Worth Reading!
"A wise man does not attempt to stop the rain from falling. He takes measures to stop himself from getting wet."
"Until the animals learn to tell their stories, the history of the hunt will always favour the hunter, not the hunted."
THE IGBO QUESTION AND THE MEDIA LACUNA.
Author: Charles Ogbu.
The importance of the media in any cause can never be over-emphasized. More often than not, the media, when fully exploited by an evil genius, can make a victim of oppression seem like the perpetrator, while the real perpetrator is left looking as though he is the real victim. Even in war, propaganda which is spread through the media, has the capacity to make a weaker side seem like an invincible army, thereby bringing down the morale of the other army. And how can you win a war with soldiers who believe their opponents are invulnerable?? Such is the degree of the power of the media.
During the 2015 general election, the APC proved to us all that much more than coins and gold, the media is an indispensable factor in matters of controlling people's opinion. With their firm grip on the media, they were able to control the narratives and Goodluck Jonathan was successfully made to look like the most corrupt Nigerian leader while Buhari was portrayed as a reformed democrat with zero tolerance for corruption. This packaging was so strong that even as I type this, the Archbishop of Canterbury still thinks Buhari is not corrupt.
Perception is everything! And perception is a product of the media.
Make no mistake, the biggest singular undoing of Ndigbo in Nigeria today is their continued failure to invest in the means to not just tell, but own and shape their own story. This, right here, is the cause of the sum total wars and woes, Ndigbo have continued to contend with in the British Contraption that is Nigeria.
Truth is like a shadow. It is nothing, actually, except what historians and book-makers want it to be. And more often than not, these historians and book-makers almost always have their own prejudices and biases. And with these, they tell their version of the "truth" not to present facts the way they are but primarily to present them the way their own prejudices and biases will be accommodated and made part of what will be regarded as the truth. And woe-be-tide you, if you are part of this story but for some reasons, you are not among those historians and truth-shapers and moulders.
The worst paradox of the irony of the tragedies of the 1967 Biafra war, IS NOT that millions of people of the old Eastern region, mostly children, were gruesomely re-united with their Maker in a senseless war in which they played no part whatsoever. Not at all. It is that 50 years after BIAFRA, those who provoked the avoidable war and even went ahead to commit grave war crimes by targeting innocent children, have almost succeded in twisting history to paint themselves as victims, while the real victims now seem like the aggressors.
Today, those who fought on the Nigerian side twist tales of the Biafran war, to sound like Nigerians were living in the proverbial garden of Eden, before Ojukwu just woke up from some malaria-induced dream and rushed to declare Biafra. They would never tell you how Igbos residing in the North, started falling victims to the vampiric spirit of our Arewa neighbours, as far back as 1945 in the Jos anti-Igbo pogrom, 15 solid years before Nigeria even got her Independence. Neither would they tell you all the number-less efforts Ojukwu made to get the Gowon-led government to halt the merciless butchery of Igbo civilians in the North.
And if they can't tell you any of these, how can you expect them to tell you that they were the ones who caused the moral tragedy that was the war, by violating the last minute Aburi-Accord that would have saved the situation?
How can a supposed Nation-state deliberately refuse to protect a people, and still stop them from taking measures to protect themselves??
The average Nigerian erroneously believes that Ojukwu's refusal to recognise Gowon as head of state, after the killing of Ironsi, was because he (Ojukwu) wanted to be head of state of Nigeria, and not because he was hellbent on protecting military tradition of having the most senior officer, Brigadier Ogundipe, succeed Ironsi. Apart from Brigadier Ogundipe, there were Commodore Wey, Col Robert Adebayo, Lt-Cols Nwaw, Imo Kurubo, Effiong, Njoku and several other Lt-Cols who were all commissioned before Gowon.
But to those without the means of hearing the other side of the story, what literary goddess, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes as the Danger Of A Single Story, becomes their lot.
And this is so because one of the parties to this story (Ndigbo) is yet to realize the strategic importance of owning, shaping and telling her own story by investing in the media.
Now take a look at the current Biafra agitation:
Nnamdi Kanu and his Biafra agitators have never killed a fly. They don't even bear arms. All they are asking for is a referendum which is the most civilized legal means of deciding issues of self determination. Kanu is not the one stopping Nigeria from being restructured. The North is! The hausa-fulani controlled government is! Kanu's agitation has even succeeded in sparking off the much needed conversation about the undesirability of the maintainability of the status-quo. So in actual sense, this current Biafra agitation remains the best thing to have happened to this Lugard Cage.
But how does the govt-controlled Nigerian media portray Kanu's agitation??
They mischievously mis-represent his peaceful call for a referendum, as a call for war. Some Igbos who were born with a talent for political correctness have already bought into this beautiful nonsense.
If Baba-Yemisi, a Yoruba man, can identify with Oduduwa, and Alhaji Musa, an hausa-fulani man can proudly see himself as Arewa, why is it wrong for Ogbu-nwa-chima, an Igbo man, to identify himself as a Biafran?
Don't bother, I will tell you why:
It is wrong because the Nigerian media, which you have no stake in, have so determined!
A wise man does not attempt to stop the rain from falling. He takes measures to stop himself from getting wet.
As a people, we need to positively conspire to evade the Nigerian rain, by making our presence felt in the media sector. And we need to do it now! If we don't tell our story ourselves, others will twist and tell it in a way that we will be left wishing the story had not been told at all. And our children and children's children will be left bearing the shame of a sin their parents never committed.
"Until the animals learn to tell their stories, the history of the hunt will always, favour the hunter, not the hunted".
*Copied for sharing

mods to front page please..

Waoo!!! d best write-up I have read for over a decade now.

Its Charles ogbu again

geo4c:
Worth Reading!
"A wise man does not attempt to stop the rain from falling. He takes measures to stop himself from getting wet."
"Until the animals learn to tell their stories, the history of the hunt will always favour the hunter, not the hunted."
THE IGBO QUESTION AND THE MEDIA LACUNA.
Author: Charles Ogbu.
The importance of the media in any cause can never be over-emphasized. More often than not, the media, when fully exploited by an evil genius, can make a victim of oppression seem like the perpetrator, while the real perpetrator is left looking as though he is the real victim. Even in war, propaganda which is spread through the media, has the capacity to make a weaker side seem like an invincible army, thereby bringing down the morale of the other army. And how can you win a war with soldiers who believe their opponents are invulnerable?? Such is the degree of the power of the media.
During the 2015 general election, the APC proved to us all that much more than coins and gold, the media is an indispensable factor in matters of controlling people's opinion. With their firm grip on the media, they were able to control the narratives and Goodluck Jonathan was successfully made to look like the most corrupt Nigerian leader while Buhari was portrayed as a reformed democrat with zero tolerance for corruption. This packaging was so strong that even as I type this, the Archbishop of Canterbury still thinks Buhari is not corrupt.
Perception is everything! And perception is a product of the media.
Make no mistake, the biggest singular undoing of Ndigbo in Nigeria today is their continued failure to invest in the means to not just tell, but own and shape their own story. This, right here, is the cause of the sum total wars and woes, Ndigbo have continued to contend with in the British Contraption that is Nigeria.
Truth is like a shadow. It is nothing, actually, except what historians and book-makers want it to be. And more often than not, these historians and book-makers almost always have their own prejudices and biases. And with these, they tell their version of the "truth" not to present facts the way they are but primarily to present them the way their own prejudices and biases will be accommodated and made part of what will be regarded as the truth. And woe-be-tide you, if you are part of this story but for some reasons, you are not among those historians and truth-shapers and moulders.
The worst paradox of the irony of the tragedies of the 1967 Biafra war, IS NOT that millions of people of the old Eastern region, mostly children, were gruesomely re-united with their Maker in a senseless war in which they played no part whatsoever. Not at all. It is that 50 years after BIAFRA, those who provoked the avoidable war and even went ahead to commit grave war crimes by targeting innocent children, have almost succeded in twisting history to paint themselves as victims, while the real victims now seem like the aggressors.
Today, those who fought on the Nigerian side twist tales of the Biafran war, to sound like Nigerians were living in the proverbial garden of Eden, before Ojukwu just woke up from some malaria-induced dream and rushed to declare Biafra. They would never tell you how Igbos residing in the North, started falling victims to the vampiric spirit of our Arewa neighbours, as far back as 1945 in the Jos anti-Igbo pogrom, 15 solid years before Nigeria even got her Independence. Neither would they tell you all the number-less efforts Ojukwu made to get the Gowon-led government to halt the merciless butchery of Igbo civilians in the North.
And if they can't tell you any of these, how can you expect them to tell you that they were the ones who caused the moral tragedy that was the war, by violating the last minute Aburi-Accord that would have saved the situation?
How can a supposed Nation-state deliberately refuse to protect a people, and still stop them from taking measures to protect themselves??
The average Nigerian erroneously believes that Ojukwu's refusal to recognise Gowon as head of state, after the killing of Ironsi, was because he (Ojukwu) wanted to be head of state of Nigeria, and not because he was hellbent on protecting military tradition of having the most senior officer, Brigadier Ogundipe, succeed Ironsi. Apart from Brigadier Ogundipe, there were Commodore Wey, Col Robert Adebayo, Lt-Cols Nwaw, Imo Kurubo, Effiong, Njoku and several other Lt-Cols who were all commissioned before Gowon.
But to those without the means of hearing the other side of the story, what literary goddess, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes as the Danger Of A Single Story, becomes their lot.
And this is so because one of the parties to this story (Ndigbo) is yet to realize the strategic importance of owning, shaping and telling her own story by investing in the media.
Now take a look at the current Biafra agitation:
Nnamdi Kanu and his Biafra agitators have never killed a fly. They don't even bear arms. All they are asking for is a referendum which is the most civilized legal means of deciding issues of self determination. Kanu is not the one stopping Nigeria from being restructured. The North is! The hausa-fulani controlled government is! Kanu's agitation has even succeeded in sparking off the much needed conversation about the undesirability of the maintainability of the status-quo. So in actual sense, this current Biafra agitation remains the best thing to have happened to this Lugard Cage.
But how does the govt-controlled Nigerian media portray Kanu's agitation??
They mischievously mis-represent his peaceful call for a referendum, as a call for war. Some Igbos who were born with a talent for political correctness have already bought into this beautiful nonsense.
If Baba-Yemisi, a Yoruba man, can identify with Oduduwa, and Alhaji Musa, an hausa-fulani man can proudly see himself as Arewa, why is it wrong for Ogbu-nwa-chima, an Igbo man, to identify himself as a Biafran?
Don't bother, I will tell you why:
It is wrong because the Nigerian media, which you have no stake in, have so determined!
A wise man does not attempt to stop the rain from falling. He takes measures to stop himself from getting wet.
As a people, we need to positively conspire to evade the Nigerian rain, by making our presence felt in the media sector. And we need to do it now! If we don't tell our story ourselves, others will twist and tell it in a way that we will be left wishing the story had not been told at all. And our children and children's children will be left bearing the shame of a sin their parents never committed.
"Until the animals learn to tell their stories, the history of the hunt will always, favour the hunter, not the hunted".
*Copied for sharing

Can't you guys just make your point without dragging Yorubas into it.

How typical it is the same senseless ogbu, with warped logic and sensile insensate fibbing.

There were victims at both sides of the divide, hundred of thousands of soldiers and civilians died on this side of the divide, and no one is screaming blue murder.

One wonders whether the cutting down of the Igbos prequel to the cutting down was not as a result of killing of leaders of other regions and igbos taunting the hausas with it.

Igbo's are the victims as well as the perpetrators, it is the sequence that will now reveal the real monster, they were perpetrators by killing others and when others retaliated, they became victims of their own evil.

So put Cork in that your mealy mouth.

Gospel truth! !

"Today, those who fought on the Nigerian side twist tales of the Biafran war, to sound like Nigerians were living in the proverbial garden of Eden, before Ojukwu just woke up from some malaria-induced dream and rushed to declare Biafra. They would never tell you how Igbos residing in the North, started falling victims to the vampiric spirit of our Arewa neighbours, as far back as 1945 in the Jos anti-Igbo pogrom, 15 solid years before Nigeria even got her Independence. Neither would they tell you all the number-less efforts Ojukwu made to get the Gowon-led government to halt the merciless butchery of Igbo civilians in the North.
And if they can't tell you any of these, how can you expect them to tell you that they were the ones who caused the moral tragedy that was the war, by violating the last minute Aburi-Accord that would have saved the situation?
How can a supposed Nation-state deliberately refuse to protect a people, and still stop them from taking measures to protect themselves?"

they are free to call themselves arewa
But finds fault when I call myself a biafran


Chimamanda Adichie could not read inbetween the lines.... They have successfully incriminated who she is... And she had to publicly denounce herself and root

Well for me and my family
We are biafrans first

GoldNiagara:


Can't you guys just make your point without dragging Yorubas into it.

How typical it is the same senseless ogbu, with warped logic and sensile insensate fibbing.

There were victims at both sides of the divide, hundred of thousands of soldiers and civilians died on this side of the divide, and no one is screaming blue murder.

One wonders whether the cutting down of the Igbos prequel to the cutting down was not as a result of killing of leaders of other regions and igbos taunting the hausas with it.

Igbo's are the victims as well as the perpetrators, it is the sequence that will now reveal the real monster, they were perpetrators by killing others and when others retaliated, they became victims of their own evil.

So put Cork in that your mealy mouth.

Is it that you can't read or can't comprehend a simple passage
Which is your problem ogbeni

The story of Nigeria is one in which you beat up a child and then threaten him with more violence if he dares to cry.


You discriminate against a people in your appointments, even when you have assumed power as the 'father' of the nation.


You refer to them as insignificant (5%).


When they were threatened with genocide by the 'majority' (your people), you turned around to threaten them further with military deployments.


When the people saw that they are unwanted and asked to leave the union, you shot and killed them to keep them in your unwanted fold.


When some moderates asked to settle for discussions as a compromise, you say to them the "unity" (which benefits you alone) is non-negotiable!


When they ask for referendum to vote on own their fate, you threaten them with a repeat of 1966!


Now the people seemed to have had enough and are asking you to "do your worst!"

I was born into this country with the following notions:
1. Igbos don't go to school
2. Igbos like money too much
3. Igbos are not united and don't love themselves
4. Igbos don't have capable hands to lead Nigeria
5. Igbos are just the southeasterners
6. Igbos want south-south oil
7. Most igbo rich men are ritualist
8. Most Igbos don't want biafra, it's just few of them shouting biafra

I grew up to discover the following:
1. Igbos are actually leading in education in Nigeria (most educated and highest number of school goers)
2. All human beings like money, thus the Bible confirms that money is the root of all evils (abacha, babangida, Ibori, atiku, buhari, obasanjo are not igbos, these are evidently the most corrupt and money lovers in Nigeria)
3. Igbos are actually the most united in Nigeria, they fight in oneness, they have unique voting pattern, they can actually die for one of their own e.g kanu)
4. Igbos actually have the best hands to lead Nigeria, eg. The south east are leading in virtually all aspects of the economy - commerce, healthcare, education, etc)
5. Igbos spreads across south east to South South
6. Igbos are not even so much in oil business, they are more in transportation, manufacturing, importation etc, there is no significant presence of the igbos in oil business to confirm the assertion that are desperate for south south oil, Ifeanyi Uba is just recent in the business.
7. Igbos are hard working are the least fetish people in Nigeria not to talk of rituals.
8. Most Igbos want biafra (even the ones pretending, like Charley boy)

ZombieTAMER:
Is it that you can't read or can't comprehend a simple passage Which is your problem ogbeni

Nnwanne clear! Don't have time for toddler.

etebefia:
I was born into this country with the following notions:
1. Igbos don't go to school
2. Igbos like money too much
3. Igbos are not united and don't love themselves
4. Igbos don't have capable hands to lead Nigeria
5. Igbos are just the southeasterners
6. Igbos want south-southeast oil
7. Most Igbos do don't want biafra, it's just few of them shouting biafra

I grew up to discover the following:
1. Igbos are actually leading in education in Nigeria (most educated and highest number if school goers)
2. All human beings like money, thus the Bible confirms that money is the root of all evils (abacha, babangida, initial, atiku, buhari, obasanjo are not igbos, these are evidently the most current and money lovers in Nigeria)
3. Igbos are actually the most united in Nigeria, they fight in oneness, they have unique voting pattern, they can actually die for one of their own e.g kanu)
4. Igbos actually have the best hands to lead Nigeria, eg. The south east are leading in virtually all aspects of the economy - commerce, healthcare, education, etc)
5. Igbos spreads across south east to South South
6. Igbos are not even so much in oil business, they are more in transportation, manufacturing, importation etc, there is no significant presence of the igbos in oil business, Ifeanyi Uba is just recent in the business.
7. Most Igbos want biafra.

GBAM!!!!

AWOisaCOWARD:
"Today, those who fought on the Nigerian side twist tales of the Biafran war, to sound like Nigerians were living in the proverbial garden of Eden, before Ojukwu just woke up from some malaria-induced dream and rushed to declare Biafra. They would never tell you how Igbos residing in the North, started falling victims to the vampiric spirit of our Arewa neighbours, as far back as 1945 in the Jos anti-Igbo pogrom, 15 solid years before Nigeria even got her Independence. Neither would they tell you all the number-less efforts Ojukwu made to get the Gowon-led government to halt the merciless butchery of Igbo civilians in the North.
And if they can't tell you any of these, how can you expect them to tell you that they were the ones who caused the moral tragedy that was the war, by violating the last minute Aburi-Accord that would have saved the situation?
How can a supposed Nation-state deliberately refuse to protect a people, and still stop them from taking measures to protect themselves?"

They give a blind eye to historical genocides against Igbos since the 1940s to hide their hypocrisy.

IPOB started with facebook.

Today they have:

Radio Biafra
News papers
Tv station
Online forum like nairaland
Twitter
Membership in UN and other international organizations
Different zones in the south east and south south
Different groups In over 80 countries

They understand how to deal with lying the zoo media.

etebefia:
I was born into this country with the following notions:
1. Igbos don't go to school
2. Igbos like money too much
3. Igbos are not united and don't love themselves
4. Igbos don't have capable hands to lead Nigeria
5. Igbos are just the southeasterners
6. Igbos want south-south oil
7. Most Igbos do don't want biafra, it's just few of them shouting biafra

I grew up to discover the following:
1. Igbos are actually leading in education in Nigeria (most educated and highest number of school goers)
2. All human beings like money, thus the Bible confirms that money is the root of all evils (abacha, babangida, initial, atiku, buhari, obasanjo are not igbos, these are evidently the most current and money lovers in Nigeria)
3. Igbos are actually the most united in Nigeria, they fight in oneness, they have unique voting pattern, they can actually die for one of their own e.g kanu)
4. Igbos actually have the best hands to lead Nigeria, eg. The south east are leading in virtually all aspects of the economy - commerce, healthcare, education, etc)
5. Igbos spreads across south east to South South
6. Igbos are not even so much in oil business, they are more in transportation, manufacturing, importation etc, there is no significant presence of the igbos in oil business, Ifeanyi Uba is just recent in the business.
7. Most Igbos want biafra.

Manage this fried chicken and 3 cans of Origin cool body. Nice Post! Lies of the zoo will never last forever!!!

Freemancipation:
IPOB started with facebook.

Today they have:

Radio Biafra
News papers
Tv station
Online forum like nairaland
Twitter
Membership in UN and other international organizations
Different zones in the south east and south south
Different groups In over 80 countries

They understand how to deal with lying the zoo media.

In the words of Nnamdi Kanu; "I will destroy Nigeria (zoo) with the TRUTH."

Wonderful Write Up!

Av Said This Countless Times The Only Problem Ibos Have Is Ibos

Ibos In Their Quest For Civilization And Westernization Abandon Their Root And Have Discarded Most Of Their Values

Another Problem Of The Ibo Is Selfishness And Greed... Ibos Should Cultivate The Habit Of Making Selfless Sacrifices It Promotes Unity And Oneness. There Are Things Far More Important Than Money In This Life Think About The Generations Unborn.

Nnamdi Kanu Has Done The Very Hard Part In Resurrecting The Spirit Of Oneness (biafra) What Ibos Should Do At This Point Is To Come Together And Speak With One Voice

#viva Biafra

#freedom At Last

Omeokachie:
The story of Nigeria is one in which you beat up a child and then threaten him with more violence if he dares to cry.

When they were threatened with genocide by the 'majority' (your people), you turned around to threaten them further with military deployments.

When the people saw that they are unwanted and asked to leave the union, you shot and killed them to keep them in your unwanted fold.

When some moderates asked to settle for discussions as a compromise, you say to them the "unity" (which benefits you alone) is non-negotiable!
When they ask for referendum to vote on own their fate, you threaten them with a repeat of 1966!
Now the people seemed to have had enough and are asking you to "do your worst!"

The Case Of Nigeria/biafra Can Be Likened To A Woman Forcefully Abducted Into An Abusive Marriage And Turned To A Sex Slave For So Many Years At Gun Point

BIAFRA HAS COME TO STAY, DONT MIND THOSE SAYING NNAMDI KANU PATTERN IS NOT THE BEST, MAYBE UWAZUIRIKE PATTERN IS THE BEST, THOSE ARE HYPOCRITES

paBuhari:
They give a blind eye to historical genocides against Igbos since the 1940s to hide their hypocrisy.

Of course. They like to paint the fact that everything started with Nzeogwu's coup in 1966 but the truth is that tje massacre of Igbos had been an ongoing thing since 1945.

The reason why the federal government does not encourage the teaching of the history of the Biafran war is because if they did so, it would expose the evil and genocide commited against Igbos by the North. People would learn that far from being a war monger like Ojukwu is painted to be, Ojukwu did all he could to prevent war.

attackgat:


Of course. They like to paint the fact that everything started with Nzeogwu's coup in 1966 but the truth is that tje massacre of Igbos had been an ongoing thing since 1945.

The reason why the federal government does not encourage the teaching of the history of the Biafran war is because if they did so, it would expose the evil and genocide commited against Igbos by the North. People would learn that far from being a war monger like Ojukwu is painted to be, Ojukwu did all he could to prevent war.

Exatly. Only those with something to hide will fear the teaching of history. The zoo called Nigeria has plenty of things to hide, that is why zoo govt doesn't allow history to be thought in schools.