lagos and the West and who saved the jobs that they held before the civil war for them to come back to when the war ended? No other tribe or nationality did all that for them in the country- only the Yoruba did so. And the people of the old Mid-West and the Eastern minorities (who make up the zone that is collectively known as the ”south-south’ today) have always viewed them with suspicion, have always feared them and have always resented them deeply. From the foregoing, any objective observer can tell that we the Yoruba have always played our part when it comes to accommodating others. This is particularly so when it comes to the Igbo who we have always had a soft spot for and who we have always regarded as brothers and sisters. It is time that those ”others” also play their part by acquiring a little more humility, by knowing and accepting their place in the scheme of things and by desisting from giving the impression that they own our territory or that they made us what we are.

Now, let us look at a few historical facts and one or two more Igbo ”firsts’ that many may not be familiar with to buttress the point. The Igbo people were the FIRST to carry out a failed coup on the night of Jan 15th, 1966 under the leadership of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Christian Anuforo, Capt. Ben Gbulie, Major Timothy Onwatuegwu, Major Donatus Okafor, Capt. Ude, Capt. Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Udeaja, Lt. Okafor, Lt. Okocha, Lt. Anyafulu, Lt. Okaka, Lt. EzedIgbo, Lt. Amunchenwa, Lt. Nwokedi, 2nd Lt. J.C. Ojukwu, 2nd Lt. Ngwuluka, 2nd Lt. Ejiofor, 2nd Lt. Egbikor, 2nd Lt. Igweze, 2nd Lt. Onyefuru, 2nd Lt. Nwokocha, 2nd Lt. Azubuogu and 2nd Lt. Nweke in which they drew FIRST blood and openly slaughtered and butchered leading politicians and army officers from EVERY single zone in the country except their own.
I should also mention that even though this was clearly an Igbo coup there was one Yoruba officer who was amongst the ringleaders by the name of Major Adewale Ademoyega. It was a very bloody night indeed. Amongst those killed were the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Federal Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Ralph Shodeinde, Lt . Colonel James Yakubu Pam, Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema and numerous others. They did not just kill these revered and respected leaders but in some cases they mocked, tortured and maimed them before doing so, took pictures of their dead and mutilated bodies and killed their wives and children as well. For weeks after these horrific acts were carried out, the Igbo people rejoiced and celebrated them in the streets and markets of the north, openly displaying pictures and posters of the Saurdana’s mutilated body with Nzeogwu’s boot on his neck, loudly playing a famous and deeply offensive anti-northern song in which northerners were compared to goats and listening to it on their radios, jubilating that they had brought an end to what they described as ”northern rule and Islamic domination” and openly boasting that they themselves would now ”rule Nigeria forever”. Though the first coup failed the matter did not end there.

The very next day after the Jan.15th mutiny and butchery had failed and did not result in Ifejuana taking power in Lagos, the Igbo people set their ”plan B” in motion and they were the FIRST to carry out a successful coup in Nigeria just one day later on Jan. 17th 1966. This was when the Igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Army and who had inexplicably and suspiciously not been murdered by the young Igbo officers in their violent mutiny and killing spree the night before) in collusion with the Igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire Igbo political leadership of that day, invited the remnants of Sir Tafawa Balewa’s cabinet to a closed door meeting, threatened their lives and took power from them at the point of a gun. Aguiyi-Ironsi did not just ask them to give him power but he took it from them by force by telling them that he could not guarantee their safety if they refused to do so. Meanwhile Orizu point blank refused to do his duty as Acting President and swear in Zana Bukar Dipcharimma as the Acting Prime Minster when the members of the cabinet and the British Ambassador (who was also at the meeting) implored him to do so since by that time there was a power vacuum because the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, had gone missing and had probably been murdered. It was in these very suspicious circumstances and as a consequence of this murky and deep-seated Igbo conspiracy that General Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power. Amongst those that were present at that famous ”meeting” that are still alive today are Alhaji Maitama Sule, Chief Richard Akinjide and President Shehu Shagari who were all Ministers in Balewa’s cabinet . Those that doubt the veracity of my account of this meeting would do well to ask any of them exactly what transpired during that encounter.

Yet the seeming success of the conspiracy was short-lived. Only six months later, on July 29th 1966, General Aguiyi-Ironsi and no less than 300 Igbo army officers reaped the consequences of their actions and plot when they were all slaughtered in just one night during the northern officers revenge coup which was led by Lt. Colonel Murtala Mohammed, Major Abba Kyari, Captain Martins Adamu, Major T.Y. Danjuma, Major Musa Usman, Captain Joseph Garba, Captain Shittu Alao, Captain Baba Usman, Captain Gibson S.Jalo and Captain Shehu Musa Yar’adua as they then were. Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon was put in power by this group after that and a few weeks later between September 29th 1966 and the middle of October of that same year approximately 50,000 Igbo civilians were attacked and slaughtered in a series of horrendous pogroms in the north by violent northern mobs as a reprisal for the killing of the northern leaders, including Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto, by Major Nzeogwu, Major Ifejuna and other junior Igbo officers on the night of Jan. 15th 1966. Please note that despite the fact that a number of Yoruba leaders were killed on that night as well no Igbo civilians were massacred anywhere in the west by mobs in reprisal killings throughout that period.

The Igbo understandably left the north in droves after those terrible pogroms and fled back to the east from whence they came. And perhaps that would have been the end of the story but for the fact that they also declared secession and sought to dismember Nigeria. They then made their biggest mistake of all by provoking a full scale military conflict with Nigeria when they launched a vicious and unprovoked attack against the rest of the south attacking and conscripting the eastern minorities , storming the Mid-West and attempting to enter Yorubaland through Ore to capture it. Thankfully they were stopped in their tracks by the gallant efforts and courageous fighting skills of the Third Marine Commando (which was primarily a Yoruba force and which was under the command of the great Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, ‘the Black Scorpion’), prevented from entering the west, driven out of the Mid-West, pushed back into the East, defeated in battle after battle and were eventually brought down to their knees and forced to surrender to the Federal forces in Enugu.

The Igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for three hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives at the war front trying to stop Biafra from seceding from the federation, from taking our land and from taking the minority groups of the Mid-Western Region and Eastern Region and our newly-discovered oil with them. Yet despite our massive casualties and the monumental loss of life that the Federal side suffered (a total of 2 million died on both sides) the Igbo people were welcomed back into Nigeria after the war with open arms. Yet it was only in Yorubaland and especially in Lagos that they were given all their ”abandoned property” back and welcomed back as brothers and sisters without any reservations or suspicions whatsoever. Everywhere else in the country for many years they were denied, deprived, shunned, attacked, killed, discriminated against and humiliated but never in the southwest or Lagos. It is the Igbo people more than any other that have complained about marginalisation in Nigeria, forgetting that there is no other country in the world in which there was a major civil war and yet only 10 years after that war ended the losing side produced the Vice President for the whole country in a democratic election in 1979 in the distinguished person of Vice President Alex Ekwueme.

Some have described my submissions in this debate as being ”inflammatory” and have claimed that I am ”not a true progressive” for making them. I reject these labels and I wonder whether those people that conjured them up described the comments of my dear friend and brother Chief Orji Kalu as “inflammatory” and whether they labelled him as ”not being a true progressive” when he erroneously claimed that the Igbo generated 55 per cent of the revenue and owned 55 per cent of businesses in Lagos and that they are effectively the owners of the state. Unlike most of those that are attempting to label me and brand me as a tribalist I know the history of Lagos and the Yoruba very well.

We will not let anyone poison the minds of our Yoruba youth or dispossess them of their heritage by keeping silent when we witness the irresponsible and dishonest propagation of the most desperate and despicable form of historical revisionism that some Igbo leaders are suddenly churning out. If anyone thinks that they can intimidate us into keeping quite when their leaders say such things then they will have the biggest shocker of their lives. We shall not be silenced and they shall not pass. Lagos and the Yoruba generally have much stronger historical, cultural and trading ties with the Bini, the Itsekiri, the Urhobo, the Isoko, the Hausa-Fulani, the Tapas, the Nupes and the Ijaws than they do with the Igbo. The input of those other major ethnic groups to the development of Lagos and their stake in her is far greater than that of the Igbo. Whether anyone wishes to accept it or not that is the bitter truth. We will not let anyone distort history and we will not keep silent when we hear the irresponsible and disrespectful effusions of those that seek to substitute truth with falsehood. When it comes to Lagos it is time that everyone respected themselves and knew their place. The Igbo particularly should display a much higher degree of respect and gratitude to those who were gracious enough to accept them in their land as equals when things were very difficult for them and who treated them with love, respect and kindness after the civil war when hardly anyone else was prepared to do so.

We the Yoruba have accommodated others in Lagos and throughout the South-west and we have let them live in peace for the last 100 years. As a matter of fact we have been glad to do so because as far as we are concerned that is one of the hallmarks of civilisation- the ability to accommodate other faiths, other cultures, other races and other nationalities and to create an equitable and just racial melting pot where equal opportunities are available to all. It is a great and noble virtue to be open and tolerant but that does not mean that we are fools and it does not mean that we do not know who we are, where we are coming from, what is ours and what our heritage is.

The fact that we have allowed others to thrive and settle in our land and share it with us does not mean that we have stopped owning that land. The suggestion that Lagos is a ”no-man’s land’ and that the Igbo or any other nationality outside the Yoruba generate up to 55 per cent of it’s revenue or business is absolutely absurd and frankly it has no basis in reality or rationality. It is not only a dirty lie but it is also very insulting. Guests, no matter how welcome, esteemed, cherished and valued they are, cannot become the owners of the house no matter how comfortable they are made to feel within it. Those guests will always be guests. Lagos belongs to the Yoruba and to the Yoruba alone. ALL others that reside there are guests, though some guests are far closer to us than others. The Igbo are the least close, the most distant and the least familiar with our customs and our ways. They ought to be the last to be claiming our heritage and coveting our land and neither can they claim to have made any real input to our glaring success. For them to think otherwise is nothing but delusion.

Ghanaian, Nigerian Cultures On Display At Igbo Yam Festival, As Royalty Reveals Historical Igbo Links

BY MARTIN-LUTHER C KING

MODERN GHANA

It was a rare but fine blend of rich Igbo, Ghanaian and Nigerian cultures on display in Adoteiman, near Accra as His Royal Highness Igwe Chuma Raymond Okadigbo marked his seven years on the throne as the Eze Ndigbo in Adoteiman kingdom on October 30.

The occasion also celebrated Igwe Okadigbo's 2021 new yam festival.

Depicting a carnival-like atmosphere, the event started with the revered traditional ruler arriving at the event venue in a royal procession, accompanied by his gorgeously dressed wives, members of his family, his Onowu, or traditional prime minister, and other members of his cabinet, with a lavish display of fireworks to electrify the venue.

In his welcome address, Igwe Okadigbo thanked God for keeping him alive and in good health to mark his seven years on the throne as the Eze Ndigbo in Adoteiman kingdom in Ghana; and, to celebrate the new yam festival this year.

Explaining that the new yam festival was an old tradition in Igbo land, when the people gather to thank God for a bountiful yam harvest for the year and to formally announce that all are free to consume yam again, Okadigbo used the occasion to commend his beautiful wives, his Onowu, members of his cabinet and all who contributed in one way or the other towards making the event a success, assuring his guests that everything has been put in place to guarantee their safety, security and welfare during and afterwards the event.

In his goodwill message, Eze Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu, the Eze Ndi Igbo in Ghana, appreciated the hospitality and accommodative disposition of Ghanaians which, he said, made it possible for Ndi Igbo (Igbo people) to reside and thrive in Ghana without fear of attack, molestation or humiliation. He cautioned Igbos resident in Ghana to remain law abiding by ensuring that they obey all the laws of the land.

Commending Igwe Okadigbo and members of his cabinet for putting up such an event that promotes the rich cultural and traditional heritage of Ndi Igbo, Eze Ihenetu wished him many more happy returns on his throne.

Speaking, also, the chief of Dodowa, Okukrubuor Nene Tei Kwesi Agyemang V; paramount ruler of Damfa, Nii Dzani Tsuru; Benkumehene of Anya Denkyira Akyeapem division, HRH Dr. Nana Kum Krampah 1; chief of the Dagombas, Chief (Dr.) Mohammed Suntaba; as well as the paramount rulers of Kweiman, Adoteiman, and Amahyia

each, separately, gave glowing testimonies of their respective interactions with Igwe Okadigbo; and, appreciated the rare and uncommon entrepreneurial ingenuity of the Igbo people, citing the several traits they share in common with the Igbo race.

They commended Okadigbo for his leadership style which, they said, has promoted the cordial relationship between the Igbos in Ghana and their host communities.

Waxing historical, the chief of Dodowa, Okukrubuor Nene Tei Kwesi Agyemang V, also used the occasion to reveal publicly for the first time a historical connection between his Dodowa people of Ghana and the Igbo people of southeast Nigeria.

He said when his people journeyed from their original home in Israel nine hundred years ago in search of a new home, the first place they settled was the Nnewi area of Igbo land, where, he said, they were well-received by the original Igbo inhabitants.

According to him, his people later continued their journey from Igboland to Togo, and then, finally, to their present abode in Dodowa.

"So, anywhere you see an Nnewi man, tell him I am his brother," Okukrubuor Nene Tei Kwesi Agyemang V stated.

Proceedings at the event went a notch higher in excitement when the chief of the Dagombas, Mohammed Suntaba, arrived.

Surrounded by his entourage and retinue of drummers and musicians, he took a while moving around the event venue greeting other royalties present; all the while displaying some fascinating dance-steps.

The high points of the event were the eating of the new yam, and the subsequent conferment of chieftaincy titles by Igwe Okadigbo on some deserving Igbo sons and daughters, as well as Ghanaian friends of Igbos, who have distinguished themselves in their various fields of endeavor.

Guests were later treated to various cultural dance and masquerade displays by a rich mix of Nigerian and Ghanaian groups, including from Ga-land, Eweland, the Dagomba; as well as from Yorubaland (Nigeria) and the hosts, Igboland (Nigeria).

Representatives of Anambra State community in Kasao, Onitsha Ado, Inner city palace, Dome Kwabenya, as well as delegates from other Igbo-speaking states in Nigeria and Ghanaians from Greater Accra, Volta, Savanah, Northern, and other regions were among the dignitaries that graced the occasion.

It Is Unlikely We’ll See An Igbo President In Our Lifetime – Okolo

Anthony Olisa Okolo

NEW TELEGRAPH INTERVIEW

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

Anthony Olisa Okolo is the President of Igbo National Movement (INM), a body of Igbo intelligentsia and entrepreneurs. In this interview with EMMANUEL IFEANYI, he speaks on issues concerning the Igbo nation in Nigeria and agitation for self-determination, among other issues

The Igbo National Movement (INM) has become more vocal on Igbo issue; what is responsible for this?

Simply put, the Igbo National Movement is a movement created to re-establish our Igbo nation. It is established for the progress of the Igbo national or as we call ourselves, ‘Ndigbo’ wherever we may be found on the earth, and also for the development of Igbo homelands (ala-Igbo), through the enhancement of our Igbo republican institutions.

The movement envisions the development of a nation of Ndigbo, arising into the world polity with a society that encourages justice, merit, equality and treats people with respect.

So, we’re simply doing what we are meant to do.

Are we looking at cultural awakening or reawakening of the Igbo nation?

Don’t get it twisted, Ndigbo meet all the criteria for nationhood. We have a common tongue, a common territory which is known to us and our neighbours, a common culture and now, a common purpose to regain that which the British took from us forcibly. We have been indigenous to our land for over 3,000 years and lived in peace with our neighbours all that time.

Why then should we look to the very recent past of the last 100 or so years as if that is the foundation of our identity? No, Ndigbo are far more ancient peoples than that, and as such, we are ripe for a re-awakening of who we are, and to seek to control our destiny in non-violent and constitutional agitation.

In this, I believe we are closely related to our brothers and sisters of other indigenous nations in Nigeria, who are also in the process of their cultural awakening.

We commend the Ijaw, the Yoruba, the people of the Middle Belt and the plurality of Nigerian indigenous people to take control of their destinies and to call for a real debate on the path for a new future, for the administrative entity that is the Nigerian federation.

This, we believe will be achieved through a sovereign national conference of the Indigenous people of Nigeria. It is one of our objectives to make this call and to support all Nigerian indigenous people to join this call. It may be the only way to save this federation, and re-create it into a system that the people can recognize and respect.

What’s your view on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), tge group’s agitation and the recent arrest of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu?

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is first and foremost an Igbo man and he is one of our own. In any family group, there are a variety of characters. Some are prudent and diplomatic, while others may be brash and confrontational.

A wise family will always align itself with the former and will at the same time seek to curb the excesses of the latter. But a wise family never abandons their child to an outsider’s discipline, lest they be viewed as uncaring and unwise.

So, while the family will always stand ‘with’ its own, it will not necessarily stand ‘for’ them where their ideology does not follow the wisdom of the family group. We stand with Mazi Kanu because Ndigbo do not abandon each other in adverse circumstances. We protect our own from the outsider.

We believe that discipline is best meted out within the family group, and Igbo justice is harsh indeed. But we do not stand for the ideology that suggests that all non-Igbos are our enemies. However, we believe that his recent abduction was unlawful and we have said so plainly.

But the Attorney-General of the Federation seems to stand that no law was broken in bringing Kanu back to Nigeria?

Unfortunately, the Attorney-General of the Federation pretends he does not know the law. He seems to believe that a warrant of arrest in Nigeria can be executed at will internationally without the process of extradition.

He thinks there is nothing unlawful in the Nigerian government kidnapping a British citizen who has renounced his Nigerian nationality in a foreign country, which he has entered legally with a British passport.

We believe he knows he is wrong, but we understand he must try to justify these illegal acts because it is what the government wishes him to do. But justifying illegality is not the job of the Chief Law Officer of a democratic country.

He must stand for justice and truth, even where it is against the instructions of the government he is part of. Not even Kenya will be so naive as to agree with him and certainly, Britain will not allow their citizen to be made a fool of as it is a poor reflection on them.

Is there a hidden agenda to the interest being showed on Igbo issues by INM?

The movement is being funded by love. Of what use is a hidden agenda?

What is the use of hiding a lamp beneath an opaque bucket? Our agenda is open to all and we are proud to share it.

We wish to reassert our rights as an indigenous nation and for the federation to recognize these rights as well as the rights of all indigenous nationals who are desirous to chart their course, whether within a re-negotiated Nigerian Confederation or in a clearly defined Commonwealth of Independent Nigerian States.

No Nigerian, who is Nigerian by birth, can be a Nigerian, if they were not firstborn to the nations indigenous to the land, upon the amalgamation by the British in 1914.

To be Nigerian is to be first Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Kanuri, Ijaw, Jukun, Tiv or any of the various nationalities that make up the Nigerian federation.

The promise of Nigeria lies not in replacing these identities, but in harnessing our diversity, allowing each to become the best version of ourselves.

How would you describe the Nigerian federation and how it is accepted by the people?

The government and Nigerians know that at present, Nigeria does not have the soul of a federation made up of the administrative units we have come to know as states, but is at heart, a federation of proud nations.

That is why most of the states created by the military have continued to fail to bring the people the development that they require. They have failed to energize the loyalty of the people and the people question the legitimacy of these units consistently.

How do you see the present political leadership in Igbo land?

With very few exceptions, the present political leadership in Ala-Igbo has failed to unite our people behind a common ‘post-war’ ideology that meets the dynamism of Ndigbo. We are builders, democratic and believe in merit.

Ndigbo would rather perish in the field of work than go cap in hand to beg for our supper. This monthly pilgrimage to Abuja to beg and scrape for our livelihood is un-Igbo. It has to stop. We have never really needed the support or interference of outsiders to develop our land.

After the war, we pulled ourselves out of the mire, with very little help from the victorious Federal Government who impoverished us. We rebuilt all we see in Ala-Igbo today from a pauper’s dowry of £20 per person.

Are you in support of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction?

It is unlikely we will see an Igbo president in our lifetime. The people who know Igbo for what we are and despise us because of it will never let that happen. If they do allow it, they will hope to force upon us, an Igbo man or woman of such flawed character, that we will all be ashamed to call ourselves their kinsmen.

We have some of them who have been rigged in as governors today to provide proof of such perfidy.

What we need is for Ndigbo to use the power of the vote and social activism to regain control of Ala-Igbo. We should employ the best of us to the work towards regaining our national pride and to focus our energies on building an economy that will be a force to reckon with globally.

Ndigbo are never contended with anything less than excellence, so why should we continue to settle for mediocrity to please those who choose to be indolent? We are very clear on what ideology we are for, and how to achieve that ideology.

When we are ready to do so, our people will direct an appropriate vehicle to achieve these aims.

Looking at Nigeria today, what do you think 2023 will look like?

2023 will bring Nigerian indigenous people closer and closer to their freedom. For the first time, the corrupt military establishment is running out of alteregos to set upon the throne that they have created for themselves within the Nigerian government for it is them we call the cabal.

Their generation is old, grow weak and dying. Their stronghold on the younger and vibrant generation is dissipating and their achievements will eventually evaporate in smoke. 2023 will bring us closer to the realisation that “We the People” mentioned in the constitution of Nigeria, must have our voices heard.

The choice for Nigerians will be whether to heed these voices or to continue to allow the oligarchy to suppress them in the hope that once silenced, they will go away. Our voices will not go away. We will grow stronger and stronger until the tipping point is reached.

Between restructuring and outright struggle for an Igbo nation; which one is INM in support of?

Restructuring without recognizing the independence of the indigenous nations which make up the Nigerian Federation, and basing the restructuring process on that recognition, would be akin to putting make-up on a pig and taking it as a wife in the name of a beautiful woman.

It will not change anything other than words and soon the realization will hit home that one has made an awful mistake. The Igbo nation will stand on its own or it may choose to subject its sovereignty to a different administrative entity.

But that can only be decided through the expressed will of the people, and by making each indigenous nation understand what benefits such a system will bring to each national. What are tribes if not nations? And what are nations if not tribes? Yet one connotes the negative, and another has a positive interpretation.

That is an unfortunate paradigm encouraged by a colonial mentality with an ulterior motive to subdue. Very similar to how some people are called ‘migrants,’ while some others are called ‘expatriates.’ It is all a play on words which at the heart of it contains racist ideology.

Dialogue With Igbo’ll Address Agitations, Says Soludo

Charles Soludo

BY GODFREY GEORGE

PUNCH

A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Prof Charles Soludo, has said any dialogue that will quell agitations in the country must have Igbo in the front seat.

He stated this during a consultation of Anambra indigenes in Lagos on Friday.

Stressing that the platforms available at the moment may not be favourable to the Igbo, he suggested that they came together, joining forces to become a formidable force to champion the needs of Igbo people.

Soludo said, “Yes, there are agitations and I respect them. But dialogue is the answer. They must dialogue; Igbo and Nigeria. That will settle it once there’s an organised platform, where the Igbo will be in front seat. Forget about the APC and PDP. For us to negotiate our way to the centre, we must come together and form a formidable force for doing this.


“I call on all Igbo to come together, step out and build our land into a liveable homeland.”

Speaking further, he said that the reason for the unrest in Anambra State and in other parts of the South East was the deep-seated unemployment in the region, adding, “Our answer to these unrests is prosperity and job creation. Once there are jobs everywhere, all of those people will come out of the bushes and do something productive with that lives.”

Soludo said he had over 40 support groups pleading with him to be governor of the state.

He stated that he had to give it a good thought before accepting in February, 2021, because he wanted to make Anambra a liveable homeland for all.

The militarization Of Igbo Land

BY THIS DAY EDITORIAL

The deployment of soldiers in the southeast is unconstitutional, contends Sonnie Ekwowusi

The ongoing militarisation of Anambra State and the rest of Igbo land under the guise of combating insecurity is illegal and unconstitutional. Capitalizing on the messy political violence and a few political assassinations in Anambra which claimed the life of Dr. Chike Akunyili and other precious lives, the Federal Attorney-General and Justice of Minister Abubakar Malami (SAN) had announced last week that the federal government might declare a state of emergency in Anambra State. Not unexpectedly, prominent Nigerians and institutions have been blasting Malami for harbouring and uttering such a wicked statement. Notably among them is the Anambra State governor Chief Willie Obiano. Chief Obiano has said that he had reached President Buhari on the matter who told him to ignore Malami as the federal government does not intend to declare an emergency rule in Anambra.

Why is the Federal Attorney-General pressuring the federal government to declare a state of emergency in Anambra when a state of emergency had not been declared in different parts of North East and North West battling deadly terrorism and armed struggle resulting day after day in monumental human casualties and sacking of communities? When a people’s dignity, honour, pride, reputation, and existential values are constantly eroded in nauseating fatalistic Fulanization and Jihadization, there is a cause for concern. Being a senior lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria for that matter, Malami ought to have known that neither he nor President Buhari nor any other political office holder can wake up one morning and unilaterally declare a state of emergency in Anambra. Even though our democracy has been seriously corrupted and abused at recent times, government actions are still governed by the rule of law, especially the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the supreme law of the land. By virtue of section 305 (1)(2) (3a-g)(4)(5)(6) of the Constitution, President Buhari may through an instrument published in the Official Gazette issue a Proclamation for a State of emergency in Anambra. Thereafter President Buhari shall immediately, after the said publication, transmit copies of the Official Gazette of the Government of the federation containing the Proclamation to the National Assembly which will decide whether or not to pass a resolution approving the proclamation. Note that President Buhari shall not issue a proclamation for a state of emergency in Anambra unless there is actual breakdown of public order and public safety or there is a clear and present danger of a breakdown of public order and public safety in Anambra. In a nutshell, President Buhari cannot declare a state of emergency in Anambra without an instrument published in the official gazette, and, without issuing a proclamation to that effect, and, without the concurrence of the National Assembly.


Apart from Malami’s state of emergency threat, the federal government, under the guise of protecting lives and protecting in Anambra and the South East, has deployed soldiers to invade Anambra State and the rest of the South-East in what has been tagged as “Operation Golden Dawn” ( reminiscent of George Wallace’s Operation Golden Dawn). The latest military offence, which is no different from Operation Python Dance 1 & 11 of 2016-2017, is actually targeted at dislodging IPOB and ESN as well as create the enabling environment for the federal-assisted Anambra politicians to steal the Anambra Gubernatorial election come November 6. Considering the atrocities committed in Igbo land by soldiers deployed to invade Igbo land under “Operation Python Dance” 1 & 11, it beats the imagination that the government has again deployed soldiers to invade the same Igbo land. You will recall that during the so-called “Operation Python Dance” 1 & 11, several innocent Igbo civilians were either murdered or badly injured or publicly flogged or harassed or hounded by soldiers. The disturbing video clips of the aforesaid invasions are still available for all to watch.

The latest deployment of soldiers to invade Anambra State and the rest of the South-East under “Operation Golden Dawn” is illegal and unconstitutional. Section 217(2)(a) (b)(c)(d) of the 1999 Constitution has in no unmistakable terms spelt out the circumstances and conditions under which President Buhari can deploy soldiers to any state of the federation. There are: (i) for the defence of Nigeria from external aggression. (ii) for the maintenance of the territorial integrity and securing the borders of Nigeria from violation on land, sea and air, (iii) for suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President; subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. In other words, whilst President Buhari can freely deploy our military to defend our country against aggression and to maintain our territorial integrity, he cannot dispatch the Nigerian soldiers (acting under “Operation Golden Dawn”) to invade Anambra State and the rest of the South-East in order to combat insurrection and/or other internal armed conflicts in those place without “such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of National Assembly, and “performing such other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly” as stipulated by section 217(2)(c)(d) of the 1999 Constitution. It is clear that the aforesaid constitutional provisions were violated when President Buhari deployed the Nigeria soldiers under “Operation Golden Dawn” to invade Anambra and the rest of the South East.

Even a plea of the doctrine of necessity by President Buhari cannot avail him or justify “Operation Golden Dawn”. The doctrine of necessity can only be pleaded upon certain conditions such as; (a) there must exist an imperative necessity arising from danger affecting Anambra State; (b) the action must be proportionate to the necessity (c) action taken to meet the exigency and must be the only available action (d) there must be incapacitation of the state security apparatus which normally maintains security. During the prosecution of “Operation Python Dance 1 & 11 in Igbo land from 2016-2017, the Nigerian soldiers did not comply with the Rules of Engagements (ROE). The soldiers went berserk intimidating, harassing innocent passengers and motorists and unlawfully incarcerating innocent citizens in Igbo land. They also went about killing suspected Biafra agitators and IPOB members and dumping their corpses in nearby bushes. Now, recent reports reaching us attest that the soldiers operating under “Operation Golden Dawn” are committing the aforesaid crimes which they committed in Igbo land under “Operation Python Dance 1 & 11. For example, for adorning an outfit depicting the Biafran rising sun, prominent actor Chiwetalu Agu was last week publicly molested and humiliated by some soldiers. Other innocent citizens in Igbo land are presently experiencing similar molestation or humiliation.

This is unacceptable. How can soldiers who are supposed to be combating crimes turn round to start committing their own crimes? No matter the situation, committing jungle justice in Igbo land cannot be rationalized. Two wrongs cannot make a right. Soldiers cannot do wrong in order to right another wrong. The end does not justify the means. Soldiers cannot employ illegal means to achieve a lawful end in Anambra and the rest of the South East. There should be no repeat of the atrocities of soldiers under the previous Operation Python Dance 1 & 11 in the South-East.