Just like Mokwugo Okoye and Dr Chike Obi, Dr Agwuncha Arthur Nwankwo was a true Nigerian with political admirers all over Nigeria, even though he was Igbo by birth. He was a big whale in the Nigerian sea and that is why I object strongly to his being reduced, after death, to a small fish in an Igbo lake. Therefore, in honour and memory of the late Dr Agwuncha Arthur Nwankwo, I hereby register my protest against associating his name with falsified history.
To make the Igbo easier to control, the military dictatorship was advised to impose chiefs on them and this was decreed by General Obasanjo in 1976. I concluded that the Igbo should defend their democratic philosophy which says all heads are equal and that Igbo know no King because that is the philosophy of government promised by the republican constitution of Nigeria with no role for traditional rulers - Biko Agozino.
Whatever General Obasanjo might have decreed, concerning the Igbo, in 1976, it could never have been imposition of Chiefs on them since it was the British colonialist that imposed Warrant Chiefs on the Igbo in the 1920s. Truly, when the colonialists came, there were no Kings in Igboland as there were in the North and the West through which they could govern. Therefore, the colonialist created Warrant Chiefs with red caps to enhance their colonial administration in Eastern Nigeria. Eze and Igwe as we know them today in Igboland evolved from the Warrant Chiefs created by the British colonialists. The Ibibio, Ijaw, Efik and other minority groups in the then Eastern Region had traditional rulers and as such were excluded from Warrant Chiefs arrangement. In fact, it was the pressure of the minority groups that forced the Eastern Region government in 1959 to establish Eastern House of Chiefs in emulation of the North and the West that had constitutionally established House of Chiefs respectively a year earlier.
In pre-colonial Nigeria, the Igbo lived in small enclaves and in hostile relation with one another. There was no organised society and the Igbo of that time would pass for anarchists than republicans. 'The Igbo democratic philosophy which says that all heads are equal and that Igbo know no king' according to Biko Agozino, would appear to be an invented fable or a wish for history. If all heads are democratically equal in Igbo land, why do they till date have masters and slaves (Diala, Osu). Let's recall some relevant parts of the speech of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Eastern House of Assembly on 20 March 1956, while seconding the motion for the second reading of the Abolition of the Osu System Bill. Hear him, "This Bill seeks to do three things: to abolish the Osu system and its allied practices including the Oru or Ohu System, to prescribe punishment for their continued practice, and to remove certain social disabilities caused by the enforcement of the Osu and its allied systems. What is Osu system and why must it be abolished? ... the Osu system includes any social way of living which implies that any person who is deemed to be an Osu or Oru or Ohu is subject to certain prescribed social disability and social stigma. /...../ Mr Speaker, this Bill offers a challenge to the morality of the Easterners. I submit that it is not morally consistent to condone the Osu or Oru or Ohu system. I submit that it is devilish and most uncharitable to brand any human being with a label of inferiority, due to the accidents of history." Despite the fact that the Bill against branding and treating some Igbo as slaves by Dialas was passed in 1956, the Osu, Oru, and Ohu system are still in practice today throughout Igboland by those who claim to be Diala (Masters). We just need to remember from Ojukwu's 1st June 1969 Ahiara declaration that while the Osu/Oru/Ohu were starving to death in Biafra, the Diala were throwing weekend parties and slaughtering cows to celebrate their new-born babies.
According to Biko Agozino, "Igbo know no king because that is the philosophy of government promised by the republican constitution of Nigeria with no role for traditional rulers." Nigeria became a Federal Republic on October 1, 1963 but the Constitution did not abrogate the House of Chiefs in the regions. It was the military intervention of January 15, 1966 that abrogated parliaments of which the House of Chiefs were components. In the present dispensation, the traditional rulers are paid salaries by the States' governments in recognition of the services they are presumed to be offering to their citizens.
Rest in peace, Agwuncha Arthur Nwankwo.
S. Kadiri
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com>
Sent: 10 December 2020 05:29
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Viva! Arthur! Viva!
Sent: 10 December 2020 05:29
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Viva! Arthur! Viva!
Oga Biko.
I join you in celebrating the life and times of Agwucha Nwankwo.
But I still maintain that it is a malapropism that the Igbo know no kings. As a fellow Igbo stated previously here, it depends on which part of Igbo country we speak about.
Obasanjo did not impose the Obi of Onitsha on Igbo people. The position had existed before he even enlisted in the army. The fact that we have the position of the Owelle subordinated to that of the Obi means not all heads are equal in Igbo land.
OAA
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
From: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: 10/12/2020 01:51 (GMT+00:00)
To: Usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Viva! Arthur! Viva!
To be interred tomorrow:
|
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.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1484892888.10977921.1607540490879%40mail.yahoo.com.
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.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/DB6PR04MB2982125E5696D6E91007EF25A6CB0%40DB6PR04MB2982.eurprd04.prod.outlook.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment