The Igbo Question
Jibrin Ibrahim
Resolving the Igbo Question
Jibrin Ibrahim, Deepening Democracy Column, Daily Trust, 30th November 2015
In 1843, the German historian and theologian Bruno Bauer, wrote the polemical book, “The Jewish Question”, following strident demands by Jews for emancipation. He argued that Jews could achieve political emancipation only if they relinquish their religious consciousness, since political emancipation requires a secular state, which he assumed did not leave any "space" for social identities such as religion. Bauer contested the assumption that a people can seek emancipation based on religious particularism, while following the French Revolution, the world was moving in the direction of equal rights for all. In his response to the debate, Karl Marx queried the notion that one group could seek emancipation while the reality was that every group was in bondage.
The Igbos, we are told need emancipation from an oppressive Nigeria which has been oppressing and marginalizing them since independence. Karl Marx would ask them if all groups in Nigeria have not been oppressed and marginalised as well. In addition, he would point out what history has done to the Igbos since colonisation, transforming them from an egalitarian society to one of the most unequal societies in the world in which abject poverty cohabits with the opulence of some of the richest people in the contemporary world. I fear for a Biafra in which these two groups will confront each other. Above all, I fear for a Nigeria in which similar inequalities exist and the masses from all ethnic and religious groups have been systematically oppressed and marginalised since independence.
The current movement for Biafra is a very serious one because it represents a complete fracture between the Igbo elite and their masses. In the Internet, former Governor Peter Obi is accused of using Nigerian soldiers to massacre an estimated 5,000 militants of MASSOB in the period 2006 to 2009 under the direction of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was said to have given the ‘Shoot-at Sight Order’. During the period, “Nigerian soldiers were said to have been on rampage at Onitsha, Nnewi, Oba, Ihiala and environs shooting, killing, and maiming anything that has a suspicion of being MASSOB.” If today the disaffected and poor Igbo youth, just like the Boko Haram fighters, are defining their governors and elite as central to the problem, there is no surprise that no one has a clue in terms of responding to Lenin’s question – what is to be done.
What the Igbo intellectual class has done is to develop a coherent marginalisation thesis, which the Igbo lumpen proletariat took and is running with. The thesis focuses on the issue of state creation, the Igbo presidency and the impact of the civil war. We recall Chinua Achebe’s book – “There Was a Country”, in which he made unambiguous comments of the complicity of the Nigerian state and its leaders at the time, Yakubu Gowon and Obafemi Awolowo in starving over two million Igbos to death, why should not be surprised that the Igbo youth are be furious at what was done to their grand parents. Why should they have listened to General Gowon when he responded denying the charges and claiming that it was Ojukwu who refused the offer of a humanitarian corridor? Even the number of two million starved to death, who is checking its veracity. Gowon’s “no victor, no vanquished” sounded generous but maybe all it did was block debate on the issue for too long.
There is no doubt that the civil war of 1967 to 1970 was the most serious threat to the existence of Nigeria as a country and it led to the loss of one to two million lives, depending on whose figure you accept. It should be recalled that just before the war, Western leaders had warned that if the East goes, the West will follow. That threat was not put into action and Awolowo, the Western leader was released from jail to serve as Finance Minister and Deputy Leader of the Federal Executive Council.
The fact of the matter is that the Igbo elite has a strong empirical basis to read Nigerian political history as one of failure and frustration for them. It’s a narrative that sees a proud and hard-working people, “the Jews of Africa”, that have been forced to play second fiddle to the other for too long, especially the Hausa-Fulani ruling circles. Following the coup and the subsequent massacre of Igbos in 1966 in the Northern region, and the subsequent declaration of secession by the Eastern region in May 1967, the Igbo elite had assumed that other Nigerians would not fight to keep them in the Federation. They were wrong. Other Nigerians fought to preserve the Federation and the result was the thirty-month civil war and the heavy death toll.
In his book, “Igbo Leadership and the Future of Nigeria” Arthur Nwankwo argues that “Nigerians of all other ethnic groups will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo”. Nwankwo tells us that the Igbos are more cosmopolitan, more adopted to other cultures, more individualistic and competitive, more receptive to change and more prone to settle and work in other parts of the country than other Nigerians. This reality, he says, is overshadowed by the myth other Nigerians persist in spreading that the Igbo are aggressive, arrogant and clannish. This purported attitude of other Nigerians towards the Igbos he points out has led to the development of a “final solution” aimed at neutralising and marginalising the Igbos after the civil war. This is seen to have occurred in two ways.
After the civil war, there was a coordinated policy of pauperising the Igbo middle class by the offer of a twenty-pound ex gratis award to all bank account holders irrespective of the amounts they had lodged with the banks before the civil war. This was followed by routing the Igbos from the commanding heights of the economy by introducing the indigenisation decree at a time when the Igbos had no money, no patronage and no access to loans to compete for the companies. In addition, landed property owned by the Igbo was declared to be “abandoned property” particularly in Port Harcourt. In the public service, the Igbo elite were marginalised by the refusal to re-absorb most of their cadres who had attained high positions in the armed forces and the federal public service.
It is in this context that many within the Igbo elite have come to understand the policies of “no victor, no vanquished” and “reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation” announced after the war, as a lie. There is room to debate these issues today as they feed into persistent demands for the creation of an additional state in the South East and the clamour for an Igbo Presidency, which increasingly appears to be a mirage. Of course since the end of the civil war, there has been a remarkable Igbo economic and commercial élan. The marginalisation did not work at the economic and commercial level and the success of the Igbo come back is one of the remarkable stories of our time. It might be precisely because of this success that bitterness persists among the Igbo elite on why other Nigerians appear to believe that they should continue with the politics of second fiddle. The problem has been that as they Igbo elite became more successful, they refused to change their narrative about the Nigerian State and today the initiative is out of their hands.
The biggest failure of the Igbo elite is the incapacity to play the political game. To be major players in politics requires team and coalition building. If the Igbo elite really wanted to get the presidency, they should have developed a more inclusive narrative about the Nigerian State, they needed to convince and reassure the others not frighten them about a revenge mission. Chinua Achebe hit the Yorubas very hard at a time he should have been thinking about an alliance with them to confront the North. Teaming up with Goodluck Jonathan produced petty rewards for a few but it rolled back the schedule for an Igbo Presidency. With this failure of the elite, the Igbo lumpen have seized the initiative of following the path of disintegration. Its time to talk frankly.
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
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Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
Cornelius Hamelberg
The Igbo Question
The Igbo Question
The Igbo Question
It looks like the Igbo Question is here to stay
Just like the Igbos
The Igbo Question just won't go away
Like Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention (Mother People):
WE are the other people
WE are the other people
WE are the other people
(Sick and tired of hearing this, the other guys /tribes/ ethnic stripes/ say,
“WE are the other people too”
2,500 years from now, wanting to return to their ancestral homeland the Feds (Federal Government (fed up) might even propose that they set up house in Northern Uganda….
One of the first books I encountered (more than two decades ago) was
Abraham Leon: The Jewish Question
I mused on it for a few months.
Now in the third to last posting in this thread I asked Samuel Zalanga a question which Jibrin Ibrahim PhD slightly skirted around in this posting. Perhaps it was too big a question for him to deal with adequately in the allotted space:
“To Samuel Zalanga, a minority’s child: Could Marxism be said to be a religion of the disenfranchised and the marginalised? It seems to me to have many of the structural features of a religion…”
Anunoby, Ogugua
The opinion expressed below would ordinarily not have mattered much if they were shared in a private conversation. There were posted in public space however. They must therefore be corrected before they assume the undeserved status intended for them by the writer.
I believe that bondage is extreme and not exactly appropriate for Nigeria’s situation. Oppressed it seems to me is more appropriate. That all groups are oppressed in a country does not mean that they are for the same reasons and to the same extent. They usually are different reasons- class, ethnicity, geography, and religion for example. When oppression happens to a group because of who they are, it more unbearable because one cannot cease to be who they are. They di not choose to be who they are. They cannot un-choose who they are.
There is broad agreement in Nigeria for example that the northern states of Nigeria are relatively less “developed” than the southern states of the country. That this is so does not make more bearable the reality that this relative regional underdevelopment is no longer the responsibility of some and not all groups of northern Nigerians, and there is little likelihood of change. All groups may be oppressed but some groups are less so than others. Privilege can be unequal within and across different oppressed groups. In such a situation the extant inequity of the situation becomes a basis for resentment and a possible driver of palpable disaffection. Pain is more bearable if the cause of your is not outside the pained body.
History does not do things to people. It is people- self and others, and events that do. The Igbo are egalitarians. That is not to say that their society does not share with societies everywhere the co-existence of the rich and the poor. Theirs is a society in which what one gets to become does not inevitably depend on to whom or where the one was born. This is why the Igbo despite all real and imagined odds against them in Nigeria, have much of the success they have rightly been given credit for. They are fiercely competitive. All they ask for is a fair playing field. For the Igbo, privilege must be earned by enterprise and industry, not birth or circumstance. The Igbo believe for example that work pays, equal work should pay equally, and less work should not pay more that more work if personal and societal successes will not be minimized. This grain of their way of life, it seems to me, is one reason for their disappointment and frustration with Nigeria.
There is no fracture between the Igbo elite and their masses. There may be one between some of their opportunistic politicians and their masses. This is an important distinction. Is it not reasonable to expected that serious allegations against a former state Governor and Obasanjo be proved to be false before they are used to discredit the allegers. Disaffected Igbo who try to keep the Biafra issue in view are nothing like the Boko Haram insurgents who are an existential national security threat and have been for years now. It is an obnoxious false equivalence. It is shocking that anyone in good conscience is unable to discern the self-evident false equivalence of this common characterization.
Igbo intellectuals have developed a “coherent marginalization thesis”. It is based on facts and experience. While some Nigerians may choose to deny the thesis, they cannot deny the facts- the injustices of state creation and the targeted economic policies of the immediate after war years for example. There is no denying that many of the policies were developed to hold some (Igbo) back and allow others to get ahead. Why the hurry so soon after the war and the skewed implementation as happened to be the case?
Should there be consequences for losing a hard fought war? Not if the post war proclamation by the victor was “no victor, not vanquished”. A fraudulent promissory note was apparently issued to Nigerians by that proclamation. Was the fraudulent promissory note the result of a complicity or a conspiracy of Alfa characters in the federal government at the time? Everyone must decide for themselves.
There was a war. It is a fact that starvation was publicly professed to be and used as a legitimate weapon in that war. The federal side choose it to. The disingenuity is its denial after the war. Gowon did offer aid through a land corridor but only under his government’s coordination and supervision. He rejected all management of the process by independent third parties including the International Red Cross and many voluntary relief agencies. He sought a military advantage through it. Gowon’s humanitarian aid was rightly believed to be a potential Greek gift. No adversary in any war would have accepted it. Gowon would not have if he knew what he was doing. How many non-combatant men, women, and children died in that was? Was it a million, two. More? Less? It does not matter. Too many people died. It is outrageous that anyone would make an issue of the numbers of innocent people who died because of the federal government’s starvation as a weapon of war policy. A similar argument would be to argue that Boko Haram insurgents are not evil because only a few scores and not thousands of innocent people died as a result of their insurgency?
Ojukwu was Biafra’s leader. There is no one anywhere who knew the man who will argue that he did not expect Nigeria to try to stop Biafra’s exit from Nigeria. He was well aware of the U.K.’s position on Nigeria and her influence on and support of the Gowon government. He might have believed for some time that the West Provinces would follow. He knew that belief was forlorn before he made his move. It is denied by some today that it was Ojukwu and not Gowon that freed Awolowo from Calabar prison. Ojukwu could have kept the man in prison up until what ever happened. He chose not to. The above and other disappointments and misinformation frayed feelings, hampered trust after the war, and made moving forward together more difficult.
Nigerians who do not fear the Igbo know that the Igbo are a freedom loving, can do, competitive people. It is these qualities that are mistaken innocently or not as they being an aggressive, arrogant, and clannish people. They are a much travelled people. They marry, are married and make home anywhere and everywhere. They are personal achievement driven. They buy, sell, invest, trade, and build anywhere and everywhere. The Igbo are the most invested in fixed assets outside their homeland. You do not do all the above if you have a short-term orientation to the life and relationships that you have, and the country in which you live.
As important as the presidency is, the Igbo desire the office more for its symbolism and what an Igbo president will do for Nigeria’s political/economic and other development and growth than anything else. They know that to hold the office could not mean that they would be much better off than they are as individuals or as a people. Anyone who disagrees with this fact should look to see what Igbo Governors and Ministers have done for the Igbo on one hand and non-Igbos on the other, compared with what Non-Igbo parallel political office holders have done for their “people”. The Igbo pride themselves in individual success that is achieved “in spite of” rather than “because of”. They respect and value that variety of success much more highly. The Igbo language is stuffed with phraseology that esteem self-made success and denigrates the opposite. It is in this context that the Igbo case of their marginalization should be understood and appreciated. That case has never been about “give me this day my daily bread” as it seems to be for some others.
It is too soon it seems to me for anyone to gloat over the end of the Jonathan presidency and the failure of the Igbo to see it coming. The Igbo did not see the Jonathan presidency as an Igbo presidency and therefore its end as a loss to them. They had no illusion that an Igbo was going to succeed Jonathan. Their concern about the Buhari presidency was mostly to do with the man’s pedigree and their real and imagined group political knowledge and experience of him. Buhari now has a chance to change any perceptions of him he believes might be unfair and wrong. Political battles in politics are characterized by swings and turns. Things change. Quite often times one outcome directly leads to an opposite outcome. Overtime the correlation of election outcomes are negative. You win the next election because you lost the last one. You lose the next election because you won the last one.
Chinua Achebe was grossly misunderstood by anyone who believes that he meant to “hit the Yoruba hard” when he should be building alliances. He never considered himself to be a politician much less an Igbo one. He joined the Aminu Kano’s Peoples’ Redemption Party in 1978, in the full knowledge that he was expected by those who did not know him to join the Nigerian Peoples’ Party. His “There Was A Country” was his attempt to document Nigeria’s history as he say and lived it. Many of his critics were falling over themselves criticizing him without research-based knowledge of that history or even reading the book. Many still may have not. They will have to buy it first. He never believed that it was for him to forge an alliance of the Igbo and any other group. What he wanted and was grossly disappointed about was Nigerians and many other colonized peoples’ failure by choice not hindrance, to make life more abundant for their people, as people of European ancestry and now some Asians have done by properly and rightly taking their destiny in their own hands.
Is the Nigeria project working? Not for the largest number. Can it work better? Yes but only if mass disaffection and frustration are seen for what they truly- a cry for credible and productive change for the better.
oa
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kenneth harrow
mine is a quick question. when i read about the igbo situation, and biafra, it is cast entirely around the question of a separate state, about ethnic division and conflict, with a lot of ugly things being said. but to the outsider to nigeria, it would seem that this represents some kind of exceptionalism.
for some reason, i am always pushed to ask whether, in fact, there aren't resemblances between situations. so, boko haram and the north also represents a site of difference, of all the negative things i mentioned above. and in fact, if you want to say, with the north it is religion, but with the east it is ethnicity, isn't it also a general religious difference there as well--between catholic vs evangelical or protestant--and isn't the religious difference with the north somewhat overdetermined, since there are other major differences as well?
is the conflict between igbo and yoruba or the rest of Nigeria so terribly unique, not only in nigerian germs, but also more broadly in african terms?
lastly, i take your point about the history of nigeria being central to our thinking, and that there was a strong, or too strong, northern domination of the political scene due to the british.
but beyond this particular difference--which is how history always works, that is, w particularisms--i am asking whether the divisions within the nation aren't indicative of something with a broader range than simply nigeria vs igboland?
ken
-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 har...@msu.edu
Anunoby, Ogugua
Hello Ken,
Good questions on complex relationships.
There are no simple answers. My quick but considered response is that the Igbo and Yoruba are “competitors” not because they need to be but because the Yoruba seem to me to have an innate fear of Igbo domination even though there is little hard evidence of any desire on the part of the Igbo to do anything like that. I am confident to make this statement because prominent Yoruba leaders in the past have always alleged that the Igbo (Azikiwe, Ojukwu, and others) sought to lord it over the Yoruba even though they neither did nor have. Some Yoruba leaders still nurse and stoke that fear today and continue to make that claim. You may recall the shameful role played by the Oba of Lagos during the 04/2015 gubernatorial elections in Lagos State. Some of that fear has been expressed in conversations in this forum.
Igbo leaders do not make the same allegations against the Yoruba and have no fear, real or imagined of Yoruba domination. They do not now and never have. The Igbo it seems to me are just pleased to be in the game with the Yoruba and others in healthy competition as Nigeria develops and grows.
The fear of Igbo domination I believe is in play in the difficulties the Igbo have had in Northern Nigeria, mostly with the Hausa/Fulani who dominate public affairs in many Northern Nigerian States. There is the added poison of religion- the mostly Wahhabi strain of Islam. The Hausa/Fulani are generally Muslims. The Igbo are mostly Christians and will not convert to Islam as many Yoruba have done.
Let me add respectfully that there are also other Nigerian ethnicities who come into play and have in different ways and to different degrees, shared some of the bad blood against the Igbo if I may say so, that has broadly shaped Nigeria’s political landscape.
The Igbo are mostly a self-made people. They are the most travelled Nigerians within Nigeria. They are the most settled Nigerians outside their home land. They are the most culturally adaptive Nigerians. They as a group, have benefited the least from federal government development infrastructure. All one has to do is visit any Igbo state to experience the stark federal government absence in the states. The Igbo in my opinion speak more Nigerian languages than any other Nigerians. They need to if they are to make good their lives far away from home. How any such people will desire to politically dominate their host communities away from home defies logic and reason. That remains the narrative though.
oa
Mensah, Edward K
Dear oa,
Your narrative of ‘unhealthy Yoruba competition vs. healthy Igbo competition’ will not advance the course of development in any positive way in a country all Africans wish to be proud of. The debate about the Nigerian agenda has more often than not been dominated by a scenario that pitches Yorubas and Igbos against one other. Other Africans pray for the day that all tribes will simply get along and realize that their main problem is how to reform the behaviors of the political entrepreneurs and the criminals in power who misappropriate the wealth of our nations for personal gains.
Best regards
Kwaku ( Omo UI)
ibdu...@gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone
Anunoby, Ogugua
Hello Kwaku,
I am sorry but you seem to me to have misread my posting. “Unhealthy Yoruba competition and healthy Igbo competition” are your thoughts and words not mine. You ignored my premise completely.
I posted among others as follows:
“The Igbo it seems to me are just pleased to be in the game with the Yoruba and others in healthy competition as Nigeria develops and grows.”
If the above the case, the course of development in Nigeria will very likely be advanced in positive ways.
I wish to remind you that life many cases is a competitive sport. It is usually not competition by itself that is the challenge. It is the nature and spirit of the competition that usually is. If Nigerians like people everywhere in healthy competition with each other to contribute their utmost as they better themselves, their country, and the world, their country will the best that it can be.
Be well.
oa
Mensah, Edward K
Jibrin Ibrahim
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
--
Cornelius Hamelberg
Jibrin Ibrahim
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
ibdu...@gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone
Anunoby, Ogugua
Thank you JI.
You say that Igbo youth are mobilizing and arming for secession? What is your evidence? How credible is your source? Who are their leaders? Your claim seems to me be to both preposterous and presumptuous.
My view is that an unfounded claim such as yours does great disservice to the wholeness of the Nigeria. Her constitution does not require that citizens’ disaffection be justified and warranted for the disaffection to be felt/shown, and be responsibly addressed by government. A disaffection is a feeling- a serious bad feeling. It may or may not be justified. It does not matter that it is not especially if it is widely shared. It undermines a public’s sense of civic responsibility and patriotism. It discourages good citizenship. A prudent government will address it roundly and responsibly, and without recourse to the hammer, sooner rather than later.
I do not know how you know for sure that Igbo youth will go the Boko Haram route. Do we know what route you have in mind? Boko Haram- now part of ISIS is a jihadist/religious movement. What is your evidence that Igbo youth are on same route? If the government shares your view, Nigerians should be worried, because government will most likely mismanage the challenge. Wrong diagnosis, wrong medicine. The questions to ask and answer if you ask me is, why Igbo youth are disaffected and what needs to be done to pacify them. It is still true that a stitch in time saves nine.
The material loss the Igbo may suffer should the presently undesirable happen is a matter for them. They are well aware of the risks of all the possible courses of action open to them. I do not believe that they need any body’s advice. You worry about their loss what about the benefits that may accrue to them- no more unprovoked mass killing of them for example? What about the possible loss to Nigeria?
The Igbo are not alone in celebrating happy family events away from home. They have their celebrations in Abuja as you say for security reasons. What about other Nigerians who have theirs overseas including Dubai, London, and New York for the same reasons? Nigeria has serious security problems. Her public safety challenge is huge. The fracture your claim is more imagined than real.
Can Nigeria be fixed? Yes of course. Will she be? That is the question. Her challenges need to be correctly identified, defined, and understood if they are to be resolved. Many Nigerians believe for example, that the country has an equity- “monkey de work, baboon de chop”’ problem. Good housekeeping- doing things really well, is less likely to be the rule as long as this problem is paramount as seems to be the case for much too long.
Thank you again.
oa
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2015 5:08 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Thanks Ogugua for your considered comments, a lot of which I agree with including the key issue that its a Nigeria, not an Igbo question. In 2012, I published 7 articles pointed out there was a Youruba, Hausa-Fulani, Middle Belt, Niger Delta and Kanuri question - summary, a Nigeria question. The point today is that the loudests questions being asked are from the South East and North east so I write about them. I agree totally on the industry of the Igbo people and appreciate what you say about Achebe.
Farooq A. Kperogi
The Hausa/Fulani are generally Muslims. The Igbo are mostly Christians and will not convert to Islam as many Yoruba have done." ---Ogugua
Ogugua,
Islam has been in Yorubaland since at least the 15th century. Some authorities, in fact, make the case that Islam has been in Yorubaland since the 11th century. You betray a disappointing ignorance of Nigerian history when you suggest that Islam is natural to the "Hausa/Fulani" but not to the Yoruba--or that Yoruba people converted to Islam to please or adapt to "Hausa/Fulani" Muslims. On the contrary, what has happened over the last century has been the massive conversion of historically Yoruba Muslim families to Christianity--not the other way. It is, of course, true that religious identity is fluid, even mercurial, in Yorubaland, but it's NOT because of what you suggest.
It might interest you to know that Islam didn't come to Yorubaland via the so-called Hausa/Fulani; it came mostly, but not entirely, from itinerant preachers from Mali, a reason Islam is called "Imale" in the Yoruba language. (I am aware of the etymology that suggests that "imale" is derived from the Yoruba notion of Islam as a "difficult" religion, but this has been dismissed as folk etymology by many careful and distinguished scholars of Islam in Yorubaland).
As many historians have observed, Islam had already been well-established in Yorubaland at a time Usman Danfodio's ancestors either didn't know Islam existed or didn't think it was worth converting to. This is true not just of Yorubaland, but of many places in Nigeria, including my part of Nigeria in Borgu.
So Islam in Yorubaland and Islam in Nigeria's extreme north have different historical trajectories, and none is a direct consequence of the other, although there are interesting historical overlaps, which I neither have the time nor the inclination to explore here.
It's clear, however, that your narrative about the religious complexion of Nigeria is shaped by the vulgar, nescient, and historically impoverished notions that have taken roots in (Nigerian) media circles: the idea that the north, which is often constructed as invariably "Hausa-Fulani," is Muslim and that the south, which is dominated by the Yoruba and the Igbo, is entirely Christian; any southerner, mostly Yoruba, who is a Muslim must have converted to Islam in order to gain the acceptance of "Hausa-Fulani" Muslims who have controlled the levers of power for much of the life of post-independent Nigeria. This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
A scholar has a responsibility to dig deeper than the surface and rise superior to rampant ignorance.
Farooq
School of Communication & Media
Kennesaw State University
402 Bartow Avenue, MD 2207
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
Anunoby, Ogugua
Faroog,
There is nothing in my posting, part of which you quoted that even remotely suggests the claims that you ascribed to me. Is everything okay?
Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba Muslims are all converts to Islam are they not? What is your problem with that fact?
You wanted to take a cheap shot. You grabbed a false opportunity to take it. This forum I believe, expects better of all participants.
oa
ibdu...@gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone
Bode
Farooq A. Kperogi
School of Communication & Media
Kennesaw State University
402 Bartow Avenue, MD 2207
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
Anunoby, Ogugua
I apologize for misspelling your name.
The first Christians were converts to the religion. Everyone knows this. Why does anyone need reminding that The Igbo are too? Okay. The Igbo are converts to Christianity. Are you happy now?
I try to use my time well. I have no intentions of wasting any more on it on what was always a fruitless conversation.
Be well, thank you and good bye.
Farooq A. Kperogi
"Its not so simple, in 1903 the British conquered a Caliphate where a Fulani ruling dynasty was ruling the Hausa people and they made a compact with that dynasty. So yes, there are distinct Hausa and Fulani people, well many are mixed, but there is a political category called Hausa/Fulani that draws from the jihad of 1804." Jibrin Ibrahim.Jibo,Your assertion is problematic on so many levels. It isn't only in Hausaland that Fulani dynasties ruled over, merged with, and became culturally indistinguishable from their non-Fulani hosts. You can find examples of that sort of cultural and ethnic alchemy in Nupeland and in Ilorin, yet we don't have fossilized hyphenated identity labels for these people. In other words, there are no "Nupe/Fulani" or "Yoruba-Fulani." So why should there be "Hausa-Fulani"?I admit that the cultural and ethnic melding of the Hausa and the Fulani (whose languages are not only mutually unintelligible but also, in fact, belong to different language families) is on a scale of intensity that is unexampled anywhere in Nigeria--perhaps in Africa--, but that doesn't, in my opinion, justify the appellative hyphenation we have all become fond of. And here are my reasons.In most Nigerian cultures, descent is traced patrilineally. Your ethnic identity is determined by your patrilineal ethnic heritage. I am Baatonu if my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, etc. are--or are thought to be-- Baatonu; the ethnic identity of my matrilineal lineage is immaterial to the determination of my ethnic identity. Nor are my contemporary associational, cultural, or linguistic identities factored in in determining my ethnicity. A person who is patrilineally Hausa is Hausa irrespective of the amount of Fulani blood in him or her, which makes the hyphenation of "Hausa" and "Fulani" pointless.This is also broadly true of most African societies. (Certain matrilineal Ghanaian societies are notable exceptions here). That's why the Luos in Kenya regard Obama as a Luo; although he is culturally American and has no connection with the Luo cultural and linguistic universe except on a vicarious and symbolic level, he is seen as "authentically" Luo by the Luo in Kenya and elsewhere. The story would have been different if only Obama's mother was Luo.So the hyphenation of ethnic identities on account of cultural, ethnic, and linguistic commingling is an anthropological anomaly on the African continent. Although the "Hausa-Fulani" label has come to stay, it can't be justified historically, linguistically, or anthropologically. It was invented by the southern Nigerian media, which lacked the historical and sociological resources to make sense of the ethnic complexity of Nigeria's (far) north. So they invented a convenient, if problematic, label.For instance, although the late Sir Ahmadu Bello was (and is still often) called a "Hausa-Fulani," his mother was actually an ethnic minority from what is now Adamawa State; only his patrilieal heritage can be traced to the Fulani. If he had Hausa blood, it's probably from the commingling that his patrilineal Fulani ancestors had with the Hausa. The late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was also born of a Shuwa Arab father and a Fulani mother. He had not a drop of Hausa blood in him, yet the southern Nigerian press called (and still call) him a "Hausa-Fulani" man.The examples are legion, but the point is that "Hausa-Fulani" is an imprecise, endlessly kaleidoscopic identity label that even includes non-Hausa-speaking Kanuris and any Hausa-speaking northern Nigerian Muslim who is ethnically neither Hausa nor Fulani. I am surprised that you of all people will invoke colonial history to defend and justify this term.Farooq
School of Communication & Media
Kennesaw State University
402 Bartow Avenue, MD 2207
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
Farooq A. Kperogi
School of Communication & Media
Kennesaw State University
402 Bartow Avenue, MD 2207
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
Ibrahim Abdullah
Farooq:
Please do not waste your precious time. I gave Jibo the benefit of the doubt because I have raised these issues with him in the past. The ethnicization of the Nigerian past, and by implication, it's present has, like you rightly stated come to stay. It will surprise most Nigerians to learn that Hausas were resident in Yorubaland right from the eighteen century if not earlier. That all the city states in the so-called North were constructed around migrant residency; migrants who then became bona-fide residents/citizens. That the three notorious categories--Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba--were invented by the agents of the colonial state. Igboness and Yorubaness were born outisde Nigeria; in nineteenth century Freetown, to be precise. The work of the John Peel and Northrup throw light on these issues.
Right up to the fifties, the Marxist historian Segun Osoba tells me, they were warned in Ijebuland to refrain from calling themselves Yoruba. In Kasar Hausa the practice was to identify yourself on the basis of your gari/birni. Thus you had bakano, bakatsine; dandaura; danzaria. The ethnicization f identities and the invention of the oxymoron Hausa - fulani makes nonsense of our at a time when that history should be deployed to ensure our individual amd collective security.
Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent from my iPad
Jibrin Ibrahim
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
Cornelius Hamelberg
Keeping it short:
Like the tale of the blind men and the elephant. This is all too fascinating. Some of us are grateful (ok speak for yourself Cornelius) for finally getting an education on this broad issue of Nigerian identities across that vast national space. Thanks Senior Fellow Jibrin Ibrahim PhD for the original impetus and for the tenacity of holding on to your position. Thanks Lord (Professor) Anunoby & Prof Kenneth Harrow for sparking off some of the questions; thanks Pan Africa-centric Edward Mensah for being conciliatory and going for amity and consensus; thanks Prof Farooq A. Kperogi for the trajectories and plumbing the depths of your illuminations; thanks Prof Ibrahim Abdullah for expanding on the trajectories in some of the answers to the questioners. Thanks Omoluabi – for “There are sections of Ifa, the Yoruba religious corpus that address Islam at what seems its very early stages of Islamic inculturation.” I’m sure that your compass direction should stimulate Adepoju post-haste in his search for the Holy Grail, so that he can take a dip or( if the sun’s too hot) at least sip from the pot of gold to be found at the end of the rainbow.
My own experience is that all identities are either local or international. At home in the African village or town you may be (in alphabetical order) Creole, Igbo, Yoruba, this and that, but among the Oyibo in Sweden you are first and foremost, primarily Black and African and secondarily Nigerian, from time to time with a set of given expectations about you e.g. a potential 419er or South African, the expectation being that if you are Black and from South African by definition and historical background you have suffered and must still have a certain attitude (at least of lingering hostility) towards the White Man some Julius Malema in you, with blows still to be delivered on behalf of Madiba Nelson Mandela - just as in Africa , primarily the White man is seen as the White Man and only secondarily as belonging to one of the colonial races, Belgian, British, French, German etc. In America (US) of course, as Richard Pryor joked, all Black men, African, Negro, African-American etc., One Tribe: Niggers
Locally, in Freetown, Sierra Leone the Creoles for example identify with all the particularities detailed in their Birth Certificates – for some people it’s Nationality of Father: British West Indian : Mother Yoruba or even Aku - such are the peculiarities of origin/ nomenclature in the colonial archives as dictated to or determined by the registration officer himself.
Ordinarily speaking I should think that it’s pushing pedantic definitions a little too far in altogether eliminating so much that accounts for the human being’s feeling and sense of belonging when Prof Kperogi says, as if mothers don’t matter: “my matrilineal lineage is immaterial to the determination of my ethnic identity. Nor are my contemporary associational, cultural, or linguistic identities factored”…
“I’m just a red nigger who love the sea,
I had a sound colonial education,
I have Dutch, nigger, and English in me
and either I’m nobody, or I’m a nation,” (Derek Walcott, The Schooner Flight )
I have fallen into a profound depression since Funmiara’s posting first of D.O. Fagunwa (the Fagunwa that Ogbeni Kadiri sometimes refers to) and then of World Sango Festival In Oyo . Before that (lightly depressed) after Oga Falola’s “A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt” and so far what I have read of the first chapter of “Counting the Tiger's Teeth” –sadly lamenting what I have missed in my heritage of Yoruba culture - regretting that I did not go to what was then the University of Ife at a time when my ultimate aim was Yoruba Theatre (like Hubert Ogunde ) and here I’m talking about not blood, but culture. The stupid idiot got married and with my Better Half, who already had a Masters in Modern Languages from Stockholm University, went to Legon - more problems. This depression is complicated and cannot be quantified by e.g. taking my temperature. ..
The sense in which my friends in Imo State used the expression/ term” Hausa man” always meant or implied “Muslim”. In my Igbos circles, anyone from the North was referred to as a “Hausaman”. At the time I thought that it must be a hangover from the Biafra War in which my Igbo friends must have conceived of the entire Northern Nigeria as an undifferentiated hostile mass of ethnicities in enemy territory comprising Muslim hordes which were waging war against them.
It was simple logic. Lord Anunoby’s main point was that it’s not all Igbos for whom Hausaman is a synonym for Muslim - and in my own defence (self-defence) of course in my limited Igbo circle of friends I cannot claim to have met all Igbos nor do I believe that there is a consensus of belief among Igbos that all Hausa are Muslim – or that unlike the Rev. Mohammed, wish to convert to Islam ( a great religion)
Gowon of course was from the North and was neither a Hausaman nor a Muslim…QED…
All of the above sincerely said.
Cornelius
...
M Buba
Anunoby, Ogugua
JI
I am surprised that Mr. Mr. Kanu’s broadcasts seem to be the foremost basis of the serious allegation you made against Igbo Youth, in a widely read Nigerian newspaper and also in cyberspace. My expectation actually was that you were privy to information from government- intelligence and other national security agencies’ sources.
I am surprised too that you have decided to outsource to me, the burden of finding any other evidence that supports the serious allegation that you chose to make. My presumption is that you would like your readers take you seriously- including believe and trust you. I do not know that many of your attentive readers will, if your response to demand for credible evidence in support the claims you make, is that they should seek and find it. When did it cease to be the case that the burden of proof is no longer on he/she who chooses to claim or contend?
You assert that “the circulation of arms in contemporary Nigeria, not just among the Igbo is massive”. If Igbo Youth are “arming for secession” as you do assert, why are the many others arming themselves? My considered opinion is that incendiary information should be peddled with care except of course it is intended to misinform, misguide, and cause harm.
Anunoby, Ogugua
“I worry that such an important trans-national language is at risk of disappearing, as we continue to blur the distinction berween the Hausa and the Fulani.” MB
Thank goodness. The Fulfulde language seems to be “alive and well” in some West Africa, outside Nigeria. I was in Senegal and Mali. I met Guineans and Senegalese for whom the language is the mother-tongue.
The Hausa language seems to have a consumptive effect in Northern Nigeria. It is apparently doing to many languages, what MB says it has done to the Fulfulde language of Nigeria’s Fulani. My Kanuri friends tell me that the Hausa language is steadily replacing the Kanuri language in Nigeria’s North East.
Salimonu Kadiri
I would have associated myself with the view expressed below that there is no Igbo Question but Nigerian Question in Nigeria if it had been framed as there is no Igbo Problem but Nigerian Problem. The problem in Nigeria is that we tend to blame the incompetence of an official person on his/her ethnic group and not the officer. In situations where the Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw, Ibibio, TIV, Edo etc. have at different stages been, for instance, ministers of water supply but no potable water for Nigerians to drink would amount to useless tribal competitions of which the writer below distracted. He wrote, ".... the Igbo and Yoruba are competitors not because they need to be but because the Yoruba seem to me to have an innate fear of Igbo domination even though there is little hard evidence of any desire on the part of the Igbo to do anything like that." If Yoruba have regarded Igbo as their competitors, they would have migrated to Igboland in large numbers or alternatively made it difficult for a large number of Igbo to settle, work and prosper in Yorubaland. Historically, when Nnamdi Azikiwe returned to Nigeria in 1937, he subsequently joined the Nigerian Youth Movement which had defeated the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) at the elections to the Legislative Council in Lagos, 1938. Until 1938, the NNDP led by Herbert Macaulay had won all elections to the Legislative Council since 1923. Nnamdi Azikiwe was welcomed into NYM by Dr. Akinola Maja and Dr. Kofoworola Abayomi who were the leading personalities of NYM. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe left NYM in 1943 to form the first tribal union in Nigeria called Ibo Federal Union of which he was the President. The name of the tribal union was changed later to Ibo State Union. The following year, he lured the 84 years old Herbert Macaulay into accepting the Presidentship of NCNC in which he installed himself as the Secretary. Herbert Macaulay's NNDP was still winning elections to the Legislative Council and did not need another Party. However, the NCNC was officially inaugurated in 1945. In 1945, Charles Onyeama, a member of the Legislative Council said, "Ibo domination of Nigeria is only a matter of time (see p. 204, Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria by Godfrey Mwakikagile)." That same year, 1945, Igbo were massacred in Jos. It was not until 1948 that the Yoruba formed EGBE OMO ODUDUWA and in the North JAMIYYAR Mutanen AREWA (Northern People's Congress) was formed in response to the IBO FEDERAL UNION. In his Presidential address to the Ibo Federal Union in 1949, Azikiwe's newspaper, the West African Pilot of 8 July 1949 reported, "...it would appear that the God of Africa has specifically created the Igbo nation to lead the children of Africa from the bondage of ages... The martial prowess of the Ibo nation at all stages of human history has enabled them not only to CONQUER OTHERS but also to adapt themselves to the role of preserver." That was how tribalism was introduced introduced into politics by Nnamdi Azikiwe through the Ibo Federal Union and the fear of being conquered was instilled into the mind of other tribes in Nigeria.
From: Anun...@lincolnu.edu
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2015 16:56:00 -0600
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
ibdu...@gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone
ibdu...@gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone
Malami Buba
Anunoby, Ogugua
Thank you for this update.
Cornelius Hamelberg
Amended:
Ogbeni Kadiri,
Someone is quoted as saying that “Igbo youth are mobilising and arming for secession” - Of course it is not merely getting weapons that make such youths an effective fighting force. They have to be trained to fight. When a civilian population takes to arms (as when Imam Khomeini once said “The people are the army and the army is the people” – when SAVAK was tired of gunning down their own Iranian people, then it was all over. In the case of Biafra – the Igbos were “the other people”
You yourself have provided us with the rationale behind the policy which aimed at using starvation “of Biafra’s soldiers” as a weapon of war to bring the people of Biafra to their knees, through starvation. Undeniably your words:
“I have never heard or read of any war where opposing combatants bombarded each other with bread, butter and gem. In view of this, there was nothing wrong if the federal government declared that it would not allow food to be given to Biafran soldiers in order to minimize their capacity to resist defeat. Food to civilians in a war affected area is regulated under international law. Nigeria was a signatory to that international law but not Biafra and since that international law recognized the sovereignty of Nigeria over Biafra, Nigeria had the right to inspect all planes flying into Biafra with relief supplies to civilians in order to ascertain that weapons were not smuggled to the rebels. When Gowon offered to allow relief supplies through a land corridor from Port Harcourt to the rebel held territory under international Red Cross, there was no latent or obvious military advantage for his side as Biafra was effectively surrounded militarily and land locked”
In bold black letters you quote the Biafran Leader condemning some of his elite countrymen in the midst of the imposed famine:
"…. BUT HERE (Biafra) EVEN WHILE WE ARE ENGAGED IN A WAR OF NATIONAL SURVIVAL, EVEN WHILE THE LIFE OF OUR NATION HANGS IN THE BALANCE, WE SEE SOME PUBLIC SERVANTS, WHO THROW HUGE PARTIES TO ENTERTAIN THEIR FRIENDS; WHO KILL COWS TO CHRISTEN THEIR BABIES."
You know how it was in Ethiopia when the people got wind that the Emperor was feeding the Palace lions whilst many people were starving? Can you argue that there was no famine in Ethiopia because the lions were eating well well?
It’s illogical to conclude that just because some public servants were throwing huge parties, entertaining their friends and killing cows to christen their babies - (your words), that
“ it is absurd, if not lunatic, to talk of starvation.” – the illogicality: because some peoples’ stomachs were not affected by the famine means that millions were not affected by the famine/ starvation which is a historical fact and that it is therefore (your own ridiculous conclusion): “absurd, if not lunatic, to talk of starvation.”?
People were looking for lizards to eat as meat - are you aware of that?
What do you see HERE?
If Israel adopted such a policy towards the Palestinians what would Ogbeni Kadiri say?
Let’s pay close attention to what else Gen. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu said on 01 June 1969.
“For two years we have been subjected to a total blockade. We all know how bitter, bloody and protracted the First and Second World Wars were. At no stage in those wars did the white belligerents carry out a total blockade of their fellow whites. In each case where a blockade was imposed, allowance was made for certain basic necessities of life in the interest of women, children and other non-combatants. Ours is the only example in recent history where a whole people have been so treated. What is it that makes our case different? Do we not have women, children and other non-combatants? Does the fact that they are black women, black children and black non-combatants make such a world of difference?” (Excerpted from the Ahiara Declaration)
If Israel adopted such a policy towards the Palestinians what would you say?
Jibrin Ibrahim
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
ジョン フィリップス
> On Dec 2, 2015, at 11:14 PM, 'M Buba' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
> The Hausa-Fulani label could also reflect the gradual erosion of Fulani language, identity and traditions. Increasing numbers of ethnic Fulani inter-marry, live in cities and speak Hausa as their home language. Growing up in Sokoto, we had Fulfulde-only homes. Now, no one speaks Fulfulde in those homes.
> I worry that such an important trans-national language is at risk of disappearing, as we continue to blur the distinction berween the Hausa and the Fulani.
>
> This ethnic double-barrelling is plain political mischief, and the victims are Fulanis whose distinct identity is being subsumed under a presumed benevolent benefactor (ethnic group).
>
International Society, College of Humanities, Hirosaki University
"Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto." -Terentius Afer
<http://www.boydell.co.uk/www.urpress.com/80462561.HTM>
Salimonu Kadiri
Beside religion, ethnicity/tribalism is the greatest weapon of mass deception deployed against ordinary Nigerians by the educated elites in power. Despite their pretence to championing ethno/religious interest, the elites in power are not only always friendly to one another but even defend one another against the masses. An example, out of many instances, will suffice here. In 2007, the EFCC arraigned former Governors of Jigawa and Abia States, Saminu Turaki and Orji Uzor Kalu respectfully for looting the treasury of their respective state of the sum of 35 billion and 15 billion naira. The bail conditions of Orji Uzor Kalu was guaranteed by Abubakar Atiku and Ibrahim Babangida. Saminu Turaki could not fulfil his bail conditions and was therefore remanded in prison custody. However, Orji Uzor Kalu employed the services of a traditional ruler from Abia state to bail out Saminu Turaki. Till date the two cases, as it were with 30 similar cases, have been put to coma by leaders and judges who are ethno-religiously neutral.
To be above ethnicity in Nigeria, time has come when the ethnic belonging of the President or any officer in the government or parastatals would not matter to all Nigerians but performance. If the President does not perform well, it is not his/her tribe that has not performed well but the person who is the President. I do not feel any sense of belonging with the President that denies me basic amenities of life, even if his face is carved up with tribal marks vertically and horizontally like myself.
S.Kadiri
From: ibdu...@gmail.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Anunoby, Ogugua
You are right. I do not expect the Igbo or any other youth to listen to me I might add. They have no obligation to do so.
You say that Igbo youth “are following Kanu” Do you suggest he is their leader? Why are you sure however that it is not Kanu who resides abroad, that is following Igbo youth at home? I am just asking. Is it not possible that Kanu may be just vociferous a supporter of a goal he shares with some of them, but not a leader of Igbo youth?
The Igbo youth protest to free Kanu is consistent with the ethnic and other groups’ advocacy experience in Nigeria and other countries. It is not sufficient evidence to claim that Igbo youth are following Kanu and I am not saying that is your premise. Groups mostly do not forsake our own. Remember the Afenifere position on Bola Tinubu when Gani Fawenhimi went after him on the question of his fitness to be Governorof Lagos State. Remember the position of many in Kano on whether or not, Abacha looted the federal treasury? One could go on.
You are right. One is better-off not ignoring “unfolding reality”. I have a question though. Is the reality what it is claimed to be?
oa
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2015 12:53 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Ogugua
The lumpen Igbo youth are not listening to you, they are following Kanu's call to arm and act. Its naive to close your eyes to unfolding reality.
Jibrin Ibrahim PhD
Senior Fellow
Centre for Democracy and Development
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
On Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 4:35 PM, Anunoby, Ogugua <Anun...@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
JI
I am surprised that Mr. Mr. Kanu’s broadcasts seem to be the foremost basis of the serious allegation you made against Igbo Youth, in a widely read Nigerian newspaper and also in cyberspace. My expectation actually was that you were privy to information from government- intelligence and other national security agencies’ sources.
I am surprised too that you have decided to outsource to me, the burden of finding any other evidence that supports the serious allegation that you chose to make. My presumption is that you would like your readers take you seriously- including believe and trust you. I do not know that many of your attentive readers will, if your response to demand for credible evidence in support the claims you make, is that they should seek and find it. When did it cease to be the case that the burden of proof is no longer on he/she who chooses to claim or contend?
You assert that “the circulation of arms in contemporary Nigeria, not just among the Igbo is massive”. If Igbo Youth are “arming for secession” as you do assert, why are the many others arming themselves? My considered opinion is that incendiary information should be peddled with care except of course it is intended to misinform, misguide, and cause harm.
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2015 12:11 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Ogugua
oa
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2015 5:08 AM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Thanks Ogugua for your considered comments, a lot of which I agree with including the key issue that its a Nigeria, not an Igbo question. In 2012, I published 7 articles pointed out there was a Youruba, Hausa-Fulani, Middle Belt, Niger Delta and Kanuri question - summary, a Nigeria question. The point today is that the loudests questions being asked are from the South East and North east so I write about them. I agree totally on the industry of the Igbo people and appreciate what you say about Achebe.
You are simply wrong in thinking the Igbo youth mobilising and arming for secession are different from the Boko Haram fighters, its all about going the same route. I also disagree with your assertion that there is no fracture between the Igbo elite and the disaffected youth. The Igbos have acquired massive wealth all over Nigeria and Biafra will cost them dearly. From my vantage point in Abuja, I am amazed at the number of rich Igbo families who organise weddings and funerals in Abuja and Lagos because they are simply scared to death of going home, think about it. And for the poor disaffected youth, think about them - they have nothing to lose. If this is not fracture, I don't know what is.
Jibrin
Jibrin Ibrahim PhD
Senior Fellow
Centre for Democracy and Development
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
--
--
Mobolaji Aluko
Adeshina Afolayan
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan
+23480-3928-8429
Cornelius Hamelberg
Ogbeni Kadiri,
What the good citizen wants for himself and others is bread and butter on the table and a roof over his head. But when it comes to national unity that could transcend ethnicities, unfortunately at this stage politicians continue and will continue to hustle and exploit the masses in the name of tribe and religion when they speak locally to their home base, and because of e.g. Boko Haram, the Islam –Christianity divide is ever-present in the consciousness of the world at large and the various parts of the naija nation in particular and so the ideal/ idea of “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” probably does not resonate as universally in Nigeria.
This is in spite of Nigeria being the second most religious nation in the world.
It almost sounds blasphemous when you say that “Governance in Nigeria is ethnically structured and even if you bring Jesus or Mohammed to partake in it, they cannot escape being ethnically challenged” – by which, rationally speaking I suppose that you mean - that the Prophet of Islam (sallallahu alaihi wa salaam) an Arab – the Shia and the Sunni in Nigeria would be competing as to who loves him most and astaghfirullah – as to be expected he would probably be mostly challenged by the kuffar (the infidels) and the mushrikin (polytheists) in the non-Muslim South-East in particular.
That understanding is derived from the paragraphs of the Ahiara Declaration that expresses serious concerns about an alleged program entitled “Arab-Muslim expansionism” which it seems they have much cause to fear. In my view – in such an unlikely scenario the Kuffar would be safe in as far as they don’t attack or declare war on the Muslims, but if they did that, what chance would they stand against the Muslim army which at a minimum would comprise all of North Africa and Northern Nigeria?
Of course, respectfully speaking we could speculate about the the Mahdi or the return of Jesus - but please remember to be very careful even when speaking hypothetically about the Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.) You do remember what happened when Isioma Daniel fantasized that the Prophet of Islam ( S.a.w) would have probably approved of the Miss World contest and may have not thought it such a bad idea to marry one of the beautiful contestants.
Justice: In the Torah (Exodus 18:13-27) – on the advice of his father -in-law, Moses goes about setting up a system that would distribute justice in the nascent nation still travelling with him through the wild-erness
Seems to me, everybody knows that what is needed is the rule of law to the extent that no individual of whatever powerful-big tribe or little-weak tribe that nobody ever hears about , can loot, empty the national treasury, rape, murder or literally enslave others with impunity –either in his own locality/ community or anywhere else in the Federal Republic of Nigeria
You say that Nigeria is “a country where officials, appointed or elected, are judged on the basis of their ethnic group and not their actions”. Is this true? It’s irrational to believe that no matter the gravity of an elected or appointed officials’ actions, that action (such as looting the treasury) would be immaterial. On the contrary, I think that such a person is judged both on the basis of his action and as a representative / symbol(ic) of his ethnic group. (“The evil that men do lives after them”)
You continue: “people like Dike and Ayandele would never be above ethnicity, no matter how much they tried.” I know what your jaundiced, prejudiced mind means: That the Yoruba leopard can't/doesn't change its spots. I guess that’s what you must say about the most revered Chief too. But ordinarily (not hagiographically) speaking, apart from speaking for your honourable Yoruba & non-Igbo self, what is that supposed to mean, “would never be above ethnicity, no matter how much they tried “? – Is it supposed to mean that a Yoruba citizen of Nigeria is loyal first and foremost to the Great Nigeria and then secondly his Yoruba constituency which probably elected him as a governor or official in that ethnic state? If the answer is yes, is that not wholly natural? I’m asking you since you know that Nigeria as she exists today of is bigger than Yorubaland/ Oduduwa or the caliphate that Bobo Haram would like to erect over the whole of Nigeria’s current national space and maybe include vast swathes of Chad and Cameroon ( I sense John Mbaku Esq praying “ God forbid!”)
Well, I can vouch for Dike’s impeccable integrity through a close Sierra Leonean academic friend of his – I suppose that so too can Kenneth Ofodile. However, as Jesus of Nazareth is reported to have said “a prophet has no honour in his own country”: A vast majority of the Jews said “You are not he!”(The Messiah – and certainly not the Almighty) With regard to Nigeria, the humble President Buhari has never claimed to be any kind of messiah and furthermore has told the national constituency which elected him “Don’t expect miracles!”
As to the rest of your claims in this posting, I’m not sure whether you are a cheer leader of President Buhari or his Yoruba vice-president but in the name of Justice wouldn’t you like to see this backlog of outstanding cases, such as the criminals, “2007 EFCC arraigned former Governors of Jigawa and Abia States, Saminu Turaki and Orji Uzor Kalu respectfully for looting the treasury of their respective state of the sum of 35 billion and 15 billion naira.” brought to justice?
You say that “To date the two cases, as it were with 30 similar cases, have been put to coma by leaders and judges who are ethno-religiously neutral.”
I’m sure that you agree with the principle of “justice delayed is justice denied” and that in his fight against wanton corruption Muhammadu Buhari should not hesitate in bringing these miscreants to justice.
And pray, dear Ogbeni Kadiri, what do you have to say about this: Blood Bath at Onitsha-Security Forces Open Fire on Peaceful Demonstrators 9 killed and many injured!
My dear brother, if only things were irie and alright in Nigeria, I guess that the refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria would be heading not to Sweden but to for Nigeria where the grass would be greener, would be arriving in large numbers, by sea via Madagascar, sailing down the River Niger or by air and land, trekking by foot or on donkey, camel and horseback – the Muslims to the North and the Christians would be seeking asylum in the West and in the territories formerly held by Biafra (smile)
Mood I’m in is like I don't feel good don't bother me.
I hope that you are keeping yourself warm and the change that we expect right now, the new elements - climate change - and the onslaught of this years’ Swedish winter will not be treating us unjustly. Add the flue to feeling bad I’ve just had some Greek Mountain tea – it’s highly to be recommended
Yours Sincerely,
Cornelius
Segun Ogungbemi
Prof. Segun Ogungbemi
Anunoby, Ogugua
BA,
I have not watched the video. I did not wish to. I might watch it now with an open mind I might add.
oa
Salimonu Kadiri
In your characteristic mix-up and muddle-up, you wrote, "You yourself have provided us with the rationale behind the policy which aimed at using starvation... as a weapon of war to bring the people of Biafra to their knees." I have never at any point in time and space said there was a policy, on the part of the federal government of Nigeria, which aimed at using starvation as a weapon of war to bring the people of Biafra to their knees. There was no such policy that aimed at using starvation against civilians in Biafra. This is what Achebe wrote on that issue, "A statement credited to Chief Obafemi Awolowo and echoed by his cohorts is the most callous and unfortunate: All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder." (page 233, There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe). Any normal person reading what Achebe wrote would easily discern that he was not sure if Awolowo made the statement therefore the expression, statement credited to Chief Obafemi Awolowo." Even if it was true that Awolowo had advocated for the use of starvation as a weapon of war, it was distinctively clear in the alleged statement to whom the weapon should be deployed. Utilizing the head not only as hat shelf and applying simple gumption, one will understand that enemies which Awolowo was alleged to have cautioned against being fed fat in order for them not to fight harder were Biafran soldiers and not unarmed civilians. Barely a year after the war had started in 1968, Achebe noted, " Gowon ... decided to open up land routes for a 'supervised transport of relief. To the consternation of Gowon, Ojukwu opted out of land routes in favour of increased airlifts of food from São Tomé by international relief agencies (page 211)." But the international relief agencies derive their operating rights from governments voluntarily signing the Geneva Convention and are compelled to a strict adherence to legality no matter how pressing the humanitarian considerations might be. Therefore, Ojukwu actually committed war crime by preventing international relief agencies from transporting relief supplies to non-combatant civilians in Biafra through Nigeria's land corridor even when it was obvious that it would be cheaper and more effective than airlifting from São Tomé. No one else but Ojukwu was responsible for the wellbeing, including food security, of the people in the territory under his control and he should be blamed for those who died of starvation under his watch.
Someone is quoted as saying that “Igbo youth are mobilising and arming for secession” - Of course it is not merely getting weapons that make such youths and effective fighting force. They have to be trained to fight. When a civilian population takes to arms (as when Imam Khomeini once said “The people are the army and the army is the people – when SAVAK was tired of gunning down their own Iranian people, then it was all over. In the case of Biafra – the Igbos were “the other people”
You yourself have provided us with the rationale behind the policy which aimed at using starvation “of Biafra’s soldiers” as a weapon of war to bring the people of Biafra to their knees, through starvation. Undeniably your words:
In bold black letter you quote the Biafran Leader condemning some of his elite countrymen in the midst of the imposed famine:
"…. BUT HERE (Biafra) EVEN WHILE WE ARE ENGAGED IN A WAR OF NATIONAL SURVIVAL, EVEN WHILE THE LIFE OF OUR NATION HANGS IN THE BALANCE, WE SEE SOME PUBLIC SERVANTS, WHO THROW HUGE PARTIES TO ENTERTAIN THEIR FRIENDS; WHO KILL COWS TO CHRISTEN THEIR BABIES."
It’s illogical to conclude that just because some public servants were throwing huge parties to entertain their friends and killing cows to christen their babies - (your words), that
“ it is absurd, if not lunatic, to talk of starvation.” – the illogicality: because some peoples’ stomachs were not affected by the famine means that millions were not affected by the famine/ starvation which is a historical fact and that it is therefore (your own ridiculous conclusion): “absurd, if not lunatic, to talk of starvation.”
People were looking for lizards to eat as meat - are you aware of that?
What do you see HERE?
If Israel adopted such a policy towards the Palestinians what would Ogbeni Kadiri say?
Let’s pay close attention to what else Gen. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu said on 01 June 1969.
“For two years we have been subjected to a total blockade. We all know how bitter, bloody and protracted the First and Second World Wars were. At no stage in those wars did the white belligerents carry out a total blockade of their fellow whites. In each case where a blockade was imposed, allowance was made for certain basic necessities of life in the interest of women, children and other non-combatants. Ours is the only example in recent history where a whole people have been so treated. What is it that makes our case different? Do we not have women, children and other non-combatants? Does the fact that they are black women, black children and black non-combatants make such a world of difference?” (Excerpted from the Ahiara Declaration)
If Israel adopted such a policy towards the Palestinians what would you say?
On Thursday, 3 December 2015 00:35:13 UTC+1, ogunlakaiye wrote:
Cornelius Hamelberg
Amended
Ogbeni Kadiri:
Transgender: “a bat that can neither be classified a bird nor a mouse.…”
I ‘m not conflating the Iranian Revolution with anything that has ever happened in Nigeria.
I was expecting some of the Ogun thunder and lightning that you would be spitting would be directed at not me but your best friends in the South East. I would have thought that for an ultra- nationalist like you, with the Nigerian National Anthem and the National pledge in mind, you would first of all take up the urgent matters of greatest concern just now: The Bloodbath at Onitsha – but I was mistaken : for the time being you are more fascinated by the past.
Stop being mischievous. When I said that “You yourself have provided us with the rationale behind the policy which aimed at using starvation as a weapon of war, I meant you yourself , Ogbeni Kadiri, it’s your own words that I quoted and not Achebe or anyone else:
Your words: “I have never heard or read of any war where opposing combatants bombarded each order with bread, butter and gem. In view of this, there was nothing wrong if the federal government declared that it would not allow food to be given to Biafran soldiers in order to minimize their capacity to resist defeat. Food to civilians in a war affected area is regulated under international law. Nigeria was a signatory to that international law but not Biafra and since that international law recognized the sovereignty of Nigeria over Biafra, Nigeria had the right to inspect all planes flying into Biafra with relief supplies to civilians in order to ascertain that weapons were not smuggled to the rebels. When Gowon offered to allow relief supplies through a land corridor from Port Harcourt to the rebel held territory under international Red Cross, there was no latent or obvious military advantage for his side as Biafra was effectively surrounded militarily and land locked”
In the light of what actually happened your argument is weak utterly lacking in foresight, and in reality boils down to this: that two million Biafrans starved to death because the Biafran soldiers ate up all the food that was intended for the rest of Biafra’s civilian population. Is that what you are saying?
I’ll leave you to chew on this. It’s now 13.45 and the candle-lighting time in Stockholm is 14.35. This means that I have some things to do before then so I’ll be attending to the rest of Ogbeni Kadiri’s epistle, later.
Best Regards
Cornelius
Mobolaji Aluko
Rex Marinus
Dr. Aluko, need I remind you again, that between 1994 and 1998, you were calling for the armed invasion of Nigeria by a foreign power, and the verthrow of the government of Nigeria. You had organized, in the same way that Kanu has, a means of making Nigeria "ungovernable." What justifies your actions and criminalizes Kanu's? The only difference as far as one can see is that while you were hauling bombs from outside, Kanu has chosen to fight from within, and stands boldly, publicly, for his convictions, rather than do so from "exile." It is the difference between conviction and conduction. I think you may be a candidate, sir, of selective amnesia, and selective criminalization.
Obi Nwakanma
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2015 10:59 AM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Mobolaji Aluko
Assensoh, Akwasi B.
Professor Aluko:
You need not defend yourself when it comes to whatever you and other noble Nigerian brothers and sisters did to put pressure on Abacha's military regime! After all, it is an axiomatic truth that he who kills by the sword certainly dies by the sword as well. As alleged over and over, how did our intellectual brother, Claude Ake, die? In an "innocent" plane crash in Nigeria ke? In fact, Abacha, in his hey days, reminded Ghanaians of their own executed General I.K. Acheampong, who reportedly did not know the difference between a "chop bar" (a roadside village restaurant) and the Lawyer's Bar Association of Ghana.!
When some of you (from Nigeria) were battling Abacha, some of us, in self-imposed exile from Ghana, were also battling Acheampong and his sycophantic henchmen. This is why Professors Soyinka, Achebe and other eminent African writers, who knew why I "escaped"
from Ghana, continue(d) to call me "Ancient Exile".
Armed invasion or no invasion, Abacha -- like Acheampong of Ghana -- ceased to live! Thank God Almighty, we were all free at last! Whoever is not happy that Abacha and Acheampong ceased to rule our dear countries can prepare to join both evil personified leaders at hell's gate!
A.B. Assensoh.
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group; naijaintellects; OmoOdua; niger...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re:The Igbo Question
Anunoby, Ogugua
ma,
I have watched the video.
I can say in clear conscience that Kanu’s presentation as per the video is no different than symmetric presentations in public and private by many Nigerians across the years within and outside Nigeria.
There was organizing and threats, some of them blatant, within and outside Nigeria by some people who opposed Babangida’s cancellation of the results of an inconclusive presidential election, Abiola was presumed by many to have won. There was also organizing and threats again within and outside Nigeria by many people who opposed Abacha’s incarceration of Abacha, and refusal to vacate the Head of State position for him. The people involved in the said opposition activities mostly got away unscathed. There was similarly organizing and threats against the Obasanjo and Jonathan governments. Some people said publicly at the time, that the country would be made ungovernable and it mostly was in many ways. Many of those who threatened and organized at the times, are leaders in government and public life today. Remember Oodua Peoples’ Congress and Arewa Peoples’ Congress and their threats and organizing? What about the threats and organizing that usually preceded the many after Friday prayers’ killings in parts of some Northern Nigerian States, of innocent men, women, and children and the destruction of their property? They was not much hue and cry at the times for those responsible, to be pressed as Kanu is at this time, for threatening and organizing as many did before him. Why one sauce for the goose and another for the gander?
My opinion is that Kanu is a political agitator. He is doing what many passionate political agitators do when they are frustrated and out of patience with the seeming failure or refusal of political leaders and successive governments to do right for their country and all citizens after reasonable time. Kanu is not a criminal in the sense that he is evil or wishes to break the law for personal advantage or gain. He is in public service in a manner that some people do not agree with. The issues he draws attention to are shared with many Nigerians in my opinion, even when they may disagree with his methods, and the solution he proposes for their resolution. The issues will not go away just because Kanu or other like him are or will be locked away.
What needs to be done in my opinion is for government to engage with all constituencies known to suffer alienation and endless frustration with an enduring failure of government. Government is advised to listened to them, persuade them and all Nigerians to accept that things will be different from now going forward, and walk the walk while talking the talk. On matters like this one, seeing aids believing.
Kanu in my opinion, is the enthused political agitator of the moment. There will be many more like him if government does not begin to do what it must do, to earn and keep the trust of not some but all Nigerians across Nigeria.
Rex Marinus
Dr. Aluko,
First, I actually do not support Kanu's IPOB. In my book, it is a very fascist movement, and In do not subscribe to fascism. Kanu's movement whips into dangerous frenzy old discontent in the East. The discontent is legitimate, and the protest legitimate. My only disagreement is the ideology and language of the IPOB. True, it now claims to use non-violent protest, but my fear is that this is mere coverage for a movement that might sooner descend into its own kind of tyranny. I have made my view public about this, and it is in part my view for my column coming this Sunday in the Vanguard.
My problem with your position is that it is - well I think the word "hypocritical radical" - suits you more. When you made those calls for the overthrow of Abacha's government by force, were you thinking that it would be with sticks and knives? You did call on the UK and the US to lead this, and that was the subject of all your statements in those days in those Congressional hearings. In any case, I should tell, I was on the streets in June 1993 on Ikorodu road protesting when the soldiers from the Ikeja garrison started firing life bullets on the peaceful protesters of June. Many of us chose not to go into "exile," but to push the argument from the ground floor. Kanu is doing exactly what you did in the 1990s, except that this time, your politics do not agree with his, and therefore you want him hanged. You are prescribing a different criteria or standard for struggles of which you have been part. But be careful, someday, somebody else might be driving the Black Maria with you riding in its back, and what you say today might haunt you. It is the right of all people to protest when the condition of their humanity is affronted. It is the duty of conscious intellectuals to make certain that power does not exceed its bound, and that justice is not double-faced. It is not clear to me that you subscribe to this, and it is only clear to me that your sense of justice is very selective: justice is just when it only wears Aso-oke. That to me is the meaning of hypocrisy.
Obi Nwakanma
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group; naijaintellects; OmoOdua; niger...@yahoogroups.com
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
What, in your view, is the best way to prevent fascism from growing and thriving?
Where and how do you draw the line?
Gloria
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Rex Marinus [rexma...@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2015 2:56 PM
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group; naijaintellects; OmoOdua; niger...@yahoogroups.com
Dr. Aluko,
First, I actually do not support Kanu's IPOB. In my book, it is a very fascist movement, and In do not subscribe to fascism. Kanu's movement whips into dangerous frenzy old discontent in the East. The discontent is legitimate, and the protest legitimate. My only disagreement is the ideology and language of the IPOB. True, it now claims to use non-violent protest, but my fear is that this is mere coverage for a movement that might sooner descend into its own kind of tyranny. I have made my view public about this, and it is in part my view for my column coming this Sunday in the Vanguard.
My problem with your position is that it is - well I think the word "hypocritical radical" - suits you more. When you made those calls for the overthrow of Abacha's government by force, were you thinking that it would be with sticks and knives? You did call on the UK and the US to lead this, and that was the subject of all your statements in those days in those Congressional hearings. In any case, I should tell, I was on the streets in June 1993 on Ikorodu road protesting when the soldiers from the Ikeja garrison started firing life bullets on the peaceful protesters of June. Many of us chose not to go into "exile," but to push the argument from the ground floor. Kanu is doing exactly what you did in the 1990s, except that this time, your politics do not agree with his, and therefore you want him hanged. You are prescribing a different criteria or standard for struggles of which you have been part. But be careful, someday, somebody else might be driving the Black Maria with you riding in its back, and what you say today might haunt you. It is the right of all people to protest when the condition of their humanity is affronted. It is the duty of conscious intellectuals to make certain that power does not exceed its bound, and that justice is not double-faced. It is not clear to me that you subscribe to this, and it is only clear to me that your sense of justice is very selective: justice is just when it only wears Aso-oke. That to me is the meaning of hypocrisy.
Obi Nwakanma
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2015 4:56 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group; naijaintellects; OmoOdua; niger...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re:The Igbo Question
Obi Nwakanma:
You are what for the first time, I call a hypocritical radical - and a dishonest one to boot - shouting at the wind with dreadlocks from far-away Michigan or near there, in a super-menschen, Pilate-an manner.
No, as a front-line June 12 PDMer-in-"exile" between 1993 and 1998 , I never for once called for "the armed invasion of Nigeria by a foreign power." In my several public and private appearances and documents before the U.S. Congress, Canada, UK and the Commonwealth, yes, I asked for the overthrow of the Abacha's coercive and murderous Nigerian Military by CIVILIAN ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY, and that is what we got in May 1999, and have remained with since. There will be no document or video, secret or public, that will have me or an association of mine advocating armed invasion or violence. I never advocated bombs, or know or have learnt how to make them. I have since being contributing my little bit to Nigeria's civilian democracy.
However, if, between 1993 and 1998, the Abacha government laid its hands on me, then I was wise enough to know that even my limited agitations had consequences, and yes, people of your ilk -who were aplenty in the U.S and elsewhere with ethnic chips on their shoulders, would cruelly testify and even manufacture documents that had my name on it concerning armed invasion and violence. So despite filial assurances, I carefully stayed away from the shores of Nigeria - actually I merely tactically extended my study leave - until the coast was clear.
With Kanu Nnamdi, I have some soft spot for him as a co-guerrilla-broadcaster, but there is no need for manufacturing. He is on video from UK to US to Malaysia to Ireland, raising money for guns and bullets against a democratically-elected government, and for mischaracterizing all non-Igbos in an allegedly zoological jungle called Nigger-area. He boasted that action would begin when he set foot on Nigerian soil.
And a number of you his supporters are asking for absolutely no consequences? It would be an irresponsible government.
I do not say that Nnamdi Kanu should not espouse what he wishes to, but he and his supporters must know that those actions have consequences, and that they are not the sole dereminants of those consequences. Besides, The name Biafra has the smell of death - millions of death between 1966 and 1970 - about it, and reactions to it by Nigerians at large will have a visceral reaction to it.
I love the Igbo cry "Ozoemene" - Never Again - borrowed from the Jewish Defence League. But remember always that every conflict has a double edge, double-entendre about it: there are always two sides, and there are unintended consequences. You may think you are well prepared, but be surprised by your opponents.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Dr. Aluko, need I remind you again, that between 1994 and 1998, you were calling for the armed invasion of Nigeria by a foreign power, and the verthrow of the government of Nigeria. You had organized, in the same way that Kanu has, a means of making Nigeria "ungovernable." What justifies your actions and criminalizes Kanu's? The only difference as far as one can see is that while you were hauling bombs from outside, Kanu has chosen to fight from within, and stands boldly, publicly, for his convictions, rather than do so from "exile." It is the difference between conviction and conduction. I think you may be a candidate, sir, of selective amnesia, and selective criminalization.
Obi Nwakanma
________________________________
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Dr. Afolayan:
Thank you for taking up my little assignment on video-watching....
I don't know what else a responsible government should do when a Nigerian man is filmed claiming that he is a Biafran (and that Nigeria is a zoo of animals, apparently populated just by non-Igbos) leaves the UK to raise money for guns and bullets in the US (with at least one stopover in Los Angeles) and Malaysia (among other places), and boasts that when he arrives in Nigeria, he will start to make things "happen" - which indeed he has, in maybe un-expected ways to himself and his supporters. If he entered Nigeria with a Nigerian passport, then his allegiance and intentions need to be questioned. If he entered Nigeria as a British citizen, ditto, and even more questioning should be done: what purpose of visit did he declare in London before being granted a visa?
In any case, you observed, even some of his hearers in LA were shocked, and cautioned him....
By the way, anybody who says that Nigeria is not a country where everybody should be hollering must have his head examined....but secession and violence as weapons to assuage that hollering - as if there is some wild exceptionalism in your own particular condition - is a recipe for non-solution....
We shall see.....
Bolaji Aluko
I watched the second compressed video, and was particularly delighted by the question of the last man. As far as i am concerned, he hit the nail on the head on several fronts. I actually offered the man a silent applause. There are some voices of sanity after after all, even in Indigbo.
Does self-determination automatically transform the governance or human development standard of Biafra? In the age of globalization and migration, self-determination has its many paradoxes.
Adeshina Afolayan, PhD
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan
+23480-3928-8429
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Salimonu Kadiri
S. Kadiri
From: rexma...@hotmail.com
Segun Ogungbemi
dear oa,
mine is a quick question. when i read about the igbo situation, and biafra, it is cast entirely around the question of a separate state, about ethnic division and conflict, with a lot of ugly things being said. but to the outsider to nigeria, it would seem that this represents some kind of exceptionalism.
Bode
Are you saying that Nnandi Kanu is playing the same spoiler role as Authur Nzeribe in seeking to circumvent the will of the people and derail another popularly elected government?
Mobolaji Aluko
Salimonu Kadiri
S.Kadiri
Date: Sat, 5 Dec 2015 02:21:39 -0500
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Salimonu Kadiri
In your second response to Bolaji Aluko, you back-pedalled thus, "First I do not support Kanu's IPOB. In my book, it is very fascist movement, and I do not subscribe to fascism." (v) Is Fascism not criminal? (vi) If your answer is positive, why then are you accusing Bolaji Aluko of criminalizing fascist Kanu because he had posted videos that exposed and confirmed Kanu's fascism to which you do not subscribe?
Failure to answer the above questions will crown you Obi of Hypocrites and Mischief Makers.
S. Kadiri
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re:The Igbo Question
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2015 19:56:09 +0000
Bode
Are you saying that Nnandi Kanu is playing the same spoiler role as Authur Nzeribe in seeking to circumvent the will of the people and derail another popularly elected government?
Cornelius Hamelberg
Doing something is better than doing nothing. Personally, I would advocate Civil Disobedience over the prospects of civilian massacres, the blood-letting and the inevitable bloodbaths when civilians challenge a Nigerian military intent on hanging on to sweet power. Just look at the mess Syria is in but witness the progress in Burma/ Myanmar…
Whilst it could be the wont of the likes of do-nothing (a high state of Nirvana) Obi Nwakanma to publicly lash at the great do-something Professor Bolaji Aluko (May the Almighty continue to strengthen his elbow), I should just like to add that in the realm of public intellectuals and Nigerian patriots Wole Soyinka went on a world tour campaigning against Sani Abacha . I had a little public altercation with Mr. Soyinka when he stopped over in Stockholm, over him ridiculing Abacha for Abacha being “superstitious” and not wearing his talisman/ charms to the mosque on Fridays etc. not that I was in love with Abacha but because I didn’t like Mr. Soyinka talking like - in that tone – like a missionary boy about Abacha to the Oyibo – it was on the same occasion that I had to escort the now late Cameroonian lawyer Dr. Jean-Claude Njelm who happened to be sitting next to me at that public meet because Jean-Claude was livid with Ogbeni Soyinka for failing to include Paul Biya in his long catalogue of demons and rogue African dictators.
I should like to add that still on his world tour, Ogbeni Soyinka was in Jerusalem on the day that Sani Abacha perished and from Jerusalem flew to Paris to join his brother in Paris where if I remember correctly he was interviewed by the BBC and other news channels.
Sincerely,
Cornelius
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2015 12:53 AM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
OguguaThe lumpen Igbo youth are not listening to you, they are following Kanu's call to arm and act. Its naive to close your eyes to unfolding reality.
Jibrin Ibrahim PhDSenior FellowCentre for Democracy and Development
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahim
On Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 4:35 PM, Anunoby, Ogugua <Anun...@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
JII am surprised that Mr. Mr. Kanu’s broadcasts seem to be the foremost basis of the serious allegation you made against Igbo Youth, in a widely read Nigerian newspaper and also in cyberspace. My expectation actually was that you were privy to information from government- intelligence and other national security agencies’ sources.I am surprised too that you have decided to outsource to me, the burden of finding any other evidence that supports the serious allegation that you chose to make. My presumption is that you would like your readers take you seriously- including believe and trust you. I do not know that many of your attentive readers will, if your response to demand for credible evidence in support the claims you make, is that they should seek and find it. When did it cease to be the case that the burden of proof is no longer on he/she who chooses to claim or contend?You assert that “the circulation of arms in contemporary Nigeria, not just among the Igbo is massive”. If Igbo Youth are “arming for secession” as you do assert, why are the many others arming themselves? My considered opinion is that incendiary information should be peddled with care except of course it is intended to misinform, misguide, and cause harm.oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2015 12:11 AM
...
Salimonu Kadiri
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Cornelius Hamelberg
Ogbeni Kadiri,
I take it that you do remember the Oyibo man Carl Gustaf von Rosen’s support for Biafra .
Do you care to comment on this?
Please answer this important question: How could the Federal government not have known what the world knew, that hundreds of thousands of Biafran brothers and sisters were dying of starvation?
Assuming that you and your own kith and kin had been among the besieged of Biafra, your compassionate heart and soul-mind could have been moved to think differently and should think differently and more in accordance with your mantra ”We are all Nigerians” by which token every Igbo Biafran is your kith and kin, all human beings in the one great human family.
Being conversant with the history of the Iranian Revolution (and so would you if discussed the matter with an Ayatollah or two and diverse Iranians ) this is what I had in mind in a previous posting when I mentioned that SAVAK got tired of decimating their own people, the people of Iran, and that at the point where Imam Khomeini said “The army is the people and the people is the army “ it was all over for the Shah. About our common humanity this is what I meant by unfortunately in the Biafra War from your perspective as repeatedly given in these discussions, it would seem that “In the case of Biafra – the Igbos were “the other people”.
For me, the Igbo people and all the Nigerian people that I lived with in Nigeria for close to four years, who I ate with and in whose houses I slept in safety, they are my people. As Tony Allen says, na di same people. If my Igbo friend Bishop Titus Akanabu is not my brother, then who is he to me? (I talked with him a few days ago, told him to stay away from Boko Haram; he was laughing.)
With your own background one gets the sense that you believe that peace is preferable to war. So please let’s not continue to flog a dead horse even if the horse is dead but the dream of Biafra lives on in the hearts of those in which the idea of Biafra lives.
Whether you are a military strategist or not, first of all let’s (all of us) tread some common ground:
We agree that a clarion call to arms by which Igbo youths, old men and women, whosesoever would be their leaders and supporters would be pitted against the Nigerian Federal Army and would thereby effectively open up another regional front against the Federal Nigerian Army which has waged a protracted war against a ragtag terror-jihadist Boko Haram in just a small area of Nigeria with no success at all and to date has experienced so many setbacks in routing them, the latest news being that Boko Haram is making a powerful comeback. This would not be good for Nigeria. Nor should Boko Haram be underestimated. Let’s face it: Boko Haram is being supported by certain internal and external forces that would like to de-stabilise the nation state Nigeria.
With all of the experience from the past (1967-70) the Biafra talk progressing from mere hot talk (disaffected hot talk/hot air ) to arms actually flowing in to the Biafra nationalist enclave and elsewhere , a detonation of bombs here and there , somewhere in Abuja, Lagos, Military headquarters in Katsina ( thereby igniting the personal wrath of Muhammadu Buhari - or someone/ someones declaring “secession” thereby putting the lives of Igbos serving in the Federal military in jeopardy, we would be back to the déjà vu of 67-70 - with Port Harcourt secured by the Feds and “Biafra” effectively sealed, landlocked, and maybe the prospect of another famine, predatory vultures looming in the air, smelling human carrion on the ground, circling their prey – if the secessionists prove as intractable as you made them out to be, refusing as you said, to let in any convoys laden with food and other life essentials, it would be another humanitarian disaster, inadvertently spelling genocide for Biafra.
Re- your words:” about what I would say if Israel were to blockade Palestinian as Nigeria did to Biafra”. That was not my question. My question was what you would say if Israel used a policy of starvation as a weapon of war.
I should like to point out that in the case of Israel and the Pals (millions of tons of food and other essentials enter Gaza every month). Israeli ethics and Israeli military doctrine does not believe in starvation of the Palestinian Brethren as a weapon of war.
Apart from shedding blood , there is no abracadabra mantra or movement by which Biafra can or will come into existence other than through a peaceful constitutional route which I suppose will be possible after a Sovereign National Conference . In short that should be the first stage to a sovereign Biafra – the constitutional path - a referendum could follow shortly thereafter or if the Biafrans because of a shared history and the prospects of a shared economic future opt to remain in Nigeria but with greater regional powers/ concessions then surely these can be negotiated and then, so be it.
What sayest the peaceful Ogbeni Kadiri about this?
Sincerely,
Cornelius
On Friday, 4 December 2015 10:51:36 UTC+1, ogunlakaiye wrote:
...
Cornelius Hamelberg
PS.
Ogbeni Kadiri:
In the name of honesty
even in the mistaken belief (other tricks of the trade) that there is no difference between what I said and what you think is the essence of what I said, please quote me accurately the next time or don’t quote me at all.
I wrote that “You yourself have provided us with the rationale behind the policy which aimed at using starvation “of Biafra’s soldiers” as a weapon of war to bring the people of Biafra to their knees, through starvation”
I did not merely write as you misquoted (by omitting my centre of gravity ),“You yourself have provided us with the rationale behind the policy which aimed at using starvation... as a weapon of war to bring the people of Biafra to their knees”
Yrs,
Cornelius
On Friday, 4 December 2015 10:51:36 UTC+1, ogunlakaiye wrote:
...
Ofure Aito
Dear oa,
When conversation revolve around the history of Nigeria/Biafra War, my first position is the antecedents of the war such as the planned Army coup with only Mayor Kaduna caught in the middle, the slaining of the Northern and Western leaders, the disappearance of Azikiwe to London while the military assigned the job were delayed in Benin; the massacre of igbo in the North- the cause and many more questions must be addressed without emotion if anyone wants to adjudicate in the ethnic issues and rivalries in Nigeria.
I wish to address certain points i observed and do not agree with in your conversation:
"Oppression. ... in a country does not mean that they are for the same reasons and to the same extent"... Please tell me which ethnic group has not had it extent of oppression? The middle belt and the Midwest. .. During Biafra, on whose lands was the war fought? ... Benin/Ore, Asaba, with the Benins caught in the middle because of their loyalty to Nigeria and brotherhood ties to Anambras. Has anyone taken numbers of their losses? What about their unsung heroes? How many minorities have been in power since after the war?
"There is broad agreement in Nigeria for example that the northern states of Nigeria are relatively less “developed” than the southern states of the country. The Igbos have been number 3 in the civilian rule several times and head of States. We need to also view the other walls in our assessments of oppression and discrimination in Nigeria.
"There is broad agreement in Nigeria for example that the northern states of Nigeria are relatively less “developed” than the southern states of the country."
"The Igbo are egalitarians."
No doubt about that.
"There is no fracture between the Igbo elite and their masses." There is... you need to move around and complement texts with everyday human reality to ascertain the disconnect between the proBiafra and the masses.
"Disaffected Igbo who try to keep the Biafra issue in view are nothing like the Boko Haram insurgents who are an existential national security threat and have been for years now. It is an obnoxious false equivalence."
"...they cannot deny the facts- the injustices of state creation..." Geographically, how further can you recreate the Eastern region with the ecological problems. You know because of this aspect of your argument i took a look at the current map of Nigeria and i see how small the East is and so choked. Are you suggesting they take from other regions and add to the East?
"Not if the post war proclamation by the victor was “no victor, not vanquished”.
Chinua Achebe '“There Was A Country” was his attempt to document Nigeria’s history"' from a lopsided point of view. I agree ... "as he say and lived it".
Saving Nigeria from disintegration is a Nigeria Project that interest me not the disaffection of a group because every group in Nigeria is discriminated.
Ofure Aito
Salimonu Kadiri
You asked, "How could the Federal government not have known what the world knew, that hundreds of thousands of Biafran brothers and sisters were dying of starvation?" From where did you get your information that the Federal government did not know that civilian Biafrans were dying of starvation? Was it not because of that awareness that Gowon offered to open an internationally supervised land corridor from Port Harcourt to the rebel held enclave for the purpose of transporting relief supplies to civilians but was rejected in 1968 by Ojukwu? What do you think the Federal government should have done when it knew non-combatants were dying of starvation? Does it not occur to you that Ojukwu were holding the starving Biafrans as hostage? Why did Ojukwu not capitulate in 1968, when he saw that he could not protect his citizens from starvation, instead of 1970? Those are the questions you should ponder over and answer yourself instead of your biased question framed with the intention of portraying the Federal government as ignorant and wicked.
Israeli military doctrine does not believe in starvation of the Palestinian Brethren as a weapon of war, you wrote; and similarly Nigerian military doctrine did not believe in starvation of the Secessionist Biafrans as a weapon of war. In order to corroborate your assertion on Israeli military doctrine, you wrote, millions of tons of food and other essentials enter Gaza every month. However, you chose to forget and add that million tons of food and other essentials that enter Gaza every month and not every day do so after undergoing inspections at any place so appointed by Israel. Should the Palestinian leader in Gaza reject pre-inspection of goods to Gaza by Israel, as Ojukwu did with the Nigerian government in 1968, the Palestinians in Gaza will die of mass starvation as the Biafrans did between 1968 and 1969. I don't think I have more to contribute on this issue after you might have responded to the questions posed to you above.
S. Kadiri
Date: Sat, 5 Dec 2015 08:00:29 -0800
Salimonu Kadiri
May I advise you to read my submission properly before responding instead of in bits on the same submission.
S.Kadiri
Date: Sat, 5 Dec 2015 09:21:30 -0800
Cornelius Hamelberg
Corrected.
Ogbeni Kadiri,
Many thanks for this your last posting.
You know, sometimes a man asks stupid questions in order to get brilliant replies and sometimes a man asks stupid questions and if he already knows the answers listens very carefully to not only what the respondent replies but also listens very carefully to take note of what the respondent doesn't say, what he omits to say.
I have archived your penultimate post under the title"Ogbeni Kadiri tries to pull a fast one on me" (the one in which you want to defend your omission of my words “'starvation of Biafra's soldiers” because (and familiarity breeds that) because you were wrongly anticipating the centre of gravity of in what I was saying, whereas what I was and am saying is very straightforward indeed.
One of the qualities that I most admire about the Prophet of Islam salallahu alaihi wa salaam is that according to the various hadiths (both Shia and Sunni) he never interrupted somebody who was speaking and even more than that, before he himself would take up the thread would ask the one who was speaking to him or before him, “Have you finished?”
I hate hit and run discussions and have always enjoyed more thorough discussions and receiving an education from you mostly over the telephone. Debates are something else, things that willy-nilly that some people always want to win….
Still very sin-cerely
Cornelius
...
Cornelius Hamelberg
Ogbeni Kadiri,
Many thanks for this your last posting.
You know, sometimes a man asks stupid questions in order to get brilliant replies and sometimes a man asks stupid questions and if he already knows the answers listens very carefully to not only what the respondent replies but also listens very carefully to take note of what the respondent doesn't say, what he omits to say.
I have archived your penultimate post under the title"Ogbeni Kadiri tries to pull a fast one on me" (the one in which you want to defend your omission of my words “'starvation of Biafra's soldiers” because (and familiarity breeds that) because you were wrongly anticipating the centre gravity of in what I was saying, whereas what I was and am saying is very straightforward indeed. argument
One of the qualities that I most admire about the Prophet of Islam salallahu alaihi wa salaam is that according to the various hadiths (both Shia and Sunni) he never interrupted somebody who was speaking and even more than that before he himself would take up the thread would ask the one who was speaking to him or before him, “Have you finished?”
I hate hit and run discussions and have always enjoyed more through discussions and receiving an education from you mostly over the telephone. Debates are something else, things that willy-nilly that some people always want to win….
Still very sin-cerely
Cornelius
On Saturday, 5 December 2015 21:41:09 UTC+1, ogunlakaiye wrote:
...
Cornelius Hamelberg
Ogbeni Kadiri,
I know you to be an honest and sincere person. So, will you please stop this tittle-tattle?
It seems to me that you want to have your cake and eat it too. You indicated “through the dots after the word starvation “and deliberately, ingeniously “jumped over certain words”, these certain words being: 'starvation of Biafra's soldiers' – in order to supress that important piece of my text (information) so that you could go ahead and attack what you imputed I was saying, by that deliberate omission - what I was not saying, your words, not mine that “the Nigerian government deployed starvation as a weapon of war against non-combatant in Biafra”
You know these famous lines by Robert Burns (Scotland’s national poet) that “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”
Ostensibly, the original intention of the Federal government was not genocidal. As you yourself made clear and these are your words, not mine: “there was nothing wrong if the federal government declared that it would not allow food to be given to Biafran soldiers in order to minimize their capacity to resist defeat.”
That apparently, was your Federal Government’s intention but in effect it resulted in some TWO MILLION BIAFRANS (mostly civilians) STARVING TO DEATH.
That’s why I say that your argument is weak, to believe that such a policy could succeed in only targeting combatants and that’s why let me repeat, I wryly observed that “ In the light of what actually happened your argument is weak utterly lacking in foresight, and in reality boils down to this: that two million Biafrans starved to death because the Biafran soldiers ate up all the food that was intended for the rest of Biafra’s civilian population. Is that what you are saying?”
I ask the question because you have already told us that there was plenty of food in Biafra and there was consequently really no starvation. Again your words: “In Biafra where huge parties were being thrown to entertain friends and cows were being slaughtered to Christen new born babies, it is absurd, if not lunatic, to talk of starvation.”
And then I gave you the example of superfluity in Emperor Haile Selassie’s Palace and pictures of the Emperor feeding choice meats to the Palace lions as not argument enough to suggest that there was no famine in Ethiopia, 1970-1979
Sincerely
Cornelius
...
Rex Marinus
My view is quite simple, not to keep quiet when the likes of Aluko or Kanu or whoever propagate selective annihilation as a political solution.
Obi Nwakanma
________________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@ccsu.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2015 10:27 PM
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group; naijaintellects; OmoOdua; niger...@yahoogroups.com
Anunoby, Ogugua
It seems to me that you and I have different reading and understanding of Nigeria's recent history and group dynamics. I respect our disagreement. Thank you.
oa
Mobolaji Aluko
Obi Nwakanma:
Clearly, you have no idea how to commit suicide....that is why you have so much difficulty in responding to a simple question about preventing/annihilating fascism.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Okwy Okeke
We face forward,...we face neither East or West: we face forward.......Kwame Nkrumah
From: Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>
To: "usaafric...@googlegroups.com" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; OmoOdua <Omo...@yahoogroups.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 4 December 2015, 20:56
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re:The Igbo Question
Akinjide OSUNTOKUN
olaka...@aol.com
Bolaji:
I had the same reaction as Akinjide after watching the first
of the three videos you posted. Apart from being sad
and entertaining, I also saw some positive aspects in the videotaped
WIC proceedings which are derived mainly from the questions and
reactions from the audience.
Many of the WIC officials and members who spoke are much older
than Nnamdi Kanu. They offered their wise words of caution to the
young Nnamdi Kanu who either dismissed them off hand or sidestepped
the concerns that were raised by the speakers.
My earlier impression of Nnamdi Kanu as a young bright Nigerian lawyer of Igbo descent
was shattered after watching him speak at length.
He is certainly not the Messiah that any group of sensible human beings would wish to lead
them. He is also not the a reincarnation of the Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu for our times,
Nnamdi Kanu has just as much a nihilistic outlook on life and a deeply ingrained
hatred as any one of the Boko Haram,
Al Queeda or ISIL terrorists and suicide bombers
I have watched on video direct at anyone who does not support their ideology.
Nnamdi Kanu would rather die if he does not achieve his dream of Biafra.
That state of mind is not that different from that of a suicide bomber or an
Islamic Jihadist who is willing to sacrifice his life for the cause,
While the islamic terrorists direct their hanger and hatred at infidels and Americans
Nnamdi Kanu directs his own hatred at all other Nigerians, especially the Hausa- Fulani.
Nnamdi Kanu would respect any Igbo including those of his parents age as long as they
support his dream for Biafra but would immediately stop having any respect for them as
soon as they identify themselves as Nigerians.
He also deftly dodged the question about which country's Passport he traveled to the
US on.
I found Nnamdi Kanu's clarification about of who is a Biafran and who is not a Biafran very entertaining.
He describes a Biafraan as a ny Nigerian who woman who dresses in a double wrapper which in his mind would be inclusive of any
one whose origins is from the former eastern region of Nigeria,
This definition is so broad that many of the older women in Aiyepe, Ogun state, my home town would easily qualify
as Biafrans.
Even my late auntie who died two years ago at age 97 could have qualified as a Biafran if whe was still alive,
The last time I looked many women in Aiyepe also dress in double wrapper below their Buba top,
especially if the Iro is of the broad type.
On a more serious note, I wish to confess that through no fault on my own, I found myself
in a meeting during the hey days of NADECO in Toronto a few months before Abacha passed on.
The meeting was called to discuss
the travails of the Yoruba in Nigeria in the wake of June 12 by some Yoruba in the Greater Toronto Area who had become
disenchanted with the Yoruba Community Association --YCA--(our own version of Egbe Omo Oduduwa)
of which I have been the Patron since 1982. The Executive of the YCA had sided with Chief Adebayo
a NADECO leader who had been granted asylum in Canada while the other
chose to side with another prominent Yoruba who was at logger heads with Chief Adebayo.
I accepted the invitation because I felt I could reconcile
the two competing factions. To my surprise, the conversation a few minutes after the meeting started
centered on how the Yoruba who live in other countries should be contributing funds to buy weapons
which would be used to dislodge Abacha's stranglehold on Nigeria. One of the attendees identified himself as
a former officer in the Nigerian army. He related how he fled Nigeria because Abacha was trying to assassinate him.
He volunteered to coordinate the purchase of the weapons from Europe and the USA.
Most of the comments from the audience were similar to the reactions of the audience at the WIC.
They were uncomfortable with the idea of armed struggle in Nigeria and one spoke about whether those who
plot coup deta'ts in Nigeria do so in such a open forum.
Needless to say, that was the first and last meeting of this group of would be Yoruba anti-Abacha coup
plotters!
This begs the question about whether or not Nanmdi Kanu's speech and what transpired at the WIC meeting amounted to Treason and
Sedition. I still have my doubts about whether they do as I sincerely believe that Nnamdi Kanu's speech is still
within the limits of the Free Speech Doctrine at least until they are acted upon.
Bye,
Ola
Ofure Aito
I watched the condensed version and, apart from the amusement ones in his speech, it portrays a demented and disenchanted mind that will stop at nothing to achieve a personal goal at the expense of all. Well, I must also say he makes a national discourse. The fact that he is part of a daily discourse is something for him, even though, it is an unhealthy one. He may be considered a national threat to the sovereignty of a nation already under the weight of other internal threats.
Ofure
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Subject: FACT SHEET: President Obama's New Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and Make Our Communities Safer
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