₦airaland Forum

Okay, here is my take.

Ndigbo si na ebe nwata n'ebe akwa na atu aka, nne ya anoghi ya, nna ya no ya! I will not translate this proverb because this is not a time to give any room for outsiders to infilterate and dictate our discourse. Onye obula were ire ya guo eze ya onu.

Ihe gbasara Eze Nwanyi Nairaland a di ka o ga enye anyi nnukwu nsogbo ma oburu na anyi akpachapughi anya. When I was elected Eze last year, I offered the position to someone I held in high esteem then. Let me say that it did not work for me (or us), but it never became an issue here. It never burdened us even for one day. Ndigbo didn't even know what happened, and I continued my work smoothly.
When the idea of an elected Eze Nwanyi came up, I had my apprehensions, but I was not in any position (one of my failures) to object to it. With hindsight now, I should have strongly objected to it then, because of the political implications to the Eze's position. It means that we have TWO not ONE authority in the leadership of Ndigbo, because the position was elected not appointed (as I did). I don't even want to go into the character or proclivities of the person eventually chosen because we are republicans, but our republican nature also advises that we should have a process of removal from office if and when necessary. I can still recall that there was an attempt to remove me from office sometime this year. It failed because majority of Ndigbo here supported me.
So, it is trite that Umu Igbo should not have their hands tied and be forced to live with someone they do not accept.

My position may not be accepted by all, but I can say that I speak for the majority when I say that Ogugua88 should be allowed to resume office first, BUT there should be a process in place for her removal from office should she stray from her EXPECTED role as Eze Nwanyi Ndigbo here. I am currently working with the incoming Eze and my council members for us to design a code of conduct for the Eze and Eze Nwanyi (which I truly hope won't continue in the future), the elections process, and issues of succession.

For now, I appeal to all Umuigbo to please stand down and let this issue die a natural death for now. Please wait, because we shall have a proper process of removal by the start of next tenure. It is one of the things I hope to bequeath to future generations of Igbo Nairalanders.

Thanks and God bless you for heeding my call to stop posting on this thread.

berem: e kwuru m na k'anyi bu umu igbo hapu okwu a.lekwe ka ndi mba ozo si na akpari anyi.nke oputara na anyi eweghi onu? Amaghi m ihe ozo m ga ekwu.o ga aka mma k'anyi kwusi I na saa nde mba ozo okwu.

Aka m n'eche ka Ogugua bia kwputa ihe di ya n'obi.

Nwanne m nwanyi ihe mere eme ka i kwuru, mana biko ka anyi hapu ihe nile maka na ndi iro na acho ikposa ihe anyi tara ahuhu wee kpokoo.

My brothers and sisters, "agha amagedon" ebigo!

Please let everyone take a breather first. I shall offer my opinion on this controvesy and advise us all to always bear in mind that we are surrounded by enemies, always.
Just take a peek and see how non-Igbo have basically hijacked this thread!

Andre Uweh: Eze Onlytruth, Onye nwe anyi nonyere gi.
Thanks for the wondrous speech. You have really done well as the first Eze of this noble forum. Your ideas were really appreciated as well as your innovations. Its a pity I did not play a major role in the cabinet, but as you know I was handling some projects in my native state for Owelle. As a result, time was never my friend then.
You still have about 7 weeks to relinquish power and I feel some of the good jobs you started will be completed by then.
As it is now, we need your expertise on some of the issues tearing UmuIgbo apart on line and in this forum. There is no better person to resolve the conflict at hand now e.g Those for Ogugua and those against her.
On the issue of Osu, we should target religious leaders in Igboland for a partnership oh how to abolish this obnoxious stigma.
More to come later.

Thanks my brother. I completely understand your handicap in working with us. My brother it is not easy! I will head to that thread now. I have been very very busy joggling several projects. I just saw that thread this morning.

Love_Decay: Please, when you have alot to say on the internet - start with a summary so atleast we can get an idea of what your saying.

And, if we like it ... we may continue to read your final year project !

So what is this:

Onlytruth: Introduction

It has been a privilege to serve you and to contribute my little quota to the advancement of the Igbo consciousness. It has been a valued and cherished honor to have contributed to the development of a well grounded Igbo opinion in this forum, and hopefully around the world by leveraging the power of the internet. I shall forever remain grateful for your support, followership and counsel throughout this tenure. In this valedictory address, I shall attempt to discuss all relevant and salient issues facing the Igbo nation. I shall make statements based on personal findings, open truths (self evidenced facts), educational and historical information, and information gleaned from constant comradeship with my council members.
Before continuing, I wish to congratulate us all for successfully creating the position of “Eze” -an opinion leadership institution in Nairaland- the first of its kind in this forum. No matter what anyone may say; no matter how the idea has been perceived or received by anyone; what can never be questioned is the fact that we Ndigbo did it first here. Not just that we did it, we did it very well, and for nearly one year, we basically spoke with one voice in Nairaland to the envy of our detractors and rivals. The enormity of this achievement can only be measured by the fact that NO OTHER GROUP HAS ACHIEVED THE SAME FEAT till date. We saw some try (though indirectly), they failed even before starting. As a matter of fact, Ndigbo in Nairaland are the only organized group in this forum. It only shows that what we achieved is not a mean feat.

At this stage I wish to introduce subtopics of issues that I will discuss in this address.

They are as follows:

(1) My achievements/ failures in office
(2) Problems I encountered in office and how to solve it
(3) Issues surrounding Igbo attitudes towards our own (brothers, sister, region etc)
(4) What Igbo need from the Nigeria
(5) Igbo style republicanism and how to channel it to good use
(6) The need for a sustained cultural revolution to neutralize social bottlenecks such as Osu

My Achievements/ Failures in Office

You meant to say that you are not literate enough to read.

Reserved.

I'll be back later.

I wish to talk about the expected role of churches and other religious institutions in Igboland. I have to state that churches in Igboland (the one I can talk about) have veered off course from the direction which Jesus Christ himself set it. Let me state early enough that I may not have the whole information, but I know that my village church in Nnewi is more interested in my donations, financial contributions, and monetary support, than it cares about my source of income or financial health. I had an experience over the weekened whereby my local church "expected" a certain amount of money from me. Well, knowing that I have not been home for years, I wondered how it came to know how much I could afford to give. So, I set out to find out what my church planned to do with the money. As far as I'm concerned, the most important project that should be funded (apart from pastor's salary) is evangelism. I can also live with funding a community development project like a healthcare center, a school (which should offer free education to immediate catchement area), and maybe expansion of church infrastructure (if necessary). I have not seen much evidence of these. I could be wrong though, but my third sense never fails me in these types of things.
Perhaps my biggest worry is that the churches drive for funds with total disregard for ascertaining means of livelihood and income, and in so doing create a new form of problem whereby poor people are not able to serve God with their leadership talents, since the voice of donors would invariably dominate decision making processes of the church. I've heard about people who left the villages just because of constant church pressures for funds, and I've also heard of those who stopped attending churches altogether. That then brings me to a very important quote from the Bible. Matthews Chapter 11 vs 28 - 30; “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

So, placing myself in the shoes of a poor man in the village and imagining the immense pressure to meet church financial burdens, I asked myself; would Jesus impose such heavy burden on his followers? In all the years of his ministry, how many times did he task his followers to contribute anything to him? He never owned worldly assets. His greatest assets were his followers and he served them, even washing the feet of the disciples once.

I am in support of financial support to the church, but it should be done in such a way as not to place a heavy burden on the children of God thereby driving them away from the church and the villages. I decided that I shall take up this issue with the Bishop of Nnewi Diocese when I can, but the same problem can also be found in other parts of Igboland. Our clergy should not be riding SUVs on the backs of the lay members. It is unChristian.

My take on the Ezenwanyi Nairaland:

Umuigbo, I understand the need for a leader of Umu ada Ndigbo in this place. I do not understand the DUAL position of an ELECTED Ezenwanyi. The leadership role is important, but the position is like killing a fly with a sledge hammer. So, I would have prefered that the position falls under the direct prerogative of the incumbent Eze. He is supposed to chose ANY woman who (by his own personal conclusions) would work very well with him.

As for the choice of oguguo88, I believe that we should allow her to first start work, monitor her for a few months and then decide whether to remove her or not.
I (like every full nwa afo Igbo) have my opinions about her, but my position bares me from discussing them openly, at least for now.

So, bottomline is that we should allow her to start work first.Nsi adighi ano n'afo esi isi! I am working with my council members to design a code of conduct for the Eze and the Ezenwanyi.
Let's move on please.

Succession:

I am currently working with our Eze elect (Odum) to "debrief" him on some of my works. I am very confident that he will serve Ndigbo with the same level of passion and fire with which I have served. We are currently putting heads together to create a better system of elections, sanctions and succession which should enjoy the support of our people.

Please make sure you make suggestions as to HOW we can continue to unify Ndigbo using the office of the Eze.

Igbo kwenu!

Igbo kwenu!
Igbo, nma nma nu!
Igbo muo, baa nu, rie nu !
Igbo kwezuonu!

It shall be well with Ndigbo!

Umunne m, na ndi nwe mmadu, ana m ekele unu nile!

I chose this date to address you because I wanted to have at least ONE month to discuss all the issues which I hope should move us forward in the future.
I shall reserve some spaces after this speech to address some of the things I forgot to add to the body of the speech because I do not want to modify the body of this speech as much as possible.
So here we go!

Introduction

It has been a privilege to serve you and to contribute my little quota to the advancement of the Igbo consciousness. It has been a valued and cherished honor to have contributed to the development of a well grounded Igbo opinion in this forum, and hopefully around the world by leveraging the power of the internet. I shall forever remain grateful for your support, followership and counsel throughout this tenure. In this valedictory address, I shall attempt to discuss all relevant and salient issues facing the Igbo nation. I shall make statements based on personal findings, open truths (self evidenced facts), educational and historical information, and information gleaned from constant comradeship with my council members.
Before continuing, I wish to congratulate us all for successfully creating the position of “Eze” -an opinion leadership institution in Nairaland- the first of its kind in this forum. No matter what anyone may say; no matter how the idea has been perceived or received by anyone; what can never be questioned is the fact that we Ndigbo did it first here. Not just that we did it, we did it very well, and for nearly one year, we basically spoke with one voice in Nairaland to the envy of our detractors and rivals. The enormity of this achievement can only be measured by the fact that NO OTHER GROUP HAS ACHIEVED THE SAME FEAT till date. We saw some try (though indirectly), they failed even before starting. As a matter of fact, Ndigbo in Nairaland are the only organized group in this forum. It only shows that what we achieved is not a mean feat.

Igbo kwenu!

At this stage I wish to introduce subtopics of issues that I will discuss in this address.

They are as follows:

(1) My achievements/ failures in office
(2) Problems I encountered in office and how to solve it
(3) Issues surrounding Igbo attitudes towards our own (brothers, sister, region etc)
(4) What Igbo need from the Nigeria
(5) Igbo style republicanism and how to channel it to good use
(6) The need for a sustained cultural revolution to neutralize social bottlenecks such as Osu

My Achievements/ Failures in Office

Successes: I believe that my greatest achievement in office is to give credibility to the idea of an Eze here. I did it by towing a very deliberate and careful methodology that constantly gauged the Igbo opinion pulse and offering a credible direction to that pulse.
It is an intricate exercise which only few individuals can handle, Ndigbo being a highly vibrant and egalitarian group. I remember vividly that the idea was ridiculed when it was floated by one of us –PointB in 2011. Though I was initially reluctant to take on this nascent (at the time) office, I quickly rose to the challenge of leadership, set the agenda, created a council and started work almost immediately in January 2012. By the middle of the year, there was no doubt whatsoever that there is an Eze Ndigbo in this forum. Even newly registered Igbo were quickly informed by others that we have an Eze here, and the ones I interacted with quickly bought into the idea, even as some of them joined the council. At a stage, I had to stop accepting new council members because I needed a small but effective working group. We then set out to organize an offline version of our movement and called it Eastern Nigeria Youths Initiative (ENYI). We set a task of embarking on a cultural revolution in Igboland, to defeat all social ills that hold us back as a great nation. We (my council) decided that ENYI should not be for all comers; it should be by invitation only. ENYI is still taking root gradually and our program will roll out in full force once we complete the foundation offline. We also decided to separate ENYI from Nairaland as much as possible.

Failures: It is my honest belief that I am limited by the fact that I do not live in Nigeria. Whatever information I act on is provided by third party and that, IMHO, can never be enough. My only saving grace has been that I have a very good source of information from Nigeria, but nothing beats being there in person: sights and sounds, smells and even tastes! That is part of why I try my best not to dwell on a fixed position on every issue at all times, except issues that has nothing to do with being physically present in Nigeria. In the future, I would advise that Eze Ndigbo should not only live in Nigeria, but live in IGBOLAND.

Problems encountered
I say this with every sense of responsibility, that it has been a miracle how we were able to make this office significant and relevant. It is an open truth that the Eze is only relevant for as long as he is doing the bidding of the majority of Ndigbo in this forum. Due to the nature of this office –the fact that the Eze has no real powers – there is no room for accommodation of minority opinions. It is what it is, and those who don’t like it may have to wait until they join ENYI or other OFFLINE organization. The only power available to the Eze is the power of “Igwe bu ike” –group is strength. So, how can minority constitute the “Igwe” in this context? Can such minority ever overwhelm the majority in this context? I think not. So, the Eze, must align with “Igwe” or be shouted out of office. Simple. It is a “problem” I encountered, but I have accepted it for what it is.

The second problem is closely related, and it is the habit of insulting the Eze for not doing what an individual prefers. We can disagree with the Eze, but insulting the Eze only insults his office, and the office is not his in the first place; so any insult on the Eze is an insult on Ndigbo Nairaland. Period. I will continue to insist that we must learn how to follow because following is as important as leading; and the first sign that someone is a poor follower manifests in the way the person deals with disagreements with the Eze.

The next problem is the habit of joining outsiders (non-Igbos) to attack Igboland, or the Eze, or Ndigbo Nairaland. This invidious habit is part of why we lost the war in Biafra.
I shed tears when I read how Ojukwu’s location was being communicated to the Nigerian military by some Igbo saboteurs. It was not enough that they were against Biafra, they had to work with the enemy outside to make attempts at Ojukwu’s life. I see the same tendency among some Igbo here, and they even do it with a bold face.
Umuigbo, ubochi obula Ndigbo nwuru, onye obula n’eme udiri omume ahu mara na obara Umuigbo nile di ya n’isi. Chukwu abiama ga ekpochapu ezi n’ulo onye obula n’eme ya! Onye obula n’eme ya chegharia mgbe oge ka di!

I shall give you a clue to know when you have started going too far in working against your own. Once you notice that people who have for YEARS posted anti-Igbo comments on Nairaland are suddenly “liking” your comments and supporting you, nwanne, jie break lee anya n’azu. Chighaa azu! Onweghi ka onye iro Ndigbo buru ezigbo enyi gi! Onweghi! A carmel would have to pass through the eye of a needle before that happens!
I have seen it for many years, from my Uni days to now. If a leopard suddenly starts cheering an antelope, know that the days of the antelope are numbered. Nuff said there.
I want to put it on record that I have attempted to initiate action towards ensuring that no Igbo son or daughter would insult, ridicule or trample upon the Eze and Ndigbo in this forum with impunity. The effort is ongoing and I will continue working on it till Decemeber 31, 2012..

Issues surrounding Igbo attitudes towards Igboland

My people, we can all agree that the Nigerian nation has been unfair to the Igbo nation. I do not want to recall how we have been excluded by the civil war victors from participating fully in the leadership of the Nigerian state. A good chunk of the problems we encounter in Igboland today has been as a result of being part of the warped Nigerian nation. The Nigerian nation makes little sense in structure or administration, and has been sustained by force of arms. As a defeated people, we had no choice than to imbibe and live by some of the strangest norms known to us.
As recently as the early eighties, Igboland never had open wealth exhibitionism and human worship. We looked at other regions who practiced them with a certain level of suspicion and laughed at them, but today, the same ills have found their ways into Igboland, causing all sorts of problems for which we are not culturally equipped to handle: kidnapping, grand theft, massive corruption and embezzlement of public funds, rape of old people, religious extortion, convoluted chains of titles, and do or die politics leading to assassinations of political opponents.

Perhaps the greatest ill facing Igboland has been the massive exodus out of Igboland to other places, after we had waited fruitlessly for an international airport or gateway.
We invest in our areas of domicile (naturally) but in doing so abandoned Igboland almost completely, thereby starving it of badly needed investments. The investments would have created jobs for our increasing number of graduate youths. The unemployed youths sit at home without jobs, and then watch as air-headed returnees show off during celebrations, influenced by strange cultures acquired from outside. The result has been the unending menace of kidnapping.

What baffles me most is the difficulty with which we have made a connection between our showy behaviors and the kidnapping menace in Igboland. I took time to research this issue very thoroughly. My finding? There is no way you would be kidnapped if you behaved like some of our fathers did. The “original Igbo man” would NEVER allow you to know how rich he was (back in the days of our fathers). These days, just a little money makes us go gaga. I learned a lot from my own father who never owned just one bank account or even one class of asset. Common sense is all we need for kidnapping to die a natural death! Drop foreign culture. Be Igbo, through and through! Nuff said on that too.




What Igbo need from the Nigeria

I was born after the civil war, but I have seen ALL the impacts of the civil war. All the Igbo born after the civil war were not, and are not supposed to know (by the way Nigeria treats Igbo and Igboland) that there was a civil war. The civil war was supposed to be a mere historical event, and nothing more, especially in light of the “no victor, no vanquished” doctrine of the Gowon regime. The 3 Rs was supposed to have completely integrated Ndigbo into the Nigerian national scheme of things. It did not happen. To make matters worse, it has not happened even till today! Now, fast forward 42 years after the war, the Biafran question has returned, and in full force! IMHO these would NEVER have happened had the Nigerian victors done what they promised in the 3 Rs; but that is not what happened. What happened was that the victors set out to design a Nigeria to subjugate, contain and cage 25% of her own population. How the civil war victors managed to convince themselves that it is possible to cage Ndigbo in Nigeria remains a mystery to me. So, here we are!

My job here though is to articulate what we Ndigbo want from Nigeria, going by my extensive interaction with Ndigbo both online and offline:

Ndigbo DEMANDS that Nigeria MUST treat Ndigbo as FULL citizens of Nigeria who are free, and should be supported and protected to live freely in any part of Nigeria, ascend the presidency of Nigeria, and receive ALL commensurate federal infrastructure which other zones have taken for granted for many years;

OR

Igbo nation wants to secede from Nigeria to form a nation of her own.

My hunch tells me that we would prefer the latter than the former, but I know we can live with the former if given an honest attempt. However, we MUST have ONE or the OTHER.

Igbo style republicanism and how to channel it to good use

At the center of Igbo republicanism is the concept of “onye obula bu eze na ulo ya” –every man is king in his own house. It is for this reason that the kolanut must return to the owner of the house after it has been presented and passed around with a saying “oji eze di eze n’aka”. So, basically we are all “Ezes”; but that is where it ends, because there is no practicable way for everybody to be king. It is only a symbolic demonstration of our egalitarianism, because the same Igbo would say “Na nwoke na ibe ya ha bu n’onu” –that all men are equal is mere rant! So, in essence, our republicanism is more complex than it is often shown to be. For me, our strength can be found in the relationship between each individual and his obligation to the group. Each individual owe a certain debt to the group, and only a fool would ignore such debt. In the olden days, anyone who ignored group obligation was either driven out of the land, ostracized, or (when slave traders showed up) sold into slavery. Therefore our republicanism was never unbridled. That is why “igwe bu ike” and “umunna bu ike” are age old philosophical statements in Igboland. It served us very well in our darkest days in Biafra; it will serve us today and always. It should be nurtured, redesigned and reinvigorated to fit into modern era.

Onye obula bu eze n’ulo ya, mana igwe bu ike!


The need for a sustained cultural revolution

It needs repeating that we the youths of Igboland must push evil strange cultures out of Igboland. ALL OF THEM. If you all look closely, you would notice that certain strange illnesses never endured in Igboland. There is a reason for that! We Igbo are led by some of the most conservative moral ethics found among African groups. It serves us well, and our culture evolves constantly to acquire good foreign cultures even as we repudiate bad ones. Due to the nature of things in Nigeria, we need to fight harder to keep the intents of our cultural core intact. As far as I’m concerned all Nigerian socio-cultural and political ills are what we Ndigbo call “aru”. You can call it whatever you like; it is the good old aru which brings all sorts of problems to the land. We must reject them. At the core of our culture are: peace, justice, equality, humility, hardwork, honest income, being content with what we have, not coveting our neighbor, not plotting to kill, strong belief in live and let live.
One of the greatest problem facing our unity as Igbo nation is the wicked culture of Osu which strikes at everything we believe in as Ndigbo. As a man with deep belief in the practice of the golden rule, I wonder for how long we shall allow such practice to endure in Igboland. This problem ties into other problems facing Igboland such as too many women not marrying at all. The result is that some of these women end up marrying some of our biggest enemies in the Nigerian nation. I know that people can find love in any place, and I have seen some marriages across tribal lines in Nigeria based on love. However, there is a healthy percentage of those who marry Igbo women as “war booty” or something of that nature. Having studied the psychology of some of these enemies, I can state without any fear that a lot of times they marry these Igbo ladies who couldn’t break the Osu yoke. Why should our sisters be forced to leave Igboland just because of some stupid ancient practice? Onye obula si kwa oburu ya! We MUST pull down the Osu stronghold in Igboland, BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY. I am confident that this practice will not be sustained by our children. There is a strategic reason to prioritize the war against all forms of discrimination in Igboland. Our unity will never be complete without it, and our strength depends on our unity.

Finally, I wish to thank you all for your prayers and support throughout my reign. I urge you to extend the same to my successor.
Thank you and God bless.

Signed,

Onlytruth, Ndu di n’eziokwu 1 of Igboland.

I'm not surprised that ndu_chucks is here fanning embers of anger and disunity as usual. Our disunity is THE real enemy. Without it, there is NOTHING to fan.
BTW I will comment on this issue when I deliver my valedictory speech sometime between Thursday and Saturday. In it, I will address all things facing Ndigbo in this forum, in Nigeria, and internationally.
For now I will advise us all to sheath our swords.

It is becoming clearer and clearer that Ndigbo (or at least a good chunk) truly have some Isrealite origins. If not for intellectual laziness of the average black person, this would have been long researched, documented and presented in a peer reviewed article. I don't know if that has happened yet.
I agreed with OP about the "Igbo being a philosophy". Biafra is also a philosophy.

lol OP is insanely hillarious.

NRI PRIEST: I know we are one but I think you are trying to be sleek with the title of this thread; This isnt about openning threads and posting pictures. Or are you asking me to compare the two states? I have problem with the title of this thread. Its not neccesary and is misleading,too. If you think i am wrong,you will have to tell me in details how and when Enugu became the pride of the east. Onye kpatalu nku ahuhu sili ngwele bialia olu!

The GREATEST son of Nri, ana m ekene. You and I know that Enugu is OUR city too.
You see, this is particularly why I HATE creation of states in Igboland. We could have done much better in terms of unity with only regional and city governments.
Imagine if we had ONE region, but as many city councils or admin areas as needed, all these sense of division won't exist in Igboland.

I can open a thread on Nnewi and say it is the pride of the East too. lol. It doesn't mean others can't do the same. It is all about how one feels about the city he lives in.
Since we are all Easterners,bro Spyder880's gain in Enugu is OUR gain too.

Odenigbo, nwa Anaedo na ayo gi ka irapu ife nine, maka na anyi bu ofu.

Ogoni militant: Its only in a country Nigeria that a drone can be purchased to be used against its own people.

Most countries use it to attack countries that the don't really have access to have base to operate.

Nigeria forces have acess to the nooks and cranies of this country. What is the use of drone here? Its a shame.

People are just misleading GEJ

Haven't you noticed that Nigeria is at war with itself? lol

Hehehe!
This must be the funniest news of the month for me.
Just mentioning Nigeria and drones in one sentence is like mentioning chimpanzee and I-pads in one sentence.
Wonder why folks in that country is determined to continue ridiculing the rest of us.
BTW I think that Israel would never sell a good military equipment to Nigeria and it would be for the same reason she would not sell them to Pakistan. lol

Chyz*:
The Igbo man's nuts can always be found on the tongue of the yoruba man. Sad,but the truth. This thread is a good example.

Una go kill pesin for Nairaland.

ndu_chucks: The above is filled with a bunch of bullsh*t that I don’t even know where to begin.

I agree with you when you state that the Igboman in Alaigbo has to struggle to fit in, depending on his birth status as an osu or freeborn, but I ‘ll add that the Igboman is as sheltered in Yorubaland as in Hausaland. Infact, the Igboman enjoys more economic freedom in the North than anywhere else in Nigeria.

To support your erroneous claim that the Igboman is not as sheltered in the North as in the SW, you people sight sectarian violence and BH type violence against the Igbos up North. You conveniently fail to mention that more Northerners suffer and die as a result of the said violence than Igbo/Yorubas/ and others, combined.

Why do you think there are more Igbos in the North than in any other region in Nigeria or the world for that matter?

It is an insult to Ndiigbo for you to come up here and state that Lagos and Fashola stood up for Igbo rights when they just deported Igbos from Lagos to the East a few weeks ago.

Mai gida, I agree with your understanding of the Negro_nts's mindset. Save your breath because I don't think he is redeemable.
As for the bolded words, I wonder what freedom is, if not that you and your businesses are secure. I may agree that there are big numbers of Igbo in the North (I don't know about these days though, it used to be very high before), I hesitate to agree that there are more Igbo in the North than say Cameroun, or Congo DRC, talk less of USA. So, to say that there are more Igbo in the North than anywhere else in the world is a HUGE STRETCH.

The above is another proof that you belong to the elite who suffers from a 'disconnect from the masses'. How can you state, with a straight face, that Almajiri poverty is a voluntarily chosen path or self inflicted?

The victims of the bad implementation of the Almajiri system in Nigeria are kids, youths who are powerless and are typically forced into the badly implemented system. You elites should be ashamed of yourselves for not standing up for these children who are used, abused, dumped, and programmed to become poor and tools of politicians, and terrorists, alike.

The Almajiris are the most marginalized Nigerians and it is high time, you rich ones started helping them out. They are Allah’s children and sooner or later, you people will be punished for perpetrating all these atrocities against the Almajiris or for enabling the said atrocities.

Bros every child is God's child, rich or poor. If you agree, then, don't you think that the legacy of child abuse was laid and the seed sowed in Biafra when innocent kids were starved to death by your desperate military commanders who wanted victory by all means?
Fair is fair; and if the children of Biafra had to starve to death for Nigeria to obtain victory, do you think that the pepertrators would think twice before repeating same crimes in their own backyard? As long as they are "winning" (read remain relevant and prospering in Nigeria)? Of course not. That is why Almajiri system will endure until all those heartless civil war participants die off; then we shall all begin to lay a new foundation for our children. My 2 cents though.

God is determined, that all genociders in Biafra and all killers of children and women MUST NEVER escape justice. He is tracking them down one by one.
How can it be a coincidence, that the commanders of the 1st and 2nd divisions of the Nigerian army during the civil war, died BRUTAL AND HELLISH deaths?
The remainder -the commander of the 3mco has been reduced to a caricature of a human being, waiting for God's hammer to land on his head. The only survivors are the benevolent participants in the civil war. I once told Ndigbo that we don't need to raise a single finger of vengeance against those demons in human forms, that God is more than capable of visiting them with a healthy dose of their own evil deeds. May the name of the most high God be glorified and exalted. Amen!

BTW may the demonic souls of Shuwa and Murtala Muhammad burn in the hottest parts of Hell. Amen too!

PointB: I am unable to check my Nairaland email account, as i have long forgotten the password. I have tried recovering it to no avail. I am considering asking the Admin to help me effect an email change from the backend.

You can in the meantime send me mail through pointb2012@ yahoo.com
Or send a PM to PointB* (my alternate Monika)

My brother you have mail at hushmail.

ndu_chucks: You people are delusional, how are you going to sanction people in a faceless forum? Do you really believe that the owners of this website will give you any power beyond and above what every other forumite has? mtcheeew.

On a separate note, as an observer, I am disappointed with some of you ungrateful posters who waited until a new Eze was selected to muster the courage to attack the incumbent Eze. It would have been better to have addressed issues concerning the Eze privately rather than publicly washing the dirty laundry here.

We all know that the foolish Eze is a stubborn goat, but by golly, he fought for your cause gracefully on NL and for that, you people should show some respect and appreciation.

We now have a new Eze with a different leadership style who believes in building bridges and being less confrontational. The new Eze's leadership style is what I'd classify as "Reverend Father Leadership Style" or "The Sam Ikenna Leadership Style". While people like me think the style is a dan daudu (Sisi) style, lets wish the new Eze and Eze nwanyi well.

@First bolded: We are working on a strategy. We welcome a suggestion from you when the lame duck session is opened in another thread.

Thanks for your tacky endorsement of my work (@second bolded).

In fact I'm starting to develop a ranking system for African group foresight, as a factor of colonial influence. Any group that experienced unduly high colonial influence tended the most to act against its own interest in the long run. I doubt that the Northerners would (in the innermost parts of their own hearts) accept that undue British influence served their long term interest. Take any indices of human development, the North is not where it should be.
If any Northerner doubts me, let him/her compare the North with other parts of Nigeria. It would seem that the least influenced by the colonialists are actually the most progressing and advancing. Hmm.
I was almost tempted to create chart and present it here. lol

Anyway let the debate continue.

Dede1: You shall live long, bro. At least, you admitted your political follies.
I remembered in one thread you thought Zik and eastern region lost southern Cameroon led by Dr. Endeley. I kept lamenting it was not true. All the bad press against Ndigbo and Azikiwe, the riots in northern region primarily targeted against Ndigbo and the rigging of census and election in favor of the north were orchestrated by British.

From the moment British came in connect with Ndigbo and the sudden fortune discovered in the backyard of Ndigbo, British realized Igbo person is a hard nut to crack. Every ploy was applied by the British to check the progress of Ndigbo in Nigeria.

It was the British that alerted Bello and Tafewa about the rapid rise of Igbo peeps in the officer’s cadre of Nigerian armed forces and urged them to do something about it, hence the introduction of quota system and nepotistic mechanism that saw moronic northerners in the officer’s uniform.

My brother I always learn and determined to keep learning. I never stop learning! The whole thing is making more sense now, because I couldn't understand why a people closely related to the Efik/Ibibio/Annang in Eastern Nigeria could have easily left their kith and kins for an unknown future in a French dominated country.
This is why I keep saying that a lot black groups somehow are too myopic. I am not into blaming the British or any other European power for African problems. If we cannot think, then the blame should fall on us. If Southern Cameroun haven't wanted recently to go back to Nigeria, I would have thought that they made a choice best suited to their interests. The fact that a lot of groups (even in Nigeria too) failed to see the future (as recently as the 1950 and 1960s) is a major indictment on the character of the African. Most of the developed first world countries have constitutions and instruments of government dating more than 200 years, and have never even made major changes to those instruments of state and governance. The African needs to engage his brains.

Still learning and reflecting.

9ja_I_Hail, I read your mail. Thanks.

Emmy9898: Umunwannem Ekenem unu,

I registered on this Forum 5 days ago. However, I am not a stranger to this forum because I have visited it a good number of times as a guest in the past two years.

I would like to thank PointB and his team for conducting a successful 2012 Election of Eze Ndi Igbo, and also thank Eze OnlyTruth for giving us an impressive accont of his stewardship in the past year as Eze Ndi Igbo.

It is unlikely that I will be around to be participating actively in the affairs of Ndi Igbo on this forum because of my busy schedule. Therefore, let me seize this opportunity to comment briefly on the questionable behaviour of Ifyalways during this election.

Her behaviour, and the lack of a decisive action to call her to order immediately, unfortunately created an impression that Eze Ndi Igbo could be disrespected with impunity in public, and his image tarnished, in order to influence the outcome of the annual election for Eze Ndi Igbo, one way or another.

To avoid a similar ugly situation in future, I will suggest that the matter should not be swept under the carpet for the sake of unity. It must be discussed carefully and the outcomes of the discussions incorporated in the rules of conduct that would govern future elections.

I can't stop laughing whenever I remember the manual counting of votes. Wierd, but understandable.

God bless you all.

My brother you are welcome. Thanks for your observation. I am working on an idea that would clamp a strong sanction on any Igbo who insults or ridicules the Eze in this forum. It is one of the things I plan to bequeath to my successor on December 31, 2012.

The sanction would be designed in such a way that either we have a strong Eze, or we scrap the entire Eze thing.

Dalu nwanne.

re@lchange:
are you igbo? if not, what is your interest here
but let me even throw this question
what stops anyone from insulting the eze even if the eze is a saint?
that is why i didn't vote in this election
talk about leading a pack of wolves empty handed.
i don't know how onlytruth was able to carry an empty bag for almost one year and still made it important
it is almost a miracle to force igbo to do anything offline talk less of online
the man onlytruth is amazing!
i only pity the incoming eze because igbos will tear him to shreds in days

My brother your comment is very apt indeed. Sometimes I wonder about how I did it too, but that (insults) should not be allowed to continue because it is a banana peel.
I had earlier decided not to continue commenting on this thread, but I would fail in my duty if I refuse to comment when necessary.
My only job here is to inspire and direct Ndigbo through my comments; nothing more. I take my job very seriously.

So, here we go.

Yes, what really stops any Igbo person (I can understand that Yorubas and others may do that, and they have done that to me throughout this tenure, and I simply ignored them), from insulting and using all kinds of ways to ridicule the Eze Ndigbo here?
I know that some would say something like "but the Eze brought the insult upon himself"; the question is WHO determines when the Eze has brought an insult upon himself? Is it left to the discretion of the person insulting the Eze, or who?
Umunna, if we leave that determination to anyone's discretion, then we might as well bid everything we have achieved goodbye.

WHY WOULDN'T ANY IGBO INSULT THE EZE (for any reason whatsoever)?

If the Eze can be so insulted, is there any need for an Eze here?

Normally, this shouldn't be much of a problem, afterall it comes with the office; but there is a limit to everything, and if nothing is done to stem it, there is no way unity can be maintained in this place. Increasing number of our people are coming to the same conclusion. Obviously our detractors and trollers would prefer that we lose everything we worked so hard to institute/achieve -unity, force of opinion (which is currently yeilding fruits with stronger Igbo voice in Nigeria), sense of direction, cultural revolution etc; all these can be thrown overboard overnight by actions of few Igbo in this forum.

Like I keep saying, and will continue to say: IGWE BU IKE; UMUNNA BU IKE.

IGWE (the freely given followership by ALL) is the ONLY power available to the Eze. If anyone launches and sustains a campaign of calumny and ignominy to the Eze with complete impunity, then we are definitely back to square one.

Anything we cannot do together -in total or near total unity- is a failed project.

What shall we do to those who insult the Eze?

Before you answer the question, please try to look past me and look into the future, because the future is so close I can touch it!

I know that this is an online thing, but we have somehow made it relevant to our lives at least in this forum, and an offshoot of it will metamorphose into an offline organisation, which is a remarkable feat (envied by some non-Igbo), frankly.

Can we afford to lose everything we worked so hard to establish?

Onye di ka gi (Who is like you)?
Ezi chineke, (O thou wonderfully great God)
I kwesiri otuto (You are worthy to be praised)
Si ugbua ruo mgbe ebighi ebi (From now to everlasting)!
Onye di ka gi (Who is like you)?
Ezi Chineke (O thou wonderfully great God)
I kwesiri ka eto aha gi! (You are worthy for your name to be praised!)

---- Agape Love Band of Aba

The souls of dead children in Biafra are leaping for joy.

pazienza: Interesting. So south cameroun was lost all in the name of trimming eastern region and NCNC influence.

I wonder what our general katsumoto has to say about this. Hehe!

This is the first time I'm hearing it. Our leaders should all open up and speak now before we lose the truth forever.
For sometime, I even blamed Zik for losing SW Cameroun. Apparently our Eastern leaders did their best to keep them.

@ALL Umu Igbo nile,

Onye obula na akwado ndi Yoruba n'ebe a amaghi ihe ma ncha. Rie taa dachie uzo echi abughi amamihe, maka na echi di ime. Na uche m, nke ahu bu ihe jokariri ihe obula onye Igbo ga eme onwe ya.
Uzu na amaghi akpu ogene, ya nee egbe anya n'odu. Anyi nile kwesiri ijiko aka wee chupu umu ofe juru ebe a.


And this is the point I leave the thread once more.

Signing off,
Yours truly,

Onlytruth, Ikenga Dike Anaedo, Ndu di n'eziokwu 1 of Igboland.

.

9ja_I_hail: @nwa uwa, your reactions and stance on this issue look like you have special interest or you know what went wrong between Eze onlytruth and ifyalways. Your raction here lead me to check your previous posts now i came to realize you have been quoting ifyalways in any of her comments towards Eze onlytruth throughout the election. Please if there is anything you guys have against Onlytruth our Eze please try to treat the issues in private.I personally have devoted my time to get to the bottom of the issue so that we can correct whatever that might have gone wrong it seems my effort wasn't enough still i am trying and will make sure whatever the issue maybe we can resolve it. I here by call on PointB and other peace loving igbo's to play their part in this issue and make sure we call everyone to order to avoid outsiders aggravating the issue.Onlytruth currently is our Eze and he have been doing very good in his leadership, in fact i have been canvassing that our new incoming Ezes should emulate his style of leadership.Anyone that insult onlytruth have insulted the igbo's on nairaland hence him Onlytruth is and still our Eze. Please nwa unwa give this issue some rest we are on top of the situation.Ifyalways is among the few Igbo ladies on this site that i would always stand up to defend in time of intimidation by anyone.

Peace.

My brother, there is nothing to "settle" with any single individual. lol
My stewardship was to NDIGBO, not to any single person. Some carry on as if this seat has a name on it. Someone other than myself will be here in January (I would have even resigned before then, but I am determined to do everything by the book). The trouble would leave my shoulders soon. I will still be here though.

@ekt_bear,

Final response to you in form of a simple question: WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN AN EZE NDIGBO THREAD? (try not to regurgitate the usual "this is nairaland, a yoruba owned website blah bla. . ." Try to give an intelligent response for once! )
Would you see a typical Igbo son like myself( ) in a typical Yoruba thread? If not, wouldn't a foreigner surmise that this Eze Ndigbo will also determine your fate -rule over you as well- judging by how you and ALL your Yoruba brothers have trolled and done everything you could to influence what is going on?

While you are answering the question, let me go and attend to serious business.