It is important that every
Igbo-Biafran avail themselves of the Bible of the New Biafran Revolution: Leadership
Series. This might be considered Igbo 101. It is a must study
guide to this Igbo Revolution. There is also a monograph copy that has been
reformatted: Leadership
Series (A Monograph), for easy reading. This is the foundation
of New Igbo-Biafra.
I do realize General, you
have some questions that need immediate answers to, for example: Is New Biafra
only for the Igbo, what about other nations that might want to be part of this
New Nation? I beg your indulgence, in due time, hopefully all your questions
will be addressed.
Very recently, a member of
Ekwe Nche, Maazi Philip Aka (PhD), gave me a presentation by Maazi Chidi
Osuagwu (PhD) that buttress the point that Biafra is the only solution for Igbo
in that British Birthed Abomination - Nigeria. Maazi Aka� ndeewo!
General, allow me to
present some of the information I gleaned from it:
WORLD STRUGGLES FOR A JUST
WORLD
By Maazi Chidi G. Osuagwu,
PhD
�Only people who share
worldviews can share dreams. The Igbo mind dreams of a humane and pure society
like ancient Biafra:� A return
to an ancestral dream society. The reason for such a dream is that the Igbo
still live with the worldview and philosophical foundation of such a society.�
He continues:
The Igbo have, for thousands of years been struggling for a just world,
but the world cannot understand! The Igbo believe in �OGU�, a concept that does
not exist in the English language, but can best be translated as
�TRUTH-JUSTICE�. It is, in fact, Ogu that is implied in the above quotation
about Ofo (ONYE OBULA JI OFO, MA OFO MARA ONYE JI YA! All claim commitment to
truth and justice, but only truth and justice know who is committed to them.),
as Ofo is a symbol of a people�s commitment to the universal force �
Truth-Justice, Ogu. The Igbo believe that this force will ultimately win in the
cosmic struggle between good and evil and are minded, therefore, minded towards
alignment with the winning party. It is the duty of all aligned with Ogu to
fight for truth-justice, anywhere, whether the issue at stake directly concerns
them or not. This is why Igbo gets involved in struggles for truth and justice,
anywhere.
There are some of our
brethren who still do not understand why salvation for Igbo is to return to the
ways of our fore-parents, the world has as yet to conceive a civilization as
advanced as the Igbo civilization, allow me to continue with a few more quotations
on worldview from Maazi Osuagwu�s presentation:
�The ancient Igbo
contemplated this phenomenon of worldview and concluded that there is no
universal worldview. Uwa Awughi otu - Different men, different worldviews! One
man, one worldview! Those who claim to share God�s view on the world would be
considered mad and allowed to be by the ancient Igbo. The Igbo do not trust the
individual mind, which they hold, is subject to illusions � agwo otu� onye huru n�agho eke! Based on this
conclusion, ancient Igbo civilization had granted man such far-reaching
fundamental freedoms that still appears strange or incredible to many other
peoples. Freedom to be � ONYENANKEYA. Freedom to worldframe � ONYENUWAYA.
Freedom of thought � ONYENUCHEYA. Freedom of religion � ONYENACHIYA. Etc.
To appreciate, why the
ancient Igbo granted man these far reaching freedoms, one has to appreciate
Igbo value for life � NDU, the human being � MMA_NDU and Igbo concept of the
self � ONWE.
To the Igbo life is of
supreme value: NDUBISI. � Within this life-valuing scheme, the Igbo assign man
an apex position (note that the use of the term �man� to represent all sexes of
humans is a flaw in English language, not Igbo). Man is MMA_NDU � the crown of
creation, and the glory of creation. Conceiving man in this highly romanticized
way, the Igbo granted him the greatest possible right to autonomous existence.
Hence the Igbo concept of self is ONWE, a contraction of two words, ONYE NWE:
The (own) possessor � OWN LORDSHIP. The Igbo sees a given human being as� �ONWE YA� a lord unto himself. To lose
freedom to the proper Igbo is, therefore, a logical equivalent of death. And he
would prefer the death option, under situations of unfreedom, as history shows.
To understand the Igbo or the Igbo worldview is to empathize with these ideas.�
He continues:
�When the Igbo say that
kolanut cannot speak other than Igbo language he means that some of these
fundamental concepts are not easy to translate to other languages. To the Igbo
FREEDOM IS LIFE. To be enslaved, to be owned by another is to not be. To become
a living dead: o di ndu onwu ka mma!
A society in which
individuals are granted such far-reaching freedom would be chaotic, pure
anarchy, unless there is a counter-balancing. This force is TRUTH. �the Igbo
conceive of TRUTH as analogous to ORDER and falsehood as analogous to CHAOS.
This conception, which marries the hearts of philosophy and modern science,
allowed the Igbo to make an equation between truth and life: EZIOKWU BU NDU.
Because truth equals life, which is the supreme value and because man is
granted freedom for being the crown-of-creation, the ancient Igbo held the
values of:
i)
LIFE
ii)
TRUTH
iii)
FREEDOM
extremely dear and do
not subject them to compromise. Many things the Igbo do and did, historically,
derive from the logics of these values and their relationships. The Igbo
individual might deviate from them, but he cannot defend his action within an
Igbo community or carry Igbo people along. That is why some Igbo leaders are
radio-leaders today. They cannot stand and talk in their village squares.
The Igbo, for instance,
strives to be economically independent as the only guarantee of his freedom. He
holds that �ONYE JI AFO MMADU JI ONU YA � nobody can be economically dependent
and free. This is the foundation of his propensity to acquire wealth. But the
culture would not accept achievements, except through the IKENGA-FRAMEWORK of
UPRIGHT ACHIEVEMENT. This reconciles the need for material independence and
sanctity of Truth. That is why titled men in ancient Igbo land were righteous
men. That is Igbo leaders were Eze/Nze, meaning avoiders of evil. These
are now bastardized titles signifying wealth, not truth-justice.
This is what led to the
ancient paradisiacal Igbo society that the Portuguese and Spanish explorers met
on the Western Coast of Africa at the end of the 15th century. They
were told that this was the land of �BIAFARA� and so named the waters
off its coast as the �Bright of Biafra�.
�The Igbo believe that a nation abandoned to evil
men becomes an evil nation, �A HAPURU NDI ARU OBODO YA AGHO OBODO NDI ARU�.
They would not want to be part of an evil nation. A righteous nation must
emerge to accommodate their just aspiration to achieve freedom in truth, and
welfare of all�.
He had this to say on Igbo
continues fight for freedom!
The next major disaster that struck the Igbo in the
last thousand years is the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. It is to be noted that
no institution emerged from within the ancient Igbo peoples to promote the
slave trade. The autochthonous Igbo were, primarily, victims and fighters
against enslavement. It was either the Ijesha/Ekiti confederation of �Ekiti
Parapo� on the Western branch, or the Isu alliance on the eastern branch of the
ancient Igbo people that were fighting to fend off the slave-machines of
immigrant elements. The Igbo hold that an oppressor cannot, himself, be free:
ONYE JI MMADU N�ALA JI ONWE YA � he that holds another down cannot stand up. The
incentive to oppress or enslave others was, simply, not there for one who
equates freedom to life.
� But the Igbo waged
epic struggles against the evil trade. Struggle for a just world! Let us not go
into much detail about the struggles in the homeland. Let us consider the
better-known activities of the Diaspora Igbo. Take the Underground Railroad in the
United
States, or the roles of Igbo people like Bishop Turner or Edward Blyden in
the founding of Liberia. The Igbo activities to
free the African Slaves in the United States made Alabama Governor George Wallace
accuse them in 1968 of causing the American civil war. He, therefore, opposed
any relief to embattled Biafra during his 1968 presidential campaign.�
These were remarkable
feats. But, let us look at one action of predominantly Igbo Haiti. This reveals the IDEAS behind the actions. What
they did, after they won their freedom from slavery by Smashing Napoleon�s best
army, under the personal command of his brother-in-law, General Leclerc.
Napoleon�s wife, Josephine had been born in Haiti. So, to recapture the place after its seizure by
the rebellious slaves was an emotional issue to him. He put in his best, but
lost again, in a disastrous campaign that set him up for final destruction in Europe!
The Haitians set
themselves the task, after freeing themselves, of freeing the African slaves
all over the world. They set out implementing their resolve. First, they
invaded what is now the Dominican Republic, defeated the Spanish slavers there and freed the
slaves. Then, they made a deal with Simon Bolivar, called the liberator of Latin America. They rebuilt Bolivar�s army that the Spanish had
destroyed, gave him a printing press for propaganda, on condition that wherever
he freed, he would free the slaves. That set the stag for the freedom of Latin America and the slaves. The chain-reaction of events
ultimately freed African slaves worldwide �
At
this junction, Maazi, it is important that we ask why this great Igbo Haitian
revolution that shook the foundation of the Western world fail? Should this not
be the pertinent question? No matter how far reaching the effects of the
revolution, is the bottom line not its failure?
The
answer is simple, they tried mightily hard to be like those they had toppled.
They wanted recognition from their former masters and were ready to do anything
for it. They forget who they were. And most importantly, they as usual forgot
to give all GLORY and PRAISE to the MIGHTY YAH, Who had guided their hands in
battle against those that had oppressed the children of YAH, and they as usual
turned to other gods.
Sorry Maazi Effiong, for the side trip, but when
the opportunity presents itself, it is important that we spend some time on who
Igbo must once more become and why Igbo continue to go through hell as the
world continue to ignore this genocaust (genocide and holocaust) of monumental
proportions!
General, August 31,
2002 will be considered
�The Land Mark� on this journey to self-actualization, self-realization, and
the end of the sojourn in the desert of despair by Igbo. On that very day, in St.
Simons Island in Georgia, Igbo performed a ceremony that should have been
performed hundreds of years ago. Our fore-parents said, that when a man/woman
wakes up is his/her morning. On that very morning, Igbo worldwide woke up; on
that very morning, the tear in the Collective Psyche of Igbo was finally
mended; on that very morning Igbo went from a population of about 40 million in
a small space called Igbo land to more than 100 million, all over the world; on
that very morning Igbo started as a nation that was said to have no
history and ended the day as a nation of firsts; on that very day, all
Igbo became one no matter where an Igbo was born or lived, be it in Nne Ala
Igbo (Mother land in Africa), Haiti, Jamaica, Belize, �Cuba, Brazil, U.S.A;
Yes, on that day at the �Ebo Landing� site Igbo buried her innocent dead �
those that died in the long march to the slave coast, those that died at sea or
the ocean during the Middle Passage, those that gave up their lives rather than
be slaves, those that died as slaves, those who were born as slaves and died as
slaves, all those who died without knowing who they were, �, those that led,
fought and died in all the many rebellions for freedom, those that were
massacred in all the many genocaust (genocide and holocaust) carried out
against the Igbo all through the centuries, yes, on that day Igbo acknowledged,
reclaimed and honored a very important part of herself � HER PAST, for without
her past Igbo had no future;� On that day
Yah turned his face back and smiled on his children � Igbo. For that was the
beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy:
Fear not, for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed
from the east, and gather thee from the west.
I will say to the
north: Give up: and to the south: Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and
my daughters from the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 43 : 5 - 6
Igbo Kweeeenu � YAH!
������� Kweeeenu � YAH!
� Kweeeezuonu � YAH!
ALL PRAISE TO THE MIGHTY
YAH!
Maazi Effiong, as you can
see, the IN-GATHERING has two equally important parts:
1)
Actualization of the Sovereign Nation
of Biafra.
2)
The gathering of all Igbo worldwide �
spreading the word and helping our brethren who are Igbo, especially in the New World rediscover their very rich heritage.
Ndi Igbo are not a linear
people. Both projects are of equal importance. One cannot be accomplished
without the other. It is a must that both be addressed and now.
Luckily, we already
have Igbo American Organizations who are already carrying the message of their
Igbo-ness to our brethren in the New World, it behooves us to join them and assist them in
any way possible to make this most important project a success! These
organizations have been working on this project for more than twenty years,
they already have drawn out plans on how to achieve this most important goal,
Igbo, the time has come to put out. Lets remember, time is of the essence. Our
brethren have been waiting for more than three hundred years, in which they
were told they had no history, culture or tradition, to reclaim their heritage.
It took Igbo hundreds of years to finally pay respect to her past and bury her
dead, it must not take us another hundred years to bring news to our brethren
in the New World of their roots and rich heritage and more importantly break
bread with them as the members of one family.
General, Igbo demand the
best from her sons and daughters, hence the goal of Ekwe Nche Research
Institute was to provide the best form of government for Biafra, a second best
was out of question. Since all the answers lay in our past, and since our
fore-parents had left us a road map, the solution was simple. The answer is in
the �Leadership Series or Leadership
Series (A Monograph), If you remember, when the British came to
Ala Igbo, since they had over-run the Yoruba, Benin and Hausa-Fulani with ease,
they thought that the Igbo would be a cake walk, but this proved otherwise!
Igbo form of government made it impossible to pin point any center or central
figure.
�A dear friend, the Elder-statesman Maazi Hal
Seiber, calls it village democracies or if you will allow me, OHACRACY, the
purest form of democracy! It will be up to our political scientists to come up
with a workable model, specifically designed for Ndi Igbo, based on the Igbo
way of life. While keeping in mind that a man/woman who is not trusted enough
by his brethren to represent his/her village has no business representing Biafra in any capacity!
What about other nations, you
ask: If you remember, Ekwe Nche is a Research Organization. Time was taken to
cover and research every possible outcome. This happens to have a very simple
answer. Why should an Igbo represent an Ijaw, Ogoni, etc?
Does each nation not know
what is in her best interest? Are their sons and daughters not up to the task?
If they choose to continue as part of Nigeria, is that not their right? What right does any, not
from one of these nations have in deciding what is good or not good for them?
Each nation must come together and decide by itself, what is in her best
interest. If the Ogoni want to be part of Biafra, she must step forward and start working on Ogoni-Biafra, If the Efik
want to be part of Biafra, it is up to her sons and daughters to start
articulating what they want Efik-Biafra to look like, etc. The blame game must
stop. The Igbo will no longer be the whipping board! Each nation must be free
to make her mistakes and hopefully learn from it and must blame no one but her
sons and daughters. Each nation must rule itself, and must have the right to
walk away from the UNION if they decide it is not in their best interest.
Simply put, New Biafra must be a union of EQUALS!
Maazi Effiong, I know you
will agree with us that after the debacle of so called Black African Countries
since independence, it is important that we agree on what this country - Biafra must look like before we actualize it.
I will assume that we
agree that:
1) It
must be based on the culture, tradition and philosophy of the nations in the Union.
2) It
must be a union of EQUALS.
3) Each
nation must rule itself.
4) Each
nation must decide on the type of government it wants in her area of influence.
5) Each
nation must be free to leave the union if it fills it is not in it�s interest
to remain in the union.
6) It
must be built on TRUTH, in the great tradition of our fore-parents!
7) There
must be no sacred cows.
8) Her
leaders must not elevate themselves above those they serve, and must leave
office whenever OHA (THE PEOPLE) so decree!
9) This
nation must strive to be the pride of the Black World.
10) It must be a guide to
the world on how a modern country is run.
11) THE
PEOPLE MUST ALWAYS BE SUPREME.
13)
Any other suggestions I missed that will give us a great nation.
As you can see from the
above suggestions, we need an informed citizenry if we are to achieve our goal.
That is why it is of the utmost importance that our brethren at home start
forming organizations where ever they are, making sure that the Bible of this
revolution �Leadership Series� or Leadership
Series (A Monograph), is the study guide, either version will
do.
It is also important that
our brethren from other nations also have their own study-guide, they could
amend the �Leadership Series� if they so desire or come up with their own
Bible. The more the organizations formed, the better, size is immaterial, but
every hamlet, village, town, city, etc, must be involved in this must important
exercise. Students, children, traders, teachers, families, friends, neighbors,
etc, must be part of the exercise. No need to call these organizations, Biafran
organizations, just talk, discuss, debate or strategize on what you expect out
of your nation or what a just country should be about. If they are truthful,
their studies can only lead them to Biafra.
This will create a ground
swell, and once the ground swell has been created, there is then a lot that can
be made to happen � sorry if I am not specific.
Those of us in Diaspora
will do what has to be done.
General
Effiong, The People�s General, I Salute You � NDEEEEWO, May YAH bless you and
your seed� � ISEEEE!