₦airaland Forum

IGBOS BY PROF TEKENA TAMUNO

I always insist that the greatest merit for Igbos in recent times is *not simply the advent of the internet on the surface!* _It is the social media aspect of the internet_ which now allows independent thinkers to *challenge the lies of history.* In Nigeria, our little corner of the world, *through social media presentations,* scholars are now debunking the false stories perpetuated by the Yoruba press *(with the help of the north who has always been paranoid about Igbos).* The Yorubas took advantage of their civil war take-over of the press *to rewrite the history of Nigeria as it favors them...,* and if you believe them, *"every post independence success in Nigeria was Awolowo influenced"* and every problem in Nigeria was *"instigated by Azikiwe, Ojukwu and the Igbos!"*"The truth is reluctantly coming out"* and _Igbos are gradually being vindicated!!!_ Read this masterpiece below by *Professor Tekena Tamuno, a great historian and former Vice - Chancellor University of Ibadan.* By the way, he's not an Igbo man!��
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"IGBO ARE THE MAKERS OF MODERN NIGERIA" -- PROF TEKENA TAMUNO

The problem with writing skewered history is that it equally misinforms its target: Kayode Esho was a great jurist, but Akunne Oputa was the "Socrates" of the Supreme court. Enahoro was a young editor, but Azikiwe made him that young editor with Osita Agwuna as his assistant, at his paper, the Southern Nigerian Defender in Ibadan, where my own father incidentally started as a rookie before shortly abandoning journalism for the stable berth of the civil service. The myth of Awolowo as building the first this and that does not match the documented economic history of the period.

Between 1954 and 1964, Eastern Nigeria was described as "the fastest growing economy in the world," by the Harvard Review; faster than China, faster than Singapore, and all the so-called "Asian Tigers." Awolowo is often credited with "free education".

But no one yet has pointed out any surviving school buildings of the period built by Awo. But all over the East there were quality schools built by the various communities using the Town Development Unions from 1954, and acessing the matching grants of the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation. And this was the East with the poorest revenue resources of any of the regions. The Mbaise secondary school exists, the National High School Okigwe exists, the Ngwa High school exists, the Enyiogugu Grammar School exists, etc. These were solid schools built all over the East with matching goverment grants. But where are the buildings of the Modern schools in Western Nigeria? They do not exist. They were makeshift.

The Catholic church forced the Azikiwe government from its scholarship program, but it is also on record, that the Eastern government was the only government in the world that invested 45% of its revenues in education. The East had the highest number of schools; the highest school enrollment; the broadest penetration of medical services; and the best modern road network in west Africa.

Indeed if we look carefully, the only public hospitals and most of the schools still standing in the East today, at various stages of run down are the schools and hospitals built by Azikiwe/Okpara. Every division of the East had a Joint Hospital as part of the Eastern Medical services. So it is often claimed Awo built the first television station; the first sky scraper, and the first Sports stadium, the liberty stadium in Ibadan. Well, these are prestige or white elephant investments.

First, the Eastern Outlook, the government paper of Eastern Nigeria was the first newspaper established by any government in Nigeria, and it was of such quality and impact that the literacy level of Easterners, and the depth of public information retailed by Outlook was without compare. This is besides the fact that Western Nigerian Broadcast Services, WNBS-TV founded in 1958 only preceded the ENBC-TV founded in 1959, by only seven months. But Outlook preceded Sketch by about 15 years.

Now Azikiwe built the Onitsha Modern market, the first modern mall or trade emporium in West Africa. Onitsha was effectively Dubai before Dubai. People traveled all over Africa, from as far as the Congo and Sudan and Egypt, to come and buy and trade in Onitsha. The economic impact of this was humonguos. So, give me the vast Onitsha modern market over Cocoa House in Ibadan. Azikiwe built the first Nigerian University at Nsukka with the first School of Law, the first School of Engineering, the first Business School; the first school of journalism, and the first school of music and performance, etc. By the time its first graduates took the Nigerian civil service exams in 1963, everybody began to raise the cry of "Igbo domination" starting with Akintola and Ayo Rosiji. Give me UNN over Liberty stadium.

Azikiwe began the first modern library system in West Africa. The East had a system of city libraries starting with the very modern Ziks Library in Enugu. I Literally grew up in the Umuahia Divisional Library. These libraries were built all over the East. Schools in the East were built with libraries. Moreover the Eastern Nigerian Library Board had a sysem of rural amd mobile libraries. There was nothing like it anywhere else in Nigeria: kids having library cards and able to borrow or order books from the public library. Give me the the first library over the first TV. I do not by this mean that Awolowo did not make his contributions, but the regular skewering of the facts, and angling of contemporary national narratives often makes it seem these days like the greatest contributor to the founding of Nigeria and its development is Awolowo and the Yoruba, when the actual facts speak differently.

The great Ibadan historian, Tekena Tamuno, was unambiguous in stating once at NIPPS, Jos, that "the Igbos are the makers of moderm Nigeria. When they abandoned their project, Nigeria collapsed." We must remind Nigerians, particularly Igbo children, daily of these fact, to achieve what Achebe called " a balance of stories." And that also means we must read beyond the surface of things. Babarinsa's Guardian essay is angled carefully to maintain a revisionist narrative. And that is to be always challenged, however innocent it might seem.

Even today, most Yoruba think that Awolowo founded the Universities of Ibadan and Lagos. No one has reminded them that it took Azikiwe's pressures for a university for Nigeria, in his meeting with Arthur Richards in 1946, that led to the cobstitution of the Eliot commision and subsequently the founding of the University College, Ibadan. This fact is even clearly conveyed in Michael Crowder's eponymous book, The Story of Nigeria. Nsukka was Azikiwe's critique of what he felt to be the conceptual limitations of Ibadan. The University of Lagos was the result of NCNC's ideological contributions to the federal policy during the ill fated coalition government with the NPC. UNILAG was an NCNC project, shepherded by Aja Wachukwu as minister for education. Even the great UNILAG in her 50th anniversary failed to mention Prof Eni Njoku as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the university, a man that layed the solid foundation of what made Unilag is today.

These facts must be made known and put as forcefully accross as possible. Again, until the lion tells his own story, the story of the hunt will belong to the hunter.

*GOD BLESS EVERY UNBIASED MIND*

AKOKWAnaOHAIGIR:
Eleanya

Ejezie

AKOKWAnaOHAIGIR:
Nwannem nwoke, abukwam onye umukegwu

Ndi be onye?

AkinseteK:
Honda CR-V 2007 Automatic White
Very neat Body.
Scratch-free interior.
The engine is super sound.
Transmission is smooth.
Suspensions are okay.
Ac is dead cold.
Reason for Selling: Owner is relocating

#2,500,000

Slightly Negotiable

Call/Whatsapp 09083216987

Location: Isolo Lagos

2M

Ok

Otuegbe:
Good.
Rotimi Amaechi. Partly Yoruba, partly Igbo.
Yoruba =1
Igbo =1

Buhari wise man :this na

He's a pure ikwerre bred...that part of ikwerre that speaks undiluted igbo and his wife is from Anambra. There's no yoruba ancestry in his blood.

Same way Jonathan Goodluck bears "Azikiwe "

AKOKWAnaOHAIGIR:
Do you have 06, same colour 3 rows

Abum onye umukegwu

icon007:
By snapping and uploading you are now speaking to entertain...contrary to ur line....

I need to debunk his many trolling.

I was looking for a xiaomi right?

FuckEveryday:
You wey no b troll, make person use him money buy car for u, den ship all the way to Nigeria...Na your type Wen the car reach, you go say u no like am again

Troublesome customers will not see us this month

It's ain't my intention to condescend to your myopic disposition but I will indulge you this once to address your ignorance since even your nomenclature stipulates you're an inconsequential character.

That's been addressed. 95% of cars are bought from the lot upon inspection. In your infantile delusion you suppose my money might not disappear or the vendor underliver or even the ship capsizing with the vehicle?

You suppose I threw my life savings to a man I have never met with no guarantee and security? Him bringing down the vehicle down and reselling if I don't buy and I sending money to him on " trust" which is a risk?

BTW...amdman is a great guy. Argument is just to address infantile delinquent behavior.

[quote author=FuckEveryday post=109850160][/quote]This thread is for serious car buyers not for trolls

aboyaji:
You like how your life dey so?

I am here to buy car not to play in the rain with you kiddo.

amdman:
2008 Ford Escape XLT (4 cylinder)

No faults reported

207k miles

N2.2m

Can I pay the cash after vehicle is in Nigeria?

1.8m

This one don cook his village deity chop.

onumadu:
@First bolded, if only you know who you are talking to...
Nwanne I don't blame you. One thing you must keep in mind is that some of us Igbo are UNBUYABLE.
By that I mean that neither Biafra agitators nor their opponents in Nigeria can buy my type. Believe it or not.

As for 90% of Igbo supposedly supporting the madness of sit at home, I used to believe that too until I visited home to see things for myself.
If you are Igbo, you would know that ikwe na aka gafee aka oburu njide!
No Igbo with means of livelihood in South East supports this madness. Quote me!

Thrash!

It's even the ibo traders and business owners spearheading it . They have enforcement units responsible for adherence.

Nevertheless you may be one efulefu sent to snitch on your People.

Please while thinking of business to invest in, kindly get a dollar account for it because by June Buhari will reduce the value of that money by 50% through naira depreciation against dollar.

If Nigeria was playing against Niger, trust me Buhari will support Niger.

cococandy:
Maybe your loving mother should have chopped off your peniss as a way to show she cares for you. Doofus

Lauretta Ugochi...keep Quiet.

Moferere:
Of all custodies on earth, don't ever pray to be in DSS custody.
The injury is not physical, but will manifest in few years.

Know this and know peace

Like Mandela?

You're a good writer. I am enjoying every bit of the story. Please don't think everyone will comment, but bank on the views. People are following.

Continue

The demon that witnessed your blood covenant has been promoted. In other words your dilemma has just began.

All this to stop electronic voting and transfer of results.

sofiscatedmoron:
Only Igbo riverians

They're not Ibos. They're Bini descendants.

Arrewa:
The new N15 billion 2.5KM Kwari Market flyover in Kano is on its way to ousting the 1.7KM Murtala Muhammad flyover also in Kano as the longest overland Flyover in West Africa.

Niger Delta oil money while Ogoni oil spillage is yet to be cleaned with its attendant environmental degradation not forgetting the recent spillage in Bayelsa which unfortunately the government is blaming it on vandalism and oil theft.

While the people of the Niger Delta groan on neglect and deprivation a northern state that contributes nothing to the coffers of the nation is executing gigantic projects no wonder the agitation for resources control and VAT collection.

Enough of using phony population figures to steal resources of its owners using they flawed sharing formula.

This particular bill, he can sign it even in the dream without recourse but anything to enshrine transparency in the system there must be a negative posturing from him.

Quota system President.

The process of sacking an employee in a government office is a difficult one. At least 3 queries plus panel constituted to review your case.

Private coy? Oga go write sack letter sharply.

You get demoted or transferred in government office.

2.1m

lordm:
PDP will not give it's ticket to a South easterner being that they don't come out to vote in numbers and democracy is a game of numbers.

Because northern INEC bosses usually tie the noose around easterners during elections and allow free rigging up north.