I was told that every Igboman who heard Ojukwu’s speech after the Biafran war was filled with a renewed sense of pride and hope. A hope that one day the Igbo nation will rise and become a force of reckoning not just in Nigeria but in the entire black world
I have read that speech over and over and each time I read through, I am filled with pride and imagination of how those who heard the words pouring out of the mouth of the warlord himself must have felt. Before going any further, let me recount a little part of what the late sage said while addressing the press:
“In the three years of the war, necessity gave birth to invention. During those three years of heroic bound, we leapt across the great chasm that separates knowledge from know-
how. We built rockets, and we designed and built our own delivery systems. We guided our rockets. We guided them far, we guided them accurately. For three years, blockaded without hope of import, we maintained all our vehicles. The state extracted and refined petrol, individuals refined petrol in their back gardens. We built and maintained our airports, maintained them under heavy bombardment.Despite the heavy bombardment, we recovered so quickly after each raid that we were able to maintain the record for the busiest airport in the continent of Africa. We spoke to the world through telecommunication system engineered by local ingenuity; the world heard us and spoke back to us! We built armoured car tanks. We modified aircraft from trainer to fighters, from passenger aircraft to bombers. In the three years of freedom we had broken the technological barrier. In three years we became the most civilised, the most technologically advanced black people on earth.”
Ojukwu, with those few lines, defined the ingenuity and never-say-die spirit God has embedded in the marrows of the Igboman. But my question for Ndigbo is, where has this ingenuity for which the entire world has given them a standing ovation, gone?
Why can’t it be used today to enhance the cause of Ndigbo? Can’t we re-enact the same war time feat to launch ourselves back to reckoning again in Nigeria and in the entire black world?
Since Ojukwu died, Ndigbo have been like sheep without a shepherd. Those who we thought could take up the mantle of leadership are nothing but selfish entities who care for nothing but their personal interest.
As I am writing this article, I just got words that a senator in Imo State has been discovered as a saboteur working against the interest of his people because he has been promised to be made Senate president in the new political dispensation which begins on May 29. What is it with Ndigbo and greed?
How long are we going to kill ourselves? Isn’t it a gargantuan shame that a tribe as populous as Ndigbo can’t provide a single individual that is seen to be credible enough to be elected president of Nigeria?
A casual observation of the performances of the governors of the south eastern states will reveal their level of under-performance since 1999. Case point, take Aba which has failed to enjoy any meaningful development since the 1929 Aba women riot. The place is a total mess.What have the governors done with what has been accruing to the state in the last 16 years of democratic rule?The fact that these individuals who have mismanaged fortunes of the state consider themselves fit to even contest election is a slap on the faces of Ndigbo. Ndigbo, are we cursed?
The red-cap goons known as Ohaneze do nothing but crawl from one place to another offering themselves for sale and for use.This has been their money-making scheme for too long and it can no longer hold water. Can’t we take a cue from the style Dangote adopted and made a kill? The Yoruba have already adopted it and it is working. We have to restrategise to become that economic power house we crave. The idea that every Igboman who makes money whether through his ingenuity or by accident becomes misguided and begins to push for political office even though they are clearly not professional politicians should be discarded.
We hear of Dangote, the Dantatas, Otedola, Mike Adenuga, the Okoyas, where are the Igbo equivalent in terms of their organisational set-up? Most of our businesses are largely one-man businesses and whenever the founder dies, the whole thing dies.
Ndigbo must do away with their selfishness and personal greed, otherwise we will continue to languish as a people. We must redirect our thoughts away from the deeply engrossed notion of “to make it in life,” “we must make money at all cost.” What Ndigbo should learn from the just concluded elections is that without a harmony of opinion, all our efforts will yield nothing. Igbo kwezuenu.
“In the new Constitution of our free and democratic South Africa, we made a promise to ourselves and to the world that we would remain committed to the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism, non-sexism and the rule of law”.
In the nation, South Africa, we should help them in prayer because I am seeing youth revolt,” the clip quotes Joshua as saying. “It will be very serious. A situation where youth will come out and… you learn that there is a protest. Some people were killed – certain people.”Joshua’s ‘bloody’ prediction made the front cover of South African newspaper ‘City Press’ in August 2013 when Julius Malema, the fiery leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), visited his church in Nigeria for ‘spiritual blessings’.
“We believe that working together we can defeat this demon,” she said.Malawian Information Minister, Kondwani Nankhumwa, said on Friday that the country has hired buses to repatriate 500 of its nationals from South Africa.
“I frankly have never been a fan of these awards. I am however delighted to be on theTIME100 list for the sake of our continuing and persistent campaign for our Government to rescue our abducted 219 Chibok Girls. The girls are a symbol of thousands more women and children that have been displaced and kidnapped, and I dedicate this recognition to all of them. I am just one out of the many untiring voices that make up our #BringBackOurGirls Family especially here in Nigeria and all over the world. We shall not stop standing and demanding until justice is done our ChibokGirls — they must be rescued”.In 2006, Ezekwesili was reported to have been the first woman to receive the third highest Nigerian National Honor of Commander of the Federal Republic–CFR.
“The threats then materialised and 12 people, all Nigerian and Ghanaian, are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean,” the statement added.
"God brought that song my way without telling me He was going to bless me." she said.Speaking to My Super Star Story, Yemi Alade revealed that all was not rosy for her before her fame. She revealed that she had to gather stipends to pay for studio sessions and fueling of the generator before she would be allowed to record her songs.
“Mr. chairman, we have lost confidence in you,” he shouted, pushing away officials trying to make him surrender the microphone. “You are being very, very selective. You are partial,” he continued, surrounded by three or four supporters. “You are tribalistic. We cannot take it.”At this point, according to the Head of the Situation Room and the diplomat, Jega’s security details were approached by unidentified individuals telling them to stand down but they declined.
“Some of the guards who had been guarding Jega for years demanded a written order,” the Head of the Situation Room said.Jega later rebuked Orubebe, saying, “Let us not disrupt a process that has ended peacefully,” he said as Orubebe slumped in his chair.
“Customs got the initial order of the court to stop the container and now that the court asks us to release the container, so be it,” he said.Justice Valentine Ashi had ordered the release of the books which had been in the custody of customs.
"Having sisters is the best. I have a different relationship with each of them. I go toKim [Kardashian] for fashion advice, Khloé [Kardashian] is always boy and family advice, and Kourtney [Kardashian] is like another mother to me," she told the mag.
"When I look to the far future and decide to have kids, I need to have a million girls. Ten years from now—in 2025—I hope I have a kid."
"I'm moving out when I turn 18. I'm ready to live on my own. It's a really big step, but I'm ready. I wanted a house near my family in a quiet neighborhood with a front yard and a backyard that my dog will like. Also, I have so many shoes, and none of them fit in my old closet."
“Democracy has to be nurtured to grow. Strong democratic institutions are the backbone and future of our democracy. They must be protected and nurtured. As for me, as a matter of principle, it is always the nation first,
You need to have a nation before you can have an ambition. It should always be the nation first. You don’t have to scuttle national progress for personal ambition.
Since I assumed duty, I have been involved in quelling political crisis in some African countries and I know what they passed through and what some are still going through. If you scuttle a system for personal ambition, it becomes a collective tragedy,’’ President Jonathan explained.
“They informed me that they have called members of the Nigerian community and addressed them and told them to close their shops, stay home and keep out of trouble and obey the laws of South Africa.
“They have also confirmed that the South African authority have moved in to take actions that would forestall any further disturbance in South Africa.”
“If it (the situation) gets worse, it is the duty of our country to make sure our people are brought back, and we are taking that duty serious. We are not prepared to allow any of our nationals to be subjected to such inhuman treatment.
“We are not being reactionary because this is happening to all foreigners, not Nigerians alone. We are monitoring the situation and will now take action according to the situation that develops,” he said.
