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Thursday, June 23, 2016
“2 million died in Biafra war,” President reminds Niger Delta separatists
Those currently agitating for Biafra never witnessed the civil war which led to 2 million deaths, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday night.
He was speaking at the breaking of fast (iftar) with his cabinet at the presidential banquet hall, Aso Rock Villa, referring to the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
"We need a lot of prayers. Certainly, with the nation's economy going down, we haven't developed agriculture, we are still trying to talk on those who will come and develop solid minerals for us," he said.
"The militants in their various homes, we need to reflect very seriously on what happened between 1967 and 1970 where about two millions Nigerians lost their lives.
"At that time, as young military officers, you hardly heard of anything about petroleum or whatever money you got from it.
"Look at what General Yakubu Gowon said: 'To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done'. Every soldier whether he has been to school or not knew what the general meant.
"But we were quarreling with our brothers, we were not fighting an enemy and then somebody is saying that once again he wants Biafra.
"I think this is because he was not born when there was Biafra. We have to reflect on the historical antecedents to appreciate what is before us now and what we intend to leave for our children and our grand children."
THE IGBO RANT
BIBLICAL TRADITIONS OF NDI IGBO BEFORE THE MISSIONARIES CAME TO AFRICA* IGBO 101.
THE IGBO TRIBE AND ITS FEAR OF EXTINCTION
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.
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