Homily Given by Fr. Emefiena Ezeani
E-mail: emefiena@hotmail.com

I Have Come to be with the Igbo, Not to Praise Them!

We go to bed at night and get up in the morning and go about our daily business - working and earning money, studying to gain a degree or further degrees, etc. and so we believe we are awake. Anthony de Mello believes and rightly too, that many of us are not awake but asleep, though we may have our two eyes wide open. When do you then know that you are awake? It is when you have attained awareness, the spiritualist guru says. Have you ever said to yourself, 'Either I am mad or these other people are mad?" If you have asked yourself that question, that was the time you gained awareness or wisdom. You attain awareness when you are mad pursuing some ideals or causes when majority of other people could not see a sense in what you are doing. You see, they are 'sensible' and you are 'foolish' and foolishness is a twin sister of madness. Yet, it is in a state of madness that one attains awareness or wisdom. That was the madness of Christ, the foolishness of God. But they are indeed the overwhelming majority who take no notice of what is happening around them - the vegetables of humanity.

Most of us have been following recent events in that unfortunate country called Nigeria (Permit me to use the language of mad people. But tell me if Nigeria is not an unfortunate but a happy country). As before, hundreds of Christians, mainly Igbo, were massacred in the North by Moslems for committing the natural crime of being Igbo and the 'crime of freedom' of being Christians. What have different Nigerian governments done? Nothing!

It is under the above background that one could understand my rage when recently I attended a function in London. The audience was almost 100% Igbo. Yet the Chief of Protocol considered it apposite to have the function conducted in big English grammar. Sorry, I forgot to mention, there were also many Ichie Is, Chiefs and Akajiaku 1s in attendance too. But what was more sorrowful was that in the hall, many were, as though everything was normal, hilariously partying and dancing that people-destructive philosophical piece, "People's Club gwa m ife anyi ga eme echi-o, k'anyi kpolibe ndu. Olue ichi anyi amalu ife anyi ga eme nuo, k'anyi kpolibe ndu!" It was then I began to think and I asked myself, 'Which type of people with this type of Epicurean and hedonistic philosophy will ever survive? Who says the present generation of my people, the Igbo, are not wise and intelligent?' Mind you, I do not disapprove of parties, so do not misunderstand me. Socialization is salutary for the soul and body. But there is something fundamentally awry in a people who can party-party till day break for their individual welfare or enjoyment (too much stress in London) but cannot spare an hour of talky-talky for their collective well being.

Some of you may not have been aware of what is happening in Washington DC. As reported, the issue centres on the conspiracy of the Northern Moslem Nigerian Ambassador to the USA and some Nigerian Catholic clergy to destroy the Igbo Catholic Community in Washington DC. David Patterson once wrote a book with the title, "When Learned Men Murder." Learned men's commission of murder could be pardonable. But the learned and sacred men's commission of murder against a people (genocide) or their culture (ethnocide) is a sin against the Holy Spirit. And this sin is classified as 'unpardonable sin.' Our wise elders and forebears say, Onye ndi ilo gbalu gbulu gbulu na eche ndu ya nche mgbe nile. Ndi nke m, stay awake, gain awareness, be mad! But my people will not listen to my voice. And so, I have not ceased to ask, Quo vadis, my people? and they think I have run amok.

So, umu nne m, I came here to be with you, to be in solidarity with you as my people, but not to praise you. Or to praise ourselves, that we are trying! We are not. It is also my purpose for attending other Igbo functions. Why, because we have all been chasing after the rainbow, neglecting to collect the rain. Yes, all these functions, especially the one in remembrance and honour of our diseased brothers and sisters are good. But we have not laid the foundation or fertilised the soil for them to yield good fruits. If you have not yet understood what I am saying, this is it: We need unity and more than any other thing. Or in the biblical parlance: What we need is mercy, not holocaust sacrifice. It seems we have over flogged this point in this community even to the point of annoying some people. But the soul does not rest until it finds happiness in the Lord.

Let us test our education and Igbo wisdom. When the Northern Moslems suspect of reprisal attacks on fellow Hausa Moslems, those who have vehicles make them available to take them to safe havens in the North. What do the wise Igbo who have vehicles do when Igbo and other Eastern or Southern Christians are massacred in the North by Moslems for no just cause? They double and triple the transport fares. The time their brothers and sisters are killed is a welcome opportunity to make quick and big money. Why has the present generation of my people changed so much and so badly?

The bitterness and rancour and deadly competition among us is disturbing. Any slightest misunderstanding, your once cherished friend is made your greatest enemy. Even when the person has not done anything that is actually wrong. Once made an enemy he or she also becomes your wife's or husband's enemy too and enemy of your other friends. There seems to be a stony stubbornness in our hearts which prevents us from recognising the splendour, beauty and the redeeming power of forgiveness. My advice to each and every one of us here and 'there' today is to go and learn and put into practise those divine words in the Scripture: Obedience is better than sacrifice, what I Yahweh, your God, want is mercy, not sacrifice. Until we do this, our religious sacrifices, and weekly attendance at Mass (for those of us who are Catholics) will be nothing but empty rituals incapable of bringing to us God's sublime blessings.