The Women Of Virtue Are Out For Biafra
Restoration To Join IPOB-Nnamdi Kanu
No wonder a white man from America-Kissinger described Igbo People as thus said " In a White House memo dated Tuesday, January 28, 1969, to President Nixon, former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger describes the Igbos as “the wandering Jews of West Africa-gifted, aggressive, westernized, at best envied and resented, but mostly despised by their neighbors in the federation”(foreign relations document, volume E-5, documents on Africa 1969-1972.
Kissinger’s
description aptly portrays the Christian Igbos and their experience in Nigeria.
Over the years, the Igbo have been the victims of numerous massacres, that they
have lost count. Most of the violence directed against the Igbos have been
state sponsored. One can say that the Igbos knew how to spell “state-sponsored
terrorism” before the rest of the world did. The state-sponsored terrorism
directed against the Igbo in 1966, led to the declaration of the Republic of
Biafra by the Igbos and subsequent civil war. Over two million Igbos died in
the civil war, primarily by starvation. One will not be wrong if they call the
Igbo the “Tutsis” of Nigeria. Today, an Islamic terrorist Conglomerate led by
the dreaded Boko Haram are still slaughtering Igbos and other Christians in
Northen Nigeria. Igbos have always seen themselves as a bulwark against the
spread of Islam to Southern Nigeria, and as a result, a perennial target of
Islamic zealots.
However, the
Igbo are one of the largest and most distinctive of all African ethnic groups.
Predominantly found in Southeastern Nigeria, they number about 40 million
worldwide, with about 30 million in Nigeria. They constitute about 18% of
Nigeria’s population, with significant Igbo populations in Cameroon, Equatorial
Guinea, Gabon and the Ivory Coast. The Igbo predominate in five states in
Nigeria-Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Abia. In three other states- Rivers,
Lagos and Delta, they constitute almost 25% of the population.
During the
slave trade, Igbo slaves were known to be the most rebellious. Most of the
slave rebellions in the United States, Haiti, Jamaica, Belize, Trinidad and
Tobago, Barbados and Guyana were led by Igbo slaves. In South Carolina, Igbo
slaves were reported to have drowned themselves, rather than be kept as slaves.
Today that place is called Ebo Island in commemoration of the slaves who died
there. The Gullahs are Igbo. Igbo were one of the 13 African ethnic groups that
provided the bulk of the slaves who were brought to the Americas.
The majority of
the slaves who ended up in Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland, Arkansas,
Mississippi, South and North Carolina and Georgia were Igbo. An Igbo museum has
been built in Virginia to honour the contribution of Igbo slaves to the state.
One of the Igbo slaves who was sent to Liberia by the American Colonization
Society-Edward Roye- became the fourth president of Liberia. Another Igbo
slave, Olaiduah Equiano wrote the famous slave chronicles.
During the
colonial period, the British disliked the Igbo, because of their supposedly
uppitiness and argumentativeness. During military service in Burma and India,
the pride of Igbo soldiers amongst other African soldiers was proverbial. In
the company offices and orderly rooms, the first few words from the White officer
speaking to an Igbo soldier was followed by “don’t argue, you! Or “you want to
be too clever”, and similar expressions. Their expressive and aggressive
mentality which they enjoy in their culture at home does not always allow them
to accept false charges or accusations without responding. The late famous
writer, Langston Hughes, observed “the Igbo looks proud because he is bred in a
free atmosphere where everyone is equal. He hates to depend on anyone for his
life’s need. He does not mind if others look proud. He has much to be proud of
in his land. Nature has provided for him. He is strong and able to work or
fight. He is well formed. He is generally happy in his society where no leader
overrides his conscience. He likes to advance and he is quick to learn. He
likes to give rather than take”
Culturally, the Igbo are a very diverse group with different clans, families,
subcultures, and subgroups. However, the customs are similar to local
varieties. Although there are disagreements about the origins of the Igbo,
there is a consensus that they originated from Nri in the Anambra State of
Nigeria. The language of the Igbos is Igbo or Ibo. It is one of the largest
spoken languages in Africa, with Hausa and Yoruba.
Igbo speaking
people are divided into five geographically-based subcultures-Northern Igbo,
Western Igbo, Southern Igbo, Eastern Igbo and Northeastern Igbo. Not as
urbanised as the Yoruba, they live in multitudinous villages, fragmented into
small family groups. They do not have hereditary chiefs like the Yoruba or
Hausa/Fulani. Every Igbo more or less is his or her own master. The Igbos
operate the “Umunna System”, which emphasises the patrilineal heritage, rather
than the matrilineal. Some of the important Igbo cities include Onitsha, Enugu,
Umuahia, Aba, Asaba, Abakaliki, Owerri, Nsukka.
In commerce,
the Igbos are a mobile, vividly industrious people who have spread all over
Nigeria and Africa as traders and small merchants. In countries like Gabon,
Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Gambia, Igbo traders
predominate in retail trade. Most Igbos are clannish, despite their
individualism and hold closely together in non-Igbo communities. They are often
very unpopular in the communities they live in because they push very hard to
make money and often dominate the retail business in alien communities. In his
book, the Brutality of Nations, Dan Jacobs describes the Igbos “as ambitious,
dynamic and progressive people whose education and abilities did not endear
them to those among whom they lived. Even during British rule, there were
massacres of Igbos in Northern Nigeria-in Jos in 1945 and in Kano in 1953. The
Igbos have acquired the sobriquet, Jews of Africa”.
Education is
highly emphasised and given priority in Igboland. Converted to Christianity by
Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian missionaries, they took up self-improvement
with such enthusiasm, that by the 1960’s, the Igbo had the highest percentage
of doctors, lawyers, engineers, physicists, and teachers than any other ethnic
group in Africa. Because of the abundant educational talent in Igboland, many
newly independent African nations recruited them to fill vacancies in their
civil service.
The first
American style university built in Africa was in the Igboland-the University of
Nigeria at Nsukka. Its founder, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was a graduate of Lincoln
University in Pennsylvania. The Igbos and the Yorubas are the most educated
ethnic group in Africa.
Politically,
the Igbos are very effervescent and volatile. According to author Dan Jacobs
“for Britain and for the British civil servants who continued to work in the
Northern Region, the Igbos have always been a troublesome element in the
federation, a people with a democratic tradition who are not easily controlled.
Much British were glad to see them out of a central position in the federation,
as were those who had driven them back to their homeland and those who now held
the civil service and other jobs they had left”.
The Igbos had
been the most ardent advocates of a united Nigeria. Upon independence in 1960,
an Igbo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe-American educated- became the first President and
Governor General, while another Igbo, Aguiyi Ironsi became the first indigenous
military chief. The leadership of most of the elite universities in Nigeria
were also occupied by the Igbos.
Following the military coup of January 1966, which the Igbos
were accused of initiating, Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo, became President and
Supreme Commander of the armed forces. Tensions rose very high in the country
resulting in the massacre of the Igbo in May 1966. In July 1966, a
Hausa/Fulani/Tiv inspired military coup overthrew Ironsi’s regime and a
terrible massacre of the Igbos began in earnest. This led to the secession of
the former Eastern Nigeria and the declaration of the Republic of Biafra. This
eventually led to the civil war.''
 |
| Biafran Virtues Women |
No comments:
Post a Comment