30Th May
Remembrance
Day 2019
A Cross
Section Of IPOB In Greece Remembers The Biafran Fallen Heroes / Heroines on
30th May 2019, Remain Focused To See Our Next Update! #Free Biafra! #Support
Biafra In The Countries where you domiciled!!! #Chetakwa Biafra Bu Nke Anyi
oooo!!!! All Must Hail Biafra!!!!!!!
SPEECH WRITTEN BY MAZI NNAMDI OBODOECHI PRESENTED
BY THE IPOB NATIONAL COORDINATOR IN GREECE
TODAY
THURSDAY 30TH MAY 2019
Titled: THE REASONS FOR CONTINUED BIAFRAN AGITATION FOR RESTORATION
Today Thursday 30th of MAY 2019 marks the 52nd Anniversary of our
beloved Heroes and Heroines. Every Year is a Biafra National day to
remember them who died during the genocidal War against Biafrans by the Nigeria
Government, USSR and the Arab Nations, mostly Egypt and of which an Egyptians
Pilot was responsible for bombing public places: Hospitals, maternity homes,
Schools, Markets, Churches and, Etc.
This genocidal War killed about 5,000 Biafrans and the Nigeria
Government continued killing up till date, so what are you waiting for in
Nigeria that killed and continued killing our people? In
the first place, BIAFRA is a SPIRIT right from the creation of this finest
WORLD, God created Biafra separately and according to geographical features and
his own plan of Creation, Biafra and Nigeria are not one and can never be.
The Nigeria some of you are dying for, is not worthy for such, because in Nigeria what we the BIAFRANS get is total Brutality, Marginalization, Nepotism, Servitude, Oppression, Intimidations, killing and maiming of our brothers and sisters that are demanding for their total freedom by the so called the NIGERIAN Security Agents, combined with Boko Haram, and Fulani Herdsmen engineered by the Government of Nigeria in order to Islamize the entire people of Biafra and occupy our God’s given Land, blessed with abundant Mineral and Human Resources. In 1914, the British Government sent Sir Lord Fredrick Luggard on evil mission to Nigeria. When Lord Luggard came to Nigeria; He saw that the Biafrans were more intelligent, and achievers in the SOUTH, He called the Biafrans, the great people of Africa. Imagine a White person like Luggard calling us the great people of Africa. This literally means that our greatness is more than theirs. That is why he fashioned many crook ways, with the directives of the British Government to subjugate the Biafrans.
One must know that the existence of Nigeria as a Country expired on the 31st December 2013. Remember any expired object is no more useful, and must be thrown into the garbage. Is this expired Country that you are fighting for her welfare? Continue to fight to liberate Biafra from Nigeria so that our Children will have the cause to celebrate our good legacy now and in future when we are gone.
The hundred years of their so called agreement which they have concocted by themselves, without the consent of the people they have amalgamated. I want every thinking Biafrans to know that those of the Biafran intellectuals that fully opposed the move of such evil amalgamation of mixing oil and water together as Luggard said, “North and South is like oil and water mixed together,’’ were all killed.
The evidence is clear in all pictorial documents as shown in Wikipedia pages on their devilish action against Biafra who opposed them and their cronies. In our recorded history, the British Government never supported the Biafran people maybe because of our Religious Beliefs, rather they supported the Muslim North because it is in their character to support the emergence of Muslim Countries, example, they supported Palestine against the State of ISRAEL and also supported the State of KOSOVO and many other Islamic Nations.
Today the 30th May of 2019, I am given you a challenge
to find out if there is any Christian Country which British supported their
emergence? Lord Macaulay’s Speech 2nd February 1835 in the British Parliament,
is another destructive weapon the British Government used to destroy the entire
Africa, when he said, on quote “I have travelled across the length and breadth
of Africa and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief such
wealth I have seen in this Country, such high moral values, people of such
caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this Country, unless we
break the very backbone of this Nation, which is her Spiritual and Cultural
heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient
education system, her culture, for if the Africans think that all that is
foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their
self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a
truly dominated nation.’’
I am very sorry! But I have a report attached to this
amalgamation……….After 100 years, you can disintegrate.’’ And Flora Shaw the
girl Friend of Luggard on her own statement said “I invented the word NIGERIA. It
means (NIGGA in AMERICAN Language) and NIGER in (in FRENCH), I am sorry I was
drunk when I gave you that name. I now realized it was wrong to come all the
way from BRITAIN to give you such name. Please forgive me!” Since FLORA SHAW-a
Prostitute was drunk and suggested such evil name to Luggard, was he drunk too,
to accept such suggestion? My good people of BIAFRA, their apologies are
inconsequential, therefore their apologies cannot be welcome among the
Biafrans, Their families and the British Government will pay dearly because
they were the ones that laid the foundation of divide and rule and dichotomy,
and segregation in NIGERIA.
The Former President of NIGERIA, GENERAL Olusegun Obasanjo said, “Look
at what is happening, the person that is leading us says he cannot appoint any
other tribes into the position he considers sensitive because he does not trust
them. If he cannot trust my tribe and your tribe what is the benefits?
And he still wants my tribe and your tribe to vote for him. So, he can ask us
to vote for him but he cannot trust us to be appointed into sensitive
positions. What is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the ganger.’’ “If we
expose those in BUHARI’s Govt, they’ll not only go to jail, they’ll go to
hell.’’
Reasons behind the Biafra Freedom are so numerous to be mentioned: It’s
a combination of reasons and it’s because of the failure of the Nigerian
government to implement agreements reached at the end of the Nigerian Civil war
in January 1970. The Federal Government declared the 3Rs –
Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation! But the Federal Government
did not implement these three programmes. If you remember the recent statement
of former Akwa Ibom governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, when he said
‘Reconstruction was not carried out in war-ravaged parts of Biafra but in
Lagos,’ which did not experience war! You must also remember how the Federal
Government used hunger as a war weapon during the war, which was a war
crime—the blockade that was used to starve Biafra people to death.
Then after the war, FG confiscated money in the bank accounts of Biafran
people from eastern Nigeria and only gave them 20 pounds out of all they had! You
must remember how hardworking our people are, how they were in every field of
human endeavour during the colonial era before independence and how they
dominated in the civil services and businesses. There were billionaires among
them. And then you gave them only 20 pounds out of all they had. It did not
only destroy people’s lives, it destroyed their economies. It was a great
injustice done to them. So, the three Rs were not carried out. Then the FG
carried out the Indigenization and Nationalisation Decree, which was the
privatisation that nationalised foreign companies and gave them to Nigerian ownership.
It enabled Nigerians to buy shares of foreign companies. It happened shortly
after the war, and our people did not have money to buy, as it denied us the
opportunity to participate in being part owners of nationalised companies in
Nigeria.
I stand here to tell you that most of the Companies owned by Biafrans
after the war were shut down by the Federal Government of Nigeria because they
vowed through their economic war against the Biafrans that they will not allow
us to survive in many ways. So, the Federal Government shut down all
these companies which I will like to mention: some of the companies are here
below:
Ada Palm Industry Ohaji; Golden Guinea Breweries Umuahia; Enamel Ware;
Nkalagu Cement Industry Emene; Niger Royal Company; The Ceramics Industry Port
Harcourt; Bata Shoe Company Aba; Nationale Electronics; Premier Breweries
Company Onitsha; Monarch Breweries Enugu; Pal Breweries; Philip Companies LTD,
Cashew Industry In Okigwe, Rubber Plantation Ohaji, and e.t.c. Another vital
reason is that NIGERIA is a Country where by if you kill a Cow the FULANIS will
kill more than 200 Souls in replacement of a Cow that is the pure truth that
NIGERIA is a ZOO!
Buhari’s action before he died: He said the following, “I will continue
to show openly and inside me, the total commitment to the Sharia movement all
over Nigeria.’’ “Muslims should only vote those who will
promote Islam. We are more than the Christians if you add our Muslim brothers
in the South.’’ “Boko Haram members should be pampered and given VIP treatment
not killed. It’s injustice to kill them.’’ “I can die for the course of Islam
if necessary. We are prepared to fight another Civil War.’’
The key note here is that every Northern Presidential candidate in
Nigeria have the same mentality of War against the Christians, killing as they
have already brought the War to our Mother’s Kitchens, killing and maiming IPOB
Families on daily bases because we the IPOB are demanding for Biafra where the
Biafrans will have Peace and unity in our own blessed Nation. In
a Country where all the political positions must be occupied by FULANIS, name
them: the President of Nigeria, Inspector General of Police, Chief Controller
of Customs, Chief Of Army Staff (COAS), Chief Immigration Officer, Chief Judge
of the Federation, The Chief Justice of the Federation, INEC Chairman, Minister
of Education, Minister of Defence, Minister of Information and Culture, Finance
Minister and most of the ministers are from FULANI and etc., the seats are
occupied by the FULANIS, none was given to Biafrans, yet some of us are
campaigning for one NIGERIA. Also the Security Architecture of Nigeria is
composed of Fulani extraction which means that the Security of Lives and
Property in Nigeria and in our Biafra land is in the hands of the uncircumcised
Fulanis.
ChukwuOkikeAhbiama in his creation gave our forefathers Biafra that is
why Biafra is our heritage today. So, anybody fighting against
the emergence of Biafra will be put to shame, no matter the power they have.
Yahweh will manifest his power as He did to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5: 20-22.
A word is enough for the wise, Nigeria is not one and cannot be, no matter how
one break it down,,, the only agenda the FULANI has for NIGERIA is to ISLAMISE
the entire Country and BIAFRA at large,, that is why the Governor of Jigawa
State spokesman says “that the oil in Bayelsa state belongs to Jigawa State
that they will do everything possible to make sure that the flow of oil and the
oil money to their state will not stop; that anyone who says the oil belongs to
Bayelsa is talking rubbish.”
All Hail Biafra!! On Biafra we
stand no panic, the Nigeria Power lies on Bullets and Guns but Biafran Power
lies in ChukwuOkikeAhbiama!
Biafra the Beacon of Hope!!!!
Yahweh Bless IPOB Greece!!!!
Yahweh Bless IPOB National Coordinators WorldWide!!!
Yahweh Bless IPOB Directorate of State!!!
Yahweh Bless IPOB Leader And His Deputy
BIAFRA DAY:
PHOTOS OF
#IPOB In China Reviving The Spirits, And Memories
#IPOB In China Reviving The Spirits, And Memories
of our
#BiafraFallenHeroes. #WeRemember
#30thMay
2019
#Biafra
#China
IPOB In Luxembourg
Remembers Biafra
Fallen Heroes / Heroines
IPOB IN FRANCE
The Pictures
Of IPOB In France
On 30th May 2019
REMEMBERS THE BIAFRAN FALLEN HEREOES /HEREOINES ON 30TH MAY 2019
Photos Out Looks:
Amaka Maduka Biafra
WHO
SAID THAT?
Is it true that a “true” Igbo son is bold to tell us to forget the remembrance
of the Biafran heroes and heroines on the 30th of May? Is it possible for a
full blooded Biafran to say so? Is it equally true that a sitting Governor,
elected by the Igbo to protect the Igbo and represent us is telling the Igbo to
forget the massacre of the Igbo in several incidences in Nigeria? Chai, some
quickly forget.
The ear tingles as the words of that man dropped, the eyeballs shot red, the
belly ached and heart sank in despair of such a gamut of words. Be it as it
may, the 30th of May is sacrosanct in Igbo philosophy. It was a day never
intended by any Igbo to be but as a child of circumstance, was forced upon the
hapless Igbo in 1967. The 30th of May is neither about the civil war nor about
the win nor loss status of the war.
I am obliged to make this post a narrative that anyone who opines that the Igbo
should disrespect the 30th May sit-at-home order in commemoration of the
massacre of the Igbo and entire Biafrans across the enclave of the zoological
republic is not only a shame to the times and season but a “capitalist-liar”
and a stooge of the zoological machinery against the Igbo.
The history of the Biafran war has long been opened up and it is my belief that every Igbo today knows the true story about the genesis of the civil war. But let it be mentioned here that on the 30th of May, 1967, the then Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu declared the then Eastern Nigeria as an independent Biafran nation and as the other parts of the country mounted an unprovoked war against the Igbo. In the progrom that followed, more than 6 million Igbo were massacred including about 3 million children and women who were sent to their early graves through conspired starvation and blockade of the Eastern Nigeria. For about 3 and half years, the Biafrans stood up for their rights but the world gave a deaf ear to their plight. On their own they fought both the federal and international armies, fought against hunger and starvation, fought against planned extinction of the Igbo race, fought against the biased media and fought for their destiny.
The history of the Biafran war has long been opened up and it is my belief that every Igbo today knows the true story about the genesis of the civil war. But let it be mentioned here that on the 30th of May, 1967, the then Colonel Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu declared the then Eastern Nigeria as an independent Biafran nation and as the other parts of the country mounted an unprovoked war against the Igbo. In the progrom that followed, more than 6 million Igbo were massacred including about 3 million children and women who were sent to their early graves through conspired starvation and blockade of the Eastern Nigeria. For about 3 and half years, the Biafrans stood up for their rights but the world gave a deaf ear to their plight. On their own they fought both the federal and international armies, fought against hunger and starvation, fought against planned extinction of the Igbo race, fought against the biased media and fought for their destiny.
During that period, the most developed African black nation in the world
emerged with their own military armory, refined their own fuel, produced their
own vehicles, powered their own electricity and flew their own planes.
Those achievements (yes, those achievements because they are no more, one Nigeria killed them), were the products of the Biafran veterans we are trying to remember. Imagine that 700 Biafran men were lined up in Asaba in front of their wives and children and were butchered alive by the federal forces even after they had surrendered to the FG, Imagine hundreds of youths who were massacred at the celebration of the success of American election in Igweocha, imagine thousands of IPOB youths who were silenced during the python dance 1 & 11. For over 50 years, the Igbo have been massacred across the width and breath of this contraption. For over 50 years, the Igbo lost their language, their culture and tradition. For over 50 years, some say that Biafra had died, that the Igbo had been subdued.
Those achievements (yes, those achievements because they are no more, one Nigeria killed them), were the products of the Biafran veterans we are trying to remember. Imagine that 700 Biafran men were lined up in Asaba in front of their wives and children and were butchered alive by the federal forces even after they had surrendered to the FG, Imagine hundreds of youths who were massacred at the celebration of the success of American election in Igweocha, imagine thousands of IPOB youths who were silenced during the python dance 1 & 11. For over 50 years, the Igbo have been massacred across the width and breath of this contraption. For over 50 years, the Igbo lost their language, their culture and tradition. For over 50 years, some say that Biafra had died, that the Igbo had been subdued.
After the war, the word “Biafra” became like a taboo and for one to identify
him/her-self with anything Biafra was more than a suicide. The Igbo men and women,
the most entrepreneurial business bloc in Nigeria had billions, millions and
thousands of Pound Sterling in their bank account before the war and with a
systematic extinction program, were only given a 2 Pounds for whatever
billions, millions and thousands one had in account. This was made to
impoverish them and make them to die of starvation and hunger or to be reduced
to beggars and destitutes. They viewed through History and it favoured the Igbo
and they had to expunge History from Nigerian schools. They took over the
military, the civil service without being lettered. They declared Igbo landed
property in Port-Harcourt, Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna, etc as abandoned property.
They took away Igbo towns and communities, renamed them and gave them a new
identity so as to reduce the influence of the Igbo (Igweocha became
PortHarcourt, Obi-Igbo became Oyigbo, Umuobasi became Rumuobasi as Umu Okoro
became Rumokoro, etc) . They made our kits and kins and our long-time brothers
and neighbours to hate, insult and fight us, all in a bid to control our
natural resources.
The Igbo as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people kept the
faith with their God. They started a new life with the 2 Pounds buying and
selling merely articles. They resorted to farming palm trees, cash crops,
cassava and yams and were able to find food to eat. They progressed in business
and from 2 Pounds began to make millions and billions. They moved into any town
and village where they could make ends meet and later, began to buy houses,
lands, companies and industries. They began to raise trading villages such as
Alaba International Market, ASPAMDA, Computer Village (all in Lagos), etc.
The Igbo are blessed in music and resorted to using music to glorify God. The
gospel music became an avenue to prospering Igbo language. Through gospel
music, Igbo language began to resounds in almost every home in Nigeria. Patty
Obasi, Chrity Essien Igbokwe, Onyeka Onwenu, Voice of the Cross, etc became
world leaders in Music and exported Igbo language to the fulcrum of every
society in Nigeria. Even the Igbo arch-enemies were tempted and did sing those
Igbo lyrics.
The emergence of the Igbo Home Movies in Nigeria was a turn around to the
Biafran cause. Living in bondage, the Oracle, Nnenna the Pretty Serpent, the
Blood Brothers, etc broke boundaries. Igbo language, Igbo tradition and culture
were highly exported through the Igbo cum Nigerian Home Videos. Igbo attires,
dressings, make-ups, family setting, etc became the cynosure of the world’s
eyes. The Igbo pride quickly returned. The Igbo is heavily endowed talking in a
sports sense. In the field of athletics, football, gymnastics, handball (ooh,
the famous Grass Hoppers),etc, the Igbo shun like million stars. Then came the
Mary Onyalis, Chioma Ajunwas, Ezinwa brothers, Chidi Imohs, etc. In Football,
Emmanuel Okalas’ Christian (Chiarman) Chukwus, (Skippo) Stephen Okechukwu
Keshi, Etim (Maradona) Essiens, Phillip Osondus, Austin Jay-Jay Okochas, Uche
(Gentle Giant) Okechukwus, (Pappilo) Nwankwo Kanus, Finidi Georges, (Sia-one)
Samson Siasias, Emmanuel Amunekes, etc. They proudly demonstrated to the entire
world that football and infact, entire sports is made in Biafra.
Still then, no one was able to proudly put the identity Biafra until came the
tiger himself Uwazuruike, a legal luminary and proud Igbo and Biafran.
Uwazuruike’s MASSOB jolted the zoo government to confusion. How did Biafra rise
from the dead? (they must have asked themselves). I saw MASSOB at Uwazuruike’s
Upper Chamber at Ijesha in S/L ,Lagos then and I really salute them. There was
never anything like it before then and the persecution was heavy and
unbearable. They were arrested and imprisoned at will, the Igbo at large could
not identify with them and at a time, Uwazuruike himself could not bear it
anymore and had to accept the evil porridge and abandoned the Biafran cause. To
some of us growing up then, it seemed the last hope had been dashed, it was
like Biafra was not only dead but buried. There was hunger and taste in the
hearts of young Igbo men and women. Young girls and boys were agitating for
Biafra, Uwazuruike had disappointed and the FG were heavily wielding the big
iron rod.
Then suddenly, I repeat, suddenly, came the voice like one crying in the
wilderness, like the lion of the tribe of Biafra, “prepare ye the way for
Biafra restoration” the voice beckoned and lo and behold, it was one NNAMDI
KANU. Many were bewildered, unanswered questions here and there: who is this
NNAMDI KANU? The youths were skeptic about this new man, will he not disappoint
like the former, would they be betrayed again? It soon dawned on every Tom,
Dick and Harry that this NNAMDI KANU is a special one. Federal anger arose,
imprisonment came, offer of bribes and lofty positions came, all to no avail.
This one is like no other. They thought he was to arm himself so that they
could easily rope him but to their surprise, he cautions against arm and
promises that Biafra will be restored peacefully.
Now to the 30th of May, how can a sitting Governor say “there will not be a remembrance of this narration?” I can’t forget the story my father told me about his elder brother, the apple of the eyes of the entire family who voluntarily offered himself for the Biafran cause but could not make it back home. It was like the story of the entire family had ended, if Governor Obiano did not lose anyone like that my uncle, please let him follow me on the 30th of May to celebrate my late uncle.
Now to the 30th of May, how can a sitting Governor say “there will not be a remembrance of this narration?” I can’t forget the story my father told me about his elder brother, the apple of the eyes of the entire family who voluntarily offered himself for the Biafran cause but could not make it back home. It was like the story of the entire family had ended, if Governor Obiano did not lose anyone like that my uncle, please let him follow me on the 30th of May to celebrate my late uncle.
I heard and read as the late Ikemba of Nnewi, the Biafran warlord told the
people of Anambra State before his demise, “One thing I beg you for, one thing
you will do for me before my death, please put the APGA in power” and the
people of Anambra did. That appeal brought Peter Obi to power, that appeal made
Gov. Obiano to occupy the Anambra Govt House at Awka. Do I hear someone telling
me that Obiano is saying we should not remember “The Gen. Chukwuemeka Odimegwu
Ojiukwu”? Please say it not in Gath and publish it not in Ashkelon.
Let it be known that the 30th of May shall be used to remember armless IPOBians
slaughtered for the largess that Obiano and co. are enjoying today. Please tell
Obiano, that without IPOB, entire South East and South-South today would be
worst than an abandoned area. That what is happening in the North East and
other part of the North would have been a child’s play compared to what would
have happened to Obiano’s community, my own community and others.
I thank you Nnamdi Kanu, for the “straight-rule” (canon) you have introduced in the Biafran philosophy. I thank you for the light you have enlightened in Nigeria which is burning heavily across the nation. Thank you that because of you, me and every Igbo now has a voice.
I thank you Nnamdi Kanu, for the “straight-rule” (canon) you have introduced in the Biafran philosophy. I thank you for the light you have enlightened in Nigeria which is burning heavily across the nation. Thank you that because of you, me and every Igbo now has a voice.
Thank
you that you have restored our pride and dignity. Thank you more because, I
know you will restore Biafra. I thank those who have fought and those who are
still fighting for the Biafran freedom and believe we shall soon win the war.
To those who reneged in the cause of the struggle, please make a “U” turn and
join the force. Barr. Uwazuruike, the Biafran history will not be complete
without the mention your contribution, please, do not allow it to be in vain.
Swallow the pride and join Nnamdi Kanu, I am quite sure you will be highly
welcomed by him. Thank you MASSOB, BIM, LOWER or Upper Niger, thank you Asari
Dokubo and the rest.
The
story is not complete without you. Let everyone return home and join forces
with IPOB to restore Biafra. Where ever anyone has erred, please, beat a
retreat and come back. Let us forgive and forget, it is not late and it is not
over. Thank you Uche Mefor for standing strong behind Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Thank
you the great family of IPOB. Thank you the Family Writers for your unquenching
pen. Thank you ADF. Thank you those women sent behind bars or behind the
counter for Biafran agitation. Thanks to every Biafran.
BIAFRA I hail thee.
All Hail BIAFRA.
Chiukwuokike sent us on a mission to sensitize the whole of humanity 'bout Biafra never to disembark until the Sovereign State of Biafra is Restored..
B'for us there was None like us..
Now we are in existence there is None like us..
When we are gone, there 'll be None like us..
No man born of flesh can stop us..
The rougher the sea the smoother we sail..
Peace to those that want peace..
BIAFRA I hail thee.
All Hail BIAFRA.
Chiukwuokike sent us on a mission to sensitize the whole of humanity 'bout Biafra never to disembark until the Sovereign State of Biafra is Restored..
B'for us there was None like us..
Now we are in existence there is None like us..
When we are gone, there 'll be None like us..
No man born of flesh can stop us..
The rougher the sea the smoother we sail..
Peace to those that want peace..
STATE OF ILLINOIS (U.S.A) COMMEMORATES
BIAFRA MEMORIAL DAY
Chima Enyia did not tell anyone
that the state of Illinois would commemorate Biafra Memorial Day on May 30
until the ink from Governor Bruce Rauner’s pen was dry.
The 28-year-old Igbo American
and son of Biafra War survivors has been working slowly and steadily toward
this goal for the past seven years—first as an intern in former Governor Pat
Quinn’s office, rising to become associate director of the Illinois Department
of Revenue.
“I found in the workplace, you
can’t just throw culture in someone’s face,” Enyia says. “You have to lay the
groundwork for them to get bits and nuggets about who you are.”
Enyia started by wearing
traditional Igbo dress on Fridays and taking egusi soup to work. He would
invite coworkers to see him perform the Igbo War Dance at Igbofest, a Chicago
event with a 30-year history, or to go out for a meal at Little Unicoco, a
recently opened Nigerian restaurant in Rogers Park.
“That makes conversations
around issues of culture like the Biafra War much easier to have,” says Enyia,
a Bronzeville resident.
And he had plenty of those
conversations as he laid the groundwork to finally talk to governor’s office
staff about issuing a statement to mark the 50th anniversary of the Biafra War.
In a letter signed by Governor Bruce Rauner this year, the state of Illinois
honors the victims of the 1967 Nigerian civil war and “urge[s] all citizens to
strive to overcome hatred and indifference through learning, tolerance, and
remembrance.” For Enyia, who was born in Chicago after his parents moved to
America seeking higher education, the “second” Memorial Day has an additional
meaning—that a new generation of Igbo Americans has grown up and is keeping
their culture alive in their own ways.
A Half-Century Ago
On May 30, 1967, following a
series of military coups and violent persecution of the Igbo people, Biafra (a
southeastern region populated mainly by Igbos) declared independence from
Nigeria. That precipitated a two-and-half year civil war in which the west
African nation fought to reabsorb Biafra, an oil-rich region; by the time the
war ended in 1970, it’s estimated that between 500,000 and 2 million Biafrans
died of starvation.
Much like the current war in
Syria, the world largely forgot about the Biafra War until images circulated in
western media. For Syria, it was barrel bombings and chemical weapons attacks
shared on social media that created public outcry; for Biafra, it was images of
starving children on television that sparked humanitarian aid in 1969. Modern
relief organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, formed as a direct
response to Biafra.
Enyia, the youngest of six
siblings (including sister Amara Enyia who ran for mayor of Chicago in 2015),
heard stories of Biafra from his parents, Samuel and Irene. When the war broke
out, Samuel fought on the front lines as a battalion commander; Irene wanted to
fight, but due to gender restrictions, became a field medic instead. In 1975,
the Enyias immigrated to the Chicago area for higher education and remained
politically active in the Igbo community, locally and globally, while also
Enyia’s parents—who now hold multiple graduate degrees—are leaders in the local
Igbo community and helped form the Igbo World Congress in 1994. They also
co-authored a book together, “After Biafra: A Nigerian Igbo Redevelopment
Plan.”
And so Chima Enyia says he’s
always felt the need to honor his parents’ sacrifices and contributions: “How
are you going to make your culture come through your work, your professional
life? That challenge went unspoken and was issued long ago,” he says. “I think
this [Biafra Memorial Day proclamation] is just making good on that challenge.”
This is actually the second
time he’s persuaded an Illinois governor to sign such a document: In 2015,
Governor Pat Quinn recognized Biafra Day as well, an event that Enyia remembers
bringing tears to his parents’ eyes. “We made our contributions and now they
are making their contributions to society,” says Irene Enyia. “God will use
them to do greater things to fulfill their destiny.”
Enyia hopes this proclamation
on the 50th anniversary carries a different message: it’s time for his
generation to step up. Though the second generation never lived through the
Biafra War, he says they are ready to take up the mantle to ensure the culture
lives on through their own children as well.
Building New Cultural
Touchstones
When Chima Enyia was young,
every Saturday the Enyia family would visit Uptown’s Equator Club so the siblings
could play and learn with other Igbo children. Famous during the height of
“world beat music” in the 1990s, that institution has since faded. For a
younger generation that left Chicago for a few years for school or work, they
returned home to a more fragmented cultural landscape.
In 2006, the six Enyia siblings
were all back in the city and decided to set up the Umo Igbo Alliance, as a way
for young professionals and college students to build community and get
involved in cultural activities. In the last ten years, the organization has
grown to more than 200 members. Their sister organization, Umo Igbo Unite, is a
national organization and has a membership of 2,000.
Onyinye Enyia, 35, resurrected
the young women’s dance group, a setting in which she remembers learning
traditional Igbo maiden dances at age seven. “Every year I wanted to dance with
the older girls who were 13 or 14, and every year they would push the age by a
year,” Onyinye recalls. She became the coach and lead dancer for a troupe, which
has performed all around Chicago including at Igbofest, Lake Forest College,
and Northwestern University.
“Some dance groups of Igbo
Americans have adulterated the dance with hip-hop stuff. No, we aren’t doing
that. We want to do Igbo dance – without adding in Justin Timberlake moves. We
got to do Egwu ukwu: ‘shaking your waist,’” she says.
Today she holds a Ph.D in
health policy informatics, works to improve health care technology, and has
three children now in tow. She has “retired” from the maiden dances, but she
still focuses on translating Igbo culture to the next generation. Her latest
project, the Igbo Cultural Kids School, will teach Igbo language and culture
through song, dance, music, and food. This summer, she will pilot the school
with about 10 or 15 children from four or five families, including her own.
“They are going to understand
who they are as Igbos even though they are born and raised in America,” she
says.
“We are doing what our parents
did,” she says, laughing at how life has come full circle. “We’re programming
them to know who exactly they are so even if they go to Nigeria, they don’t feel
disconnected.”
A Therapeutic Story
Ugochi Nwagwugwu uses music and
storytelling to share the Igbo culture.
Ugochi Nwagwugwu, 45, remembers
the first time her parents told her stories from the Biafra War. It was shortly
after the younger woman showed her parents the film “Hotel Rwanda.”
“The whole time I’m like, ‘they
are going to love this.’ Ha! At the end I say, ‘mom, dad what did you think of
that?’ [And my dad responds,] ‘Oh, you think that’s a story? Wait until you
hear about the time Nnadi was lost.’ He starts telling how my brother got lost in
the war,” Nwagwugwu recalls.
They did eventually find her
brother; however, the story would have been lost if she hadn’t asked, Nwagwugwu
says. It turns out that her father was studying in America, and her mother was
in the airport coming to join him, on the day Biafra declared its independence
50 years ago. “It is something I had to peel back. I had to talk to them. I had
to reach for it,” she says.
Nwagwugwu, an internationally
recognized musician, believes that the storytelling is instructive and healing,
too. Her parents made the difficult choices so that she could be alive today,
and by hearing so, she understood them more as people, she says.
“I take those stories, and I
have put them in a collection as a poet, as a writer. I didn’t know what else
to do to honor it, the experience,” she explains, adding that though the
project started as a personal project, she now encourages other women to do the
same. In 2008, she publicly performed pieces from this collection, “Igbo
Lessons,” at the London Team Poetry Slam. Afterward, her African and Caribbean
peers approached her about how they felt her story was so similar to their own.
In Chicago this September, she
is collaborating with other women writers from the African Diaspora to organize
an African/Caribbean Women’s Literary Festival in Chicago called Akataeko,
which means “one who manipulates things to their advantage.”
A New Quest for Igbo Americans
The stories and trauma of the
Biafra War remain relevant as modern-day Nigeria struggles with political and
economic inequality that persists along regional and ethnic lines. In April,
emissaries from Ohaneze, the Nigeria-based premier Igbo socio-cultural
organization, appealed for Nigerians living in the United States to formally
organize their financial support of the homeland. In August, the Igbo World
Congress will descend on Chicago and discuss how the global community can unite
and make progress toward its goals.
and Irene Enyia say they hope
Igbos will find a way forward that doesn’t require bloodshed. They emphasize
the Igbo proverb: unity is strength. “If we are united and say we want to be
Biafra, we can’t speak with different voices,” says Samuel Enyia. “If we are
going to be a nation, there has to be an agreement with all the entities that
will make this nation happen. Then the whole world will know. Until that happens,
we are still talking.”
The Biafra Memorial Day
proclamation will be formally presented to the Chicago Igbo community at the
World Igbo Congress in August.
This report was published in
collaboration with City Bureau, a Chicago-based journalism lab.
#SupportBiafraReferendum
#GOJOINIPOB NOW
REASONS WHY THE SOUTH-SOUTH
REGION
SHOULD UNITE AND JOIN FORCES
WITH IPOB TO RESTORE BIAFRA
In my position as the Chairman
of the Elders Council of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Igweocha -
Biafraland, hereby lend my voice to that of the Executive Governors of Rivers
and Delta States, amongst other eminent sons/daughters of the South-South
region, to totally join forces with IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in
expeditiously, restoring the sovereign nation of Biafra.
In one of the recent speeches
credited to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, he pointedly
stated amongst other issues, that the very day the South-South region decides
to join the Biafra restoration struggle, Nigeria as a country, will definitely
divide. It is also true to state here that the Governor of Rivers State,
Barrister Nyesom Ezebunwo Wike, had in one of his speeches, spoken in favor of
the unfettered restoration of the sovereignty of the nation of Biafra, when he
said that Nigeria as a nation, is gradually sinking.
In a related development, the
Delta State Governor, Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa stressed that some regions in
Nigeria, were being oppressed and marginalized. He maintained that the
principle of federal character cum ethnicity, have been grossly compromised by
the Hausa-Fulani controlled Nigerian government. It is without disputation that
the Fulani tribe particularly, has predominantly being in firm control of both
the political and security apparatus of the country dating back to 1966.
It is expedient here to put the
South-South region on notice that there presently exists, grave injustice against
our people because the crude oil deposits explored and exploited in the region
is being steadily employed in massive developments of every other part of
Nigeria while the gold deposits amongst other valuable solid minerals in
Zamfara State in the Northern region, have been preserved for the exclusive
control/benefit of some Northern cabals and Army Generals. These have their
private companies issued licences to mine these resources by the Northern
authority (oligarchy) since the last ten years. Despite the fact that the
Nigerian government blatantly uses our God-given crude oil to develop the
entire country, our children who graduate from the Universities are helplessly
roaming the streets of our cities searching for unavailable jobs, their
Northern counterparts with even substandard qualifications, quickly get
employed in highly prospective companies/offices.
It is important therefore, to
bring to the knowledge of the people of the South-South region, the way and
manner our beloved brother and former Nigerian President - Dr. Goodluck Ebele
Azikiwe Jonathan, was disgracefully removed from office in 2015, because he
came from the "BORN TO SERVE REGION" and not from "BORN TO RULE
REGION", as claimed. This is the policy of enslavement, humiliation and
injustice being persistently meted on us, our resources which are being used to
develop the entire country, nonetheless.
Let me also remind us of our
eminently courageous and illustrious sons, the late comrade Kenule Saro-Wiwa
and eight others from Ogoni Province of Biafraland. They were gruesomely
murdered by the Federal Government of Nigeria under the military dictatorship
of late General Sani Abacha, based primarily on their demand for their
constitutional rights of self-determination which is "OGONI KINGDOM".
UDI COMMUNITY in Bayelsa State has a bitter taste of history as the indigenes
both old and young were almost obliterated from the face of the planet earth
during the administration of former Nigerian President -Olusegun Obasanjo, for
justly placing a demand for their constitutional rights.
As the IPOB Igweocha Province
Chairman, let me further notify us that the Northerners also arrogantly lay
claim of ownership of the vast crude oil deposits in our region. That is
principally the reason behind their tight control of the proceeds emanating
from the sales of the product which are being channeled into massive developmental
efforts in their area. Some British government officials are being used to
heavily lobby the International Community against the restoration effort of the
Biafra nation. It is also noteworthy to state here that the supreme leader of
the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) globally, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, gave a
promise that the capital city of the Biafra nation will be built in Igweocha
Province here in the South-South region. The IPOB leader also promised one
hundred percent (100℅) resource control of the Provinces, of whatever nature
has endowed them with for the betterment of our people. These promises were
made during one of his rallies across Biafraland before the criminal/murderous
invasion of his residence on the 14th of September 2017, by the Nigerian
military.
In view of the above, I very
respectfully bring to our knowledge and understanding that the time we are
presently in, is really appropriate for us to come together and synergize as a
people with the exceptionally courageous, trusted, reliable, disciplined,
highly enlightened and intelligent IPOB leader - Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to fully
restore the great Biafra nation of our dream and that, without further delay.
Beneath are the reasons for urgency viz:-
* The glaring danger of
Fulanization/Islamization agenda and the war of Islamic conquest.
* The born to rule mentality of
the Fulanis.
* The arrogant claim of the
Fulanis of their right of ownership of our God-given vast natural resources
(crude oil and gas).
* The killing of some of our
eminent/illustrious sons (Ken Saro-Wiwa and others), from Ogoni Province.
* The agenda of humiliation,
enslavement, killing of our people and the colonisation of our land.
* The exclusive reserve of
gold/other solid minerals in Zamfara State in the North for pure egocentric
usage.
* Self enrichment with the
massive proceeds realized from the sales of our God-given crude oil and gas.
* Marginalization and gross
abuse of the Federal Character Principle.
* Blatant wave of injustice and
nepotism (tribalism and ethnicity) prevalently being practiced today in Nigeria
against Biafrans.
* The natural resources God
endowed us with as a primary blessing as a people, is today being shared as a
national cake to the advantage of others while the solid mineral deposits in
Zamfara State in the North is exclusively used to better the lives of the
privileged cabals, their families and close associates.
* The murderous orgy of
military sponsored violence/killings visited on our brethren in Udi community,
Bayelsa State, for daring to place rightful and just demands for the benefits
accruable to them from their God-given resources.
* The blunt refusal of the
Nigerian government to allow us as a people, to freely exercise control over
our God-given resources for our betterment and that of our upcoming
generations.
Exhaustively considering the
above listed points therefore, I hereby sincerely advise that the South-South
region should unite and wholesomely join forces with the supreme leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) globally, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to totally and
completely get our dear nation Biafra, restored. I also use this medium to
clearly state that if the people of the South-South region fail however, to
exit Nigeria alongside their Biafra kiths and kins, we will forever live to
regret losing this golden opportunity and privilege freely offered to us. We
should very carefully weigh the corresponding consequences of intimidation,
oppression, servitude, affliction, devastation and death for the next one
hundred (100) years, remaining with the Islamic terrorists and vandals in a
country like Nigeria.
God forbids!
Written by Deacon Sam Izodinma
(Chairman, IPOB Igweocha Elders
Council)
Edited by Peter Oshagwu
For Family Writers Press
International
