₦airaland Forum

mikeansy:
Boko Haram and the North are already doing enough destroying Nigeria, nothing unites the rest of the country than the voice of the Igbo man. Let us take the back seat and let the wickedness of these people be obvious to the rest of the world.

If anything all I will expect from South East Governors is to encourage Igbos in the North to come back home and start a new life. Thats about it.

We are doing just fine. They are already digging a hole for themselves. There is no need engaging a drowning man in a fight!!!

Your post makes sense. Good point.

binkabir:
i can also see that we have radical christians on Nairaland as well
they are trying to confuse Muslims with fake news. and now we BELIEVE that BOKO HARAM are 50% muslims and christians.
very soon a true confession will be out "THAT THE FINANCIAL OFFICER OR TREASURER OF BH IS A CHRISTIAN".
TIME SHALL SPELL EVERYTHING OUT.

Why is it always conflict between Muslims and followers of other religions?

Muslims v. Hindus

Muslims v. Christians

Muslims v. Buddhists

Muslims v. Jews

Muslims v. Traditionalist

This list is endless. We do not want your Sharia law and you people need to learn how to live with others in peace

Why have South-East leaders remained silent about Boko Haram?

I think only one South-East governor, has mentioned anything concerning this group and that was T.A. Orji, but the rest have been silent on such issues.

For all of T.A. Orji's faults, when it comes to defending Igbos, he does not guard his words. Just remember what he said about Igbos being targeted in the North, during the election violence. Sometimes we need people like him.

I see we have radical Islamist on Nairaland as well.

They are trying to confuse Christians with fake news, but we do not believe you!

A state of emergency should be declared for the entire North.

Was anyone held to account?
Several senior Ottoman officials were put on trial in Turkey in 1919-20 in connection with the atrocities. A local governor, Mehmed Kemal, was found guilty and hanged for the mass killing of Armenians in the central Anatolian district of Yozgat. The Young Turks' top triumvirate - the "Three Pashas" - had already fled abroad. They were sentenced to death in absentia.

Historians have questioned the judicial procedures at these trials, the quality of the evidence presented and the degree to which the Turkish authorities may have wished to appease the victorious Allies.

Who recognises it as genocide and who does not?
Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay are among more than 20 countries which have formally recognised genocide against the Armenians.

The European Parliament and the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities have also done so.

The UK, US and Israel are among those that use different terminology to describe the events.

In 2006, Turkey condemned a French parliamentary vote which would make it a crime to deny that Armenians had suffered genocide. The bill did not become law - but Turkey suspended military ties.

In December 2011 some MPs in France's ruling centre-right party, the UMP, revived the bill and it was adopted again, despite Turkish government outrage. It still requires a vote by the upper house, the Senate, to become law.

Under the bill, those publicly denying genocide would face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (£29,000; $58,000).

Turkey froze political visits and joint military projects in retaliation.

In March 2010, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Washington after a US congressional committee narrowly approved a resolution branding the killings as "genocide". The House Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed it, despite the objections of the White House. Barack Obama's administration has called for the resolution not to be "acted upon" by the full Congress.

What is the political impact of the row?
The killings are regarded as the seminal event of modern Armenian history, binding the diaspora together.

Armenians are one of the world's most dispersed peoples.

In Turkey, public debate on the issue has been stifled.

Article 301 of the penal code, on "insulting Turkishness", has been used to prosecute prominent writers who highlight the mass killings of Armenians. Among them were Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and Hrant Dink, who was later shot dead in January 2007. A teenage ultra-nationalist, Ogun Samast, was jailed for nearly 23 years in July 2011 for murdering Dink.

The European Union has said Turkish acceptance of the Armenian genocide is not a condition for Turkey's entry into the bloc.

Are Armenia-Turkey relations still frosty?
After decades of hostility there has been a slight thaw. Turkey and Armenia signed a deal in October 2009 to establish diplomatic relations and open their border.

But the deal is yet to be ratified by either parliament, and some in Ankara accuse Armenia of trying to alter the terms of the deal.

A complicating factor is mutual suspicion over the frozen Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkey backs Azerbaijan in the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory inside Azerbaijan held by ethnic Armenians since a war in the 1990s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16352745

An example of a people who are in denial like many Nigerians.

Q&A: Armenian genocide dispute

The mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I remains a highly sensitive issue.
Turkey has resisted widespread calls for it to recognise the 1915-16 killings as genocide, while historians continue to argue about the events. At the time there were numerous reports of Turkish atrocities committed against the Armenians.

What happened?
There is general agreement that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died when the Ottoman Turks deported them en masse from eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert and elsewhere in 1915-16. They were killed or died from starvation or disease.

The total number of Armenian dead is disputed. Armenians say 1.5 million died. The Republic of Turkey estimates the total to be 300,000.

According to the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), the death toll was "more than a million".

In a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2005 the IAGS said "we want to underscore that it is not just Armenians who are affirming the Armenian Genocide but it is the overwhelming opinion of scholars who study genocide".

What is genocide?
Article Two of the UN Convention on Genocide of December 1948 describes genocide as carrying out acts intended "to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group".

Were the killings systematic?
The dispute about whether it was genocide centres on the question of premeditation - the degree to which the killings were orchestrated.

Many historians, governments and the Armenian people believe that they were; but a number of scholars question this.

Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who coined the term "genocide" in 1943, referred to the atrocities against Armenians as well as the Nazi massacres of Jews when describing his investigations.

Turkish officials accept that atrocities were committed but argue that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people. Turkey says many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of war.

What was the political context?
The Young Turks - an officers' movement that had seized power in 1908 - launched a series of measures against Armenians as the Ottoman Empire was crumbling through military defeats in the war. The Young Turks - calling themselves the Committee of Unity and Progress (CUP) - had entered the war on Germany's side in 1914.

Turkish propaganda at the time presented the Armenians as saboteurs and a pro-Russian "fifth column".

Armenians mark the date 24 April 1915 as the start of what they regard as the genocide. That was when the Ottoman government arrested about 50 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders. They were later executed.

Armenians in the Ottoman army were disarmed and killed. Armenian property was confiscated.

odumchi:
Thread moved to politics.

Are you sure this is the right move my Aro brother?

I do not want to see this thread descend into the abyss and become tainted by the politics section.

Obiagu1:
Why seek for a multi-pronged approach or dash N10million per death (now human life will be exchanged for money ) when he could and have the power to cut those id.iots out of the country?

Maybe when you give them the presidency and another Christian comes in after that, they'll start another round of Boko Haram.

The word in everyone's mouth should be "Divide the Country" from Ngige that's "fearing division" to CAN that's seeking for AK47s. Enough of this rubbish.

You are truly my brother!

^^^

Do I need to witness it firsthand to know that it happens?

Rossikk:
^^Neither have mosques!

You are a liar! What do you have to say about those imams who preach hate in the North? 

Churches have not preached hate and the murder of innocence!

Stage 8: Denial
"The perpetrators, deny that they committed any crimes, "

Denial seems to be rampant in CyberG responses. Pogroms are genocidal acts if he didn't know that.

Ugwumba:
EzeUche, if you ignore him, he cannot continue much more. He is trying to goad you into a response that he can continue to bite on. IGNORE HIM, and he will be forced to leave.

The definition is for all to see. He can try to deny it if he wants to, but the fact remains it was a genocide.

There is no refutation and it will be recognized as such in the future.

Do people realize how long it took for the world to recognize the Armenian genocide?

Turkey still denies it, but the rest of the world see it for it what it is.

Testimony of the Asaba Massacre

By late 2011, the research team had interviewed over 50 people who witnessed or survived the killings in Asaba. Some were recorded at the 2009 October Symposium, others in Lagos, Asaba, Benin City, and Ibadan, during three visits to Nigeria by Bird and Ottanelli from 2009 to 2011. On the following pages, video clips from various interviewees tell the story of what happened on the 6-7th October, and speak of the need to remember. More will be added soon.

Our partners in the USF Library are developing an archive of complete transcripts and audio files of all the interviews. Some are already available, while others will be added as they are transcribed and catalogued. To search these transcripts, visit http://guides.lib.usf.edu/content.php?mode=preview&pid=49131&sid=665222#

https://asabamemorial.org/images/testimony.jpg
Elizabeth Bird interviews 96-year old survivor Sylvester Okocha, Asaba, 2009.

The Asaba Memorial Project

The Asaba Memorial Project is a collaboration between USF researchers in Anthropology and History, together with the people of Asaba, to document and memorialize a mass killing of civilians that took place in 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War. The goal of this initiative is to “reclaim” the history of the event, in a spirit of reconciliation, allowing previously-unheard stories to be told and valued.

The project directors are Dr. Elizabeth Bird (Anthropology) and Dr. Fraser Ottanelli (History); their goal is to reconstruct the history of the event, primarily from witness accounts. They have visited Nigeria three times since 2009, and have conducted over 50 videotaped interviews. An article drawn from their research is forthcoming in African Studies Review.

Research shows that communities in which there is formal commemoration of atrocities appear more resilient than those in which silence prevails. The Asaba Memorial Project seeks to provide a scholarly assessment of this historical event, to break the silence, and acknowledge and honor the dead and their descendents.

The project began following a visit to Asaba by Dr. Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology, in connection with a forensic training project being carried out with colleagues in the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), under the direction of Dr. John Obafunwa. For more details of Dr. Kimmerle’s work, please see http://icfahr.usf.edu/. At this point, no forensic exhumation is planned in Asaba.

Bird and Ottanelli are working in partnership with the Asaba Development Union, under the leadership of Chief (Dr.) Louis Odogwu, as well as with their Community Advisory Board, chaired by Dr. Ify Uraih. The goal is to develop a permanent memorial museum exhibit in Asaba. This goal has been endorsed by the Asagba (traditional ruler) of Asaba, H.R.M Prof. Joseph Chike Edozien. The team is not affiliated with any other memorial efforts connected to Asaba.

[img]http://asabamemorial.org/images/welcome.jpg
[/img]
Liz Bird and Fraser Ottanelli attending the commemoration in Asaba

http://asabamemorial.org/research/

What happened in Asaba?

[img]http://asabamemorial.org/images/what-happened.jpg
[/img]
Asaba community members point out the site of the 1967 massacre

In 1967, Nigeria was riven by a bitter civil war over the secession of the south-eastern region, re-named as Biafra, whose population was predominantly of Igbo ethnicity. The war had followed several episodes of killings of Igbo across the country, causing many Igbo to flee south to traditional homelands in the mid-west, where the Niger river formed the border with Biafra.

During the summer of 1967, Biafran troops surged through the mid-western region, passing through Asaba, and reaching as far west as Benin City. Nigerian government troops fought back, eventually pushing the Biafran forces back through the mid-west, and across the Niger River. On about October 5, federal troops entered Asaba, which lies on the Niger, connected by a bridge to the Biafran city of Onitsha.

For two days, troops terrorized Asaba civilians, killing many at random. On Saturday, October 7, hundreds of townspeople gathered, trusting that a public show of support for the Nigerian government would pacify the situation. Instead, after separating women and children from men and older boys, soldiers gathered the males in the square of Ogbeosuwah village and turned their machine guns on them. Between 500 and 700 townspeople died. With most families unable to retrieve the bodies, the dead were buried in mass graves at the site. Lists exist of many who died, but there were no individual burials (as custom requires), no death certificates were issued, and no official accounting. Very little trace of the massacre exists in either press or historical accounts. Decades later, some survivors told their stories to the 2001 Nigerian Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (HRVIC), often known as the Nigerian Truth Commission or Oputa Panel (after its chair).

Unlike Truth Commissions in South Africa and elsewhere, the Nigerian commission was not designed to attribute blame or take action. However, a landmark moment occurred when General Yakubu Gowon, the Nigerian head of state during the war, made a public apology to the people of Asaba in September, 2001. There is now a strong desire, both in Nigeria and in diaspora communities in the U.S., to reclaim the history of the Asaba tragedy and create a permanent memorial to those who died.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-833153.160.html

Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

OLUWOLE ROTIMI: GLOATING OVER THE IGBO GENOCIDE, 1966-1970

The following notes, each dedicated to the memory of the number of Igbo children, women and men murdered by the Nigerian state and its allies in each of the four years of the Igbo genocide, are in response to the recent outrageous gloating over these horrendous murders by Oluwole Rotimi, himself a genocidist commandant during the slaughter:

1. The grim total of 3.1 million Igbo children, women and men were murdered during the genocide. This represents one-quarter of the 12 million Igbo population at the time. The Igbo genocide is the foundational genocide of (European) post-conquest Africa and remains the worst genocide in Africa to date.

2. Contrary to the Harold Wilson’s British government-inflected, Nigerian declaration of “no victor, no vanquished” on 12 January 1970, the Igbo were indeed the victors in this encounter. They survived. The Nigerian genocide state failed to accomplish its monstrous mission to destroy the Igbo. Igbo survival is a phenomenal triumph of human will and tenacity. The Igbo, relying solely on the materiality of the extraordinarily resourceful citizens’ defence forces they assembled from scratch (commanded by the handful of the pre-July 1966 Igbo officer-corps who survived the first phase of the genocide, professors, students, civil servants, businesspeople, farmers, artisans, etc., etc), overcame an aggregation of desperately brutish forces some of whom were otherwise antagonists or rivals in regional or the broader contours of international politics in the post-World War II era: Hausa-Fulani, Britain Yoruba/Oduduwa, Bini, Soviet Union, Tiv, Egypt, Berom, Yergam, Nupe, Ishan, the Sudan, Angas, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Igala, Bachama, Poland, Sura, Algeria, Jarawa (central Nigeria), Jukun, Saudi Arabia, Gwari, Guinea (Conakry), Kanuri, Syria, Idoma, German Democratic Republic, Iraq, Chad/gwodogwodo.

3. Between 1937 and 1959, the Igbo spearheaded the freeing of Nigeria from formal British occupation of the country which eventually ended in 1960. For all intents and purposes, Nigeria collapsed as a state with any serious prospects in the wake of the Igbo genocide that it launched on 29 May 1966. The singular lesson for Africa and the rest of the world from the incalculable tragedy that is called Nigeria is glaringly clear for whoever wishes to observe: one does not murder the potter and expect the pottery making-in-progress to attain a classic investiture. Despite earning the stunning sum of US$650 billion in oil sales in the subsequent 40 years, a significant proportion of this from occupied Igboland in the Delta, Rivers, Imo and Abia administrative regions, Nigeria has cascaded into a degenerative abyss politically, economically, intellectually, socially, morally and spiritually.

4. Forty years ago, Igbo people singularly and cruelly bore the brunt of the savage politics of mass murder, organised and executed meticulously and ruthlessly by the central coordinating operatives of this movement under the racist and chauvinist imprimatur of religious fundamentalism and exclusivity. Twice, during the course of two decades earlier, these operatives had staged murderous campaigns against the same Igbo in the north Nigerian towns of Jos and Kano – in dress rehearsals for the 1966-1970 “final solution”,

As the virulence of this politics has since spread globally and indeed defines the dominant concern of international relations in the current epoch, the world no doubt needs to learn quite a lot from the Igbo experience. How have the Igbo “coped” with the visceral politics of hate and death in the past one-half century of a cataclysmic history? Despite the present Nigerian occupation of their homeland, the Igbo possess the critical indices for the far-reaching socioeconomic transformation of this region of Africa. They have an impressive industrial and manufacturing base that requires a radical upgrade and diversification, a disciplined workforce and an indefatigable intellectual, entrepreneurial and managerial class.

The Igbo youth, 16-40, makes up part of Africa’s most educated and talented grouping. Despite the occupation, Igbo male and female students out-perform the rest of Nigeria across the entire spectrum of the education system. (On this, see particularly Okechukwu Agbor’s excellent study, “Look who is going to school in Nigeria,” [accessed 13 February 2009]; a change of the title of Agbor’s essay to, for instance, “Igbo education during the era of occupation”, underscores, even further, the historic relevance of his study.)

Strategically emplaced in Igboland is a resourceful engine of creativity that has immense possibilities for the future wellbeing of Africa and the rest of the world. It is therefore incumbent on the world to support the Igbo’s arduous efforts presently to free themselves from the Nigeria occupation. Furthermore, the world must ensure that genocidist operatives such as Oluwole Rotimi and his fellow travellers are stopped from strutting across international frontiers masquerading as “diplomats”, “businesspeople”, “presidents”, “heads of state”, even “peace envoys”.

On the eve of The Hague international court ordering the arrest of Sudanese President al-Bahier for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Darfur, it is surely unpardonable that the Rotimis of this planet are basking in the democratic sunny havens of Florida instead of being incarcerated in the Netherlands. We mustn’t forget that al-Bashier studiously learnt his vicious trade from that infamous dossier that documented the mass murders that charted the parameters of a devastating age for Africa – of which al-Bashier has contributed his own vile quota. The dossier was jointly signed by Obafemi Awolowo and Yakubu Gowon and was dated 29 May 1966-12 January 1970.

http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2009/feb/191.html

Genocide: the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

Stages of Genocide

Stage 1: Classification
People are divided into "us and them".

Stage 2: Symbolization
"When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups, "

Stage 3: Dehumanization
"One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases."

Stage 4: Organization
"Genocide is always organized, Special army units or militias are often trained and armed, "

Stage 5: Polarization
"Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda, "

Stage 6: Preparation
"Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity, "

Stage 7: Extermination
"It is "extermination" to the killers because their victims do not want to leave."

Stage 8: Denial
"The perpetrators, deny that they committed any crimes, "

Guess what stage many Nigerians are in. . .

Stages of Genocide

Stage 1: Classification
People are divided into "us and them".

Stage 2: Symbolization
"When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups, "

Stage 3: Dehumanization
"One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases."

Stage 4: Organization
"Genocide is always organized,  Special army units or militias are often trained and armed, "

Stage 5: Polarization
"Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda, "

Stage 6: Preparation
"Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity, "

Stage 7: Extermination
"It is "extermination" to the killers because their victims do not want to leave."

Stage 8: Denial
"The perpetrators,  deny that they committed any crimes, "

I guess people need to learn the definition of genocide.

genocide: the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

Now tell me that the pogroms in the North were not genocidal acts?

CyberG:
No problems and in fact commended it. Check comment on page 2 in case you missed it. The only question I asked about the post was phantom claims of "Genocide" which is was injected an angle to the debate. BTW, this has nothing to do with tribes and tribalism as per your other allusions.

There was no "phantom" genocide.

What do you call the slaughter of thousands of Igbos in North?

Just like the Turks deny the Armenian genocide, the Nigerian state denies that Igbo genocide, but we will never forget.

And once we gain our freedom, and we shall gain our freedom, the whole world will know the injustice when we present it to the United Nations.

Tsiya:
Splitting into 3 or more independent nations or federating units would be actually better for Nigeria and the black race. As a we now, we are a nation joined by forced history and artificial destiny. Separating into more independent nations would allow us to aspire to our individual potentials with our culture without continuing the colonial madness. We may as well, as new nations decide to discard English and use our own languages as sole means of communication just like all the tiny European countries.

That would be great for the Ndigbo.

It would help protect our language.

pro01:
That's why I like Catholic clerics (and most of the 'old generation churches' clerics too). Materialistic money-mongers like most of the new age pentecostal 'pastors' would prefer talking about prosperity and kissing presidential asses rather than speaking the truth.

You speak the truth.

See how a certain group (ofe mmanu) gets worried when we Igbos start conversing in our mother tongue.   

Oluchi007:
Yes! Nigeria should split immediately. I don't see any other way out.

ak47mann:

coogar:
this sentence shames you!
so you are saying igbos residing outside igboland are outcasts and b@stards?

No I am saying there will not be reprisals until the Igbo heartland is attacked.

Many Igbos in Alaigbo do not understand why Igbos continue to live in the North. Some Igbos blames the victims themselves for choosing to invest in those regions. That is why we haven't seen reprisals in the South-East.

If we were going to see reprisals, we should have seen it during the election violence.

coogar:
the victims of the christmas day bombing are mostly igbos.
i cannot believe the igbos have not lifted a finger since the incident. what are the igbo youths doing to defend the igbo nation?
what happened to bakassi boys and their ilk?

That is because a Catholic church was attacked and the majority of Catholics in this country are Igbo.

Other churches were attacked and non-Igbos were killed as well. Just look at the list of names. .

Igbos will not do anything until something happens in the Igbo heartland.

[quote author=Chyz* link=topic=834202.msg9851565#msg9851565 date=1325093141]Someone was given the challenge.Although, we may not agree in the way a particular group amongst the Igbo is trying to claim hegemony of all of Igboland, that is irrelevant, and we should put our wait behind that man.[/quote]We need a more seasoned leader. Preferably someone with a military background. I have nothing but respect for Ralph Uwaurike.

Let us continue this convo in Igbo. Gini ka i chere?

[quote author=Rhino.5dm link=topic=834197.msg9851598#msg9851598 date=1325093399]Sit back relax unzip my trouser, Grabs my pop corn and a can of coke to watch this new series tagged"Boko Haram vs Ndigbo"  Season1. Turn of the lights . . .LETS GO THERE!!

P.S
No more crossing to Ore/Shagamu this time around, else the spirit of black scorpion shall arose. [/quote]Is it not Yoruba preachers who are threatening fire and brimstone?   

Where does Ndigbo fit into this scenario?