Exclusive: Nneka Talks Music, Message, and Spirituality

Flavor Wire Exclusive

At Coachella a few years back, the ever-feisty M.I.A. asked a packed house of sweat-soaked admirers, “Where my leaders at?!” Good question. Surprisingly few artists today have stepped up with the decisive political or spiritual message that M.I.A. was asking for.

Recently, 27-year-old Nigerian tour de force Nneka — who already has a loyal following in Africa and Europe — made her US debut at Joe’s Pub in NYC, which she followed with a few shows with the Roots. And while it’s still too early to compare her to political/musical messengers like countryman Fela Kuti or Bob Marley, she’s becoming a formidable figure in global music. She calmly rocked the room with her soul-filled voice, championing a strong message of love, unity and political justice from her forthcoming album Concrete Jungle.

As soon as the lights came up, I wanted an interview — even though I’ve only done three in the nine years since I co-founded Flavorpill. A few days later, I sat down with Nneka, a captivating figure who shared some lessons on music, life, spirituality, meditation, and love.

Lesson 1: Don’t be a hypocrite.

Nneka: I have struggled; I mean in the first place, standing on the stage and singing about change or singing about false prophets or bad politicians, pointing a finger. There was a time where I would just point the finger and I would forget to look at myself. And, for me, to be able to make a change in the world, you have to be part of that change. You have to be honest with yourself, because if you’re not honest with yourself, and if you’re not in touch with your spirit, then you’re not able to make any change at all. I believe in the spirit world, and that everybody’s connected. There’s not just this one. And not just what we hear. There’s something beyond that. And that is what makes change possible. So that is what I’m talking about. If that is numb, or speechless, that world, then nothing works automatically. I [have] caught myself lying many times, saying things and not practicing, speaking about jealousy, and at the same time, I am hitting on somebody else.

And the sickness is the healing. That is what I’ve learned. If you are aware of your sickness, your mistakes in other words, your illness, then you know what you need, what medication you need to heal. And that is actually, that is what we need in this world. We know what is worrying us, that’s what we say in Nigeria. We know what shackles us and that is exactly what we need to heal, to grow, to progress.

Lesson 2: Take what you’ve learned back home.

FP: In this chaotic time in the world, is change really happening?

Nneka: Yes, especially through the fact that a lot has happened in the last two years in the world. Even in Nigeria, in Africa, people are becoming more conscious of, “Hey, you know, it’s high time that we stand on our feet.” We have everything that it takes to make this continent a better place. And I see that there are many people right around my age, especially people who are into poetry, or literature or music, and of course people who have also traveled out of Africa before and spent some time overseas. And when they come back home, mostly those people, I notice, bring change back home, to make a change back home. And I think it’s positive, I think, in the world as well as musically, people are becoming more conscious of the fact that, listen, if I’m standing on this stage, you can’t just feed the masses with ignorance and stupidity. So, there are a couple of artists that I have met lately, even Nigerian artists, who are now more conscious about what they say and feed the masses with. You know, normally Nigerians are very into entertainment, and — not only Nigerians alone, but Americans, as well. They like to sing about the party, forget your life, forget your soul — which is good, I’m not saying not to enjoy your life — but it’s also important that you don’t lie to yourself, that we don’t lie to ourselves. I think that change is taking place.

Lesson 3: Always be present.

Nneka: Sometimes when I’m on stage, I know that people are having fun, but then the real thing is not being transmitted. And then I’m a bit angry with myself, and at the same time angry with my band, because when I see that they are not in touch with themselves, with their spirit, and we’re not with each other on stage, then I know that there’s going to be blockage in the transmission, spiritually. Although people are jumping and screaming “Oh awesome!” But then I’m like, “Hey, no way.” So it’s important that I do everything with my heart — that I stand on stage, that I do my music from the depth of my heart, for me to be able to transmit that message of love.

Lesson 4: Don’t be afraid to pause and regroup.

Nneka: Sometimes it’s very bizarre, what happens on stage. I just stop. I just stop, and sometimes my band does not understand me, because they are professional people, if you notice they are all in their forties and upwards — except for the keyboarder who is like, my age. And sometimes he himself does not understand me too. I just go like, “Stop, stop now. We need to connect, we need to.” So I take a break, I go into myself, briefly, in five minutes, and I explain to the audience what is happening. And then I make them aware of what I think they should receive. And sometimes it works and sometimes it does not work. Like when I’m on tour, two months on the road and at times I get very tired, performing. And sometimes you just, you just do it. I don’t like that feeling, where I just have to do what I have to do. It hurts me to do music like that, you know? It’s like a job. And in that rare moment where music becomes a job, that is like pressure on your head, then I don’t want to do it. I need to take my distance to find, or to rejuvenate, you know, to go back to where we started. Regardless of whether you’re a musician or someone cleaning the streets, or drives a bus or a teacher, president, etc you have to passionate, you have to believe in what you do, it has to be something that’s important to you, otherwise it’s just a job. And you poison people by not being happy with yourself, not being happy with the job you’re doing. It might look good from the outside, but inside is scattered and poisonous. It’s like baking bitter bread. It’s from the Bible. Do not bake bitter bread. You have to do it with love. If you’re not feeling it, you drop it and you go and look for something you can be passionate about.

Lesson 5: It’s good to question your beliefs sometimes.

Nneka: I used to be a very strong Christian, talking about religion and institutions. I used to be a born again Christian, and I used to be very, very strict. Until eventually, when I went to Germany for the first time — I realized I suffered in my religion before that, kind of. I would deprive myself of living — certain things, you know. Getting to know myself, reading in between the lines of the Bible. I would just read the Bible the way it is and that’s what I would take and just finish. I would never ask myself any questions. Until I had the freedom to understand that I can question the Bible, read in-between and use the wisdom that I have, or that I have acquired to find something new, to find something that is easy for me to live with. I mean, believing in God is not that easy, but it should not be a burden. So I’m getting to know about religions like Islam; I really love Buddhism and Hinduism. I’ve had a lot to do with African traditional religion as well, which I think is the most reasonable one to me at present. But at the end of the day, all religious directions, whether Hinduism or Buddhism, Islam, or whatever, at the end of the day they’re like different rivers that flow into one big ocean. Sometimes we go in another direction, I don’t know. It’s all about love. At the end of the day, what counts is love. And we all know how to love, no matter where we’re coming from, no matter what we have been through. Since we have a conscience, since we have an ego, since we can see I and you, since we have the skin that separates us from one another and that brings us in touch with one another, and we know what is good for us, we know what is good for the world, and we know how to love. So I think the most important thing is love. Love yourself because if you don’t love yourself you can’t love anybody.

Lesson 6: Don’t doubt yourself because of the time it takes to change.

Nneka: It’s difficult to [snap] to change the world like this in the blink of an eye. It’s impossible. You could basically also ask me why politics doesn’t make the world a better place. Like, why can’t we just live without war? And all I can say is to speak for myself. You always have to do everything you do in love and honesty. All the answers to the questions you are going to ask me today is love. It will sound so stupid. It will sound so unreasonable. But if you really go deeper, then every answer to every freaking question that anybody would ask you is love. It’s easy, so easy. Even I’m realizing it now, again. And fear, that is the biggest enemy of human beings. The most important thing is that you remove your doubt and that you trust. So, like yesterday I was drinking this Yogi Tea before I went to bed. And I felt like my day was, I wasn’t really filled, despite the fact that I had performed that day, I was not really content with myself, I’m like what have I done today? Why am I here? And I doubt a lot. I doubt myself a lot, I doubt God at times a lot. I’m not aware of it but I became aware of it yesterday again, before I went to bed. And I don’t believe in the small messages in Yogi Tea — but I had this tea bag, and no, I don’t normally drink tea before I go to bed — but it’s written on the satchel: “You will never find happiness if you continue to doubt.” And it’s true. It’s true, man. I’ve been living in misery because I always doubt myself. And because I doubt my potential, I doubt the fact that I can change something, I doubt the fact that when I stand on stage I know – hey you’re standing on the stage now. And you can give, you can change by doing it with love. Do not doubt yourself, as long as you do it in honesty and in truth, then it will be of an advantage to the people, it will make a positive impact on them.

FP: So, what happens when we become these fearless warriors?

Nneka: We have to build an army. I need you, you need me, we need each other. We cannot fight without ammunition. I mean, what soldier goes to war without a gun? And that is when that change can take place. I mean change in a positive way.

Lesson 7: Listen to others first.

Nneka: My music is the most sacred aspect of my life. Where I’m at now is learning to listen to people. That’s the most important thing to me, now. Not to listen to myself, always. And not to think while other people are talking to me. Thinking of the next — you know what I mean. So calm down, listen, and do not think of what to contribute to the conversation. Listen first. That’s where I’m at now.

Lesson 8: Stay connected.

Nneka: Just let go. They say, in Nigeria, a hand is only useful with its five fingers. If one comes off, then it’s a problem for the rest. I mean it will work, but it won’t be as fast as we should be. So we have to be connected.

PH Water-Front Saga : We don’t want homelessness – Senator Sekibo

A Vanguard Interview

The plan to demolish water-fronts in Port Harcourt is not new. It first gained currency under the tenure of deposed governor Celestine Omehia. The government gave security reasons as one of the major factors behind the plan. The issue seemingly overheated the state. While this was on, the Supreme Court sacked the government and installed Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as governor.

One of the first steps he took when he came on board was to suspend the planned demolition, an action that was greeted with wild jubilation in all the water fronts in the state capital. Two years down the line the government is back with the threat to demolish the waterfronts otherwise referred to as slum settlements in the state capital. Security and the need to develop the area in tune with contemporary habitation standards have been thrown up as some of the driving forces behind the proposed action.

However, the Okrika Ijaw that claim ownership of most of these water fronts remains suspicious of government’s motives. In this interview with Jimitota Onoyume of Sweet Crude, Chief James Tari Sekibo, a second republic Senator and Chairman, Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs and Wakirikebese Council of Chiefs, an umbrella body of all Okrika people, he speaks extensively on the position of the Okrika people.

Occasionally during the interview he reads from what he claims are historical documents to support the position of his people.

Excerpt:

What is your stake in the proposed demolition of water fronts in Port Harcourt?

It is fairly a long story. Our stake started before 1913 when an agreement was signed with owners of areas that the colonial government wanted to acquire. This whole thing started with the discovery of coal in Enugu. And they wanted an outlet to export the coal from the country to overseas. They decided to establish a port and railway terminals. So the colonial masters came and spotted the present Port Harcourt municipality as the most suitable site for the said port to be established. And slightly up a little to be railway terminals, to start from Enugu down to Port Harcourt. So by 1913 an agreement was signed between the Okrika and the Ikwerre people.

Ikwerre this time refers only to the Diobu, Ikwerre, Orogbum, Orogbale, Oroije now called ogbunabali area. Compensation was paid to the communities. Precisely on 18 May 1913, that was when the agreement was signed by the deed between the Okrika people.

On 18 May, 1913 by deed between the chiefs and head men of Okrika Ijaw and Diobu communities for and on behalf of themselves and their people on the one hand and Sir Alexander George Boyle, the Deputy Governor of the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria for and on behalf of his majesty, the King of England, the area presently known as Port Harcourt was acquired by the colonial authorities. This deed is registered as 16/211/7 (old series), Calabar, former kept at the lands registry, Lagos, later lands registry, Enugu but now in the lands registry, Port Harcourt.

The Okrika Ijaw towns and villages affected by this deed are namely, Biekiri, Abokirir, Belemaka, Akainkoroma, Azuabie, Abuloma, Toinpirima (present right wing of Marine base, Okrika water fronts and cementry waterfronts), Fiyenemika, Iyoyo Ama (present Rex Lawson waterfronts and Egbema waterfront) Atubokiki, Igbisikalama Ama (present Baptist waterfront, Enugu waterfront, Tourist beach and Ibadan waterfront), Idango Ama (present left wing of Marine base, Koko polo sharing boundary with Amadi ama), Fimie, Amiejobodiema, Gbelabo Ama, (present Elechi beach, Abonnema wharf and Njemanze), Okuru town, Amadi town, Amango Ama (present NPA wharf, Witt and bush waterfront and Bundu waterfront) Okujagu, Kuroseidiema Ama (present Bille waterfront, Bonny water front, Nembe waterfront and Abuja estate waterfront) Eresofiari, Misiba, Duointa and Banisuka.

On the other hand, the Ikwerre communities affected by the deed are Diobu, Omoeme, Omoamasi, Omobiakani and Oginiba

Thereafter, the Ikwerres sought to set aside the deed of 1913 by filling a suit against the Attorney General. That suit was dismissed. Dissatisfied with the judgment of the lower court, the Ikwerres filed an appeal to the West Africa court of Appeal. On 9th June, 1952 the West Africa Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. This case is reported as Chief Joseph Wobo and nine others vs. the attorney general in 14 WACA 132

Again, Diobu dissatisfied with the judgment of West Africa court of Appeal, the Ikwerres appealed to the judicial committee of the Privy County in England. The appeal number is Privy Council Appeal NO. 18 of 1953. The Privy Council on the 30th day of October, 1956 dismissed the appeal.

In all the judgments the sanctity of the 1913 agreement was repeatedly affirmed and confirmed. However, on the 2nd of May, 1928 a supplemental agreement to the 1913 principal Port Harcourt agreement was signed between the Diobu Ikwerre, (specifically Abali and Ogbum Diobu) and the then Deputy Governor of the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria, as contained in the written instrument number A 17 vol 1 of 2nd May, 1928 which varied the terms of the 1913 principal agreement from sale to payment of annual rent of five hundred pounds in perpetuity.

The Okrika Ijaw people who gave 53% of the Port Harcourt land in the 1913 agreement felt cheated. When they got to know about the variation as contained in the 1928 agreement and went to seek redress in court in suit no PHC/45m/76. The court ruled that since at least one other party to that agreement has been benefited by a revision of compensation payable, the plaintiffs ought in equity to be treated in the same manner. Accordingly, the Okrika Ijaw and the Okrika Ijaw Port Harcourt aborigines were paid arrears of N105,000 at the annual rate of N1,500 from 1913.

For the avoidance of doubt, certain sections and interest groups in Rivers state have still repeatedly denied the historical dual ownership of Port Harcourt.

It must be noted that the Ikwerres that took part in the alienation of Port Harcourt with their Okrika counterparts still posses, control and alienate their lands that were the subject of the deed. They have continuously done so without any challenge from government even though their forebears had alienated their land on 18th May 1913.

For the immediate development of Port Harcourt, some of the area occupied by the Okrika Ijaw people in their various villages were required. This led to the inhabitants being displaced without any concrete attempts at a resettlement programme for the displaced inhabitants.

Origin of waterfront communities:

The Okrika Ijaw inhabitants, otherwise called the Port Harcourt aborigines of the various villages affected by the deed of 18 May, 1913 were not effectively resettled. The Okrika Ijaw inhabitants of these villages were predominantly seafarers and depend on the seas, rivers and creeks for their livelihood.

With dogged determination to confront and overcome their state of homelessness by sheer industry, dedication and hard work, these displaced Okrika Ijaw inhabitants began to reclaim the various waterfronts adjacent to their original villages by cutting Chikoko mud from the mangrove swamps and depositing same on the adjacent waterfronts to drive back the water and create new land to build new homes. This is the genesis of the Okrika Ijaw waterfront communities

Naturally the original names of the villages of these early Okrika Ijaw inhabitants as contained in the 1913 Port Harcourt agreement became the names of these new adjacent waterfronts settlements, for example Okrika waterfront is Toinpirima. Various non indigenes found it more convenient to call these waterfronts by the names of towns to which people depart or streets next to these waterfronts, such as Bonny waterside, Bille waterside, Nembe waterside etc etc., instead of the original name like Toinpirima.

Between 1913 and the present day, successive generations of Wakirike people have lived in these waterfront communities, investing time, labour capital and billions of naira to develop properties therein. These properties have passed from generation to generation.

In these waterfront communities there are organized structures and leaderships, for example, there are Ama Chairmen, Polo Chairmen, Chiefs, community development committees, youth bodies, women bodies etc.

I want to make it clear that Okrika people are not against development in Port Harcourt in particular and Rivers state in general. We are in total support of providing modern facilities and amenities for the citizenry. We are opposed to any large scale , social , economic and habitation dislocation of our people and communities by way of demolition of the waterfront communities in the name of development or urban renewal without any alternative fore their relocation.

We suggested to the governor that he should in conjunction with the leadership of the various communities and the Chiefs of Wakirike, redesign and restructure the various waterfronts communities with minimal disruption of lives, dislocation of people and demolition of properties.

The issue of resettling the displaced Okrika Ijaw Port Harcourt aborigines since 1913 must be addressed by sand filling the various mangrove swamps in and around Port Harcourt develop same and relocate the inhabitants of these waterfronts communities to these developed sand filled lands.

Retain and recognize the original names of the various Okrika Ijaw towns and villages as contained in the Port Harcourt agreement of 18 May, 1913, just like the Ikwerre towns involved in the said agreement. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander

We want to see the plan. This is because there are already structures that were demolished by this government like the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital, (UPTH) in town which was a former General Hospital, where as a young doctor I did my housemanship, and they promised to build a befitting high rise hospital with partnership with a Canadian firm, nothing there yet. The Cultural centre was demolished too and it is lying fallow. With all these we want to be sure of government good intentions. We don’t want homelessness to be created for us.

Igbo should stop marginalisation cry –Ohakwe

By Henry Umahi and Willy Eya, Sun News Online

Despite the dwindling fortunes of the nation, Mazi Tony Ohakwe, publisher of Maritime Voice, a specialized maritime newspaper, is one of those who believe that Nigeria has a bright future. He is confident that under President Umaru Yar’Adua, Nigeria would soon be reckoned with among the comity of nations.

Speaking with Saturday Sun, Ohakwe, who is also the President-General of Imo State Towns Development Association, gave President Umar Yar’Adua a pass mark in his assessment of the administration.

His remarks : “I think the president has performed fairly well but the problem is that Nigerians are always in a haste for results. But they should remember that the former Katsina governor met so many problems on ground. I would say without fear of contradiction that Yar’Adua is on the right track and he is gradually doing everything possible to put his acts together. Some Nigerians may like to judge him based on the nation’s epileptic power situation but the problem did not start now. His predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was in power for eight years and he could not fix the nation’s energy sector.

With all the noise on the Independent Power Projects, the Obasanjo administration failed to do anything positive in the power sector. By now, we ought to have been generating sufficient power.
If Ghana is celebrating 10 years of uninterrupted power supply, by now Nigeria should be celebrating at least two years of our own uninterrupted power supply. But we have to be patient with Yar’Adua who has promised that by December this year, Nigeria will be generating about 6000 megawatts of electricity.

I can tell you that once we are able to fix the power sector, other things will fall in place. It will be the beginning of our economic boom. It does not need re-emphasizing that all sectors of the economy depend on the power sector. Ohakwe also lauds Yar’Adua for allowing opposition to thrive and giving other arms of government the latitude to perform their functions.

‘On assessment of Yar’Adua politically, we have noticed within the parties that there is now a healthy opposition. The opposition now operates without any fear of harassment, intimidation and such other vices that are against the growth of democracy. The National Assembly members now carry out their jobs without any interference. They operate independently of the executive arm unlike in the immediate past administration under Obasanjo. So far, I think Yar’Adua is on the right track”.

But how can Ohakwe reconcile his optimism with the perception by many Nigerians that the administration is too slow to trigger off a change in Nigeria?
“Let us look at it sector by sector. Let us start from Yar’Adua’s effort to reform the nation’s problematic electoral process. The Justice Uwais panel on electoral reform panel set up by Yar’Adua has completed its assignment and the report is already with the National Assembly .

It is the National Assembly that should now fine-tune the reform and not the executive. On the power sector, I said before that Yar’Adua inherited the problem from Obasanjo but he is already making effort to improve the sector.
In the education sector, it is the same story under Obasanjo who was always fighting with the Nigeria Labour Congress . At several times, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was always on strike. But I want to say that if strike by ASUU can bring a permanent solution to our education sector, let it be. My only appeal is that the union should remember that Yar’Adua also inherited the situation.

I am not an apologist of the present administration but I am only trying to look at the situation objectively. I have never worked for the government and I have always being on my own. I thank God that a seasoned comrade, Adams Oshiomhole, the governor of Edo State intervened in the ASUU and federal government deadlock. You can imagine that at the height of it, some students of the University of Abuja attempted to kidnap the Education Minister, Dr Sam Egwu. There were several other crime committed during the strike that were being ascribed to students. We all know that an idle man is a devil’s workshop.

Maintaining that there seems to be some hope in the area of political power balancing, Ohakwe volunteered: “ You can see today that the political parties have level playing ground. If not, how can somebody in Ondo State who is not of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) win the governorship seat even in the tribunal? In Edo State, it was the same thing. I want to say that the political problems we are having today are caused by the elite. They are the major problem of the nation and not the down trodden.

All we need to do in Nigeria is to put the right amenities on ground. Today, we talk of bad roads but under Obasanjo, one minister allegedly spent about N300 billion on roads but where are the roads now? Would you now blame the state of roads in Nigeria on Yar’Adua’s administration?”
As a stakeholder in the South East geo-political zone, what is Ohakwe’s view of the future of Ndigbo in Nigeria?

“I would say that the future of the Igbo nation is very bright. I hate to hear people from my zone talk about marginalization. Before the civil war, Ndigbo were in control in Nigeria in all sectors. The Igbo had a say in politics, economy, business, education and any thing you can think about. It may interest you to know that before the war, the Igbo were even leading in the Nigeria Stock Market. The late Odumegwu Ojukwu was the first president of the Nigeria Stock Exchange.

So, the Igbo were doing so well but since the end of the civil war, our people developed inferiority complex. So they started feeling that they were defeated and that they were no more wanted in Nigeria. I know there were so many policies initiated by the federal government that were drawing us backwards but of recent, I want to say that our future is very bright if only we can put our house in order.

The major problem of Ndigbo now is not being together and speaking with one voice. If the Igbo nation can come together today and say look, I do not care if you are from Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi Abia or Imo, let us see ourselves as one”, he said.

He added that Ndigbo should re-strategize to hit top spot again. “To be a formidable force at the national level, we must begin to see ourselves as one. If we adopt that strategy, nobody can deny us our rights but because other tribes have known us as people who can’t speak with one voice, when it comes to political issues, they have a way of dividing us.

They know that when they dangle a carrot, we will rush at it and in the process get divided. So, the only thing that is lacking among Ndigbo is that we lack the culture of oneness and sense of unity unlike other ethnic regions. You can see that when it concerns an issue of national importance, the South West, South South and North would speak with one voice unlike the South East. Look at the case between Cross River and Akwa Ibom. They handled it with maturity. If it were to be in Igbo land, it would have led to ethnic clashes or even war. An ordinary party congress in Anambra State, look at the level of crisis it has generated.

“If you look at the people that usually criticize their governors, it is mostly the Igbos. We are good at washing our dirty linens in public. Most of our governors are performing better than their counterparts in other parts of the country but it is our own that everybody would hear about. People from the North for instance would go home and secretly advise their governors but Igbos would go to the pages of the newspapers”.

He scores the Imo ste governor, Ikedi Ohakim high in performance.
“I would say that Ohakim has done well given indices and parameters of assessment. One area he has done well is in the area of road construction and rehabilitation. I am from a community called Amucha in Njaba local government and we have had for long a very bad road network. It was Shehu Shagari sometime in 1981 that promised he was going to rehabilitate our road but he never did. It was in Amucha that we had the worst erosion case which attracted the president in 1980 or thereabout.

Subsequent administrations came and never did anything to our road. Even when we had a governor, Achike Udenwa from Orlu Senatorial zone, a good governor that did very well but the road was not rehabilitated under him. But Ohakim under six months did a lot for the people of Imo State. From statistics, he is reported to have done more roads than any governor in the past. Also, an area he has done well is in creating awareness in industrial development.

YSU Students Headed to [Imo State University] Nigeria

From WYTV

A group of Youngstown State Univeristy students are headed in January to Nigeria, some to learn, some to help. But that's an expensive trip, so the criminal justice and nursing students are trying to raise some money with an art auction.

"The plane ticket is what costs the most money," said Pamela Schuster, YSU nursing professor. "So it's $1,200 for a plane ticket, and after that, it will be minimal expenses but probably another thousand or so or a little more."

Schuster said she hopes to raise money at the auction to lower costs for students wanting to make the trip. She also said the nursing students will set up and run a medical clinic.

"We bring local health care providers," Schuster said. "We bring doctors, nurses, pharmacists and bring health care to poor and underprivileged people."

But a 'once and done' trip isn't what the university is hoping for. While there, professors hope to establish a relationship with a Nigerian university. The relationship with the Imo State University will be YSU's first partnership in Africa.

Nd'Igbo -- What's In A Date?

By Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

For the Igbo, prior to 29 May 1966, three important holidays were high up on their annual calendar: the Igbo National Day, the iri ji, or the New Yam Festival, and 1 October. The latter was the day of celebration for the restoration of independence for peoples in Nigeria after 60 years of the British conquest and occupation. Or, so were the thoughts predicated on this date’s designation…

Origins

The Igbo were arguably the one constituent nation in what was Nigeria, again prior to 29 May 1966, who understood, fully, the immense liberatory possibilities ushered in by 1 October and the interlocking challenges of the vast reconstructionary work required for state and societal transformation in the aftermath of foreign occupation. They had the most robust economy in the country in their east regional homeland, supplied the country with its leading writers, artists and scholars, supplied the country’s top universities with its vice-chancellors and leading professors and scientists, supplied the country with its first indigenous university (the prestigious university at Nsukka), supplied the country with its leading and most spirited pan-Africanists, supplied the country with its top diplomats, supplied the country’s leading high schools with its head teachers and administrators, supplied the country with its top bureaucrats, supplied the country with its leading businesspeople, supplied the country with an educated, top-rated professional officers-corps for its military and police forces, supplied the country with its leading sportspersons, essentially and effectively worked the country’s rail, postal, telegraphic, power, shipping and aviation services to quality standards not seen since in Nigeria … And they were surely aware of the vicissitudes engendered by this historic age precisely because the Igbo nation played the vanguardist role in the freeing of Nigeria from Britain, beginning from the mid-1930s. The commentator, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde, couldn’t have been more emphatic in summarising the thrust of the Igbo mission during the period:

The Igbo nation ha[s] attributes most other Nigerian nationalities can only dream of and are what most other nations [are] not. The Igbo made Nigeria better. Any wonder then that the Igbo can do without Nigeria; but Nigeria and her myriad nationalities cannot do without the Igbo? Take the Igbo out of the Nigeria equation … and Nigeria will be gasping for air.

Genocide

The Igbo’s break with Nigeria occurred catastrophically on 29 May 1966. On this day, leaders of the Hausa-Fulani north region (feudal overlords, muslim clergy, military, police, businesspeople, academia, civic servants, other public officials and patrons), who were long opposed to the liberation of Nigeria (there were no comparable clusters of political, cultural, ideational, religious, national or racial groupings anywhere else in the Southern World, during the epoch, which had a similar, unenviable disposition of hostility to emancipation from the European occupation of their lands as the Hausa-Fulani leadership), launched waves of premeditated genocidal attacks on Igbo migrant populations resident in the north. These attacks were later expanded to Igboland itself, boosted particularly by the robust participation in the slaughter by the Yoruba, Urhobo, and Edo nations of west Nigeria as well as others elsewhere in the country.

The Yoruba support for the genocide, for instance, was a squelching cadence of opportunism. The Yoruba had been outmatched by the Igbo spectacularly in the 1930s-1960s’ Igbo-Yoruba classic, competitive “preparatory drive” to develop the high-level humanpower and ancillary resources required to run the post-conquest state after the British departure. They therefore viewed the outbreak of the mid-1966’s Igbo mass killings as welcome season to “avenge” their “loss” during the great rivalry of those three decades, clutching unto any bomb or missile available to lob, remorselessly, into an Igbo home, Igbo school, Igbo shrine, Igbo church, Igbo hospital, Igbo office, Igbo market, Igbo farmland, Igbo factory/industrial enterprise, Igbo children’s playground, Igbo town hall, Igbo refugee centre … Benjamin Adekunle, one of the most fiendish of the genocidist commanders of the time had no qualms, whatsoever, in boasting about the goal of this horrendous mission when he told a 1968 press conference, attended by journalists including those from the international media:

… We shoot at everything that moves, and when our forces march into the centre of I[g]bo territory, we shoot at everything, even at things that do not move.

Between 29 May 1966 and 12 January 1970, Adekunle and his extended trail of genocidist hordes, starting from the sabon gari-killing fields’ launch pads that were Igbo homes and churches and offices and businesses in north Nigeria to the “centre of I[g]bo territory”, 400 miles to the south, did murder 3.1 million Igbo people – a haunting tally which indeed includes those slaughtered during the Adekunleist “everything that moves”-targeting, duly promised in the infamous press briefing. As for the outcome of the “things that do not move”-assault category, the genocidists were hardly off target. Their gratuitous destruction of the famed Igbo economic infrastructure, one of the most advanced in Africa of the era, is indescribably barbaric. This was followed, subsequently (post-January 1970), by the genocidists’ implementation of the most dehumanising raft of socioeconomic package of deprivation in occupied Igboland, not seen anywhere else in Africa. The brigandage includes the following: seizure of the multimillion Igbo capital asset in Igwe Ocha/Port Harcourt and elsewhere; comprehensive sequestration of Igbo liquid asset in Nigeria (as of January 1970), bar the £20.00 (twenty pounds) doled out to the male surviving head of an Igbo family; exponential expropriation of the rich Igbo oil resources from the Abia, Delta, Imo and Rivers administrative regions; blanket policy of non-development of Igboland; aggressive degradation of socioeconomic life of Igboland (As if another empirical reminder is yet required to underscore this obviously grave situation at stake, I observe, as I write these lines, the following breaking news item flashing on my monitor from the Lagos Vanguard [Monday 16 November 2009]: “Journalists in … Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, [Enuuwgu] and Imo [central Igboland administrative regions] have threatened to embark on hunger strike to protest the bad conditions of federal roads [there]. They regretted that the failed roads [have] claimed many lives and property worth billions of naira.”); ignoring ever-expanding soil erosion/landslides and other pressing ecological emergencies particularly in northwest Igboland; continuing reinforcement of the overall state of siege of Igboland …

These latter measures, which inaugurated phase-III of the Igbo genocide, constitute one of the five acts of genocide explicitly defined in article 2 of the December 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: “deliberately inflicting upon the group conditions of life designed to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. We mustn’t fail to add, finally, that these measures were drafted and implemented largely by Yoruba economists and lawyers led by Obafemi Awolowo which included, ironically, Sam Aluko who, along with all members of his family, enjoyed the generosity of a political asylum in Igboland when his life was in serious danger during the vicious intra-Yoruba political violence of the early 1960s.

The Harold Wilson-led British government of the day underwrote this devastating stretch of genocide militarily, politically and diplomatically – from its early conceptualisation, liaising continuously with the Gowon-Mohammed-Danjuma genocidist cells of the Nigeria military at varying stages between January and May 1966, to the savage, spiralling aerial, naval and ground onslaughts on encircled Igbo population centres (the “shooting everything”-raging inferno) especially between March 1968 and January 1970. London’s strategic goal in supporting the genocide was to “punish” the Igbo for “daring” to spearhead the termination of the British occupation of Nigeria. This foundational genocide of (European) post-conquest Africa and the worst in 20th century Africa would probably not have occurred without British active involvement. It is inconceivable that a contemporary British government would continue to delay any much longer in offering its unreserved apology to the Igbo for Britain’s role in the execution of this genocide and pay reparations to the survivors.

29th day of May

29 May 1966 is undoubtedly the most tragic day in the annals of Igbo history. It was a day that the Igbo were subjected to an overwhelming violence and unremitting brutality by supposedly fellow countrymen and women. The atrocity was clinically organised, supervised and implemented by the very state that the Igbo had played such a crucial role to liberate from foreign conquest and occupation. This state, now violently taken over by murderous anti-African sociopolitical forces, had pointedly violated its most sacred tenet of responsibility to its Igbo citizens – provision of security. Instead of providing security to these citizens, the Nigerian state murdered 3.1 million of them. The anthem for the genocide, broadcast uninterruptedly in Hausa on Kaduna radio and television throughout its duration, was unambiguously clear on the principal objective of this crime against humanity:

Mu je mu kashe nyamiri

Mu kashe maza su da yan maza su

Mu chi mata su da yan mata su
Mu kwashe kaya su

(translation: Let’s go kill the damned Igbo/Kill off their men and boys/Rape their wives and daughters/Cart off their property).

Yet, this 29th day of May 1966 is also the Igbo Day of Affirmation. The Igbo people resolved on this day, the day that marked the beginning of the genocide, to survive the catastrophe. This was the day the Igbo ceased to be Nigerians forever – right there on the grounds of those death camps in the sabon gari residential districts and offices and rail stations and coach stations and airports and churches and schools and markets and hospitals across north Nigeria. They created the state of Biafra in its place and tasked it to provide security to the Igbo and prevent Nigeria, a genocide state, from accomplishing its dreadful mission. The heuristic symbolism defined hitherto by 1 October shattered in the wake of this historic Igbo declaration. For the Igbo, the renouncement of Nigerian citizenship was the permanent Igbo indictment of a state that had risen thunderously to murder its people. The Igbo could not have survived the genocide if they still remained Nigerian. They rightly chose the former course of their fate and not the latter which they cast adrift. Consequently, Nigeria collapsed as a state with any serious prospects for the future. Despite the 4 murderous years of siege, the Igbo demonstrated a far greater creative drive towards constructing an advanced civilisation in Biafra than what Nigeria has all but wished it could achieve in the past 40 years. Nigeria gburu ochu; Nigeria mere alu. Surely, Nigeria couldn’t recover from committing this heinous crime – this crime against humanity.

29 May is therefore a beacon of the resilient spirit of human overcoming of the most desperate, unimaginably brutish forces. It is the new Igbo National Holiday. It is a day of meditation and remembrance in every Igbo household anywhere in the world for the 3.1 million murdered, gratitude and thanksgiving for those who survived, and the collective Igbo rededication to achieve the urgent goal of restoration of Igbo sovereignty.

Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe is the author of Biafra Revisited (African Renaissance, 2006)

Is The Igbo Language Becoming Extinct?

The Guardian [Letters]

SIR: The language of a people is their identity. We are gradually watching the Igbo language decline. In the West, the scenario is a different ball game altogether because the Yorubas are doing a lot to preserve their heritage and it is quite commendable. Children of Yoruba descent born and bred beyond these shores speak the language with so much gusto whereas their Ibo counterparts residing in Nigeria cannot speak passable Igbo language.

Parents are culpable because they are not concerned whether their children speak it or not. If this trend continues, the language will definitely become extinct with the passage of this generation. According to Michael Omolewa, 'no greater injustice can be committed against a people than to deprive them of their own language'.

Everybody comes from somewhere and the ability to identify with your people should be a mark of honour and source of pride. The English language is neither our mother tongue nor our first language. It is a borrowed language, a legacy of our colonial masters. It is the language of commerce, governance, education, etc. English undoubtedly today is Nigeria's Lingua Franca. The neglect of the Igbo language has become so bad that even moviemakers nowadays hardly produce Igbo films.

The number of Igbo films in the market has drastically reduced. As a matter of fact you hardly find them. Time was when I tried getting some for a friend abroad only to meet with disappointment at the film market. Even blockbusters such as Living in bondage, Ikuku, Taboo and Circle of Doom are no longer available. This calls for a reawakening and positive action.

Professor S. O. Unoh of blessed memory in his book 'Topical Issues in Communication Arts' posited that "Language is part of the cultural heritage that is handed down from generation to generation and it is one of the major vehicles of cultural expression. He went further to say that, 'a culture is a totality of a people's experience and language is part of culture'. The responsibility of jealously guarding and preserving our heritage is a collective venture and a task worth achieving.

The customs and traditions of a people distinguish them from others. Gone are the days when children were instructed or reprimanded before strangers in the local language. Everybody, even those with minimal education who otherwise would be more comfortable and better off speaking Igbo often make caricature of the English language in order to impress their peers. This is not necessary if we understand who we really are. We should be proud of our various dialects and languages.

Government should make it compulsory for local languages to be taught not only in government-owned schools but also in the private schools. This way, a child would have a basic knowledge of their language which will eventually evoke interest as time goes on. If those abroad who haven't set their feet on our soil could so well speak their native language, no excuse is tenable enough not to achieve the same feat here.

Ozioma Ebirim (Mrs.),

On Ojukwu and war

By Obi Nwankanma, The Orbit/Vanguard

WHEN Odumegwu-Ojukwu sneezes, the nation catches cold. That is to be expected. General Ojukwu showed his paces in war. He led one of the most famous wars of the late 20th century. General Ojukwu led the people of the former Eastern Nigeria with its majority Igbo population in a war in self-defence when they became targets of a genocidal rage.

Easterners declared secession and founded the Republic of Biafra; and for three years, fought for their lives and proudly defended their republic, but exhausted by the onslaught, lost Biafra and returned to Nigeria after the treaty that declared “no victor no vanquished” by the federal government led by General Yakubu Gowon. Nigeria, I daresay, has never fully recovered from that enterprise.

All men of conscience who fought in that genocidal war recoil from its memory. War is sweet music only to those who have never witnessed it. Only this past week, General Akinrinnade, one of the field commanders on the Nigerian side of that war publicly confessed his regrets for fighting the civil war. As a child of war myself – a war survivor – war is nightmare.

The Igbo say, “Oji oso agbakwuru ogu, amaghi s’ogu wu onwu” – simply put: those who hurry to war never stop to think that war is death. This is axiomatic and so true. General Ojukwu knows this axiom, and indeed has frequently cautioned against war and recoils from the experience. But the same Igbo, true to their dualist episteme also say, “anaghi aso mgbagbu eje ogu!” – again to put it simply: the fear of death and self-sacrifice does not prevent one from fighting a just war.

In other words, only a just war, and not a war of blame is worth the act in the Igbo cultural unconscious, because for the Igbo, war by all its implication is a great violation of the sacred law of the earth, at the end of which a necessary rite of cleansing – “ikpu aru” must be performed.

I am of course speaking about the “true” Igbo – not this generation of the Igbo who neither understands nor perhaps even values what it means to be truly Igbo, and have thus abandoned the ancient and sacred ways of the Igbo. This, of course, is a different question. But let me return to Ojukwu. Recently the General uttered what ought to be seen by all people who have ears as a timely warning.

Ojukwu used the metaphor of war. He would lead another just war, he says, in defence of the legal and democratic rights of the people, and in defence of the ethic of freedom enshrined in the notion of democracy and the ballot box. General Ojukwu was quoted on this matter after he addressed a press conference on what he perceived was an emergent shenanigan in attempts to use all manners of intrigue to undermine the democratic rights of people in Anambra state following Andy Ubah’s case, and arising from what people like Ojukwu perceive to be a potential abuse and corruption of the court process.

While some have called this use of the courts “ridiculous” others have seen it as within Andy Ubah’s constitutional rights to appeal to any court at anytime to seek interpretations and legal clarity. This right is precisely what Ojukwu vowed to defend in another war if it came to it: the right of a wider constituency and not for self-seeking politicians or processes that put to risk the foundations of the commonwealth. Ojukwu’s use of the terminology of war drew immediate reaction.

His adversary in the last war, Yakubu Gowon for instance, suddenly found his tongue, which everybody thought had been swallowed by the cat, except when he prays for Nigeria and such matters. He would, he told reporters, meet Ojukwu square feet by square feet on this matter of another war. Well, up yours Jack Gowon! That’s what Ojukwu is likely to say on this matter of meeting Jack Gowon again at war.

I think what we should have between Ojukwu and Gowon is a properly refereed boxing match at the national stadium. But on this matter of leading another resistance, Ojukwu is again right. He has called attention, in very prescient ways once more, about the dangers of using might to upturn the democratic will of Anambra people.

His synecdochal use of the terms of war merely reflect the mood of people, particularly in the East, but generally in Nigeria who have watched as their electoral rights have been abused by the use of force.

What General Ojukwu is telling Nigerians clearly is that Anambra state is a flashpoint in the emergent electoral scenario; that the PDP which since 1999, has used all kinds of illegal methods to retain power in Nigeria, through electoral fraud, intimidation, the use of corrupt judges, gerrymandering, violence, and so on, may finally bite more than they could chew with the current mood in Anambra state.

Among Ojukwu’s traducers are people like Ilochi Okafor, a former Law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who has boldly called Odumegwu-Ojukwu “a security risk,” and who has followed in the lockstep of other cheerleaders in calling Ojukwu names and threatening him, and blackmailing him with history: perhaps it is all politics.

But in the incendiary mood of Nigerians, and in their anger towards the government and the ruling party, and the endgame politics of certain participants who call themselves “stakeholders” in Anambra politics, the politics of Igbo land, and the politics of Nigeria, something is about to give, and Ojukwu has again courageously given voice to this possibility.

Instead of knee-jerk responses to Ojukwu, perhaps it is time to listen carefully to his considered views. A summary of that view simply is for all these ambitious men to take a look around them and read the tea leaves: things are not likely to remain as simple as in the past in these coming elections. Anambra state is likely to prove the first test of will between Nigerians who want a transparent democratic transfer of power and a political Mafiosi which wishes to use methods of intimidation to arrive at power.

The situation in Anambra might prove to be the catalyst to some uncontainable force of anger; indeed much repressed anger by people who have been long restrained because the last war took an incalculable toll on their will for another war. But there comes a time when people, irrespective of their disdain for violence are compelled to rise and say, “No! in Thunder.” That time, says Ojukwu may just be here and now. We better listen.



15 Responses for “On Ojukwu and war”
Emeka (London) says:
November 15, 2009 at 6:19 pm@ Rotimi, what is that you scribbled below? Gowon is…blah…blah…blah…
I tell you what, a five year old son could do better. Young man, go get your head unwind from the tale-by-moonlight stories your educated but ignorant elders induced in you. If dont know, research. But if cant research nor learn, then keep quite!

That was vintage Obi Nwakanma; he is always a delight to read. Unlike other brown envelope collecting Igbo journalists who are wont to call a spade a fork in other to be in the good books of the ragamufins calling themselves ‘Igbo leaders’ and their pay masters in Abuja, in Mr. Obi, we can always trust to find a journalist that could articulate and put forward the thinking of the majority of the Igbo people.
As for Ojukwu’s timely warning, it’s only a blind person that could not have envisaged the danger Andy Uba’s mis-adventure potend for not only Anambra State but the whole of Nigeria had he succeeded. Only God knows what the headlines would have been reading now had those honourable men of law allowed themselves to be used.
Talking of those paper tiger faceless Igbo crumb-pickers and their Nigerian counterperts who foolishly went for Ojukwu’s jogular for once again seeing beyond his time, I had rather direct them to go make an unbiased and detailed research as to what contributed to causing the Nigerian civil war. Because, if they do (including some ignorant ones who contribute on this forum), they will discover that unlike the cock-and-bull stories their parents must have taught them about the cause of the war, that apart from the pre-meditated massacre of Igbos in northern Nigeria, that another contributory factor to the war was the pre-war political crisis which engulfed the then Western Region, occassioned by the protracted and often bloody rivalry between Awolowo’s Action Group supporters and Akintola’s ruling party followers. It was this regional political rivary which later slowbald into what was then known as the ‘ wild wild west’ crisis. It was to avoid a situation where the killings, looting and political thuggery could spread to other parts of Nigeria that Nzeogwu and co were forced to terminate what was becoming a truly lawless First Republic.
For even though Nzegwu’s coup was foiled by Aguyi-Ironsi and other senior military officers, the latter was himself killed in a counter-coup led by Murtala Muhammed. Thereafter, started the indiscriminate slaughter of Igbo military officers in the barracks and innocent civilians on the streets in the north and west of the country. Feeling abused and unwanted, Ndigbo naturally decided to seek refuge in their part of the country by collectively deciding to secede. Following deafening call for secession from Nigeria by the Easterners, the then Eastern Consultative Assembly, being the body governing the then Eastern Region with Ojukwu, voted unanimously On May 26, 1967 to secede from Nigeria. Ojukwu, in carring out that order officially declared the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967. The Federal Government, led by Yakubu Gowon in response sent troops who attacked the Biafrans from the town of Garkem (close to Nsukka) on July 6, 1967. It was from thence we ended up with what is known today as the Nigerian-Biafran war, which started on the above date and ended on Januray 15, 1970.
I have decided to chronicle the above events leading to the civil war so to put paid to the lies being peddled by Ojukwu’s detractors to the effect that Ojukwu single-handedly declared a sovereign state or that the Biafrans. Just as it is lack of knowledge of Nigerian history which makes some Nigerians to suggest that the Biafrans “started the war”. Nothing could be far from the truth.
Ojukwu being a major player before, during and after that unfortunate conflict obviously knows that if the Anambra crisis is not handled with care, that it might lead to another national crisis; just as a mere quarrel between two Yoruba brothers (Awolowo and Akintola) ended up heating the polity to the extend of costing Ndigbo and other Nigerians humanly and otherwise.
So for someone like Gowon, who, like Ojukwu, lived those dark days of Nigerian history to misread what Ojukwu was implying, or to be so blind not to see the larger picture Ojukwu was portraying, means that Ojukwu is still ahead of Gowon in seeing vision today as he was when they signed the unimplemented Aburi Accord, which could have, apart from preventing the war, woud have also given the confederating Nigerian units (as agreed in the Aburi Accord) a road-map to individually and collectively pursue its goals. Sadly, it is lack of a clear-cut road-map such was outlined in the Aburi Accord and later the Ahaira Declaration by the Biafrans which is lacking amongst the Nigerian ruling class. The result is the arrested development which Ngeria has found itself since after the war ended.
If truth be told; Gowon has a lot to learn from Ojukwu, just as the Nigerians has a lot to learn from the rag-tag and malnourished Biafrans, who, despite the odds, were able to hold the Nigerian government and its western backers spell-bound for three good years. One could only imagine what the result could have been if the lonely Biafrans had the financial and military support the Nigerians had from from the west…Your guess is as good as mine.

As for the judgment itself, all I can do is to join all peace-loving and progressive Igbos to say: Our enemies has been exposed, defeated and shamed, and has been forever consigned to the dustbin of history.
kelly says:
November 15, 2009 at 5:34 pmRotimi
You sound like a bastard?, you are trained by a woman i am sure, while your father is busy marrying here and there and breeding bastards like you.
Emeka (London) says:
November 15, 2009 at 3:33 pmThat was vintage Obi Nwakanma; he is always a delight to read. Unlike other brown envelope collecting Igbo journalists who are wont to call a spade a fork in other to be in the good books of the ragamufins calling themselves ‘Igbo leaders’ and their pay masters in Abuja, in Mr. Obi we can always trust to find a journalist that could articulate and put forward the thinking of the majority of the Igbo people.
As for Ojukwu’s timely warning, it’s only a blind person that could not have envisaged the danger Andy Uba’s mis-adventure potend for not only Anambra State but the whole of Nigeria had he succeeded. Only God knows what the headlines would have been reading now had those honourable men of law allowed themselves to be used.
Talking of those paper tiger faceless Igbo crumb-pickers and their Nigerian counterperts who foolishly went for Ojukwu’s jogular for once again seeing beyond his time, I had rather direct them to go make an unbiased and detailed research as to what contributed to causing the Nigerian civil war. Because, if they do (including some ignorant ones who contribute on this forum), they will discover that unlike the cock-and-bull stories their parents must have taught them about the cause of the war, that apart from the premeditated massacre of Igbos in northern Nigeria, that another contributing factor to the war was the pre-war political crisis which engulfed the then Western Region, occassioned by the protracted and often bloody rivalry between Awolowo’s Action Group supporters and Akintola’s ruling party followers. It was this regional political rivary which later slowbald into what was then known as the ‘ wild wild west’ crisis. So to prevent the killing, looting and political thuggery from spreading to other parts of Nigeria, Nzeogwu and co stricked to terminate what was becoming a lawless First Republic. Even though Nzegwu’s coup was foiled by Aguyi-Ironsi and other senior military officers, the latter was however killed in a counter-coup led Murtala Muhammed. Then, came the indiscriminate slaughter of Igbo military officers in the barracks and innocent civilians on the streets in the nothern and western part of the country. Feeling abused and unwanted, Ndigbo naturally decided to seek refuge in their part of the country by collectively deciding to secede. On May 26, 1967, the then Eastern Consultative Assembly, being the body governing the then Eastern Region under Ojukwu voted to secede from Nigeria and gave Ojukwu the mandate to decalre a sovereign state called the Republic of Biafra. Consequently, Ojukwu officially declared the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967. And in response, the Federal Government led by Yakubu Gowon sent troops who attacked the Biafrans from the northern town of Garkem on July 6, 1967. Ladies and gentlemen, it was from there we ended up with what is known today as the Nigerian-Biafran war.
I have decided to chronicle the above events so a to put paid to the lies being peddled by Ojukwu’s detractors to the effect that Ojukwu single-handedly declared a sovereign state or that the Biafrans were the first to fire the shots, triggering the most brutal and savage war ever witnessed in Africa…. And as they say, the rest is history.
So, Ojukwu being a major player before, during and after that unfortunate conflict obviously know that if the Anambra crisis is not handled with care, that it might lead to another national crisis; just as a mere quarrel between two Yoruba brothers (Awolowo and Akintola) ended up heating the polity to the extend of costing Ndigbo and other Nigerians humanly and otherwise. But for someone like Gowon, who, like Ojukwu, lived that dark days of Nigerian history to misread what Ojukwu was implying, or to be so blind not to see the larger picture shows that Ojukwu is still ahead of Gowon in seeing vision in 2009 as he was when they signed the Aburi Accord over four decades ago.
As for the judgment itself, all I can do is to join all peace-loving and progressive Igbos to say: Our enemies has been exposed, defeated and shamed, and has been forever consigned to the dustbin of history.
Hassan Zaria says:
November 15, 2009 at 2:17 pmThis ojukwu war beat is getting too much. Obi Nwakanma or whatever that your name is, it is high time your ibo people desist from tribal ranting. ojukwu whom Gen. Yakubu Gowon cautioned understood so what is your own? First tell ojukwu to stop gallivanting across the globe launching briafra house in exile, I have browsed the site http://www.biafraland.com/biafrahouseopens.htm .What Gen. Gowon and his Nigeria Pray want for Nigeria is justice, peace and not war, so you must be advised to stop your tribal bigotry. On Monday, igbo day celebration; tomorrow, igbo marginalisation and on Wednesday, igbo presidential agitation. Go and put your house in order before insulting a national leader like Gen. Yakubu Gowon.
Rotimi says:
November 15, 2009 at 11:25 amObi Nwakanma, metaphoric of war are you painting? You should be ashamed of yourself for fanning the embers of tribalism by supporting ojukwu’s senselessness. Had most respected General Yakubu Gowon not whipped your commander ojukwu to line, he would have still continue ranting. Obi Nwakanma,, Ojukwu or whatever you called him is a failure and a tribal war head, see, ( http://www.biafraland.com/biafrahouseopens.htm ) and you can do well to ask his town people in Nnewi about a coward who ran away from a war he senselessly started…. Obi Nwakanma, General Yakubu Gowon will never meet Ojukwu square feet by square feet rather he will defeat Ojukwu square feet by square feet. Listen attentively Obi Nwakanma, never you, your 419ners and now kidnap tribe ever try to insult General Yakubu Gowon because he cautioned your war monger. What General Yakubu Gowon stand for justice, equity and peace and will continue to pray till Nigeria attains that enviable height. NIGERIA PRAY and not war.
EFOBI ANTHONY says:
November 15, 2009 at 11:15 amNigeria and PDP most not try to rig Anambra election come next year. We cannot take it peaceful again. We are not saying that PDP can’t take the post if they win through free and fair election. The election must be free and fair AND BE SEEN TO BE SO. Anambra election must not be rigged for the interest of Nigerian Unity. If the election is rigged, we cannot listen the saying that indicate that INEC and PDP is not the cause. They are of Federal Govt.. In the effort of keeping what we have, we may lose what hold us together under bundage.

Prof. Ilochi Okafor is not right to call Dim Ojukwu names. He is attracting unnecessary hatred to himself by insulting his father thinking that he is practicing politics. That is why he joined PDP as a political party knowing how bad the party is. Now, look at the first mark he is making in his political first appearance. He had told better of himself and who he is and the stuff he was made of. A PROFESSOR.

Anthony From U.K.
ogaju says:
November 15, 2009 at 10:40 amObinna,
I hope Ojukwu got you a ticket for abidjan this time……
tony says:
November 15, 2009 at 10:05 amPDP retreated having hard the roaring sound of a lion Ikemba?. Every one knows what PDP plan B looks like. They wanted to use Soludo to distract peoples attention , so that before the people could open their eyes the court has ruled in their favor. Ikemba saw it and roared and the wolves retreated.
Obinna says:
November 15, 2009 at 9:29 amGen.Gowon was absolutely wrong to have said what he said about Gen.Ojukwu’s comment in respect of Andy Uba’s antics in Anambra state.For Gowon to have made such utterances,he was merely chasing shadow rather than substance.Matching Ojukwu square feet by square feet isn’t the issue.The crux of the matter is that someone with questionable character wants to become the Governor of Anambra through the manipulation the Judiciary.What’s more,should a man such Andy become the Governor,chances are that Anambra state would suffer the fate it suffered during Mbadinuju days as Governor.

As a Phd holder in Political Science from the prestigious Warwick University,I thought that Gen.Gowon would have understood what the Ikemba said and meant.This tells me that Gowon went through the motion of studying Political science.One funny thing about Nigeria,is that we always approach issues that needs to be approached with pure reasoning with emotion.

I am of the opinion that if given equal circumstances,Gen.Gowon can not match Gen.Ojukwu in a warefare.Mention must be made here that the arms and ammunitions used by the federal forces was more than the all the arms and ammunitio used by the British forces through out the entire 2nd World War.This is to showcase the extent of how well armed and equipped the federal forces were.And yet,the rag-tag Biafran forces were still able to hold them back for 3 bloody years.
Kenice says:
November 15, 2009 at 1:44 amThank you Obi. I did comment that only intelligent and descerning minds would understand what Ojukwu had to say. The good news is some of our judges are beginning to realise that they are equal “stake-holders” in the Nigerian enterprise. The bold and upright are gradually being separated from the timid and corrupt. When the proper and accurate history of Nigeria is written we know on which side Ojukwu would be found.