Some of Nigeria’s analysts see Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence as the “accepted” “saintly tough-guy” Nigerian corruption killer in a different light from the general make-believe one. These analysts attribute Buhari’s final success after many failed attempts to become Nigeria’s democratically-elected president to some external influences. They claim that some powerful international figures have often meddled in Nigeria’s internal affairs to affect the outcome of events in the country. And Buhari’s recent victory at the polls was not an exception.
One remarkable example that these critics cite is the especially patronizing speech by the American President Barack Obama just before the 2015 Nigerian presidential election which brought Buhari to power. In his speech Obama urged Nigerians to maintain a united country no matter the outcome of the election. Many saw the speech in which the president used an old Biafran-Nigerian wartime “genocidal slogan:” “To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” as an outward expression of clandestine political machinations which in the end installed a preferred candidate in Nigeria’s supreme leadership saddle.
In the opinion of many observers, Buhari is an Islamic extremist who believes that he; “will continue to show openly and inside me [him] the total commitment to the sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria,” and “God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the sharia in the country.” Those are Buhari’s own words. For having the foisted posture of the “saintly tough-ruler” as well as an Islamic fundamentalist, Buhari fitted well the ideal consensus candidate of Nigeria’s Islamic north. He was chosen because he was believed to be a capable and willing candidate who would boldly implement the so-called north’s long term ambitious Islamic agenda for Nigeria – extending the global Islamic caliphate project to cover the entire country, including Christians’ and other religions’ areas. Nigeria for many reasons has long been considered important in this local and global Islamic caliphate agenda. It is said that the ultimate goal of this agenda for countries in Africa’s south of the Sahara is to eventually overrun and conquer them for Islam like those in the northern half of the continent. The advocates and financial sponsors of this agenda see the conquer and subjugation of the entire Nigerian geography as being strategic because by virtue of its position and clout the country will serve as a launch pad whose reaches cover the entire target-region.
The Nigerian jihad as part of the greater global Islamic agenda
In Nigeria today there are two manifest champions of this “global caliphate” agenda. They are members of the deadly Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram who have very strong connections with the most powerful people in Nigerian political, military and business establishments. The second group is also an equally well-connected Islamic terrorist group modeled after the fearsome Sudanese Janjaweed. Its members are mostly Fulani, members of the ethnic group (the group sometimes referred to as Nigeria’s “born-to-rule” over others) from which the current Nigerian president comes. They are generally known as the Fulani Cattle Herders (FCH.) Like Boko Haram, Fulani Cattle Herders are also generously financed by the northern elite and ruling oligarch class.
In the last few decades Saudi Arabia and some other Islamic countries like Iran, Turkey and Nigeria have dreamed of and fanatically pursued the archaic fantasy of an eventual Islam-subjugated world. These countries have expended in the process, a chunk of their petrodollar and other national incomes in pursuing the agenda. Some observers think that they have been successful in more ways than most people will care to admit. It is believed that among other achievements, that perhaps their greatest is being able to successfully infiltrate the Western news media establishment. Through this subversive penetration of the mainstream news and information dissemination process of Western societies, the jihadists have over the years, exerted pervasive subtle but unmistakable influence on the editorial opinions of media outlets in the West. Some analysts think that the prevalent editorial stance of most mainstream Western media where each tries to outdo the other on who would best be described as the most “politically correct,” “tolerant” and “civilized liberal,” can hardly be explained otherwise.
The infiltration seems to be so thorough and complete that today no matter how realistic and objective a critic is, there will always be a way to accuse him or her of being “politically incorrect,” suffering from “islamophobia” and expressing a “dangerous far right extremist views.” Today anyone can easily bet their most valued possessions to predict that the editorial opinions of Western media will always sing in unison the well-rehearsed chorus that “not all Muslims are terrorists” therefore the critic who deviates from the accepted “liberal” and fear-induced “civilized tolerance” is condemned and labeled; “unsophisticated,” “bigoted,” “crude” and “uninformed racist.” The new Western standard is simple; even after the attacker had called the authorities on the phone to announce their reason for the attack, Western authorities in the name of “not being at war with Islam,” should spend an endless period of time investigating to ascertain the motive behind the attack.
The ultimate goals of all terroristic or Islamic jihad campaigns are to receive attention, elicit fear and intimidate or cow the target-victims (the infidels.) Those goals have substantially been achieved in many places around the world, Nigeria inclusive. The ongoing global jihad has not only successfully used fear and intimidation to cow much of the international community, it has also compelled everybody to “tolerate and endure happily” the prevailing globe-wide displays of barbaric Islamic violent extremism. So, the fear campaigns have successfully cleared the way for the emergence into powerful offices, such extremist bigots like Buhari in dysfunctional societies like the Nigerian country. As a result, people in the mold of Nigeria’s present leader, rather than being censored are patronized by such world leaders like United Nations’ Ban Ki-moon with such unrealistic words like: “You are highly respected by world leaders, including myself. Your persona has given your country a positive image.” Yet the so-called Nigeria’s “positive image” is nothing more than the continued descent to the lowest levels of religious intolerance and flagrant abuses of the human rights of peaceful citizens. The brutal killings of hundreds of non-violent Biafran separatist protesters by government security forces are too recent to be swept under the carpet by the patrons of these extremist elements.
While campaigning for and on assumption of office, Buhari did not need to present any complex political agenda. Having proved himself as an Islamic fundamentalist, he could cash in on the well-established global jihad’s political capital of the “global caliphate.” Nevertheless, Buhari who became the posterchild of Nigeria’s “saint-and-tough-guy” messiah, winning became a do-or-die obsession. At 70 plus years, he became desperate as he felt that time was running out on him. In his own words; “baboons and dogs would be soaked in blood” should he fail again to win the election to become Nigeria’s next president in 2015.
Buhari and his handlers managed to convince the uninformed public that he was the “poor” candidate who never stole money since his more than forty years in public office (but there are abundant public records to the contrary) who is suited to kill the monster of Nigerian corruption. Yet this wretched candidate was able to easily afford the $10 million consultancy fee of the American political strategist David Axelrod of the Obama phenomenon. So, an indigent Buhari who would kill the Nigerian corruption saw nothing wrong in paying a “modest” $10 million to a foreign political consulting firm for a local election in a country where the people live on less than $2 a day.
When Buhari shut down Bibi’s visit to the ECOWAS conference scheduled oearly 2015, the message was clear: Israeli’s are not welcome here. Although Buhari is only one voice within the 15 member economic zone, he is a powerful one.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and has been receiving advanced arms from the Obama administration to fight Boko Haram. Despite this, Nigeria itself is on borrowed time.The movement for an independent state of Biafra, which is in southeast Nigeria is serious and its backers are growing. The Igbo and those tribes that are connected to them have begun to return to their roots, which are directly connected to the Israel.
Buhari understands this and so he pushed back against inviting Bibi Netanyahu to the ECOWAS Summit. If he were to let the summit go ahead with Netanyahu, Buhari would risk being the vehicle that would allow Bibi to commandeer West African support for Israel. West Africa is key for Israel for multiple reasons. The most important is it gives Israel an ability to block the movement of Islam South into the heart of Africa.
Secondly, Buhari has his hands full with the awakening of Biafra in the southeast of the country. If Biafra gains independence,Nigeria would not only lose a third of it’s land, but the source of its oil. Besides the economic value Biafra brings, an independent Biafra would rectify the historic wrong perpetrated by European Christians and other colonial forces against the Igbo and the other tribes of the Guinea Coast with Hebrew roots. Biafra’s restoration is central to the growing rapprochement between Africa and Israel. If allowed to continue, leaders like Buhari are on borrowed time.
One way for Israel to pressure Buhari is to draw attention to Nigeria’s unlawful imprisonment of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB. Granting Kanu freedom would be the fasted way for Islamists like Buhari to feel the force of the coming pendulum swing back towards a sane West Africa. A West Africa that cherishes its lost Hebraic culture and works to safeguard its burgeoning relationship with Israel.
The Nigerian army has announced that they have fatally wounded Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram terror group, in an air strike. The action took place Friday, but was only now just confirmed.
BREAKING NEWS: NIGERIAN AIR FORCE RAID KILLS BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS COMMANDERS… “ABUBAKAR SHEKAU” FATALLY WOUNDED!
The question isn’t whether Shekau is dead or not. Boko Haram’s leadership exist at the highest levels of the Nigerian government. President Buhari cleverly used the group to force former President Goodluck Jonathan from office. Buhari ran as a strong man claiming to be the only one capable of defeating Boko Haram. Yet, Buhari himself has been a known Boko Haram sympathizer.
According to CAN the Christian Association of Nigeria, Buhari is at the very least a Boko Haram sympathizer. On eof the group’s leaders Rev. Dr. Musa Asake issued the following statement after the brutal killing of a Christian woman at the hands of Muslim fanatics: “The discrimination against non-Muslims in Nigeria under the Buhari Administration is assuming a dangerous dimension that should not be left to the vagaries of time and circumstance to resolve.”
Three years ago Rev. Musa Asake had already called for Buhari’s arrest for serious links to Boko Haram.
Buhari cleverly used Boko Haram to attain power and has harnesed the group when necessary to bolster the Islamic Fulani Herdsman in their rampages agains Jewish and Christian Nigerians in Biafra. At other times Buhari claims to be fighting Boko Haram in order to procure better weapons from the Obama administration. These weapons are being used not against Boko Haram, but rather many forces connected to the free Biafra movement.
So is the leader of Boko Haram dead? Well, that depends on who the real leader is.
It becomes important now, as we lament our terrible fortune in letting Muhammadu Buhari become our chief executive in government that we should begin to tell ourselves some home truths about what we know of this devil we call our President. I believe this will enable us prepare for the worse as he is prepared to give us the worse, together with his counterpart in the United States of America (USA). I believe also that by informing ourselves, we will be able to counter their moves.
Anyone that knows anything about this Daura man must not hesitate to tell us. That is why I must now write of what I know from my vantage point as man who knows the goings on in the inner circle of Nigerian government. This article contains a lot of information, but my main aim is to reveal the plot by Obama and Buhari to oust Prime Minister Recep Erdogan of Turkey in a coup d’état, and to turn his country into crisis for some roles he has refused to play.
In March 31, this year, during Obama’s last Nuclear Security Summit held in the USA, he commended Buhari before Canadian President, Justin Trudeau – telling him that Buhari was “doing a good job”. It was hard to understand whether Trudeau understood what Obama meant, as many Nigerians did not understand what good job Buhari was doing.
But now the scale has fallen off the eyes of many, even as they now learn of Buhari’s involvement in the coup in Turkey. But there are still so much more not learn about Buhari’s atrocities both in Nigeria and outside of it. Right now, many Nigerians think Buhari’s involvement with the Turkey coup just started and ended with transferring the funds to the men on ground in Turkey. But it went beyond that. Buhari is neck-deep in his involvement with many Obama schemes around the world.
Even as I write, he has Arabians stationed in Nigeria in absolute luxury, who are his think-thank that give him advice and insights on developments in the Arab/Moslem world. In August last year, few weeks after he assumed power, his government gave visa to Ahmad al-Assir, a Lebanese Moslem, and an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leader. Many people would think he was the only one given visa by Buhari. No! He was just the only one that was not able to pass through. He would have been part of that think-tank today.
Many observers did not know that “doing a good job” which Obama said of his “grandfather”, Buhari, meant that the old Nigerian Muslim bigot was playing the perfect lackey to him, and to his Muslim backers in their attempt to shift Turkey away from its status as the only Moslem democracy in the middle-east and to plunge it into crisis.
What many people do not know is that Turkey runs a democracy unlike Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and other Islamic countries in the region. It is about the only Arabian country that has democratized and is bidding to join the European Union (EU). But that is not good for Muslim fanatics like Buhari and Obama abhorred that.
Yes, Obama is a Moslem; there is no doubt about that. One does not need lensed glasses to see it; and he has proven it with his actions over time. Agreed, USA does not have any problem with Moslem countries because they have Moslem friends. In fact, Moslem zone with riches are USA preys. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt are good examples. Yet, USA does not fight Jews, Israel or Christians. But Obama is the only American leader that supports to annihilation of Christians as he is aiding Buhari to do all over Nigeria and aided Morsi to do in Egypt. His hatred of Israel also attests to that.
The coup:
Right now there is tension in Aso Rock. Not really about what the people already know, but what they do not know, and the fact that their possibility of their knowing is growing. What with Obama, at a time, calling Buhari every 30 minutes and telling him to do everything to protect his image and that of the USA.
Aso Rock’s major source of worry is their awareness that Turkey leader is just bidding his time for now. He does not want to talk about the USA/Nigeria connection on the coup yet, until after he has visited Vladimir Putin, the Russian President.
Obama’s plans for what to do with Buhari, concerning Turkey, started long before the 2015 elections in Nigeria. In fact, this was what those campaigning for Biafra did not know. They did not know that Obama’s urge to Islamize the entire world was bigger than his consideration for any peoples’ freedom. That was why he turned blind eye to their entreaties for him to lend a hand in their work for their freedom, the freedom of Biafra and its independence. That was why also, he first plotted with some Northern governors, 12 of them and a deputy governor (all Moslems), who visited him in August 2014, to help in ousting Jonathan from office.
The governors had visited under the guise of fighting Boko Haram, but they all knew that Boko Haram was part of the plot. Does it not surprise anybody that Obama refused to brand Boko Haram a terrorist group until the Senators suddenly rose to their responsibility and started asking questions on why the government had ignored pleas to brand the sect a terrorist organisation? People should understand that when Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram boasted that USA would not be able to subdue them, he knew that the USA leader was their godfather.
Obama’s plot to float Boko Haram was to use it to discredit former President, Goodluck Jonathan, so that he will be disgraced him out of office. Did it not surprise anyone that Obama bluntly refused to sell arms to Jonathan to confront Boko Haram. Not only that, he influenced many important countries not to sell arms to Jonathan, thereby forcing the poor man to look for arms through the black market. Obama did not stop there; he stopped the USA from buying oil from Nigeria, and organized other countries to do same, except perhaps India. Apart from discrediting Jonathan, Obama had his eyes on drastically reducing the Christian population in Nigeria.
Now, with Jonathan boxed into a corner, Obama finally busied himself with his (Jonathan’s) ouster. He dispatched his electoral hatchet man, David Axelrod, to Nigeria, giving him all the resources and assistance needed, to axe Jonathan. Nigerians should understand that when Buhari boasted that if he lost the election that “monkeys and baboon” would be soaked in blood; he knew the power behind him. But did Jonathan have to go? Yes, he did not accept the wicked plan and Obama’s evil political games, so he was ready (and did) walk out of the seat as a gentleman.
But Buhari accepted everything, even for baboons and monkeys to be soaked in their blood, before Obama decided to lend a hand in rigging him into Power. Obama then reached an agreement that he would pay Buhari certain amount of dollars. Part of the bargain was that Buhari was told by Obama to block the forex in Nigeria once he steps into office, so as to raise the said amount monthly and to pay same to a given account in Turkey. Buhari chose United Bank for Africa (UBA) for the wicked transaction. But why he chose the bank, I have not been able to find out.
It is instructive to know that the USA ceased from continuing with the execution of the coup plan when it was certain that it was going to fail. It then pretended to be helping in foiling it. Actually, discontinuing with the coup was their plan B. The plan A was to unseat Erdogan, but when it became apparent that it would not work, they change to plan B. interestingly, that has always been the USA way of doing things. They will create a crisis and then pretend to help in finding a solution when it appears to be getting out of hand.
Now, in sending the money to Turkey, Obama had told Buhari to tell any prying eyes that it was meant to take care of Syrian refugees. As a result of the latest development, what is going on now is that in his bid to “the integrity of Obama and the USA”, Buhari is telling UBA to deny knowledge of the transactions. But Turkey has all the facts. Perhaps they will spill the beans after Erdogan has visited Putin and apologized to him. We wait!
When the dust settles over the numerous calls for separation and restructuring in Nigeria, the world will know that it all started with the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu. Fortuitously, Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s public approval rating was 80% in October 2015, the same month he illegally kidnapped Nnamdi Kanu. Ever since, Buhari’s personal political standing as well as Nigeria’s economic well-being has nose-dived to 30% approval rating as at July 2016. As Prophet Nwoko had predicted, “Heaven will strike if Nnamdi Kanu is not released.”
We recall that on the 14th of October 2016, agents of Buhari known as the Department of State Services (DSS) trailed Nnamdi Kanu to his hotel in Lagos as he was on transit to Biafraland and arrested him. After several physical abuse and torture, he was flown to Abuja for further torture and physical abuse. Desperate to jail Nnamdi Kanu, the DSS raised several trumped-up charges which were summarily dismissed by the courts. Both Magistrate and High courts issued orders for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu but Buhari’s DSS refused to obey the court orders.
On the 30th of December 2015, Buhari boasted to the global viewing audience that Nnamdi Kanu will never be released. In the meantime, as Biafrans in Biafraland gathered to pray for the success of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in the legal battle against the DSS, Buhari ordered his military and other security agencies to open fire at them, which resulted in the death of scores of Biafrans. Recently, on the 30th of May 2016, Buhari in conjunction with the governor of Anambra state—Willie Obiano, deployed the Nigerian Army from Onitsha military barracks who shot and killed over 200 unarmed peaceful Biafrans that gathered to commemorate the day Biafra was formally declared (49 years ago) as well as remember the fallen heroes of the war of genocide levied on Biafra by Nigeria and Britain.
Between the illegal detention of Nnamdi Kanu and the massacre of Biafrans on the 30th of May 2016, Buhari has steadily and continually engaged in ethnic cleansing of the Biafran people. His killing spree on Biafrans and the despoliation of the Biafran environment plus the refusal to obey court orders on the release of Nnamdi Kanu were harbingers to the emergence of diverse freedom-fighting groups which Buhari and his acolytes nicknamed militants. One of these freedom-fighting groups is the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). The NDA has dealt a devastating blow in the oil and gas industry and for which hydrocarbon production has plummeted.
The political environment in Nigeria has remained unstable. Nigeria has developed irreparable fault lines engendered by Buhari’s inept partisan governance style and his non-observance of the ethos of democracy and the rule of law. Both Executive and Legislative arms of government are confused, unproductive, and antithetical to democratic objectives. Instead of Buhari to carry out reflexive praxis on the many issues bedeviling the country he claims to be the president of, he is busy beating war drums and enjoying his pastime which is the slaughter of innocent Biafrans. Unknown to Buhari, the root cause of the aforementioned political woes facing his country is the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu and the flagrant disobedience of court orders related to the unconditional release of Mr. Kanu. As a matter of fact, the call for restructuring wouldn’t have happened if not for Nnamdi Kanu’s well-articulated and relentless pursuit of Biafra and Buhari’s dictatorial nature of interfering with the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the social spectrum is also badly hit by Buhari’s lack of basic understanding of how democracy works and the need to subject himself to the law of the land which he swore to uphold and obey under Schedule-7 of Nigeria’s Constitution. Several thousands of lives have been avoidable lost to terrorist attacks coming from Islamic fundamentalists of Northern extraction under the protection of Buhari. From Borno to Benue and from Potiskum to Port-Harcourt, several lives have been cut short courtesy of a dysfunctional security and law enforcement system. People are now walking and looking over their shoulders and around them while thanking their creator for sparing every minute of their lives. This was not the situation prior to the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu.
The jet speed with which the economy of Nigeria descended into the abyss since the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu has been unprecedented. Readers should take time to review the economy of Nigeria before and after the illegal arrest of Nnamdi Kanu. Today, the only income-generating resource (Crude oil) for Nigeria is at all-time low. Even the Managers of Nigeria’s finances have openly confessed that Nigeria will not be able to execute 50% of planned projects because of the activities of militants who are all in unison in their demand for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu. As a matter of fact, the investors in oil and gas in Nigeria should blame Buhari for the activities of NDA and other militants because if Buhari had released Nnamdi Kanu there would not have been the destruction of oil and gas pipeline and facilities nor would there be any momentum or impetus for other separatist groups to emerge. If the present trend continues Nnamdi Kanu would have succeed in destroying Nigerian economy as militants will not stop blowing up pipelines until one of their key demands are met which is his release. In particular, the militants’ demand for the unconditional release Nnamdi Kanu is 7th item on their list of demands and the question bothering everybody’s mind is why Buhari and his government have chosen to downplay demand #7 when that is the only opening available to them to make meaningful human contact with the militants.
Religious bigotry has reached a crescendo in Nigeria under the presidency of Buhari especially since the illegal incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu. There have been beheadings of Christians by Islamic fundamentalists, lynching of non-Muslims by Boko Haram members, and outright mass-murder of Shiite Muslims by Sunni-practicing members of Buhari’s armed forces. Buhari deployed Boko Haram members to Biafraland to rampage and massacre Christians especially members of Indigenous People of Biafra under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu. Buhari did this with the sole aim of stifling the quest for the restoration of the nation of Biafra.
The Judiciary has been completely compromised and put under the direct dictation of Buhari from the time Nnamdi Kanu was illegally arrested. Most Judges now pander to the whims and caprices of Buhari for fear of being dismissed from service or killed in a mysterious manner. The shenanigans going on in the court room of Justice John Tsoho speak for itself. The independence of the Judiciary is now an unknown phenomenon in Buhari’s Nigeria.
Nigeria is truly in a very big mess from the time the DSS illegally arrested and unconstitutionally detained Nnamdi Kanu. The reputation of Nigeria and that of Nigeria’s assumed president (Buhari) is in tatters and got worse from the time Buhari illegally arrested and detained Nnamdi Kanu. There is a bleak future for Nigeria as long as Buhari continues to keep Nnamdi Kanu in captivity.
Nigeria is already on a cliff-hanger and just a tiny strand is what remained for it to descend into irredeemable catastrophe. Like Somalia under Siad Barre, Nigeria under Buhari is sliding into the abyss because of the stubbornness or some would say suicidal tendencies of one man. As Somalia collapsed into a failed state and terrorist heaven today, so will Nigeria follow suit because of the antics of Buhari. Nnamdi Kanu’s illegal detention and Buhari’s disobedience of court orders have negative implications for the stability of West African region as well as crude oil price stability globally. It has been confirmed form reliable sources in Nigeria’s Presidential Villa that 60 percent of calls to Aso Rock from overseas is about Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB, Niger Delta Avengers, and the collapsing economy.
The European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America must take notice that there will surely be another war in Nigeria with far more deadly consequences worse than that of Somalia and Sudan combined. The only way this prediction can be avoided is to ensure that Buhari obeys court orders by releasing Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally. Anything short of unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu in accordance with the court orders will make Nigeria current political instability snowball into anarchy and at the very end, Nigeria as we know it now will never be the same again. The ball is in the court of the international community to make the right decision of requesting Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and the time to make that decision is now.
Ikpa oke ani, that is mapping out the boundaries and ownership of lands, is an important function in Igbo society. In the process of doing this, a lot of factors are taken into consideration. Integrities and reputations of elders who are usually the judges and deciders are established or destroyed in land matters. Depending on how they handled land issues. Most other social functions are suspended on the days when lands are divided or contested land boundaries are scheduled to be settled and trees planted to permanently mark the extent of each contestant’s reaches and control. So, in Igbo society the people take geographical maps seriously. And if we are talking of Biafra where the Igbo are involved, (the Biafra in question is a supposedly geographical and political independent or self-governing sovereign state) then we must make every effort to define the extent and boundaries of this sovereignty right from the start.
Most of us are familiar with the Biafra map of between May 30, 1967 and January 15, 1970 (the old Biafra.) But I wonder how many of us have contemplated what the map of the new Biafra will look like. In the old map many natural Biafran geographies were excluded such as Biafra lands on the west bank of the Niger. But we know the reason why. However, as most of us will recall, many of the best and greatest Biafran war generals and heroes were from the west bank.
As we all know, the old Biafra and the Biafrans of old; the people who defined the first Biafra, did not have the luxury of time and knowledge which the new definers are privileged to have. The old Biafra was a child of circumstance which was thrust on the people by the exigencies of events and emergencies of their time. But we must acknowledge that these people performed so creditably well that some of us today have always wondered how they were able to do what they did with the little that they had. These people faced almost an entire hostile and unsmiling world, looked at it in the eyes, and did not blink. The reason is because they wanted to survive. The old Biafra in the face of all odds, became a modern model of self-defense and the best illustration of the principles of Self Determination. The old Biafra was the only option and the best option available to the people. To them Biafra was the only right thing to do.
The old Biafra remains a study in excellence and an insight into how to translate dreams and impossibilities into realities because the best and the brightest of Biafrans rallied to make that Biafra possible. The best thinkers, the best technocrats, the best diplomats, the best scientists, the best engineers, the best craftsmen, the best artisans, the best military tacticians gave to the old Biafra everything they got and turned it into the best Black African’s can-do model enterprise. In tragedy, because the best of the people came together to work for the common good and for the honor of Fatherland, Biafra became a success and a pride that today fifty years after, continues to elicit memorable and nostalgic feelings.The Map of the New Biafra
But the truth is that we cannot dwell in the past and reminisce for eternity the exploits and accomplishments of generations past. At the same time, we must never discard or treat lightly the great achievements of our fathers and mothers. We must always stand on their shoulders and start from where they stopped. But each generation must fight their own battles and win their own victories. This generation cannot shy away from the noise of battles or shirk from the sight of blood and expect to win accolades and laudable historical memories from coming generations. And the truth is that this generation cannot expect to win and do great things if the best and the brightest of the people continue to shy away from this task of securing freedom and a homeland for the Igbo (an endangered ethnic and religious people) in Nigeria. So long as the best and the most honorable of us continue to abandon this duty to the less gifted and the not so honorable characters among us, then the battle will be stretched and Igbo honor and prestige will be diminished. In the end, if a geographical space and sovereignty is achieved, it would have become a pyric victory and the inadvertent creation of another Nigeria with a different name.
Arapuru obodo ndi aru, obodo awo nke ndi aru. If we leave this task to the mediocre and the frustrated and uninformed, uncouth and undiplomatic activists and freedom fighters from among us, the ideals and lofty dreams of the new Biafra will become the playing field for the frustrated and the home of abhorrent mediocrity. Eventually it will become a homeland where excellence and impossible dreams are frowned at or even legislated as crimes because it is criminals and dishonest “intellectuals” who will become the legislators and the wielders of political power and authority. If the best among us should abandon this job to the less gifted as is, then the new Biafra would have been lost as the old Igbo society got lost when the Whiteman came and sold to the Igbo the idiocy of chieftaincy titles, igwe stools and that hollow mockery of human dignity and honor when every Igbo son and daughter began to refer to themselves as princes and princesses.
In Igbo society today, there are more chiefs than the Igbo as the greatest struggle has become who will go by the biggest sounding titles. Every Igbo person today must prefix his or her name with Dr., Prof., Pharmacist, Architect, Engineer, Attorney, Barrister, MD., PhD., Chief, Igwe, Bishop, etc. in order to feel relevant and shore up their self-worth anchored on nothingness. The other purpose which the title mongering serves is to intimidate the less privileged among us. But while many of us scramble for more of these empty and social-creative retardant titles we should have at the back of our mind the saying that “every chief is a thief.”
And this is historically and literally true. Historically, all those who received the European’s manufactured Warrant Chief and Igwe staff of office in Igbo land were the thieves, social pariahs, abani di egwu and all those at the fringes of the society who cared less about the people’s culture and values. Those were the people that the Europeans found useful to be able to intimidate the natives and extract from them maximum taxes and levies. The real custodians of the people’s traditional heritage and customs shunned those negative strange and disruptive emptiness. It was based on this rejection that the society which we inherited, is an Igbo society which had been turned on its head, standing shamefacedly in the midst of ill-gotten strange and unfamiliar ways. Ever since, the struggle has remained the cutthroat competition to launder those filthy dubious gains where falsehood is called truth while condemning in the same breath, the old and tested traditional principles of aka idi ocha, offor, ogu and ikenga. Our values and social norm became discolored because thieves were made to rule over us while men and women of integrity scurry and seek the paths of least resistance. Today, thieves (chiefs, igwes, Drs., Profs., Barristers, etc.) who have brazenly committed nso ani are allowed to bear rule and decide for the people what they should accept as rights and wrongs. Literally, to complete the destruction of the people, it is this kind of warped Igbo society that got subsumed into the greater Nigerian union. In the end it seemed to have made certain the final and eternal demise of Igbo’s real national and cultural identity. But by all means and at all costs, I think that the Igbo cannot afford to take this disease of hollow mockery of our true humanity into the new Biafra.
In Nigeria excellence and best practice are not just discouraged, they are punished and sacrificed at the altar of federal character and quota system. And we must choose to either carry the practice over or discard those insidious destroyers of greatness, excellence and bigness at the threshold of the new Biafra.
The new Biafra is an emergency but the emergency we are confronted with today is completely different from that of the old Biafra. Therefore, based on what we know today and the realities of our collective experiences the map of the new Biafra must include all the autochthonous and contiguous geography of Igbo land. While excluding, in the interest of assuring our neighbors and cousins around us, all non-Igbo lands and territories. We must make effort to assure our neighbors that the Igbo do not covet whatever that belongs to others, neither do they desire to lord it over other people. The Igbo rather than being driven by imperial aggrandizement of Igbo geography have always been the withdrawing types who would rather maintain and preserve their cherished republican independent democracy than seek to expand their geographical reaches and political control of others. It is this spirit that made them to lose, sometime ago to overwhelming deluge of immigrants, most of the original lands which they held in the past.
For this and for many other reasons we need to have a clear definition of the geographical map of the area we are talking about as the new Biafra. To do this, we need to produce a physical map that is based on none flimsy dreams but practical realities of who and where constitutes the new Biafra.
To achieve an authentic new Biafran map we have to bear in mind some few basic facts. Firstly, we have to accept that by the reason of the new knowledge and experiences available to this generation, the old Biafran map is unrealistic, outdated and clearly overtaken by new realities. It will be a bad dream for us to produce any map of the new Biafra that incorporates other ethnicities that are not Igbo speaking without qualifications. The old Biafran map included non-Igbo speaking areas because of the circumstances that produced the map in the first place. There was an Eastern Region which was created by the colonialists and it included non-Igbo speaking areas. Then there was only one governor for the entire region which happened to be Emeka Ojukwu. When the 1966 Pogrom took place, the other ethnic peoples as well as Igbo people of the old Eastern Region were affected. The survivors of the Pogrom ran back to the Eastern Region, which included Igbo and non-Igbo. It was under such all-inclusive affectation of the affliction that led the advocates for the then Biafra to campaign for the independence and self-determination of all the affected parties. With all the prevailing evidences it was easy for the Igbo to convince the others to go along with them in their pursuit for a new state. At first the others gladly accepted and went along with the dream. But the game would quickly change soon after. We are all familiar with this story but I am only retelling it as a reminder and to serve as a guide in our current decisions.
When it was clear that the other non-Igbo peoples went along with the Igbo in the 1967 Biafra, it was easy for the British to capitalize on that to defeat the Igbo. They had to Isolate the Igbo in the fight and once that was done it became a divided rank from within. The division further helped in the success of the siege and Awolowo’s starvation weapon policy. We need to appraise the reason behind the quick about face turn of these our neighbors: The non-Igbo areas had been agitating for autonomy and independence from the Igbo before the 1966 crisis began. Then it was easy for the British to tell Nigerians to create autonomous states for the non-Igbo peoples as guarantee and assurance that the intention of the war was to save them from Igbo domination and marginalization; hence the twelve states were announced by the Nigerian leadership. At the announcement, the non-Igbo ethnic peoples of the Eastern Region were elated with their new found power which they believed would shield them for good from Igbo people’s influence.
With that move and the reaction received, the Nigerian strategists now had to produce the Sole-Igbo target narrative in the genocide. The Sole-Igbo target narrative that was sold to the non-Igbo peoples of Eastern Region is that they were never intended to be part of the 1966 Pogrom and subsequent genocidal war. They were told that it was the Igbo who were their (Nigeria’s) problem which they wanted to eliminate. These other Easterners bought into this Nigerian story and we all know how it all came together in the end: Igbo became further hated and feared the more by their cousins in the East. That hatred has persisted to date.
With the success of this divide and conquer masterstroke, from then onwards, to the outside world and to all who cared to listen, Biafra now according to this British narrative, became an Only-Igbo enterprise. The story of the fight became the “holy” mission to liberate or save non-Igbo ethnic peoples of Eastern Region from the Igbo who wanted to lord it over them and steal their God-given resources from them. Thus, the Igbo became completely isolated and demonized as the story sounded believable to the lazy listeners. Unfortunately, fifty years after, this story has persisted and it’s not going away anytime soon. The voting pattern of 2015 Presidential election notwithstanding. We may dismiss or ignore this reality to the detriment of the future generations of our people. As for this generation, it will not matter much. The excitement and ecstasy of winning (freedom and independence) will cover the multitude of faults and inconsistences of this sloppy move and save the trouble for the future. The generation that will confront these problems will be worse off and will have to continue wasting energy and resources and opportunities they should have used to advance on trying to fine tune mediocrity-inducing quota system models and federal character appeasement compromises. If this is allowed to happen, we will be back to where we started from; a new Nigeria-Biafra.
Foreigners created Nigeria and here we are trying to free ourselves from it because they did not take into consideration the people’s fundamental differences. However, now we are being given a second chance and we may be recklessly driving along the same road which the colonialists traveled. If care is not taken, and if we continue so negligently traveling this road it might lead to unnecessary heartaches and pains. Who knows, we may be about to create a new Nigeria-Biafra. This new move will be based on recklessness, negligence and unfounded fear. Some of the fear is that Igbo cannot go it (their independence and self-determination) all by their selves. Igbo alone has a population of about 50 million. The truth is that it is a lonely world. That is if the company of 50 million can indeed be considered as lonely. But in real world, each individual or group must depend on their own inner power and ingenuity to survive and thrive. Amongst the Igbo they think that once a child is out from its mother’s womb, it is now on its “own.” So, it is expected that the Igbo can at least try, and hopefully they may make it, if they tried hard enough. They have no reason to give up and presume that they cannot make it without first trying.
However, should the Igbo try to go along with the unnecessary “extra luggage” of incorporating unwilling and incongruent partners on this trip to their new nation, they are bound to regret it. As we said earlier, it is not necessarily this generation that will suffer but further down the road, the people will pay dearly for today’s negligence. How it will happen is that Igbo population which is maybe four times the population of these other “future partners,” and because the Igbo are just as talented as the others, proportionally it will make the Igbo to seem to be dominating in all aspects of the new nation. Then there will be cries of marginalization and oppression from some of those who might want to adopt the so-called minorities statuses. These cries will in turn serve as cogs in the wheel of the new nation. Democracy is a game of numbers and because the Igbo will have more number it would appear like the Igbo are taking up every available opportunity.
The other truth which we cannot escape from indefinitely is the fact that there has not been some adequately publicized moves with concrete terms of reference, carried out to produce memorandums of understanding with these other groups. Such MoUs will clearly show how we intend to relate with these neighbors assuming we are going along to coopt them into the new Nigeria-Biafra country we are planning on establishing. The same thing goes for the issue of organizing a referendum even within the Igbo area. We cannot take it for granted that all Igbo will vote “yes” to separate from Nigeria, in the first instance. Those who have money may exercise a greater influence on the people. And those who have money may choose to go along with the old order within which they made their money. So, we must bear that in mind. It’s true that such extrapolation may be a bridge that we are yet to get to but we will surely get there and will then be required to cross it. My reason for bringing up most of these issues now is to help us, right from the beginning, to pay close attention to all the details and not take any aspect of the business of this new Biafra for granted. It is the way that we choose to define the map and the other aspects of the Biafran business from the beginning that other outside interest groups will follow. And the truth is that even foreigners will prefer that the Igbo do not drag along unwilling others into this new Biafran enterprise.
My recommendation; let’s work out modalities with these other ethnic groups, on how all the former Southeasterners can all work together to win independence from Nigeria while each group is guarding and tending their own separate national destiny and identity. We must choose to become independent from Nigeria, in the first place, as Igbo people, not along with the other ethnic peoples if they are unwilling. We may neglect this truth and take it for granted but outside partners do not see any sense in such recklessness and are not amused.
Land size does not make a nation. It is the people that make a state. Should the Igbo go it alone, it is guaranteed that they will not be the smallest nation on Earth and even if they were, what difference will it make. Nigeria’s headache, as claimed by the country, is the Igbo, not the other groups. Nigerians have always made this very clear. The Igbo therefore, must learn to depend on their selves. The compromise of taking unwilling partners on this trip to nationhood does not worth the pain. Someone once said that compromises make good umbrellas but poor roofs. In the new Biafra which we want to build, we would rather build a roof that will not just protect the Igbo from the hate and assaults from the enemy, in addition, we should endeavor to create a national atmosphere that will enable the people to unleash their creative potentials and constantly reach for the stars. Such atmosphere is only possible in a society where you don’t have to compromise everything including quality, so that “no child will be left behind.” It needs to be made clear here that we are not talking about an exclusive and closeted Biafra, no. Biafra will be open and accommodating of all shades of humanity and opinions. Yet, for the sake of progress and the well-being of all, there will be unified standards which should not be compromised in order to satisfy the quota of a stakeholder who may be unwilling to make some extra effort in contributing to improve and advance the lot of the common good.
As we round up this discussion it is important to remind us that whatever map that we finally come up with must be practical, realistic and defensible. No map that we present to the world should be based on assumptions. The present Nigeria is based on a one-hundred-year-old assumption and here we are today paying with death tolls in millions of lives as a result. Ironically, when we look at it in a more holistic light, the worst loss to the Igbo may not be the millions of deaths; killed by the genocidal state of Nigeria. Perhaps, the greatest tragedy of presumptive-maps such as those of Nigeria and others like that may be the lost opportunities of creating a progressive and prosperous society where any lives even if lived only for a brief moment were lived in a considerable level of comfort and fulfilment. A decent and dignified quality of life well lived, will always worth more than stretched out longevity of mere human existence as is the case in Nigeria today. Great and successful societies will always be the result of the harmonized social and cultural structure of the human composition of the place. If we are therefore careful today to incorporate this cautious wisdom in our planning at this foundational stage, then if in the future any of us can come back to look at the result of our today’s decisions, we will be proud to have chosen the bold and conservative path over the liberal and reckless road.
Some of us may not like to hear this next point the way it is said, but the truth is that the Igbo is not loved by all their neighbors, without exception. Today, the fad is “referendum.” Everyone is talking about it but it’s not going to be in vogue one hundred years from now. So, we must plan a nation that is based on concrete structures that will still be relevant in the next one hundred years. One hundred years ago, the fad then was the amalgamation of incongruent peoples and societies with the assumption that “we the colonialists make the decisions for them and they (the natives) will never know the difference.” However, the practical thing which I think will still be relevant in the next one hundred years is that in Africa, there can be Luxemburgs and Vaticans, and Africa will be better off and more prosperous as it is in Europe than if Austria and Germany had been made into one country. Or France and Belgium merged, or even Britain and France amalgamated into one country.
In the meanwhile, the more sensible thing to do is for the Igbo to go it alone now and in one-hundred-year time, the neighbors would have seen how we conduct our businesses and the way we run our society. Then they may elect to want to join us based on real and verifiable facts. Then each group will bargain from positions of strength to reach satisfactory cooperative union agreements. Until then, what have we got to show as it is, nothing. We are not even sure that we will succeed, so why drag along other people whose aspirations are not the same with those of the Igbo. We cannot wrap up Igbo future with those of other people as it is. Let the future generation of Igbo people which did not witness the Pogrom and the subsequent genocidal war, take that decision, guided by the conditions that are obtainable in their own prevailing circumstances.
This thing is not complicated at all as some of us may imagine. Let us in the interest of maintaining good neighborliness choose the Lone-Igbo pathway to nationhood over another amalgamated nightmare. We should not be ashamed or afraid to talk about pure Igbo interests as if the Igbo story cannot be prestigious, dignified and relevant unless it is associated and corroborated with those of other people. For the sake of emphasis; has anyone wondered why don’t the Israelis merge their state with Lebanon or any of their other Arab neighbors so they can be big and heterogeneous. That of course would have made them “more” modern and liberal but less . . . It is in this spirit of “modernity” that some people have argued that the Igbo should remain in Nigeria because Igbo economy is bigger than Igbo geography. In response we say nice try. Putting it differently, Africa should be made into a country for the Igbo so they can only conduct business in their own country.
The Nigerian Civil War: The Memoirs of an Unsung Biafran Commando, a book by Matthew Uzukwu is an important book. It is published in 2016 by Feli Publishing Maryland, USA and available at www.amazon.com for $15. The book tells the story of the Biafran War from the perspective of a Biafran soldier, John Ude who fought on many fronts against the unwarranted Nigerian war of aggression against Biafra. It is clear from the book that every Biafran soldier believed in the justness of the fight till the end – an indication that the philosophy of the war was clearly communicated to the people. To all Biafrans and by all honest definitions of the word; the war was genocide. Therefore, the fighters clearly wanted to survive a certain death. Ude and the rest of Biafran soldiers fought to stop genocide. In trying to prevent the death of a people Ude and others like him gave everything they got – their very life.
The book is a faith kept by the author who painstakingly took down notes as a high school student from the oral narrations of Ude’s personal recollections of his experiences during the war. The book is well-written and an easy-read with many pages of pictures of the principal participants in the war as well as those of many kwashiorkor victims and war refugees in Biafra. It’s a book of 166 pages that catches the interest of the reader right from start and can be finished within the space of a few lunch breaks. It is a historical narration of how Biafrans successfully used ingenuity to prosecute a war of survival and ran a functional society while going through the greatest of trials. Basic social services such as law courts, electricity, fuel supplies and the post office worked till the very end of the Biafran ordeal. It was because the post office worked in Biafra that John Ude’s life was spared at the tail end of the war when he was wrongly taken for a deserter. The lesson here is that when a society works as it should, it does not only enhance the quality of living in all aspects for the citizens, lives are often saved when it matters the most, even in seemingly unrelated areas.
Ude and all the other Biafran soldiers distinguished themselves in the fields of war and successfully prevented an intended total genocide against Igbo people. They made history. And after nearly fifty years, Matthew Uzukwu wrote to preserve the history of their courage and to inspire for all time any group of people who may have to go through a similar unjust Biafran experience. But sometimes there have often been debates about; between the soldier and the historian, who does more service for humanity. This must have informed David Ben-Gurion’s conclusion. In a tone obviously meant to disparage the historian and raise the status and prestige of the soldier above the historian, Ben-Gurion said that “History is not written, history is created.”
But there will be no history at all without the historian. If a great tree falls in the forest and no one was there to hear the fall, it would never have made any sound. At the dawn of creation, physicists believe that there was a big bang that exploded to give existence to everything there is in the universe today. The fact is that the explosion which is supposed to be the one sound that spanned the entire universe at the beginning of time did not make any sound at all because there was no sentient being to hear the sound at the time. So, history is created by the soldier but history must be written by the writer for it to even exist. John Ude did his part by fighting to prevent genocide and Matthew Uzukwu has written the story to prevent a future occurrence of genocides against Igbo people. One of the highlights of the night in Washington DC area where the book was presented to the public on June 19, 2016 was the vote of thanks which was delivered by Uzukwu’s teenage daughter Chinwe. She thanked the guests who were gathered to support the father for writing the book. For many of us who were there the vote of thanks was two ways and we could not have been less grateful.
My major quarrel with the book is in the title. Unfortunately, most Igbo scholars have fallen into the trap of accepting without any examination the fallacy sold by the British and Nigerians, of thinking of the war as a “civil war.” But the truth is that there was no civil war in Nigeria until the Nigeria versus Boko Haram war which started less than ten years ago. On the contrary, Biafra versus Nigeria war was not a civil war. The standard definition of civil wars is that the war is fought within the physical geographical confines of a state. It is usually fought between or among several contending groups in the country. But this is not the case with the Biafran Nigerian conflict of 1967 to 1970. The war officially began on the 6th of July, 1967. That was the date on which Nigeria first fired the first bullet in the war of aggression which it waged against Biafra.July 6 date is important when proving that the Biafra-Nigeria War was not a civil war. The war was GENOCIDE. The purpose of deliberately distorting the historical facts about the war by the concerned players in the war (the British and Nigerians) is to make less the weight of the crime which they jointly committed against the Igbo.
On the 30th of May, 1967 the people of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria exercising their fundamental human right to self-determination and independence unilaterally declared their freedom and independence from Nigeria. The step the people took was the best option that they had at the time and they had every right to do what they did. Prior to this date, for a period of about one year, starting from May 29, 1966, the government of Nigeria and its citizens unremorsefully and without relent carried out a systematic program of pogrom against the Igbo population and the other ethnic peoples of the former Eastern Region. By the time of Biafrans declaration of independence, more than 100,000 Igbo and other southeasterners had been murdered. The independent declaration was an effort that the people embarked on as the last resort. They justifiably pursued their basic human right to self-defense and right to life. By the conclusion of that war, over 3.5 million Biafrans were unjustly murdered by the Nigerian state.
The truth about the Biafran War is that Nigeria waged a war of aggression against another sovereign independent state which had been in existence for almost two months. At this point, all responsible governments and leaders would have engaged in using diplomacy and negotiations to prevent any further loss of lives.
Fifty years afterward, given all the prevailing events in Nigeria’s political space, just as Biafra was right in 1967, it has remained so up till this writing in 2016. And that is partly some of the things that the reader may not find in the book. The author also failed to address appropriately the cause of the war. There is no doubt that Igbo officers dominated the rank of those who carried out the first coup d’état of January 1966 but he should have explained to the reader more about the reasons for the coup. He should have let the reader know that the coup was an attempt to save Nigeria from the suffocating Islamic bigotry and heavily corrupt political leadership of the central government of the Prime Minister and the Premier of the Northern Region.
The writer failed to tell the reader that the coup was also carried out partly to prevent the federal government’s planned “walloping of the Western Region” and to install in power the populist Obafemi Awolowo who was then serving a prison sentence for planning a coup d’état against the government. The author should have let the reader know that Ifeajuna/Nzeogwu coup d’état of January, 1966 was carried out to prevent the federal government of Nigeria’s declared intention to “wallop” or wipe out the Yoruba people of Western Region. If the author had done that he would have in that same vein established that John Ude and all Biafrans fought Biafra War to prevent the federal government of Nigeria’s declared intention and systematic program of wanting to exterminate the Igbo whom they considered to be the source of all the problems of Nigeria.
In spite of all apparent reality to the contrary, and for reasons just as varied as the people, there may be a few individuals and interest groups who still wish for the survival of the Nigerian state as it is presently constituted. Such well-wishers naturally are interested in seeing the country move forward in the positive direction. For some obvious reasons this much desired forward march has remained an impossible goal for about the entire span of the country’s history. Perhaps one of the most important first steps that is needed by the country to go forward in the desired direction is to find a way to unify the many divergent national, religious, ethnical and other aspiring groups which are the various strands that form the national fabric of the Nigerian country.
Involuntarily, the Igbo ethnical, national, religious and linguistic group is one of those major strands which were forced by colonial fiat to be parts of the national, etc. groups that constitute today’s Nigerian state. Within six years of Nigeria’s existence as a colonially united country crisis broke out in the new country and collectively the other groups as described above chose to attempt to exterminate the Igbo, claiming that the Igbo were responsible for the country’s many problems. Therefore, from 1966 to 1970 the new country – the government and its citizens pursued vigorously a national genocidal program of trying to totally wipe out Igbo people from the Earth as solution to Nigerian problems. At the end of the ordeal, though forced and patched up to rejoin the now badly frayed Nigerian union fabric, the Igbo emerged from this systematic crucible of hatred, shedding forever their Nigerian citizenship.
Throughout history and in all regions of the world where there has been genuine and honest response to the crime of genocide, separation has always been the only sensible response.
So, the best way to understand the Nigerian country and Igbo’s place in it is to look at it from this point of view: Nigeria as a genocidal state and its Igbo population as the victim of the crime. Genocide is the word to have in mind while responding to the question of whether the Igbo should continue to maintain their stake as partners in the colonial union known as Nigeria. Throughout history and in all regions of the world where there has been genuine and honest response to the crime of genocide, separation has always been the only sensible response. At the end of the crime, the victims are usually removed far away from the perpetrators. Separation is the only solution that permanently prevents future occurrences of the atrocities of genocide in any society (such as in Nigeria) where it has taken place.
While the international community is saying “Never Again” at the end of any genocide, it goes without saying that the only reliable guarantee that is capable of safeguarding such a promise is the shield and assurances that sovereign independent international boundaries provide for a persecuted people like the Igbo. The smart approach, as they say in Igbo, is that while anyone tries as much as possible to keep fires away from combustible gunpowder, they should also make as much effort in keeping the gunpowder away from fires.
Here following, let’s mention a few of these genocide victims (like the Igbo) who of necessity had to be separated from the perpetrators of their ordeal in order to ensure that the victims do not suffer the same fate in the future within the same place and from the same people. In Igbo tradition there are two traditional sayings which support this call for separation; 1. Igbo people believe that the cripple is not expected to die in a previously announced warfare. Due to their handicap, he or she is not expected to wait till the last minute to move away to a safer place. 2. The Igbo also believe that it is only a tree which is known to stay put and does not make efforts to escape the blows from the ax of the feller after it had been told the previous day that it would be cut down.
About two weeks ago, in the midst of threats from the Turkish government which perpetrated the crime, German legislators officially recognized the Armenian Genocide as such. Soon after the Turkish Ottoman Empire committed the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 with the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, the Armenian people separated themselves from Turkey into an independent country of Armenia with administrative capital in Yerevan. After German Nazis committed the genocide of the Jews in Germany and the rest of Europe in which 6 million Jews were massacred, the victims had to separate themselves far away from the perpetrators. This Jewish Genocide is better known today as the Holocaust. The genocide ended in 1945 and the Jews established an independent state of Israel in the Middle East in 1948. It should also be remembered that it is the accusation of genocides that led to the breaking up of the united country of Yugoslavia into several different sovereign independent countries. The genocide of the East Pakistanis by the government of the West Pakistan led to the separation of the East from the West, where the East became an independent sovereign state of Bangladesh. The list goes on.
The genocide such as the one that took place in Nigeria against the Igbo is an institutional genocide. Most genocides are institutional crimes, anyway. In most cases it is only states that have the capacity to muster such elaborate machineries usually required to carry out such great massacres. The government as well as the other peoples of Nigeria committed the genocide of Biafrans between 1966 and 1970 in which 3.5 million Biafrans were killed. Igbo people alone made up 3.1 of the 3.5 million who died in that genocide.
The root cause of the Igbo Genocide in Nigeria is hatred. Therefore, the hatred that produced the act is institutional and not merely individuals hating their Igbo neighbors and friends. The Nigerian state as an institution is the primary source of the prevailing Nigerians’ hatred of the Igbo. Because its source resides in the institution of the federal republic of Nigeria, it will be near impossible to uproot this hatred from the Nigerian society. It will be near impossible to create a lasting atmosphere in the Nigerian society where the Igbo will be eventually accepted and allowed to exist side by side with the other Nigerians in the spirit of true brotherhood.
Institutions run as continuums therefore the established government policies, customs, norm and culture such as the society-wide hatred of the Igbo in Nigeria, run from one generation to the next. Agreements, armistices and promises such as “Never Again,” “No victors and no vanquished” and other similar lofty pledges, when they are genuinely made, can only hold for a short while in genocidal societies like Nigeria. Eventually there will always emerge the biblical Pharaoh who did not know Joseph and who sees no reason in honoring any pacts made by their predecessors. Once such Pharaohs arrive in power, the vicious cycle resumes and genocide repeats itself. Therefore, the only real solution that will permanently prevent any more future genocides of the Igbo in Nigeria is for the Igbo to embark on a Moses’ kind of exodus from the Nigerian Egypt into their own ancestral homeland in Igbo territory.
It is not often when you get to sit with a truly special person. I first met Chief Rabbi Hiben Daniel on my way to the Kotel last year. He informed me that he was the head of the Igbo in both Israel and Nigeria. At that time I was more interested in business relationships with pro Israel Africans than taking up the cause of the Igbo, but the Almighty tends to push one where he or she is needed.
The Igbo are bit of an enigma to most Jews, but more and more there is a recognition that at some point in history they were in the Land of Israel. There are a few hypotheses on how they got to what is called Biafra, the southeastern area of Nigeria. Some believe they are the descendants of Judeans that fled to Egypt with the prophet Yirmiyahu. Others say they are Gad and came well before. Of course no one should discount the fact that the Mali empire was filled with Jews and upon its collapse many fled south to the Guinea coast, Biafra being the furthest east.
The Igbo are circumcised on the eighth day as commanded in the Torah. They do not eat unclean animals or mix meat and milk. Furthermore they are married under a chupa, a Jewish wedding canopy. There are many other correlations.
So what happened? Essentially, the British imposed Christianity on the southern areas of Nigeria. The Yoruba, mainly in the western part of Nigeria became Christian fairly easily, but the Igbo strangely enough blended both identities together. Only now, with the return of Israel to its homeland, the Igbo are waking up and realizing that they must return to their roots. There are still millions of Igbo practicing Christianity with a twist in worshiping on Shabbat, but this is do to forced missionizing by Europeans. When shown the truth, many begin to drop the ways of the original colonists.
Now, over a year after our first meeting Rav Hiben Daniel and I were able to discuss himself and the Igbo.
Hi, Rav Daniel. Thank you for sitting with me to discuss some of these issues. I know much if this information is not widely distributed to the broader Jewish world. So it is an honor to discuss these things with you.
When did you arrive in Israel?
I arrived Israel on the 5th of May 1993.
How did you grow up? What Jewish customs do you recall?
I grew up with my parents who were hiding to reveal to us that we are Jews for fear that we might leave them for Israel. I recall that we, good or bad must circumcise every male issue on the 8th day. The only time it’s extended is when the child is sick. Again, my father may he rest in peace had to wash his hands and pray every morning before talking to us.
There were other things as well like:
The separation of beds which we didn’t know why till I got married.
We never cooked meat and fish together.
Marriage rites must involve the paying of money.
During divorce the amount paid for the wife is returned to free her. Marriage is done also through yibum where the late husband has male issue and if she refuses, the halisa rite is performed to free her.
Barmitzva called Iwa Akwa.
Respect to the dead,1st 7 dys, 30 dys and 11 months of morning
Kibud ve aknasat orchim.
Do you believe Igbos are Jewish? Do they have to convert?
Yes Igbos are Jews. I don’t believe we have to convert but who am I to challenge HaMaran Ovadia zatzal, who told me why it’s good. So I started before others. According to the Ashkenazi rabbis like Rav Yehuda Frank we don’t have to., although he recommended to go to a mikveh.
How did the Igbo get to Nigeria? Why is there no written Torah?
The Igbos got to Nigeria through Egypt and some came and later left again, though few remained.
King Solomon who saw his minister Yerovam as a threat didn’t allow them come back from Egypt and the Kingdom divided.
The group who continued with Moshe May his name be blessed, came through Beersheva after helping to conquer Jordan.
Many from the tribe of Gad did not enter and scattered before coming to Land and went to Africa.
There was no Torah with them, rather Tanach. This same reason lead to their formation of the 4 market days called Nkwo, Eke, Orie, Afor which was a generally accepted tradition until they had Torah and those who didn’t have continued till today. Everything was primitive of course.
They had Torah and Synagogues till the foreign invaders came in from Portugal, Germany, Britain, etc. with missionary works and introduced their foreign gods and destroyed our Torah and Synagogues.
Have you experienced racism here in Israel? If so, please elaborate and explain what we can do about it?
Racism? In black and white. Mostly from those who are not religious. To curb it, the government has to accept all Jews with open arms. Government offices and Knesset members should comprise black and white.
A committee, I mean trusted ones should be set up by Prime Minister Netanyahu to investigate this issue and enforce a law on this. You heard about the Ethiopians; how they were removed from school because they are black? How they never allowed them to buy houses to places of their choice? How my brothers and sisters after the conversion approved by Maran Ovadia (may he rest in peace) in 2007 were deported? The judges arrested together with me and the rabbis that were teaching us? It was on news on all media. Did the government do anything? Are there no Israelis in Igboland? Lots of them practicing with the Igbo Jews, yet we are tortured in our own land [Israel].
One last question. What do you envision as your role here in Israel and in connection to the Igbo in Nigeria? Where do you want to take it?
My vision, and role here in Israel? You can see for yourself. I left everything, went to Yeshiva and carefully studied for almost 12 years in different places just to help my poor Jews who are eager to come back to our old tradition of Judaism.
It is my dream to have a Yeshiva there in [Nigeria/Biafra]. I believe that the G-d of my fathers is Omnipresent. Rabbenu Nachman is one of the big scholars and was buried abroad. There is a reason for that. All we should know is that kindness is a language, which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Judaism without chesed is avoda zara [idol worship]. I wish you well.
Today I am blessed with a wife, Ariella Nkechi Daniel and my princess daughter, Bat-El Adaeze Chinaecherem Daniel. This is my 3rd marriage. The first two was destroyed by the interior ministry ( I know the culprits ) whose main aim was to frustrate me being the leader of my people.
Now my questions to the Israeli government:
Why has the government not done anything to bring back our brothers who were deported after their formal conversions since the Supreme Court of Israel approved the conversions done by a recognized Beit Din? I have the list of their names.
I have names of some non religious Israelis teaching some of our poor citizens who want to come back to their religion the opposite of what we learn here. They are teaching women to tie Tefillin and talit. They are using the advantage of the weak to raise money in the name of trumah. Yet we are not Jews? I have a message to all G-d fearing Jews; The hour has come. The Chief Rabbi of Israel HaMaran Yitzchak Yosef will no doubt be like his father who was there for us.
We are not fighting for aliyah, money, house ,etc. I beg with tears that the chief rabbi recognize us, help us with sifrei Torah and more Halachaic books and finally send us a beit din to go cleanse my people from their tuma [impurity] by ritual immersion and acceptance of the yoke of heaven, not teudat zeut. To this there will be a complete peace in the land of Israel. If you are current, you can see that a king from the Jewish land of Africa has emerged. This is not by accident, there is a reason for this. Those who communicate well with the King of Kings may know why. Remain blessed.
By mid-1945 when the Allied Forces had helped to liberate the last vestiges of the German occupation of Europe and end the atrocious concentration camps and gas chambers in Auschwitz and other locations, more than 6 million European Jews had been murdered in the genocide which became known as the Holocaust or the Shoah. The extent and ramifications of this evil boggled the mind of every decent and civilized person and society around the world. But the deed had been done and the only reasonable option left for our collective humanity was this all-important resolve: “Never Again.” The international community resolved from then onwards that as a collective and as individual nations, societies and peoples around the world, we can all make efforts and contribute all we can to help prevent, stop and punish all crimes against humanity, including genocides anywhere it is taking place in the world. Today 2016, there is an ongoing genocide of Igbo people in Nigeria. And it is the responsibility of all people everywhere to help stop it and punish the perpetrators of this heinous crime.
Since the last 15 years the agitation for the reestablishment of the State of Biafra has gained traction. For most observers who remember the events that led to the declaration of an independent State of Biafra on May 30, 1967, almost fifty years ago, this current agitation does not come to them as a surprise. It has always been expected. Frederick Forsyth, the British author who witnessed the Nigerian genocide of the Igbo in the 1960s made this observation in his 1968 book on the subject; The Biafra Story: The Making of an African Legend:
“What had started as a belief was transmuted to total conviction; that they could never again live with Nigerians. From this stems the primordial political reality of the present situation. Biafra cannot be killed by anything short of total eradication of the people who make her. For even under total occupation Biafra would sooner with or without Colonel Ojukwu, rise up again.” (Emeka Ojukwu led the Biafran resistance against genocide and the often reminisced Biafran revolution.)
By the time the Igbo Genocide ended in 1970, 3.5 million Biafrans of which 3.1 million were Igbo, had been murdered by Nigerians with help from the Arab League as spearheaded by Egypt which supplied, pro bono the pilots who bombed only civilian targets in Biafra. The British government and USSR (today’s Russia being the successor state) supplied the bomber jets, the speed boats and other arms that enabled the genocidal Nigerian state to carry out an effective blocked of Biafra during the siege. Of the total deaths, more than 2 million died from starvation resulting from the economic blocked.
While the atrocity against the Igbo was going on in the west coast of Africa; in faraway New York in the United States, in the Spring of 1968, a particularly significant lone-conscientious protest of the evil took place. On the first anniversary of the Biafran resistance a young orthodox Jewish student of the Columbia University, Bruce Mayrock after writing hundreds of letters to world leaders to help stop the genocide to no avail, then chose to set himself afire on the premises of the United Nations protesting the genocide of Biafrans. He died a few hours later at the hospital from the wounds he sustained from the fire. The sign he had with him at the UN compound read: “Please help stop the genocide of 9 million Biafrans.” That sign is as current today 2016 as it was half a century ago when Mayrock first displayed it.
With the persistent state murders of Igbo people in Nigeria by government agents, the State of Israel and its citizens and other humanitarian minded people around the world today can still help to stop the continued genocide of the Igbo in Nigeria. As this is being written the government of the State of Israel continues to do business with the genocidal Nigerian state; cooperating closely with Nigeria’s security agencies as well as in other sectors of its economy. The government and policy makers in Israel can help stop the ongoing genocide of the Igbo today by boycotting all dealings with the Nigerian government. For a democratic and progressive state like Israel doing business with a genocidal state like Nigeria is nothing different from the state sponsorship of state terrorism, human rights violation and genocide. On another hand, it can be compared to any responsible or civilized state in the 1930s and early 40s aiding, abating and being complicit with Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany.
An independent State of Biafra became inevitable in mid-1967 because of the ethnic and religious cleansing of the Igbo population in 1966 by the people and government of Nigeria. The massacre in which 100,000 Igbo and other easterners were killed between May 29, 1966 and May 30, 1967, is also known as the 1966 Pogrom. It was a government organized and executed purge of the Nigerian country through massacres, looting and expulsion of its Igbo population. This systematic elimination of a people based on their ethnic and religious classification by a national government was led by the Nigeria military dictator Yakubu Gowon. It was aimed at cleansing the Nigerian society of all traces of Igbo people whom the others had come to hate and loath for being “too enterprising, dominating all aspects of the society and unwilling to adopt the Islamic way of worship.”
After the Igbo and other easterners had been expelled from Nigeria, more than 3 million of them were displaced. They went back to their ancestral homeland, and in an effort to protect and preserve what was left of their battered lives, they chose the path of Self Determination and independence. They unilaterally declared a sovereign independent state which they called Republic of Biafra. Upon this declaration, the Nigerian state wedged a war of aggression against the Biafran state. The Nigerian state had two clearly declared intentions on embarking on that misadventure of aggression. One, they wanted to capture Biafra land for the Islamic caliphate of Sokoto and convert the oil wealth in the Biafran homeland. Secondly, they wanted to exterminate the entire adult population of Biafra and convert Igbo children to Islam.
It was these and other factors that led states like Tanzania to choose to stand by Biafrans’ decision to choose to die fighting for their freedom. After Biafra was declared independent, the State of Tanzania clearly understood that it was only an independent sovereign state, separate from Nigeria that could help stop the genocide of Biafrans. Tanzania quickly recognized and advocated for Biafra’s right to self-determination and independence. In April of 1968 the Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere declared his country’s support for Igbo survival in these immutable and timeless indisputable words:
“Tanzania has recognized the State of Israel and will continue to do so because of its belief that every people must have some place in the world where they are not liable to be rejected by their fellow citizens. But the Biafrans have now suffered the same kind of rejection within their state that the Jews of Germany experienced. Fortunately, they already had a homeland.
“They have retreated to it for their own protection, and for the same reason – after all other efforts had failed – they have declared it to be an independent state. In the light of these circumstances, Tanzania feels obliged to recognize the setback to African unity which has occurred. We therefore recognize the State of Biafra as an independent sovereign entity, and as a member of the community of nations. Only by this act of recognition can we remain true to our conviction that the purpose of society, and of all political organization, is the service of Man.”
With the current political and social events in Nigeria, and with the renewed mass killings of the Igbo by Nigerian state agents, Nyerere’s words could have been spoken in April of 2016. An independent state of Biafra is still as valid in 2016 as it was in 1966. For some Biafrans like Col. Joe Achuzia, Biafra was defeated in 1970 but was not surrendered. Achuzia as part of Biafrans who negotiated peace with the Nigerian authority at the end of the war, insists that Biafrans did not submit to Nigeria any instrument of surrender or any such thing like Biafra’s insignia and symbols. The import of Achuzia’s claims is that what Biafrans negotiated with Nigeria in 1970 was cessation of hostilities or an armistice but not the sovereignty, the right to independence and the right to self-determination of the people of Biafra.
After fifty years and with the continuation of the systematic elimination and marginalization of Igbo people in Nigeria, the time is now ripe for the Biafran people – the Igbo, to reclaim their sovereignty and independence from Nigeria. Therefore, it is necessary to note that in this renewed all-important life and death effort, the Igbo will appreciate the help and support of all well-meaning individuals and states like Israel which had gone through the same genocidal experience such as the Igbo are going through today in Nigeria. The truth is that since on the 29th day of May, 1966 the ceased forever to be Nigerians.
