The Peter Obi we Know

Peter Obi, the governor of Anambra State was the man that ended godfatherism in the State. Before his era, Emeka Offor was holding sway through his political instrument, Chinwoke Mbadinuju. A fall out between the two, ushered in the era of Chris Ubah and Chris Ngige. It was popularly said that Chris plus Chris equals crises. The Nigerian journalists did not waste time to call their disagreement over the control of the State, war over a stolen mandate. The mandate belonged to Peter Obi of APGA.

Peter Obi fought hard to reclaim the mandate through a court action. He was later illegally impeached. Same of Obi fought hard to bounce back even when a new governor had already been installed through a general election. The first State to have a different election date for governorship in Nigeria is Anambra. The reason is because Obi said no godfatherism. While those that were competing with him were busy in one shrine or the other, Obi took his time to scatter his posters and programmes even in Aba and Port Harcourt in order to draw support.

Today, I have read many criticizing this hero. I have no defence to make for him. Probably, he might not have lived up to expectation. However, I am more concerned on how he was able to flush out illegal governments two good times. How could he achieve this? If truly he lived below expectation, the electorate should wait for him after November 16. I may not easily join my voice to those that call him clueless. Honestly, many Nigerians have not consulted the dictionary to know the meaning of this word.

A Study of Igbo Language: The Three Uses of NA in Igbo

Igbo language is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world. It is a language of the Igbo people who occupy the South East and South South regions of Nigeria. This is an effort to bring the consciousness of this widely spoken language closer to the people.
There are three uses of 'na' in the Igbo language. It can be used as:
1) Conjunction (Njiko)
2) Preposition (Mbuuzo)
3) Auxiliary Verb (Enyemaka ngwaa)
We have to take these one after the other.

-Conjunction:
This is known in Igbo as Njiko or Njiko okwu. This plays the role of joining two or more words and sentences together. For example: Ndi ala anyi na ndi bekee ga-aso mkpi taa (Our people and the whitemen will compete today). In this sentence, 'na' plays the role of bringing together two ideas.

-Preposition: 
This is known in Igbo as Mbuuzo. The preposition links the noun, pronoun to other words. For decades, it was believed that 'na' was the only preposition in Igbo language. When a consonant is following 'na', 'na' is written fully. For example: Dike bi na mba. (Dike lives in a foreign land). When 'na' is followed by a vowel, 'na' is shortened by replace 'a' with an apostrophe. This process is known as OLULO UDAUME in Igbo language. For example: Chike bi n'Aba. (Chike lives in Aba). Writing na Aba is wrong in Igbo language. The simple reason is that 'na' is followed by a vowel. Other examples are: n'elu (on top), n'okpuru (under), n'etiti (at the middle)

-Auxiliary Verb:
This is known in Igbo as Enyemaka Ngwaa or Nnyemaka Ngwaa. Ngwaa is the name of verb in Igbo language. Most Igbo writers make the mistake of distinguishing auxilliary verb from preposition. For example: Obi n'eri nri (Obi is eating) is a wrong presentation of Igbo language. This is because 'eri' is a verb. This is quite different from Obi hiri n'akwa taa (Obi slept in the bed today). Na in this sentence is preposition because 'akwa' (bed) is not a verb. However, the sentence, Obi is eating is correctly translated in Igbo language as: Obi na-eri nri. Whenever is used in a sentence as auxiliary verb, a hyphen is written between the 'na' and the verb (ngwaa). Other examples are:
Ada m na-ebe akwa (My daughter is crying).
Afo a na-agba oso (This year is rushing).
Nne m na-ama mma kwa ubochi (My mother is getting beautiful as the day goes).
Na-ala (Is going)
Na-abia(Is coming)

However, in pronunciation, 'na' is not pronounced different from the verb. For example, when pronouncing OBI IS COMING in the Igbo language, it is pronounced as OBI N'ABIA. In writing, it is written as OBI NA-ABIA. This has been a reason many fail to distinguish between preposition and auxiliary verb.
In conclusion, it is my belief that one day, Igbo language will compete favourably with English and French internationally. This is just an introductory contribution to what I wish to do.

You can reach me on twitter @lordpercyo and lordpercyo@aol.com

THE FINAL DISGRACE: Igbo scholar unleashes more facts about Igbo/Yoruba history, finishes off Femi Fani-Kayode with second article

Yesterday, we published the first part of the article in which an Igbo scholar, Dr. Samuel Okafor, expertly demolished some of the claims made by one-time Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in the August 8 article, “The Bitter Truth About The Igbo”, which immediately kicked off a storm that has yet to abate.
In the first part of an article entitled “The Lies of Femi Fani-Kayode”, Okafor, a First Class History graduate of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Ph.D holder in the same discipline – on scholarship, also from the UNN – gives attention to other issues raised by Fani-Kayode, whom he dismissed as a “half-baked intellectual . . . a character who with each punch of his keypad stresses his severely unwell conditions of logorrhoea, delusions of enlightenment, history and sociology – amongst others.” Please read on:
•FEMI LIES ABOUT THE IGBO CONTRIBUTION TO NIGERIAN POLITICS 
Politics with the great Nnamdi Azikiwe of Africa also had an Ibo colouration
Indeed the action group developed as a result of Ibo domination of politics in Nigeria with Awolowo selling tribalism to his people as the only way to check the Ibos whom he felt had taken his birthright by sweeping the elections into the Western House of Assembly. It was only after putting fear into the average Yoruba man at the time did they cross carpet. These are facts. Awolowo started tribalism in Nigeria; that is why he never ruled our country. Hate can never stand. All the Ibos ask for is fairness and competition. Open up all the job positions and academic spaces in our institutions and let us compete and we would see who comes out on top.
Nigeria, anyway, has no choice. To remain relevant in the world, it must adopt best practice and become a merit-driven society. When this occurs the Ibo would again dominate for in the words of the greatest African writer of all time, the man who has sold the most books and the only African whose books have been translated into more languages than any – Professor Chinua Achebe – “the Ibo is a creature built for competition held down neither by religion no tradition.” My Yoruba brothers, stop crying; the game has only just started. Thank God GEJ would do another four years. It would only help to create a level playing field for all Nigerians. To those who claim they were first at everything I have one simple thing to say: Again, I get am before no be property. Game on.
•FEMI AGAIN LIES WHEN HE SAYS “LAGOS IS OUR LAND”
Femi, to answer your question “who owns Lagos?” the question can be answered in a number of ways.
Constitutionally, Lagos is owned collectively by all Nigerians. What we know as modern Lagos started when the British annexed Lagos as a colony. Till today most of the titles for landed property in places like Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Yaba, Ebutte-Metta, Lagos Island, etc., take their root from the Queen’s Registry. The said titles were recorded in Her Majesty’s Registry evidencing the parcels of land allocated. These titles after independence were passed on the Federal Government and held until the recent sale to private individuals under the Obasanjo administration. Now the owners of the land are private individuals from various ethnicities. Further communities in Lagos have also sold extensive land to new owners who come from other parts of Nigeria. When you sell a property and receive adequate monetary compensation for the property do you still own the property? Femi, answer me. The Ibos have worked hard and bought their properties from constituted authority and thus like every Nigerian have a right to lay claim to Lagos for they own a part of it. Femi, what is all this talk about Ibos owning Lagos? Why are the Yoruba not concerned about the Ibos owning Ibadan, Ife or Akure? Why is there so much emphasis now on the Yoruba owning Lagos? Is it because Lagos has all the attractions that other major cities in the South West do not have? Femi, the truth is that modern Lagos as we know it today is a product of the collective efforts of all Nigerians – Ibos inclusive.
The Third Mainland Bridge, Eko Bridge, Tincan Port, Apapa Port, Nitel Building, Carter Bridge, all the fly overs that you see; Federal Palace Hotel, Ikoyi Hotel, just to name a few, were not built with cocoa money but mainly from oil money. I would refer you to the 1 2 3 4 development plans of the Federal Government and see what allocation Lagos got directly from the Federal Government for development. It is wrong for the Yourba to now start claiming Lagos and asking other nationals to go home. Let me ask you further how many states in the South West produce the resource which we all depend on? My dear Femi, only one – Ondo – yet all the states from the South West continue to derive benefits from the Federal Government and there is nothing wrong with that, for we are a federation. And all the federating states have certain rights as well as obligations to its citizens. Femi, Nigeria fought a bitter civil war to ensure we are one nation and so nobody would ever divide us again neither you nor Orji Uzor Kalu. If we all start saying our Lagos, our oil, our Abuja, our gas, collectively, we would all be losers.
Historically, the rights of who own Lagos are clear: Lagos was a Benin town with a Benin Oba who paid tribute to the Oba of Benin – indeed, his chiefs were the descendants of noble Benin families. The Benin Empire ran Lagos for over 400 years before the colonial powers took over.
Yes, the dominant people in Lagos were Yoruba but they formed not the rulers of the town but the subjects of the Oba just like we find in the United Kingdom today where people are subjects of the Queen of England and not citizens. I would explain citizenship rights to you later.
So who owns Lagos? All of us! Take Abuja for example – who owns Abuja? The land was bare land owned by the Gwari people and in a span of 30 some years federal resources turned bare land into a paradise on earth. So who owns Abuja? Can the Gwari who are the original owners say to the Yoruba there – go back home? My answer is simple “no” – they cannot. That city was developed by our collective efforts and resources indeed if anything the Gwari should be grateful to the Almighty for bringing them such lucky federal development. The South East continues along with the South-South to produce the resources that drive our economy. Imo, Abia, Anambra are oil-producing states. The reserves of oil in Anambra State are now proven to be more than those of Rivers. The Ibo-speaking part of Delta also has huge deposits of gas and we thank the Almighty for blessing this land called Nigeria. Who owns these resources? All Nigerians. So when you lay claim to Lagos as “our town”, I say to you; my dear, you are myopic. We all own this land with its resources. Fashola has only built on a good foundation – federal effort. He must learn to correct his mistakes and not be misled by Fani-Kayode whose family has been in the hate business for decades. His father was directly responsible with Akintola for Operation Wetie that led to the destruction of the First Republic and later a civil war.
We must not allow his son to sell hate to us as Nigerians. When the trouble starts Femi would run to London where I am sure he holds dual nationality. Where do we have to run to? We must focus our efforts to ensure that we build a collective future for our children. We must collectively defeat these hate mongers.
THIS UNWELL HATE PREACHER CALLED FEMI FANI-KAYODE
Femi, return all the money you stole from the Ministry of Aviation and stop hiding behind your own personal agenda. For someone who cares so much about his country he would not have stolen 29 billion naira meant for the development and rehabilitation of our airports. We are not surprised at your behaviour – you come from a long line of thieves; Your real grandfather was shot dead in a court house in Lagos for duping a returnee slave descendant. Igbos say if a child does not know what killed his father, what killed his father will kill him. Like your grand pappi, the historic thievery of your ancestry and the arm of the law – this time in the authority of the EFCC have come for your blood. De ja vu.
Let me significantly have the Nigerian people know this too: that the name Fani-Kayode comes from your maternal side and the Kayode part is a borrowed name from a friend. That your father dropped his real name out of shame. That was the only way he could practise law in Lagos. Femi, tell us who your father’s father is? Stop hiding behind all Yorubas; who is your father’s father, you bastard? A slave is always the one to shout the most for fear of being identified as a slave. The Yoruba nation would never trust your family, you drug-addicted son a dead thief. Your paternal grandfather was killed for stealing. Your father worked for the Ibos all his life heading the NCNC for most of his political career and the great ObafemiAwolowo never trusted your father Remi.
Even in 1979 again your father worked against the great Awolowo and joined the NPN. Nigeria and the Yoruba nation would never forget these facts. Again, you see your own political life? De ja vu. Which party did you just cross-carpet to? I think the drugs you are taking are affecting you. Better face your EFCC cases – and squarely too – and stop trying to gain favour with the Yoruba nation.You can never correct certain known facts try as heard as you want. Again, the Yourba are not a race but an ethnic group – Cambridge fool.
You say the Yoruba are the first to go to school and the owners of Lagos: again history calls you to its books: Eko is a Benin word for camp; Idumota is a Benin word; Idumagbo is a Benin word; Eti Osa is a Benin word; the Oba of Lagos was a vassal of the Oba of Benin crowned by the Olotu.What history did you study in Cambridge, you crack head? The Yoruba were the slaves of the Benin Empire sold to faraway places like Brazil. You grandson of a thief; say more and we would tell you a few truths. Thief.
•Photo shows Femi Fani-Kayode.
Source News Express
Posted 18/08/2013 04:15:51 AM

The Ahiara Declaration As Delivered by Ojukwu on June1, 1969

THE AHIARA DECLARATION:
The Principles of the Biafran Revolution
{A speech delivered by General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu on June 1, 1969}

Today, as I look back over our two years as a sovereign and independent nation, I am over-whelmed with the feeling of pride and satisfaction in our performance and achievement as a people. Our indomitable will, our courage, our endurance of the severest privations, our resourcefulness and inventiveness in the face of tremendous odds and dangers, have become proverbial in a world so bereft of heroism, and have become a source of frustration to Nigeria and her foreign masters. For this and for the many miracles of our time, let us give thanks to Almighty God.
Fellow countrymen and women, for nearly two years we have been engaged in a war which threatens our people with total destruction. Our enemy has been unrelenting in his fury and has fought our defenseless people with a vast array of military hardware of a sophistication unknown to Africa. For two years we have withstood his assaults with nothing other than our stout hearts and bare hands. We have frustrated his diabolical intentions and have beaten his wicked mentors in their calculations and innovations. Shamelessly, our enemy has moved from deadline to deadline, seeking excuses justifying their failures to an ever credulous world. Today, I am happy and proud to report that, all the odds notwithstanding, the enemy, at great cost in lives and equipment, is not near to his avowed objective.
Proud Biafrans, I have kept my promise. Diplomatically, our friends have increased and have remained steadfast to our cause: and, despite the rantings of our detractors, indications are that their support will continue. Fellow countrymen and women, the signs are auspicious, the future fills us with less foreboding. I am confident, with the initiative in war now in our own hands, that we have turned the last bend in our race to self-realization and are now set on the home straight in this our struggle. We must not flag. The tape is in sight. What we need is a final burst of speed to breast the tape and secure the victory which will ensure for us for all time, glory and honour, peace and progress.
Fellow compatriots, today, being our Thanksgiving Day, it is most appropriate that we pause awhile to take stock, to consider our past, our successes notwithstanding, to consider our future, our aspirations and our fears.
Fellow Biafrans, I have for a long time thought about this our predicament -the attitude of the civilized world to this our conflict. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that our disability is racial. The root cause of our problem lies in the fact that we are black. If all the things that have happened to us had happened to another people who are not black, if other people who are not black had reacted in the way our people have reacted these two long years, the world's response would surely have been different.
In 1966, some 5O,OOO of us were slaughtered like cattle in Nigeria. In the course of this war, well over one million of us have been killed: yet the world is unimpressed and looks on in indifference. Last year, some blood-thirsty Nigerian troops for sport murdered the entire male population of a village. All the world did was to indulge in an academic argument whether the number was in hundreds or in thousands. Today, because a handful of white men collaborating with the enemy, fighting side by side with the enemy, were caught by our gallant troops, the entire world threatens to stop. For 18 white men Europe is aroused. What have they said about our millions? Eighteen white men assisting the crime of genocide: what does Europe say about our murdered innocents? Have we not died enough ? How many Black dead make a missing white? Mathematicians, please answer me. Is it infinity?
Take another example. For two years we have been subjected to a total blockade. We all know how bitter, bloody and protracted the First and Second World Wars were. At no stage in those wars did the white belligerents carry out a total blockade of their fellow whites. In each case where a blockade was imposed, allowance was made for certain basic necessities of life in the interest of women, children and other non-combatants. Ours is the only example in recent history y w here a whole people have been so treated.
What is it that makes our case different ? Do we not have women, children and other non-combatants? Does the fact that they are black women, black children and black non-combatants make such a world of difference? Nigeria embarked on a crime of genocide against our people by first mounting a total blockade against Biafra.
To cover up their designs and deceive the black world, the white powers supporting Nigeria blame Biafrans for the continuation of the blockade and for the starvation and suffering which that entails. They uphold Nigerian proposals on relief which in any case they helped to formulate, as being 'conciliatory' or 'satisfactory'.
Knowing that these proposals would give Nigeria further military advantage, and compromise the basic cause for Which we have struggled for two years, they turn round to condemn us for rejecting them. They accept the total blockade against us as a legitimate weapon of war because it Suits them and because we are black. Had we been white the inhuman and cruel blockade would long have been lifted. That Nigeria has received complete support from Britain should surprise no one. For Britain is a country whose history is replete with instances of genocide.
In my address to you on the occasion of the first anniversary of our in dependence, I touched on a number of issues relevant to our struggle and to our hope for a prosperous, just and happy society. I talked to you of the background to our struggle and on the visions and values which inspired us to found our own state.
On this occasion of our second anniversary, I shall go further in the examination of the meaning and import of our revolution by discussing the wider issues involved and the character and structure of the new society we are determined and committed to build. Our enemies and their foreign sponsors have deliberately sought by false and ill-motivated propaganda to cloud the real issues which caused and still determine the course and character of our struggle.
They have sought in various ways to dismiss our struggle as a tribal conflict. They have attributed it to the mad adventuresome Of a fictitious power-seeking clique anxious to carve out an empire to rule, dominate and exploit. But they have failed. Our course is transparently just and no amount of propaganda can detract from it.
Our struggle has far-reaching significance. It is the latest recrudescence in our time of the age-old struggle of the black man for his full stature as man. We are the latest victims of a wicked collusion between the three traditional scourges of the black men - racism, Arab-muslim expansionism and white economic imperialism. Playing a subsidiary role is Bolshevik Russia seeking for place in the African sun. Our struggle is a total and vehement rejection of all those evils which blighted Nigeria, evils which were bound to lead to the disintegration of that ill-fated federation. Our struggle is not mere resistance -that would be merely negative. It is a positive commitment to build a healthy, dynamic and progressive state, such as would be the pride of black men the world over.
For this reason our struggle is a movement against racial prejudice, in particular against that tendency to regard the black man as culturally, morally, spiritually, intellectually, and physically inferior to the other two major races of the world the yellow and the white races. This belief in the innate inferiority of the Negro and that his proper place in the world is that of the servant of the other races, has from early days coloured the attitude of the outside world to Negro problems It still does today.
It is this myth about the Negro that still conditions the thinking and attitude of most white governments on all issues concerning black Africa and the black man: it explains the double standards which they apply to present-day world problems it explains their stand on the whole question of independence and basic human rights for black peoples of the world. These myths explain the stand of many of the world governments and organizations on our present struggle.
Our disagreement with the Nigerians arose in part from a conflict between two diametrically opposed conceptions of the end and purpose of the modern African state. It was and still is, our firm conviction that a modern Negro African government worth the trust placed in it by the people, must build a progressive state that ensures the reign of social and economic justice, and of the rule of law But the Nigerians, under the leadership of the Hausa Fulani feudal aristocracy, preferred anarchy and injustice
Since in the thinking of many white powers a good, progressive and efficient government is good only for whites, our view was considered dangerous and pernicious: a point of view which explains but does not justify the blind support which those powers have given to uphold the Nigerian ideal of a corrupt, decadent and putrefying society. To them genocide is an appropriate answer to any group of Black people who have the temerity to attempt to evolve their own social system
When the Nigerians violated our basic human rights and liberties, we decided reluctantly but bravely to found our own state, to exercise our inalienable right to self determination as our only remaining hope for survival as a people Yet because we are black, we are denied by the white powers the exercise of this right which they themselves have proclaimed as inalienable. In our struggle we have learnt that the right of self-determination is inalienable, but only to the white man. What do we find here in Negro Africa ? The Federation of Nigeria is today as corrupt, as unprogressive and as oppressive and irreformable as the Ottoman empire was in eastern Europe over a century ago. And in contrast, the Nigerian Federation in the form it was constituted by the British cannot by any stretch of imagination be considered an African necessity. Yet we are being forced to sacrifice our very existence as a people to the integrity of that ramshackle creation that has no justification either in history or in the freely expressed wishes of the people.
What other reason for this can there be than the fact that we are black? Because tile black man is considered inferior and servile to the white, he must accept his political, social and economic system and ideologies ready made from Europe, America or the Soviet Union. Within the confines of his nation he must accept a federation or confederation or unitary government if federation or confederation or unitary government suits the interests of his white masters: he must accept inept and unimaginative leadership because the contrary would hurt the interests of the master race: he must accept economic exploitation by alien commercial firms and companies because the whites benefit from it. Beyond the confines of his state, he must accept regional and continental organizations which provide a front for the manipulations of the imperialist powers: organizations which are therefore unable to respond to African problems in a truly African manner. For Africans to show a true independence is to ask for anathemization and total liquidation.
The Biafran struggle is, on another plane, a resistance to the Arab-Muslim expansionism which has menaced and ravaged the African continent for twelve centuries.
Our Biafran ancestors remained immune from the Islamic contagion. From the middle years of the last century Christianity was established in our land. In this way we came to be a predominantly Christian people. We came to stand out as a non-Muslim island in a raging Islamic sea. Throughout the period of the ill-fated Nigerian experiment, the Muslims hoped to infiltrate Biafra by peaceful means and quiet propaganda, but failed. Then the late Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto tried, by political and economic blackmail and terrorism, to convert Biafrans settled in Northern Nigeria to Islam. His hope u as that these Biafrans of dispersion would then carry Islam to Biafra, and by so doing give the religion political control of the area. The crises which agitated the so-called independent Nigeria from 1962 gave these aggressive proselytizers the chance to try converting us by force.
It is now evident why the fanatic Arab-Muslim states like Algeria, Egypt and the Sudan have come out openly and massively to support and aid Nigeria in her present war of genocide against us. These states see militant Arabism as a powerful instrument for attaining power in the world. Biafra is one of the few African states untainted by Islam. Therefore, to militant Arabism, Biafra is a stumbling block to their plan for controlling the whole continent. This control is fast becoming manifest in the Organization of African Unity.
On the question of the Middle East, the Sudanese crisis, in the war between Nigeria and Biafra, militant Arabism has succeeded in imposing its point of view through blackmail and bluster. It has threatened African leaders and governments with inciting their muslim minorities to rebellion if the govern-ments adopted an independent line on these questions. In this way an O.A.U. that has not felt itself able to discuss the genocide in the Sudan and Biafra, an O A.U. that has again and again advertised its ineptitude as a peace maker, has rushed into open condemnation of Israel over the Middle East dispute Indeed, in recent times, by its performance, the O.A.U. might well be an organization of Arab unity.
Our struggle, in an even more fundamental sense, is the culmination of the confrontation between Negro nationalism and white imperialism. It is a movement designed to ensure the realization of man's full stature in Africa.
Ever since the 15th Century, the European world has treated the African continent as a field for exploitation. Their policies in Africa have for so long been determined to a very great extent by their greed for economic gain. For over three and half centuries, it suited them to transport and transplant millions of the flower of our manhood for the purpose of exploiting the Americas and the West Indies. They did so with no uneasiness of conscience. They justified this trade in men by reference to biblical passages violently torn out of context. This brutal and unprecedented rape of a whole continent was a violent challenge to Negro self-respect. Not surprisingly, within half a century the theory and practice of empire ran into stiff opposition from Negro nationalism. In the face of the movement for Negro freedom the white imperialists changed their tactics. They decided to install puppet African administrations to create the illusion of political independence, while retaining the control of the economy. And this they quickly did between 1957 and 1965. The direct empire was transformed into an indirect empire, that regime of fraud and exploitation which African nationalists aptly describe as neo- colonialism.
Nigeria was a classic example of neo-colonialist state, and what is left of it, still is. The militant nationalism of the late forties and early fifties had caught the British imperialists unawares. They hurried to accommodate it by in stalling the ignorant, decadent and feudalistic Hausa-Fulani oligarchy in power. For the British, the credentials of the Hausa-Fulani were that not having emerged from the middle ages they knew nothing about the modern state and the powerful forces that now rule men's minds. Owing their position to the British, they were servile and submissive. The result was that while Nigerians lived in the illusion of independence, they were still in fact being ruled from Number 10 Downing Street. The British still enjoyed a strangle hold on their economy.
The crises which rocked Nigeria from the morrow of 'independence' were brought about by the efforts of progressive nationalists to achieve true in dependence for themselves and for posterity. For their part in this effort, Biafrans were stigmatized and singled out for extermination. In imperialist thinking, only phony independence is good for blacks. The sponsorship of Nigeria by white imperialism has not been disinterested. They are only concerned with the preservation of that corrupt and rickety structure of a Nigeria in a perpetual state of powerlessness to check foreign exploitation.
Fellow countrymen and women, we have seen in proper perspective the diabolical roles which the British Government and the foreign companies have played and are playing in our war with Nigeria. We now see why in spite of Britain's tottering economy Harold Wilson's Government insists on financing Nigeria's futile war against us. We see why the Shell-BP led the Nigerian hordes into Bonny, pays Biafran oil royalties to Nigeria, and provided the Nigerian army with all the help it needed for its attack on Port Harcourt. We see why the West African Conference readily and meekly cooperated with Gowon in the imposition of a total blockade against us. We see why the oil and trading companies in Nigeria still finance this war and why they risk the life and limb of their staff in the war zones.
And now, Bolshevik Russia. Russia is a late arrival in the race for world empire. Since the end of the second world war she has fought hard to gain a foothold in Africa, recognizing, like the other imperialist powers before her, the strategic importance of Africa in the quest for world domination. She first tried to enter into alliance with African nationalism. Later, finding that African nationalism had been thwarted, at least temporarily, by the collusion between imperialism, and the decadent forces in Africa society, Russia quickly changed her strategy and identified herself with those very conservative forces which she had earlier denounced. Here she met with quick success. In North Africa and Egypt, Russian influence has taken firm root and is growing. With her success in Egypt and Algeria, Russia developed an even keener appetite for more territory in Africa, particularly the areas occupied by the Negroes. Her early efforts in the Congo and Ghana proved still-born. The Nigeria-Biafra conflict offered an opportunity for another beach-head in Africa .
It is not Russia's intention to make Nigeria a better place for Nigerians or indeed any other part of Africa a better place for Africans. Her interest is strategic. In her challenge to the United States and the western world, she needs vantage points in Africa. With her entrenched position in Northern Nigeria, the central Sudan of the historians and geographers, Russia is in a position to co-ordinate her strategy for West and North Africa. We are all familiar with the ancient and historic cultural, linguistic and religious links between North Africa and the Central Sudan. We know that the Hausa language is a lingua franca for over two-thirds of this area. We know how far afield a wandering Imam preaching Islam and Bolshevism can go.
Fellow Biafrans, these are the evil and titanic forces with which we are engaged in a life and death struggle. These are the obstacles to the Negro's efforts to realize himself. thugs rag the forces which the Biafran revolution must sweep aside to succeed.... We do not claim that the Biafran revolution is the first attempt in history by the Negro to assert his identity, to claim his right and proper place as a human being on a basic of equality with the white and yellow races. We are aware of the Negro's past and present efforts to prove his ability at home and abroad. We are familiar with his achievements in pre-history; We are familiar with his achievements in political organizations; we are familiar with his contributions to the world store of art and culture. The Negro's white oppressors are not unaware of all these. But in stead of their awareness they are not prepared to admit that the Negro is a man and a brother. From this derives our deep conviction that the Biafran revolution is not just a movement of Igbos, Ibibios, Ijaws, and Ogojas. It is a movement of true and patriotic Africans. It is African nationalism conscious of itself and fully aware of the powers with which it is contending.
We have indeed come a long way. We were once Nigerians, today we are Biafrans. We are Biafrans because on May 30, 1967, we finally said 'no' to the evils and injustices in which Nigeria was steeped. Nigeria was made up of peoples and groups with very little in common. As everyone know, Biafrans were in the fore-front among those who tried to make Nigeria a nation. It is ironic that some ill-informed and mischievous people today will accuse us of breaking up a united African country. Only those u ho do not know tile facts or deliberately ignore them can hold such an opinion. We know the facts because we were there and the things that happened, happened to us.
Nigeria was indeed a very wicked and corrupt country in spite of the glorious image given her in the European press We know why Nigeria was given that image. It was her reward for serving the economic and political interests of her European masters. Nigeria is a stooge of Europe. Her independence was and is a lie. Even her Prime Minister was a Knight of the British Empire; but worse than her total subservience to foreign political and economic interests, Nigeria committed many crimes against her nationals which in the end made complete nonsense of her claim to unity. Nigeria persecuted and slaughtered her minorities; Nigerian justice was a farce her elections, her politics-her everything-was corrupt. Qualification, merit and experience were dislocated in public service. In one area of Nigeria, for instance, they preferred to turn a nurse who had worked for five years into a doctor rather than employ a qualified doctor from another part of Nigeria. Barely literate clerks were made Permanent Secretaries. A university Vice Chancellor was sacked because he belonged to the wrong tribe. Bribery, corruption and nepotism were so widespread that people began to wonder openly whether any country in the world could compare with Nigeria in corruption and abuse of power. All the modern institutions-the legislature the civil service, the army, the police, the judiciary, the universities, the trade unions and the organs of mass information-were devalued and made the tools of corrupt political power. There was complete neglect and impoverish ment of the people. Whatever prosperity there was, was deceptive. There was despair in many hearts, and the number of suicides was growing every day. The farmers were very hard- hit. Their standards of living had fallen steeply. The soil was perishing from over-farming and lack of scientific husbandry. The towns, like the soil, were waste-lands into which people put in too much exertion for too little reward. There were crime waves and people lived in fear of their lives. Business speculation, rack-renting, worship of money and share:) practices left a few people extremely rich at the expense of the many, and those few flaunted their wealth before the many and talked about sharing the national cake. Foreign interests did roaring business spreading consumer goods and wares among a people who had not developed a habit of thrift and well fell prey to Iying advertisements. Inequality of the sexes was actively promoted in Nigeria. Rather than aspire to equality with men, women were encouraged to accept the status of inferiority and to become the mistresses of successful politicians and business executive, or they were married off at the age of fourteen as the fifteenth wives of the new rich. That was the glorious Nigeria, the mythical Nigeria, celebrated in the European press.
Then worst of all came the genocide in which over 50,000 of our kith and kin were slaughtered in cold blood all over Nigeria and nobody asked questions; nobody showed regret; nobody showed remorse. Thus, Nigeria had become a jungle with no safety, no justice and no hope for our people. We decided then to found a new place, a human habitation away from the Nigerian jungle. That was the origin of our revolution. From the moment we assumed the illustrious name of the ancient kingdom of Biafra, we were rediscovering the original independence of a great African people. We accepted by this revolutionary act the glory, as well as the sacri fice, of true independence and freedom. We knew that we had challenged the many forces and interests which had conspired to keep Africa and the black race in subjection for ever. We knew they were going to be ruthless and implacable in defense of their age-old imposition on us and exploitation of our people. But we were prepared, and remain prepared, to pay any price for our freedom and dignity.
Our revolution is a historic opportunity given to us to establish a just society; to revive the dignity of our people at home and the dignity of the black man in the world. We realize that in order to achieve those ends we must remove those weaknesses in our institutions and organizations and those disabilities in foreign relations which have tended to degrade this dignity. This means that we must reject Nigerianism in all its guises.
The Biafran revolution is the people's revolution. 'Who are the people?' you ask. The farmer, the trader, the clerk, the businessman, the housewife, the student, the civil servant, the soldier-you and I arc the people. Is there anyone here who is not of the people? Is there anyone here afraid of the people-anyone suspicious of the people ? Is there anyone despising the people ? Such a man has no place in our revolution. If he is a leader, he has no right to leadership, because all power, all sovereignty, belongs to the people. In Biafra the people are supreme; the people are master the leader is the servant. You see, you make a mistake when you greet me with shouts of 'power, power'. I am not power-you are. My name is Emeka, I am your servant, that is all.
Fellow countrymen, we pride ourselves on our honesty. Let us admit to ourselves that when u e left Nigeria, some of us did not shake off every particle of Nigerianism. We say that Nigerians are corrupt and take bribes; but here in our country we have among us some members of the Police and the Judiciary who are corrupt and who 'eat' bribes. We accuse Nigerians of in ordinate love of money, ostentatious living and irresponsibility: but here, even while we are engaged in a war of national survival, even while the very life of our nation hangs in the balance, we see some public servants who throw huge parties to entertain their friends; who kill cows to christen their babies. We have members of the armed forces Who carry on 'attack' trade instead of fighting the enemy. We have traders who hoard essential goods and inflate prices, thereby increasing the people's hardship. We have 'money-mongers' who aspire to build on hundreds of plots on land as yet unreclaimed from the enemy; who plan to buy scores of lorries and buses and to become agents for those very foreign businessmen who have brought their country to grief. We have some civil servants who think of themselves as masters rather than servants of the people. We see doctors who stay idle in their villages while their countrymen and women suffer and die.
When we see all these things, they remind us that not every Biafran has vet absorbed the spirit of the revolution. They tell us that we still have among us a number of people whose attitudes and outlooks are Nigerian. It is clear that if our revolution is to succeed, we must reclaim these wayward Biafrans. We must Biafranize them. We must prepare all our people for the glorious roles which await them in the revolution. If, after we shall have tried to re claim them, and have failed, then they must be swept aside. The people's revolution must stride ahead and, like a battering ram, clear all obstacles in its path . Fortunately, the vast majority of Biafrans are prepared for these roles.
When we think of our revolution, therefore, we think about these things. We think about our ancient heritage; we think about the challenge of today and the promise of the future. We think about the charges which are taking place at this very moment in our personal lives and in our society. We see Biafrans from different parts of the country living together, working together, suffering together and pursuing together a common cause.
We see our ordinary men and women-the people-pursuing, in their different but essential ways, the great task of our national survival. We see every sign that this struggle is purifying and elevating the masses of our people. We see many bad social habits and attitudes beginning to change. Above all, we find a universal desire among our people not only to remain free and independent but also to create a new and better order or society for the benefit of all. In the last five or six months, I have devised one additional way of learning at first hand how the ordinary men and women of our country see the revolution. I have established a practice of meeting every Wednesday with a different cross-section of our people, to discuss the problems of the revolution. these meetings have brought home to me the great desire for challenge among the generality of our people. I have heard a number of criticisms and complaints by people against certain things. I have also noticed groups forming themselves and trying to put right some of the ills of society. All this indicates both that there is a change in progress, and need for more change. Thus, the Biafran revolution is not dreamt up by an elite. It is the will of the people. The people want it. Their immediate concern is to defeat the Nigerian aggressor and so safeguard the Biafran revolution.
I stand before you tonight not to launch the Biafran revolution, because it is already in existence. It came into being two years ago when we proclaimed to all the world that we had finally extricated ourselves from the sea of mud that was-is-Nigeria. I stand before you to proclaim formally the commit ment of the Biafran state to the principles of the revolution and to enunciate those principles. Some people are frightened when they hear the word revolution. They say: 'revolution? Heaven help us, it is too dangerous. It means mobs rushing around destroying property, killing people and upsetting everything.' But these people do not understand the real meaning of revolution. For us, a revolution is a change-a quick change-a change for the better. Every society is changing all the time. It is changing for the better or for the worse. It is either moving forward or moving backwards; it cannot stand absolutely still. A revolution is a forward movement. It is a rapid for ward movement which improves a people's standard of living and their material circumstance and purifies and raises their moral tone. It transforms for the better those institutions which are still relevant, and discards those which stand in the way of progress.
The Biafran revolution believes in the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person. The Biafran sees the willful and wanton destruction of human life not only as a grave crime but as an abominable sin. In our society every human life is holy, every individual person counts. No Biafran wants to be taken for granted or ignored, neither does he ignore or take others for granted. This explains why such degrading practices as begging for alms were unknown in Biafran society. Therefore, all forms of disabilities and inequalities which reduce the dignity of the individual or destroy his sense of person have no place in the new Biafran social order. The Biafran revolution upholds the dignity of man. The Biafran revolution stands firmly against genocide, against any attempt to destroy a people, its security, its right to life, property and progress. Any attempt to deprive a community of its identity is abhorrent to the Biafran people. Having ourselves suffered genocide, we are all the more determined to take a clear stand now and at all times against this crime.
The new Biafran social order places a high premium on love, patriotism and devotion to the fatherland. Every true Biafran must love Biafra, must have faith in Biafra and its people, and must strive for its greater unity. He must find his salvation here in Biafra. He must be prepared to work for Biafra, to die for Biafra. He must be prepared to defend the sovereignty of Biafra wherever and by whomsoever it is challenged. Biafran patriots do all this already, and Biafra expects all her sons and daughters of today and to morrow, to emulate their noble example. Diplomats Who treat insults to the fatherland and the leadership of our struggle with levity are not patriotic. That young man who sneaks about the village, avoiding service in his country's armed forces is unpatriotic; that young, able-bodied school teacher who prefers to distribute relief when he should be fighting his country's war, is not only unpatriotic put is doing a woman's work. Those who help these loafers to dodge their civic duties should henceforth re-examine themselves.
All Biafrans are brothers and sisters bound together by ties of geography, trade, inter-marriage, and culture and by their common misfortune in Nigeria and their present experience of the armed struggle. Biafrans are even more united by the desire to create a new and better order of society which will satisfy their needs and aspirations. Therefore, there is no justification for anyone to introduce into the Biafran fatherland divisions based on ethnic origin, sex or religion. 'To do so would be unpatriotic. Every true Biafran must know and demand his civic rights. Furthermore, he must recognize the rights of other Biafrans and be prepared to defend them when necessary. So often people complain that they have been ill-treated by the police or some other public servant. But the truth very often is that we allow ourselves to be bullied because we are not man enough to demand and stand up for our rights, and that fellow citizens around do not assist us when we do demand our rights. In the new Biafran social order sovereignty and power belong to the people. Those who Exercise power do so on behalf of the people. Those who govern must not tyrannize the people. They carry a sacred trust of the people and must use their authority strictly in accordance with the will of the people. The true test of success in public life is that the people-who are the real masters-are contented and happy. The rulers must satisfy the people at all times.
But it is no use saying that power belongs to the people unless we are prepared to make it work in practice. Even in the old political days, the oppressors of the people were among those who shouted loudest that power belonged to the people. The Biafran revolution will constantly and honestly seek methods of making this concept a fact rather than a pious hope. Where, therefore, a ministry or department runs inefficiently or improperly, its head must accept personal responsibility for such a situation and, depending on the gravity of the failure, must resign or be removed. And where he is proved to have misused his position of trust to enrich himself, the principle of public accountability requires that he be punished severely and his ill-gotten gains taken from him.
Those who aspire to lead must bear in mind the fact that they are servants and, as such, cannot ever be greater than the people, their masters. Every leader in the Biafran revolution is the embodiment of the ideals of the revolution. Part of his role as leader is to keep the revolutionary spirit alive, to be a friend of the people and protector of their evolution. He should have right judgment both of people and of situations and the ability to attract to himself the right kind of lieutenants who can best further the interests of the people and of the revolution. The leader must not only say but always demonstrate that the power he exercises is derived from the people. Therefore, like every other Biafran public servant, he is accountable to the people for the use he makes of their mandates. He must get out when the people tell him to get out. The more power the leader is given by the people, then less is his personal freedom and the greater his responsibility for the good of the people. He should never allow his high office to separate him from the people. He must be fanatical for their welfare.
A leader in the Biafran revolution must at all times stand for justice in dealing with the people. He should be the symbol of justice, which is the supreme guarantee of good government. He should be ready, if need be, to lay down his life in pursuit of this ideal. He must have physical and moral courage and must be able to inspire the people out of despondency. He should never strive towards the perpetuation of his office or devise means to cling to office beyond the clear mandate of the people. He should resist the temptation to erect memorials to himself in his life-time, to have his head embossed on the coin, name streets and institutions after himself or convert government into a. family business. A leader who serves his people well will be enshrined in their hearts and minds. This is all the reward he can expect in his life-time. He will be to the people the symbol of excellence, the quintessence of the revolution. He will be Biafran.
One of the corner-stones of the Biafran revolution is social justice. We believe that there should be equal opportunity for all, that appreciation and just reward should be given for honest work and that society should show concern and special care for the weak and infirm. Our people reject all forms of social inequalities and disabilities and all class and sectional privileges. Biafrans believe that society should treat all its members with impartiality and fairness. Therefore, the Biafran state must not apportion special privileges or favours to some citizens and deny them to others. For example, how can we talk of social justice in a situation where a highly-paid public servant gets his salt free and poor housewives in the village pay five pounds for a cup. The state should not create a situation favourable to the exploitation of some citizens by others. The State is the father of all, the source of security, the reliable agent which helps all to realize their legitimate hopes and aspirations. Without social justice, harmony and stability within society disappear and antagonisms between various sections of the community take their place. Our revolution will uphold social justice at all times. The Biafran state will be the fountain of justice.
In the new Biafra, all property belongs to the community. Every individual must consider all he has, whether in talent or material wealth, as belonging to the community for which he holds it in trust. This principle does not mean the abolition of personal property but it implies that the state, acting on behalf of the community, can intervene in the disposition of property to the greater advantage of all. Over-acquisitiveness or the inordinate desire to amass wealth is a factor liable to threaten social stability, especially in an under-developed society in which there are not enough material goods to go round. This creates lop-sided development, breeds antagonisms between the 'haves' and the 'have- nots' and undermines the peace and unity of the people.
While the Biafran revolution will foster private economic enterprise and initiative, it should remain constantly alive to the dangers of some citizens accumulating large private fortunes. Property-grabbing, if unchecked by the state, will set the pattern of behaviour for the whole society which begins to attach undue value to money and property. Thus a wealthy man, even if he is known to be a crook, is accorded greater respect than an honest citizen who is not well-off. A society where this happens is doomed to rot and decay. Moreover, the danger is always there of a small group of powerful property owners using their influence to deflect the state from performing its duties to the citizens as a whole and thereby destroying the democratic basis of society. This happens in many countries and it is one of the duties of our revolution to prevent its occurrence in Biafra.
Finally, the Biafran revolution will create possibilities for citizens with talent in business, administration, management and technology, to fulfill themselves and receive due appreciation and reward in the service of the state, as has indeed happened in our total mobilization to prosecute the present war. The Biafran revolution is committed to creating a society not torn by class consciousness and class antagonisms. Biafran society is traditionally egalitarian. The possibility for social mobility is always presented in our society. The new Biafran social order rejects all rigid classifications of society. Anyone with imagination, anyone with integrity, anyone who works hard, can rise to any height. Thus, the son of a truck pusher can become the Head of State of Biafra. The Biafran revolution will provide opportunities for Biafrans to aspire and to achieve their legitimate desires. Those who find themselves below at any particular moment must have the opportunity to rise to the top.
Our new society is open and progressive. The people of Biafra have always striven to achieve a workable balance between the claims of tradition and the demand for change and betterment. We are adaptable because as a people we are convinced that in the world 'no condition is permanent' and we believe that human effort and will are necessary to bring about changes and improve ments in the condition of the individual and of society. The Biafran would, thus, make the effort to improve his lot and the material well-being of his community. He has the will to transform his society into a modern pro gressive community. In this process of rapid transformation he will retain and cherish the best elements of his culture, drawing sustenance as well as moral and psychological stability from them. But being a Biafran he will never be afraid to adapt what needs to be adapted or challenge what has to be changed. The Biafran revolution will continue to discover and develop local talent and to use progressive foreign ideas and skills so long as they do not destroy the identity of our culture or detract from the sovereignty of our fatherland. The Biafran revolution will also ensure through education that the positive aspects of Biafran traditional culture, especially those which are likely to be swamped out of existence by introduced foreign influences, are conserved. The undiscriminating absorption of new ideas and attitudes will be discouraged. Biafrans can, in the final analysis, only validly express their nation's personality and enhance their corporate identity through Biafran culture, through Biafran art and literature, music, dancing and drama, and through the peculiar gestures and social habits which distinguish them from all other people.
Those then are the main principles of our revolution. They are not abstract formulations but arise out of the traditional background and the present temper of our people. They grow out of our native soil and are the product of our peculiar climate. They belong to us. If anyone here doubts the validity of these principles let him go out into the streets and into the villages, let him ask the ordinary Biafran. Let him go to the army, ask the rank and file and he will find, as I have found, that they have very clear ideas about the kind of society we should build here. They will not put them in the same words I have used tonight but the meaning will be the same. From today, let no Biafran pretend that he or she does not know the main-spring of our national action, let him or her not plead ignorance when found indulging in un-Biafran activities. The principles of our revolution are hereby clearly set out for everyone to see. They are now the property of every Biafran and the instrument for interpreting our national life. But principles are principles. They can only be transformed into reality through the institutions of society, otherwise they remain inert and useless. It is my firm conviction that in the Biafran revolution principles and practice will go hand in hand. It is my duty and the duty of all of you to bring this about.
Looking at the institutions of our society, the very vehicles for carrying out our revolutionary principles, what do you find ? We find old, jaded and rusty machines creaking along most inefficiently and delaying the people's progress and the progress of the revolution. The problem of our institutions is partly that they were designed by other people, in other times and for other pur poses. Their most fundamental weakness is that they came into being during the colonial period when the relationship between the colonial administrators and people was that of master and servant. Our public servants as heirs of the colonial masters are apt to treat the people today with arrogance and condescension. In the new Biafran social order we say that power belongs to the people, but this central principle tends to elude many of the public servants who continue to behave in a manner which shows that they consider themselves master and the people their servants. The message of the revolu tion has tended to fly over their heads. Let them beware, the revolution gathering momentum
Our experience during this struggle has brought home to us the need for versatility. Many of our citizens have found themselves having to do emergency duties different from their normal peace-time jobs. In the years after the present armed conflict, we may find that in the defense of the revolution the general state of mobilization and alertness will remain. One of the ways of preparing ourselves for this emergency will be to ensure that a citizen will be trained in two jobs-his normal peace-time occupation and a different skill which will be called into play during a national emergency. Thus, for example, a clerk may be given training to enable him to operate as an ambulance-driver during the emergency or a university lecturer as a post- master. We realize here that the problem is more than that of providing narrow, technical training. It has to do with re-orientation of attitudes. It has to do with the cultivation of the right kind of civic virtues and loyalty to Biafra. We all stand in need of this.
It is quite clear that to attain the goals of the Biafran revolution we will require extensive political and civic education of our people. To this effect, we will, in the near future, set up a National Orientation College (N.O.C.) which will undertake the needful function of formally inculcating the Biafran ideology and the principles of the revolution. We will also pursue this vital task of education through seminars, mass rallies, formal and informal addresses by the leaders and standard-bearers of the revolution. All Biafrans who are going to play a role in the promotion of the revolution, especially those who are going to operate the institutions of the new society, must first of all expose themselves to the ideology of the revolution.
The full realization of the Biafran ideology and the promise of the Biafran revolution will have the important effect of drawing the people of Biafra into close unity with the Biafran state. The Biafran state and the Biafran people thus become one. The people jealously defend and protect the integrity of the state. The state guarantees the people certain basic rights and welfare. In this third year of our independence, we restate these basic rights and welfare obligations which the revolutionary state of Biafra guarantees to the people.
In the field of employment and labour, the Biafran revolution guarantees every able Biafran the right to work. All those who are lazy or refuse to work forfeit their right to this guarantee. 'He who does not work should not eat' is an important principle in Biafra.
Our revolution provides equal opportunities for employment and labour for all Biafrans irrespective of sex. For equal output a woman must receive the same remuneration as a man. Our revolutionary Biafran state will guarantee a rational system of remuneration of labour. Merit and output shall be the criteria for reward in labour. 'To each according to his ability, to each ability according to its product' shall be our motto Biafra.
Our revolution guarantees security for workers who have been incapacitated by physical injury or disease. It will be the duty of the Biafran state to raise the standard of living of the Biafran people, to provide them with improved living conditions and to afford the modern amenities that enhance their human dignity and self-esteem. We recognize that at a11 times the great contributions made by the farmer, the craftsmen and other toilers of the revolution to our national progress. It will be a cardinal point of our economic policy to keep their welfare constantly in view. The Biafran revolution will promulgate a workers' charter which will codify and establish workers' rights.
The maintenance of the heath and physical well-being of the Biafran citizen must be the concern and the responsibility of the state. The revolutionary Biafran state will at all times strive to provide medical service for all its citizens in accordance with the resources available to it, it will wage a continuous struggle against epidemic and endemic diseases, and will promote among the people knowledge of hygienic living. It will develop social and preventive medicine, set up sanitariums for incurable and infectious diseases and mental diseases, and a net-work of maternity homes for ante and post- natal care of Biafran mothers. Furthermore, Biafra will set great store by the purity of the air which its people breathe. We have a right to live in a clean, pollution-free atmosphere.
Our revolution recognizes the very importance of the mental and emotional need 0f the Biafran people. To this end, the Biafran state will pay great attention to education, culture and the arts. We shall aim at elevating our cultural institutions and promoting educational reforms which will foster a sense of national and racial pride among our people and discourage ideas which inspire a sense of inferiority and dependence on foreigners. It will be the prime duty of the revolutionary Biafran state to eradicate illiteracy from our society, to guarantee free education to all Biafran children to a stage limited only by existing resources.
Our nation will encourage the training of scientists, technicians and skilled workers needed for quick industrialization and the modernization of our agriculture. We will ensure the development of higher education and technological training for our people, encourage our intellectuals, writers, artists and scientists to research, create and invent in the service of the state and the people. We must prepare our people to con-tribute significantly to knowledge and world culture.
Finally, the present armed struggle, in which many of our countrymen and women have distinguished themselves and made numerous sacrifices in defense of the fatherland and the revolution, has imposed on the state of Biafra extra responsibility for the welfare of its people. Biafra will give special care and assistance to soldiers and civilians disabled in the course Or the pogrom and the war. It will develop special schemes for resettlement and rehabilitation. The nation will assume responsibility for the dependents of the heroes of the revolution who have lost their lives in defense of the father .
Again and again, in stating the principles of our revolution, we have spoken of the people. We have spoken of the primacy of people, of the belief that power belongs to the people, that the revolution is the servant of the people. We make no apologies for speaking so constantly about the people, because we believe in the people; we have faith in the people. They are the bastion of the nation, the makers of its culture and history. But in talking about the people we must never lose sight of the individuals who make up the people. The single individual is the final, irreducible unit of the people. In Biafra that single individual counts. The Biafran revolution cannot lose sight of this fact. The desirable changes which the revolution aims to bring to the lives of the people will first manifest themselves in the lives of individual Biafrans. The success of the Biafran revolution will depend on the quality of individuals within the state. Therefore, the calibre of the individual is of the utmost importance to the revolution. To build the new society we will require new men who are in tune with the spirit of the new order.
What then should he the qualities of this Biafran of the new order ? He is patriotic, loyal to his state, his government and its leadership. He must not do anything which undermines the security of his state or gives advantage to the enemies of his country. He must not indulge in such evil practices as tribalism and nepotism which weaken the loyalty of their victims to the state. He should be prepared if need be to give up his life in defense of the nation. He must be his brother's keeper, he must help all Biafrans in difficulty, whether or not they are related to kin by blood. He must avoid, at all costs, doing anything which is capable of bringing distress and hardship to other Biafrans.
A man who hoards money or goods is not his brother's keeper be cause he brings distress and hardship to his fellow citizens. He must be honourable, he must be a person who keeps his promise and the promise of his office, a person who can always be trusted. He must be truthful. He must not cheat his neighbour, his fellow citizens and his country. He must not give or receive bribes or corruptly advance himself or his interests. He must be responsible. He must not push across to others the task which properly belongs to him, or let others receive the blame or punishment for his own failings. A responsible man keeps secrets. A Biafran who is in a position to know what our troops are planning and talks about it is irresponsible. The information he gives out which spread and reach the ear of the enemy. A responsible man minds his own business, he does not show off.
He must be brave and courageous; he must never allow himself to be attacked by other without fighting back to defend himself and his rights. He must be ready to tackle tasks which other people might regard as impossible. He must be law-abiding; he obeys the laws of the land and does nothing to undermine the due processes of law. He must be freedom-loving. He must stand up resolutely against all forms of injustice, oppression and suppression. He must never be afraid to demand his rights. For example, a true Biafran at a post office or bank counter will insist on being served in his turn. He must be progressive; he should not slavishly and blindly adhere to old ways of doing things. He must be prepared to make changes in his way of life in the light of our new revolutionary experience. He is industrious, resourceful and inventive He must not fold his arms and wait for the government to do everything for him-he must also help himself.
My fellow countrymen and women, proud and courageous Biafrans, two years ago, faced with the threat of total extermination, we met in circumstances not unlike today's at that august gathering. The entire leaders of our people being present, we as a people decided that we had to take our destiny into our own hand, to plan and decide our future and to stand by the decisions, no matter the vicissitudes of this war which by then was already imminent. At that time, our major pre-occupation was how to remain alive, how to restrain an implacable enemy from destroying us in our own homes. In that moment of crisis we decided to resume our sovereignty. In my statement to the leaders of our community before that decision was made, I spoke about the difficulties. I explained that the road which we were about to tread was to be carved through a jungle of thorns and that our ability to emerge through this jungle was to say the least uncertain. Since that fateful decision, the very worst has happened.
Our people have continually been subjected to genocide. The entire conspiracy of neo-colonialism has joined hands to stifle our nascent independence. Yet, undaunted by the odds, proud in the fact of our manhood, encouraged by the companionship of the Almighty, we have fought to this day with honour, with pride and with glory so that today, as I stand before you, I see a proud people acknowledged by the world. I see a heroic people, men with heart-beats as regular and blood as red as the best on earth.
On that fateful day two years ago, you mandated me to do everything within my power to avert the dangers that loomed ahead, the threat of ex termination. Little did we, you and I, know how long the battle was to be, how complex its attendant problems. From then on, what has been achieved is there for the entire world to see, and has only been possible because of the solidarity and support of our people. For this I thank you all. I must have made certain mistakes in the course of this journey but, I am sure that what ever mistakes I have made are mistakes of the head and never of the heart. I have tackled the sudden problems as they unfold before my eves and I have tackled them to the best of my ability with the greater interest of our people m mind.
Today, I am glad that our problems are less than they were a year ago, that arms alone can no longer destroy us, that our victory, the fulfillment of our dreams, is very much in sight. We have forced a stalemate on the enemy and this is likely to continue, with any advances likely to be on our side. If we fail, which God forbid, it can only be because of certain inner weakness in our being. It is in order to avoid these pitfalls that I have today proclaimed be fore you the principles of the Biafran revolution.
We in Biafra are convinced that the black man can never come into his own until he is able to build modern states based on indigenous African ideologies, to enjoy true independence, to be able to make his mark in the arts and sciences and to engage in meaningful dialogue with the white man on a basis of equality. When he achieves this, he will have brought a new dimension into international affairs. Biafra will not betray the black man. no matter the odds, we will fight with all our might until black men everywhere can point with pride to this republic, standing dignified and defiant, an example of African nationalism triumphant over its many and age-old enemies.
We believe that God, humanity and history are on our side, and that the Biafran revolution is indestructible and eternal. Oh God, not my will but thine.

Dr Samuel Okafor Replies Femi Fani-Kayode

FEMI FANI KAYODE; YOU STILL A LEARNER, THIS IS HISTORY WITH FACTS AND FIGURES: An Igbo scholar, Dr. Samuel Okafor, has made one- time Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, look so small and uneducated by using facts and figures to demolish the claims he made in the controversial August 8 article, “The Bitter Truth About The Igbo”, which set off a storm that almost threatened Igbo- Yoruba relations. In the first part of an article entitled “The Lies of Femi Fani-Kayode”, Okafor, who has a First Class in History from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and then did a Ph.D in Nsukka on scholarship, dismissed Fani-Kayode as a “half-baked intellectual.” He then proceeded, point by point, to address what he termed “the most reckless amongst the tangle of reckless comments spewed by Femi, a character who with each punch of his keypad stresses his severely unwell conditions of logorrhoea, delusions of enlightenment, history and sociology – amongst others.” Below are Okafor’s words: FEMI AND HIS SEVERELY IGNORANT LIES: •Femi Lies About the Yorubas Being Nigeria’s Earliest Graduates: From his myopic bubble Femi FaniKayode claims the Yoruba were the first to acquire Western education; the first ever known record of a literate Nigerian in the English Language is the narrative of an Ibo slave who regained his freedom and documented his life history as a slave from the time he was 11 years old in present day Ibo land till the time when he gained his freedom in the middle of the 18 th century. He later married an English woman and had 3 children. He died in 1795. Femi, a basic Google-research will do you good here; check out the name, Equanoh OLAODAH. Further Femi claims that the Yoruba were the first lawyers and doctors in Nigeria. This is again a big falsehood. The first Nigeria doctor was an Effik man Silas G. Dove who obtained a medical degree from France and returned to practise medicine in 1840 in Calabar. This fact can also be verified from historical medical records in Paris. I would also ask that you google the name BLYDEN – Edward Wilmot BLYDEN – an educated son of free Ibo slaves who by the mid-19th century had acquired sound theological education. He was born in Saint Thomas in 1832. He is one of the founding missionaries that established the Archbishop Vining church in Ikeja. Before the next time you succumb to your long-running battle with logorrhoea, Femi please do some research. What about the third president of a free Liberia – President J JRoyle – again, a man of Ibo descent. Please take some time to do some research so that we can discuss constructively. It is wrong to peddle lies to your people. It is academic fraud to knowingly misrepresent facts just to score cheap points with people who do not have the discipline to do research and accept anything you pour out simply because they say you are well educated. To again quote the great Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Joseph Stiglitz; Femi fits into the category of third rate students from first rate universities with an inflated sense of self-importance . Let’s go on! Who was the first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics – an Ibo man – Professor Chike Obi – the man who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. He was followed by another Ibo man, Professor James Ezeilo, Professor of Differentail Calculus and the founder of the Ezeilo Constant. Please do some research on this great Ibo man. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and one of the founders of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Who was Nigeria’s first Professor of Histroy – Professor Kenneth Dike who published the first account of trade in Nigeria in pre-colonial times. He was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. Who was the first Professor of Microbiology – Professor Eni Njoku; he was also the first African Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Anatomy and Physiology – Professor Chike Edozien is an Asaba man and current Obi of Asaba. Who was the first Professor of Anatomy at the University College Ibadan? Who was the first Professor of Physics? Professor Okoye, who became a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1960. He was followed by the likes of Professor Alexander Anumalu who has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics three times for his research in Intermediate Quantum Physics. He was also a founding member of the Nigerian Mathematical Centre. Nuclear Physics and Chemistry – again another Ibo man – Professor Frank Ndili who gained a Ph.D in his early ’20s at Cambridge Univesity in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry in the early ’60s. This young Asaba man had made a First Class in Physics and Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan in the early ’50s. First Professor of Statistics – Professor Adichie who’s research on Non-Parametric Statistics led to new areas in statistical research. What about the first Nigerian Professor of Medicine – Professor Kodilinye – he was appointed a Professor of Medicine at the University of London in 1952. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka after the war. What about Astronomy – again another Ibo man was the first Professor of Astronomy – please, look up Professor Ntukoju – he was the first to earn a double Ph.D in Astronomy and Mathematics. Let’s go to the Social Sciences – Demography and statistical research into population studies – again another Ibo man – Professor Okonjo who set up the first Centre for Population Research in Ibadan in the early ’60s. A double Ph.D in Mathematics and Economics. Philosophy – Professor G D Okafor, who became a Professor of Philosophy at the Amherst College USA in 1953. Economics – Dr. Pius Okigbo who became a visiting scholar and Professor of Economics at the University of London in 1954. He is also the first Nigerian Ph.D in Economics. Theology and theological research – Professor Njoku who became the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D in Theology from Queens University Belfast in Ireland. He was appointed a Professor of Theology at the University College Zambia in 1952. I am still conducting research in areas such as Geography where it seems a Yoruba man, Professor Mabaoguje, was the first Professor. I also am conducting research into who was the first Nigerian Professor of English, Theatre Arts, Languages, Business and Education, Law and Engineering, Computer Technology, etc. Nigerians need to be told the truth and not let the lies that Femi Fani- Kayode has been selling to some ignorant Yoruba who feel that to be the first to see the white man and interact with him means that you are way ahead of other groups. The Ibo as The great Achebe said had within a span of 40 years bridged the gap and even surpassed the Yoruba in education by the ’60s. Many a Yoruba people perpetually indulge in self-deceit: that they were the first to go to school; to be exposed to Western education; that they are academically ahead of other Nigerian cultures of peoples. Another ignorant lie. As far back as 1495 the Benin Empire maintained a diplomatic presence in Portugal. This strategic relationship did not just stop at a mere mission but extended to areas such as education. Scores of young Benin men were sent out to Portugal to study and lots of them came back with advanced degrees in Medicine, Law and Portuguese Language, to name a few. Indeed, some went with their Yoruba and Ibo slaves who served the sons of the Benin nobility while they studied in Portugal. These are facts that can be verified by the logs kept by ship owners in Portugal from 1494 to 1830. It is kept at the Portuguese Museum of Geographic History in Lisbon. Why then would several Yoruba people peddle all these falsehoods to show that they are ahead educationally in Nigeria? The true facts from the Federal Office of Statistics on education tell otherwise, showing that 3 Ibo states for the past 12 years have constantly had the largest number of graduates in the country, producing more graduates than Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo states. These eastern states are Imo, Anambra and Abia. Yet he calls Ibos traders. Indeed, the Igbos dominate because excellence dominates mediocrity – truth. Let me enlighten this falsehood’s mouthpiece even further: before the civil war Ibos controlled and dominated all institutions in the formal sector in Nigeria from the universities to the police to the military to politics: •The first Black Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was an Ibo man •The first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos was an Ibo man •The first Nigerian Rector of the then Yaba College of Technology was also an Ibo man •The police was run by an Ibo IG •The military as a professional institution was also run by elite-ilk Ibos. Facts can never be hidden. To be first does not mean you would win the race; let us open up all our institutions and may the best man win. Let us not depend on handouts or privileges but on heard work. Let us compete and give the best positions to our brightest – be it Ibo, Yourba or Fulani, and then we shall see who is the most successful Nigerian. I find it difficult not to respond to some of these long-held lies that are constantly being peddled by Yorubas. One is that the Yoruba have the largest number of professors in the country. I would again ask that we stick to facts and statistical records. The Nigerian Universities Commission has a record of the state with the largest number of professors on their records and as at 2010 that state is Imo State followed by Ondo State and then Anambra State; the next state is Ekiti and then Delta before Kwara State. I am sure you Yorubas are surprised. When you sit in the South-West do not think others are sleeping but I wish to address another historical fact and that is who were the first Nigerians to receive Western education. It is important that these issues be examined in their historical context and evidence through research be presented for all to examine. I have continued my research for as the great sociologist and father of modern sociology – Emile Durkheim – put it, the definition of a situation is real in its consequence . What this simply means is that one must never allow a perceived falsehood to become one’s reality and by extension individuals who accept a defined position act as though the situation is real and apply themselves in that narrowly defined paspective. Why is this important to state it is because for long the Yoruba have peddled lies that have almost become accepted as the truth by other Nigerians but it is important that we lay down the facts for others to examine and come to their own conclusion for facts are facts. Let’s go back to education. Historically, Western education resulted as a product of indigenous ethnic groups interacting with the whites through trade. The dominant groups sold slaves, ivory gold and a host of other products to their European counterparts in exchange for finished goods – wine, tobacco, mirrors, etc. The Bini who were the dominant military force from the 15th to the 19th century raided and sold other ethnicities to the Europeans. Top on the list of those they sold were the Yoruba, Ibo and Igala. Various other ethnicities suffered as a result of the Bini military expansion. And the Benin Kingdom stretched from present-day Benin up to what is now geographically referred to as Republic of Togo. Indeed, the influence of the Benin Empire extended to the banks of the river Niger to present-day Onistha. There are huge Yoruba settlements in the Anioma part of Delta State who fled Yoruba land as a result of these attacks and constant raids. Yes, there are Yoruba people who are currently living with Ibos in the Ibo-speaking part of Delta and they are full citizens of the place no one refers to them as strangers and there is no talk about the Ibos being the host community like we hear from the Governor of Lagos State. But let me return to research. Slaves were moved from the hinterland to the coast and many were sold through Eko to the New World. These slaves were the first to encounter the Europeans and by extension their way of life – this included education in a Western sense. The Bini King had taken pains to establish a diplomatic presence in Portugal and the relationship developed into areas that extended beyond trade in the late 15th century and lasted well into the early 19th century. Scores of young Bpni youth were sent to Portugal and studied there, coming back with advanced degrees in various disciplines. The next set of people to receive Western education were the slaves themselves. Some of them managed to buy their freedom and develop themselves further. For the Ibo it does not matter who your father is; the question is: Who are you? Who was Obasanjo’s father? Was he the most educated Nigerian? I am sure the answer is no. Yet this Great Nigeria led this nation two times as a military Head of State and as a civilian President. What about GEJ? Who was his own father? Was he the first Nigerian to go to London? The answer is no. In fact, he had no shoes, yet he is fully in charge. So it does not matter if your father was the first Lawyer or first Doctor in Nigeria but rather what matters is what an individual does with the talents the Almighty has given to him. Let us open up Nigeria for competition. That is the solution to our problems. Those who want privileges keep reminding us that their fathers were the first to go to school in London. Every generation produces its own leaders and champions. Like Dangote who is the biggest employer of labour in Nigeria today and the richest man in Africa. Was his father the first to go to study in London? Yet he is the master of people whose parents gave them the best. My brothers, the answer to the Nigerian problem is that we should establish a merit-driven society. “I get am before” no be property.

What I learnt from John Nwodo

For those that did not follow the last transition programme, there is one thing that struck me which may be beneficial to you and the Society at large. In the last Ministerial Press Conference that preceded the return to democratic rule, John Nwodo, the then Minister of Information stood to conclude the function that looked like a war between the press and the Abdusalami-led military government due to the Press' suspicion of reckless expenditure by the government. Remember, that was the era Nigeria hosted a tournament from the external reserve. The Ministers who were mainly soldiers could not defend their budget well, I vividly remember. However, as the Minister of Information, Nwodo systematically forced the angry press men into clapping.

I still remember how he did it. From that day, I started imagining a President John Nwodo. He started by reminding the pressmen of the warning he sounded to the second republic legislators before General Buhari's men struck. According to Nwodo, he told the members of the house in his address:"The democracy you are about to destroy, you will be the first to regret it." Like a prophet, it did not take time when Joshua Dogonyaro announced the death of the second republic and the legislators were in the first set of those that went to jail. Nwodo told this story to warn the pressmen of the impending danger of their modus operandi to the on-going transition programme. My father said:"Certainly pepper is not required in the preparation of a charm aimed at restoring peace." Surprisingly, the angry pen men who were almost physical with Ministers over financial misappropriation became calm. They were all nodding in affirmative to the oratory power of John Nwodo. I was highly challenged.

In his conclusion, Nwodo hit his hand on the desk and authoritatively said:"Nigeria must march forward." The Pressmen started clapping endlessly. That was when I noticed the Military ministers also smiling for the first time and clapping along. The present condition of Nigeria has reminded me of the event. Our duty is to speak to the people whose duty is to put what we say in practice.

Furthermore, unless we still want to pretend, if not so, there is danger in Nigeria. The government has failed in many areas. The government agencies are more involved in sabotage than the work they receive our money for. However, my annoyance is that the failure of the government is master minded in order to create wrong impression in the minds of the people about the leadership of the Country. Worse still, the youths are dancing to these drumbeats either knowingly or unknowingly. The aim of the enemies of the Society is to destabilize Nigeria on or before 2015. It is a simple thing to do. Since the political activists are sounding that Nigeria cannot live beyond 2015, they keep pushing for violence that will lead to the actualization of their dreams. The nature of today's political opposition buttresses this position which is made worse by insensitivity of the ruling party. The followers are very bias in their support. Supports are given with regard to ethnicity. A Nigerian youth can call an elder from another ethnic group a fool and fails to refer to a bigger fool in his ethnic group same way.

In the same way Nwodo warned the political class in the second republic, I repeat:"THIS PEACE WE ARE ABOUT TO DESTROY IN NIGERIA, WE WILL BE THE ONES TO SUFFER IT."

Give peace a chance....

Is Nigeria a Fraud?

Some Nigerian politicians and the activists claim that Nigeria is a fraud. They say this to support their cheap desire to divide Nigeria. If we go by their claim that their Nigeria is a fraud, who are the fraudsters? To my humble understanding, the fraudsters are the British. They came down and forced us to be together without our consent. This is one of the reasons some good Nigerians believe that Nigeria will not last beyond 2015.

Events are proving that the expectation of these great Nigerians will be granted. Take for instance, nobody can correctly predict what will become of Nigeria when the next general election comes in 2015. Some leaders have already made up their minds never to accept any result of the election not favourable to them. The insurgency in the North, the presence of OPC in South West, the roaring of the militants in the South South and the activities of the kidnappers in the South East pose a great danger to the survival of Nigeria come 2015. In addition to these, the war of supremacy among the political leaders is even more dangerous. This is because the feared militancy and terrorism are products of politics. Despite how guilty we Nigerians are over the state of our dear nation, we still call Luggard a fraudster because of the 1914 amalgamation.

May be somebody should help to make us to understand how to address a political leader or political activist who calls Nigeria a fraud and has refused to refund any part of Nigeria's money in his foreign account. Same person still runs to London to take permission to run for an election in the Nigeria he calls a fraud. Same politician owns houses in London while his kinsmen die of hunger.

How do we define fraud?
Who do we call the fraudsters? The British or their accusers.
Even if there were mistakes made since 1914, why haven't Nigerians seen enough reasons to forgive both the British and fellow Countrymen?
Why?