Today, the 226th anniversary of the adoption by the Second Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence, is celebrated across the US with the usual fanfare: parades, prayers, rallies, fireworks, barbecues, music etc. (The Second Continental Congress was made up of representatives of the 13 American colonies then ruled by Britain)

Written by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration has become one of history's most cherished statements. Its noble ideas, remarkable prose, and potent simplicity have inspired freedom- seeking peoples all over the world. It was a practical document with three major purposes:

1. It was an attempt to win public support for independence both in America and in Europe. In its 27 reasons for seeking independence, King George111 was presented inter alia as an evil ruler, a tyrant, who quartered "large bodies of armed troops among us...protecting them by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states...ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people...our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury..."

2. It enunciated an inspiring theory of government based on the principles of democracy. "All men", wrote Jefferson, "are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights...among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Unalienable rights are natural rights which can not be taken away from anyone- not by kings, presidents, governments, sharia, and even by the people themselves. According to Jefferson, governments obtain these powers from the people; and they exist "to secure these rights." But when a government manifests an inability or unwillingness to do so, "it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government."

3. The Declaration announced formally that a state of war already existed between the US and Britain. The delegates to the Second Congress knew that their action was treasonable and could lead to their execution. But convinced theirs was a moral struggle, they persisted "...appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." One of them declared that "if freedom is treason, I am guilty."

Today, all freedom- loving people sing the praises of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and others, for their strength of character and dedication to the pursuit of liberty and freedom. Indeed all immigrants to America, including 2 million Igbo, are beneficiaries of their selflessness and commitment to the eternal principle that "all men are created equal." For even though they were flawed in many ways (some were slave owners), yet, their courage and vision turned the American dream into reality.

The greatness of the Founding Fathers also lies in the fact that initially, the struggle for independence was an uphill task. For in spite of the corruption and brutality of British colonial officials, most Americans were still opposed to a complete separation from the mother country which they saw as a trusted guarantor of their security and to which they had strong bonds of cultural and emotional attachment. An American Whig- a pro- independence leader- disgusted with his people's pro-British sympathies, exploded. "The experience of all ages", he said, showed that people were "inattentive to the calamities of others, care less of admonition, and with difficulty roused to repel the most injurious invasions." Other Whigs were struck with " the easiness with which the many are governed by the few...the implicit submission with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers."

No popular leaders, wrote John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers, had ever been able "to persuade a large people, for any length of time together, to think themselves wronged, injured, oppressed, unless they really were, and saw and felt it to be so." Only irrefutable evidence "as clear as the sun in its meridian brightness," could convince the people that they are threatened with enslavement at the hands of their rulers. By July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, America's pro- independence leaders had their proof and most of the people behind them. These patriots knew that continued British rule would lead to a permanent stifling of American creativity and ingenuity. The crimes of the Nigerian state against Ndigbo are far worse than British oppression of her American colonies. And Ndigbo are yet to see the light. In fact if Ndigbo had the American spirit, Biafra would have been decades old by now. And like the Americans, we would have shown the world! Yet, it is not too late. Faced with a similar situation on the eve of the American Revolution, Patrick Henry, an American patriot from Virginia spoke out: "Gentlemen may cry peace, peace. But there is no peace. The war is actually begun! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweat, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?

Forbid it! Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." As we Biafrans struggle for our own freedom, it is crucial that we learn from the lessons of history: Freedom does not come cheap, easy and on a silver platter. It requires blood, sweat and sacrifice. And borrowing from Shakespeare:

That he who has no stomach for this fight, let him depart, his passport shall be made... We will not die in that man's company that fears his fellowship to die with us...He that outlives this struggle, and comes safe Home, Will stand a tip-toe when this struggle is named...He that shall live this struggle, and see old age, will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors,...Then he will strip his sleeve and show his scars...But he will remember with advantages what feats he did in those days.

This story shall the Biafran patriot tell his son. But we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he to-day that sheds his blood with the patriots shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile. This struggle shall gentle his condition. And those Ndigbo now so silent and subservient. Shall think themselves accursed they were not with us. And hold their manhood cheap while any speaks. That joined us in the struggle for the independence of Biafra.

A lutta continua.