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Monday, May 9, 2016

We can get Biafra in one week -Debe, Ojukwu's son

Written by CHIDI OBINECHE
~The SUN, Nigeria. Sunday, May 8, 2016

…Says Ikemba was an only son, his brothers were adopted

DEBE, first son of the late Biafran secessionist leader and Ikemba of Nnewi, Dim Chukuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu opens up on the Biafra struggle, the crises in the family over the estate Ojukwu left behind, Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB leadership, among many other topical issues. Excerpts.

Fulani herdsmen are marauding; killing, maiming and raping people. What should be the permanent so­lution to it?
Personally, I don't think the grazing reserves bill on the floor of the National Assembly is the solution, because the reserves should be in the places where the herdsmen originate from, because we have different cultures, and different means of sus­tenance. People in the South-east and South-south are mainly farmers. You don't graze on their farms, because the farms are their means of sustenance, just like the herdsmen see the cattle as their own means of sustenance. You don't sacrifice one means of sustenance for another. If they feel, for instance, that their means of livelihood in Sokoto or Kano states is cattle rearing, they can set up graz­ing reserves there, which I think is okay. In France and Britain, they have ranches where they shepherd their cows. And they go out and get their feeds. They don't allow the cows to start roaming the streets of London because they need to eat grasses. I believe that grazing reserves should be done with the basic law in the siting of industries which is closeness to the source of raw materials. They should restrict the grazing reserves to the North, and they can come down to the South to buy the things they need to feed their cows, instead of trampling on yam and cassava farms.

Why did the president not react to the carnage in Enugu state the same way he has always reacted to those agitating for Biafra?
The most important thing is to first identify the people. There are various ways of committing crime, and the intelligence of these criminals var­ies from one person to another. You can say that the intelligence of the herdsmen and the collusion with the security agents are more sophisticated than that of the Biafra agitators. There are many Biafra agita­tors of which I am one. I am one, but I subscribe to the legal and diplomatic agitation; not the violent agitation.


Not the IPOB agitation?
IPOB? We own IPOB . IPOB belongs to us. We formed IPOB. IPOB is not a group. IPOB means Indigenous People of Biafra, of which every Biaf­ran is a member. So it is wrong for one person to arrogate to himself who is IPOB, and who is not. What happened was that most of them were mis­informed. If you are agitating, you don't block the roads. You must give unimpeded access for free flow of the economy. It is when you start stalling the economy that you incur the wrath of the security agencies. The law of riots and unlawful assembly is very elastic. It gives very wide powers to peace of­ficers. And by peace officers, we have magistrates, police officers and military officers of the rank of 2nd lieutenants, and ASP (Assistant Superintendent of Police) upwards. It says when you perceive that an assembly is likely to be riotous, you read the proclamation. When he has made the proclamation, he gives them 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, they can use tear gas first, and after that, if it persists, they can use arms. That is why we are suing for referen­dum, because we want to know those people that are interested to be Biafrans.

But some people say the pacifist ap­proach you want to adopt will take you no­where.
The problem there is that as far as we are con­cerned, Nigeria is a child of peaceful negotiation. Nigeria was under colonial masters, and you cannot tell me that it was a stroll in the park for the indepen­dence agitators to wrest freedom from Britain. They did a lot of constitutional conferences; they went to London, argued, joked, used wits to get indepen­dence. I never read in history that Zik bore arms against the British government. It was a diplomatic warfare. We had a civil war which cost us about four million people. We don't have to be myopic. Our group has succeeded in being given observer status at the UN and AU.

But your leader has been in detention for several months?
Nnamdi Kanu is not our leader. It is a miscon­ception.

Who is your leader?
The leader of IPOB is Chief Justice Eze Ozobu, the former chief judge of Enugu State. The next in command to him is Dr Dozie Ikedife. Then we have Col Achuzia. We have many people involved in that. It was that body that set up Radio Biafra. Radio Biafra is part and parcel of what we are do­ing.

But Nnamdi Kanu is a director of radio Biafra?
Yes he is, but not the head of IPOB. The thing is that media has its potency. And because of his vis­ibility; people were talking to him and he was talk­ing to them. That was why he became very popular. And he used that to assume leadership.

But the Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful and other officials always address him as their leader?
He is not the Publicity Secretary. All those people were just given positions to make them relevant. The main IPOB under Eze Ozobu has a media de­partment. They were just on the verge of creating those positions. They were very careful in creating those bodies because they were wary of this kind of thing. It is exactly those fears that have finally manifested?

Is IPOB factionalized?
You can say IPOB is factionalized. MASSOB is also part of IPOB. IPOB is for everybody that sub­scribes to the idea of Biafra. That does not mean we don't have that leadership role.

So what are you doing to secure Kanu's release from detention?
He came to Nigeria. He was very insulting on air to the Nigerian people. If he had submitted himself to the elders, the elders would have advised caution.

Is it because he strayed that the elders are not helping to secure his release?
The issue is whether he has committed an of­fence. And the government is insisting he has com­mitted an offence. So you cannot go and tell the government, ok you must release him because he is our son. What we should be asking for is speedy and proper trial. After the trial, if it is proven that he committed an offence; well, there is nothing we can do. He could have stayed in England to lambast the administration, and nothing will happen to him. He didn't take the advice of the elders.

How best do you remember your late father?
I remember him, especially for the few private moments we shared. Very few and far in between, but then, very rich. And it was those things that he taught me that have today become an armour. Those things that were thought to be very innocu­ous, very simple, are the things that are helping me, and have really helped me to put my head high and survive many of the travails.

With the renewed clamour for Biafra and the activities of IPOB, do you think he is turning uneasily in his grave or sleeping peacefully?
No; he won't be turning in his grave because the best thing was his intendment on Biafra. He said his people would be better protected in Biafra, and I share the same sentiments. That's why any where you see me, I will always tell you I am for Biafra. But I am not for violent Biafra, because what I will not subscribe to is the further decimation of our people

How would he have handled the situa­tion, if he were alive?
It is the same legal and diplomatic way. And that was why, if you remember vividly, he said the Bi­afra now is that of the mind.

That means he made a mistake the first time by going to war?
He didn't make a mistake. It was what was the fad then. But with the benefit of hindsight, if we had adopted guerrilla warfare we wouldn't have lost any war. Even now, it is easy to get Biafra in one week, if we want.

How do you get it in one week?
It is for every Igbo man in every part of Nigeria to come back home, and stay at home. If you have a bag of rice you share it with your neighbour, and we manage. We won't stay up to one week; there will be negotiations for Biafra. But the problem that happened which is what being out of Bi­afra caused, was that immediately after the war; people started going back to other places.

Remember that for three years we had sur­vived on our own; but when you go out to other places you start digging in, and the more you dig in, the weaker you become. For instance, it is easier for the Hausa man to take actions because when he comes to your place, he doesn't come with big beds and all that. He comes with a mat, so when he feels threatened; he rolls up the mat and goes away. At times, he abandons it. The greatest problem we have is the acquisitiveness in our people. We acquire a lot. You don't come to somebody's land and start building mansions and acquiring land and other things. It doesn't make it easy for us to go home. That's why when you go to some places as an Igbo man, they offer you land free of charge.

What is the situation on the wran­gling within the extended Ojukwu household?
The wrangling is very simple. It is a fight be­tween good and bad, lies and truth. You find out that two people are fighting, one is telling lies, and the other telling the truth. When everybody admits that one is telling the truth, then there is no problem. There is no issue there than an attempt to steal property that rightly and legally belongs to me.
It is a struggle for property, and if everybody has accepted that this thing belongs to this man, let him be there; then there wouldn't be any problem. But now, feeling that something belongs to you, and maybe by their own per­sonal calculations or whatever, you are not tall enough, or strong enough, or sighted enough to know that it belongs to you, they will try to take it. Then, along the line, I was able to find out what was going on.

What did you find out?
That these things belong to me. And that was why the hatred was there, because I am not too tall, I am not the most handsome man.

Now that you have claimed what is yours, are you waving the olive branch? Will you share it equitably?
I will not wave the olive branch. The only thing as I said is that there is a pot of beans on the fire. The pot of beans was prepared by my mum. By no stretch of imagination can I fin­ish the pot of beans. But you cannot come and shove me away, and tell me you will give me part of the beans that my mother prepared and left for me. The first thing you do is to agree that this pot of beans belongs to "Ak­punwa"- (strong man). Akpunwa, can you give us some? Akpunwa, will be happy that you even accepted that this pot of beans be­longs to him and graciously give you some. That is the truth. You cannot kill Dim Odu­megwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, because he is the only child of his father. You can't do that. That is unjust. That is unnatural. His fa­ther acquired his wealth. If God wanted him to have 100 children, God would have done it.. But God made it in such a way that he only had one child. And God also made that child to be very popular.

But I thought you have uncles? One is a professor, another an engi­neer.
That is not the bone of contention. Hav­ing a child; there are different ways. You can have an adopted child. You can have a professional child. You can have a spiritual child. What I am talking about is natural child, biological child. I say it without any fears. My grandfather had only one natural child, and that was my father. It is not that somebody will come out and say it is be­cause of long association. Even as I am here, some people are claiming to be my children. Some people come and say, "I love you un­cle. I want you to adopt me." But because of the problem we have had in the family, I am reluctant. There was one I told please; I can't be your father. And he begged, and I said please, it will create problems. Ofu osisi adigh alu madu n'anya ugboro n'abuo (one stick cannot poke one in the eyes twice) I cannot make the same mistake he made. The truth is the truth. He is the only son of his father. When my father was alive, they were not talking. If he felt threatened by them he would have killed them during the war.

He had the power of life and death during the war. He could have just bent over, whis­pered to his lieutenants to take them to the hottest part of the war front. And they will be shot like dogs. But he did not, because he didn't feel threatened. He went on exile for 13 years and none of them recovered those property. When he came back, the govern­ment gave them back to him.

When he handed them over to his son, he was alive. He knew what he was doing when he handed them over to his eldest legitimate child, and if he were alive, he would have said who are these thieves? I don't know them. But he was here, and I was managing his property. He was here; I was with him all the way. I spoke with him one on one, and he told me the story about everything; only for them to turn round to say this one must be MU-MU, let us kill him. They never chal­lenged him when he was alive.

Your father's wife Bianca is also in court. Why?
Yes, she is in court, because she was sleep­ing with him. When you sleep with a man, some of his thoughts go down in your head. And when you're close to your parents some of their thoughts filter into your mind. Does it not surprise you that we always seem to be fighting for identical things? She is fighting the same people I am fighting. What is the problem between both of us? It is the issue of who will be the captain. I refused her to be my captain, because she is a woman, it is against Igbo culture. But, as a woman, she has other ideas. She wants her children to assume the mantle, but they are so small. It does not follow the natural sequence.

What about the WILL that your fa­ther left behind where he ceded most of the property to the kids?
That was part of the scheming to steal some of the property. It was a forged Will. That is why it is in court. And that is why I am surprised that people still talk about Will. There is no Will. The problem that is there is supremacy. She feels she has to be my mother. She cannot be my mother. My mother is much; much older... In fact, my mother is the friend of her mother. They were mates, living together. She can only be my stepmother.

No comments:

THE IGBO RANT

I am an Igbo, I was born an Igbo, I live the life of an Igbo, I come from Igbo, I speak Igbo, I like to be Igbo, I like to dress in Igbo, I eat Igbo food, my heritage, culture and tradition is Igbo, my parents are Igbo.

Am sorry I cannot help it if you hate my lineage. Am sorry I cannot help it if you detest Igbo, am sorry I cannot help it if you hate me because am Igbo. Igbo is who I am, my name is Igbo and I must die an Igbo.

You see Igbo as a threat, why? You call Igbo rapist, criminals, ritualist, prostitutes, kidnappers. You attribute all negative vices to represent Igbo? Why do you do that? You do because you feel threatened that Igbo might outrun the rest of the tribes. Why do you hate Igbo and despise us? You do that because we are creative, enlightened, hardworking, industrious, genius, intelligent, smart, rich, beautiful and amazing. But its difficult for you to admit it because you feel jealous of my race.

Igbo do not own politics, Igbo do not control the economy neither do we control the natural resources and the common wealth of the nation. You do, we don't and yet, despite the fact that you own everything, we still remain one indispensable race that has outshined the other race in all ramifications.

You fear us because you want to exterminate and annihilate our race, you deny us many things and yet we are stronger, richer and mightier. You fear us because we are everywhere. You fear us because no matter how rural a place might be, when Igbo steps in, they turn it into a Paradise. We have our own resources, which lies in resourcefulness, we do not bother you and your control over the polity, but yet when we cough you and the other race begin to shiver.

Am proud being an Igbo, am proud of my heritage and culture. Igbo means high class, Igbo means independence, Igbo means hard work and strength, Igbo means riches, Igbo means resourcefulness, Igbo means self belonging, Igbo means self esteem, Igbo means pride, Igbo means swag.

Udo diri unu umunnem.
# IgboAmaka
# AnyiBuNdiMmeri

Michael Ezeaka
------------------------------

This is beautiful poetry ...

In response to Alaba Ajibola, the Babcock Lecturer Hate Speech against Igbos.

BIBLICAL TRADITIONS OF NDI IGBO BEFORE THE MISSIONARIES CAME TO AFRICA* IGBO 101.

1. NSÓ NWANYĮ
In Igboland women live apart from their husbands and neither cook for them nor enter their husband's quarters when they are in their period. They are seen as unclean. Even up till today such practice is still applicable in some parts of Igboland especially by the traditionalists. Before a woman can enter the palace of Obi of Onitsha, she will be asked if she is in her period, if yes, she will be asked to stay out.

Leviticus 15: 19-20
When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean, anyone who touches her or anything she has sat on becomes unclean.

2. ANA OBI
An Igbo man's ancestral heritage, called “Ana Obi” is not sellable, elders will not permit this. If this is somehow done due to the influence of the West the person is considered a fool and is ostracized by the community.

1 Kings 21:3
I inherited this vineyard from my ancestors, and the Lord forbid that I should sell it, said Naboth.

3. IKUCHI NWANYĮ
Igbos have practiced the taking of a late brother's wife into marriage after she had been widowed until the white men came. Now it is rarely done but except in very rural villages.

Deuteronomy 25:5
A widow of a dead man is not to be married outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man's brother to marry her.

4. ĮGBA ODIBO
In Igboland, there is a unique form of apprenticeship in which either a male family member or a community member will spend six (6) years (usually in their teens to their adulthood) working for another family. And on the seventh year, the head of the host household, who is usually the older man who brought the apprentice into his household, will establish (Igbo: idu uno) the apprentice
by either setting up a business for him or giving money or tools by which to make a living.

Exodus 21:2
If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you for six years. In the seventh year he is to be set free without having to pay you anything.

5. IRI JI OFŲŲ
In Igboland , the yam is very important as it is their staple crop. There are celebrations such as the New yam festival (Igbo: Iri Ji) which are held for the harvesting of the yam. New Yam festival (Igbo: Iri ji) is celebrated annually to secure a good harvest of the staple crop. In the olden days it is an abomination for one to eat a new harvest before the festival. It's a tradition that you give the gods of the land first as a thanksgiving.

Deuteronomy 16:9
Count 7 weeks from the time that you begin to harvest the crops, and celebrate the harvest festival to honor the lord your God, by bringing him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing he has given you. Celebrate in the Lord's presence together with your children, servants, foreigners. Be sure that you obey my command, said the Lord.

6. IBE UGWU
In Igboland it's a tradition that the male children are circumcised on the 8th day. This tradition is still practiced till date.

Leviticus 12:3
On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised.

7. ÓMŲGWÓ
In Igboland, there is a practice known as "ile omugwo ". After a woman has given birth to a child, a very close and experienced relative of hers, in most cases her mother is required by tradition to come spend time with her and her husband. During which she is to do all the work of the wife, while the new mom's only assignment to the baby will be to breastfeed. This goes on for a month or more. In the Igbo old tradition, at this time, the new mom lives apart from her husband, would not cook or enter his quarters.

Leviticus 12:1-4
For seven days after a woman gives birth, she is ritually unclean as she is during her monthly period. It will be 33 days until she is ritually clean from the loss of blood; she is not to touch anything that is holy.

THE IGBO TRIBE AND ITS FEAR OF EXTINCTION

The Igbo tribe is in a serious problem and danger of extinction for the following reasons:

50% of Igbos are born outside Igbo land. Meaning that those children are not likely to live and work in Igbo land and cannot speak Igbo language but foreign language (Yoruba, Hausa, French, English).

40% of Igbos girls between the age of 25 & 45 are single with no hope of marriage because 35% of Igbo boys live overseas and they have all married white ladies.

75% of Igbo youths leave Igbo land every year in search of opportunities in Yoruba, Hausa land or overseas.

85 % of Igbos have family houses and own investments outside Igbo land. They strongly believe in one Nigeria but failed to know that NO Yoruba or Hausa man has a family house or investment in Igbo land.

Igbos are the only people who believe that living outside their land is an achievement.

Igbos are the only tribe that celebrate their tradition outside their land e.g. Eze Ndi Igbo, Igbo Village in America and this is because they have family homes in foreign lands.

Igbos have failed to know that the children you have outside Igbo land especially overseas will never think of living in Igbo land. So what happens to the properties you are building for them when you are gone?

Igbos are the only tribe who see their land as a place to visit or a tourist site than a place to work and live.

Igbos are the only tribe who instead of promoting and appreciating their culture through movies and documentaries they have sought to ridicule it by portraying rituals, killings, wickedness, love for money and other social vices which were not originally inherent in our culture thereby cursing more harm than actually promoting their culture.

Igbos are the only people who without hesitation believe their history and description when it is told or written by an enemy or a foreigner. E.g. that you do not love yourselves or that you love money.

Igbos are the ONLY largest tribe on earth who fought for their independence and failed to achieve their freedom after 40 years.

Igbos are the only tribe who fails to honour their brave heroes and heroines especially the innocent children starved to death during the Biafran war.

Igbos are the only tribe who embraced their enemy after a bloody civil war and subsequently become slaves.

Igbos do not find it necessary to teach their own version of history to their children.

Igbos fight for marginalisation in Nigeria but has no collective strength or teeth to bite.

Igbos how long are you going to fight for your relevance in Nigeria?

How long are you going to fight for a functional airport, rail networks and other structural establishments that underpin sustainable development?

How long are you prepared to wait for your enemy to guide you to your destiny?

Oh Igbos!
Where are your leaders?

Unfortunately, none of them live and work in Igbo land. If you wish to save the future of your children, your identity, your generation and your race then you need freedom and that freedom is Biafra.

Ukpana Okpoko gburu bu nti chiri ya!

By Chime Eze
#COPIED

The Igbo: We die for causes, not for personalities

Written by Emeka Maduewesi

~on fb. 28th September, 2016.


The Igbo will never die for anyone. We will not even riot for anyone. But the Igbo will die for any cause they believe in because the Igbo have a true sense of justice and a determination to obtain it.


The Igbo will not riot because one of their own lost an election. Operation Wetie was the Western response to a massively rigged 1965 election. The Yoruba doused fellow Yorubas in petrol and burnt them alife. Properties were burnt with occupants. The Igbo will never do this.


In 1983, the Yoruba went on a rampage again over the massive rigging by NPN. Lifes were lost and properties destroyed. The riots were over personalities.


Contrast that with Anambra State where Chief Emeka Ojukwu was rigged out by his own NPN, who also rigged out Chief Jim Nwobodo. The Igbo did not protest because the goat's head is still in the goat's bag.


In the North, ba muso was the battle cry when Sultan Dasuki was imposed on the Sokoto Caliphate. The riot and protest lasted for days and crippled economic activities.


The Igbo will riot over issues and causes. The Aba Women Riot was over Tax. The Enugu coal mine riot was about conditions of service. The Ekumeku Uprising was over British colonialization.


Those of "Ekumeku" ancestry - Umu Eze Chima and Umu Nri - were at the forefront of the struggles for Nigerian independence, with people like Dr. A A Nwafor Orizu and Chief Osita Agwuna serving prison terms. Any struggles the parents could not conclude is continued by the children by other means.


The Biafran war was a response to the genocide. The war in fact was brought upon us. The battlefield was Eastern Region. The war ended in 1970 but the issues and causes were not resolved. That is where we are today.


The Igbo will also jointly rise to fight evil in their midst. They did it in Onitsha in the 1980's, Owerri in the 90's, and with Bakkassi in the 2000.


The Igbo will not die for any man. But the Igbo will stand by any man who symbolizes their cause and their pursuit of justice. Even if the man dies, the struggle continues, and like the Ekumeku warriors, the children will pick up the baton from their parents.


This is the Igbo I know, the Igbo I am, and the Igbo we are. This is my story. Feel free to tell yours.

RT. HON. DR. NNAMDI AZIKIWE TO DR. CHUBA OKADIGBO (1981)

"My boy, may you live to your full potential, ascend to a dizzy height as is possible for anyone of your political description in your era to rise. May you be acknowledged world-wide as you rise as an eagle atop trees, float among the clouds, preside over the affairs of fellow men.... as leaders of all countries pour into Nigeria to breathe into her ear.

But then, Chuba, if it is not the tradition of our people that elders are roundly insulted by young men of the world, as you have unjustly done to me, may your reign come to an abrupt and shattering close. As you look ahead, Chuba, as you see the horizon, dedicating a great marble palace that is the envy of the world, toasted by the most powerful men in the land, may the great big hand snatch it away from you. Just as you look forward to hosting the world’s most powerful leader and shaking his hands, as you begin to smell the recognition and leadership of the Igbo people, may the crown fall off your head and your political head fall off your shoulders.

None of my words will come to pass, Chuba, until you have risen to the very height of your power and glory and health, but then you will be hounded and humiliated and disgraced out of office, your credibility and your name in tatters forever...”
THE REST IS HISTORY AS EVERY WORD OF THE CURSE ON CHUBA CAME TO PASS.

LET'S BE AS PASSIONATE AS WE WANT TO AND BE MODERATE IN OUR CONTRIBUTIONS IN PUBLIC DISCUSSION TO ISSUES AS WORDS OF OUR ELDERS ARE WORDS OF WISDOM

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