₦airaland Forum

Dede1:
@ Poster

The answer to the question is capital negative affirmation. There is nothing that would have attracted Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Nupe to the so-called Niger Delta that Igbo lands do not have. The only common attraction is termed crude oil.

And even with draconian boundary adjustment policy adopted by the federal government of Nigeria, primarily to cede crude oil producing areas in Igbo land to the minorities, Igbo land has much crude oil as does the so-called Niger Delta, if not more.

I know there is oil in Igboland. Thanks for helping us understand how much and when it all began.
My question though is, to what extent should the Igbos care about injustice in delta or anywhere in Nigeria. Shouldn't we just join the feast and make hay? We all know that no tribe can out-compete  the Igbo in any area. The only thing (historically) setting us back (at least when compared to what others have done in Nigeria), is our addiction to fairness and progress. Believe me a lot of Igbos will come out of this discussion "wiser".

Dede1:
@Ibime

Please come on, my friend Ibime. You know as well as I do that by 1964, the only functioning crude oil well in Oloibiri was not pumping more crude oil than the crude oil well in Owaza, Asa County Council. The pipe lines that fed Okirika refinery ran from Oliobiri as well as Owaza and Bori.

What is it about this Ijo crude oil crap? In fact, the last time I checked, the onshore crude oil production in Imo State alone trumps those of Rivers or Bayelsa States.

How could all Ijo people agitate for region when most of the top government functionaries were Ijo?  It must be recalled that more than three regional ministers were Ijo, including the attorney-general.

This thread is really educating and informing! Go on guys!
I have always advocated vigorous debate about ALL issues in Nigeria. A lot of lies have been bandied through the years and they have been accepted as truth. You may wake up to find out that the person whom you thought was your oppressor might actually be your victim!

@Invisible (Igbo masquerade)

invisible!:
You are saying this as if that will 'authomatically' solve all our problems?

I wish you can use 10% of your "patriotic zeal" to respond to comments like this:

jimmyjam:
as it is now yar adua most likely habours a lot of resentment for the igbos because of what they did to his father and his fathers contemporaries.

what im trying to say is that igbo most likely wont produce the next president, it most likely will be edo, south south i.e warri, port hourcourt or akwa ibom axis or middlebelt.

Reserve enough energy to explain it to your children why they are slaves in a country that hate them. Don't try to convince me. My mind is made up. I know I won't let my own children think like yours.
Then again, comments like the one above convinces me in no uncertain terms that there will be another country carved out that space for sure.

naijaking1:
So, wealth, mineral resources and oil are no longer the driving forces for the Niger-delta? Just keep shifting the goal post of this discussion as you like. You do understand that we existed before oil, during oil, and we will do even better after oil is gone. I like to see a purely Ijaw nationalistic discussion devoid of oil. Even when somebody on this particular thead had said Igbos wanted to steal and control their oil, you agreed.

My brother, if you see a division that did not claim neglect in the former eastern Nigeria, please let me know. Rivers, Opobo, Nsukka, Owerri, and even Afikpo, the list went on. Why did you think you and you alone deserved special consideration?

I sympathize you on any personal loss you or your family might have suffered in the 50s and 60s, but i thought the street was named after Mbonu Ojike, the famous journalist, independence fighter, and politician? I lived at Ekpo street myself in Enugu, and I never questioned it.There is no society in this World that doesn't have minorities and majorities. The key is doing the will of the majority and protecting the rights of the minority.

Sure we can devolve power to as little a population as possible; so small communities that co-habited with each others before the war have become "nationalities"--- ikwerre nation, ndoki kingdom, garamtu republic, ukwa republic, banana bende republic, etc.

So much devolution, because some how they think they will recieve a direct portion of the federal cake(and sometimes they have), but that doesn't fool anybody.
When the oil dries up(and soon it will), and communities and people will be forced to support themselves as before, then people will do the most reasonable thing: mutually co-exist.

Smart point. Thanks!

sjeezy8:
Ethno kini BETTA SHUT YO MOUTH. OBJ DOESN'T REPRESENT YORUBAS YOU FOOL. I m no tribalist but if anyone wants to contest, what tribe did the most for nigeria i will say Yoruba and teach you.

Because most igbo who haven't made it big are still wanting Biafra AND I hate soo see biafra trash on NL because its for Nigeria and also igbo tribe being better then the other, i have never said yoruba is better then any tribe but i will stand by my comment about yoruba wanting and actually molding a better NIGERIA. no tribalism at all when everyone ran abroad, it was the yorubas that tried to do, as much as they can for Nigeria considering the north's reign HONESTLY. i myself am only half yoruba so im not biased at ALL

but i can see yorubas have welcomed everyone into LAGOS and with out them Nigeria is nothing

Actually, without the Igbos Nigeria is nothing. Even without oil, Igbo is Nigeria's (nay Africa's) heartbeat. Stop the lies or let us go!

jimmyjam:
however i dont blame ty danjuma for eliminating ironsi and co because the igbo man if yuo give him hand he will take leg. e.g an igbo man that wants to sell a good to you and he knows you only have 500 naira on you, he will want to sell you another thing that is very essential that will make the transation to be 550 naira.

e,g if an igbo sells an air conditioner for 500 naira and he knows the person has 500 only in thier pocket , he will then bring a plug and say you know your going to also need plug and it costs 50 naira.

this is what azikiwe, ironsi wanted to start doing they wanted to igbolize nigeria using thier exposure to travelling and foreign education.

they will say the yoruba dosnt know how to do it as well as them e. g engineering, or fianance etc that they travelled abroad to learn their field i.e foreign trained , so that automatically makes them superior amd proud. this was the issue with ojukwu and its the same till now,

If you don't like to "Igbolize" Nigeria, then let Igbos leave Nigeria and form their own country. Simple!

I ji n'aka

On a more serious note the guy Invisible is scared stiff about Nigeria's history. Your history is your history, you cannot escape it. If you don't deal with it properly, you could allow it to repeat!

$osisi:
Oya Mr Adekunle, Kini e happen?

I woke up one early morning and decided to hunt me some "Ibos". I killed just 2 million sha!

invisible!:
Then the pope is not catholic!

If this person is Igbo, then my name is Benjamin Adekunle!

na_so:
Again I ask why are the Ibos still celebrating the Ike Nwachukwus of this world  who is a son and bad-mouth Boro was at best a neighbour?

I don't see any Igbo worth his salt celebrating Ike Nwachukwu. The Igbo have a reasonable expectation of him. The guy's name is Omar Sanda for ikoro's sakes!

Until you see him lead Ohanaeze or lead other respectable Igbo bodies, then just pretend he is not there, cos that is what Igbo's are doing with his ilk.

Dede1:
From the advent of Europeans to coast of Africa to the development of Port Harcourt when crude oil was an unknown substance to most Nigerians, there was no agitation of the so-called Niger Delta.

When the coal money was used in the development of Port Harcourt, the only urban city in eastern region of Nigeria comparable to Enugu, which was the capital, there was no agitation for the so-called Niger Delta. When oil was struck in Owerri and Ikot Ekpene vicinities, there was no agitation for Niger Delta.

However, when crude oil was struck in Oloibiri in 1956 and following the demand of NCNC for creation of two more regions out of the north and one out of the west, the so-called Niger Delta was born. Please could you inform the year Nigeria took first stock of its crude oil exportation?

In 1964 federal election, Brass and Rivers provinces, two of the several provinces that made-up genuine Niger, Benue, Imo, Urashi and Utamiri delta, fielded 9 candidates. Out these 9 seats, NCNC won 8 seats while NDC won 1 seat. It must be recalled that winners of the 8 seats comprised of Igbo, Ijo and Ogoni. This election spoke volume for the so-called Niger Delta agitation by all Ijo folks.

What you called Ibo brother’s frustration of Ijo or any other minority in eastern region of Nigeria was a simple seed of political discord planted by detractors of eastern region. I can conclude that the manifestation of such discord created the indelible enmity between certain the ethnic groups in the former eastern Nigeria.  

If my history is not blurred, NDC did not join Action Group in any alliance. I recalled that AG, NCNC, NEPU and UMBC formed alliance known as UPGA while NPC, NNDP and NDC formed alliance known as NNA. I am surprised how the Ijo leadership has suddenly realized how it was lured into deep slumber by their Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri/Nupe masters.

I urge Ndigbo to remember what had transpired and educate the young generations to avoid the colossal blunder committed by Ironsi.

I truly appreciate your rich post!  Please post more because there are few Easterners who know the history of that region well, thanks to the years of lies from the victors' press!

$osisi:
Please take it easy on him.
educate him instead from true stories that you know
Tell him how Igbos who owned almost every real estate in PH lost it to thieving Ijaws and Ikwere people after Nigeria declared their hard earned property abandoned property.
Then what happened years later?
The same Ijaws and Ikweres turned around and sold these property back to Igbos to feed their lazy selves.
Karma is a female dog
Now that the same Nigeria wants to wipe out Ijaw land,guess who they turn to?
The same people they turned their back on and stole from.
The same Ken Saro wiwa,an Ogoni man who my dad told us made fun of Igbos with his post war radio program,laughing them to scorn at the end of the war came on his hands and knees to Ohaneze asking for help in his Ogoniland freedom fight.
The same Ogoni man that fought Igbos was assasinated by Nortern and Western Nigeria
How about Adaka Boro?
He was equally killed by western Nigeria after betraying his Igbo cousins
Karma,I say is a female bingo
Currently which region besides the SS is sympathetic to the Ijawland and ND cause
It's not the NE,NC,NW,certainly not the SW but the SE
The same people they betrayed.
Did I say Karma is a female female German Shepard?

Thank you great $osisi! Anyone who does not believe in God should take a close look at Ndigbo and Nigeria's history. Everyone who took part in the war against Biafra is getting paid one and one , I can say confidently that there is GOD!

invisible!:
Are you saying that with the type of cash Chimaroke, Udenwa, Uba, Egwu stole they cannot buy some fringe directors off some companies?

Forget what happened in the past, win the present and control the future.

I can almost guarantee you all that this person (male or female) is NOT IGBO.

Minus Edo state too.

tpia.:
that's one way of looking at it.

The struggle for supremacy could also go to the other extreme: can other minority ethnicities also "lay claim" to Igbo? eg Igbos/Igboland in general being regarded as Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio,Igala, Tiv or some other ethnicity.

I believe part of the confusion is hidden in these unclear guidelines.

I'm sure they did that in the days of slavery hence the old ties. But no one says they are barred from core Igboland today. Bottomline is -both sides are not mutually exclusive.

tpia.:
could be because most of them were included in the old Kalabar kingdom and thus had similar cultures.

Not to mention a lot of intermixing.

This is a powerful point. It appears as if some people in the delta are bent on blaming the Igbo for "marginalizing" them in the eastern region, but they forget how the region came to be in the first place. Or why it is difficult to delineate the boundaries (socially, morally, historically, religiously, culturally, and otherwise) between Igbo and others in the east.
I understand the grouse about the politics of the 50s and 60s (the east had the worst politicians in terms of preserving regional interests- just my view). But I make bold to say that they were not anywhere near what is happening to the delta today (there are now local rogues masquerading as leaders of N/delta). Personally as an Igbo, I wonder whether there is any merit to caring about the delta. I really don't need to (we have enough problems in core Igboland). But I am compelled by our blood links and proximity to care.

There seems to be a consensus on this thread so far: there are no clear boundaries between Igboland and minority south south lands. In other words, where south east ends and south south begins is unclear. So, what are the motives of all those who claim that Igbos have no physical or moral claim to the N/delta

invisible!:
What were they doing waiting to get killed in another mans soil, the man you claim hates you so much and you are drifting into his compound everyday. After the sharia riots, and countless other pogroms, what are our brothers still looking for in the north?

If my daughter gets beaten twice in another mans compound, I will not go back to fight the person that beat her up for the second time, I will simply ask her "Nwa m, kedukwanu ihe i jere ime na ulo ndi ozo, ebe imara nke oma na ha ahughi anyi n' anya?

The day I see an international airport and a waterport in the east is the day I will start supporting this view. Until then, it is not yet uhuru!

I still havnt heard that an Ibo man was denied of either using or working in any international airport in Nigeria? Till I get such info, then we may just be asking for an airport to score political points. Now, are you saying its because of international airports that made our people migrate to the north and west? Tell me something, was it the international airports that enploys all workers in Lagos and Maiduguri?

Your reasoning here further proves my point about you not being Igbo. Do you know how many Nigerians  fly in and out of Nigeria on daily basis and where they come from? Do you know which tribe makes use of the Lagos airport and seaports most in Nigeria? Do you know the hell Igbos go through importing goods and then hauling them  hundreds of miles across thousands of police check points along Lagos -Benin - Onitsha roads? Do you know how many Igbo businessmen who would have relocated to Anambra (with undeveloped lands), Enugu and Ebonyi (with vast undeveloped lands), Imo and Abia (with vast lands), if they could fly into the east or import into the east?
Igboland remains undeveloped while people like you are urging a policy to continue denying us international access to enable few like you to "form your company with your friends" wherever you are. Your logic simply doesn't sound Igbo and I won't be surprised if you are a masquerade!

invisible!:
Okay, my business is getting bigger everyday and my neighborhood is getting cleaner, yes in Naija here. My friends and I are planning to get together and float a company soonest and life is looking up for once.

Get down and work, think of something, do something, love someone, smile a lot and believe in yourself.

Believe in God too and in his ability to solve all your problems.

From your reasoning here I can almost bet my last kobo that you are NOT Igbo. Let me tell you, I know Igbos like individual success, but I also know (from solid historical facts) that Igbos have had to sacrifice their all for Nigeria at every critical stage, from 1950s to now. I have posted a question here asking "should igbos join the yoruba and hausa to "come and eat in the delta"" and believe me the answers have been quite interesting! I will say this again, Igbo problems in Nigeria is because we want progress more than other groups, and that has always cost us. But guess what, majority of Igbos still will never change! They will never rest until either Nigeria works for everyone or they form another country that works! Igbo will never count  individual successes as group successes. That you are succeeding does not mean that some Igbos did not lose their lives or livelihood in Maiduguri or other parts of the north  this week. It will never protect those who migrated to those areas from the next round of violence. So, we need an international airport in the east and a waterport in Onitsha and Oguta. If you are really Igbo, you will understand this simple reasoning. There are also many Igbo haters here masquerading as Igbos.