On Monday, 6 October 2014 22:30:41 UTC+2, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:
...Amen-dedOba Obi,
I have just talked to Mr. Kadiri (about half an hour ago) exhorting him to please accept the invitation to the Stockholm Igbo Yam festival this time. You were once a Biafran and you are now both Nigerians, so what is needed is peace and love, not hatred and misunderstanding, the spirit of reconciliation is much needed, no matter whatever Nigerian fighter battalion or national football team you may find yourselves.
I told him about a little episode in which my Kalabari friend a Mr. Long John (and very tall too) the chairman of the NPN Youth wing drove over in his new jeep to collect me in Buguma. In his wife a beautiful Igbo woman was waiting in the car, we drove in silence past the Kalabari National College, heading towards Degema. He finally broke the silence: Cornelius, this beautiful wife is the treasurer for the NPP. Do you think it is right that I should go on feeding her?" he asked me. I remained neutral.
As I explained to Sali , that's why in both operations in Gaza (in 2008, 2014), Israel had to conclude the matter as quickly as possible, since most of the food and other necessary supplies come from and through Israel , including fuel and if the war were to be an extended one then the ensuring humanitarian disaster would be compounded by food shortages and in no time at all the whole anti-Semitic world would be lined up along with Satan the accuser, foaming at the mouth at the United Nations, the Arab League, the OIC, and the EU, and accusing Israel of genocide-by-starvation of the poor Palestinians.
As for that idiotic self-hating Igbo psychiatrist whom he quoted I would like to say to him that it was that kind of hateful characterization of the Jewish people as a sub-human, ungodly and degenerate species that paved the way to what the Nazis intended as "The Final Solution ", that is he extermination of all of the Jewish people, and this is where Martin Niemöller and his " First they came for... and then they came for the Igbos, is wholly relevant.
"Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?" (The Merchant of Venice)
Salimonu Kadiri is a good friend and that's why he is cordially invited to my Better Half's upcoming birthday party. (She is an admirer of ZIK). Knowing Salimonu Kadiri as I do (it as I who invited him to the Forum) I should like to testify on his behalf that he may be Yoruba Cultural chauvinist (he is) - in the sense in which you are also an extreme exalter of Christopher Okigbo – which in my opinion is not a crime – certainly not a crime against humanity - and in my opinion you yourself are no mean poet.
As far as I understand it - you have to be careful about the way in which you approach Mr Kadiri even when you disagree with him – it would be better to approach him (and me too) respectfully - not to undermine either his integrity or that intelligence which can and has been measured, since no one has a monopoly on Shakespeare's bawdy. In short, respect begets respect.
And what if his opinion does not deserve respect? Then I give you permission to bomb such opinions incessantly - bomb the opinion but not the man (this Yom Kippur I learned that all my past sins have been forgiven and that means that only my pure soul remains (with some of its old , cherished opinions and positions of course – and that's what we've got to work on since religion and politics and in the case of Nigeria tribalism too, which can get people heated to an unbelievable extent – far beyond the boiling point.
I know the Igbo people, to the extent that I have lived with them for close to four years, there in Nigeria and as observant as I am, I do not recognise any of the traits that that Igbo self-hater has been babbling about which does not mean to say that here are no self-exalters among the Igbos, the Yoruba, and the enemies of Israel too ( the Israel's national football team cannot play and friendly or international matches in any of the Muslim countries in the Middle East of North Africa – or Iran ---( don't know about Turkey) since the authorities say that they cannot guarantee their safety in the field or out of the field...
So it's good that you both take some time out – on this overheated subject of the Biafra War, until you meet again, maybe on another topic....
Sincerely,
Cornelius...
On Monday, 6 October 2014 17:27:57 UTC+2, Rex Marinus wrote:"Obi Nwakanma deductions on my essay are four-one-nine inclined and his assertion that I infantilized the Igbo victim of the war is a joke that will make lucifer laugh himself to jack. I know that no crook likes to be exposed but where facts exist, it is my duty as a humanist to use them as nails driven deep into the coffins of liars. I love all human beings but I am anti-absurd behaviours perpetrated by humans to humans. It is you, in your Black skin, White Mask toga (Frantz Fanon), that is infantilizing the Igbo victims of the Nigerian Civil War. Igbos, Yorubas, Tivs, Hausa/Fulani did not go to war but Ojukwu and Gowon did as published by the Uganda Daily Times in the Spring of 1968 after its journalist had visited Nsukka which was liberated as far back as 15th July 1967. An Igbo woman told the journalist, "We woke up early in the morning and we were told that Gowon and Ojukwu were fighting. Since they are not from this town, I see no reason why they should come to our town to fight. They, instead, should go to their own towns and fight." But the victims of Ojukwu's war in Igbo caste system were inferior to Ojukwu and his cohorts. According to the culture in Igboland the society consists of two classes of human beings. They are DIALA (free born or master race) and OSU (Slaves). The OSU caste system varies in names in different parts of Igboland. It is referred to as Achi-Ebo in Nzam, in Onitsha, while in Nsukka area, it is known as Oruma. It is called Nwani or Ohua-lusi in Agwu area. OSU, UME, OHU, ORU, OHU UME, OMONI (OKPU AJA) - have the same connotation in Igboland. Those labelled as OSU and its hybrids are regarded as sub-human beings, the unclean class or slaves by DIALAS (the master class or free born). The People of Umuode in Nkanu-East Local Government Area of Enugu State, who are said to be descendants of OSU, up till date, are treated as second class Igbos. In Oruku community made up of three clans, namely, Umuode, Umuchiani and Onuogu, the people of Umuode have limited social interaction with the rest of the community because of their ascribed OSU STATUS. To be an OSU or any of its hybridised names in Igboland implies inequality of movement and choice of residence, inequality in the right of peaceful association, marriage and establishing a family. It is common to hear the Master Class, DIALA, in Igboland say, *NDI ABU NDI OSU ANYI* which means these are our slaves. The MASTER CLASS, DIALA, considers the OSUS as properties that should be owned, exploited and discarded at will. To cut a long story short, the Igbo master class, Diala led by Ojukwu in-compassionately, expended the lives of the OSU Igbos in the Nigerian Civil War. Dialas are sadists and moral destitutes; they are defined by greed, avarice, peep-hole exhibitionism and gradation of perversity."
-Salimonu Kadiri
I have excerpted this very opening statement by this writer, to highlight the depth of very self-evident feeling about the Igbo behind which the likes of Salimonu Kadiri find their excuse - exterminate them all! The "Diala" (meaning the Igbo citizen of the land), Salimonu writes, "are "sadists and moral destitutes; they are defined by greed, avarice, peep-hole exhibitionism and gradation of perversity"(sic). This language is so reminiscent of another that have led to quarantines, transporting, and "final solutions." I hope, Mr. Hamelberg, that you take note. The man goes on to talk about "Osu" - of which he knows nothing about - and much else in this long, incoherent, and rebarbative piece of ahistoric junk. I will not insult the intelligence of people on this forum by responding to the details of this ignorant, half-baked junk, mostly also because it flows from a lunatic and incoherent mind that needs serious clinical/ psychiatric help, but also because to continue this insults every rule of good conduct in a clean debate. The evidence is clear in Salimonu's cultural psychology, if the "Diala" is what he thinks of them, for such declarations that led to the Igbo genocide 1966-70, aided and perpetrated by the likes of Kadiri's great heroes and exemplars - Awolowo and Adekunle. There is not much to add, except in the words that Kadiri Salimonu himself utters. And I'll leave it at that.
Obi Nwakanma
From: ogunl...@hotmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Tribute: General Benjamin Adekunle
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2014 05:53:06 +0200
Obi Nwakanma deductions on my essay are four-one-nine inclined and his assertion that I infantilized the Igbo victim of the war is a joke that will make lucifer laugh himself to jack. I know that no crook likes to be exposed but where facts exist, it is my duty as a humanist to use them as nails driven deep into the coffins of liars. I love all human beings but I am anti-absurd behaviours perpetrated by humans to humans. It is you, in your Black skin, White Mask toga (Frantz Fanon), that is infantilizing the Igbo victims of the Nigerian Civil War. Igbos, Yorubas, Tivs, Hausa/Fulani did not go to war but Ojukwu and Gowon did as published by the Uganda Daily Times in the Spring of 1968 after its journalist had visited Nsukka which was liberated as far back as 15th July 1967. An Igbo woman told the journalist, "We woke up early in the morning and we were told that Gowon and Ojukwu were fighting. Since they are not from this town, I see no reason why they should come to our town to fight. They, instead, should go to their own towns and fight." But the victims of Ojukwu's war in Igbo caste system were inferior to Ojukwu and his cohorts. According to the culture in Igboland the society consists of two classes of human beings. They are DIALA (free born or master race) and OSU (Slaves). The OSU caste system varies in names in different parts of Igboland. It is referred to as Achi-Ebo in Nzam, in Onitsha, while in Nsukka area, it is known as Oruma. It is called Nwani or Ohua-lusi in Agwu area. OSU, UME, OHU, ORU, OHU UME, OMONI (OKPU AJA) - have the same connotation in Igboland. Those labelled as OSU and its hybrids are regarded as sub-human beings, the unclean class or slaves by DIALAS (the master class or free born). The People of Umuode in Nkanu-East Local Government Area of Enugu State, who are said to be descendants of OSU, up till date, are treated as second class Igbos. In Oruku community made up of three clans, namely, Umuode, Umuchiani and Onuogu, the people of Umuode have limited social interaction with the rest of the community because of their ascribed OSU STATUS. To be an OSU or any of its hybridised names in Igboland implies inequality of movement and choice of residence, inequality in the right of peaceful association, marriage and establishing a family. It is common to hear the Master Class, DIALA, in Igboland say, *NDI ABU NDI OSU ANYI* which means these are our slaves. The MASTER CLASS, DIALA, considers the OSUS as properties that should be owned, exploited and discarded at will. To cut a long story short, the Igbo master class, Diala led by Ojukwu in-compassionately, expended the lives of the OSU Igbos in the Nigerian Civil War. Dialas are sadists and moral destitutes; they are defined by greed, avarice, peep-hole exhibitionism and gradation of perversity.I have gone this path before, and I'm really reluctant to engage in this debate, writes Rex Manus Obi Nwakanma. You are already inside the river and it is too late to be afraid of getting wet (it is only an alligator that will be afraid of getting wet by hiding inside the river when it is about to rain). You have accused Awolowo and Adekunle of heinous crimes without being able to provide a single evidence to substantiate your accusations. What I have done is to provide evidence that they were not guilty of any war crime and genocide. Instead, it was Ojukwu and his fellow Igbo DIALA that used the OSU Igbos as cannon food during the Nigerian Civil War. If you don't want water to splash on you, don't go near the river bank. Once you and your gangs stop pillorying Awolowo and Adekunle unjustly there will be no need to prove their innocence.Obi Nwakanma is bitter that someone, whom I am not aware of, has Christened him *ethnic supremacist* and therefore inject that in his response me. What is my concern about that? Although I don't know the reason why you were baptised as *ethnic supremacist*, however, I think the Baptiser must have been a good Liberal. After reading through some of your response to me in this forum, I would rather call you grand Mandarin of Igbo fascism!! Mr. Obi Nwakanma wailed, "Then we will grow silent again until god of crossroads awakens someone again from the deep slumber of reason, who will take a new stage name, perhaps Monusali Dikari, and begin again, this circle of inordinate folly." This sentence reminds of one Dr. Ozodi, an Igbo psychiatrist, who once published a study of Social and Mental Traits of the Igbos relative to other Nigerians in particular. Excerpts: The Igbo is boastful; he is full of braggadocio. He fancies himself superior to other persons. Worse, he wants you, the person he imagines that he is superior to, to accept his deluded self-assessment. ...If you call the bluff and tell him that he is a naked emperor pretending to be in diadem, he feels angry at you. Since his understanding of English is limited, when he is angry he reverts to writing in Engli-Igbo, aka Onitsha English, he throws at you whatever big words (improperly employed) he thinks would hurt your pride. When the Igbo pride is pricked, he experiences narcissistic injury and shows narcissistic rage. He would exhibit such temper tantrum that you would think that he is developmentally arrested (is under ten years old). Doing the right thing for the sake of it is not part of their (Igbo) psychological structure. They are unprincipled and very opportunistic. Igbos are classic Adlerian neurotics compensating with false superiority over their underlying sense of inferiority. Pride makes people vain and narcissistic so that they are blinded to objective reality. Talking about narcissism the Igbo generally falls into three basic personality types: narcissistic personality, antisocial personality and or paranoid personality. Briefly, the paranoid personality denies his real self for he sees it as weak and inadequate and invents a grandiose (big) self and pretends to be it. He wears a mask of existential importance and wants other people to collude with him and see him as important. If he feels belittled and demeaned, he feels angry at the person he thinks is degrading him. He is always fighting with people; he is suspicious and does not trust anyone. The antisocial personality has poor social conscience and often takes what does not belong to him and does not feel guilt or remorse from such anti social behaviour. They are full of excuses for why they do things and they blame others for their behaviours and its outcomes. The narcissistic thinks that he is better than other people, feels superior and wants other people to admire him because he is supposedly superior to them.Dr Ozodi explained the cause of his study through a PS thus, "Since I am Igbo, the question that comes up is why an Igbo would desecrate his people. I will tell you why. I see Igbos with their heads swollen with false pride and out of that vanity insult folk around them. Folks around them takes it for a while and then feel angry at them, attack and sometimes kill some of them. I don't want Igbos to be attacked and or killed. To prevent Igbos being harmed, their egos must be shrunk to humble levels; Igbos have to behave respective towards their Nigerian neighbours. My motivation is to humble Igbos, make them mature and respectful of their fellow Nigerians. It is in mutual respect that human beings find peace. Arrogance and putting folks down lead to conflict and war." With the extensive reference to the study of Dr. Ozodi, I hope that Adolf-Obi Nwa-Hitler will wake up from his deep slumber of reasons.All I want to offer in summary will be the following: Salimonu Kadiri's piece is no more than revisionist clap-trap, and it really speaks to the ways that repeated falsehood in a close circle erases every scintilla of truth. For example: the Igbo Union had been formed long before Azikiwe returned from the United States in 1935 - Obi Nwakanma.If the Igbo ethnic sheriff, Obi Nwakanma, is a honest person he would have told his readers when exactly Ibo Federal Union that later became Ibo State Union was formed and who was the President. Mind you it was after the Civil War that the Ibos discovered that the alphabet *G* was missing in the spelling of the name of their tribe, therefore the new tribal name, Igbo. It is not clear either if Obi Nwakanma is telling us that Azikiwe returned to Nigeria in 1935 or the Ibo Federal Union was formed in 1935. However, whatever any of the two alternatives Obi may choose, Azikiwe did not return from the USA to Nigeria in 1935 but to Gold Coast, now Ghana. He fled from the Gold Coast to Nigeria in 1937 when the Colonial Government of that country jailed him for sedition. In order to really appreciate Azikiwe's role in Nigeria's politics, one needs to be acquainted with the fact that Nigeria's independence struggle began with the 1920s Lagos crowd, organised by such non-Igbo person named, Herbert Macaulay, who was the General Secretary of the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), the oldest political party in Nigeria formed in 1922. A rather conservative party that opposed NNDP was the People's Union organised by Dr. J.K.Randle, Dr Orisadipe Obasa Sir Kuteyi Ajasa, Dr R. Akinwande Savage, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and others. For information purpose, the NNDP won all the three seats for Lagos at the elections to the Legislative Council from 1923 to 1937, and from 1943-1948. Equally, all the seats available by election to the Lagos Town Council, from 1923 to 1953 were won by the NNDP. Awolowo gave the portrait of Herbert Macaulay as follows, "Herbert Macaulay in his time was a political colossus; ...he was not only an uncompromising critic of colonialism and white rule, he was also a ruthless denigrator of any African who associated and was friendly with white officials. To the masses of the people in Lagos and in the Southern parts of Nigeria the 'Wizard of Kirsten Hall' symbolised the irrepressible resistance of the Africans against foreign rule." The political domination of the NNDP nose-dived in 1938, when the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) won all the three seats for Lagos to the Legislative Council. The forerunner to NYM was Lagos Youth Movement (LYM) which was founded by Dr James Churchill Vaughan, Ernest Sissei Ikoli, Samuel A. Akinsanya and others. When Hezekiah Oladipo Davies became its General Secretary in 1937, LYM was transformed to NYM with a new constitution stating part of its aims as follows: 1. To unify the different tribes of Nigeria by adopting and encouraging means which would foster better understanding and cooperation between the tribes so that they may come to have a common ideal... 4. To identify itself in a wholehearted and selfless manner with the interest of the people, irrespective of class or any other distinction, and to be always prepared to prosecute their legitimate aspirations with resolution, consistency and firmness. Azikiwe in his Selected Speeches, p. 309 revealed the following, "Among its (NYM) leaders at this time (1938) were Dr Akinola Maja, H.S.A. Thomas, Jubril Martin and Mr (Sir) Kofoworola Abayomi. Prominent among its backbenchers were Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief S.L. Akintola, J.A. Tuyo, Hamzat A. Subair, F. Ogugua-Arah, Shonibare and L. Duro Emanuel." AZIKIWE'S POLITICAL CAREER IN NIGERIA ACTUALLY BEGAN IN 1938 AS A BACKBENCHER IN THE NIGERIAN YOUTH MOVEMENT (NYM). It is remarkable that Azikiwe removed the names of Vaughan, Ikoli and Akinsanya from his list of prominent members of NYM.A split soon developed in the NYM over nomination of a candidate to contest for a bye-election to the Legislative Council following the departure of Kofo Abayomi to London for a specialist course in medicine. Ernest Ikoli had become the President of NYM while Samuel Akinsanya was his deputy and both wanted to contest for the single bye-election. While Azikiwe and his group supported Akinsanya, Awolowo and his group supported Ikoli. Azikiwe for undeclared reason did not want Ikoli, an Ijaw from the Delta area of Eastern Nigeria, to contest but Awolowo on principle taught it was unfair to deny Ikoli, the President, the right to contest the vacant seat left by Kofo Abayomi, his predecessor in office. Both Ikoli and Akinsanya contested the bye-election and Ikoli won. Since the group that supported Akinsanya, including Azikiwe, did not accept the democratic verdict they withdrew from NYM in 1941 and the Movement became weak and thereafter NNDP began to win elections to the Legislative Council again from 1943 onwards.After destroying the NYM, Azikiwe founded the first tribal organisation, called Ibo federal Union in Nigeria, in 1943 and installed himself as its President. The name of the Union was later changed to Ibo State Union. Nnamdi Azikiwe was immediately imitated by Eyo Ita, who also founded Ibibio Federal Union that also transformed to Ibibio State Union. A year later, on 26 August 1944, Azikiwe claimed the birth of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) at a purported Third Meeting of the Inaugural Session of the party where "provisional officers were elected at a mass meeting assembled in the Glover Memorial Hall." Azikiwe claimed that thirteen officers were elected among which Herbert Macaulay was the President, Louis Philip Ojukwu (as he was known before he adopted Odumegwu when he was knighted by the Queen in the 60s) as the Treasurer and himself , Azikiwe, as the General Secretary. Azikiwe wrote, "Letters were forwarded by the Provisional General Secretary to the above gentlemen, dated 23 September, 1944. Some replied or sent messages giving reasons for their inability to accept office (p. 312, ZIK: Selected Speeches)." It turned out that only six out of the thirteen that were elected at a mass meeting accepted to serve as the official officers of the NCNC. Those who accepted to serve were, "Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, L. A. Onojobi, A. Ogedengbe, E. A. Akerele, and Ladipo Odunsi (p. 312)." In 1944, Herbert Macaulay was a fragile old man at 80 and still the General Secretary of the NNDP that was winning elections. He did not need a new party. If there was mass meeting where people stood for elections and won, why was it necessary for Azikiwe to write to the elected officers almost a month after their elections? On what was the election of NCNC provisional officers, 26 August 1944, based when the constitution of the NCNC was not completed for adoption until 1945? In 1945, Azikiwe became a member of NNDP. When Herbert Macaulay died, May 7, 1946, Azikiwe became the President of both the NCNC and NNDP. Apparently Azikiwe had scuttled NYM in 1941 because the leadership he wanted for himself could not be achieved with the calibre of the people in the hierarchy of NYM which were too superior to him. How did he manage to be President of two National Party at the same time? Azikiwe explained thus, "In alliance with the Nigerian National Democratic Party the NCNC won all the three seats for Lagos at the 1947 elections to the Legislative Council. The same alliance won all the five seats for Lagos at the 1951 elections to the Western House of Assembly (ZIK: Selected Speeches, p.314)." The foxy Azikiwe as the President of the NNDP was in alliance with the NCNC where he was also the President. The fact, however, was that all elections in Lagos and the West from 1946 to 1951 in which Azikiwe partook were conducted under the platform of NNDP and not NCNC. It should also be observed that Azikiwe mentioned only the election results for Lagos in the 1951 Western House of Assembly and not the whole West, whereas Igbo ethnic warriors have always claimed that Awolowo prevented Azikiwe from being the leader of government in the West after the latter had won the election. Rather than claiming to have won the elections to the Western House of Assembly in 1951 Azikiwe conceded thus, "...a new constitution confirmed the carving up of the country virtually into three constituents, as originally conceived by Chief Bode Thomas. Not only that; a new political party had arisen on the horizon of Nigerian politics, with the name of Action Group, and carrying this Thomasian banner of extreme regionalization, IT WON MAJORITY SEATS AT THE GENERAL ELECTION TO THE WESTERN HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY TO FORM THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WESTERN REGION (p. 324, ZIK: Selected Speeches).Contrary to Ogbuefi Nwakanma assertion that Bode Thomas died in 1951, the man actually died in November 1954. Having corrected that I want to know from Ogbuefi Nwakanma where Azikiwe got his own money to head two political parties NCNC and NNDP simultaneously, if the colonialist Britain was the financier of the Awolowo and the Action Group? It worths remembering that when Awolowo launched Egbe Omo Oduduwa in London, 1945, the London branch of Ibo Federal Union under the Chaimanship of Mr Chuba Ikpeazu had existed for two years. On his return to Nigeria, the Egbe Omo Oduduwa was not formed until 1948 in Lagos, while Awolowo was in far away Ibadan, by Sir Adeyemo Alakija, Dr Akinola Maja, Sir Kofo Abayomi, Chief Bode Thomas, Chief H. Oladipo Davies, Dr Akanni Doherty and others. Although the Egbe Omo Oduduwa was the offshoot of the Action Group Party, not all members of the former was part of the latter. For instance H. Oladipo Davies was a member of Egbe Omo Oduduwa till his death but he was at first a member of NNDP and later NCNC. On the contrary all members of Ibo Federal Union were automatically affiliated to the NCNC. Following the example of Azikiwe's Ibo Federal Union, Jamiyyar Mutanen Arewa (Northern Peoples' Congress was founded in the North by Balewa, Dr Dikko and others in 1948.The idea of Azikiwe in founding Ibo Federal Union in 1943 was understandable in view of the fact that after Lugard had amalgamated North and South to Nigeria, he discovered that while he could administer North and West through the Emirs and Obas respectively, there was nothing in Igboland because Igbos lived in isolation from one another in small villages and towns. The popular saying was *Igbo Enwe Eze* which means Igbos have no Kings. In order to facilitate his administration of mainly the Igbo part of Eastern Nigeria, Lugard created the *Warrant Chiefs* and dignified them with *Red Cap* that he imported from Morocco. When the *Warrant Chiefs* were eventually transformed to *EZE,* Igbos initially resisted it. Hence the expression, *EZEBUILO* which translates to A - King - Is - An - Enemy. For this reason Igbos have wrongly been regarded as Republicans instead of anarchists that they are in reality. As a result of inferiority complex arising from cultural backwardness of the Igbos compared to the North and the West, Azikiwe began to make hostile and aggressive propaganda against other tribes in Nigeria. Listen to Azikiwe delivering his Presidential address at the Ibo State Assembly, held at Aba on Saturday, June 25, 1949 and reported by the West African Pilot the following day: "... It would appear that the God of Africa has specifically created the Ibo nation to lead the children of Africa from the bondage of ages... The martial power of the Ibo nation at all stages of human history has enabled them TO CONQUER OTHERS BUT ALSO TO ADAPT THEMSELVES TO THE ROLE OF PRESERVER...." Eyo Ita was not an Igbo but he caught the wrath of Azikiwe because he advocated for Calabar - Ogoja - Rivers - State. Hear Azikiwe speaking, "It was not until twenty-five years later, when he came all out to advocate the cause of the Calabar - Ogoja - Rivers - State Movement and to beat the tom-tom drums of alleged Ibo domination that Ita's secret antagonism against certain tribes became obvious (p. 307, ZIK: Selected Speeches)." Azikiwe was a baker that never tolerated the existence of other bakers. He wanted only his tribal Union and the political party led by him to exist in Nigeria.Towards the approaching 1951 election to the Western Region House of Assembly the Action Group Party was formed. Azikiwe observed,"Then the party with more determination than had ever been shown in Nigerian politics, began to publish policy papers and to gain ground throughout the Western Region. ... When the elections were over it had won a slender majority over the less-organized mass movement of the NCNC.. Comfortably, it established itself as the Government of the West and represented the Region, under the 1951 Constitution... The Action Group believes in a socialist commonwealth but also in the solidarity of the parts and the unity of all (p. 326-327, ZIK: Selected Speeches)." As the Ogbuefi of Igbo fundamentalism, Nwakanma, rightly pointed out, Awolowo was against Unitary form of Government for Nigeria. Awolowo gave reasons for his opposition thus, "As between the various ethnic groups, ... there were differing standards of civilisation as well as uneven stages in the adoption of western education and the emulation of western civilisation. A unitary constitution with only one central government would only result in frustration to the more pushful and more dynamic ethnic groups, whereas the division of the country into regions along ethnic lines would enable each linguistic group not only
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment