The same government that refused to increase South-South derivation to a mere 25% is the same one you expect to willingly cede complete control to the zones? Sometimes I wonder if we are talking about the same Nigeria. Do you not see that this presupposes that the powers Nd’Igbo are up against are fair, just, honest + humane? Do you not see that it presupposes that those we are dealing with do not have morals lower than a snake’s belly? When should this restructuring you are bandying about have been done? In the constitutional conference! Yet it was a conference which by your own admission, FAILED! We all know why it failed. I needn’t go into details. You beat your chest + loudly proclaim that those of us seeking an Igbo nation are misguided. On the contrary, it is because we fully realize what Nd’Igbo are up against that we have taken the stance we have. It is because we realize that the North will never allow Nigeria to operate on a basis of fairness that we clamour.
You talk of an internationally monitored referendum to allow Nd’Igbo decide on the way forward but in doing so you reveal a lack of understanding of the Nigerian situation. Where will this referendum be held? In Nigeria? With or without the support of the Federal Government? You even go on to compare the proposed referendum to that in Iraq thinking you are strengthening your argument. Based on your comparison, the Iraqi situation = to the Nigerian situation. What are you on about? I’m finding it quite a chore breaking down these most rudimentary of issues to one so ‘enlightened’. For the records let me clearly state that we have nothing to hide + I for one will throw my weight solidly behind the wishes of the people. However, in the absence of this plebiscite, MASSOB has done the next best thing which is to offer membership to all who show an interest in its activities. Since then, MILLIONS have joined + thousands are using the Biafran Pound within + outside Nigeria. Additionally, Nd’Igbo in a display of unison uncommon after the war, stayed home at the request of MASSOB on the 26th of August last year. Their profit-driven tendencies were put to one side + they willingly chose to deny themselves of any earnings on the day. Those who know anything about the Igbo know they don’t mess about when it comes to turning a profit. Does this show their support for MASSOB or for your Nigeria (bearing in mind that the Nigerian government warned them not to comply with MASSOB’s directive)? Since you like FACTS, chew on those for a moment.
You talk of international support being imperative + go into a tirade listing India, Ireland, Pakistan etc but you haven’t explained to all of us why TAIWAN has been successful. You talk of our ignorance but you have fallen silent on the report written by the US agency which predicts the disintegration of Nigeria. Are they also ignorant? Are the biased? Are they blood-thirsty? Do they want to send Nd’Igbo to their death? Or maybe like us, they are not afraid to look at the situation + come away with a healthy analysis.
In sum, you are yet to demonstrate that we are talking about the same country. As I type I ask myself why I bother to keep sending replies to your posts. You are clearly divorced from Igbo reality. You are clearly unable or unwilling to see that your Nigeria sets itself extremely low standards which it continually fails to live up to. The articles you unearth are simply those that can only apply to a Nigeria that knows no ethnic rivalry, hatred, corruption + greed. Your employment of these articles rather than support your argument, does not address the situation in a manner specific enough to be of direct bearing – everyone but you can see that. Your arguments simply pertain to a Nigeria of the mind.
___________________ Free Uwazurike Now!
Now is the winter of our discontent...made glorious summer by this [rising] sun of York. Posts: 325 | From: London | Registered: Jul 2005
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Thanks for the insight your post provided. All the lies + deceit make me better understand the One-Nigeria stance of this Nwa Aro character. He embodies everything that is wrong with that country. That's why he wants to maintain the status-quo.
Master Mind,
You are so right. I had my strong suspicions as well. Moreover, I tend to be very wary of individuals who are incapable of independent thought.
___________________ Free Uwazurike Now!
Now is the winter of our discontent...made glorious summer by this [rising] sun of York. Posts: 325 | From: London | Registered: Jul 2005
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I too saw red flags after reading Ike's post, and as time passed it became evident that others were secretly contributing to the Field Marshall's posts. I would have liked to have taken MeBiafran's advice and stayed away, but there were other insidious and clandestine voices in this thread that needed to be exposed and silenced. Chiboy was right on the money when he coined this description, "the tragedy of the character called Nwa Aro," for it is indeed a tragedy that one born Igbo could stoop low as Nwa Aro has done. But perhaps as many have observed Nwa Aro is in fact mentally handicapped and not able to help himself.
Igboblood,
I think you answered all the posts of Nwa Aro and company when you said that Nwa Aro's Nigeria is a "Nigeria of the mind," because no such entity as they have delightfully described exists in the real world.
___________________ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves... Posts: 660 | From: Valle del Sol | Registered: Nov 2004
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Igbo people living under the domination of Nigeria is like having Jews forced to remain in Germany after the war and still be mistreated and hated. Remaining a part of Nigeria is for Igbo people the addition of insult to injury.
Newton's third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal(magnitude) and opposite(direction) reaction. Philosophically put, (not withstanding quantum causation), where there is cause there will also be an effect. The photos Mazi Amadi O. has posted illustrate the Cause; the Effect is the Biafran movement, which cannot be stopped or affected by empty essays from mysterious writers claiming to be Igbo, but will continue until it reaches the full magnitude of an equal reaction.
___________________ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves... Posts: 660 | From: Valle del Sol | Registered: Nov 2004
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___________________ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves... Posts: 660 | From: Valle del Sol | Registered: Nov 2004
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Believe it or not, there was a time when this confused Nwa Aro used to do his own writing. There was a time when he was so disgusted with Nigeria that he could not bring himself to call it "Nigeria." That was when Nwa Aro wrote "THE BIAFRANIGERIA I SAW." I guess that was before Nwa Aro got a job to wash cars for mallams in Abuja. Posts: 43 | Registered: Mar 2001
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**** There can be no compromise! There can be no excuses! There can be no apologies! Lies will not suffice! The debt can never be repaid! The world must not be allowed to forget! The guilt of the world will remain from now to eternity.
*************
“Where were America and Britain while all this was going on?” – Rex1284
Permit me to rephrase the question, where was the world, if not for a handful of countries, while this was going on?
Where was USA? Where was Canada? Where was Germany? Where was France? Where was Britain? Where was Japan? ….. Where was USSR??
Why do these countries continue to allow those who committed crimes against humanity, war crimes, Genocaust (Genocide and Holocaust), to visit their nations and even invite them to their National Offices and hold meetings, wine and dine, with their leaders?
Any leader of any Nation who knowingly invites, supports, or hosts these criminals has lost all credibility!
Umu Igbo this is our case, not just against Britain or Nigeria, but against the world!
This is precisely why “Igbo Biafara” is Ndi Igbo’s whenever Igbo so decide!
The easy part is convincing the world why it has no choice in the matter but recognize the “Sovereign Republic of Igbo Biafara”, the difficult part is truthfully deciding on the type of country we hope to actualize?
Below is a post to one of the other trends by Nwa Aro:
****
Nwa Aro,
We will overlook your insults as we continue to educate the world on why the Actualization of the Sovereign Republic of “Igbo Biafara” is a must.
If you notice, I have not included Ndi Igbo in the above quote, an Igbo who turns his/her back on the Genocaust (Genocide and holocaust) against his/her people is not worth educating, nor are they to be trusted, you should research and find out why Dukakis, lost the American Presidential election a while back. Those who are not fanatical about Igbo, have no place in this movement.
If you also noticed I continue to use the term “Igbo Biafara”, this revolution is built on the premise that every nation must speak for her self, and must also make the ultimate decision by themselves and themselves alone on whether to continue as Nigerians or actualize their own nation state. One of the complaints of the Igbo neighbors is that Igbo continue to meddle in their affairs and this has created some unwelcome friction amongst them. These nations now have the opportunity to either succeed or fail on their own, and this time there will be no finger pointing! Each nation must now decide what is in her best interest.
China, a world power solved the huge ego of its people, by implementing a scheme where everyone bar none world be addressed as comrade. In Biafara, all men will be addressed as Maazi and women as AdaEze or any other term that is agreed upon.
Igbo Biafara territory:
The territory of Igbo Biafara will encompass every inch of Igbo land both East and West of the Niger, which of course includes Port Harcourt since Port Harcourt is Ala Ikwerre.
It is also important to note that from the research of Ekwe Nche Organization, one important point kept on coming up, “Every advanced or developed nation is built on the culture, tradition and philosophy of its people, that being the case, Igbo Biafara will be built on the culture, tradition and philosophy of Ndi Igbo, the rule of law, and of course OHA must be supreme, “Truth – Eziokwu bu ndu”, and not shades of truth will reign supreme in Ala Igbo.
Leadership: Collective Leadership will be the mode of leadership. Never again must Igbo allow herself to be ruled by some self-declared Messiah. Since no other nation exhibits the messianic complex as does Igbo, Collective leadership would be the only form of leadership to hold it in check. One then starts to understand the ingenuity of our fore-parents. One model would be a collection of semi-independent Igbo nation states, each sending a representative to the center, and this group will represent the presidential council. This way, no one section can impose herself on the other sections of Ala Igbo.
Our fore-fathers said beauty starts at home, it is not important to worry about what others think of you or if they will recognize you, get your Igbo house in other, and the world will have no other choice but recognize Igbo. One of the greatest states men that Afric has and will ever see, the Elder-statesman, Maazi Julius Nyerere has already made the Igbo case. I suspect Nwa Aro has no idea who this giant was, or he would not have insulted him. Nigeria still remains a country because Ndi Igbo continue to breathe life into that abominable copse.
Like Israel, if a hair of an Igbo is touched, Igbo Biafara will meet out ten times an equal payment, then and then alone can Igbo say “Never again”!
****
Maazi Oha Ka!
Posts: 166 | From: chicago | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote:From Lagos to Calabar and from Calabar to Sokoto, Nigeria is a country in tartters infratructure-wise, like is always the case, the most affected part is Igboland , there, there is virtually no evidence of the so-called "democracy divident", from the death-traps that goes for road to the non-functioning telephone lines to the completely brocken-down energy supply (electricity), etc, one counld't help than to ask "what are the Igbos still doing in Nigeria?". The abandonment is to say the least inhuman. - Nwa Aro
The Seaports are congested because the Nigeria Customs insist on discharging every container that arrives BiafraNigeria, and after that is done, the Customs them dis out custom tarrifs which make some importers to abandone their containers at the Warf for those greedy officers to later sell and bank in their private accounts and the most affected are the Igbos who happen to be majority of the importers - another war on Igbos ofcourse. - Nwa Aro
Though Nigeria is the sixth oil exporter in the world, there is accute scarcity of petrol (gasoline) and allied products throughout BiafraNigeria. Unfortunately, the places I saw the longest queue of vehicles waiting some for days and weeks at petrol stations to buy petrol are in the "oil producing" Delta towns of Port-Harcourt (Rivers State), Ikot-Ekpene and Uyo (Akwa Ibom), Calabar (Cross Rivers State), Asaba and Umunede (Delta state) and Benin-city (Edo State). Ironically, when I visited the northern towns o Abuja, Kubwa, near Abuja, Minna and Suleija (Niger State), the queues at the petrol stations were shorter. A "one Nigerian" Igbo friend of mine who accompanied me to northern Nigeria almost came to shedding tears when she saw the wide, well-tared roads from Suleja to Minna and from Abuja through Ibadan to Lagos, ever since then, she has started re-thinking her "one Nigeria." - Nwa Aro
A visit to some french-speaking west and central African "small" neigbouring countries will convince an unbiased observer that Nigeria is a primitive and stone-dead "giant of Africa." - Nwa Aro
(Posted by Nwa Aro, July 08, 2001 08:31 AM)
This bloke has evidently been paid for his fierce 180 degree turn. How else can such diametrically opposed views cohabit in the same mind? His attempt to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds is simply pathetic. Away with this Joker!
___________________ Free Uwazurike Now!
Now is the winter of our discontent...made glorious summer by this [rising] sun of York. Posts: 325 | From: London | Registered: Jul 2005
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Quote: --------------------- "This bloke has evidently been paid for his fierce 180 degree turn. How else can such diametrically opposed views cohabit in the same mind?---Igboblood -----------------------
Igboblood: Thanks for the pain you took to review the threads to comfirm that Nwa Aro is ideed a FIELD MARSHALL when it comes to highlighting, exposing and bringing the pains of the long-suffering Igbos to the world attention.
But if I should honestly answer your combined last mail and the one that started the third page of this thought-provoking thread, then my simply answer is this: IT IS ONE THING TO TALK ABOUT THE DOCUMENTED INJUSTICES DONE TO NDIGBO FROM WITHIN AND FROM WITHOUT IGBOLAND; BUT ANOTHER THING ALTOGETHER TO CAPITALIZE ON IT TO CAUSE THE SAME PEOPLE MORE HARDSHIP BY CALLING FOR "WAR" WHEN YOU NEOBIAFRANS WHO MAKE THAT SELFISH CALL HAVE SHOWN THAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE RUDIMENTARIES OF GLOBAL GEO-POLITICS OR HOW TO GO ABOUT BUILDING THE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL COALITION NEEDED TO FIGHT AND WIN A WAR IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. Put simply, that Nwa Aro has even before this board was established put beam on the pains of Ndigbo DOES NOT mean that I am by any shape or form calling for the disintergration of the Nigeria state. So anyone who thinks in that line should simply remove his/her mind from such narrow thought. Since you want to go back, also do review the threads to see where I repeatedly said and I repeat here once again, that: I (Nwa Aro) IS FIRSTLY AN IGBOMAN, SECONDLY A BLACKMAN, AND THIRDLY A CITIZEN OF ANY COUNTRY OF MY CHOICE. Does that sound like one who is either "Biafran" or Nigerian before being onye-Igbo?
On the much-talked about August 26 2004 sit-at-home order and its obeyance, though I have let you guys spin things out of control all this while, since you tried to use it as a yardstick to measure the acceptance or acceptabilty of your MORIBUND Biafra, may I for the first time let the world know that Ndigbo heeding that call by MASSOB is NOT a support or endorsement of MASSOB as the mouth-piece of the Igbo nation, nor is it a formal stamp of approval for a Biafra of territory by the Igbo people. Truth is that there are two, just two reasons why most Igbos, including the Igbo-Nigerians who are presently vehemently opposed to Biafra of territory obeyed that order then. The reasons were:
* It had to do with disenchantment by Igbos of every political and religious inclination about the rigged 2003 elections; much so as it affected the South-East where the rigging was more evident
* Igbos of all religious and political hue used the opportinuty to make a statement on the margilization of Ndigbo in other sphere of Nigerian life. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH EVERY IGBO CHANGING THEIR IDENTITY FROM BEING NIGERIANS TO SUDDENLY BECOMING A SO-CALLED BIAFRAN OR MASSOB SUDDENLY BECOMING THE MOUTH-PIECE OF THE IGBO NATION. Saying that Ndigbo staying at home on 26th August 2004 means that Ndigbo are no more Igbos but "Biafrans," or have formally endorsed your Biafra of territory is like saying that Nigerians obeying the Nigerian Labour Congress by frequently closing business and staying off work is equivalent to Nigerians becoming N.L.C or all Nigerians being registered members of the Nigerian Labour Congress. The level you guys could go to strenghten your WEAK Biafra of territory case is sickening.
Another point I want to bring to your attention is that the pamphlets which the neoBiafrans distributed days before the sit-at-home order was obeyed read "Igbo maginalization." It did not say "Igbos stay at home and on the 27th of August 2004 you will have a country called Biafra republic" as you guys want our audience to believe. It was for the above reason that the order was not obeyed by non-Igbos (only Igbos living in those places did obey the order) like those from Cross Rivers, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Delta States where you guys go about deceiving people that it is part of your "Biafra territory."
BTW, why has the fortune of both MASSOB and the neoBiafrans been in steady decline in Nigeria ever since August 26, 2004? To show how unpopular you guys have become this days, one hadly read anything about the so-called Biafra movements and those who claim to champion it in any mass-circulating newspaper from Nigeria!
As for your "Biafra" currency, only a novince in international or corporate business will take such JOKE seriously. That some illiterate traders went to Taiwan and printed papers and shipped same in containers disguised as importatable wares, which they claim is "Biafra Pound" and distributed same among themselves within the markets in Onitsha and Aba and some markets in some areas in the west African sub-region DOES NOT, I repeat DOES NOT make the so-called Biafran Pound a legal tender. That people like you who often see/read the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the American Central Bank, make pronouncements that sends stock markets around the world gittering or bouncing as the case may be, could be so naive to gleefully talk in an Alaba traders' languange as you guys talk about a Biafra Pound without a central reserve or bank, or qualified economists and financial experts that will dictate its value, exchange rate, distribution and circulation really makes one wonder if it was worth the trouble for you guys to have left the shores of Nigeria for the advanced west. Honestly speaking, be it on the issue of diplomacy, international relationship, politics in general, and now finance, I am sorry to tell you guys that you all have to go back to school to be properly lectured on how such things work in the digital world we live.
As painful as it may sound, I have to once again tell you latter-day Biafra "intellectuals" that IF IT IS ON THE "EXPERIENCE" AND "EXPERTISE" AS MIRROWED BY THE MYOPIC POSTS SUBMITTED TO THIS THREAD SO FAR THAT THE GREAT UNHEARD OF BIAFRA REPUBLIC OR ANY FUTURISTIC IGBO NATION SHALL BE BUILT, THEN ANY TRULY INFORMED PERSON READING US COULD AS WELL FORE-TELL THAT THE ECONOMY OF AFGHANISATAN WILL BE A MILLION TIMES MORE MOBIL AND DEVOLOPED THAN YOUR ENVISAGED COUNTRY. Again, NO INSULT MEANT, just stating the obvious.
Posts: 997 | From: Germany | Registered: Mar 2001
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Now that it has all but been agreed that Biafra of territory is DEAD, and the Igbo-Nigerians have through Nwa Aro made a COMPELLING and DETAILED case of how Nigeria could be restructured without being Balkanized as the neoBiafrans would have loved, another enlightened and forward-looking Igbo-Nigerian has gone further to make a ten-point case WHY Nigerians of every hue should not let themselves be hoodwinked by the FORCES OF DARKNESS:
"Seventh, war or Darfur style genocide is unlikely in Nigeria due to a combination of factors. Nigeria barely survived a fratricidal civil war. Another civil war is an unlikely proposition at this point in time. In addition, Nigerian politicians are unlikely to exchange their current lifestyle of pomp and pageantry for that of a drab-yoked guerrilla leader who keeps one eye on his or her piston and another eye on statecraft responsibilities, and lives rough in the bush. Again, unlike the situation during the Nigeria's civil war, major Western powers are likely to nip in the bud any attempt to break up Nigeria or do anything to jeopardize Nigeria's corporate existence." - Dr. Chinua Akukwe
------------------------------- Dr. Chinua Akukwe Tuesday, October 4, 2005 cakukwe@att.net Washington, DC, USA
THE PROMISE OF NIGERIA As Nigeria celebrated its 45th day of independence, I could not but reflect on the immense promise of a country chosen and destined for greatness. I am also aware that the great promise of Nigeria is yet to materialize, and many people do not believe that Nigeria will reach its full potential. However, since I became actively involved on African issues especially through the lens of HIV/AIDS remedial efforts and as I became more exposed to the intricacies of global politics, I became aware of the tacit understanding among the comity of nations, especially the most influential nations in the world that Nigeria promise is limitless. However, what is not limitless is how long other influential nations will wait for Nigeria to get its act together and fulfill its promise.
Why do I think that Nigeria has great promise? First, the era of atomization of nation states is gradually disappearing. According to the World Bank, the economy of Africa is about the size of Belgium. Most countries in Africa have national economies equivalent to the size of county or district governments in the United States. It is increasingly difficult for countries with very modest economies or landlocked borders to manage the expenses of national and international statecraft and diplomacy. As the most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria by default is looked upon by Western and smaller African nations as a major anchor of stability in the continent. It would be very difficult for Western nations to allow the disintegration of Nigeria. It would also be very difficult for the countries in West Africa or smaller states in Africa through the instrument of the African Union to allow Nigeria to break apart.
Second, Nigeria produces a sizeable proportion of intellectuals and professionals of all persuasions in Africa and in the Black world. Every year, thousands of young men and women graduate from scores of Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and technical schools. Today, these graduates may not be gainfully employed because of Nigeria's dire economic straits but they represent a potentially manageable and educated workforce. It is no secret that global conglomerates see Nigeria as the crown jewel of investments in Africa because of its population and its potentially trainable workforce. These unemployed or underemployed educated individuals also have the option of starting their own business enterprises and providing employment opportunities for other individuals. Nigerian newspapers report regularly on these enterprising men and women who moved from walking the streets in search of jobs to starting their own businesses and hiring staff. Furthermore, Nigerian intellectuals living outside the country are growing in numbers, substance and influence. Gradually, some of these intellectuals are gaining policy influence in their adopted or host countries, with the potential capacity to shape Western reaction to events in Nigeria.
Third, Nigeria share of natural resources are extensive. Nigeria, in addition to the well known oil resource is also endowed with solid minerals in various parts of the country. Nigeria also has the capacity to become a major exporter of cassava and sugar. The country can also easily become a major exporter of processed cocoa and groundnuts. Nigeria's vast liquid and solid mineral deposits if properly managed can transform the country into a major force in global economy. It can also unleash the natural entrepreneurial spirit of its citizens. I believe that with the global crackdown on money laundering and the ongoing, unprecedented cooperation among international law enforcement agencies, it would become increasingly difficult to siphon Nigeria's scarce foreign earnings into private accounts or mismanage public funds.
Fourth, Nigeria today has a strong economic team. Whether you agree with their market-orientation philosophy or not, whether you agree with the Paris Club debt relief or not, the economic team led by the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is implementing disciplined micro-and-macro economic policies that on paper will ultimately lead to a scenario whereby the government provides sound enabling environments for private enterprises, enforces the rule of law and contract, and, provides verifiable evaluation benchmarks. Although the Obasanjo government economic policies may unravel when the president leaves office in 2007, it would be very difficult for the next government to radically alter the course of Nigeria's economy.
Fifth, Nigeria's politics will be undergoing major reform before the elections in 2007. For the first time since Nigeria's independence 45 years, there will be three powerful political tendencies that will contend for power in Nigeria. These three tendencies know each other inside-out, have extensive financial and logistics resources and understand the powers and limitations of incumbency. The Obasanjo, Atiku Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida political groups in Nigeria are likely to neutralize each other in terms of "preparations" for elections. Winning party primaries is simply the beginning of the political musical chairs as "defeated" groups will easily regroup, metamorphose or swallow up existing newspaper parties in the country. The current political rumbling in Nigeria is directly traceable to pre-election jitters and maneuvers of these powerful political blocks. The unanticipated outcome is that it would be very difficult to brazenly manipulate 2007 elections in Nigeria. Thus, political stability, the albatross of Nigeria's corporate existence, is likely to be assured in a rather bizarre fashion.
Sixth, I am not aware of any serious living Nigerian politician who by instinct or deliberate action is contemplating the break up of Nigeria's territorial integrity and continued corporate existence. Prominent Nigerian political families have now developed Siamese relationships with their counterparts from all over country through marriages, business partnerships, professional association and political affiliations. Despite the occasional, half-hearted cantor to ethnic jingoism, Nigeria politicians by their deliberate actions have shown their continued preference for Nigeria as we know it today.
Seventh, war or Darfur style genocide is unlikely in Nigeria due to a combination of factors. Nigeria barely survived a fratricidal civil war. Another civil war is an unlikely proposition at this point in time. In addition, Nigerian politicians are unlikely to exchange their current lifestyle of pomp and pageantry for that of a drab-yoked guerrilla leader who keeps one eye on his or her piston and another eye on statecraft responsibilities, and lives rough in the bush. Again, unlike the situation during the Nigeria's civil war, major Western powers are likely to nip in the bud any attempt to break up Nigeria or do anything to jeopardize Nigeria's corporate existence. A religious war in Nigeria is also unlikely because in the Northern part of the country with majority Moslem population, Christian minorities have shown in recent communal clashes that they are no pushovers. It is almost inconceivable that Moslems and Christians in the Western part of Nigeria will fight each other over religious differences.
Eight, Nigerians in the Diaspora are gradually waking up to their responsibilities in Nigeria. With a growing level of remittances back home and increasingly being called upon to shoulder responsibilities at family and village level, Nigerians in Diaspora are gradually becoming political and by 2007 many will go home to contest for various offices and campaign vigorously for their candidates. Nigerians in Diaspora are also poised to make their mark through investigative journalism, judicial processes and political action in the United States to ensure free-and-fair elections in Nigeria and to track down assets of public officials. The influence of Nigerians in the Diaspora will grow irrespective of whether dual citizenship is recognized for voting purposes or not.
Ninth, younger generations of Nigerians that grew up in the urban centers, schooled in various parts of the country and intermarrying outside their ethnic groups, are unlikely to see things from tribal lenses only. These Nigerians most of whom were born after the end of the civil war in 1970 have a more global perspective to life, readily recognize the interconnectedness of the global community, and, are inherently suspicious of self proclaimed economic, political or social Messiahs. The so-called MTV generation is also more likely to demand more from their leaders and hold them accountable for their actions while in office.
Tenth, Nigeria and South Africa are extremely important countries in any future plan or renaissance for Africa. The need to seriously address social and economic problems in Africa will have salutary effect on the most populous and the most economically powerful nations in the continent. I see a greater mutually beneficial cooperation between Nigeria and South Africa as the two countries face delicate political transitions in 2007 (Nigeria) and 2009 (South Africa). I also see greater collaboration as the two countries navigate through long term economic flashpoints (controlling high poverty rates in Nigeria; allowing black participation in South Africa's economy).
Conclusion Nigeria's promise is easily achievable. None of the aforementioned ten points is complicated. However, two critical tests await Nigeria: the 2007 national, state and local elections and the absolute need to know the census figures of Nigeria so that effective planning and policy making could take place. I believe that Nigerians will work very hard to ensure that the country pass these critical tests and set the stage for the giant of Africa to take its right place in the comity of nations.
Dr. Chinua Akukwe is the former Vice-Chairman of the National Council For International Health (NCIH) now known as the Global Health Council, Washington, DC. ----------------------------
Thanks Bro. The nay-sayers could as well invent every story as they want, we informed Igbo-Nigerians who rely on FACTS not make-believes have long adopted this line as our guiding motto: FORWARD EVER, BACKWARD NEVER!
Posts: 997 | From: Germany | Registered: Mar 2001
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Wise words-oo! except that there is still a limit to what we can do for ourselves. I agree that ife na eme Nd'Igbo si anyi n'aru (our ugly fate is spun by us Igbos). The lack of concensus amongst Igbo academia, intelligentsia and political class is our bane.
The defeaning laughter within Aso Rock indeed will continue as is now; and also post-OBJ era unless the Igbos get together in honest and less egocentric manner to address Igbo question.
I was amongst young Igbos commissioned by the defunct "Igbo Plumule Club" in 1990 to understudy the "Kaduna Mafia" to see how Igbos could evolve think tank to articulate and propagate Igbo competiveness within the rank and file of Nigerian bureaucracy, civil service, military and politics.
One of the findings by the commissioned committee was that "Igbo sellouts" will continue for decades to come. The committee identified Igbo impoverishment after the civil war and the deliberate Igbophobia policies of successive governments as the major elements that underpin wilful and unintentional sabotage of pan-Igbo interests by Igbo professionals, academia, intelligentsia and politicians. These Igbos jostle amongst themselves for recognition by outside political powers and interests within Nigerian political establishments. This intra-race squabble was shameful, but a necessary ugly bid by the few to promote personal interests, feather individual nests, secure future for immediate families, escape poverty hoistered on the Igbo race, ironically by Nigerian establishments these few Igbos are fighting to please.
Successive Nigerian governments have exploited this weakness amongst the Igbos. The thing we see playing out in the Senate Presidency and Anambra is as a result of this. The best way to finish a group is to deprive them amenities! In such stifling climate of want and deprivation, personal interests and survival will be encapulated with treachery and elavated to the position of an art.
All Igbos agree that Igbos are having rough deal in Nigeria, but any egalitarian approach that will harm personal interests of the few powerful Igbos with stakes the status quo ante would not be acceptable to them. No one wants to start afresh...There are many revolutionary suggestions made by the committee to Plumule Club which under the operative code we worked with then, it would be irresponsible of me to devulge them. I still believe that unless such methods are implimented, we will continue to go in a circle. Igbos will continue to have Igbos in central government in Nigeria - it may be Kene Mkparu, Emeka Mbonu, Charles Udemezue, Paul Onwuanibe, Chidi Okafor or C. J Oke-Nwosu - any of us indeed - few lucky ones at atime whom the government of the day feel comfortable with to allow limited access to share the "national cake". In truth, the core Igbo problems and majority of Igbos will remain down-trodden and as butts of other Nigerians' jokes!
There are many ways we can help ourselves. Oganiru's ethos as enunciated and being sought after - if properly harnessed may help in some ways to ammeliorate some areas of grievances of Igbo interests. The other is to provide guarantees to powerful Igbos... however that could be done.
The only thing most Igbos have to know is that availing ourselves personal opportunities in Nigeria is not synanymous with anti-Igbo interests. Those castigating some of us who associate with powerful Nigerian political class must stop that; and those who are such lucky have no need to feel guilty. We own Nigerian wealth with the rest and have the right to partake in it without being grateful to anyone. One thing however Igbos in central government or appointment must realise is that from standpoint of ethnicity, they may be within the spheres of influence, but certainly not in the corridors of power. To the rest, they will remain Igbo...and to us they will return whether they worked for us or against us. Only us shall judge them at the bar of history
I need to caution us about going down the route of comparing Nigerian governments and seeing any good thing in any. Ironically it was a Fulani good friend of mine, Dr. Sanusi Gidado, who warned me about this elbeit in a larger Nigerian context. No Nigerian government in my view has met even a minimum irreducible standard of governance to be judged good or better than the rest. We have endured maladministration in Nigeria for so long in Nigeria that we seem to forget what good governance, justice, equality and equity are. Even though we now live in a civilised community and observe how things are supposed to be done, we seem to still have Nigerian maladinistration hang-up! When a Nigerian government does something by right it should do, even if haphazard and at a cost ten times what it should be, we clap, applaud and endorse! Why not, after all something is being done! How good it is and how fair and how representative such "largesee" is no one seems to care! It is the sad story of our history!
What yard-sticks are we using to judge these regimes? Any regime such as the likes of IBB and the rest that woke up one morning; got to the seat of power and took it by storm did so without civil mandate; by the same token they owed allegiance to none. This is in sharp contrast to supposedly "elected" officers. In my view, OBJ's first time as a junta should be judged differenlty now he claimed he is elected.
Oganiru as Igbo forum (as non-partisan as we are) must avoid any temptation no matter how alluring to endorse any regime on any performance scale. The bench mark Oganiru should adopt in judging Nigerian governments past and present should be predicated on larger collective Igbo interests such a government has delivered. If OBJ has done well in the North, West compared to all past regimes in Nigeria, but has faired badly in the East, for me as an Igbo man, he has completely failed. To get my endorsement, a government, be it IBB's, Abacha's or OBJ's must satisfy the general governance perfomance scale in Nigeria as a whole; and in addition, must also specifically do better than the rest to redress the imbalances in the East and Igbo land occasioned by long neglect and Igbophobia policies of past regimes. To me no government has done that yet. OBJ has even faired worse here.
I hit the peak under Abacha, but I will not endorse him as good leader on Igbo scale despite the fact that his regime provided me with better prospect as an individual.
Umunnem I do not want my contribution to be misread and misinterpreted. Some of the matters we discuss run deeper than we may understand them. Going down the route of comparing all these bad regimes in Nigeria grants them reprieve to continue with their evil regime and bad governance. Democratic governments should try to be above reproach and reproof. Approval of any kind exonerates them from serious condemnation of history...
Kodi
C J
and more..
quote:Okenwa,
Exactly, Dr. Chinua Akukwe was right in the quotation below. The political class who sustain themselves with ill gotten wealth and whose interests the status quo favours will never contemplate having Nigeria restructured. Indeed they would do all they can to sabotage the move towards restructering! They do not want to hear anything about the injustices the majority of the people suffer in the present day Nigeria. Similarly the pro-Nigerian Igbos who are hoping to benefit from Nigeria or who are already benefiting from the moribund Nigerian state will do everything to counter any motion for dissolution of Nigeria. Pro-Nigerian groups like you and mysterious Olisa H Osita will always dance around subjects without providing solutions for the problems.
I have been asking around about this Mr. Olisa H. Osita who is purported to be residing in Calfonia, USA. The latest report I got on Saturday, 8th October 2005 is that, this mysterious Mr. Olisa Osita, is an invention of a kind, possibly by one of the Nigerian protagonist. The suggestion is that Mr. Osita is a face of a single person who may say something today and tarsely accepting Igbo injustices in Nigeria and then the next day produces lengthy article wholly projecting Northern Agenda. Apparently, this Mr Osita has distinct and unique characters with Dr. Okenwa Nwosu's. Both are artful dodgers when it comes to providing answers to Igbo problems in Nigeria and both "Olisa H Osita" and Dr. Okenwa Nwosu are Nigerian protagonists. So Dr. Okenwa Nwosu is there any possibility that you could shed further light on the existence or otherwise of this mischievous and mystery Olisa H Osita? I learnt you were the only one who claimed to have spoken to him and that he claimed to be under FBI protection for a "threat" on his life hence he was not ready to identify himself. Rather strange and curious!
I was asking around because Igbos could do without someone like him.
One the broader issue Dr. Chinua Akukwe wrote, I can only say that people are entitled to live with their fantasies of super state. So this gentle man has the right to continue looking at the trees in the forest instead of the wood. Nigeria in particular is a unique and shamfeful example of a state that has regressed so much in the past 10 years compared to other regions of the world. Botswana if I remember has not got much coastal region and harbours. It's the only country in Africa that is praised for its growth.
In the case of Nigeria, the loveless marriage between nationalities more than anything else is Nigerian bane. Nigeria has not developed after 1966. Nigeria was better when the regions were in existence and when the powers in the centre was not as centralised as it is today. The period of the oil-boom was a period of waste. Whatever growth Nigeria was said to have had then, when analysed properly would show that for any development or infastructure earned then, millions were wasted. It was like using 100 tons of fertiliser and 100 labourers working day and night to produce a tuber of yam.
Dr. Akukwe should first ask people in Nigeria their opinion about Nigeria. What annoys me is when people do not to the Igbos and when no one tries to understand what the complaints of NdiIgbo are. Nigeria could be anything like USA today or tomorrow, but if the 40million Igbos remain second class citizens, I will continue to argue for restructuring of Nigeria. If Nigeria was doing well and then slumped; and if Igbos have been treated fairly and are now suffering with the whole of Nigerians for the economic hardship, perhaps I would agree with anyone that our sing song should be how to improve the leadership of Nigeria to revitalise the nation. Igbo question and Nigeria economic problems are different issues. The two issues may be linked, but not mutually exclusive. Igbos are being oppressed. Other Nigerians are suffering economic harships only, but not discrimination. So for Igbos it is a case of double wharmy! Suffering economic harship with marginalisation Other Nigeria see themselves as "us" and see Igbos as "them". So are outsiders who should be kept out of the main arena of Nigeria.
Interestingly, Dr. Akukwe's in his 5th point dealing with what he described as "three powerful political tendencies that will contend for power in Nigeria" in 2007, unwilfully underscores this same Igbo marginalisation score card. The three powerful tendencies which Dr. Akukwe sees as political reformation are West versus Northern political power distribution; equation and alliances that have been in place and at display since 1970. Not a new new thing to the Igbos. He mentioned Obansanjo, Babangida and Atiku. All of them who have been in power and who more or less are the architects of Igbo oppression. Babanginda fought against Igbos so was Obansanjo. They had been heads of state. What else do they want? What will they revolutionise? IBB spent 8years. Obansanjo by 2007 would have achieved that plus his earlier 3years as a junta. Under them and others Igbos suffered and continue to suffer.
In the El dorado scenario Dr. Akukwe painted for Nigeria, what is the stake for NdIgbo? In the powerful tendencies, where are NdIgbo? I will not cease to demand answers for these questions from the likes of Okenwa Nwosu? These are pertinent questions. Until these are addressed, I will continue to demand for answers and young Igbos who are flying the banners of Biafra would not lower them if anything, they would be erecting more polls to hoist them.
Dr. Chinua Akukwe got it all wrong about the present day Nigerian youths born after 1970 and the so-called cultural mix they share as he sought to establish in point 9 of his article. Ethnicity is growing in Nigeria and not dying down. Indeed, contrary to what he said, the propensity for disunity is more now than ever. The old brigades like himself and Okenwa who saw Biafran war are still suffering from the after shock; and their hearts already weakened by cowardice have tilted them towards reactionary tendencies. MASSOB youths who are now thorns in the flesh of Nigerian evil establishments are those born in late 70s and early 80s.
The size and diversity of Nigeria which people like Dr. Akukwe hold as its potential for greatness unfortunately is Nigeria's greatest undoing. My stand is that people should acknowledge this fact. Understanding a problem is the first step towards solution. If we all accept that there are injustices and discrimination of Igbos we then would go to seeking the reason that is and then finally to the solution.
If there is love amongst all groups and people are happy in the union, possibly, I may be tended to suscribe to the view that the elements such as size and cultural composition as mentioned; and the hybridisation of same could hold potential to greatness. In Nigerian case, it could be that we are not destined so. The only way to resolving the issue is to sit down and renegotiate the alliance and see how it could be fashioned to deliver benefit.
C J Oke-Nwosu
"Okenwa R. Nwosu, M.D." wrote:
quote:"Sixth, I am not aware of any serious living Nigerian politician who by instinct or deliberate action is contemplating the break up of Nigeria's territorial integrity and continued corporate existence. Prominent Nigerian political families have now developed Siamese relationships with their counterparts from all over country through marriages, business partnerships, professional association and political affiliations. Despite the occasional, half-hearted cantor to ethnic jingoism, Nigeria politicians by their deliberate actions have shown their continued preference for Nigeria as we know it today." - Dr. Chinua Akukwe
posted
Okenwa Nwosu, "Nwa Aro", the crooked, faceless "Osita H. Olisa", Chukwuemeka Reuben Okalla, Chinua Akukwe, are the new emeny within; the re-incarnation of the Biafran saboteurs. Today, they are providing comfort and intellectual support for the yoroba enemy and others who could settle for nothing short of the defeat of the can-do Igbo/Biafran spirit. I wonder where they'll run to in the Republic of Biafra?
"....those of us who witnessed the civil war first hand will attest to you that Obj's economic policy against the Igbo nation was copied directly from Awolowo's war plan of massive starvation. Banning our means of livelihood as they did during the war, recruiting saboteurs to lord over us as they did after the war. Very soon you are going to hear from the igbo efulefu critizing the break away party. [How much do they pay these people to work against their own people?]"
David
___________________ achieve Biafra and show the difference Posts: 642 | From: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: Nov 2002
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