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World Igbo Congress begins in Florida
The increasing cases of homicide and domestic violence among Nigerian spouses, especially of the Igbo ethnic stock will be the focus of a public discourse in Tampa, Florida, as the World Igbo Congress (WIC) begins it's annual convention today.
The organization has tapped renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Ambrose Mgbako, to profer solutions on how to deal with domestic violence and care for the children affected by the problem.
The Secretary General of the WIC, Charles Chikezie, said the organization is troubled by the frequency of problem.
According to him, Igbos have a rich culture of taking care of their own, adding that the problem was alien to our culture and that they were determined to do all that is necessary to reduce it to the barest minimum.
Chikezie also stated that traditional rulers in the South East have also been contacted to educate their people on their unrealistic expectations of their relatives in America, saying that efforts will also be stepped up to encourage the use of Igbo language among children born in the Diaspora.
Said he: "We are concerned that there is the real danger of our language becoming extinct. We will tackle it by several programmes geared towards the youth during this conference."
According to the Justice Department and Prisons Service, over 1,000 male and female Igbo's are either in jail, awaiting trial or sentencing for either killing their spouses or having inflicted serious injuries during domestic fights.
Law enforcement officials have designated the trend as the most serious issue affecting Igbo families in America, informing that the fights erupt because of stress brought about by unrealistic expectation of economic gains and pressures by relatives back in Nigeria.
Juvenile Department officials also report that dozens of children affected by such domestic spats are either in foster homes, with their relatives in the care of the state, adding that such incidents have negatively affected children who now have emotional problems.
Dr. Jackie Williams, a childhood development expert at the prestigious Howard University in Washington DC, said the impact of domestic violence manifests in several anti-social behavior later in life, adding that the affected children will have trouble maintaining a relationship, respect for authority and may lack parenting skills".
Recently the Igbo community was stunned when police authorities said one of their own gunned down his wife in cold blood in Missouri.
According to police records, Michael C. Iheme shot his estranged wife, Anthonia, in a parking lot and calmly called police and said, "I have killed the woman that messed my life up, a woman that had destroyed me."
A Hennepin County, St. Louis Criminal Court, said Iheme will be subjected to mental evaluation before his trial will commence.
Police said Anthonia, 28, a mother of two children, was shot by her husband as she left work at an assisted-living center. Two witnesses reported seeing a man matching Iheme's description with a gun near his wife's car in the parking lot. County court records showed that she had an restraining order against Iheme because of a history of domestic abuse.
One of Anthonia co-workers said she saw her get into her car and then Iheme getting out of his car and shooting at her car, which lurched forward, clipped a van, jumped a curb and rolled down a hill into a fence. Iheme allegedly followed the car down the hill and fired more shots.
Chikezie said Igbos should use their traditional methods of resolving marital problems, instead of resorting to violence.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2008/aug/29/national-29-08-2008-009.htm
I really do think other tribes should borrow a leaf here. Its about waking up to the present reality of the huge Nigerian diaspora residing permanently outside the country. Most without their parents, relatives or people from their own culture. 1 Like 1 Share |
