"Igbo" not "Ibo": Mz Joe Igbokwe as in Igbo not Ibokwe
otasco otanda
Are you now going to crucify him for this, or for that
matter, does this make him less of an “Igbo” man than
you? All I am saying in essence, Mr. Otasco, is that
there is no point being too narrow-minded or
ethnocentric about issues like Ibo/Igbo, which is not
meant to be insulting or denigrating in the first
place. … And you will notice that Mr. Igbokwe
refrained from taking on the entire Yoruba race to
make his point against Mrs. Adelaja, who happens to be
a Yoruba. That, in my humble opinion, is how a
principled gentleman behaves.” - Valentine Ojo.
Valentine Ojo:
Since you had taken it upon yourself to dig out parts
of Mz Joe Igbokwe’s article where the words “Ibo” or
“Igbo” occurred, it can be said that you are still
insisting (and defending) that Igbo people are “Ibo”
people, despite their requests to you and your ilks to
desist from it. To butt, you claimed that “Mr.
Igbokwe” whom you described as “an eminent Igbo man”,
uses “Ibo and ‘Igbo’ interchangeably.” You then
admonished Ndiigbo that “there is no point being too
narrow-minded or ethnocentric about issues like
Ibo/Igbo.”
Is Mr Igbokwe the same as Mr Ibokwe? Valentine Ojo,
in line with his argument above, says yes, and would
very much address and refer to Igbokwe as Ibokwe, even
if Mz Joe Igbokwe felt insulted or denigrated by that.
Mz Igbokwe's feeling insulted is irrelevant because
emperor Valentine Ojo, a yorubaman, says that it is
not insulting, and that Mr Igbokwe anyway uses “Ibo
and ‘Igbo’ interchangeably.”
"Ibo" not insulting? Well, hear Ibukunolu Babajide,
another yorubaman, insult Ndiigbo with his latest
nazi-like hatred of the race, calling Igbos "Ibos":
"Ikwerre land and Port Harcourt provided such an
opportunity and the imbalance in the old eastern
region allowed the IBOS - 'I Before Others' to
extensively settle and acquire land and property which
they thereafter wanted to claim as theirs in
perpetuity." - Ibukunolu Babajide a.k.a IBK in re:
Biafra Built on Covetiousness and Greed;
Abujanig@yahoogroups, Nov 29, 2001.
Any wonder then why the people so adamant and
persistent in referring to Igbos as "Ibos" are the
yorubas? What reason is there to believe that a
people whose yoruba language is full of "gbongbongbon"
sound could not write the "gb" in "Igbo"?
The yorubas who are at the forefront of writing "Igbo"
as "Ibo" or calling the Igbos "the Ibos" and all that,
simply do so to insult and ridicule the great Igbo
people, as clearly depicted in that Babajide's a.k.a
IBK remark or comment. Just pick up any of the media
articles in nigeria, check the excessive occurence of
"Ibo, Ibos, Iboman, Iboland, ...", observe the
denigrating nature of the subject matter of the
article/paragraph and notice that the author is more
likely a yoruba.
Valentine Ojo, your reason or claim that “Mr. Igbokwe
uses 'Ibo' and 'Igbo' interchangeably,” based simply
on the evidence from that single ThisDay article of
his, is futile or sophomoric at best. Did you really
think so, or you were just trying to fish out reasons
for justifying your use of that term?
I do not think Mz Joe Igbokwe uses that term "Ibo". I
believe that what may have happened was that the
editor, possibly a yoruba, who had the last access to
that article, inputed "Ibo, Ibos, Iboman, ..." here
and there in the original article submitted by Mz
Igbokwe for publication. I said this because Mz
Igbokwe never used "Ibo, Ibos, Iboman, ..." in the
over 8 articles of his in other newspapers (edited by
non-yorubas in those days, I suspect) that I have in
my archives.
For evidence or proof, I have pulled out the 9
articles of Joe Igbokwe that I could find in my
archives, and counted the occurences of "Ibo, Ibos,
Iboman, ..." as IBO and the occurences of "Igbo,
Igbos, Igboman, ..." as IGBO. Below is the tally by
citation (excerpts from these articles are listed by
S/N shortly as footnotes):
Table 1: Joe Igbokwe’s use of the words Ibo and Igbo
-----------------------------------------------------
S/N Publication and Date Igbo Ibo Total
--- ------------------------------ ----- --- -----
1 Guardian,Thurs, May 6, 1999 2 0 2
2 Vanguard, Tues, Jun 8, 1999 11 0* 11
3 The News, Tues, Mar 21, 2000 15 0 15
4 Guardian, Thurs, Oct 26, 2000 0 0 0
5 NigeriaWorld, Tue, Dec 19, 2000 16 0 16
6 Vanguard, Tues, Feb 6, 2001 23 0 23
7 Guardian, Tues, Mar 1, 2001 0 0 0
8 Guardian, Fri, Mar 9, 2001 0 0 0
9 Guardian, Sat, Nov. 3, 2001 4 0 4
10 This Day, Sat, Dec 22, 2001 6 15 21
-----------------------------------------------------
>From the table, Mz Joe Igbokwe never used the term
"Ibo, Ibos, Iboman, ..." in his 9 articles before the
Sat Dec 22, 2001, ThisDay Editorial article. But on
that ThisDay Editorial, Mz Igbo used "Ibo, Ibos,
Iboman, ..." over 71% of the time. This is simply
unbelievable; there is no way that that can be the
same Mz Joe Igbokwe in the earlier articles.
To think that a yoruba ThisDay editor inputed it all
in that ThisDay editorial article is credible,
especially when contrasted with the tallies that
obtained in the two Guardian editorials of a related
topic by Reuben Abati, a yorubaman, where the
yorubaman demonized, denigrated and spewed his fascist
hatred of Igbos:
Table 2: Abati’s (recent) use of the words Ibo & Igbo
-----------------------------------------------------
S/N Publication and Date Igbo Ibo Total
--- ------------------------------ ----- --- -----
1 Guardian, Sun, Dec 16, 2001 6 17 23
2 Guardian, Sun, Dec 23, 2001 2 37 39
-----------------------------------------------------
The yoruba bigot, ngbati Reuben Abati, in the articles
cited above used "Ibo, Ibos, Iboman, ..." over 73% of
the time on Sun, Dec 16, 2001, and over 94% of the
time on Sun, Dec 23, 2001. And what is more, these
percentages also significantly reflected the level of
vitriol and animosity expressed by the same yorubaman
against the Igbo people. Further, a deeper reading of
these articles revealed that "Ibo, Ibos, Iboman, ..."
was a veiled reference to "I Before Others", as
another yoruba green snake, Ibukunolu Babajide, used
above.
It is just their way of insulting, despising or
wishing evil on the Igbo people.
What we Ndiigbo are saying is: please desist from
using "Ibo, Ibos, Iboman, ..."; enough of your racist
insults!
BTW, Valentine Ojo, Mz Joe Igbokwe never completely
“refrained from taking on the entire Yoruba race to
make his point against Mrs. Adelaja”, as you claimed
above. When Mrs Adelaja’s told ex-Biafran soldiers
“to go and continue with their buying and selling
business,” Mz Igbokwe responded that he “needed no
English master to know that she was referring to the
Ibo nation as traders.” And to resent that, Mz
Igbokwe adopted the same veiled reference and
dismissed the entire yoruba race as conspirators.
Hear him: “The history of what led Ndigbo to buying
and selling business in Nigeria and beyond is
well-known to all and sundry. The conspirators
conspired after the civil war to give any Ibo account
holder in Nigeria before the civil war just 20 pounds
simply to make sure that Igbo will not rise again.
Again, Nigeria was sold mainly to a section of the
country during the indegenization programme in 1973
when our peoole were just coming out of the war. We
know those who bought almost all the companies.”
Therefore, it does not appear that you know what a
"principled gentleman" means, for Mz Igbokwe could not
have possibly been “a principled gentleman” according
to the criteria you delineated to us.
-K.O.
[1]. “I prayed to God and said: 'Almighty and
everlasting God in whose Almighty hands are the
destinies of nations and individuals, the God of
Jacob, the God of Abraham, the God of David, the God
of Daniel, the God of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego,
the God of Israelites, the God who answereth by fire,
please, please let the North have oil this time around
more in volume or twice the quantity found in the
South so that the South can be free'. I remember in
1995 when my good friend, Chief Pini Jason, made
similar pleas to God to give the North oil so that his
children, the Igbo, the Yoruba, the Ogonis and the
Niger Deltans can be free. In 1997, Dr. Pat Utomi said
at a public function that the army controlled by the
North should keep all the oil money, take all the oil
wells in Nigeria and keep all the stolen money, but
should return Nigeria to us so that we can start on a
clean slate. If oil had been discovered in the North
in large quantity, General Gowon's Police Action which
later became a full-scale civil war that caused the
Igbo one million people and took them back 40 years
would not have occurred. If our Merciful God had given
the North oil, the Ogoni tragedy since oil was
discovered there in 1957 would have been avoided. The
Ogoni 13 including Ken Saro-Wiwa would have been alive
today. The bloodshed and the raping of Ijaw women in
the Niger Delta by Nigerian army of occupation would
have been avoided.” – Joe Igbokwe in re: God, Please
Give the North Oil; Guardian, Thursday, May 6, 1999
[2]. “IGBO nation is now a nation of anything goes.
No one is identified and recognised as the clear
leader and spokesman for Ndigbo. Every Dick and Harry
pretends that he is an Igbo leader. All kinds of
associations are springing up here and there with each
trying to outdo the other while pretending to be
speaking for Ndigbo. These days you hear of Igbo this,
Igbo that and none of them seems to know what is
supposed to be an Igbo agenda. Everybody wants to be
champion of Igbo cause, everyone wants to be an
advocate of Igbo cause but no one wants to pay
attention. Everyone seems to be working for himself
and no one works for the entire Igbo nation. On May
29, 1999 ‘elected’ representatives of the people were
sworn in throughout the East, West, North and South of
the country. But we must not forget one fact: It is
only in the Yoruba nation that elections took place.
In the North, East and South- South, it was cash and
carry business. While the Yoruba nation sat down to
screen every candidate for every post-meticulously and
strategically handing over the agenda of the Yoruba
nation to the nominated candidates, something else was
happening in the East. While Abacha politicians were
disgraced, dishonoured and booed in the Yoruba nation,
their counterparts were kingmakers and party
chieftains in the East and South-South. While Abacha
politicians in the South-West were licking their
wounds, gnashing their teeth and taking the back seat
where they belong, their counterparts in the East and
South -South were either ‘winning’ elections as
governors, senators, members of House of Reps, State
Assemblies or sponsoring their own candidates. In the
Yoruba nation names like the Babatopes, Jakandes,
Adelekes, Adefuyes, Adenijis etc no longer make any
meaning, politically to the people. They are political
lepers.” – Joe Igbokwe in re: “Abacha Politicians and
Igbos”; Vanguard, Tuesday, June 8, 1999
[3]. “The attack on Igbo is not new in this nation.
It started in Jos in 1945, Kano in 1953, the entire
North in 1966 to 1970 and that culminated in the civil
war in which millions of Igbo lives were lost.
Maitatsine religious riots in Kano which occurred in
1980 with very dire consequences on the Igbo. In 1982,
the riot came to Maiduguri. In 1984, it was in Jimeta,
Yola. It was in Gombe in 1985. There, the Igbo were
killed, their property looted. The killing spree came
to Kaduna and Kafancha in 1987. In 1991, it was in
Bauchi, Katsina and Kano. In 1992, in Zango-Kataf,
Igbo were the primary targets because any time you
have a problem in the North, the Igboman is the
primary target. This is because of the type of
business they do. They display their spare parts, they
display their building materials, they display the
electronics and so on. In 1993, the riot spread to
Funtua. In 1994, you would recall, Gideon Akaluka, an
Igbo citizen, was murdered in Kano. He was beheaded,
his head was paraded in the streets of Kano. All these
attacks have very dire consequences for us, the Igbo.
So if you push somebody to the wall, he would have to
react. It is becoming a tradition that any time you
have a crisis in the North, the Igbo bear the brunt.”
– Joe Igbokwe in re: “We are battle ready’; The News,
Tuesday, March 21, 2000
[4]. “All the things Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Olisa
Agbakoba, Chief Tony Enahoro, Col. Abubakar Umar,
Prof. Wole Soyinka, Chief Bola Ige, Senator Abraham
Adesanya, Dr. Arthur Nwankwo, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe,
Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Alhaji Abdulkarim Daiyabu
and many others fought for are today being eroded in
our very eyes. After the Sagamu, Ketu, Ajegunle and
now another Apapa/Ajegunle killings, Lagos which used
to be a centre for civilisation and excellence has now
become a centre of absurd. From the look of things it
looks like Lagos is no longer conducive for business.
All the extra judicial killings we had accused
Northern military leaders and their collaborators of
perpetuating between 1966 and 1999 have been repeated
in the South-West within 16 months.” – Joe Igbokwe in
re: “Beyond the OPC Campaign”; Guardian, Thursday,
Oct. 26, 2000
[5]. “Nigeria now has six zonal structures namely:
North-East (NE), North-West (NW), North Central (NC),
South-East (SE), South-South (SS), and South-West
(SW). NW has seven States, NE-6, NC-6, SS-6, SW-6 and
SE-5. In the distribution of local governments, NC has
116, NE, 110, NW 181, SW 138, SS 127, SE 92. Now, on
what basis can Nigerian leaders justify the allocation
of five States and 92 local governments to South-East?
Is it based on population? If it is based on
population, which census? Is it based on the need of
the people or landmass? Until Nigeria do away with the
fraudulent census figures that have given undue
advantage to other Nigerians we are likely to remain
in crisis for some time to come. General Buhari’s
Petroleum Trust Fund (now defunct) did not help
matters either. Despite the fact that the widely
travelled South-Easterners contributed more to the
fund than any other zone in the country, the people
were robbed to the bones in the distribution of PTF
projects. South-East (Zone 2) got the least number of
tarred roads, the least in the education sector
allocation and even in the health and food supply
sectors. In the nation’s Security Council, the SW has
4 including the Head of State, NC 3, NE 2, NW 2, SS 1
and SE 1. In the distribution of ministerial
appointments, NW has 6, NC 4, NE 4, SW 5, SS 4 and as
usual SE 3. In the distribution of Police Zonal
Commands while others have 3 and some 4 the South-East
has just been given one with its headquarters at
Owerri, Imo States. Igbo nation has not faired better
even in the current privatisation programme of the
federal government. In the allocation of shares to
zones, the South-East as usual gets the least number
of shares. For instance in the distribution of FSB
International Plc. shares, NW got 16,181,144 shares,
NE 8,442,336, NC 8,619,218, SW 12,487,622, SS
9,673,510 and SE 7,562,926. For WAPCO shares NW got
9,993,043, NE 5,213,760 NC 5,322,380, SW 7,712,022, SS
5,974,090, and SE as usual got 4,670,660 shares. In
the proposed year 2001 appropriation bill, zonal
allocations stand as follows: NC is to pick a huge sum
of N43.466 billion, SS 27.673 billion, SW 17.853
billion, NW 15.649 billion, NE 15.446 billion and as
usual SE 14.000 billion.” – Joe Igbokwe in re:
“Nigeria Still has an Igbo Problem”; NigeriaWorld,
Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2000
[6]. “THE organisers of the Friday January 19,2001
historic Igbo summit deserves a million thanks for
bringing anybody that is somebody from the Igbo nation
to Enugu to re-assess the position of Ndigbo in the
Nigerian federation. In fairness to the organisers,
this is the first time since the end of the civil war
in 1970 when prominent Igbo sons and daughters will
gather in such magnitude to address a common problem.
Various attempts had been made in the past to bring
Igbo leaders together but such moves have always been
marred by controversies and mistrust. This situation
was not helped either by the experts and professionals
in divide and rule tactics from a section of the
country who see and take Nigeria as a private estate
to be looted and plundered. These people in their
inordinate ambition combined with stolen national
patrimony have sworn that Igbo will never speak with
one voice since 1970 as they had been doing before the
Nigerian-Biafran war started in 1967. But all the
plots, the subterranean moves, and the behind the
scene scheming to continue to suppress the entire
Ndigbo ended on Friday, January 19, 2001, when eminent
Igbo leaders removed the kid gloves to tell their
oppressors that enough is enough.” – Joe Igbokwe in
re: “Echoes from Igbo Summit”; Vanguard, Tuesday,
February 6, 2001
[7]. “That neighbour of yours, who says he or she is
a banker, wears suits and exotic clothes all the time,
has two or three houses, drives around the town in
exotic cars and maintains two or three wives with many
children may simply be one of the thieves we have in
our banks today who live comfortably by stealing your
money. That cashier or manager who smiles at you any
time you visit your bank either to pay in or cash some
money, asks you about your wife and children and
ensures that you are given first class treatment any
time you visit the bank may just be one of the
criminal syndicates that operate in our banks.” – Joe
Igbokwe in re: “Our Banking System”; Guardian,
Tuesday, March 1, 2001
[8]. “One secret that has helped my writing business
in the past 15 years is that I read the works of great
writers and thinkers. When reading these great minds I
do what Dale Carnegie taught me in his book: Public
Speaking. I put in my diary beautiful sentences,
idioms, fine phrases and spotless proses. In my
private moments, I go through my diaries reading it
the way I read books, magazines and newspapers, making
mental note of the fine statements. Because practice
makes perfection, I get used to these words and when I
write some of them flow naturally through my pen.
Sometimes, I remember to quote my source, sometimes I
do not remember to do that. I have also known from
history that no one author writes a book alone. A good
writer reads voraciously and builds from the ideas of
others, because he who would enrich and enlarge his
stock of words must soak and tan his mind constantly
in the vats of literature.” – Joe Igbokwe in re: “The
Limits of Influence”; Guardian, Friday, March 9, 2001
[9]. “Joint Action Comittee of Nigeria, JACON wrote:
‘Whereas the North increased from 1 region and 14
provinces in the pre-1967 (before the military struck)
to 20 states (an increase of 43 percent) and 414 local
governments in 1999; the South increased from 3 and 21
provinces in the same period to 17 states (a decrease
of 14 percent) and 355 local governments in 1999.
Thereafter, the South that had more regions and
provinces than the North in pre-1967 now has (in 1999)
3 states and 59 local governments less than the
North.’ The result is that if any bill is sponsored in
the National Assembly today by anybody from the South,
it will be roundly defeated no matter how popular the
bill is, because the North parades more senators and
members of the House of Representatives. Over the
years, Nigerians especially the Igbo have been
clamouring for us to have a Citizenship Act - clearly
defined by our constitution because, this particular
ethnic group has invested heavily in every nook and
cranny of Nigeria and their lives and property need to
be given adequate protection. For years, this clamour
has fallen on deaf ears. In Jos recently, this matter
came to the fore again when the Igbo and the Yoruba
accepted that they are non-indigenes whereas a
particular ethnic group refused to accept the painful
'fact'. Result: Massive destruction of lives and
property in the one time most peaceful city. The
Guardian opinion poll published on Monday October 15,
2001 says almost 70 per cent of ethnic violence in
Nigeria are caused by intolerance of other ethnic
groups. Recently again in Lagos, there was crisis at
the popular Tejuosho market. I understand that there
was a clash between some area boys and Igbo traders in
the market, which led to the death of one person. The
market was closed down, and as at the time of writing
this article, we are in the second week since the
closure. ... Now consider the fact that Lagos became
the capital of Nigeria 86 years ago and Nigerians from
the North, East, West, South invested in Lagos for 86
years. Lagos State now presides over everything and
the new capital moved to Abuja. Nigerians are
investing in Abuja and tomorrow the capital may be
moved somewhere else and Abuja christened Abuja State.
Our federal system of government must be designed in
such a way as to protect the citizens, their property
and investments. The other day I was travelling to
the East from Lagos. Before I got to Agbor, I went
into a local market to buy garri. The women spoke to
me in Igbo language (in their own dialet). I
understood them, from that spot to Asaba and to Kwale,
they speak Igbo but they are in Delta State with
Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ijaw etc. Why don't you create
Anioma State and join it with South East just to
demarginalize that political enclave that had been
neglected for too long. That will bring the number of
states in the South East to 6 states. NW has 7 states;
NC 6 states, SW 6 states, South South 6 states and
only SE has 5 states.” – Joe Igbokwe in re: “How to
reconstruct the Nigerian Nation”; Guardian, Saturday,
Nov. 3, 2001
[10]. “The history of what led Ndigbo to buying and
selling business in Nigeria and beyond is well-known
to all and sundry. The conspirators conspired after
the civil war to give any Ibo account holder in
Nigeria before the civil war just 20 pounds simply to
make sure that Igbo will not rise again. Again,
Nigeria was sold mainly to a section of the country
during the indegenization programme in 1973 when our
peoole were just coming out of the war. We know those
who bought almost all the companies. There was no
'Marshall' plan for the reconstruction of Igbo land as
practised in civilized countries of the world. Mrs.
Adelaja knows also that the Ibo nation is the only
nation in Africa that fought a civil war of self
determination, lost the war, lost all her belongings,
lost almost one million souls and yet the people were
able to work themselves back into the system through
dint of hardwork. If other Nigerians should work as
the Ibo, move and live in other places like the Ibo,
Nigeria would have been a better place now.” – Joe
Igbokwe in re: “Dupe Adelaja and the Ibo Nation”; This
Day, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2001
[1] “In 1967, secession was presented to the Ibo man
as a necessity. In 2001, the situation is different.
Ibos have not done anything since 1967 to make it
possible for them to have another Biafra. Within
Nigeria, they are even more vulnerable than they were
in 1966. They are still economic refugees inside the
country and the bulk of their investment is outside
Ibo land. They have been busy going into other
people's territories, they have not quite allowed
other ethnic groups to enter Ibo land. Such that any
time, there is a threat to the Ibo man, the only way
he can secure his safety is to flee to his homeland.
Anything can happen to him on the way home. And if he
flees, his property as happened in 1967, will be taken
over by other ethnic groups. Before Ibos can talk of
secession, they have to develop the East into a viable
economic region that can accommodate its own people.
Since the civil war ended, the Ibo man has done well
for himself no doubt, he has effectively re-integrated
himself into Nigeria in a physical sense. After all,
Ibos now sell land in Lagos and Kaduna, and they are
in charge of commerce, "419" and "international
trade." But there is a problem of leadership. Every
Ibo man who has access to the media, and some money in
his pocket thinks that he is an Ibo leader. The
biggest disease in Ibo land is
money. When Ojukwu talks these days, it is not exactly
the same Ojukwu of 1967, he is at best only a symbol.”
– Reuben Abati in re: “Obasanjo, Secession and the
Secessionists (2)”; Guardian, Editorial, Dec. 23,
2001.
[2]. "What is happening in Ebonyi State may be a
local event instigated by a clash between two
political rivals. Yet the manner the crisis is
resolved ultimately will colour public perception
about the capacity of the Igbo people to provide
national leadership. In two years, the office of the
Senate President zoned to the region has had three
occupants. The ouster of the two previous incumbents
was not a consequence of disagreements over some
profound principles. Developments such as these tend
to reinforce the image of a people always bound to
dissonance on account of recourse to archetypal
behaviour of extreme atomism." in re: “The Danger in
Ebonyi State”; Guardian, Editorial, Monday, September
3, 2001.
From: "Dr. Valentine Ojo" <valojo@e...>
Date: Sun Dec 23, 2001 2:29 am
Subject: Re: "Igbo" or "Ibo"....
Mr. Otasco:
Here are some quotations (underlinings are mine) from
the justified response by Joe Igbokwe, an eminent Igbo
man, to the unfortunate remarks by Mrs. Dupe Adelaja
(a junior minister in the Defense Ministry):
"Dupe Adelaja and the Ibo Nation
By Joe Igbokwe"
"Monday, December 10, 2001 is a day the Igbo nation
will not forget in a hurry. It was a day Ibo nation
was officially provoked by somebody whose duty..."
"Mrs. Adelaja knows also that the Ibo nation is the
only nation in Africa that fought a civil war of self
determination..."
"If other Nigerians should work as the Ibo, move and
live in other places like the Ibo, Nigeria would have
been a better place now."
"...this exercise that was meant to belittle a dynamic
race like the Ibo?"
"I am therefore challenging every Ibo son or
daughter...to throw more stones or missiles to Mrs.
Dupe Adelaja's glass house...to tender an unreserved
apology to the Ibo nation."
As you may have noted, Mr. Igbokwe uses "Ibo" and
"Igbo" interchangeably. Are you now going to crucify
him for this, or for that matter, does this
make him less of an "Igbo" man than you?
All I am saying in essence, Mr. Otasco, is that there
is no point being too narrow-minded or ethnocentric
about issues like Ibo/Igbo, which is not meant to be
insulting or denigrating in the first place. I do
believe there are more important issues to take a
principled stand on, like the one Mr. Joe Igbokwe is
defending in this article for example.
And you will notice that Mr. Igbokwe refrained from
taking on the entire Yoruba race to make his point
against Mrs. Adelaja, who happens to be a Yoruba.
That, in my humble opinion, is how a principled
gentleman behaves.
This is a season of peace, and I wish you and yours a
Merry Christmas.
Val Ojo
From: "Dr. Valentine Ojo" <valojo@e...>
Date: Sat Dec 22, 2001 9:58 pm
Subject: FW: [abujaNig] Re: Are We "Igbos" or "Ibos"
Mr. Otasco wrote:
"Not long ago I had warned one Valentine Ojo (a yoruba
man) to desist from insulting Igbos with his use of
"Ibo" in places of "Igbo." He ranted this and that in
defense, but let him dare use that despicable
word to refer to the great Igbo people. -K.O."
Otasco:
It is unfortunate that people like you are simply
incorrigible, and you are only happy, when you can
make enemies. An attempt on my part to make a
conciliatory gesture towards you for writing 'Ibo'
instead of 'Igbo', as you obviously prefer, was rudely
rebuffed by the above statement from you. Is that
enough reason to start a second Nigerian Civil War?
Interesting too to note that you always write Yoruba
as "yoruba" (with a lower case "y"), while you write
"Igbo" (with a capital "I"). Is that calculated as a
deliberate insult to all people of Yoruba origin?
You really must be a stark illiterate. And maybe
therein lies the true meaning of your dubious e-mail
name "otasco". What are you ashamed of, to bear your
father's true name? For your information, the word
"ota" in Yoruba means "enemy". You, K.O., are
obviously an enemy of knowledge, and a stranger to
intelligent discourse in whatever guise.
In your ignorance, you interpret 'Chi' as an 'angelic
attribute of God', although African cultures NEVER
operate with the concept of 'angels', which is of
Judeo-Christian origin. And how can "CHI UKWU (Supreme
Being or God the Father)", or "CHI NA-EKE (the
creator)", (your own translations Mr. Otasco) ever
come mean "angelic"? You appear to forget that even in
Christianity, angels are believed to be creations of
God, and therefore, below Him - not to be equated to
Him.
Mr. Otasco, your ignorance is truly phenomenal.
Have a good day,
Val Ojo
From: cco...@yahoo.com
Reply-to: abuj...@yahoogroups.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Don't mind the Ibadan man who should know better that
Igbo is not the same as the yoruba cum Ibadan
phonetics where the pronounciation of the the alphabet
"H" is replace with a highly stressed "S" (eg. bush
for buss) , thus, my tounge-tied Ibadan man may have a
phonetic problem when he tries to replace "CHI" as
"SHI". The area boy should maintain his territory when
it comes to other ethnic language.
I wonder what he has to teach the Calabar people in
the area of pronuoncing "abasi"! I just wish i can
here the Ibadan man pronouce it.
O da ki eyan na pa enu re de ti pa ti pa...
From: "otasco" <otasco@y...>
Date: Thu Dec 20, 2001 11:47 am
Subject: Re: Are We "Igbos" or "Ibos"
"I think the blames must be with our professors and
educators. They have not done enough to seek our past.
They are too busy replicating and extending studies of
foreign concerns. When will they know that the word
"Chi" for God in Igbo ought to be "Shi" to get us
closer to its Ancient origin?" -- Omo Odua9.
The above is the most nonsensical thing I have ever
heard about "Chi"; and this type of nonsense most
often occurs when the yoruba arrogantly dabbles into
something he/she does not really comprehend. In
nowhere in Igboland is "Chi" thought to be originally
"Shi". Moreover, Chi is never wholesomely God but more
a descriptive attribute/adjective of God (i.e.
angelic), in the following sense: CHI UKWU (Supreme
Being or God the Father), CHI NA-EKE (the creator),
etc.
Not long ago I had warned one Valentine Ojo (a yoruba
man) to desist from insulting Igbos with his use of
"Ibo" in places of "Igbo." He ranted this and that in
defense, but let him dare use that despicable word to
refer to the great Igbo people.
-K.O.
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