₦airaland Forum

Below is a conscise response of my dear friend,Dr Iheanyi,to a rabid Igbo hater on the backpage of one of the elite dailies. Read and be enlightened my people. Such wisdom should be our rear guard at all times:

"An apprenticeship system that ensures that the young are infused with the skills and ethics that ensure their survival in the crocodile-infested world of business. Children are also encouraged to go to school and get a formal education. The result is that the Igbo states are always top of the heap in all educational endeavours in Nigeria. Meanwhile among those who love themselves and are unselfish, 14 million of their children are out of school with most begging in the streets as an apprenticeship system. Girls rarely go to school and young men have no future and end up as killers-for -hire for their loving and unselfish elite.

The Igbo are always politically naive and come out in large numbers to compete for the same positions. For that reason , they shall not be supported for the Presidency. However, in the last PDP convention, up to 12 people from the same ethnic stock competed for the post of Presidential candidate and the Igbo helped choose one of them as the candidate. He promptly turned around to chose one of them as his VP without consulting the leaders of the group. When the leaders demurred , they were promptly accused of self-hate and ingratitude to the man they installed with their votes.
When these disunited Igbo people mange to cobble up some unity and vote for one of the “wise ones “en block, they are piloried for putting all their political eggs in one basket. So, they can never really win. The failures of Nigeria clothe themselves in contrived wisdom, in order to try to explain away their disastrous existence in this Zoo. They become the oracles who cannot see their own futures but are obsessed with reading the tealeaves of others. So ,please let the oracle be. For him , the ability to produce a President for the Zoo , is the greatest thing to happen to his people , even if they live no better than their starving cattle. And,by the way, in this poverty capital of the world , the Igbo are the least poor, while the more united ones are poorer than poverty itself.
Hope you are better educated now."

nnamdijonathan:
The list talks about megacities of the "future". Based on the definition of a "megacity", Lagos is already a megacity waiting for other African cities to catch up.

" A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population in excess of 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2014 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban agglomerations having over 10 million inhabitants".

Ezigbote Olodo! Cities of reckoning in the next 13 years. With the economic and ratings nosedive of Nigeria since the lifeless pestilence took over,the nation is losing all positive integers. Of course I deliberately mentioned Lagos to drag you out and you didn't disappoint! Anyways,the purpose was to put Igbo cities in focus as regards such projection in the future. Igbo is one,from igbanke to Porthacourt.QED!

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/these-are-the-megacities-of-the-future. Megacities and Financial giants of the next 13 years. Only Luanda (Angola) and Dar es Saalam(Tanzania) are the projected African cities. No mention of Lagos with all the hype or the Micro metropolis called Accra. Can there ever be a point where an Igbo city,say Onitsha or Enugu can be projected as mega city? All things are possible! Think Igbo! Speak Igbo! Promote Igbo! Build Igbo and transfer Igbo!

Abagworo:
Those artifacts were unearthed at Igbonkwo rechristened Igboukwu. Nobody has established their origin, who buried them and the name of the old lost civilization. Some biased scholars linked it to Nri but Nri has not oral or proven history of such.

**sneers at this agadi na agwo ofe**. Ana akogheri! See what being an Okoroawusa lackey and heavy dose of zombiesim has turned a supposedly full grown man into! Tueh!

Historical Friday continues: Below are excavations from Igbo Ukwu. There were more than hundred of such complex artefacts excavated from a single site. The complexity of these materials points to a thriving civilization lost either to antiquity or buried for other purposes. We are yet to scratch the truth of who we are. Based on anthropological dating,these artefacts were created at around Circa 900AD

prolog2:
You are a very good comedian, tell me since when the Oba of Benin wears a cross ?
Tell me which Benin bronze shows the Oba with anything which ressembles the outfit depicted in your work of fiction ?
You are not only a liar, you are also very dumb and you prey on people even dumber than you.
Declassify what I just said, baffon !
Besides, the part about "oghané" was written by one american art professor (she is still alive by the way) who was most likely refferring to Benin republic.

**Yawns** Noted and heard. Next!

prolog2:
Story, story, people will keep trying to derive glory for themselves by claiming to be superior to Benin. Benin doesn't need to claim anything because Benin is authentic. Waiting for the next story. The best doesn't need to derive recognition from claiming to be better than the second best, the second best needs to claim to be better than the best in order to gain fake glory.

Never mind,Mr Bini wizard. I know any fact or news that projects Igbo glory cuts you deep into your dark and hateful soul. Take heart. Igbo man did not write those. Specifically, those were declasiffied Intel from the Royal Courts of Spain. I understand that fact did not agree with your Igbophobic views. Take heart! More anguish is coming your way.

ChinenyeN:
No one should be seriously quoting Maduewesi, please.

Well,if you have a problem with Maduewesi,kindly send go and sort it out. He didn't write that info. That piece of history were declassified Intel from the Spanish Royal Courts depicting a glorious history of years gone by. They are more than 600 years old and are verifiable. Besides,there are plenty available documented records of Nri prominence and network beyond the shores of Africa. The endorsement of Ogene(Nri Priest) in coronation of Kings in around the forest belt of Nigeria and beyond are well known facts. I shared the info for the benefit of the new generation like myself who are left completely without history and knowledge of the past. Ndewo!

A bit of ancient history already nearly lost.. The Igbo: Did the King of Spain send a delegation to Eze Nri Namoke?
.
Before Salvestro could say he did not know, a third voice broke the chamber's hush.
"King of Nri! I bring greetings from Fernando the Catholic, King of all Spain. I am Don Diego of Tortosa. the servant of my King .... "
The two men stared up in amazement at Diego, who stood poised on the edge of the pit, one arm folded across his chest, the other extended co lend emphasis to this peroration.
"Sire, my King bids me salute you in his place. I have traveled here to beg of you a Beast, called Ezodu in these parts, for it is the wish of my King to have him and so it is my wish too that this be done. Thus and therefore I come before you, King of Nri .
“These"- he pointed at the two men staring up at him but did not look at them - "are my companions, called Salvestro and Bernardo. They are from ….. I do not know where they are from, but they are my servants. And I am Diego of Tortosa, servant of Fernando the Catholic, King of all Spain ..."
He paused to draw breath, then his voice sounded again.
" King of Nri! I bring greeting, from Fernando the Catholic. I am Don Diego of Tortosa, the servant of my King, the King of all Spain . . . ,"
.
.
" ... and so, sire, it is this manner and for these reasons that I bring greetings from Fernando the Catholic, King of all Spain. I am Don Diego of Tortosa, as I mentioned before, the servant of my King, who bids me salute you in his place. So greetings, King of Nri, from the King of all Spain, whose wish it is to give a beast to Pope Leo the Holy Father, our Pope ... "
REFERENCE:
The Pope’s Rhinoceros by By Lawrence Norfolk (Fiction) Published 1996. This book was inspired by what the Ambassador of the Oba of Benin told the King of Portugal.
.
The Story Goes:
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The negro ambassador of the king of Benin informed the king of Portugal that about GOO or 700 miles east of Benin, there was a mighty king, called Ogane, who was held, by the pagan chiefs of that country, in the same veneration that the Pope was held in by the sovereigns of Europe. They further stated that, at the death of the king of Benin, his successor had to send ambassadors to Ogane, with presents, desiring to be confirmed in his kingdom, as the lawful heir. The pontiff Ogane sent him, in return, a staff and a brazen helmet, for a sceptre and crown; and also a brass cross for the neck. If the king did not receive these ensigns of his dignity, he would not be regarded as king by the people. This Ogane was never seen; a silk curtain being always suspended before him; and, when the ambassador was about to retire, a foot was protruded from the curtain, to which foot they would do homage, as to a holy thing.
Saturday Magazine, No. 417 Supplement, December 1838.
.
.
So the King of Spain on hearing about Ogane, sent his own men to get a beast from Eze Nri.
Credit to Dr Emeka Maduewesi. The above update was from his wall.

pazienza:
Yes! The Aworis are not different from the Ikwerre. The Ijebus are not different from the Ekpeye/Ogba. Those groups use to reject Yoruba tag.
The Egun (Badagry) are not Yoruba at all. Their language is distinct, yet they grudgingly accept the Yoruba tag today.

If the Yorubas lost a civil war, the Awori would be chanting their Bini connections a more today, like the Anioma are doing. Heck, the Oba of Lagos even had the audacity to tell Yorubas that Lagos is of Bini ancestry recently.
Ijebus were struggling with accepting the Yoruba tag as early as 1950s, if Yoruba lost a civil war, they would try to maintain their distinctiveness and hype more on their supposedly Sudan origin. Till today, Ijebus don't accept they are descendants of Oduduwa, yet Oduduwa is supposed to be the unification factor for Yorubas.
Eguns are to Yorubas, like Ogonis were to us in Ph area. If the war didn't occur, Ogonis would occasionally not mind being called Ibos. While still maintaining their Ogoni ethnicity and language.

All these things are a fall out of Nzeogwu coup and the civil war. It changed our course of history, and we are here to pick up the pieces. Wallowing on ifs will not help us. Holding tenaciously on a past that nolonger exists, will not help us too. Our best deal is to work with what we have, and what we currently have is SE and Obigbo.

When the Qing dynasty fell to the British, and the Manchurians who ran it, became subject to resentment by the Han Chinese tribes. Many Manchurian became deeply involved in identity crisis. They did many things to deny their origin, to fit into the new Han Chinese controlled China.

This phase of our history would also past, but the more we refuse to work with the current reality, but instead cling unto a past that is no longer obtainable, the more we prolong this phase of our history.

South East and Obigbo only? The compliant parts of Anioma nko? Or do you also exclude Anioma in your equation? At least,there are more Igboid Aniomas today than a decade ago.

hammer6F:
On your second paragraph, If Igbo had visionary leaders who put the interest of Igbo before their personal ambition then we would not be having conversation.

Believe it or not Yoruba coastline was no different to Igbo coastline. Much of Yoruba were landlocked. The yoruba, like the Igbo were not coastal dwellers.

This is why u here story like Lagos is owned by Bini, Ijaws in Ondo and Itsekiri etc.

However, swiftly after independence, whilst Igbo leaders like Aguyi Ironsi and Nnamdi Azikiwe were busy forming imaginary brotherhood with people they dont know.

Yoruba leaders like Awolowo were busy unifying the Yoruba ethnic group and mobilising the different clans, right up to what was known as the mid-west.

Ironically, our dear Anioma brothers were willed to the western region and subsequent mid-west region. That speaks volumes about the type of leaders Ndiiigbo have and the origin of our present predicament.

Even the Ijaw, made moves to unify their various clans when people like Adaka Boro initiall seceded from Nigeria.

Guess wat, it was the same cluesless Igbo leaders of that age that fought tooth and nail to bring them back into the fold of Nigeria.

Excuse me sir? Which mid-west do you speak? By all means,read up and quit this amok-running here. M.I Okpara,Zik and Igbo elements in NCNC saw to the creation of Mid Western Region first to bring Western Igbos closer home and to relieve the minorities there already being strangulated by Awo and his octopus politics. Enough of your self loathing.

OMANBALA1:
Didn't you guys say he is not Igbo ?

I do not know who you refer to sir. Perhaps you take me for someone else. That he differ sharply with other forumites on the Igbo denials and inclusion in River State especially did not make him less of Nwa Afo.We all disagree to agree.

pazienza:
Obi1kenobi post:



Glad we both agreed that OBJ presidency yielded no tangible improvement in the living standard of the average Yoruba man.

Third class standard poor infrastructures that would all be gone in four years time. I'm not too perturbed




We all know that Biafra or no Biafra, the current monthly "Bambiyala" to Abuja by state governments is not sustainable on the long run. Nigerian crude oil reserves are depleting, crude while still going to be important might not necessarily be able to fetch this current high revenue in the future, the Nigerian population is growing at geometric progression. Even as we speak, many states can nolonger meet up with their monthly obligations with their allocations, they are pilling up debt and are oweing workers backlog of salaries, yet Workers are groaning under the pressure of declining purchasing power of the naira, hence the current clamour for increase in minimum wage. There is also issue of restructuring with likely increase in derivation for ND states, which would still out more strain on monthly allocations of states.
No matter how you look at, the current Abuja system is going to implode, and states would be forced to wean of crude oil. It's a matter of when, and not if.
So, as you can see, continual stay in Nigeria does not necessarily provide immunity to the possible issues young Biafran nation would face.
Why delay the inevitable?



If there ever a people likely to shake off Bad leadership when isolated out of the Nigerian system, it is Ndiigbo. We don't tolerate man imposed suffering very well. We are very rebellious by nature. The likes of T. A, OUK, Uba , etc, will not survive in Igbo nation. They are currently hiding behind Abuja, because the average Igbo youth sees Abuja as the primary cause of our problems while our local political leaders are seen as secondary causes. For now, all efforts seem to be aimed at the perceived primary cause. Once the primary cause is out of the way, and the average Igbo youth condition didn't improve. It would only be a matter of time before they turned on the home front political leaders.

We don't have any structural weaknesses in leadership at home.
During the regional system, Eastern region had the most progressive leadership in the country. We were also the most peaceful region, as we should great dexterity and diplomacy in managing the Eastern minorities. In contrast, Awolowo and Akintola poor grasp of diplomacy, led to the western region implosion.
The North you are praising had Tiv riots break out. They are not any better at political leadership and diplomacy than Ndiigbo. A simple look at how the three major groups ran their regional governments would prove this.

When you lots speak of lack of political structures in Igboland, you lots only display your poor grasp and understanding of the Igbo political consciousness, you are merely out of desire to be seen as being "detribalized" echoeing distorted half truths and falsehoods about us, that our detractors pander about.

I would suggest you go read things fall apart By Achebe, to understand how cordinated and sophisticated, Igbo political system is.

What happened to Ndiigbo is that after the war, we lost control of leadership selection process in Igboland, as Hausa-fulani and Yoruba gang up, slowly infiltrated us with dredges of our society, as leaders, having empowered them and made them answerable to them, and not to us. These individuals also depend on Abuja for sustenance and protection. They wouldn't survive in Biafra. Angry Igbo youths would die just to get hold of them, if they try nonsense in Biafra. The likes of OUK,, Rochas, etc. These are dredges of our society who all were errand boys of Northern bourgeoisies not long ago before coming to power, and still remain so, even though in power.

Igbo political philosophy is simple, it's called OHACRACY. The masses select leaders who only serve as figure heads, and would remain intact so long as they remained answerable and accountable to the masses. They are quickly rebelled against once perceived to have turned against the masses.
When you see armless IPOB youths placing themselves in front of armed Nigerian security personnels, tempting them to shoot, you get a clear picture of what would happen to Igbo political leaders should they fail to deliver in Biafra. The people would rebel, and we are suicidal in rebellion. No government would survive that, the opposition would win.

South Sudanese is exactly what Multiethnic Biafra Kanu was championing for would degenerate to, which is why I'm strongly against it. A mostly homogeneously Igbo Biafra would be strong enough to weather whatever storm immediate post Nigeria Biafra might throw at us.

Once again,you delivered what should constitute State of the Union rebuttal! Aside that Igbos practice a higher version of democracy,our internal cohesion is very solid. For instance,Town unions are the major drivers of development in Igbo land.Infact,towns contend to outdo each other in internal development till date. Introduction of statehood stifled and corrupted Igbo noble values. If our town unions have a hundredth of the funds at the disposal of the states,they will do more. This method of development is not replicated in any other region.Even the vigilantes in our communities and villages provide better security.I for one cannot recall the last time i heard of theft or any criminal attempted breaking into my family country home.
Fact is there are lots revisionism,half truths,scare mongering and deliberate propaganda assaults on Igbos and some of our people caught the bug hence why we are here battling wiith our own people to declutter their mindset.

Hollywood award winning Chiwetel Ejiofior
Igbo billionnaires club
IDE Aguata..
A young man from Nri.Circa late 18th century

pazienza:
How can you blame Igbo issues in national politics on Igbos alone?
Igbo had always stood as a block in national politics. Factors beyond our control , mostly emanating from resentment other Nigerians have towards us, had led to us often being sidelined in national politics.

The Northern Bourgeoisie and the Yoruba Bourgeoisie have conspired to keep the Igbo out of the scheme of things. In the recent transition when the Igbo solidly supported the PDP in the hope of an Ekwueme presidency, the North and South-West treated this as a Biafra agenda. Every rule set for the primaries, every gentleman´s agreement was set aside to ensure that Obasanjo, not Ekwueme emerged as the candidate. Things went as far as getting the Federal Government to hurriedly gazette a pardon. Now, with this government, the marginalistion of the Igbo is more complete than ever before. The Igbos have taken all these quietly because, they reason, they brought it upon themselves. But the nation is sitting on a time-bomb.https://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/yorubas-are-the-problem-with-nigeria-by-sanusi-lamido-sanusi-elombah-com.111348/

This was the current Emir of Kano words.
Currently, Atiku is being harassed into not buying into Igbo VP, by being told that an Igbo VP would generate resentment from Nigerians towards him. Notice the attempt by Yorubas to Igbonize Atiku candidature, the aim is simple, they are trying to appeal to the Igbo resentment ingrained in the very genetic make up of average Nigerians, and use it against Atiku,in such a way that Atiku would consider Igbo VP more of a liability, than an asset
They did the same to Agbaje in 2015 Lagos elections. Agbaje candidature was Igbonize to make it unappealing to other Nigerians in Lagos. Immediately Ambode fell out with Tinubu, Yorubas rushed and Igbonized Ambode too, to make him unattractive to average Yoruba persons.
You seem to not understand the dynamics at work in Igbo political dilemma in Nigerian politics.

You got it right.The quickest way to kill anything,policy,personality or idea in Nigeria is to "Igbonize" it and watch the spin doctors go into town to demonize it no matter how well thought out or laudable it may be. That is the Nigeria Igbos live in and thats the same Nigeria any Igbo man with a shred of sense must do all within his power to balkanize and burn to the ground.

horsepower101:
Nigeria will always remain tribalistic. That will never change. It’s was us igbos that didn’t realize this critical fact and we have paid dearly for it. We have to become very aggressive in the push for our interest. Stop giving a damn about other tribes before you do things. They have shown consistently that they don’t give a damn about us and are always willing to throw us under the bus to advance their own agenda.

THIS MUST STOP IN THIS GENERATION.

Tribalism is the very oil and life blood of Nigeria since the cross carpeting in Western House of Assembly in 1952.All and any Pan Nigerian dream died and remained so till date. Also from then until now,Igbos are the whipping child of the union and we have lost dearly for being forthright and steadfast for the truth.Being an evil contraption,others deride us and describe it as not being "politically savvy"! Whatever da f/uck that means! Now you see why it hurts some of us much when our own and other ethnicities try to make light of our plight and history or cast subtle aspersion in the process . Once upon a time on this thread,some so called Igbo forumites started another self-loating rubbish about Igbos being proud and all that without even showing a shred of evidence. When this is placed beside the excesses of other groups,you will discover we are learners in vices and villainy. Take it furthermore and you see why characters like Joe Igbokwe,Okoroawusa,Nwa Mkpi Ngige,OUK and the wasted lots who are lackeys to our detractors deserve to be burnt alive.
The north once again showed the rest of the country how atavistic politics the zoo deserved goes. They provide tacit and covert support to Boko Haram ,Herdsmen and the murderous almajiri mobs by using their nuisance value to appropriate more values.Can someone tell me if there has ever been recorded conviction of perpetrators of civil disturbances in the north by the mobs from 1945 till date? Even Sanusi has blood of Gideon Akaluka on his hands! But try just mere civil disturbance in Igbo land or South South and you see litters of trash talk everywhere! smh! Nigerians all subconsciously conceded defeat to Buhari in 2015 because they are all afraid of violence that may ensue in the north by the foot mobs if Buhari is not elected. This a verifiable and valid point. Meanwhile,the proliferation of underage voting and other irregularities in that election were enough to cancel the entire process or even force a rerun.
It is time to live,breathe and eat tribalism! No more gentleman in this union! At least,it will even assist to quickly implode this contraption faster than sissy peace talks.

horsepower101:
I wish to use this forum to make my position absolutely clear when it comes to Nigerian political matters. I am not a flip flopper.

1) I don’t give a damn of igbo presidency or vice presidency. Those are positions that has never brought real developments to any region that has held it. Prove me wrong.

2) I support IPOB. I want igbos to leave Nigeria. It will never be our home even in 1000years. Trust me, the Jews in Europe stayed 2000 years there but were never fully accepted. The holocaust finally forced them to get their own nation.

3) I want an Igbo only Biafra but it MUST be made up of igbophilic igbos not igbo deniers.

4) As long as igbos remain in Nigeria, I care that they are doing good economically in comparison to other groups and that we continue to use our resources to develop igboland. Simple.

Sad to say Igbos found themselves trapped in Nigeria. Given the size of their potentials and mandate,Nigeria is a crime against humanity on Igbos and all aspiring ethnicities. We all have seen sufficient evidence to support and note that a million presidencies do not and cannot engender genuine development and advancement in any section of this country. For a start,every single clause in the current 1999 constitution is an aberration and anti-human. I sincerely wish Nigerians will commit all the heat and intellect manifested since the run up to 2019 elections to discussing their existence and the future therefrom. Nigeria is done and buried. All the politicking only serves to validate and further entrench a dead system.

nnamdijonathan:
So you expect me to support nonsense because it involves Ndigbo? I hate being biased that is why I sound pro-Igbo sometimes and anti-Igbo other times. How can a person continue to live in denial? If u can, its fine but, I can't and I will always support the truth whether it is for or against Ndigbo

One again,I challenge you(not that you amount to a triffle I can call challenge anyways) to mention those truths in his waffle. You conveniently avoided that. If you can those twisted and deluded, vitriol he vomits truths then you are further much wasted than I thought. I merely followed the path of caution not to bust his follies strictly to avoid derailing all the efforts committed in these thread. If he wish to do a comparative studies of prehistoric Nigerian societies,let him open another thread and we meet him there and litter ourselves however it demands. As for you,quit living in your cocoon. You've been busted.

[quote author=nnamdijonathan post=71939213]So you expect me to support nonsense because it involves Ndigbo? I hate being biased that is why I sound pro-Igbo sometimes and anti-Igbo other times. How can a person continue to live in denial? If u can, its fine but, I can't and I will always support the truth whether it is for or against Ndigbo[iquote]One again,I challenge you(not that you amount to a triffle I can call challenge anyways) to mention those truths in his waffle. You conveniently avoided that. If you can those twisted and deluded, vitriol he vomits truths then you are further much wasted than I thought. I merely followed the path of caution not to bust his follies strictly to avoid derailing all the efforts committed in these thread. If he wish to do a comparative studies of prehistoric Nigerian societies,let him open another thread and we meet him there and litter ourselves however it demands. As for you,quit living in your cocoon. You've been busted.

nnamdijonathan:
not every Igbo man can handle the truth. God bless u one more time

You know I was very frontal in tackling and exposing your fake Igbo credentials when you first came up with that foolish decoy of a moniker. All along,I watched as you subtly rejoice gleefully at all anti -Igbo issues and at the same time trying to sound "belonged". Okay,oya review and tell me the truths contained in what that rabble rouser mentioned above. We all are watching as you gleefully keep clapping and chipping at his inanities. You fooled some but you didn't fool me. I detect your types from afar! Be proud and declare your rabid stock.Truth gbukwe gi there! Ezi Bida!

pazienza:
OK.
Focus on education.
SE seem to be ahead on education.

Well,not only in education but on almost all HD indices and projections. After a careful study of some key developmental features since 1999,i gave kudos to most South East governors given the historical and perpetual systemic deprivation they battle with to steer their states ahead. Just delve further into other areas of development and you will be shocked at what the results say.
However,on the above,Ebonyi truly has to buckle up.I recall Sam Egwu placed an embargo on street trading during his regime and that forced many children of school age into the classrooms.The results of that policy will start manifesting soon.I also hope Dave Umahi continued on same path.
Nice one!

PabloAfricanus:
You're naive and ignorant if you believed all that.
First off, you're going to have to grapple with the fact that someone had to pay for sending the Sardauna, Balewa and Zakariya to greet their ancestors prematuredly, that's for the Hausas.
For the Yorubas, someone had to pay for not only snuffing out the top Yoruba officer Ademulegun, but also Sodeinde. You have not even accounted for the bigger fish Akintola. Who made the coupists judges over the lives of leading Yoruba leaders?
You then have to account for Okotie Eboh to the Mid Western region.

Let's forget about the smaller fries who lost their lives too.

So where do you start from?

Context sir! Context! We have already trashed issues of the war including the fiction and fable of culpability and the revisionism therein. Feel free to go back 20 pages back and read up. That is assuming you do not already know the truth about events leading to the putsch and the fall out. Whichever way any honest analyst reviews the war,Nigeria was and remains worse off. Ultimately,war or a massive upheaval of such scale would have engulfed the country sooner than later considering the prevailing realities of that era. All are pointing to one reality most people are avoiding:Nigeria is huge blunder and mistake! Alios!

EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK "Poorlitics" authored by Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Chief Agha Egwu.

HANGOVERS OF WAR!

The Igbo suffered a sad and terrible fate for which sorrow and regret fills my heart, for nothing deserves that such a fate should befall any group of people, for any reason. However, there were simply no winners from that war. The hangovers from that war and the crimes committed still bedevil the whole nation. It is from that war that young men learnt about guns, armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism that holds our nation hostage today. Before the war, we hardly experienced such things. It is from that war that our young women learned to become prostitutes, seduced by soldiers, who had learnt the art of rape and orgies on the battlefront. After the war, the soldiers took their newfound lust all over the country, and gradually turned our young women in our universities into fledgling prostitutes. That tradition of prostitution by students in our universities remains with us until today, and may have even percolated down to secondary schools. Before the war, such things did not exist.

Worst of all, for the next forty years after that war, we were ruled by military men that experienced the depravity of war, and they ruled us with that brutality, with an army of young soldiers who were also soaked in the culture of war and abuse of power. Many of those military men, as they grew into wise sages, have recanted and regretted the horrible experiences and cannot even talk about them, but some are still adamant, still trying to justify the unjustifiable. If the events of 1966 to 1970 were to repeat themselves today, many Nigerian leaders would have been arraigned before the International Criminal Court of Justice. They would never have held the positions of authority that gave them the opportunity to corrupt our nation further.

War taught us the art of massive corruption; looted our country dry and turned us into a social desert in the midst of plenty. The war sucked the groundnut pyramids away from the North, filled the oil palm lakes of the East with blood and sent locusts to consume the cocoa fields of the West. That was how military adventurers sucked our nation dry with corruption and depravity, honed in the theatres of war. As a Governor, I watched the once fertile lands of my youth slowly convert into desert.

As I pondered the immoral desert that Nigeria became, I wondered how the oil that God planted in the South-South Zone could be used to water the rolling fields of the North, turn them into gardens of agricultural delight and plant industries of productivity across the South; but the garden remained an illusion, and the industries, remained pockets of urban squalor. Instead, Niger Delta militants went to the creeks to fight for oil and independence, whilst northern militants fought for Islamic territories and power. As they warred and killed, the party in Abuja continued, an oasis of modernity and civility, where our wealth was poured on a barren desert.

After the Civil War, in January 1970, Gowon declared, “No Victors, No Vanquished!” Certainly, there were no victors of that war. There were only the vanquished. We were all vanquished. Although, innocent Igbo people bore the brunt of the immediate carnage visited upon them, all Nigerians endured the ravages of a warped national psyche. It had destroyed our governance space, squandered our wealth, badly educated our children, emptied our hospitals of care and drugs, spread hunger amongst the majority of our people, the poor peasantry, and probably killed more people, since the war, than the food embargo on Biafra ever managed to kill. The past cannot be recovered, even if it could be atoned for. However, the most important question has always been, how could we pour the water of good leadership on the desert of corruption and lost opportunities in Nigeria?
...

PabloAfricanus:
Sooo why were those minorities not sympathetic to the Igbo cause after the war?
Going by your "facts" above, they should have remembered what benefits they gained from the Igbos and helped them recover right?

Let me give you a tidbit of history.
Do you have any idea the amount of carnage the Fulanis wrought in Hausa land?
Did you know Adamawa state of today was made up of lands forcefully taken from natives by mere contingent of Fulani invaders? Did you know Adamawa was even cut into two with one half going to Cameron and another going to Nigeria?
Did you know none of the Emirates across the length and breadth of the north has ever been ruled by the actual natives of those lands but only Fulanis?
Why have these natives never risen up in revolt against the very harsh and firm rule of the Fulanis?
Why are they still loyal to the Caliphate despite being ruled by an invader minority?

I will give you 5 reasons,
ability to apply the right amount of diplomacy,
ability to appeal to religious and cultural emotions ability to acquire and wield military force,
ability to play state politics,
political and economic benefits


Sadly these concepts are alien to silly id.iats like you.
You're making yourself out to be exactly what other ethnic groups think you are, a greedy landgrabber.

What exactly are you offering to them for allowing you carve them up as you wish?
What do they stand to gain by going with you and your wonderful plans?
Why did Balewa work for his Fulani lords despite the status of his people as slaves to the Bauchi emirate?
The Fulanis had something to offer, on a large scale.

You idi.ats on the other hand just about have nothing to offer yourselves, talk less of having remainders to offer a people who would suspect a gift from you without any ulterior motives.

Now what response do you expect when your motive is clearly sinister and devious?
Was this what Nnamdi Kanu had cooking?

So why were those minorities not sympathetic to the Igbo cause after the war?
The above question you asked cleanly betrayed your infantile disposition and non suitability for this discussion. You failed to advance any view or argument capable of advancing this discourse. I can as well be casting my pearls to a brood of swines!
You went ahead to compare a blood thirsty,immoral,uncivilized, unconscionable and ignoble lot like Fulani's to Igbos! Smh! We are eons apart in civilization and worldview. The Fulanis who are original and one of the majority ethnic groups in Guinea and Gambia today have been reduced to endangered species in their home country because of same immoral and unvilized tendency they exhibit here in Nigeria.Same fate await them here in due time.Take that to the bank. For you to eulogize such a despicable tendency also further betrayed your moral code and humane aspirations. Needless seeking to know your provenance. Little wonder Nigeria is a zoo and an irredeemable cesspit of evil.Damn pitiful,blundering shame of a shithole.

Bede2u:
the lack of tact is from u. shouting up and down and cursing me changes nothing.

80% of igbos in SE take ikwerre and anioma as igbo territories and will defend it with their blood. the rest of ur gibberish are just that....gibberish.

meanwhile learn how to talk b4 i get u banned for insults.

Bede.It is time to "jump and pass" this matter. Your points were made. I wish Pablo had engaged us all on a comprehensive history class and lessons to drive his points home. On the contrary,none came forth. Please allow this to pass. Ndewo.

Rgade:
Where??

Okpara Avenue Enugu. My plate of Nkwobi Or

Bede2u:
its simple...
1st there was the issue of south cameroon who felt they werent politically included....read their elites didnt get much appointments.

2nd in 1958 oil got discovered in ijaw and ogoni land and the dudes started scheming to secede. ofcourse aguiiyi ironsi as hos squashed their dreams and left them bitter and saying igbos are dominating

3rdly was how eyo ita lot out to zik in 1953

the rest is propaganda by ijaw and efik losers which sadly mixed with post-war yoruba/arewa propaganda to manufacture things that werent there.

can u imagine that the owners of ph (ikwere) which is easts largest city are complaining that govt didnt build schools or hospitals for them. lol if govt didnt build anything in ph, how did it become the largest city in east? why where ppl rushing there?

Unlike Yorubas and Hausa-Fulani overlords, Igbos are divinely gifted in MANAGING DIVERSITY.

You may compare how the Yorubas treated Western minorities to how Igbos treated Eastern minorities.

As long as the Western Region lasted, a non-Yoruba was never allowed to be the Governor or Head of Govt or Premier or Deputy Leader or Head of House of Chiefs or Mayor in Ibadan. (The non-Yorubas in Western Region were the Itsekiri, Edo, Ishan, Urhobo, Isoko, Western Igbo, etc)

The Igbos were so egalitarian that they allowed non-Igbos to occupy most of these positions FIRST. Eyo Ita was the very first Head of Govt of Eastern region at the same time when Adaka Boro was elected first SUG President of UNN (the only University in the Region); Alhaji Umaru Altine (who arrived Enugu as a Fulani cattle rearer!) was first Mayor of Enugu; the Obong of Uyo was first leader of the Eastern house of chiefs and Margaret Ekpo was the first woman to be elected into Eastern House of Chiefs and also the leader of the NCNC women's wing; The first Governor of the Eastern Region was an Ebonyi man; the last leader of Biafra was Phillip Effiong, and all the Provinces in Biafra had governors from the indigenous people.

The first Eastern industrial estates were sited in PH and Calabar (not in present SE); the first Eastern university was sited in Nsukka - one of the Northern-most parts of Eastern Region with its other campus in Calabar (now University of Calabar); the only cattle ranch created by Eastern Region was sited in Obudu (In contrast, Awo's govt sited every MAJOR institution in the core Yoruba areas).

Ndigbo treated the Eastern minorities so well, that Gowon and the British were sure that if a plebiscite were conducted in Eastern minority areas, less than 1/3 of the minorities would vote against Biafra. So, Gowon rejected all calls made by Ojukwu for plebiscite in the Eastern minority areas.
All mentioned above and many more are verifiable history. Also,Ogonis,Anangs and other splinter groups had vital and sensitive positions allotted to them just to ensure a foundation of genuine brotherhood was built. I am still waiting for someone with superior facts to show up

Bede2u:
he is yoruba

Whatever his provenance and circumstances of birth,i sincerely wish someone can boldly come up with these epic litany of crimes Igbos committed against the southern minorities.This must exclude the silly civil war orchestrated propaganda. I have read extensively on the governance of the Eastern Region and nothing exists there to indict the Igbos or the minorities.Eastern Region ran the most inclusive government in that era and the facts are available and will be posted on request.Yet,the phony story of Igbo crimes against Southern Minorities kept being bandied about. Something has to give to clear this cloud of danger once and for all.

PabloAfricanus:
Sorry, but you're a disgusting idia.t
Your naivete, lack of tact and outright silliness is frightening.
Are you for real? for real, real?
Like those unfortunate souls in those "territories" are just gonna fold their hands and watch you carve them up as you wish?
Just because you can or just because of some phantom igbonic divine duty?
Again you're a stupendously ignorant and disgusting id.iat.
I see your fellows here nailing down the realities on ground for your kith and kin and all you can come up with is a surefire strategy for utter defeat?
Have you given any thought to feelings and aspirations of the peoples in those "territories"?
Maybe they have valid reasons for the disdain and extreme suspicion they have for people from your enclaves?
I see, and I was thinking it's just standard tribalism. This shhh.ittt runs deeper than I thought.
You guys are nuts!
Some of you Igbos are destined to learn diplomacy the hard way.

Hopefully, the messiahs from your enclave do not adopt this mindset of yours.
Hopefully.

Hi Pablo. Tone it down. I and many here are glad you spoke up in defense of your people. Disregard whatever excesses embedded in Bede's update. I can detect very deep animosity and anger in every single letter of your rebuttal. I,just like many here sincerely do not know the underlying cause of these deep seated animosities from the minorities. I guess it is historical or cultural. May i genuinely appeal you take us through the historical basis as it were. The disdain and extreme suspicion you mentioned for emphasis. Do not forget the guy you quoted stated his personal opinion which does not in anyway represent the general opinion or any Igbonic divine duty. Please keep the conversation clean bro and lets really talk.

frankfrancis871:
IGBOS INVESTMENTS IN NASARAWA
Igbos own a reasonable amount of investments in Nasarawa (North as a whole), 15+ years ago 99.99999999% of shops in the market were controlled by Igbos.
Motorcycle, tractor and motor spare parts are 100% controlled by Igbos here, although some Igbos now train some local indigens. The indigens here are hardworking and ready to compete with Igbos but they can't.

Provision shops are 90+% controlled by Igbos although there are other tribes in it but Igbos are found in every nook and crannies (every and any area of Nasarawa) doing business.

Hotel business: Igbos are found here too, I don't know the actual number of hotels owned by Igbos but I'd give them 80%.

Agricultural sector: Yes we farm here in the north, like I said before most people here farm egusi etc. Afos (tribe) do agriculture business, Igbos do it too. Many Igbos do buying and selling like other tribes.

Many Igbos are landlords here and also land and shop owners

Igbos are involved in every and any business here, Igbos are very everywhere. We have meetings here e.g Igbo general meeting, states meeting and even the LGA meeting and we all have a King

I concur totally with you. I have a town man and a distant relative who lives in Lafia. He has lands and massive farms in Akwanga,Doma and Awe.I learnt his land runs into thousands of hectares. His is a net exporter of Egusi and yams to Niger Republic and Cotonou. His is not even anywhere near the one of the 100 richest OR influential Igbo men in Nassarawa states. He sends trailer loads of different foodstuff home every Xmas.
His case is a reflection of the Igbo phenomenon and industry that rattle other ethnicity. Guess what? That is a similar story of Igbos all over northern Nigeria. At the height of IPOB agitation last year,Kwankwaso appealed for caution and understanding because according to him,the worth of Igbo landed assets in Northern Nigeria is more that 7 trillion naira. Infact,Igbos have more wealth and land size bigger than the entire South East land mass. His revelation was instructive and clearly showed again the Nigerian dilenma on the Igbo question.Igbophobia is here to stay. Do you all recall the story of one Okonkwo and sons who settle in Kano in 1929? It was no fable.Chief Felix Okonkwo himself was made a member of Northern House of Chiefs in 1953.
As a youngster,i used to spend my long vacations in Jos.One of the most modern markets in Nigeria used to be in Jos.99% of the tenants were Igbos.The public address system play Igbo songs all day. The jihadists bombed the market in the year 2000.That alone crippled many Igbos and led to the death of Plateau state economy which they are yet to recover from till date. Just like in Nassarawa,Igbos even owned more properties and wealth in Jos than any other northern city except Kano and Kaduna. The major hotels,best houses,best estates,all markets and major businesses were owned by Igbos. There was even a locality in Jos called Apata which is a miniature Onitsha and a similitude of Sabon Gari in Kano. Igbo songs are routinely played in churches and Igbo programmes air regularly in major radio and TV stations. The sheer population of vibrant Igbos and the wealth they command in Plateau State also presents another dilemma to the caliphate. Many Igbos have won councillorship elections in Jos Metropolis. Here above is Nigeria we all wished will become possible.As it stands,that Nigeria is dead and buried.

pazienza:
We were all here when Amaechi was furious with GEJ for granting Abia State her disputed oil wells Rivers state claimed.
Amaechi showed his true colors, when he asked GEJ, if "they" (Rivers) are now Biafrans (Igbos).
In essence he was subtly reminding GEJ that it is only Igbos that her oil wells had been agreed to be stripped of, by the Nigerian government. GEJ giving those oil wells to Abia State, is akin to giving Rivers people, the Biafran treatment.
Recall how Mammar Nasir boundary adjustment committee in 1976 took away Oil producing parts of old Imo state Now called Egbema and Obigbo and added to Rivers state.

But today, whenever it's convenient for Amaechi to escape Igbo criticism, he tells us that he is Igbo, and gullible Igbos would be too blind to see through this charade.
Amaechi claim Igbo, yet he is the minister of transport under whose regime a railway scheme was being proposed that totally skipped SE. Under his regime, SE AIIA has been left to rot while PH airport keeps receiving all the attention needed.

Ndiigbo, Iberibe Anyi ehiena nne .

Nwanne. You are visibly angry. Tone it down a bit. Personally,i know lots of efforts being made by people in both end of the divide to unite and present a common Igbo front. This however did not cancel out all the issues you raised.Lots of damage was done by our detractors.I look at this matter in two ways. Let us not perpetuate their plans by ourselves. I once again appeal you tone it down a little. Let us adopt an all encompassing approach to the relationship with South South Igbos who are still battling with identity crises. As many that genuinely identify with us(there are many like that already),we shall embrace and accept while the work goes on.. I also totally understand the effects of the ambiguity in political allocation,yet culturally and in matter of provenance,the work should be sustained. Nothing done in anger ever qualifies as a standard in the long run. Amarabe is our sister from that area. Ezepromoe is another.Many more are viewing and following this thread. This is a Pan Igbo thread.While there are misguided elements in Ika,sizable numbers are steadfast in their Igbo conviction.One of my closest family friend is from Akumazi. They breath,eat and represent Igbo all day. Recall that Cjrane,Osita Mordi and Bankesmalls here are all Ike but proudly Igbo. Very few poeple are more cerebral(Cjrane) and knowledgable about Igbo history(Osita Mordi),outspoken (Banke).There are many more like them. This issue is too delicate to be approached in anger.

HopeAtHand:
@bolded, at a point, I got disillusioned with NL, but I'm here now.

Ikwerre and Igbo obviously fell from same language and cultural tree. This isn't politics bro but reality.

In other words,based solely on your submission above,Ikweerre are now Igbos? Meanwhile,avail us of Igbo crimes against Ikwerre during time of the defunct Eastern region.Let us set the records straight,seperating facts from fiction.