Use of General Madiebo's Book: Fair or Foul -Reply
dsm
MOE,
Ihuru ihe m jiri si na nna i mulu gi.
Ka Chineke gozie okwu.
Uzo
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From: Maurice O. Ene
Sent: Friday, January 31, 1997 2:12 AM
To: ig...@juno.com
Cc: igbo...@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu
Subject: Use of General Madiebo's Book: Fair or Foul -Reply
>>> Mobolaji E. Aluko <mal...@scs.howard.edu>
<mal...@scs.howard.edu> 01/30/97 04:55pm >>>
Maurice:
Obviously, you are rearing for a bruising fight with me over this
serialization, but I really have no stomach for it.
{LONG STUFF del...}
Best wishes, Maurice nwoke' m.
Bolaji Aluko
+++++++++
Maazi Aluko:
It's been quite a long time since I last read my name the way you wrote it.
Maurice: I can hear you mouth it. Omo, please call me MOE; everyone
does. [I hope my use of your initial EMA did not offend... I reminds me of
the many Emmanuels I have had as friends.]
I was going to digest your e-mail and then zip across a befitting reply, but
I decided to confirm receipt before I close shop, and also remind you that
I am NOT "rearing for a bruising fight." The truth I tell is evident: you just
said it yourself: there is something to gain from "serializing" a book, when
legal. Question is:
WHAT IS THERE FOR THE AUTHOR & THE PUBLISHER?
I could go into all this from now till tomorrow; the fact still remains that I
asked for a decent explanation on why you should post his book on the
Net, and not say Soyinka's or Uncle Sege's as Bosah also posed. The
proposed private mail was made public because of the usual Naija
mentality of smelling out rotten rat if such an e-mail leaks out later... as it
usually does. [Don't frown: I did not start it!]
I was not sure about the legality and the ethics of your plan, and I was
not alone. I even spoke to a lawyer friend who said you MUST know
what your are doing. But you IGNORED my e-mail, because you had no
stomach for a fight: see how pimples turn into big boils! When was the
last time I "fought" you if not over another book. And I was even joking. I
did not even know who you were. [You see, I have been on this
particular superhighway for less than a year, and Aluko is not a popular
name in the Coal City. Talk of Onoh/Onyeama & Ene and Nwa-somebody
... and you are home :))]
Anyway, I will still come back to your mail later; this is just to inform you
that I do not intend to turn this into another E-W wahala. No, we have had
enough of that on this forum to last us all a lifetime. But you do realize
that folks are bound to SEE an anaconda wherever a biting millipede is
RUMORED to prowl.... GRRRRHHH!
I promise to stick to "FAIR USE" and your "NOTES"! If you deny a hidden
agenda, so be it. I see none, but what do you have in mind? Come on, tell
us. Hang in there and don't be afraid of my MANY supporters... for
whatever reason.
Finally, one thing you must NOT run away form is ethnicity: YOURS &
MINE. You wrote:
" Nwawo, Nzeogwu and Nzegwu are ethnically Igbo, are they not ? At
least you have forced the disclosure now, if it was not known before.. "
WHAT WAS THERE TO HIDE "before"? You see why people do NOT trust
that you always speak the whole TRUTH? Why were you being
economical with what was but the ONLY truth? Sir, to deny that these
fine officers were/are ethnic Igbo will be to deny my own existence. Of
course they were/are. Am I proud of them? You bet. But when we
equate their region to their ethnic extraction, WE lie with facts. I was not
the one throwing about figures: YOU were. If you must use them, get
them right. Ibrahim [G]Badamosi Babangida is "ethnically Yoruba" , but he
is not a Westerner, is he? A Beninoise Yoruba is not a Lagosian or a
Nigerian. Jerry Rawlings is a Scot by British law, but he is a Ghanaian.
Need I go on? If (Uncle Sani) Abacha had listened to Justice Adolph
Karibi-Whyte and his fellow travelers and dumped the dual-citizenship
proviso, there will today be many Igbo/Yoruba/Hausa/Edo/Izon/Ibibio/Efik
etc. people who are NOT Nigerians. Makes sense? It is this sort of
"politcal correctness" that lands us all in a big soup whenever wahala
unfolds. Why hide what is there? Makes people scream "HIDDEN"
agenda. See?
Bolaji, nwoke m: if you stick your finger into your rear to see if it
suddenly produces POISON perfume, you must be ready to stand up to
the bewilderment of spectators. Need I say more :))
Regards to the DC "tribe"
MOE
Ps: I am really sorry to hear that Odu'a packed up. Why? I have gained so
much from Igbo--net I couldn't imagine not looking into the republican
square every day. For a Yoruba counterpart, it must be very frustrating
and disappointing. You see why it is good to ask questions. As the Igbo
would say: "onye ajuju anaghi efu uzo." Oh well, I am sure that someone
will re-establish a new "republic" soon.
About NFF: thank you ;-)) And please do not start talking about
"FREEDOM FIGHTERS" again. Biko, don't just start. Been there. Seen all. It
just ain't worth it. Talk. Hate... hate is better than indifference. Shout.
Scream. But forget the fight: as we say in Baffa... that na Benin-City, no
be Biafura -o, pikin wey dem carry for back e dey pluck banana chop,
hin eye tear!