Ndigbo And Fallacy Of Power Not Served A La Carte

BY IKECHUKWU AMAECHI

VANGUARD

NIGERIANS love clichés to bits. But if there is anything they love more than clichés, it is their penchant to determine the fate of Ndigbo based on pre-conceived notions. As the curtain is slowly but inexorably being drawn on the Muhammadu Buhari presidency and the political silly season is, once again, upon us, those two tendencies are manifest.

As 2023 beckons, the buzz phrase these days is the fallacy that power is not served a la carte. Interestingly, that banality is only voiced in reference to the legitimate clamour for a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction.

You often hear people speaking tongue-in-cheek that “power is taken and not given”, ostensibly latching onto Gloria Steinem’s phrase that “nobody gives you power; you have to grab it,” without putting it in context as Steinem, an American feminist journalist and social political activist, did.

For instance, fielding questions on Arise Television on August 4, 2020, elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, former Liaison Officer to former President Shehu Shagari, said: “Igbos should not expect power to be served on them, they should build bridges if they want a president of Southeast extraction.” Yakasai insisted that “power is taken and not given.”

While the nature of power in itself involves contestation, the idea that it must always be taken and not given is not true. In Nigeria, power has always been served a la carte since independence in 1960.

When Shehu Shagari became president on October 1, 1979, he did not take power, it was given to him because his ambition was to become a senator before he was handed the presidential ticket of the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, at the party’s national convention held at the Casino Cinema, Yaba, on December 12, 1978.

Having been adopted by the Northern political establishment, he easily defeated other more flamboyant, wealthier and politically-astute aspirants like Maitama Sule, Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Olusola Saraki, Joseph Tarka and Professor Muhammed Iyi Abubakar in the primaries. He became Nigeria’s first executive president on a platter of group endorsement, and in spite of himself, having been served power a la carte.

Olusegun Obasanjo was in prison when the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was founded in August 1998 by former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, and other members of the G-34. Yet, in deciding who the party’s presidential candidate would be, Ekwueme, who rallied round the most potent opposition against General Sani Abacha’s transmutation agenda was by-passed for a reluctant Obasanjo. He was served power a la carte.

Having been adopted by the Northern political establishment, he easily defeated other more flamboyant, wealthier and politically-astute aspirants like Maitama Sule, Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Olusola Saraki, Joseph Tarka and Professor Muhammed Iyi Abubakar in the primaries. He became Nigeria’s first executive president on a platter of group endorsement, and in spite of himself, having been served power a la carte.

The late President Umaru Yar’Adua wanted to return to Ahmadu Bello University as a lecturer after his eight-year tour of duty in Katsina State as governor. He neither had the gumption, war-chest nor even the national name recognition to propel him to Aso Rock. Yet, he became president without any struggle. Simply put, he was handed the presidency on a platter of Obasanjo’s whims.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who had run on his own steam three times, only made it to Aso Rock when most Northerners felt that President Goodluck Jonathan’s quest for a second term was not only greed for power taken too far but an unpardonable breach of the rotation principle which favoured the North at the time.

Even members of the PDP from the North, including the then National Chairman, Adamu Mu`azu, worked against Jonathan. In Bauchi State, where Mu’azu was governor for eight years, PDP lost the 2015 presidential election to APC, scoring only 86,085 votes, a paltry 8.4 per cent as against 931,598 polled by APC.

Even during the military era, power was served a la carte to Yakubu Gowon after the bloody July 29, 1966 counter-coup by Northern military officers. He didn’t struggle to become Head of State.

The junior officers who overthrew Gowon in a palace coup d’état on July 29, 1975 handed power over to General Murtala Muhammed. General Joseph Garba, one of the architects of the coup who later became Minister of External Affairs, narrated how Murtala even gave them conditions for accepting the offer.

When Murtala was assassinated on February 13, 1976, reports had it that General Olusegun Obasanjo, his second in command, was reluctant stepping into his shoes. Rather than struggle for power, he was persuaded. So, why will it be different now simply because there is clamour for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction?

Yakasai talked about Ndigbo building bridges. Isn’t that what they have been doing even before the idea of Nigeria became a reality? There is hardly any Igbo leader of the old generation that was born in the South-East.

Both Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu were born in Zungeru, a town in Niger State, which was the capital of the British protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1902 until 1916.

Presently, there is no community in Nigeria’s 774 local governments, no matter how remote, that you won’t find a resident Igbo. So, why is the bar being raised so high simply because Ndigbo are laying a claim to the national political diadem?

Before now, the question has been: where are the Igbo candidates? Now that some Igbo aspirants, including Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, a renowned pharmacist, founder and former CEO of Neimeth Pharmaceutical, former president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, foundation president of the West African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria; and Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, a lawyer, who became Senate president at the young age of 39, and also served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, have raised their hands to be counted, the story is changing.

Suddenly, zoning of political offices has become a taboo to some political actors. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who obviously wants to run again for the presidency in 2023, is now repudiating the PDP zoning principle.

Speaking at the 94th National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the PDP on Thursday, October 7, Atiku urged the party to be guided by the spirit of fairness and equity rather than zoning in determining the presidential candidate.

“Where the President comes from has never been the problem of Nigeria. It will not be the solution to the problems of Nigeria. There is no such thing as a president from Southern Nigeria or a president from Northern Nigeria.

There is only one president, a President of Nigeria, for Nigeria and by Nigerians,” he said. On the face value, there is nothing wrong with his position. But juxtapose it with his stance on the same issue at the 2011 PDP Convention when he squared against Jonathan, the hypocrisy jumps out.

Hear him then: “The founders of this party, in their wisdom, devised rules for the rotation of power between North and South in response to cries of marginalisation and domination. We wanted peace and justice to reign. And we put it in our Constitution (Section 7.2.c), and we all know what a Constitution means.

“That provision has not been altered. In 2002, an expanded caucus of our great party met and reaffirmed that policy…. I have always put Nigeria first before my personal interests and ambitions.”

So, what has changed? If rotation of power between North and South was desirable in 2011, what makes it undesirable in 2023? Truth be told, equity, fairness and social justice demands a Nigerian president of South-East extraction in 2023.

In which case, after eight years of a Muhammadu Buhari presidency, power should gravitate to the South. And it will be unconscionable for the South-West that has held the presidency and vice presidency for 16 solid years in a period of 24 years or the South-South that was there for five years to deny Ndigbo the opportunity.

But even if the only criterion for determining who becomes president in 2023 is competence, South-East has a glut of competent people. Fortunately, all those who have declared interest so far are not running because they are Igbo, but because they are competent, knowledgeable and proficient Nigerians, who possess the requisite skill sets to save their beloved country from implosion.

INTERVIEW: Anaekwe: Why We Prioritise Stakeholders’ Needs, Expectations

Aishat Anaekwe. Image: This Day

THIS DAY INTERVIEW

Aishat Anaekwe is the Senior Brand Manager, Life Continental Beer and 33 Export Lager. In this interview she speaks on issues around the brands and their market acceptability. Dike Onwuamaze brings the excerpts:

Life Continental Beer has been known to drive Progress and Success. How is Turu Ugo Lota amplifying this notion?

As is widely known among the Igbos, hard work and success are symbols of leadership and respect. Life Continental Beer is amplifying these highly laudable attributes of the east through the Turo Ugo Lota campaign; to showcase the resilient spirit of Igbos to Nigeria and the rest of Africa, celebrating an ancient heritage of the people and the region. It is indeed a great joy for Life Beer to tell this story and as such, uphold the trust of the East.

How does Life Continental Beer bring life and zest to its stakeholders?

At every point in time, our stakeholders, host communities, loyal retailers and end consumers are king. We prioritise their needs and expectations regarding the brand, creating avenues for partnerships and empowerment often. For decades, Life Beer has supported the progress and success of easterners. Our Life Beer Empowerment scheme alone has utilised over a hundred million to empower and strengthen their business small businesses. As we grow our loyal customers and partners grow with us, across the nation.

How is Life Beer’s performance considering that there are other options available in the market?

Life Beer is currently dominating the beer category in the south-east and has grown to become a dominant beer brand in the country. We are driving the penetration of Life beer into other regions and ensuring we sustain the legacy of good will among these host communities and our partners there.

What are some of the campaigns that have stood out in your engagement with loyal consumers?

For almost a decade now, we have been transfixed on telling compelling brand stories to not only build equity for the brand but engender an awakening among our partners and loyal consumers. In 2014, we rolled out the PROGRESS FOREVER campaign to connect with our core market but the campaign that stood out the most would be that of last year 2020. This unforgettable year, Covid-19 squared up everyone; throwing health, economic and security challenges at all and sundry and the NDU KA campaign was basically to remind our south eastern consumers (Igbos) that they’re a very resilient bunch and also motivate the rest of our audience to stay hopeful and optimistic about the future.

What is the concept behind Turu Ugo Lota and why is it different from other campaigns previously embarked upon?

The Turu Ugo Lota campaign is a story of progress. In line with the brand’s core message, we sought to tell a story about the resilience of our core consumers. Nigerians, specifically people of the South East, have experienced a lot. Coming out of the Covid-19 lockdown, the brand understood it was important to motivate them. We did this by reminding them of their come-back story. Turu Ugo Lota seeks to inspire an attitude to succeed, not just for our target audience but also anybody who is touched by the campaign. It stands out from other campaigns because we went back to the basics in a unique way. It was also the first time we used Nollywood father and son duo, Pete and Yul Edochie as our ambassadors.

With the Turu Ugo Lota campaign, what is your expected response from the market and what is the campaign expected to achieve overall?

We expect people to connect with our brand in a deeper way. Our campaign is relatable and calls out the cultural heritage of the typical Igbo consumer. To create more meaningful associations with our audience we will continue to inspire them in positive ways.

How do you intend to leverage the resilient spirit of the Igbos in achieving increased market penetration?

The Life brand already has its original platforms created to channel this resilience. Through the Progress Booster, which is an initiative to support up and coming entrepreneurs, we sponsor startups by training and issuing them grants to grow their business. It is our own way of encouraging enterprise in the region.

In what way is Life Continental Beer seeking to further collaborate with host communities in facilitating progress and success?

I mentioned the Progress Booster earlier. Another initiative is the Hi-Life Fest, a platform that celebrates the unique sound and dance techniques of the Igbos in various communities. The event discovers relatively unknown talents and pits them in an entertaining musical tournament. The winners are rewarded and sponsored onto bigger stages where they receive wider exposure for their music. We also partake heavily in major cultural events such as the New Yam Festivals, Ofala festivals and more.

Earlier this year, Life Continental Beer was conferred with the title “Mmanya Oganiru of Igboland”. What does the title mean and how has it impacted on the brand?

The Title “Mmanya Oganiru” simply means the “Beer for Progress”. For us, the title is a validation of our brand purpose which is “Progress” and an indication that all our efforts and commitment towards the progress of the Igbo community and Nigeria in general has not gone unnoticed by the people. It especially holds significant meaning for us because the title was conferred upon the brand at Nri, Anambra state. Nri is significant for the Igbos because it is widely regarded as the Cradle of Igboland. So being recognised at such a historic location by respected traditional rulers from across the Eastern region means a lot to us because it tells us that we are making significant impact in affecting the community positively.

Why is Life Continental Beer the preferred Lager of the eastern region?

It’s easy. We have been around long enough to cultivate that impact that has cut through generations of sociable South Easterners who enjoy a finely brewed lager beer. More so, our brand aligns well with the culture of the people and they appreciate a beer that encourages them to succeed despite all odds

Another moment that stands out when discussing Life Continental Beer is the lighting up of the iconic Niger Bridge. Can you shed more light on this?

The lighting up of the Niger Bridge was done in the year 2020. That was at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, so the initiative was just our way of offering a beacon of hope to our people and encouraging them to continue enjoying Life but in a responsible manner in line with all COVID-19 safety precautions.

The recent Egedege video has been a commercial success. Can you tell us the role that Life Continental Beer played in this video?

As the biggest Beer brand in the Eastern market, we are passionate about promoting the Igbo culture. That is why we have the biggest names from the South East in music and movies, Flavour, Phyno, Pete and Yul Edochie as our brand ambassadors. Theresa Onoruah and Larry Gaaga are also icons in their own right and so we decided to identify with the song which has become a phenomenon in pop culture.

The song has an appeal that cuts across cultural barriers and this was reflected in its acceptance by the general public. Within the first few days of its release, it recorded over a million views on YouTube and has been topping all major music charts. So for us at Life Continental Beer, our heritage is about “progress” in all areas of life, be it supporting businesses through our Life Progress Booster initiative or promoting the Igbo culture through our Hi-Life Music Fest, we ensure that our message of “Progress” cuts across everything we do.

Blues, Jazz, Electronica: It All flows Through Ben LaMar Gay

BY ANDY BETA

WASHINGTON POST

 

Ben LeMar Gay Image Via Wikimedia Commons

Ben LaMar Gay's musical loves range far and wide. Steeped in the blues of his hometown of Chicago and an integral figure in his local jazz community, the cornetist and composer embraces a wide range of music, sounding it all through his horn across his vibrant, mercurial songs. And he also loves "The Alphabet Song." Like, really loves it.

"Man, it's the baddest s--- in the world!" he enthuses from a video call in his kitchen on Chicago's South Side. "The end of it, 'Now I know my A-B-Cs, next time won't you sing with me?' You're inviting someone to learn the building blocks of communication. It's so simple, yet so beautiful." Such enthusiasm soon spills over into musings on the liberation of learning another language, how the body acts as a sonic resonator ("oxygen going through this machine!") and his recent travels through Nigeria and Rwanda. More often than not, he refers to music as a portal to a new world.

The new "Open Arms to Open Us" leaps across all sorts of portals, dipping into the dawn of jazz right on through its vibrant present moment, with glints of woozy hip-hop, Prince-ly funk, wordless ululations, Tropicália and gospel yips thrown in for good measure. Fittingly, it also features Gay's own version of an alphabet song, sung in Igbo by performing artist, choreographer, administrator and educator Onye Ozuzu. "It's powerful to hear the alphabet of a different language, the things that build language," he says. "Onye is half Igbo and didn't even speak her father's language."

Despite over a decade on the Chicago scene, working with dance choreographers and as a member of the city's venerated Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), "Open Arms" could be considered his first proper album. Previously, he had recorded some seven albums' worth of music, "imagining that I had a public that would listen to it - and I really didn't care if they heard it." In 2018, International Anthem cherry-picked tracks for the far-ranging "Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun." (The label has since made these full albums available online.)

Gay credits his musical magpie approach to his father's record collection and loving that music. His father's family goes back generations in the Windy City, while his mother's family came up north from Alabama during the Great Migration of the 20th century. "As soon as he was gone to work, man, I'd get the JBLs cranking and just start exploring," he says, adding that his father's records became "portals for seeing the world and hearing the world." He also learned by example, in that his father's love for music expressed itself in informal jam sessions with friends and cousins on the weekend: "He gathered with his friends and had this festive environment for these amateurs to come drink, party, smoke and jam, and just make a sound together. People that work hard jobs, it's like, all right, it's Saturday. Saturdays were amazing."

Gay, like many music-fiending kids of his generation, got into beatmaking first, before pivoting to trumpet in high school. About 13 years back, he switched to cornet. At a certain point, Gay became disenchanted with life in Chicago and decamped to Brazil, whose music had always served as "the first portal to the world, to the real world, outside of the bubble United States." He fell in with local players and was reminded of his upbringing by the Brazilian notion of samba de mesa, of playing music "when everyone's at the table, the vibe, the nucleus of the party is at the table." He lived in Brazil for three years, until an invite to participate in the Red Bull Music Academy drew him back stateside.

That playful informality, that quality of playing with friends without being the focal point, continues through his solo work. It's Gay's name on "Open Arms to Open Us," but he's just as quick to cede the spotlight to a wide array of voices and instruments. George Lewis, the avant-garde jazz trombonist and tireless electronics innovator and educator, recently caught one of Gay's shows.

"He performed on cornet and various electronic objects, but the piece was not about him standing out," Lewis says. "Rather, he distributed sonic agency among the eight ensemble members and himself to produce a supple and limpid psychic counterpoint."


Opener "Sometimes I Forget How Summer Looks On You" starts with a gurgle of synths and quicksilver drum rolls, Gay's voice purring against the teeming backdrop, as nonchalant as a murmured bossa nova. But Gay is quick to add that he's actually drawing on Chicago's own blues tradition, always pulling and pushing against the rhythm. He credits fellow Chicago reedman Roscoe Mitchell and a comment he once made to him: "Don't play on the 1!" It can feel at once like a jazz song, an old Organized Noize beat from the late '90s, or a wobbly pop tune without ever settling on a particular sound. As the song builds to a full boil and an array of sweet pop backing vocals entwine with his own, it bursts into an ecstatic looped shout of "Hallelujah!"

Gay says that song is about a family member ("a low-key dedication") and most of the other songs on the album serve as portraits put into sound. Each song begins with an idea and whatever instrument is closest at hand. As he works, "sometimes I hear voices that I know, like friends and I place those voices in it and build from there," he says. The assemblage of songs and textures has the feel and flow of a beat tape, never settling in one place for long. Only four of the 17 tracks stretch past the 3:30 mark. Field recordings, electronic squiggles and spoken word bits pop up often. The brief "Mestre Candeia's Denim Hat" weds underwater blips and crisp snares to an unhinged synth solo, while "S'Phisticated Lady" could be lifted directly from a double Dutch chant on playground asphalt. It leads into the triumphant "We Gon Win." Gay roves from the "jungle" cries of Duke Ellington trumpeter Cootie Williams to avant shrieks of the AACM to the stomp of an HBCU marching band, as he and backing vocalists incant the title.

His original intent for the album was to feature a live band, though the pandemic quickly dashed that idea, leaving him to build up each song layer by layer, sometimes with a full band, sometimes with friends sending in their contributions.

The British-Rwandan singer, actress, dancer and choreographer Dorothée Munyaneza first met Gay in 2018 when both were invited to Dance Gathering in Lagos, Nigeria. "We got to improvise together one night, him on the cornet and me singing in Kinyarwanda," she recalls. "It was like he understood the rhythm of my language and the melody; it was a very powerful moment. He has a unique way of extracting sounds out of different types of instruments and objects that displaces me, moves me and inspires me every time."

When Gay reached out to her to contribute vocals to the album, Munyaneza set up in a makeshift studio in her bathroom and recorded the vocals for "Nyuzura." The title translates as "give me light" and Munyaneza sings it in her native tongue. "You're hearing some real deep Rwandan culture in there," Gay says enthusiastically. "She's flowing in Kinyarwanda and then she sticks in a 'yo!' and it's straight-up hip-hop culture. When you hear a "yo!" it's South Bronx." Fittingly, the plucked strings underpinning the track come from a citara Gay bought while traveling through Mexico.

In the notes that accompany the album rollout, Gay mentions a trip back to Alabama to visit his extended family, a great aunt noting while they walked across farmland that she could still hear the hammering of her late father out there, even decades on. That phantasmal sound, that subliminal beat, untethered to time but bound to the Earth, informed Gay's approach to the album. "I've played in small villages in Western Europe, in Africa," he says. "When you go to these small places, especially when you travel with sound, it makes you realize most folk cultures are the same. These people gather up instruments from their environment and try to imitate their environment. "

Ultimately, he sees "Open Arms to Open Us" as something for his nieces to discover when "they're like 40," never mind that they're barely 6 now. The embedded snatches of Igbo, Kinyarwanda, the spoken word interludes and overheard conversations, held together by the voicelike tones Gay elicits on his muted cornet, all speak to an as-yet unnamed future: "When they get older and they become between 35 and 40 and they put this record on like, 'Oh, that's Uncle Benji saying this to me.' It's this little thing for these special people to catch on at a certain time when they may need it."

It's a transmission as simple and universal as A-B-C.

Lessons From Igbo Trans-Generational Entrepreneurship: Why It Matters

BY PROFESSOR NNAMDI MADUCHIE

THE CONVERSATION

 

Computer village, Lagos, is one of those places where Igbo entrepreneurship is practiced and passed on to the next generation. Image: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty

The Igbos are one of Nigeria’s three main ethnic groups in a country of about 200 million. Based in Southeast Nigeria, this industrious and acephalous group has attracted a lot of attention from research in recent years. Most of it has focused on the success of Igbos in artisanal enterprise and informal training. Now their apprenticeship system has become a talking point.

Most of the research on the Igbos’ success in business has been through the traditional cultural lenses of anthropology and sociology. My co-authors and I have sought to move beyond these cultural frames to a business and management lens – notably entrepreneurship.

I have been studying Igbo entrepreneurship since 2008. In my earlier article, my co-authors and I drew the illustrative case of Nnewi culture. This is an Igbo enclave in Southeastern Nigeria renowned for its high incidence of productive entrepreneurship. It is noted for its automates and manufacturing businesses, which at the time of our research had only received limited research attention.

Almost a decade later, I co-authored a paper which highlighted that the “informal apprenticeship system provides entrepreneurial learning that prepares the younger generation to take to business as a way of life.”

The role of family affinity and networks in business has been observed across geographies. The use of family networks this way makes significant contributions to the economic growth of nations.

To understand better the effect of these family networks, my co-authors and I interviewed 25 Igbo entrepreneurs to find out what constituted the catalyst for the business model.
About the study

Our research identifies the key variables associated with trans-generational business legacies and succession. The Igbos, like most other indigenous groups, believe in maintaining a legacy of not just their language but other values, customs and norms. In particular, for the Igbos, business continuity seems paramount as a means to ensuring that there are trans-generational business legacies.

The study also highlighted salient Igbo cultural and community nuances. These include the role of Di-okpara (first son), Umunna (sons of the land), Ikwu (members of a kindred) and Umuada (daughters of the land). These insights inform a contribution to the discourse of ethnic or indigenous entrepreneurship, which has both theoretical and policy implications.

We then developed four themes that serve as the points from which trans-generational entrepreneurship is nurtured among the Igbo. These are:

“Nwaboi” (informal volunteering);

the role of first son (di-okpara), which is closely linked to “afamu-efuna”;

the independent and individualist, but yet communal, that is, “acephalous” nature of the Igbos (“Igbo enwe Eze” – Igbos have no king); and

the entrepreneurship collaborative and cultural initiative – the role of kindred (Umunna).

First, the Nwaboi apprenticeship system assumes two forms, “Imu-Oru Aka” (learning a craft or skill) and “Imu-Ahia” (learning to trade) across all kinds of trading to various crafts and skills.

Second, Igbo businesses survive across generations through the identification and the nurturing of sons who can take over the business. If the first son shows no interest, any other male in the family with potential is trained to take over the business. Indeed, the notion of “Di-okpara” highlights the significance of a male child (normally the first son) to the legacy of the family and any succession plans. It is also linked to the notion “afamu-efuna”, which guarantees the lineage among the Igbos.

Third, there is the moderating role of the Umunna (sons of the land), Umuada (daughters of the land) and Ikwu (members of a kindred). These are the arbiters of family or societal disputes. The decisions of the Umunna are binding on members of the clan. In addition, where family business conflict arises, the elders of the kindred step in to settle the dispute. By resolving disputes internally, the mechanisms help avoid lengthy court processes which are often disruptive to the running of businesses. This makes the role of Umunna very potent.

Just like Umunna, there is also the “Umuada” (Umu means people) of first daughters (Ada). This is an association of influential indigenous women. The group goes beyond the first daughters whose ancestry is traced to a village or town. The Umuada represents the interests of women and serves as a bridge between women and men.

In some cases, the Umuada also serve as checks on the abuse of power by the council of elders. Umuada can, as result of these powers, intercede in any disputes related to business practices. Besides, women sometimes also engage in these business activities.

Generally speaking, arbiters such as Umunna and Umuada have tended to help shape new norms and beliefs. On the other hand, other Igbo structures help facilitate the creation of more effective business processes. These include better financial frameworks. An example is Afam efuna, an equitable “nwaboi” system overseen to some extent by custodians such as Ikwu, Umunna and Umuada. These Igbo structures therefore enable the development of new markets and cultural innovation. They also enable Igbos to maintain trans-generational business legacies and inter-generational succession.

The Igbo culture of entrepreneurship can be traced back to the slave trade in the 15th century. By the 1800s about 320,000 Igbos had been sold to slave traders both within and outside of their communities at Bonny, 50,000 at Calabar and Elem Kalabari.

This process continued until the abolition of slave trade in the 1900s. Unlike most African communities, slaves from the Igbo ethnic group were exposed to entrepreneurship by their owners, including members of their own tribe who traded commodities like spices, sugar, tobacco, cotton for export to the Americas, Europe and Asia. Long before Europeans arrived, Igbos enslaved other Igbos as punishment for crimes, for the payment of debts, and as prisoners of war. The practice differed from slavery in the Americas.

Igbos built on this, venturing into various forms of entrepreneurship during the pre-colonial era. Colonisation found the Igbos already leading craftsmen, traders, merchants and cottage industrialists. They have maintained this culture of entrepreneurship through the structures and mechanisms described above.

Policy implications

The findings from Igbo ethnic entrepreneurship studies cannot necessarily be generalised for all other ethnicities. They also provide realistic and current examples of how African entrepreneurship is embedded in unique cultural phenomena. However, each of the elements of the Igbo entrepreneurial spirit and culture raises different issues, in particular how societies can sustain entrepreneurship across generations.

The lessons from the success of Igbo trans-generational entrepreneurship can certainly be adapted to other socio-cultural settings. American journalist and author Robert Neuwirth hinted at this while talking about the Igbo apprenticeship system.

Taking a cue from the title of the book by the celebrated Chinua Achebe, one of the greatest poets of “Igbo” ancestry, scholars cannot let “Things Fall Apart” in this quest to understand and act upon the dynamics and potential of ethnic groups and their contribution to the global economy.

The Igbo entrepreneurship model has demonstrated, time and again, how to navigate both ethnic and gender discrimination in mainstream society. This has obvious managerial, research and policy implications.

Professor Nnamdi Madichie is affiliated with the Unizik Business School, Awka, Nigeria, Coal City University, Enugu, Nigeria and the Bloomsbury Institute London. His is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

NNAMDI AZIKIWE'S OPINION OF OJUKWU AND BIAFRA

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, governor-general of Nigeria and member of the Queen's Privy Council, on the day of his appointments, November 16, 1960. Image: Popperfoto via Getty

AZIKIWE'S OPINION OF OJUKWU/BIAFRA

"Yes. I played a prominent role in Biafra for the unity of the country in order to restore peace and bring about unity of the country. That’s the role I played. I advised Ojukwu. I said well look, you have declared secession.

What we should do is to get the elder statesmen and women of the nation to reconcile you and Gowon. I said by declaring secession, you get so many people who do not believe you to remain there.

You see all of us were interned. As we were interned then, we couldn’t express our own views as we see it because, he made Decree Number 5 which vested absolute powers in himself and if you were against his views, it then constituted an act of subversion and the penalty was death by shooting.

Well, it was a war-time measure and that is understandable. So, I advised him. I said go to the conference table and iron out your differences. Allow elder statesmen and elder stateswomen to bring the two of you to the conference table and settle this matter so that there will no more be civil war and the country may be united. He agreed. But Gowon was advised by the Ministry of External Affairs to insist on pre-conditions .

That is that before he could negotiate with the secessionists, that they must accept certain terms; accept the 12-state structure and all. So, it was quite obvious that the Federal Government wanted Biafra to come to the conference table with their hands tied and their feet tied. But they won’t be free agents.

That was the diplomatic mistake on the part of the Federal Government. So, when they did that, then Lt- Col. Ojukwu told me, “How can I go to the conference table based on these ultimatums?”

Still I advised Ojukwu to go to the OAU and ask them to use their good offices to settle the dispute and that we should avoid loss of lives. He accepted my advice in good faith.

Then he said, ‘Now, you have some heads of state in Africa who are your friends, would you mind going to appeal to them to use their good offices so that the Nigerian civil war could be an item on the agenda for OAU summit in Kinshasa?’ I said I would gladly go. So he sent me to Monrovia as a peace envoy.

I went there and met my friend, President Tubman. Tubman expressed his willingness to use his good offices. He told me he would see another mutual friend, the late Haile Sellassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, and both of them would see that the civil war was placed as first item on the agenda of the OAU Summit in Kinshasa.

I returned and broke the news to Ojukwu. He was very pleased.

Then, when the OAU summit opened, Chief Awolowo, as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and Commissioner for Finance, led a strong Nigerian delegation to Kinshasa and raised a very strong objective on the Nigerian civil war being placed as an item on the agenda on the grounds that according to the OAU Charter, this was a domestic affairs and member states were precluded from interfering in the domestic affairs of each other, which was really sound according to international law.

But we wanted to solve it in the African way, to use mediation and conciliation to bring two warring brothers together.

The OAU accepted the submission of Chief Awolowo and so it was not put into the agenda. Well, history will show now between Chief Awolowo and myself, who actually accentuated the war. I was trying to get the OAU to settle the dispute so they could go to the conference table and he was thinking of legalism, that it would amount to interference in the domestic affairs of a member-state.

But meanwhile here you have two brothers killing each other.Well, Ojukwu told me, I have done my best. You see, Nigeria was relying on law and we are relying on humanity.

What’s next? I said why not try other heads of states and see what could be done to bring about peace? He then said he left the initiative with me. I suggested going to some heads of state and see what can be done. But his advisers led by Dr. Nwakama Okoro suggested recognition.

That if we can get other states to recognize Biafra, maybe the hands of Nigeria may be forced to go to the conference table.

Well, I thought that was a sound idea and I placed my services at their disposal so as to meet my friends.

We had in mind President Senghor of Senegal, President Houphouet Boigny of Ivory Coast, President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, President Milton Obote of Uganda, President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and of course Francois Bongo, he is now Omar. He now has become a Muslim. He was then a Christian.

The long and short of it all was that I and these great African statesmen agreed that if Gowon persisted with pre-conditions, then they would accord recognition to force the hands of Gowon to go to the conference table and bring about peace.

That was one.

Two, Gowon had already predicted that the war would end on March 31 and as far as these African statesmen were concerned, these killings and atrocities did not do any credit to the image of Africa and as such what should be done was to stop it as soon as possible.

Therefore if the war didn’t end by March 31, then the propaganda of ‘Biafra’ that it was an act of genocide would be justified. And they didn’t want to accept that.

I went on this mission and succeeded in persuading these heads of state to agree to give recognition just to force the hands of Nigeria, diplomatically speaking, to the conference table.

President Senghor said he couldn’t because the majority of his supporters were Muslims and rightly or wrongly they felt it was a religious war. And he said well, if he granted recognition, then his government would fall.

But he supported the idea of forcing the hands of Nigeria to the conference table. Houphouet Boigny was prepared, provided his people backed him. Ditto for the others except Milton Obote who told us that Prince Mutesa and the Bagandans wanted to secede and he couldn’t support secession when his own state was confronted with similar problems. It left four of them.

That is, President Nyerere, Houphouet Boigny, Kaunda and Bongo. They agreed on the understanding that the war did not end by March 31, 1968 and pre-conditions would be removed to make it easy for both Ojukwu and Gowon to go to conference table.

So they granted recognition and it worked like magic because immediately after this, Dr. Okoi Arikpo, who must be presumed to be responsible for this diplomatic blunder (he was the Commissioner for External Affairs]---a good man no doubt, but he is a very poor diplomat in my own humble opinion - announced to the outside world that Nigeria would no longer insist on pre-conditions and that he was prepared for conference table but the war did not end on March 31 and so, they left the impression, you see, that Nigeria wanted to annihilate the Ibos.

You noticed the Soviets gave Nigeria more arms and Nigeria used those arms to destroy the secessionists. Here, I came in again and I advised Ojukwu. I said look since Gowon has withdrawn the pre-conditions, go to the conference table and argue the points so as to pave way for a peace conference.

It was agreed that they should meet in Niamey. I advised Ojukwu to go. Again Gowon was ill-advised so he couldn’t come.

At Niamey here was Ojukwu. I was on his side. Gowon wasn’t there but Haile Sellassie, Hamani Diori, Tubman and General Akran were there representing OAU. So, I told Ojukwu, I said now you have an upper hand.

These respected leaders of the OAU were there. I had briefed Ojukwu. I said ‘look your line of approach is to express appreciation for what the OAU was doing in order to maintain peace in Africa but you were prepared to co-operate and you are leaving the whole matter in the hands of the OAU to see what could be done to bring an earlier cessation of hostilities.

I said just say that and thank them and sit down.Now Gowon didn’t attend. He sent a junior man, I think Alhaji Femi Okunnu or so, to represent him. And they didn’t even attend this conference at which the four heads of state presided. It was only the Biafran side.

So Ojukwu won a diplomatic victory and you know Ojukwu is a very good speaker if you give him all the facts. He was a good public relations expert and he won. He said, ‘well if Gowon was sincere why did he spite such great men and didn’t attend?’ That worked.

They agreed that Nigeria could be contacted so that we have a peace conference in Addis Ababa. It was a diplomatic victory for Biafra and so we returned to Biafra highly elated. And Ojukwu insisted that I should accompany him to Addis Ababa.

Then something happened. Some of his advisers felt that I was becoming a victim of compromise and that I was a bad influence. That all I was trying to do was to make Biafra impotent. They told Ojukwu that Biafra was holding its own militarily. And why should we want a peace conference?

That he should be very, very careful with me, especially as an Onitsha man because they thought that I was using him as a means to give publicity for myself internationally and that time will come when people will look more to me than to himself.

Well, as a young man, human, he fell for such flattery. I don’t want to mention all the names, but particularly influential in swinging his opinion at that material time was Mr. C. C. Mojekwu, who was based in Lisbon. Then Mr. Matthew Mbu was our Commissioner for External Affairs and he himself did as much as possible, but then he realized that he was having someone who has power of life and death over everybody.

So, we went to Addis Ababa and on the night before the conference, Matthew came to my bedroom at about 10 in the night. He said, “Do you know that all we have done, this man is going to undo them tomorrow?’ I said ‘No’. Then he brought out a printed version of a long speech.

The world press said it lasted for 90 minutes.

He [Ojukwu] went back on everything we discussed. He attacked the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union - all the nations of the world and the OAU, and said that they were misleading us and that the sovereignty of ‘Biafra’ was not negotiable.

We went to the conference. I sat next to him. I thought that he was going to speak in accordance with the spirit of Niamey. But he spoke for 90 minutes and he just got the whole place upside down.

Naturally, Tony Enahoro - he led the Nigerian delegation - replied in kind and so we were back to square one. So, when we returned, I advised him. I told him that I was surprised at what he did but it was not late. He said, ‘The sovereignty of Biafra is not negotiable and if anybody should try to compromise that sovereignty, then it will be an act of subversion.’

Well, that was quite clear to me so I said, ‘Your Excellency, you still have Port Harcourt and you can still bargain from position of strength - after all, the main issue in the civil war is oil and they say that in international politics, oil is combustible and as you have a combustible situation you can begin from the position of strength’. He said, ‘No, Port Harcourt is impregnable.’ ‘Very well, Your Excellency,’ I said. I went back to Nekede where I had been in protective custody since February, 1968. Two weeks later, Port Harcourt fell.

He sent for me. I said, ‘Well, Your Excellency, I did warn you. You cannot now negotiate from a position of strength but having received recognition from four states, we can still use them to see what we can do to appeal to the outside world.’ He said, ‘Very well, I think you should go to the United Nations to seek for recognition.’ I said, ‘Your Excellency, let us wait until after OAU summit in Algiers and find out what Africa thinks.’ In the meantime, I went to Tunisia to see my friend Habeeb Bourguiba of Tunisia. He wasn’t quite well, so we moved from Carthage to Hermit where he stayed. Ojukwu had always said the civil war would be won on the battlefield and not on the conference table, and Bourguiba didn’t take kindly to that. He said don’t you people advise this young man? I explained to him that I have done everything I could to advise him, but he insists on going to the battle field.

So we crossed our fingers awaiting the verdict of Algiers. You know it was decided by 33 to 4 in favour of Nigeria. I advised Ojukwu that to go to the United Nations to seek recognition would be unrealistic since Africa had decided by 33 to 4 in favour of Nigeria. I said Nigerian envoys, the Nigerian delegations, would just percolate the membership of the United Nations and they would frown at the whole thing. He insisted. I was then in Paris. I wrote him a letter. I said:

‘Since you refuse to go to the conference table to negotiate for peace, since you prefer that the civil war should end on the battle field and not on the conference table; since you said that the sovereignty of Biafra is not negotiable, I am afraid I cannot continue as a peace envoy because you have destroyed all the vestiges of any optimism for peace.

Therefore I am relieving myself of my services as a peace envoy. I cannot continue as a peace envoy. I cannot continue as a peace envoy because you have let me down. You left me under the impression that if I succeeded in getting recognition you will go to the conference table. You got four recognitions; you did not go to the conference table. I am therefore going to London on exile.’

I went to London in voluntary exile and the British government granted me asylum. I do not see how anybody could say that I ran away from my country.

I crossed the Atlantic 46 times, trying to negotiate with various heads of state so that they could grant recognition or make OAU to settle the dispute. How could the head of state turn round now and accuse all those who were politicians in pre-1966 and post-1966 as being responsible for the downfall of the republic?

I did my best to preserve the unity of Nigeria and also to preserve the lives of old men, able-bodied men and women and children but I failed. What could I do? I went on free exile and they keep saying that I was among those responsible for the downfall of the republic. I plead not guilty".

Excerpts from the interview he granted to New Nigerian Newspapers, 1979, as Presidential aspirant under the platform of Nigerian People's Party.

Filmmaker Rudy Rochman On Surviving A Terrorist Jail Cell In Nigeria

(Left to right): Filmmakers Edouard David Benaym, Andrew Noam Leibman and Rudy Rochman arrive in Lagos, Nigeria, July 2021. Image: David Benaym via @wewereneverlost

In traveling to Nigeria, the three men hoped to tell an incredible story. Little did they know that after just two days, they would become the story.

BY TABBY RAFAEL 

Rudy Rochman, a 28-year-old Israeli activist, social media influencer and former sniper in the Israel Defense Forces, had a plan for escaping the clutches of the Nigerian secret police when he and two other Jewish filmmakers, Andrew Noam Leibman and Edouard David Benaym, were rushed into a van by masked gunman this past July.

“We were thrown into the middle van, while the soldiers entered a van ahead of us and behind us,” he said. “I recognized from my army service that it was a patrol, and looked for signs that we were being taken to the jungle or somewhere else to be executed. So I came up with a plan: I would take one of the soldiers’ guns and use it to ‘take out’ the three guards. But what was I going to do about the front and back vans, which were also armed and extremely dangerous?”

Rochman decided to wait an hour before taking action. But soon thereafter he, Leibman and Benaym were taken to the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. It was there that Rochman, an unabashedly proud Jew and Zionist who asked for access to his tefillin while in prison, was forced to share a small jail cell with a convicted murderer belonging to the Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, which has killed nearly 40,000 people and abducted hundreds of school girls in its quest to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state.

To understand why Rochman and his colleagues were imprisoned in Nigeria, it’s important to revisit Rochman’s college days at Columbia University (he transferred from UCLA to Columbia upon learning that the latter was “the most antisemitic school in the United States,” he said, and he wanted to face his enemies head-on).

It was at Columbia that Rochman founded a group called Students Supporting Israel and first heard about Jewish populations in Africa. At Chabad of Columbia, he met a young woman who had traveled to Uganda and showed him pictures of the country’s Jewish community.

“I started researching all sorts of stories about Jews being displaced, seeking to be accepted back into the mainstream Jewish community, and I saw it as an opportunity to change Jewish history,” he said. “I want to bring them back to the fold of Am Yisrael (the Jewish people) and even give them an option to make aliyah.”

Rochman, who was born in Paris but now lives in Jerusalem, began researching the 2,000 to 3,000 people who practice a form of Judaism and belong to southeastern Nigeria’s Igbo community, which comprises roughly 40 million people, most of them Christian, in a total population of 211 million Nigerians.

Igbo Jews partake in many Jewish practices, including circumcision, kosher dietary laws, wearing kippot and tallit, and marital separation during a woman’s menstruation. They also observe Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and in recent years, have begun celebrating Hanukkah and Purim as well.

Rochman, Benaym and Leibman were able to film two days’ worth of interviews with members of the Jewish Igbo community during their first few days in Nigeria before they were captured.

“Their neshamot are so elevated,” Rochman said. “All they talk about is Torah and being Jewish. They breathe it, and it was a beautiful experience to be with them.”

He recalled seeing a single siddur with pages that had been photographed again and again for worshipers in synagogue, as well as meeting a young Igbo man whose dream is to move to northern Israel and become a pioneer in agricultural technology.

But despite some Igbos’ claims that they are descended from ancient Israelites, scholars have found the historical evidence lacking. Unlike Ethiopian Jews, the community is not allowed to immigrate en masse to the Jewish state because Israel’s Supreme Court does not officially recognize Igbo Jews as an authentic Jewish community.

Rochman and his colleagues weren’t the first Western Jews to visit the Igbo; in 2006, Rabbi Howard Gorin and members of his Rockville, Maryland synagogue, Tikvat Israel, visited Nigeria and also shipped computers, books and Jewish scripture to the community. Other visitors have included Dr. Daniel Lis, Professor William F. S. Miles, filmmaker Jeff L. Lieberman and Shai Afsai, an American writer who has visited the community three times and who, in 2013, invited two Igbo Jewish leaders to visit his Jewish community in Rhode Island.

But Rochman, Leibman and Benaym wanted to capture the story of Igbo Jews on film for a documentary series called “We Were Never Lost,” which is about unknown Jewish communities around the world. The trio is aiming to show the documentary on an online streaming service, but would not disclose more information. The first season will focus on Africa, and Nigeria was their first destination.

The crew applied for visas as filmmakers without specifying that they wanted to make a documentary about the Igbo community (providing film information wasn’t required). They also enlisted the help of a local “fixer,” according to Rochman, who handled the paperwork.

“NONE OF US COULD HAVE EXPECTED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD SEND MERCENARIES TO ABDUCT US AND THROW US INTO A CAGE.” — RUDY ROCHMAN

When I asked if he and his colleagues knew that Nigeria was a dangerous destination (the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory against the country due to “crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping and maritime crime”), Rochman responded, “We knew that Nigeria is one of the least safe countries in Africa and that the government is very against the Igbo population, but our main concern was that a robber would take us for ransom. None of us could have expected that the government would send mercenaries to abduct us and throw us into a cage.”

In 1967, Nigeria endured a two-and-a-half-year civil war when Igbo secessionists tried to create their own independent state, calling it the Republic of Biafra. Up to three million Igbo were either massacred or died from starvation, resulting in what writers and historians have called one of the worst genocides in Africa of the twentieth century. But the conflict, which ultimately resulted in the dissolution of the separatist state in 1970, only increased ethnic nationalism among the Igbo. The government is still embroiled in conflict with the Igbo, accusing them of attacks against the state and blaming them for the country’s massive unrest.

In traveling to Nigeria, the three men hoped to tell an incredible story. Little did they know that after just two days, they would become the story.

“We Are Here to Spread Light”

Rochman, Leibman and Benaym didn’t consider themselves agents of Igbo separatism (Nigeria considers the movement, called Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), a terrorist group); they wanted to explore Jewish identity through the African Jewish experience. A few days before the trip, Leibman, who runs Kavana Films in Tel Aviv, suggested taking a sefer Torah that was written in Ukraine and survived the Holocaust as a gift to the Igbo Jewish community.

"THE TRIO ARRIVED IN THE COUNTRY ON JULY 6, AND ONE DAY LATER, PHOTOS OF THE MEN PRESENTING THE SEFER TORAH TO IGBO JEWS WERE POSTED BY LOCAL BLOGGERS AND SEPARATIST MEDIA, CLAIMING THAT THE CREW WAS IN NIGERIA ON BEHALF OF ISRAEL, TO “OFFICIALLY DECLARE BIAFRA A JEWISH SOVEREIGN STATE.”

But the Nigerian government saw things differently: The trio arrived in the country on July 6, and one day later, photos of the men presenting the sefer Torah to Igbo Jews were posted by local bloggers and separatist media, claiming that the crew was in Nigeria on behalf of Israel, to “officially declare Biafra a Jewish sovereign state.”

In response, the filmmakers took to Twitter to adamantly restate their mission to connect with little known Jewish communities around the world. “We do not take any position on political movements as we are not here as politicians nor as a part of any governmental delegations,” they wrote. “We are here to spread light.”

Rochman, Leibman and Benaym had planned to attend a youth Shabbaton with hundreds of members of the Igbo Jewish community on July 9. At 7:30 a.m. that day, they received a phone call to their hotel room in Ogidi (an Igbo village) and were told to go to the lobby, and to bring their phones and passports. Upon arrival, 15 gunmen from the Department of State Services (DSS) surrounded them, placed them in separate vehicles and confiscated their passports and phones. They were taken to a holding facility where English-speaking guards told them that they would be detained for 15 minutes. Ironically, they were taken at gunpoint with Israeli-made Tavor rifles, which Rochman immediately recognized (and as a former sniper and paratrooper, knew how to use).

The trio never managed to make it to the Shabbat festivities. They spent the remainder of the day being questioned and verbally abused in separate rooms. For Rochman, whose maternal family members are Mizrahi Jews from North Africa and whose paternal family is Ashkenazi, it was his first time forgoing erev Shabbat rituals.

Upon realizing that they would be spending the night in the dark and filthy cell, the crew asked a guard for a few grapes and crackers so they could recite the prayers for kiddush and ha’motzi, in a miserable “cage,” as Rochman described it, thousands of miles from home, with their dire situation unknown to anyone at the time. They were joined in the facility by their Nigerian “fixer” as well as a matriarch of the Jewish Igbo community named Lizben Agha, whom the DSS had also arrested.

“It’s how I was raised,” Rochman said about maintaining Shabbat customs in the jail cell. “I’m a Jew, and as a Jew, I have these practices. I have respect for my ancestry. For me, saying kiddush and bringing in Shabbat is like brushing my teeth. I always do it.”

The following morning, the gunmen were even more belligerent. They released the fixer, but threw Rochman, Leibman and Benaym into a van together (Agha was also transferred). The filmmakers imagined an imminent execution, which only strengthened their resolve to survive. “In the van, I shifted to warrior mode and said to myself, ‘My story is not ending here in Nigeria,’” Rochman said.

They were taken eight hours away to DSS headquarters in Abuja and forced into another “cage” no bigger than a few feet. Agha was separated from them and placed in another cell. The smell of rat feces permeated the air and left the dank walls encrusted with black fecal matter. There was urine everywhere and the floor was littered with cockroaches. Even worse, the atmosphere was brutally demoralizing.

Rochman remembered the writing by former inmates on the putrid walls, and the messages were devastating: “Remember my name, because tomorrow, they will execute me,” read one. “This (prison) is the university of life,” read another. Finally, a solemn plea: “May my life see happiness one more time.” There were tally marks on the walls signifying prisoners’ terms as well.


“WE WERE MORE STRESSED ABOUT THE DANGERS WE COULD PUT THE COMMUNITIES IN OR THE WORRY WE BROUGHT TO OUR FAMILIES THAN FOR OUR OWN LIVES.” — EDOUARD DAVID BENAYM

“We were more stressed about the dangers we could put the communities in or the worry we brought to our families than for our own lives,” Benaym said. “But all I could truly think about at the very beginning of our arrest was a phrase from the Torah. After being welcomed by the Igbo Jews and before we could celebrate Shabbat with them, I kept thinking, ‘How beautiful are your tents, Yaacov; your home, Israel,’ because we had discovered a part of us in this village, a synagogue in the middle of Nigeria, and it felt amazing. And I also thought about how amazing it was to be captive with such amazing brothers as Rudy and Noam.”

Leibman said that the trio remained calm during the initial detainment: “We genuinely believed this was all just a miscommunication that we could clear up over a brief conversation,” he said. “Over the course of the next few days, it became clear that that was not going to be the case.”

It would be three days before they were given food, and the cell didn’t have a single bed, but Rochman, Leibman and Benaym had something more pressing on their minds: Benaym, a film director and Emmy-nominated journalist who specializes in analyzing American politics, suffers from an autoimmune disorder and his medicine was hours away in a hotel room in Ogidi.

“Once in the ‘cage,’ I was focused on trying to let the outside world know where we were, and on finding a solution,” Rochman said. “We had a ticking time bomb on his [Benaym’s] life. But we knew the guards wanted to keep us alive because they gave us water.”

On the fourth day, they decided to request nourishment in a way that would betray their location to the Chabad of Abuja: Rochman, Leibman and Benaym told the guards that they would only eat kosher food. Once the request was made to Chabad, the word got out: the three Jewish filmmakers had been imprisoned. Their families were notified and they immediately contacted Israel’s Chargé d’Affaires in Nigeria, Yotam Kreiman. Soon thereafter, the story broke worldwide.
Comforting Signs

Five days after being detained, the men met Kreiman, who secured one kosher meal a day for them from Chabad. Each day, they reserved part of the meal for Agha, the Igbo matriarch who was imprisoned elsewhere in the facility. The trio asked a guard to send her some of their meager rations.

After six days, they were handed buckets that previously contained human waste and afforded a chance to bathe themselves. According to Rochman, by then, their nostrils were black from inhaling so much rat fecal matter.

On the seventh day, the guards informed them that they were being moved into a new cell and delivered horrifying news: While one of their new cellmates was a gun smuggler, the other, they warned, was a Boko Haram terrorist who had killed 70 people. “He’s the one you have to look out for,” warned one guard.

That same day, Benaym was taken to a hospital and eventually released into the custody of the French embassy (he holds dual Israeli-French citizenship) due to his autoimmune disorder, although he was forced to report back to the prison every week for further interrogations. Meanwhile, Rochman and Leibman found themselves face to face with a murderer—an Islamist terrorist who knew they were Jewish and Israeli.

“We had to act with a lot of confidence,” Rochman said. “Let’s just say that I constantly was making him understand that I was a very dangerous person.”

Rochman managed to steal a pair of small scissors from a guard’s desk, which he displayed again and again to the terrorist. In case of an ambush, he and Leibman practiced back-to-back fighting in the cell, in full view of the Nigerian prisoners. Showing any sign of weakness could have gotten them killed.

Neither the guards nor the Israeli ambassador had any information about how long Rochman and Leibman would remain imprisoned, but the duo was hopeful. In fact, said Rochman, they derived strength and meaning from several auspicious signs: During each interrogation, they were placed in Room 18 (the numerical value for chai, or life, in Gematria, the Hebrew alphanumeric code), while the room across from them, where the guards gathered, was Room 26 (which alludes to one of the names of God). On each door of the interrogation wing was the Hebrew word “magen” (“shield” or “protection”). Ironically, the Nigerian facility had bought Israeli-made doors. According to Rochman, when put together, the signs were reassuringly clear: “Hashem is protecting our lives.”

"ON EACH DOOR OF THE INTERROGATION WING WAS THE HEBREW WORD “MAGEN” (“SHIELD” OR “PROTECTION”). IRONICALLY, THE NIGERIAN FACILITY HAD BOUGHT ISRAELI-MADE DOORS. THE SIGNS WERE REASSURINGLY CLEAR: “HASHEM IS PROTECTING OUR LIVES.”

There were other signs, too. On their tenth day of imprisonment, Leibman found a note in his tefillin bag that read, “When you lay tefillin in times of war, you strike fear in the heart of your enemies.” One day, Rochman and Leibman were brought downstairs for more interrogations in a space that was also occupied by civilians. They decided to protest their detainment and “make a lot of noise,” wearing their tefillin and shouting to attract attention. One guard asked them what they were wearing. When Rochman explained about the tefillin, the guard responded, “When I saw you in this, it really scared me.” That interaction also reinforced their hope of divine protection.

Each time Rochman was in Room 18, he took whatever he could find that would prove helpful, including ripping out pages from the middle of a paperback novel. On those pages, he wrote letters to his mother describing the crew’s treatment and identifying contacts who could help with their release. And each time he met with Kreiman, the Israeli diplomat, he slipped the notes into his pocket. This began during the second week of Rochman’s imprisonment. Kreiman took photos of the notes and sent them to Rochman’s mother.

Daily interactions with various guards became psychological assessments in which Rochman and Leibman tried to understand which guards were the stronger bullies, which ones were weaker and which ones only backed down when treated with equal aggression. More than anything, they spent three weeks finding a way to survive.

“Being a combat soldier in the IDF takes a lot of emotional and physical strength,” said Rochman, who is still a reservist. “You’re trained to know how to survive all situations, and as a paratrooper, I was exposed to minimal food, constant drills, marching for miles with heavy gear, simulations of grenades, carrying injured soldiers and much more. In training, I barely ate, slept or drank, and wasn’t allowed showers. But I learned how to read people and their body language psychologically and to recognize their dynamics between one another.”

Leibman and Rochman didn’t know if they would be imprisoned for weeks or years. And they rightfully feared that well-intentioned media campaigns to release them (including a planned protest in front of the Nigerian Consulate in New York City, which was later aborted) would only make things worse. Rochman said he believes that the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, could have easily ordered their execution if triggered by what he would have perceived as aggressive international pressure. In the past, Buhari has sworn to crush Igbo separatists.

Meanwhile, the trio’s family waited in angst, and on Instagram, Rochman’s 100,000 followers helped ensure that as many people as possible knew about the crew’s dangerous circumstances.
The Incomplete Light

After 20 days, Leibman and Rochman were finally released from prison. They’re still not sure why they were freed then, but Rochman is certain that the government never really suspected them of conspiring with separatists. “They only wanted to prevent us from making the film,” he said.

On their last day in Nigeria, Benaym was brought back to the facility so that the trio could leave the country together. Their pictures were taken so they could be identified as “criminals,” according to Rochman, and never allowed to enter Nigeria again.

Agha, whom the trio called “Ima Lizben,” was released on bail nine days later. Suffering from illness, she was hospitalized and has since returned to her community in Odigi.

“I gained an appreciation for life,” Rochman said about his release. “After three weeks, I saw the sun. It was such an intense experience. I could actually feel the sun’s vibrations in my ears.

“In 12 hours, we went from being in a cage to being back in Israel,” he continued.

Just before leaving Nigeria, the crew was handed back their cell phones and passports. “I went for weeks without any communication with the outside world, and when I got out, I realized, ‘Hey, Ben and Jerry’s is a problem now’ and that the Olympics were almost over,” Rochman said.

Exuberant family members as well as the media welcomed them home, but transitioning back to normal life proved overstimulating. “Just seeing colors [and] hearing music or even the sound of a dog barking was an overload,” Rochman said. For weeks, he had difficulty sleeping. “I kept feeling that it wasn’t real. Were we actually back? I remember thinking that we even take something as simple as colors, which weren’t anywhere in the prison, for granted.

“It’s hard to explain what it was like in that cage,” he continued. “For three weeks, you couldn’t move your body more than a step or two. And there was nothing to distract you, especially not a phone. There weren’t even lights. The conditions were definitely some kind of torture. And then, out of nowhere, you’re back to normal life.”

The filmmakers are including the limited footage they captured of Nigeria’s Jewish Igbo community in the documentary series. For Rochman, a return to normal life means continuing to create educational virtual content with the goal of combating antisemitism and influencing global conversations about Israel and the Jewish people. It also includes working with Leibman and Benaym on their documentary series “We Were Never Lost,” for which they are currently crowdfunding. Rochman also remains active on social media platforms (particularly Instagram and Twitter), and on his YouTube channel.

Ironically, his ordeal in Nigeria only strengthened his resolve to support the Igbo Jewish community and tell its story. “Each [Jewish] Diaspora group took something with them—a piece of life—when they were scattered,” he said. “The goal is to come together and be a full light. I realized that without people like the Igbo coming back home to Israel, we’ll never be able to complete that light.”

Rochman is challenging Israel’s rabbinate to use its “responsibility and resources” to visit the Igbo in Nigeria and investigate their claims of Jewishness for itself. Many Igbo Jews are willing to officially convert to Judaism in order to make aliyah, he said.

“Coming home meant that we were going to be able to tell the story, the tale that we were originally supposed to film,” Benaym said. “We became the story and that was never our intention. As a journalist, and as filmmakers, all we want now is to go back to document these amazing lives and bring back the consciousness of these Jewish souls to the world.”

“I PROMISED SOMETHING TO THE IGBO COMMUNITY: THIS IS THE LAST GENERATION OF JEWS THAT DOESN’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE.” — RUDY ROCHMAN

For Leibman, returning to Israel was bittersweet. “I still feel much frustration that we were blocked from being able to capture these amazing stories and share them with the world the way we intended,” he said. “On the other hand, it was a blessing to return to our homeland and experience the basic freedoms of daily life, such as being able to go outside, deciding when to eat and having the ability to be productive again.”

Some have expressed concern that the filmmakers’ trip put the Jewish Igbo community at greater risk, especially given that the trio posted photos of themselves with Igbo leaders and alluded to a relationship between Israel and the Igbo community (one Instagram post by Rochman stated, “Israel X Igbo are locking arms”). It’s an important question, especially given that the visit also resulted in the imprisonment of an Igbo Jewish matriarch. But Rochman is adamant that the Igbo story must be told: “To talk about her [Lizben] spending 29 days [in prison], to quantify even what suffering means for the Igbo people means that someone does not understand what the Igbo people are facing,” he said. Rochman claims he received several videos from Igbo members this week that showed “bodies on the floor; of people’s heads being blown off … there’s a massacre happening to the Igbo people and it’s necessary for us to bring awareness in the world as to what’s happening.”

He acknowledged the inherent dangers of exposing the Igbo’s suffering, adding, “Of course, people are going to have to risk their lives to create change; that’s the only way that change has ever happened in the past, and they [the Igbo] are the ones who are spearheading that movement among their community. And we’re there to document and to show it in order to actually save them. If we focused our energies more on trying to save them, and less on trying to pin fingers on where that suffering is from, we would actually be saving more lives.”

When asked if he made any promises to himself or to God during those three tortuous weeks, Rochman thought for a moment. Then he responded, “I didn’t promise myself. I promised something to the Igbo community: This is the last generation of Jews that doesn’t know who you are.”

For more information on “We Were Never Lost,” visit www.wewereneverlost.com.

Tabby Refael is a Los Angeles-based writer, speaker, and civic action activist. Follow her on Twitter @RefaelTabby

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.