THE HISTORY WE DIDN’T LEARN THE LESSONS WE DIDN’T TAKE

BY OKEY ANUEYIAGU

The Biafra War: Distribution of food and wood for cooking at the nurtrition centre in Umuoso, 1968. CC BY-NC-ND / ICRC / H.D Finck


By the turn of the years 1966-1970, it was incontrovertibly evident that Nigeria had committed massive crime against humanity, and had gone through a vicious journey through atrocities against its citizens, particularly the Igbo and other ethnic minorities of the then part of the country known as Eastern Nigeria. Today, it is becoming evident that nothing much has changed; and that this glaring passivity discounts in a rather frightening manner, the horror of this genocide and the ultimate impetuosity of this crime. It appears that as the world turned a blind eye in the past to this crime, it has, once again, anfractuously grown numb to these atrocities.

The shameful, but ignored history of these atrocities have never been taught in our schools for over five decades. The massacre and other related vicious episodes of Nigerian violence carried out against its citizens, and the Easterners, especially the Igbo, have become part of the history we did not learn, and the lessons we have not taken.

We have spent a considerable amount of time and wasteful energy trying to outrun the ghost of all those whose lives were wickedly taken, but the weight of the past and the haunting spirits of our sins are lurking night and day, behind us. I have, on my own, spent a lifetime trying to understand and comprehend the savagery in our past, wishing that I could turn back the hand of time and unsee the scenes that I witnessed as a child growing up; of children, men and women savagely terrorized and slaughtered simply because of their tribe, tongue or creed.

How our past informs the present in beautiful and tragic ways must be our primary concern as we constantly seek ways to correct the ills of our past and of a bewildering and checkered Nigerian history. Only when this is done and implemented to the fullest, can we build a virile and strong country.

The Inclination and the effort to learn and teach the history of the Biafra war and the horrors of it, must include the ghastly results of the ethnic cleansing, the tribal annihilation and the general hostility of the horrible era. This history when told, must also share the resilience, fortitude and perseverance of the Igbo people that survived that war. I believe that it is only in acknowledging our faults and admitting that these crimes were committed, that we can hope to grow and survive as a country. Otherwise, the omission of these events in the history of our nation must be considered as the perpetration and manifestation of a continuing oppression of the Igbo and other Easterners.

Why is it imperative that our sepulchral history must be told? Not as a politicized or polarized recounting of our past, but as pedagogical moments and as tools to help us understand our historical sordid past with an optimistic lesson that knowledge brings insights that help people change and heal.

It is claimed in several quarters that the most heinous crime against our society, apart from the physical atrocities from the pogrom in the North and some parts of the South West, and the genocide that followed in the East, is the deliberate exclusion of the teaching of the history of these events in our schools and our cultural institutions. It is rather shameful that our leaders considered and decided that the critical tribal theory of our disgraceful past have no place in the curriculums of our students. The question of why our leaders took these terrible actions remain painfully valid today. Some consider these actions to be because people may be made uncomfortable upon learning about the mistreatment of the Igbo, or may expose the attempts made by the active participants in these actions to surpress their wicked deeds and cover their perfidious pasts. Let us allow history, the clear metaphors of our lives, to be the judge.
The history of Nigeria’s sordid pasts and the senseless spilling of innocent blood preceded the January 15, 1966 military coup in which prominent politicians were murdered in cold blood. But this coup, the first military coup in the history of the country, signalled a new dimension to killings with some tribal undertones. This coup, tagged an Igbo coup because a radical and idealistic young Igbo officer led it, took the lives of many politicians of other ethnic groups, except that of the Igbo stock. Although it has long been proven by many authoritative sources that it was not a tribal (Igbo) coup, as many of the participants were from many other ethnic groups, the promoters and proponents of tribal dichotomy, have conveniently used this excuse to exact some form of comminatory actions and vengeance against the Igbo without any commiserate measures or limits.

As I grew up in the North, I witnessed and became an integral part of the history of these atrocities. In my book; Biafra, The Horrors of War, The Story of A Child Soldier, I chronicled a clear and vivid personal recollection of the crisis in the North, and all the way to the war in the East. It was a historical journey for me, and of an about to be forgotten dramatic but painful and perilous mental and physical struggle of a people. In my grappling with the horrors of the very long crisis and the almost forgotten war, with the devastating sordid and haunting imagery, I worry that our history has failed to recall and record the bitter and wicked account of our people’s journey through darkness and of a country that has gone berserk.

Today, it seems that the lessons of that war have been consigned in the dustbin of our scanty memories, and that the fissiparous forces have once again appeared, dripping with blood, in Nigeria.

Nigeria, a country with the greatest potentials for prosperity, not necessarily from its huge oil and hydrocarbon reserves, but from its vast and veritable human resources in a world ruled today by technology and digital economy, has fallen way back in meeting the threshold of global development. By general consensus, the problem of Nigeria is largely in part due to the country’s inability to learn from the history of its past, and by its refusal to utilize the opportunities of exploiting the events of the past, to reconcile with the present.

The gripping and memorable history of Nigeria’s vitriolic past that have been denied its people, is principally responsible for its failures. I believe very strongly that until we know our history, we will never have a future. To move forward, we must look back in order to solve a lot of our problems.

The crisis that led to the war in which 3 million Igbo and other Easterners died, led to the deep feeling of accumulated grieviances and general bitterness. People began to feel a lot of prejudices and repression toward each other. The prevalence of unjust and authoritarian rule emerged and began to truncate democracy and ravaging national unity which got displaced by tribalism, nepotism with primodial tendencies.

It appeared then, and even more prominently now, that we did not learn from the history of our past, and that we have deliberately not addressed several issues from our history that provided no books in our libraries, or our archives, but only those that are left in our blury and bloodied memories. The well-planned avoidance of a systematic recording and accounting of the crisis and the war, as we have no official history of these events, and as it has not been part of the teachings in our schools, is a major issue and a hindrance to the path to peace and prosperity. For these and many other reasons, the hypothesis of Nigeria as a Nation-State has been very contentious and hanging on a thin tread for decades.

Many believe, and I agree, that if we were allowed the ever so compelling privileges of studying the history of our past, especially that of the sordid history of the killings of over 3 million helpless people, our country would have hearkened to the admonitions and brutal lessons that those disturbing periods afforded us.,

What lessons do we as responsible Nigerians expect to learn from our past horrible history? There are many. This history, once it is properly told, will reveal The Truth. It will also acknowledge the harm committed by, and done to certain people, and will hold the perpetrators accountable. The lessons will point to Truth and Justice as the anchor and pillar for a strong country desiring unity and national harmony.

To know, acknowledge and to recognize the history of the crisis and of the war, is to prevent future occurrences. We all have a legitimate right to know the history of the war, and to deny us this inalienable right, is to destroy the future of the country. History may compel us to show remorse, and may also ensure forgiveness and healing from pains and horrors of our past, leading to institutional reforms and closure.

In my aforementioned book, I wrote extensively about the period in the history of our country between January 15, 1966 and January 12, 1970, as a period when darkness befell the nation. This period was marked by murder, killings, pillage and indescribable destruction. My personal experience of this parlous period, was to say the least, devastating. It is difficult to describe the effect that this war had on so many people, especially on the Igbo who were at the receiving end of the bitter and horrible experiences. Fifty years after the end of this debacle, all my thoughts – while inexplicably escaping from the hold of words and emotions – are always wandering and drifting over dark images and shadows in my attempts to meander into indescribable nightmares from the events of the pogrom, the genocide and the continuing neglect of the people who suffered through this period.

Today as many of us who witnessed this carnage ponder the devastation, all we have left are memories of horror and questions about how it was possible for people to inflict such pain and sorrow on their fellow citizens and phlegmatically go about as if nothing happened. One must also wonder why and how the history of this war was not told, preserved and conserved. The suppression of this story is responsible for the disunity in the land.
I believe that because we did not learn any lessons from this war, our country from the day that that war ended, until today, has become a wasted opportunity without any bright future. It has become a kleptocratic and an autocratic state that is very divisively dysfunctional, with political and economic structures that are not inclusive and devoid of equality. Contextualizing this country Nigeria ─– within the axiom of the crisis and the Civil War; its causes, results and outcome, ─¬─ exposes breathlessly, the level of evil, incompetent and tyrannical leadership, monstrous corruption, religious and tribal bigotry, violence and all manners of destabilizing vices.

There are so many unanswered questions about the crisis and the civil war that constantly beg for a clear resolution that many believe would enhance the protracted healing and some form of restoration and reforms.

Why have there been no answers and truthful explanation for the killings of politicians and other leaders in 1966? Who planned and executed these coups? For what purposes were these coups and counter-coups carried out? Were they military, tribal, ideological coups? The answers, and the correct answers are known by true patriots. No matter how mischief-makers may try to distort our national history, the truth can never be hidden, and it is only when it is told, and told with the boldest and truest inspiration and intention, that our country will be set free from the bondage of lies, deceit and bloodletting.

Why have there been no answers for the crimes against humanity committed against the Igbo in all parts of Northern Nigerian and in some parts of the West known as the pogrom? What about the brutal and senseless massacre of innocent Igbo citizens in Asaba; the deliberate Nigerian Government policy to blockade all routes into Biafra causing deadly starvation that took the lives of millions of children; and the other genocidal war crimes committed by Nigerian troops against innocents civilians, mostly women and the elderly during the war? These high crimes were not investigated, the perpetrators were not tried and brought to justice. The history of these ugly incidences have been deliberately discarded and buried for the sole purpose of preventing our people from knowing our evil past. How can we heal if we do not know what and why those things happened? How can we learn from our mistakes and make amends?

How can we begin to forgive if we do not learn of what happened? Remarkably, it appears that the Igbo, while not forgetting what they have experienced in the hands of their fellow citizens, may have learned the lessons of forgiveness. They may have forgiven the pains they suffered, and are continuing to suffer as members of a country they have invested heavily in founding and building. Otherwise, how do you explain the fact that the Igbo right after the war, embraced the concept of one Nigeria and began to rapidly reintegrate with the rest of the country, moving to live in faraway places like Sokoto and Maiduguri; places that witnessed their near annihilation.

Though the brutal war was fought and lost, the majority of the Igbo were ready to forgive their transgressors and those that mercilessly took the lives of 3 million of their own. This was one of the many paradoxes about that dreadful war. The ability of the Igbo to forgive the torments of that war, and their facility to regain equanimity in the wake of the unspeakable atrocities and the dehumanizing scars inflicted on them is a remarkable feat that is unparalled in the history of genocide, repression and persecution in the world. Many have posed the question of whether there is a special attribute in the Igbo DNA that activates a forgiving nature or spirit, and if there is a cultural disposition in them that prevents them from harboring any form of hate for their tormentors? Others think that they possess a God-given ability to endure agregious cruel acts and aggravated malice perpetrated against them without reciprocating in kind. But for how long will they continue to uphold this heteronymous disposition of willingness to forgive?

My punctilious and scrupulous dissection of this Igbo forgiving spirit, serves as a worthy exercise for the rest of Nigeria. It is a virtue worthy of emulation, because I believe that forgiveness serve as an instrument for stopping wars and promoting lasting peace and prosperity; that forgiveness entails a divine reciprocity, for when we forgive others, God forgives us. The lesson learned from the Igbo spirit of forgiveness, is an amazing lesson of how to create spiritual, physical and fiscal growth for our country.

But how do we forgive when we have been denied the history and knowledge of what transpired? How do we stop these atrocities when we do not even recognize that we have made surreptitious mistakes? How do we grow if we do not learn from our history and take lessons from our fugacious and perfidious past?

I will dare, with some measure of trepidation, to say that the calamitous and lugubrious condition that our country finds itself today is spiritual and karmatic. That the failure to admit and atone for our sins may be responsible for the many killings going on in virtually all parts of Nigeria. As trivial as this postulation may sound, I drew some of my conviction after I spoke to my father just before he passed at the age of 100 years a few years ago. I asked him why our country was falling apart so rapidly. With tears in his eyes, the old man began to explain that the country missed a great opportunity when after the war it failed to reconcile the waring factions, and truly rehabilitate the East. He regretted that a country he fought so hard with others to gain independence for, turned against him and his people.

When I noticed that my father was reluctant to discuss this issue further, I prodded and pressed him, realizing that his vast experience as one of the founding fathers of our country will be valuable in solving some portions of our dilemma. I asked him what he did after the war to influence the leaders then. He told me how he had met three of his closest friends and allies from the North; Malam Aminu Kano (who was the Federal Commissioner For Communication), Alhaji Ado Bayero (Emir of Kano) and Alhaji Maitama Sule. They all agreed that the war was unnecessary and that the outcome was disastrous for the Easterners. They agreed with my father, that there was a dire need to rehabilitate and reconstruct the East and its people. My father regretted that despite the good intentions of these men, the rest of the country was content on carrying out further spurious and punitive actions against the Igbo and other Easterners. The profundity and import of this brief interjection here, cannot be lost to our present day predicaments, as we ponder the wise words of a man who was knocking on the gates of heaven on his way to meet his ancestors.

I am optimistically hopeful that this write-up will not be negatively provocative and will not be viewed as an apologia for any tribe, religion or region, but as a chary and sorrowful cry of a human being who was entangled in the bilious and sickening incidences of our past. For those who are insouciant and unworried about these issues, may they never feel the pains and agonies of those that perished in the hands of their fellow human beings. May they never father children who were made orphans and left in desolation. May the dead bodies of their relatives never be dumped and abandoned in the forest of despair and on lonely roadsides, left to rot and to be eaten and devoured by vultures and wild animals. May they never suffer the fate of the Igbo and other Easterners whose mothers were made widows, and who could not provide breast milk for their young babies simply because they were themselves famished, malnourished and dying from starvation, torture, bullets and bombs, for sins they knew nothing about, or of.

May all mankind and people of good conscience; all people of our Creator, pause for a second and share the enormous burden of our past in recognizing and cherishing the contents of this story and the agonies suffered by many in our land. May we all be spared this experience and make ourselves tools and instruments for the repair of our past ugliness and our impending doom as our nation is engulfed and encircled in cataclysmic plundering, wanton rapings and kidnappings, killings and other traumatic decimations of no mean proportion.

These days, it is tough to get a supermajority of Nigerians to agree on the color of the sky, much less on the politically and ethnically delicate and sensitive topics of the ignominious pogrom and the civil war. Will the vestiges of these issues pollute our already convoluted political atmosphere? My clear wager is NO. And it is a pertinent and perspicuous NO. What bothers me, and should bother many other well-meaning Nigerians, is how we have incinerated our history to the point of overhandedness that cynically and with such agony, created silly, but painful diversions from the grave injustice that has been visited on a vast number of our fellow citizens.

I think that denying us the history of our past is in all circumstances, so injurious and cruel, and a shameful defeat of our constitutional and moral principles and the ultimate defeat of the triumph of equity, fairness, empathy and justice.

I am not a Historian. I am, but a conscious citizen who realizes that the only way we can all live a peaceful life is by us all recognizing our past mistakes. We must write and talk about them, relive and savour them, and use them positively to direct our present and future actions. For those who think that revisiting and studying this history is so complicated and dangerous, I invite them to consider that the price of freedom and emancipation, is embedded in the knowledge of truth, and by a reminder that freedom in this Country has never meant and felt the same for everyone and has more often than not, been conditional.

The intentional rush to obliterate the history of our past by our leaders who laboriously paint the mythical picture of a “one-Nigeria”, “a city upon a hill” or a site of moral justice, is hopeless and lacking in clarity and authenticity. In our collectivity, I reckon that we have mostly lost sight of the possibility that exist in the hidden and marginalized histories of Nigeria.

We MUST tell the stories of our past. This story will set us FREE.

The history we didn’t learn, and the lessons we didn’t take are responsible for the anachronism that our country has become today.

-----------------THIS DAY

Shelf Life: Akwaeke Emezi

BY RIZA CRUZ

ELLE

KATHLEEN BOMANI / ILLUSTRATION BY YOUSRA ATTIA via ELLE

The National Book Award finalist and author of Dear Senthuran and Bitter takes our literary survey.

Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you’re on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you’re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.

Expect to hear even more from Akwaeke Emezi this year, starting with Bitter (Knopf Books for Young Readers, out next week), a companion novel to their debut YA novel, PET, a National Book Award finalist. Their first poetry collection, Content Warning: Everything is out in April, and their first romance novel You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty will be released in May. Screen rights to the latter were bought by Amazon Studios with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society attached; Emezi will be an executive producer.

Born and raised in Nigeria, the NYT-bestselling writer and video artist moved to the U.S. at 16 and now lives in New Orleans—their house has an Instagram account (@shinythegodhouse) as does their Devon Rex cat, Gus PonPon (@gus.ponpon).

The Igbo-Tamil Emezi is a Gemini, was a National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree; graced Time’s cover as a Next Generation Leader for their memoir, Dear Senthuran; considered becoming a nun; once wrote six blogs simultaneously; went to veterinary school and has a degree in nonprofit management and public policy from NYU; can’t write in cafes because of the noise; named their garden Emmeline; appeared in Jay-Z’s 4:44 video; and got an Artist Formerly Known as Prince symbol the day after he died.

Likes: Rotimi Fani-Kayode art, soca music, Bolden skincare, black groundnuts, gold ceilings, fruit stands (mangoes to eat with sweet soy sauce and guavas are favorites), clothes that feel like pajamas, cacti. Dislikes: coffee, writing essays.

The book that:
...shaped my worldview:

Of Water and the Spirit by the late and great Malidoma Patrice Somé introduced me to the concept of decolonizing reality itself and taught me how to center indigenous African realities, which was foundational to my own body of work.
…currently sits on my nightstand:

I just started In Sensorium: Notes For My People by the brilliant Bangladeshi writer and perfumer Tanaïs, and so far, it’s an incredible and evocative text that I can’t wait to drown in.
…I’d like turned into a Netflix show:

The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty would be absolutely phenomenal on screen! It’s a brilliant series about djinn and royalty that the author once described as “a fantasy homage to the medieval Islamic world.”

...I last bought:

Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi, because she is a literary legend and the worlds she writes are always so special.

…I recommend over and over again:

Under The Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta is a classic piece of literary fiction reminding us that queer people are a real and vital part of all our histories.
…has a sex scene that will make you blush:

Anything by Katee Robert, but particularly her Dark Olympus and A Touch of Taboo series. Whew!

...fills me with hope:

I’m pretty jaded about the world, so when I read the Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert, those books warmed my heart because I got to see Black femmes who were in chronic pain, who were neurodivergent, and who didn’t fit white supremacist beauty standards being loved and loved fiercely.

…made me weep uncontrollably:

All About Love by bell hooks is a deeply necessary and utterly devastating book that can reshape your life in the best way if you let it. I think I had a meltdown by the second chapter.

…should be on every college syllabus:

Oreo by Fran Ross is a satirical novel written by a Black queer woman and published in 1974. I consider it an indisputable genius-level text that should absolutely be taught widely.
...I read in one sitting, it was that good:

The Tensorate series by Neon Yang, and yes, I read the entire series in one sitting on a plane. It really is that good.

…I swear I'll finish one day:

I have chronic pain caused by muscle spasms from C-PTSD, so multiple people recommended The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, but I can never finish it because it contains accounts of trauma that are honestly too disturbing for me to take in.

Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:

I think this one is a classic, but Belle’s library in Beauty and The Beast. Technically, it might be the Beast’s library, but as a kid, that was the absolute dream.

Who’s Afraid Of Igbo Nation?

BY JOSEPH USHIGIALE

As the race for the choice of a geopolitical zone that would produce the next President gathers momentum, the thrust of the debate is defined by three pillars of argument: equity, numerical strength and qualified detribaalized nationally accepted Nigerians regardless of race, religion etc.

Let me begin from the last criterion for obvious reasons. Nigeria is bedeviled almost by insurmountable problems and currently hanging on the precipice of insecurity, unemployment, high inflation, diminishing standards of living, kidnapping and banditry and other sundry criminal activities.

The thinking is that, Nigeria is passing through these harrowing experiences because of past and present bad leadership. To stop this recurring phenomena, stakeholders are beginning to discuss new ways to throw up a credible and visionary candidate that would be accepted pan-Nigeria. A candidate who would take Nigeria as his constituency regardless of where he comes from or his religion. This is the current thinking of a section of the political class.

The second consideration is to throw the race open to every qualified Nigerian. In the end, who ever can muster majority votes will carry the day. This is essentially the beauty of democracy which is built around the ideal that it is of the people, by the people and for the people.

In Nigeria where the north alone has 19 states including the federal capital which is predominantly populated by northerners, the north alone has a commanding lead of 20 states ahead of the south which has 17 states.

This position is canvassed by a coalition of 75 northern groups under the aegis of the Northern Consensus Movement (NCM) which claimed that the north has a population of 120 million, with additional 40 million Fulani people to close at 160 million

The NCM president, Awwal Abdullahi Aliyu is confident that the next Nigerian president would be a northerner.

“We are ready for it. We believe in democracy. We know politics is a game of numbers. We know leadership is by ballot box. Leadership is by PVC, leadership is by election and that’s why we are calling our people to come out enmasse to get their PVCs.

“The 120 million northerners should get their PVC. The 40 million Fulani should get their PVC. Put together, 160 million. We will elect another fresh northern president by February 2023,” he stated.

Figures credited to the National Population Commission census of 2006 still records Nigeria’s population at 140m with the north having 75 million while the south recorded 65 million people.

Now those kicking against this approach argue that relying on the numerical strength of your bloc to win a presidential election engenders winners takes all and does not build a cohesive and united country.

This set of people arguing against the use of numerical strength by a dominant group to control power rather seeks inclusiveness built around compromise and consensus. They are the ones seeking the consideration of equity in building political alliances.

The foundation of this argument lies with the consideration that while the north has been in leadership position for decades through military and civil rule, every zone in the south except the South east is yet to lead the country. The nearest the region could boost as proximity to the corridors of power was during the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) when late Dr. Alex Ekwueme was vice to Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

According to unconfirmed sources, the military struck in 1983, when it became apparent that Ekwueme would emerge President after Shagari’s last term. So, who is afraid of the Nigerian President of South east extraction? The north unarguably has a phobia for the Igbo because of the audacity of Chief Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu to declare a sovereign state of Biafra.

In the union that culminated to Nigeria today, it does appear the Igbo were endangered species from the get go. The Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello speaking with a foreign journalist then accused the Igbo of inordinate ambition. According to him, “if you hire an Igbo man as a laborer, tomorrow, he would want to become head man.”

He stated then that under his reign, no Igbo would be employed in his One North enclave. To him, rather than employing an Igbo chap, he would hire a foreigner on contract and pay him to do the job. His reason was that he had to preserve those opportunities that are reserved for northerners only.

It is not surprising that that the Sardauna’s philosophy has endured to this moment and has been elevated to state policy. Today, notwithstanding the federal character policy, the north has taken over every viable parastatals, ministries unchallenged.

Again nursing the same sentiments that greeted Ojukwu’s launch of Biafra, President Muhammadu Buhari while speaking on Arise Tv interview said the group, Indigenous People of Biafra who are like a dot in a circle have continued from where Ojukwu stopped would be dealt with summarily.

“So that IPOB is just like a dot in a circle. Even if they want to exit, they’ll have no access to anywhere. And the way they are spread all over the country, having businesses and properties. I don’t think IPOB knows what they are talking about language that they understand. We’ll organise the police and the military to pursue them,” the President assured.

Given these scenarios, the Igbo feel alienated and marginalised, they do not see themselves as part of Nigeria especially several decades after the civil war where no victor and no vanquished was declared, a section of the country still would not accept them back into mainstream politics. But why?

After General Yakubu Gowon declared the end of hostilities and no victor no vanquished, the Igbo had expected to be reintegrated into mainstream politics. And indication that it was not going to happen manifested immediately after the end of the war following the enactment of certain laws targeting them.

Igbo people believed as it later turned out to be that some of the laws enacted after the war were made to disenfranchise them in Nigeria. For instance, the Public Officers (Special Provisions Decree no. 46 of 1970): With the Decree many Igbo officers who participated in the civil war on the part of Biafra were summarily dismissed or compulsorily retired. This was against the earlier directive and assurance to the world by the Head of State that all officers would be reabsorbed to their former positions before the escalation of hostilities.

From the economic front, the Banking Obligation (Eastern States Decree): Banks in the Igbo region were made to pay all account owners a flat rate of 20 pounds independent of what they deposited in the banks before the war. The same with the Indigenisation Decree of 1972: With this law, Nigerians were given an opportunity to get involved in the country’s productive enterprises. Igbo people, because of their post-war situation, feel they were not ready for such exercise and were alienated from the nation’s economy.

In Rivers state, there was the Abandoned Property Policy by the Alfred Diete Spiff administration. This policy of confiscating properties in the Rivers state by the state government was seen as an economic attack on Igbo people, who fled the state during the war. Igboland, which used to be one of the three major regions of the country, became the region with the least number of states of the six geopolitical zones in the federation till this day.

Now let us also not forget that in addition to losing their means of livelihood, abode, entire life savings, over 3 million Igbo lives were lost during the civil war. By any form of punishment, the Igbo have sufficiently paid the supreme price for the civil war. The current hiccups perpetrated by MASSOB and IPOB are reactions to the punitive actions of the powers that be to continually rub it in and subjugate the Igbo to second class citizens in a country that they are equal partners in.

Let us be clear, I am not an Igbo, even if I was, I would be proud of my rich heritage which is what the Igbo parade. The Igbo come from a long history of struggle, enterprise and self determination. How many people know that long before Nigeria was amalgamated by Lord Lugard in 1914, the Igbo had already organised themselves into a nation state seeking self determination from the colonial masters?

According to the Blackpast website, an Igboman was the first to propose an Independent Igbo nation state in 1865 about 39 years before the amalgamation of what will later be known as Nigeria. It was neither Mungo Park nor Christopher Columbus, his name is James Africans Beale Horton.

Horton who was born in 1835 was the first to publish and send to the British government his proposal titled, “The EMPIRE OF THE EBOES/HACKBOUS/HEEBOS/IBOES/IGBOES/EGBOES, with the Requirements Necessary for Establishing that Self Government Recommended by the Committee of the House of Commons, 1865: and a Vindication of the African Race.”

His proposal included a concrete plan for a Self-governed independent nation, an army, currency, Support for modern civilization and economic empowerment. You can imagine where the Igbo nation would have been today had the British granted this approval.

A corollary of all this is that the Igbo remain a very formidable ethnic group that needs to be accommodated and given a sense of belonging. Rather than fanning this needless fear, Nigeria indeed stands to gain more from Igbo enterprise and ingenuity.

For instance, if not for the sentiments and hatred for the Igbo, Nigeria would have benefited more, curated and improved on the major technological groundbreaking breakthroughs recorded by Biafran in the area of refining, construction, bomb manufacturing etc.

It is about time we reduce the tension especially in the South east, IPOB is no threat to Nigeria or the federal government except that they have been given unwarranted and unnecessary attention. The use of a sledge hammer to kill a fly produces negative outcome. It is rather better to adopt a political solution to douse the tension.

Finally, as parties jostle to produce the next President, 2023 presents a golden opportunity for Nigerians to support the only zone that is yet to lead the country. There are innumerable safe hands in Igboland to guide Nigeria to Eldorado. Fear of secession is needless and would evaporate forever the day an Igboman is entrusted to lead the country and that time is now.

INTERVIEW: Tips From A Black Expat: Making Friends And Mental Wellness While Solo Traveling

BY AMARA AMARYAH

Nkem Chukwumerije. Image via Travel Noire/Nkem Chukwumerije

Meet Nkem Chukwumerije, a solo traveling Expat, building community and relationship to self while wandering the world. As a writing coach, writer, workshop facilitator, and podcast host, she is fascinated by all things language, self, and human relationships and carries this with her in her solo traveling habits. In this interview Nkem shares with Travel Noire her experiences and tips on making friends and staying rooted while solo traveling.

1. How did you start solo traveling?


I was 19 and a sophomore in university. During that holiday break, I’d traveled to Nigeria with my family with plans to stay longer than the others since my school’s break was about 5 weeks. My dad was living in Nigeria primarily at the time, so I thought I’d spend most of my time with him while my sisters, mom, and brother all went back to their homes.

When my dad was off doing his thing, I’d head to the corner store for some chocolate (classic Nkem) and I soon figured out I would need to be sure about my identity walking into these places, or interacting with anyone.I didn’t have my dad there to enter before me and be the big Igbo man people instantly respected. I soon figured out I was more American than I’d realized, and this identity sort of clung to me (or perhaps I clung to it) until I finally moved overseas, initially to South Korea.


Between that first experience in Nigeria and the one in Korea, I’d traveled solo to Jamaica and Italy, with other trips where friends either tagged along or I’d gone to visit friends I’d made in other countries. Later I lived in Abu Dhabi and then Mexico.

I’m currently in Porto, Portugal, having followed an interest to have a longer-term European experience as a sexy late-twenty-something, as I like to call it.





2. What are some of your favourite ways to make friends while solo traveling?


My favorite way to make friends anywhere, at any time is to be so into me, publicly, and see who I attract. You can’t cultivate personal community when you’re in isolation. And I had plenty of moments in isolation; also moments with people I didn’t care about being with, in situations I would have rather not been in, just to hopefully make friends.

When I moved to Abu Dhabi, I quickly picked up learning to play the guitar, and my guitar became my friend, which ended up being a foundational part of one of my romantic relationships during my time in Abu Dhabi.



While in Abu Dhabi, I heard about a wellness center offering yoga, spiritual healing, things I naturally felt drawn to. So on my birthday, I attended a heart chakra healing session, and my perspective was blown open.



It was yoga and art and the group was soft, loving, open, creative, sensitive. I felt like I had been walking down the wrong path for so long, but if I were to turn my head, away from the shadows and into the light, my people were there sitting in a circle, with cinnamon tea, talking about the intricacies of their lives. All I had to do was change course. And so I did.

My time in Mexico was completely magical because it was spiritually centered. At this point, I’d quit my job and decided to go on somewhat of a sabbatical, like I’d seen people I’d met during my travels doing. What would it look and feel like to travel somewhere and stay for not 5 days but 5 weeks or even 5 months?

I also wanted to focus my energy on cultivating community through the wellness-through-writing platform I run Wellspringwords. I’d already started the digital anthology nearly a year prior, but then began a podcast, and had dreams of hosting writing workshops online and in-person. I was dreaming, but finally in a space to see these dreams through to fruition while I traveled around Mexico. And let me say, aligning myself with Wellspringwords’ mission really helped me attract and gravitate toward the right people in that phase of my life.

While here in Portugal I have to lean on the ways I created and join the communities that worked in my last two locations. It’s a different environment with people coming from different places. But everyone has a heart, so that is what I try to connect with.



3. How do you stay grounded while solo-traveling?


This has been a tricky one for me. Grounding was one of the elements I focused on heavily at some point during my time in Mexico. I had been in Puerto Escondido and then I moved to Mexico City and things changed — I was wearing pants and shoes, for one. But there was also structure to my days, structure to what I wanted to begin doing with Wellspringwords.

I’d been in an ongoing year-long yoga teacher training program, so I counted that as one of my tools; my guitar was always never far — another tool. Dance, another tool, and my most effective medicine, along with using words to translate my heart’s call through writing.



As a highly sensitive person and empath, an environment can make or break my vibrational state, so I sought elements that would create a home space that felt like a sanctuary all day — for me that meant incense, light smelling candles, low lighting, sweet tunes (usually soft jazz), my favorite books nearby, food that felt delicious and fresh.

I had all these tools and practices, plus more, at my disposal. I was tasked with discovering how to integrate them into my life in ways that felt natural, nurturing, and supportive; rather than prescriptive, like some wellness to-do list, which is part of the over masculinization paradigm many of us are actively divesting from.

I had to learn not to routinize my life so that I wasn’t institutionalizing myself and losing my freedom. I had to realize that to live life as my life wants to be lived is to still myself and feel, intuitively, what feels the best at this moment? What is most meaningful right now? Between these options, which will serve me to the highest degree? The courage to be grounded in our truths comes from following intuition.



4. What do you look for in a community/support system while traveling?


At this point in my journey, I’m looking less and feeling more. I’m tuning into my intuition and using my psychic abilities to know if a person or group is right for me for the moment. This requires me to be highly knowing and accepting of myself and all my isms; all the narratives at the forefront of my consciousness, laying filters on how I see and interact with the world.



I know that I desire to love, to empower, to share in enthusiasm and sincerity… so these are the types of people and communities I seek. On a surface level, as a solo traveler in a new country, it can be enticing to schedule daily coffee dates with people from dating apps and Facebook groups just to make sure I’m putting myself out there — and some of these meetings can lead to great relationships or opportunities.

But I mustn’t engage blindly or from a place of fear or scarcity. In periods of personal transformation, we know what loneliness feels like, so we seek companionship to counteract that. But what if we remembered that we have always been supported during loneliness, by ourselves and those around us, this would help us see that we don’t have to seek connections from fear of rejection, but rather from a place of love, authenticity, heart, and true support.

5. What are some lessons you’ve learnt about caring for yourself while traveling?


I suppose the biggest lesson, that I have to remember daily, is that caring for myself cannot be routinized. It has to adapt to my changing energy. Because of my innate openness, my ability to set and honor boundaries is one of my most important skills, that I’m consistently honing. Just because my aura is open and I attract a lot, doesn’t mean it’s all bad, and doesn’t mean I need to create brick wall boundaries.

Caring for myself in ways that feel organic and sustainable requires unending grace; and sometimes that grace looks like loving discipline. I’m doing the best I can with the tools I have.

Rochas Okorocha Is Not My Leader, Not My President

BY KENNETH UWADI

Rochas Okorocha

Vultures are evil birds that are always available, and are at their best, nodding their ugly heads in sadistic happiness, only when the news is about death, decay and the resultant availability of flesh. Former Governor of Imo State and the Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Rochas Okorocha on Monday 31st January 2022 formally declared his intention to run for president in the 2023 general election. Okorocha announced his ambition at an event held at the ICC in Abuja. He said he remains the best leader to unite and bring Nigeria together. He said he was the most qualified of all the aspirants jostling for the exalted office of Presidency, going by his antecedents in social empowerment investment across all the six geo-political zones of the country. For me the gathering at the ICC Abuja by Rochas Okorocha and his cohorts is the gathering of the vultures.

The essence of any leadership position is to use one’s experience to work for the good of the overall majority, to create enabling environment for the survival and development of a just and balance society, a society devoid of rancour and unwholesome practices, a society that is free of corruption and bigotries, a society that is built on trust and sincerity of purpose and indeed, a society where ethnic and religious differences does not matter. A leader of any type ought to be honest, truthful, reliable and steadfast. And if we need a good leader for Nigeria in 2023, then Rochas Okorocha is not my Leader and not my President.

It is sad to observe that this former governor of Imo that caused severe havoc to the State’s socio-economic and political advancement and made the State to be walking on crutches, that amputated the state by his corruption, mismanagement and inefficiency is the one staging a press conference in Abuja and declaring his desire to extend his evil, havoc and heavy devastation to the entire Nigeria. May God save Nigeria from vultures in positions of leadership planted by the descendants of Serpents in alliance with some negative internal forces feeding fat on the flesh of the people. Some so-called leaders are worse than vultures; they feed only on living human flesh. They mercilessly corner the resources meant for the development of the entire society for themselves, their families and friends, while the helpless poor masses are left to waste away, dying needlessly of hunger, avoidable diseases and extreme suffering.

These shameless and empty leaders are ruled by extreme greed, short sightedness, deep folly, Corruption and other base considerations like tribe and religion. They lack the knowledge, foresight, patriotism, tact and diplomacy needed to build a modern, organized society. They have become totally besotted by extreme luxury and other paraphernalia of office. They enjoy using the best industrial products of the developed world and like moving about in their fine/well planned cities, but would never think of replicating the good things they use, see or observe in these places in their own societies. Yet, Nigeria is well, if not better, endowed with all the relevant natural resources than some so-called developed world. Okorocha is not my Leader, not my President, I abhor corruption! It deprives the world of resources needed for common good or greater good for all Nigerians. Because Nigeria is dear to my heart and because Nigeria is where my heart is, the mention of Nigeria and corruption in the same sentence riles and agitates me inordinately.

My President in 2023 must possess the ability to think on his or her feet, in addition to possessing local knowledge of Nigeria’s many ethnic regions and their peculiar problems. He must be a good team player, communicator and strategic planner, capable of influencing international opinion through a well orchestrated programme of economic diplomacy. He must have a sound knowledge of the workings of the oil sector, and must be committed to a programme of opening up and creating other revenue streams for the country, especially from the agricultural, steel and other neglected sectors. My President must have on top of his or her agenda the provision of basic social amenities for Nigerians, the rebuilding of dilapidated infrastructure, reduction of poverty as well as the improvement of the quality of life of Nigerians. He must make it possible for Nigerians to experience the true dividends of democracy.My president must have a university degree. He should be able to carry all Nigerians along in the formulation and implementation of government policies. My President must not have previous cases or allegations of corruption against him. He should be willing to demonstrate a track record of selfless service, either from years of working in the private or public sectors. He must not have a background in profligacy and dalliance. He must be a morally and ethically upright personality who should also function as a role model to Nigerians.

Chiedozie Ogbene: I Was Meant To Be A Doctor but that Didn’t Work Out As Planned

Rotherham United’s Chiedozie Ogbene celebrates at the full-time whistle. Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

BY GAVIN CUMMISKEY

IRISH TIMES

Before Rotherham United there were stints at Brentford and Exeter City. Before Limerick FC there was Nemo Rangers. Go further back and find an eight-year-old Chiedozie Ogbene leaving the Enugu state in Nigeria’s interior to catch a flight from Lagos to a place called Cork.

Nursing is the profession that allowed the Ogbenes to settle in Ireland. “Both my parents are nurses. Dad is still practising in CUH in Cork.” Elder brother Uche Ogbene recently joined the family business. “I was expected to be a doctor but that didn’t work out as planned.”

Seriously, Dr Ogbene was the original plan? “Yeah, I always wanted to follow the medical side. I went to a further educational college in Cork to study sports injuries to understand ‘why do I get injured?’ I didn’t go to university but I think we are all interested in human anatomy in the family.

“I am just grateful that my football career took off, but education is something I still look at as really important for your mental health and planning because football is going to end.”

Memories of being raised in Nigeria are hazy yet never fully fade for the first African-born Republic of Ireland international.

“I just remember running around with cousins in the street. Back then I didn’t play a lot of football, just watched my brothers play in a sandy field. I never had interest really. It was when I moved to Ireland and started playing street football with my neighbours, that’s when I took it up.”

One of those neighbours is current Shelbourne and Ireland player Saoirse Noonan. Life in the Grange suburb of Cork, from the time Ogbene arrived in 2005 until signing for Brentford in 2018, are devoid of the horrors suffered by other African families who have struggled to settle in less-welcoming communities.

“I didn’t have great English but I didn’t feel left out as a kid. When you get older, as a teenager, people bully but they don’t know you, really. I didn’t have any trouble, didn’t have too much racism. Saoirse can tell you when we used to play out in the park, we all included each other playing tag rugby or soccer.

“I had a great childhood in Cork, honestly.”
‘Dad worked really hard’

At home the Ogbenes remain as Nigerian as they are Irish in the community.

“My dad worked really hard to get us where we are,” Ogbene explained. “It wasn’t an easy route to Ireland. He had to work, study and go to different countries like Kuwait before he was accepted into Ireland. There were so many journeys he had to go through for me to have the easier route.

“But also, I am grateful for the people in Cork who helped me. They could have made my life difficult but they just saw me as their own.”

Naturally, Igbo remains the family’s first language.

“My parents always pushed me to make sure I improved my English, they always wanted to hear it, but they also want us to remember where we come from, and the culture is something we take huge pride in. I’d come home from school and would switch to Igbo. My girlfriend Sandra used to come around and she would be looking at me, ‘I hope you are not talking negative about me!’”

The Ogbenes sound like Irish immigrants in America or Britain, holding tight to their identity amid a rapidly changing, multicultural society.

“Our household is quite Nigerian dominant. That is just something in our DNA. That is something that my parents and brothers and sisters take huge pride in and hopefully we pass it on to our kids; to share the cultural differences of being Irish and Nigerian because it is important to know where you come from.”

Ogbene’s head-spinning first year on the international scene concluded last November with the 24-year-old saluting Irish fans during a sticky affair in Luxembourg.

The 3-4-2-1 system was malfunctioning. As the attacking trio struggled for cohesion, with Ogbene’s pace drawing as many fouls as a League One promotion scrap, Adam Idah was withdrawn on 62 minutes. The arrival of Jason Knight nudged Callum Robinson further forward and suddenly the matrix clicked.

Shane Duffy’s header made it 1-0 but 20 matches into a tumultuous new era for Irish football, Stephen Kenny’s team needed more than another escapology act from the giant Derry centre half.

As Luxembourg chased an equaliser, Ireland calmly counter-attacked until Jeff Hendrick over-played a ball for Ogbene wide right. Maxime Chanot tried and failed to shake him.

“In training, we press because when you press you don’t give the opposition time to pick a pass,” said Ogbene. “So I lost the ball but – like for Rotherham – we press high and the first reaction was to get the ball back. That’s what we worked on before the game so I knew when I pressed everyone else was going to follow. It only takes one guy to kick it off.

“So I pressed. I only showed him one way because I knew he wanted to come inside. When he tried to take me on I was able to nick it. Jeff was in the right position. Knighty went into the box and I could have stood there and got my breather but all the games I have been playing have me well conditioned, so I kept going. Happy I ran into the box, instead of being lazy. Just gambled and Knighty cut it back for me.”

“Magnificent goal by any standard,” went Ronnie Whelan on commentary as Ogbene scooped Knight’s back heel into the net. “This is the stuff we are talking about. That is evolving.”

The evolution has temporarily stalled as Ogbene, Knight and Hendrick disappeared into the labyrinth of English club football. Hendrick, despite some commanding nights for Ireland, has only played 13 minutes of Newcastle United’s winter slide towards the Championship. Drop down two divisions and Ogbene is flying.
Professional football career

His pursuit of a professional football career was high risk, even foolhardy, after rejecting the elite sporting route laid before him by the GAA in Cork. In 2015, he pulled out of Nemo’s under-21 county football final replay to play for Cork City against UCD in a regular season under-19 match.

“Yeah, it was a big risk but I felt in my gut that I had to take it. If I stayed with Nemo Rangers and played Gaelic football it would have been easier to make it because obviously it is only played in Ireland and I was quite good at the sport. A lot of people knew I could go to the next level and they were giving me the pathway.

“But I wanted to be a footballer. I was just 17 when I made the decision. It was a difficult time for me because I looked at the people at Nemo Rangers as family.”

And you had kicked 1-2 in the drawn final?

“Yeah, it was a big shout to let that go but I am glad I did.”

For a time he effectively became his own agent – Glenn Corcoran handles negotiations now – approaching Limerick FC manager Martin Russell and later Rotherham boss Paul Warne to avoid even a hint of misinterpretation.

“I was just not stopping. At the time at Cork City I was not offered the right contract and having made a lot of sacrifices, like not going to college, and Cork City were very good at that time so I didn’t see myself playing games, nor did I hear the right words from the manager that I would get the opportunity.

“So I trusted my gut. It was nerve-racking making these calls at age 18 or 19, but honestly if I had go back I’d do it again.”

That might wash in the League of Ireland, but switching from Brentford to Rotherham in 2019 was supposed to be handled by the middle men.

“I have a close friend who suggested I go to a Rotherham game. And when I was there I just decided to introduce myself to the manager. Contract talks at Brentford were kind of at a halt so I just wanted to make it clear that I was serious about the move.

“The manager mentioned to me that he didn’t sign me because he wanted me, he signed me because he knew what type of person I was, having shown up to that game. He knew he was signing a good human being. He always reminds me of that.”

Speaking of good human beings, when did Kenny come into your life?

“I think he tried to sign me for Dundalk but going to Brentford was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. Last year, during my knee injury, he rang and said he would like to bring me on board to the national team. I was quite shocked. My agent [Corcoran] played a big part in speaking with Stephen, making sure he knew I was interested in declaring for Ireland.”

Despite FIFA erecting some highly questionable barriers for an Irish citizen born in Nigeria, Ogbene came off the bench in Budapest last June. Five caps later, he has three wins, two draws and two important goals from Ireland’s 10-nil aggregate return.

“I feel like nothing has come easy for me. I have always had to work hard. At youth level in Cork I was never the best player, I never played for the ‘emerging talent’ team or the Cork schoolboys. I always wanted to get to the level so I trained harder than everyone else.

“I would never let anyone get above me. The most talented players are treated differently, and I would have been on the receiving end when I wasn’t being treated nicely and I would always smile, I would always be happy. That comes from my mum.”
Seven-year anniversary

South Yorkshire was frozen over last week, so Ogbene could celebrate a milestone with his partner Sandra as Rotherham United’s rock-hard pitch mercifully interrupted League One’s two-match-a-week grind.

“Secretly I hoped the game against Lincoln would be called off as the right wing back role is taxing on the body,” said Ogbene, in mock conspiratorial tones over Zoom. “A lot of mileage up and down so when you play Saturday-Tuesday you feel the fatigue. You are not as explosive as you want to be.

“Also, it is our seven-year anniversary.”

Doing anything nice? “We have to! She was going to be watching a football match. . .”

Ideally Rotherham are promoted in May as League One champions and avoid a play-off slog. This would ensure his hamstrings make the Nations League in June, where four matches in 10 gruelling days include separate trips to Armenia and Ukraine (presuming a Russian invasion can be averted).

The outbreak of a third World War hindering the flow of Irish-Africans like Gavin Bazunu, Andrew Omobamidele, Idah and Ogbene into the Ireland team would fit neatly into the madness of the Kenny era.

“We all have one agenda – to win for the nation,” said Ogbene of this new look Ireland side. “And, at the same time, you are doing your family proud. We came to Ireland, to a different culture, different surroundings, and the way I have been accepted really did bring tears to my mother’s eyes. You see how people treat her in Cork. She feels famous. It is really nice for her to feel included in the society.”

All Welcome At monthly Mass Celebrated In Igbo language

Men and women from the Igbo Catholic Apostolic gather once a month for Mass, fellowship and Nigerian food and music. Image via the Catholic Star Herald

BY E. JULIET NJOKU

CAMDEN, NJ (CATHOLIC STAR HERALD) -- Igbos from the Eastern region of Nigeria, one of the three dominant tribes in the multilingual and multicultural country, gather at noon every third Sunday of the month at Saint Francis de Sales in Barrington to celebrate Mass in the rich Igbo language accompanied by spirit-filled liturgical Igbo songs and music.

The Igbo Catholic Apostolic (ICA), which was inaugurated on Nov. 19, 2017, under its first chaplain, Father Mike Ezeatu, is grateful to its host parish, Saint Rose of Lima in Haddon Heights, and then-pastor Father E. Joseph Byerley for giving the ICA a place to call home for monthly worship. A true expression of the parish mission of St. Rose of Lima, to love God and others.

ICA is proud of its mission to evangelize and foster a faith community that embraces the heart of Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit, to strengthen family units, with a focus on guiding young children and youth to be firmly rooted in the Catholic faith expressed in the Igbo language and culture of their parents and for their liturgical and ritual formation. ICA is guided by the vision to model a vibrant, loving and supportive family faith community that is warm and welcoming to all in the usual Igbo culture.

This sense of community is truly felt in the efforts of the men and women’s group who rally support for members in times of joy or sorrow. The ICA encourages youth to be involved in the liturgy and engaged in giving back to the wider community through service.

The youth are also organized to participate in diocesan and national programs, with some attending the 2019 National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis. The ICA dedicates a special Sunday each year to celebrate the various educational milestones of the youth. This day is filled with joyful youth activities and gift awards.

During the global shutdown, the youth coordinator organized and engaged young people in various faith-focused Zoom events and prayers, ending the year with an online Nativity story and caroling event during the 2021 Advent season, which featured many of the youth as announcers, narrators and singers.

As Igbos, we enjoy coming together and celebrating our rich culture and Mass traditions here, and every opportunity of gathering with family, friends or neighbors is typically a celebration. It is therefore not surprising that a feast with Nigerian delicacies is shared after every Mass. The eating and dancing serves more than nourishing our bodies, it strengthens our brotherhood/sisterhood and builds the bonds of friendship between the old and young alike.

The ICA is very grateful to Father David A. Grover, pastor of Saint Rose of Lima Parish, who in true spirit of encountering Jesus and evangelism, responded to the invitation of Father Francis Oranefo, current ICA chaplain, and makes an effort to join ICA for the monthly Mass and feast. His presence fosters a great spirit of acceptance of the ICA community and a warm and indescribable joy among its members, who feel truly blessed by his spiritual support.

A Sunday evening Adoration organized by Father Oranefo once a month enhances the ICA’s spiritual formation. Members pray the Rosary together as a community, presenting their personal and family petitions, and intercessions, and receiving blessings and benediction.

In the spirit of a true missionary community called to reach out to others with the richness of Christ’s love and fellowship, ICA’s vibrant choir participates in the annual diocesan Black History Month Mass and other invitations to sing in cultural choir events in the Diocese.

The ICA community was glad and blessed by the presence of Father Vincent Guest, coordinator of the diocesan Black Catholic Ministry Commission, who joined the community to celebrate last year’s annual Mass of Family Thanksgiving, which featured a procession of families bearing different kinds of gift offerings to give thanks to God.

The ICA community invites and welcomes all in the Diocese of Camden to join us in worship, to experience the liturgy expressed beautifully in the Igbo language with soulful, spirit-filled songs!

Dr. E. Juliet Njoku, youth coordinator, ICA, Barrington, is a member of the Black Catholic Ministry Commission, Diocese of Camden.

INTERVIEW: ‘The Igbo Apprenticeship Scheme Could Be Repositioned To Help Nigeria’

BY CHIJIOKE J. IREMEKA

Uche Nworah

Chief Uche Nworah, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Awka, Anambra State, is the convener, National Summit on Igbo Apprenticeship. In this interview with CHIJIOKE IREMEKA, he speaks on the Igbo apprenticeship scheme and how the scheme could be repositioned to help Nigeria as it battles various issues, including unemployment, banditry, and ethnic agitations among others.

Pondering on the Igbo apprenticeship, what is this scheme all about? Where and how did this culture come about?

The Igbo apprenticeship scheme is an entrepreneurial model where an entrepreneur takes an apprentice and teaches him or her the rudiments of a particular trade for an agreed period. On completion, the entrepreneur gives the apprentice seed capital to set up his own business.

Having said that, there is no recorded history of how long Ndigbo have been practicing the apprenticeship scheme. What is obvious is that it is majorly indigenous to Ndigbo and over time, has become part of their culture and tradition. It falls within the ‘self-help’ ideology, the ‘in-group’ philosophy, which found wider acceptance amongst Ndigbo after the Nigeria/Biafra civil war when Ndigbo were stripped of their savings and money in Nigerian banks and given only 20 pounds in exchange for whatever amount they may have in the bank, pre-civil war.

As the Igbo proverb goes, ‘Onye ajulu adiro aju onwe ya’ (if people reject and deny you, you should not deny and reject yourself) Ndigbo then set about rebuilding their businesses and communities, carrying friends, relatives and associates along. Individuals, age grade system, town unions, Iyom, Nze na Ozo and other traditional Igbo societies rallied round in this regard.

This determination to succeed with others also finds expression in the Igbo mantra of ‘Egbe bere ugo bere’- Live and let live, ‘Onye aghana nwanne ya’- leave no one behind along the journey of economic success or along the journey of life.

This meant that people that could already stand on their feet business-wise after the war had to recruit apprentices to serve them or to work with them in their businesses and trades, after which the apprentices (boi-bois) are settled (Idu uno) by their masters to start their own businesses. That way, the wheel of economic progress and development continued to grind in the South East and in other places where Ndigbo sojourn.

You recently conceived the National Summit on Igbo Apprenticeship under the theme: Repositioning The Igbo Apprenticeship Scheme for sustainable Economic Development. What does the event intend to achieve?

The objective of the organisers (Anambra Broadcasting Service in partnership with Awka Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture) is to bring to the fore at this time, the Igbo apprenticeship scheme. We believe that it could be repositioned to help Nigeria as it battles various issues including unemployment, banditry, and ethnic agitations among others.

There is a saying that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Adopting the Igbo apprenticeship scheme by both the federal, states and local councils will help provide economic opportunities for our young men and women.

We are also hoping to see how perhaps, as part of the repositioning of the scheme, the apprentices could get local higher institutions to validate their apprenticeship as is done in some parts of Europe. The apprentices could be awarded credit hours in areas like Marketing, Business Management, Customer Service, Leadership, Accounting etc for trade apprentices, or similar credit hours for those learning a skill such as mechanical, technical or other skills.

This is because on a daily basis in their masters’ shop, they are learning the practical aspects of these disciplines. We envisage a situation where perhaps, by the time they complete their apprenticeship; the apprentices will receive some certification, a diploma or so. This will greatly improve their self-esteem and encourage them further along their entrepreneurial journey, as against the situation where many of them go through life with the toga of being an illiterate. This is despite the life and practical lessons they have learnt as apprentices for several years.

We are imagining a situation where for example, there could be a national agency regulating such apprenticeship schemes. The agency will be responsible for a national database, and an apprenticeship exchange where aspiring ‘boi-bois’ will register their interest, and prospective ‘Ogas’ will register their willingness to absorb them. This will help in standardising the scheme. There will be guarantors etc.

An insurance scheme for ‘boi-bois’ could be introduced to enable them access start-up grants should their ‘Ogas’ fail to settle them when they complete their apprenticeship. The ‘Ogas’ will contribute towards such an insurance scheme and receive refund of the premium they have contributed if they fulfill the terms of the apprenticeship.

We have over time also noticed abuses in the Igbo apprenticeship scheme. There have been reported cases of apprentices overstaying the agreed period, or the ‘Oga’ refusing to settle the ‘boi-boi’ as agreed. These acts give the Igbo apprenticeship scheme a bad name. We are hoping that these and other associated issues will be discussed at the summit and solutions proffered.

What will be the focus of this event? Does it have to do with manpower development or wealth creation?

Both the keynote speaker, High Chief (Dr.) Obiora Okonkwo, Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, and the high powered panel of discussants will X-ray the Igbo apprenticeship scheme, bring out the positives while also recommending areas that should be improved upon for the scheme to continue to be relevant in the 21st century.

We will also hear from successful individuals that have passed through the scheme and listen to their experiences etc. A more successful model of Igbo apprenticeship scheme will lead to human capital development and guarantee wealth creation.

 
Could you speak on the impact of the scheme on the young Anambrarian vis-a-vis the manpower development and wealth creation the system has attained over the years?

We may be having the summit in Anambra, but we are not only targeting Anambra youths. Our targets are the millions of Nigerian youths all over the country. The event will be streamed live and will also be uploaded on social media platforms for wider access and participation.

We hope to be able to encourage our youths to re-think and adopt this Igbo model of apprenticeship, learn a skill or trade under someone’s tutelage for an agreed period, and qualify to be given seed capital by the ‘Oga’ on completion. This is surely a better model than the present trend of our youths getting involved in all kinds of ‘get rich quick’ schemes to get rich.

Recently, ESUT Business School, Enugu, indicated interest to research on the Igbo apprenticeship scheme. What has necessitated discussions on this scheme in the recent times?

It’s not only ESUT Business School, some other business schools in the world, including Harvard, have also in the past done one study or the other on Igbo apprenticeship. People are coming to the realisation that the time has come for us to look inwards and re-discover economic and entrepreneurship promotion models such as the Igbo apprenticeship scheme that have continued to make the Igbo economy strong, and Igbo people stronger with little or no government support.

It is a fascinating model of enterprise development where an entrepreneur agrees to take under his or her tutelage potential competitors. He or she at the end of the apprenticeship also goes ahead to fund the start-up who almost immediately begins to compete with him or her within the same jurisdiction of business.

Such healthy competition should be studied and promoted. We want to re-start a national debate and discussions around it with a view to repositioning the scheme and making it better and stronger.

How has the Igbo apprenticeship system helped in the development of South East?

The scheme has not only helped in improving the economic fortunes of Anambra state, but those of several other states and countries where Ndigbo sojourn. Take Lagos State for example, if you go to Idumota, ASPANDA, Ladipo, Trade Fair, Orile and such other large markets, you will see Ndigbo working hard in their various shops; you will also see the ‘Ogas’ and their ‘Boi-Bois’- apprentices.

Those ‘boi-bois’ today are the ‘Ogas’ of tomorrow. By the time they complete their apprenticeship, they will be ‘settled’ by their ‘Ogas’ to start their own businesses. The cycle continues because when they start their own business, they will in-turn take under their wings another set of ‘boi-bois.’

They will build factories, rent or buy lands and properties, invest in the towns and states where they trade, and also at home as Ndigbo believe in the ‘Aku luo uno’ philosophy – taking part of their wealth home. That’s how Ndigbo collectively contribute to the socio-economic development or industrialisation of the towns, states and countries where they reside.

We are a sojourning race. Unlike what some people say, to create hatred against Ndigbo, we bring economic and other values wherever we go.

How would this scheme leapfrog the economy of South East to attract development in the region?

The Igbo apprenticeship scheme has helped in reducing unemployment in the region as it informally provides employment to thousands of youth in the region.

We believe that if we can make the government and other relevant stakeholders, including the higher institutions, development partners etc, to take more interest in the scheme with a view to adopting it and promoting it further, more successful entrepreneurs will be created and their economic activities will fast-track development not only in the region but also in the country.

Seeing the Igbo apprenticeship scheme as the soul of their businesses, how does it make business concerns owned by Igbo people more sustainable?

Sustainability is another discussion altogether and is not the focus of the summit. However, we believe that at the summit, some insights will be shared on that because we are beginning to see that Igbo businesses don’t usually continue after the founders pass on.

We can name many businesses, which were giants in the 70s, 80s and 90s owned by Igbo men of that era. Most of those businesses are no more. Several reasons have been advanced for that. However, we will focus mainly on Igbo apprenticeship at the summit.

------THE GUARDIAN

INTERVIEW: The Ebo Sisters On Debuting Their First Feature Film At Sundance

Adamma Ebo. Image via Voyage LA/Ejime Productions

BY NADIA NEOPHYTOU

Nigerian-American filmmakers Adamma and Adnanne Ebo are premiering their debut feature film Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul, starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown at the Sundance Film Festival.

Growing up in Atlanta’s Nigerian community, the church played a big part in the lives of Adamma and Adanne Ebo. So it’s no surprise the identical twin sisters, who founded Ejime Productions (twins in Igbo) together, centered their first feature film around the subject of religion.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul is making its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, with Adamma as writer-director and Adanne as producer, alongside the likes of Regina Hall and Sterling K Brown, who star in the film, and Daniel Kaluuya. The film is a satire on for-profit religion, exploring a couple, played by Hall and Brown, who run a Southern Baptist megachurch trying to manage the aftermath of a scandal.

Both sisters were selected as Sundance fellows for the Episodic Lab in 2019, and Adamma was also chosen for the Sundance Screenwriting Intensive with a feature film. Based on a short film that Adamma wrote as part of her thesis while at UCLA, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul has been picking up rave reviews and is one of the hottest titles at this year’s fest.

They both spoke to OkayAfrica about making it and how their Nigerian background influences the work they make.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul tackles religion of the Southern Baptist kind, but are there any similarities with how religion plays out in Nigerian culture that you wanted it to speak to as well?

Adanne: Yeah, it's not that different. It feels extremely similar. It's very performative. It's very big. And it also has some of the not-so-great parts where people want you to abide by certain rules and not question anything as you go along the way. A lot of unchecked power.

Was that the reason why you wanted to make this film – to check that power, so to speak?

Adamma: Yeah, to encourage people to do that and not to be afraid to question things, for sure.

You made the short film, Honk For Jesus, as your thesis project, Adamma. What made you realize it would be good as a full-length feature?

I actually wrote an early draft of the feature before I even made the short and so the feature existed in a different capacity. It was a lot different before I made this short, and I decided that a short would be great as a proof of concept to this crazy movie that's doing a lot of weird stylistic things and tackling a subject matter in a way that, and with a tone that, people really aren't expecting or aren't used to it; with characters people aren't super familiar with, largely. So the feature came, and then the short, and then many, many more drafts of the feature!

As you mention, the film straddles a few genres, it’s a mockumentary, and there are elements of drama and comedy – how did you work on getting the tone right?

Adamma: It felt pretty natural. It's the type of media that I like – things that run the total gambit and that take risks, totally, and finding the humor in or around things that aren't ordinarily funny. I just made sure that whenever we were doing something comedic, to make sure that there were instances of darkness, and whenever we were approaching something darker, making sure that there was a bookend of comedy that doesn't necessarily relate to the subject, but just lightens things just a little bit, and make sure that it flows in and out.

As twins who work together, what’s your relationship like? Do you get on the same wavelength pretty easily? Do you think of things together?

Adanne: Yeah, it feels as similar as our regular relationship. Because we were born a partnership and we don't have any other siblings. So this is really the only sibling dynamic that we know. And it just feels more natural to do things together than not. So working together feels seamless. It almost doesn't feel like I'm working with another person.

Adamma: It just feels like an extension.

Getting Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall for one's first feature film is quite a feat. What did they bring to the production?

Adamma: Immense skill and and really ready to do the work and to be scrappy on this like super low-budget independent film. They bought this feeling of nurturing, that they were really, really invested in me, as a Black woman, writing and directing my first feature, doing it in the middle of a pandemic. They were just incredibly nurturing and really there, on a familial level almost, like, they felt like family and really, really wanted me to succeed and did everything they could to help me succeed.

Adanne: And they're also producers on the film. Yeah, were they, you know, they watched cuts and gave notes on various cuts. They were really integral in helping to shape what became what y'all saw on screen.

Your production company is called Ejime -- how much does your Nigerian heritage inform who you are while you’re working and living in Atlanta and LA?

Adanne: I think it influences how and what we create…

Adamma: And how we say things – our voice. How we write and present ourselves and present our work as filmmakers. Nigerians are special people.

Adanne: They’re saucy.

Adamma: They’re saucy! The way that they communicate is…

Adanne: It’s sharp. It’s biting.

Adamma: Yes! And that's probably a big part of why we're attracted to the type of film and filmmaking that we are, is because of that. Conversations with our father and our grandfather and our grandmother, his siblings, our whole extended family, if you're an outsider looking in, it can seem like a heated argument, but we're kind of just talking or having fun.

Adanne: Like a sport.

Adamma: But we like that biting nature, heavy critique – Nigerians will critique you, they’re not shy with that. and I thought they were very critical. They're not shy with that. Probably a lot of why we're attracted to that type of voice is because of our Nigerian background.

You have a lot coming up in terms of film and TV projects, setting yourselves up as a dynamic duo in Hollywood – what are you most excited about?

Adamma: We have our next feature film lined up and so we're gonna put that one together. We wrote that one together, and so we're definitely excited to put that out into the world. Then we have a couple of television shows in development that we are also excited to put out into the world. So we're working. We like being creative. This is fun!

-------------------OKAY AFRICA