tpia@:
onlytruth and FACE

I totally understand your stand on this thread, but at the same time i have to point out your approach to ogugua could be better.

I'm not particularly close to her and I'm just as surprised by her approval of my post as anyone else (just so you dont think that's why I'm typing this), but i think you were a little too over the top in the way you responded to her presence here.

I'm aware in the general cultural setting, only "verified" and "vetted" members are allowed to participate in meetings such as the one you called for with this thread, which is to say anyone considered an "outsider" or who isnt approved of by the members of the particualr group, isnt expected to make any contribution when matters affecting the home area are being discussed.

However, the analogous "home area' in this instance in nairaland, a web based forum inculcating members from different walks of life and different regions. The hallmark of an effective leader is the ability to work with different and varying levels within his constituency. Some will even appoint people from the opposing faction, to work with them.

I can only summarize my points right now, so what I'm trying to say is, what would be expedient to do is not cut ogugua off because she has a viewpoint you dont approve of, but rather you should try to inculcate areas which you see as her strengths into your proposal (or cabinet for want of a better word), in a way that can be of benefit to what you stated in the opening post of this thread.

You can put her in charge of something- (media, networking, etc, whatever), instead of blocking her completely out and not listening to her opinion. She may be young but that doesnt mean she cant have something to say even if you disagree with it.

Tpia, seriously speaking, I am impressed with your output in this post. Why don't you post like this all the time?
Please, keep it up.

Onlytruth: At this stage, I wish to thank the council member who spent personal time and resources to make the website possible.
That is the spirit of collectivity and selflessness we need to move Igboland forward.
The idea is to do for Igboland, not expect Igboland to do for you.
A great, peaceful and prosperous Igboland is good for every Nigerian, and every African.
Backwardness in Igboland is BAD for Nigeria and Africa.

Charity begins at home.
We are PROUD to start fixing our home.

Onye na achoghi ya, ya gaa makuo igwe oku transformer.

Igbo kwenu!

As to the bolded, where is the website, bro? Some of us might like to browse out of curiosity and to feel the pulse.

Beaf, the website is www.igbolist.tk

What a thread . . . . .The gate crashers turned this seeming nice thread upside down

odumchi: Beaf, the website is www.igbolist.tk

Thanks a lot, bro.

I really applaud the spirit of this thread. It's ideals are farsighted and really encouraging, I have to plot a way to do this for the SS too. Lol!
If all regions are able to form grassroots pressure groups, we would soon ram the voice of the man on the street through the ears of the man in Abuja.
So far, I gather that the purpose is to:

1. Sensitise the grassroots.
2. Campaign for certain developmental projects.
3. Keep the eye of a halk on elected local/regional representatives.

It is the only way to bring about meaningful change to the people and once again, I applaud and encourage it. At some future date, people like me would be most interested in keying in.

Igbo Kwenu!

@Beaf, thanks for the support.

Igbo nmanman nu!

We'd like to thank you guys again for your patience and for your encouragement. We've recieved many subscriptions and we'd like to thank you guys once more. Very soon, we will release our first newsletter.

Just to highlight the rules of conduct established for our discussion*:


LANGUAGE
Although we would naturally conduct our affairs in the Igbo language, we have decided to consider those around us. In order to avoid the marginalization and ostracization of Igbo sons and daughters who aren't literate in Igbo, we have decided to permit the use of English in our discussions (although Igbo is the official language and is permitted).


PARTICIPATION
Due to our desire to make this thread acessible to all friends of Ndi Igbo, whether Igbo or not, we have declared that there is absolutely no ethnicity requirement for participation in discussion.


CONDUCT
We ask you all to be as polite as possible in your responses in order to avoid any arguments or derailment. Secondly, we ask that you do not respond to aggressive or potentially derailing comments.

*=These rules are subject to change.

Unu emeela nu (Thank you all)

The first question I'd like to pose to you all is: what do you guys think is the most urgent problem in Igboland?

Ajuju mbu m choro iju unu bu: gini ka unu chere bu nsogbu kachasi mkpa na ala Igbo?

odumchi: The first question I'd like to pose to you all is: what do you guys think is the most urgent problem in Igboland?

Ajuju mbu m choro iju unu bu: gini ka unu chere bu nsogbu kachasi mkpa na ala Igbo?

There are many problems facing Igboland today but the one that worries me the most is the face the we have no presence in the media. Do you know that you'll hardly see a TV station in Nigeria talking about the civil war but the same stations talk about june 12 like it's the worse thing that ever happened to Nigeria. We have been often represented in the media so many times and we've not been able to defend ourselves and even project our image via the media. So, I think we should towards that direction.

afam4eva:
There are many problems facing Igboland today but the one that worries me the most is the face the we have no presence in the media. Do you know that you'll hardly see a TV station in Nigeria talking about the civil war but the same stations talk about june 12 like it's the worse thing that ever happened to Nigeria. We have been often represented in the media so many times and we've not been able to defend ourselves and even project our image via the media. So, I think we should towards that direction.

GBAM!! It is a shame and it is not just TV station, even schools do not teach the history. Can you believe I actually learned about Biafran war in America yet I was raised in Nigeria and I attended schools in Nigeria to make matters worse, I went to several schools due to family movement from one state to another and to add insult to injury, it was a white woman whom told me of this part of our history. I later researched and learned alot both from parents, elders back home and online but it still a shame, no school felt the need to teach this history. I once watched one of dawn's show online where she interviewed chimamanda ngozi adichie about her book; one part of the interview that stuck with me is when dawn asked ngozi why she wrote the story. she even went to the extent of mentioning it is an event that happened in the past, why bring it up? I enjoyed adichie's reply to the question but dawn's question made me wonder if it's a taboo or a governmental thing or the fact that many are trying to force igbo to forget therefore the history of the war is kept on the hush hush form in Nigeria. SMH Shame

@ Odumchi
The most urgent problem in Igboland imho is the lost of history. Though we have material things we should focus our opinion on but their are some things people shouldn't forget. How many Igbo children do you know today that can narrate to you the history of their state or village without going online to research it first? Its a pity we are letting alot of things of interest die a painful death right in-front of us. Some Igbo parents aboard would even disregard teaching their children the language. why? because they are in America SMH. I realize this is a nigerian phenomena and not necessary an igbo thing but it is still a problem we need to fix and fast.

odumchi: The first question I'd like to pose to you all is: what do you guys think is the most urgent problem in Igboland?

Ajuju mbu m choro iju unu bu: gini ka unu chere bu nsogbu kachasi mkpa na ala Igbo?

In my humble opinion, the most urgent problem in Igboland is LACK OF DIRECT INTERNATIONAL ACCESS.
Lagos state under Fashola is building a SECOND international airport at Lekki.
There is a reason why everybody is flocking to Lagos.
Give us international airport; give us freedom to solve ALL OTHER PROBLEMS!

Beaf:

Thanks a lot, bro.

I really applaud the spirit of this thread. It's ideals are farsighted and really encouraging, I have to plot a way to do this for the SS too. Lol!
If all regions are able to form grassroots pressure groups, we would soon ram the voice of the man on the street through the ears of the man in Abuja.
So far, I gather that the purpose is to:

1. Sensitise the grassroots.
2. Campaign for certain developmental projects.
3. Keep the eye of a halk on elected local/regional representatives.

It is the only way to bring about meaningful change to the people and once again, I applaud and encourage it. At some future date, people like me would be most interested in keying in.

Igbo Kwenu!

Thanks bro.

One of these days, you will be formally invited to join the movement that will bring out true change.
Try to organize SS if you can. We need to corner the grassroots!

I think our immidate problems are lack of co-opreation amongst igbo states,what happen to southeast economic summit?
what are our governors do discuss at their southeast governors forum.

Is there any law forbiden igbos to come together and build international airport,second niger bridge,interna'l trade fair center,rail system...just act like an independent country?pls help me out.

*i only learn about biafran war after reading the book of Major Gen Madu Ebo.

achi4u: I think our immidate problems are lack of co-opreation amongst igbo states,what happen to southeast economic summit?
what are our governors do discuss at their southeast governors forum.

Is there any law forbiden igbos to come together and build international airport,second niger bridge,interna'l trade fair center,rail system...just act like an independent country?pls help me out.

*i only learn about biafran war after reading the book of Major Gen Madu Ebo.

Very good question, because one has to ask the right questions to get to the right answers.

The answer is that some of them are forbidden by law openly, while some are forbidden by an unwritten law which every Nigerian president has implemented since 1970 (which is part of why Igbo want to produce a Nigerian president); for example, you should not (or even must not) build "federal projects". It means that even if you build an international airport today there, if the Feds don't approve it (which they would likely not to due to whatever they fear about us) then, the project would become another TINAPA. Nobody wants to waste his money. The second Niger bridge is more of a funding issue (for SE) because no SE state will like to shoulder the cost burden. You raised a good question about why the SE governors are not cooperating to develop such projects. Well, to get to the answer, you have to go back to the intentions of those who initiated state creation in Nigeria in 1967. Their intention was obvious -to divide the East politically, making it difficult for our people to unite around any agenda. They masked this intention by doing same to other parts of Nigeria, but those of us with eyes to the ground are not deceived one bit. lol The first state creation was a MILITARY STRATEGY. The same division of the East has now spread to all parts of Nigeria, making Nigeria one of the most divided countries I know.

Now, the only short-cut out of this problem was supposed to be by joining the so called "national party" (PDP), but alas it appears as if this national party is only interested in sustaining the undeclared subjugation of Igboland. Notice that they have somehow refused to create more states in the SE to balance the geo-pol regions, even though the PDP has maintained a constant dominance of the center, and SE since 1999. They have ZERO interest in building those things, and are simply dangling them to our faces every election year. This is the main reason why I don't like PDP.

Our chance of coming together to build things for ourselves lie in joining a party that MUST CONFRONT the "national party" by whatever means necessary to give us our fair share of development and dignity in our corner of Nigeria.

We must always connect our misfortune to political events on the ground.
We cannot plant yam and reap cocoayam, or sow corn and reap banana. Our unity must begin with joining a LOCAL PARTY that understands our needs and NEVER mortgages them by joining any "national party". I personally believe that Fashola of Lagos would never have achieved much if he is in PDP. This my view may be controversial, but I plead that our people start to connect their problems/solutions to REAL political events, else, we can never get out of our problems in Nigeria.

Thanks for your replies. Soon, I will respond to them adequately.

PointB: Please for the avoidance of confusion, the Eze Ndi Igbo Nairaland Newslettter sign-up page is here:

http://igbolist.tk/

Goof site, but some sections have way too tiny font.

odumchi:
Although we would naturally conduct our affairs in the Igbo language, we have decided to consider those around us. In order to avoid the marginalization and ostracization of Igbo sons and daughters who aren't literate in Igbo,. . .

They should start learning the language. Today.

Due to our desire to make this thread acessible to all friends of Ndi Igbo, whether Igbo or not, we have declared that there is absolutely no ethnicity requirement for participation in discussion.

Good move welcoming the contributions of Naijas of good will regardless of ethnicity. A little bit more of this togetherness in the country at large and I can realize the dream of my nephew becoming a governor of Lagos state in the next 20-30 years! By that time, he might not even be the first elected Lagos governor with an Igbo last name.

afam4eva:
There are many problems facing Igboland today but the one that worries me the most is the face the we have no presence in the media. Do you know that you'll hardly see a TV station in Nigeria talking about the civil war but the same stations talk about june 12 like it's the worse thing that ever happened to Nigeria. We have been often represented in the media so many times and we've not been able to defend ourselves and even project our image via the media. So, I think we should towards that direction.

One_Naira:

GBAM!! It is a shame and it is not just TV station, even schools do not teach the history. Can you believe I actually learned about Biafran war in America yet I was raised in Nigeria and I attended schools in Nigeria to make matters worse, I went to several schools due to family movement from one state to another and to add insult to injury, it was a white woman whom told me of this part of our history. I later researched and learned alot both from parents, elders back home and online but it still a shame, no school felt the need to teach this history. I once watched one of dawn's show online where she interviewed chimamanda ngozi adichie about her book; one part of the interview that stuck with me is when dawn asked ngozi why she wrote the story. she even went to the extent of mentioning it is an event that happened in the past, why bring it up? I enjoyed adichie's reply to the question but dawn's question made me wonder if it's a taboo or a governmental thing or the fact that many are trying to force igbo to forget therefore the history of the war is kept on the hush hush form in Nigeria. SMH Shame

@ Odumchi
The most urgent problem in Igboland imho is the lost of history. Though we have material things we should focus our opinion on but their are some things people shouldn't forget. How many Igbo children do you know today that can narrate to you the history of their state or village without going online to research it first? Its a pity we are letting alot of things of interest die a painful death right in-front of us. Some Igbo parents aboard would even disregard teaching their children the language. why? because they are in America SMH. I realize this is a nigerian phenomena and not necessary an igbo thing but it is still a problem we need to fix and fast.

I understand perfectly what you and Afam are saying. There is clearly a lack of media coverage/information on issues regarding Ndi Igbo and the East in general. I also experienced something similar.

I never knew much about the Biafran war until I started asking my grandparents (who witnessed the bloodiest parts of the war) about their experiences. My guess is that the Nigerian government/educational system seeks to avoid as much discussion about the war as possible because it is a sentimental and volatile topic. It's seen as one of those topics which are sure to resurrect age old feelings of hatred. However, that shouldn't be the reason why it is avoided and seldom discussed. History repeats itself way too often.

It's this type of attitude that leads to loss of history (as One Naira clearly pointed out). If history is not taught, then it dies along with those that made it; that's the same thing that's what Nigeria is attempting to do with regard to the Civil War.

achi4u: I think our immidate problems are lack of co-opreation amongst igbo states,what happen to southeast economic summit?
what are our governors do discuss at their southeast governors forum.

Is there any law forbiden igbos to come together and build international airport,second niger bridge,interna'l trade fair center,rail system...just act like an independent country?pls help me out.

*i only learn about biafran war after reading the book of Major Gen Madu Ebo.

This is also a very important issue. The problem with people (in general) is that everyone is seeking to reap for only his/her own benefit. If the South Eastern states co-operated wore with each other, things would have been a bit better than they are now.

Take for example the confronation between Abia and Imo state over civil service. Abia recklessly sacked all of its non-indeginous civil servants (many of which were Imolites) in complete disregard for how it would affect its neighbors. If the SE governers' forum was used accordingly, this small issue could have been resolved and a compromise satisfactory to both parties could have been made.

Personally, I believe that states should be given the freedom to develop themselves as they like without any hindrance from the FG. The FG's main roles should be to fund states, regulate inter-state and international commerce, resolve inter-state disputes, and (off course) represent the Nigeria as a wholer.

As Onlytruth pointed out, the FG (along with our corrupt leaders) are the reasons why certain things are the way they are. International airports, international ports, and other things of that nature require a combination of federal fnding/approval and state contribution.

Honestly, I've yet to see any obvious indicator of federal presence in the South East (commercially speaking).

@odumchi, I must confess that your level headedness and style of conversation shows that you have the type of leadership skills needed in the Parliamentary office. People like Onlytruth come across as too confrontational and will drive away the youths instead of encouraging their participation.

kudos to you, keep up the good work.

Onlytruth:

Very good question, because one has to ask the right questions to get to the right answers.

The answer is that some of them are forbidden by law openly, while some are forbidden by an unwritten law which every Nigerian president has implemented since 1970 (which is part of why Igbo want to produce a Nigerian president); for example, you should not (or even must not) build "federal projects". It means that even if you build an international airport today there, if the Feds don't approve it (which they would likely not to due to whatever they fear about us) then, the project would become another TINAPA. Nobody wants to waste his money. The second Niger bridge is more of a funding issue (for SE) because no SE state will like to shoulder the cost burden. You raised a good question about why the SE governors are not cooperating to develop such projects. Well, to get to the answer, you have to go back to the intentions of those who initiated state creation in Nigeria in 1967. Their intention was obvious -to divide the East politically, making it difficult for our people to unite around any agenda. They masked this intention by doing same to other parts of Nigeria, but those of us with eyes to the ground are not deceived one bit. lol The first state creation was a MILITARY STRATEGY. The same division of the East has now spread to all parts of Nigeria, making Nigeria one of the most divided countries I know.

Now, the only short-cut out of this problem was supposed to be by joining the so called "national party" (PDP), but alas it appears as if this national party is only interested in sustaining the undeclared subjugation of Igboland. Notice that they have somehow refused to create more states in the SE to balance the geo-pol regions, even though the PDP has maintained a constant dominance of the center, and SE since 1999. They have ZERO interest in building those things, and are simply dangling them to our faces every election year. This is the main reason why I don't like PDP.

Our chance of coming together to build things for ourselves lie in joining a party that MUST CONFRONT the "national party" by whatever means necessary to give us our fair share of development and dignity in our corner of Nigeria.

We must always connect our misfortune to political events on the ground.
We cannot plant yam and reap cocoayam, or sow corn and reap banana. Our unity must begin with joining a LOCAL PARTY that understands our needs and NEVER mortgages them by joining any "national party". I personally believe that Fashola of Lagos would never have achieved much if he is in PDP. This my view may be controversial, but I plead that our people start to connect their problems/solutions to REAL political events, else, we can never get out of our problems in Nigeria.

I see what you're saying; Igboland is fragmented politically. Although it may seem easy to ask everyone to just defect to the "better" party, it is a complicated task. For example, contrary to the popular belief that PDP is worthelss, my dad (a member of the PDP) achieved much in our town during his term as a PDP councillor in our local government, and PDP is fairly popular in my area of Abia. However, if you go to Imo or Anambra, people will have totally different opinions of PDP.

Personally, I believe that it will be hard for Igboland to be dominaated by one party because of the independent modes of thinking that people have. However, that doesn't that we still can't progress. The North, for example, is divided between PDP and CPC, yet its leaders are still working together.

I prefer AGPA to PDP but the truth is that most people don't see a political party's presence past what it does in that person's locality.

Let's try and see if we can contact other Igbo groups both online and offline, so that they can pass the message to their members.

isale_gan2:

Goof site, but some sections have way too tiny font.



They should start learning the language. Today.


Good move welcoming the contributions of Naijas of good will regardless of ethnicity. A little bit more of this togetherness in the country at large and I can realize the dream of my nephew becoming a governor of Lagos state in the next 20-30 years! By that time, he might not even be the first elected Lagos governor with an Igbo last name.

You're probably viewing it from a mobile device. It's best suited for computers, however, we will consider your feedback. Thanks.

afam4eva: Let's try and see if we can contact other Igbo groups both online and offline, so that they can pass the message to their members.

This is a good idea.

ndu_chucks: @odumchi, I must confess that your level headedness and style of conversation shows that you have the type of leadership skills needed in the Parliamentary office. People like Onlytruth come across as too confrontational and will drive away the youths instead of encouraging their participation.

kudos to you, keep up the good work.

Thank you. Think of our team members each as instruments in an orchestra; all of us combined make music.

I believe that there is a also a need to reach out to those our church going brothers/sisters by making their "religious leaders" to join hands get involved in the movement and use their position to tell their congregations the truth, about the need is it for us to understand the roles our socalled reprensentatives play in our lives and how dangerous it is to ignore them to do whatever they like with the position of power. Since most of them do listen very much to those PASTORS AND PREACHERS then it is not a sin for their congregations to know that any politician in power or in opposition who lost touch with the common people after any election should not be allowed to continue to spit on us, cos the people are the real power unless their MEN OF GOD are deceiving them and doing business with those thieving politicians, either by not letting them know that there are things which requare prayers and things that simply need questioning and pressurizing their political leaders or are just enemies of their progress, whichever way it is our people have to know the power they have in their hands and how to effectively use it to better their lives collectively. Also our brothers who are into trade or other occupations as many of them are already members of one union or another they should be targeted as well, and not leaving out the traditionalist believers too they should be reached out to as well.

noiseless: I believe that there is a also a need to reach out to those our church going brothers/sisters by making their "religious leaders" to join hands get involved in the movement and use their position to tell their congregations the truth, about the need is it for us to understand the roles our socalled reprensentatives play in our lives and how dangerous it is to ignore them to do whatever they like with the position of power. Since most of them do listen very much to those PASTORS AND PREACHERS then it is not a sin for their congregations to know that any politician in power or in opposition who lost touch with the common people after any election should not be allowed to continue to spit on us, cos the people are the real power unless their MEN OF GOD are deceiving them and doing business with those thieving politicians, either by not letting them know that there are things which requare prayers and things that simply need questioning and pressurizing their political leaders or are just enemies of their progress, whichever way it is our people have to know the power they have in their hands and how to effectively use it to better their lives collectively. Also our brothers who are into trade or other occupations as many of them are already members of one union or another they should be targeted as well, and not leaving out the traditionalist believers too they should be reached out to as well.

Well said my brother. Churches play a large role in our society and they should be used as a tool for social empowerment and eventual change. As you stated it's sad that most times, our only response to difficulty is prayer. I'm not saying that prayer is bad but, heaven helps those who help themselves.

Good things are coming forth from this our discussion. I thank you again for your input.

One issue which I think is paramount is the lack of a 6th Southeastern state. The void created by this "missing state" has caused our main geopolitical zone (the South east) to lose billions in funding, our people to have less represention at the National Assembly, and has resulted in the political marginalization of nearly 2 million of our brothers in Delta.

I remember a thread, some time ago, saying something about the creation of two additional Southeastern states. Ever since then, I haven't heard anything about it and I'm beginning to doubt whether or not we will get those states. Aside from this, another vexing issue is where those states will come from. I think it's safe to say that there is a general disdain towards any state creation models seeking to divide pre-existing Southeastern states. The most logicall answer to our 6th state would be Anioma state, but knowing the people we are dealing with, it won't be an easy venture.

There are many media through which we can easily reach our representatives and voice out our opinions and thoughts so why shouldn't we take advantage of them?

noiseless: I believe that there is a also a need to reach out to those our church going brothers/sisters by making their "religious leaders" to join hands get involved in the movement and use their position to tell their congregations the truth, about the need is it for us to understand the roles our socalled reprensentatives play in our lives and how dangerous it is to ignore them to do whatever they like with the position of power. Since most of them do listen very much to those PASTORS AND PREACHERS then it is not a sin for their congregations to know that any politician in power or in opposition who lost touch with the common people after any election should not be allowed to continue to spit on us, cos the people are the real power unless their MEN OF GOD are deceiving them and doing business with those thieving politicians, either by not letting them know that there are things which requare prayers and things that simply need questioning and pressurizing their political leaders or are just enemies of their progress, whichever way it is our people have to know the power they have in their hands and how to effectively use it to better their lives collectively. Also our brothers who are into trade or other occupations as many of them are already members of one union or another they should be targeted as well, and not leaving out the traditionalist believers too they should be reached out to as well.

You would need to be very selective of which churches to speak to. Many churches serve as money laundering platforms for politicians, so you could end up walking into an ambush.

odumchi: The first question I'd like to pose to you all is: what do you guys think is the most urgent problem in Igboland?

The most pressing issue in Igboland is that the people have not make me their king and paramount ruler

ekt_bear:

The most pressing issue in Igboland is that the people have not make me their king and paramount ruler

LOL.
Impossible.

One of the problems of Igboland today is that we no longer have Igbolanguage newspapers. That Igbo newspaper-UDOKA should be brought back to life.
Though Ndigbo are very literate, that paper helped in promoting Igbo language and readership.

Andre Uweh: One of the problems of Igboland today is that we no longer have Igbolanguage newspapers. That Igbo newspaper-UDOKA should be brought back to life.
Though Ndigbo are very literate, that paper helped in promoting Igbo language and readership.

Igbo movies too. The promotion of Igbo language in general.

You are right most of them are doing that because their congregations lack the understandings of what should be their collective priorities, and how to go about it therefore their religious,union and community leaders then take advantage of the situation and leave them with backwardness and hoplessness. But onece the awareness is created with some sort of watchdog available to monitor anyone with a responsibility to serve the community, then it's a step in the right direction, but at this moment what is need is for the people to realise that they have the power and encourage them to believe in that power, which they even gave us names like IGWEBUIKE,OHAHBIKE,AZUKA & IKEORAH, so when it's clear to those users and looters that people are no longer in slumber they will either change or be shamed.

Beaf:

You would need to be very selective of which churches to speak to. Many churches serve as money laundering platforms for politicians, so you could end up walking into an ambush.

noiseless: You are right most of them are doing that because their congregations lack the understandings of what should be their collective priorities, and how to go about it therefore their religious,union and community leaders then take advantage of the situation and leave them with backwardness and hoplessness. But once the awareness is created with some sort of watchdog available to monitor anyone with a responsibility to serve the community, then it's a step in the right direction, but at this moment what is need is for the people to realise that they have the power and encourage them to believe in that power, which they even gave us names like IGWEBUIKE,OHAHBIKE,AZUKA & IKEORAH, so when it's clear to those users and looters that people are no longer in slumber they will either change or be shamed.

Thank you my brother. This is a very wise statement!

Okay, I need to make my own submission again.

I observe that some of our people are calling for the promotion of Igbo language as our most urgent need. I agree only by about 30%, and I will explain. Our language is very important and can be revived, but only by DEVELOPING IGBOLAND ECONOMICALLY. Without economic development, our people will continue to leave Igboland in droves, abandoning it and even introducing foreign language there because they are training their kids to LEAVE LATER.
Even in my town of Nnewi, I've started to see children who can't speak Igbo. Guess where most of them will end up? Outside Igboland of course! So, if we want our people to speak our language, we must guarantee them economic survival even while speaking the language, which means while staying home in the East.

It is all about economic survival folks! lol

But, how do we develop if we lack DIRECT international access? Methinks it is like a man trying to run the 100 meters dash with bricks tied to his legs. You may succeed at last, but you will lose your language and everything cultural because you need to go to areas that have that access and the economy it brings. Simple logic.

That is why I keep trying to teach my people to think STRATEGICALLY.

The people that deny us DIRECT international access know what they are doing. They are trying to force us down and hopefully for our language and self identity to disappear over time. It was part of the policy of containment after the war. They basically gave us two options: either leave Igboland, or lose your identity (either of which they hope would make us a less powerful tribe in Nigeria).Folks they know what they are doing!
That is why I'm VERY angry at our representative and politicians because I believe that most of them are educated.
When we must have either gotten them to act, or chased them out of Igboland, only then would we get those developments that would allow us to survive WHOLE AND INTACT in our corner of Nigeria.

Here I stand!