| ADF members with Executive Committees of The Renaissance forum and the Igbozue Connectcut USA |
The series of massacre of Ndigbo in Nigeria from the forties up to the Nigeria-Biafra war which continued with the Boko Haram insurgency that killed thousands of Umuigbo, drove millions of them down to their Southern ancestral homes and further pursued and killed; with their women and daughters raped by armed Fulani herdsmen, etc, are serial sordid experiences of Ndigbo as a result of the seed of intense hatred sowed by the British and their agents in Nigeria.
THE IGBOS IN SEARCH OF A PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE WITH HER
NEIGHBORS IN THE CRISIS-RIDDEN FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
An Address Presented By
PROF. UZODINMA NWALA
President
ALAIGBO DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION (ADF)
During the US Tour by ADF Delegation.
July 14 – July 30th, 2017.
Fellow
Compatriots,
We
represent the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF). We are here to consult,
brief and interact with our members and compatriots on issues of interest to
the development of Alaigbo and the well-being and survival of her citizens.
i.
The Alaigbo
Development Foundation (ADF) is a corporate and registered non-governmental
Civil Society organization founded by eminent Igbo citizens belonging to
various works of life - intellectual, traditional, political, religious,
business, diplomatic, women and youth leaders who work for the survival and
advancement of the Igbo race both in Nigeria and the Contemporary World.
The motto of ADF is - “The Rebuilding and Development
of Igbo Nation and the Rebirth and Advancement of the Spirit of her Culture and
Civilization.
ii.
ADF was
established after the 2014 Enugu International
Colloquium on the Igbo Question in Nigeria, Before, During and After Biafra.
The historic Colloquium was
sponsored by over twelve (12) pan-Igbo organizations including Ime-Obi Ohanaeze
Ndigbo.
iii.
The
International Colloquium was organized as a global platform of Ndigbo in the
light of the intensified socio-political crises in the Nigerian Federation and
the debate over her future; and in the light of enormous economic, political
cultural and religious challenges facing the Igbo nation both in the Nigerian
Federation and in the contemporary world.
iv.
The
Colloquium was indeed a major global event that attracted many of the best
minds within the Igbo nation, some of whom came from the United States of
America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Ghana,
etc. For three days, the well-over two thousand, five hundred (2,500) Igbo sons
and daughters deliberated on the persistent century-old predicament of Ndigbo
in Nigeria, over which all and sundry in Alaigbo, youths and elders, men and
women, at home and in the Diaspora, keep groaning day after day, month after
month, year after year.
v.
The
participants deliberated over myriad critical issues bedeviling Igbo history,
social and political existence; touching on issues of Politics and Governance,
Self-determination and Internal Autonomy, Economy, Commerce and Industry,
Infrastructure, Education, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Science and
Technology, Security,, National Character, .. and the Way Forward
vi.
In particular, the participants intensely examined ways and means of overcoming such persistent Igbo predicament
so that her citizens can live a life of dignity and self-confidence, co-exist
and live at peace with their neighbors, capable of protecting their lives as well
as their collective and individual interests, apply their God-given talents and
endowments for the betterment of themselves and the entire human race, do honor
to the spirit of their ancestors and serve their God without let or hindrance.
vii.
The International
Colloquium as an event was indeed a wake up-call for Ndigbo in general. It was
singularly a wake-up call for the Igbo intelligentsia, in particular, urging
them to rise to help the Igbo nation to overcome those Challenges just as their
Jewish counter-parts did for their nation when they faced similar historical
challenges.
NDIGBO
AND THE BURDEN OF HISTORY.
viii.
The Igbo nation
has continued to carry the burden of survival and political relevance since the
1994 Amalgamation by the British which brought together various nationalities,
distinct in their history, language, culture, institutions and values just as
the English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, etc.
ix.
The uncompromising
nature of Igbo opposition to British colonial rule with fierce and stiff
resistance to colonial penetration of Igboland (1902-8; the resistance of Igbo
women during the Aba Women Resistance movement in 1929 and the militant
nationalistic movement in Nigeria and the entire Africa in which Igbos played
leading roles, etc; these were the root-causes of British antagonism to the
Igbos in Nigeria.
x.
Consequently,
the British created a Federation within which Ndigbo became politically
marginalized and at the same time antagonized with their neighbors because of
this peculiar nature of Igbo resistance to colonialism. At this point in
colonial history in Africa, the British and other European powers were very
antagonistic to those who stood on the way against colonial domination. The
Kwame Nkrumahs, Lumumbas and to a different extent Dr Azikiwe were intensely
loathed and harassed by the colonial powers. Lumumba himself was consequently
killed.
xi.
The series of
massacre of Ndigbo in Nigeria from the forties up to the Nigeria-Biafra war
which continued with the Boko Haram insurgency that killed thousands of
Umuigbo, drove millions of them down to their Southern ancestral homes and
further pursued and killed; with their women and daughters raped by armed
Fulani herdsmen, etc, are serial sordid experiences of Ndigbo as a result of the
seed of intense hatred sowed by the British and their agents in Nigeria.
xii.
All these
sordid experiences of Ndigbo have been compounded by the state of economic and
social ruin of Alaigbo due to refusal to reconstruct or develop Alaigbo after
the war; the punitive economic and political measures that have virtually
ruined the economy of Alaigbo, brought internal disharmony in Igbo-land and
ruin to such major cities as Onitsha, Aba and Port Harcourt that were once the
economic and social pride of West African and the entire African continent; the
flight of Igbo business and capital outside Igbo land, etc-; all these
constitute the helplessness of a nation that has been under siege since the
beginning of the last century; a nation whose friendly and enterprising
citizens are all over the Nigerian Federation helping to develop different
parts of Nigeria; a nation whose citizens have been made vulnerable to constant
physical massacre, political and social marginalization, manipulation and
harassment.
xiii.
By the time,
the 2014 colloquium was organized, the frustration in Igboland had reached such
a boiling point that some Igbo elders went to court to seek the separation of
Alaigbo under the aegis of Biafra from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This
celebrated case has been on at the Federal High Court Owerri since 2012. The
recent upsurge in the agitation for Biafra is only the rising in crescendo of a
struggle for self-determination of Ndigbo because they are rejected in Nigeria.
xiv.
The Alaigbo
Development Foundation (ADF) was born to help restore the self-confidence of
Ndigbo, to promote internal solidarity, to arouse their spirit of self-help and
self-reliance, to work towards the Rebuilding and Development of Alaigbo, to
work for the Rebirth and Advancement of the spirit of her Culture and
civilization. The ultimate goal of ADF is to help reposition Ndigbo in the
Nigeria and in the contemporary world as people who enjoy nature’s gift of
freedom and self-reliance.
As stated above,
ADF seeks ways and means of enabling our people to overcome such persistent Igbo predicament so that her citizens can live
a life of dignity and self-confidence, co-exist and live at peace with their
neighbors, capable of protecting their lives as well as their collective and
individual interests, apply their God-given talents and endowments for the
betterment of themselves and the entire human race, do honor to the spirit of
their ancestors and serve their God without let or hindrance.
xv.
The 2014 International Colloquium identified the following fundamental principles and tasks for
the Agenda for Igbo National Rebirth.
a.
Igbo
Renaissance/Restoration, Rebuilding the Igbo hearth.
b.
Recapture of Igbo values, culture,
language, lore and literature.
c.
Major focus on the Youth, their
education, employment and protection.
d.
Coexistence, with mutual respect in all
interactions between Ndigbo and their neighbors.
e.
Any political union of Ndigbo with
their neighbors in the present Nigerian Federalism has to be a Union
of the willing and not as it is presently constituted - Federation of
the conquerors and the conquered.
f.
Imperative of Autonomy in political and
other socio-cultural matters to enable Ndigbo develop their domain and at their
pace.
xvi.
These
principles are to be embodied in a National Charter which ADF and other
pan-Igbo organizations are working on. Serious consultations are going on and
preliminary work is also going on towards actualizing the project. All other
nationalities have their national charter in place. Some even have their
national constitutions and their national anthems in place.
xvii.
We, in the
Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) speak for like-minds within the Igbo
nation, and those like-minds constitute a very large proportion, if not the majority
of the Igbo race.
ADF AS A CHILD OF HISTORICAL NECESSITY.
Since
its formation two years ago, ADF has enormous strides in keeping with her
avowed mandate as stated in her Motto and Mission Statement. The Secretary of
ADF, Prof Nath Aniekwu, an accomplished scholar and professional shall brief
you on the exact Profile of ADF, while Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa OFR, an accomplished
scholar and industrialist, the Chairman of the most focal committee of ADF –
Committee on Business and Investment - shall brief you on the Programs and
Projects of ADF
I know, from informal discussions since we came into the US,
there are some critical developments you would like to discuss with us
concerning the situation back home.
A. THE QUIT NOTICE
GIVEN BY THE AREWA YOUTH TO NDIGBO TO LEAVE AREWALAND.
ADF considers this Quit
Notice given to Ndigbo to leave Arewa land as a major crises facing Ndigbo.
And in the light of Igbo experiences in Nigeria it should not be taken lightly.
That Quit Notice reflects the strategic move of the Arewa leadership, not just
their youth. This time they are not carrying the other major zones in the North
with them. The recent appointment of Paul Unongo as their leader is reminiscent
of their historical tactics of using a northern minority (as they did with
Gowon) to prosecute their historical agenda.
It was in the light of history that ADF wrote to the
Ohanaeze President-General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, to summon an Emergency Meeting of Ime-Obi
Ohanaeze to be followed by an Emergency Igbo National Conference to
deliberate on how to protect our people.
The Call by ADF for an Emergency Meeting of Ime-Obi Ohanaeze
to be followed by an Emergency Igbo National Conference remains an imperative
step at this critical moment.
Ndigbo are once more standing on a precipice in their checkered
history. As we travel various parts of the United States, the question
continues to resonate –WHAT ARE THE
IGBOS DOING TO MEET THIS EMERGENCY?
Whatever option we take carries with it serious implications.
All these must be examined and appropriate action plans put in place to protect
our beleaguered people. History will not forgive us, indeed, present and future
generation of our children will not forgive the present generation of those who
claim to lead and speak for Ndigbo if our people are once more left to the
caprice of those who wish to massacre them.
Certainly the most rational course of action at this point
in time is to tell our people – BIKO, LOTABA NU! (LOWA NU!), and
settle down and rebuild your home
While we do this, we must put in place necessary
collective measures to protect their investments in the affected areas by all
political and legal means. Igbo investments in other areas are protected by
both Nigerian laws and international laws. Therefore, let no miscreant or
greedy hegemonist think he can chase the Igbos away and inherit their property.
And let no affected Igbo investor or property-owner think that he will lose his
assets earned through honest labour and sweat anywhere in the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
B.
THE INTENSIFIED AGITATION FOR BIAFRA.
As
stated above, by the time, the colloquium was organized in 2014, the
frustration in Igboland had reached such a boiling point that some Igbo elders
had gone to court to seek the separation of Alaigbo under the aegis of Biafra
from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The case has been on at the Federal High
Court Owerri since 2012. Among the Igbo elders who instituted this case are His
Majesty, Justice Eze Ozobu, former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and
Chairman of Enugu State of Traditional Rulers; Dr. Dozie Ikedidfe, former
Commissioner in the East Central state and ex-President-General of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo, General Achuzie, an outstanding soldier who fought during the Biafra
war, Bar Debe Ojukwu, son of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, and others.
These
elders went further to institute a Customary Government in the name of
Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB). This is the original IPOB. Nnamdi Kanu was
the Director of Radio Biafra set up under the auspices of this struggle. His unjustified arrest and detention raised
the renewed agitation for Biafra to a higher and intensified level. His
eloquence and strong-will has made him the rallying point for the younger
generation who have rallied round the banner of Biafra.
So the recent upsurge in the agitation for Biafra is only
the rising in crescendo of the struggle for self-determination of Ndigbo
because they are rejected in Nigeria.
Moreover, it is an act of deliberate distortion and
diversion to call the renewed agitation for Biafra as an act of the youth.
C. IPOB/MASSOB AND
NNAMDI KANU AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SELF-DETERMINATION.
i.
On March 29th, 2016, the Elders Consultative Forum of
Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) met in Enugu and after considering reports
placed before it, issued a Communique to express grave concern over reports of
gruesome murder of unarmed protesting youths of the Movement for the
Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous
Peoples of Biafra (IPOB). The ADF Elders stated that such brutal killings of
those unarmed protesting youths who were exercising their legitimate
Constitutional rights violated the International Convention on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) of the United Nations that came into force on 23rd
March 1976 and which the Nigerian Government ratified on 29th July
1993.
ii.
ADF Elders had called on
President Muhammadu Buhari to institute an inquiry to investigate the
circumstances of the killings of the unarmed youths and bring all those
responsible to justice.
iii.
ADF is of the view that the Federal Government led by General Buhari
has not explored, let alone exhausted the political solution to the separatist
demands of the Biafrans.
iv.
Demands for self-determination is a common feature in the history of
the Nigerian Federation. Some have been ignored or even surreptitiously
encouraged by those in high authority. In several cases, the Government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria has not only expressed willingness to negotiate but had
actually engaged with those making such demands. This includes the Boko Haram
which has been engaged in bloody campaign to create an Islamic Republic out of
the existing Federal Republic of Nigeria.
v.
In the case of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), as well as
the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), they
have pursued their demand without recourse to any form of violence. No matter
how stringent their language has been, they have not incited any one to
violence in pursuit of their separatist demands.
vi.
ADF condemns the use of blackmail as well as extreme brutal violence
that violates the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as
international law in handling the IPOB/MASSOB demands.
vii.
In taking these positions, ADF is adequately informed by the
genealogy of the crisis in the Nigerian Federation which is rooted in its
history, particularly in its faulty foundations. The existing structure does
not create an atmosphere of a Federation of different nationalities united
under conditions of justice and equality. Rather what we have in Nigeria is a
Federation that exudes acute air and reality of injustice, lacking in rule of
law and full of discrimination and hatred, particularly against the Igbo ethnic
nation.
viii.
Efforts made in the past to chart a genuine Federal system including
several National Constitutional Conferences have failed due to deliberate
actions of those who are the beneficiary of the existing political structure
created to serve the interest of colonialism and further entrenched by the
military to serve the interest of a section of the country.
ix.
It is very unfortunate that a democratically elected Government is
unwilling to engage in any form of dialogue with the IPOB or the MASSOB and
appears to prefer the use of physical force to brutally eliminate them.
Separatist demands, especially when it is a case of yearning for freedom from a
condition of political slavery is hardly eliminated through the use of physical
force. Rather a political solution involving dialogue and negotiation are a
historically hallowed path for dealing with such a situation.
x.
In his recent Al-Jazeera interview, President Buhari spoke as if he
was indeed considering dialogue when he asked those agitating for a separate
Biafra nation to say what they want, whether it is ‘a state within a state or
something’. The only way for Mr. President to know what they want in this
regard is through dialogue.
xi.
It is also the view of ADF that Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the Director of
Radio Biafra, should be released to pave the way for dialogue. His long
incarceration for purely political reasons is a violation of both the Nigerian
law and international law. On the other
hand, ADF disapproved the use of foul language in his campaign as it
contributes nothing to the legitimacy of the demand for Self-Determination.
xii.
Since Nnamdi’s temporary release, ADF expected that the Federal
Government should have entered into serious re-negotiation with them and all
those in the agitation for re-negotiating the basis of the continued existence
of the Nigerian Federation.
D.
THE CALL FOR RESTRUCTURING OR RE-NEGOTIATING THE CONTINUED
EXISTENCE OF THE NIGERIAN FEDERATION.
i.
At this
critical point in time and considering the FACT that all nationalities in
Nigeria have risen in unison to demand re-negotiating the basis of any form of
continued co-existence of those who presently live in the territory of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, the time is now or never. The only exception to
this popular upsurge for freedom are those of the Fulani stock who regard the
entire territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as an EASTATE of their
forefathers.
ii.
What is needed now is not just restructuring,
but RENEGOTIATION of the basis of
the Nigerian Federation.
iii.
Nigeria is a multi-national Federation. The
task is to agree on the terms for a form of political union among these nations
and mini-nations, one that will allow them to control their political life,
manage their economic life and resources, control their religious and cultural
life, their security as well as freely decide what form of political and
economic association to maintain with their neighbors. .
Unless this is
done, there would never be any stable Federation uniting all these peoples who
are culturally, religiously and philosophically separate nations and
mini-nations but are inseparable neighbors
E.
ADF AND OHANAEZE NDIGBO.
i.
ADF is not Ohanaeze Ndigbo. It was not
formed to upstage Ohanaeze.
ii.
Ohanaeze is a socio-cultural platform, what we
call in Igbo parlance, NZUKO AMALA IGBO. It was established as a clearing house
where all the representatives of major stakeholders and leaders of the Igbo
Society – intellectual, traditional, religious, political, business, women and
youth come together periodically and at moments of national emergency to
discuss and take decisions on issues affecting the Igbo race. Each decision
carries within its context, the modalities of its implementation. Some by the
Executive, some by appointed committee of elders, experts, women or youth, some
by organized and recognized organizations, etc. After action, they report back
to the central council, as in our case there is IME-OBI OHANAEZE NDIGBO.
iii.
The danger we
have faced is that, as a result of the vulnerability of the Igbo race within
the context of the power struggle in the Nigerian Federation, those who wield
the instrumentalities and power of the state, target and apply all manner of
coercive measures, at times subtle, at times direct inducement to take control
of the leadership of Ohanaeze.
iv.
When that
happens, what we see is an Ohanaeze leadership that becomes rudderless,
speaking from two sides of the mouth and may constitute itself as a danger to
the true yearnings of the people. This does not happen all the time, but when
it happens, they mock us and our peoples’ spirit, self-confidence and humanity
become progressively shattered.
v.
What is the
antidote to this tragic possibility? It is through the intervention of some
patriotic Igbo leaders and Pan-Igbo organizations, some of which are led and
peopled by selfless leaders, to play the role of watchdogs to ensure that the
entire race is not taken for a ride by anyone or group of people elected to
preside over the affairs of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
vi.
It is in the
light of this possibility that ADF stated very clearly in her Mission Statement
her relationship to Ohanaerze Ndigbo -
in quote:-
Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) is neither a rival nor a
replacement for Ohanaeze Ndigbo as Igbo National Socio-Cultural Organization.
ADF is to support Ohanaeze whenever and wherever her support is needed. ADF is
to work with Governments (Zonal, State, LGA and Community), various pan-Igbo
organizations and individuals in Igbo-land and Igbo Diaspora to help sharpen
the vision of the Founding Fathers of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to work for the
actualization of that vision and to ensure that those elected into positions of
leadership of Ohanaeze abide by the vision and constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Conclusion
The Alaigbo Developmenr Foundation (ADF) is a corporate
patriotic organization of Igbo elders, intellectuals, traditional and religious
rulers, business men, the political class, diplomats, women and youth who share
in common the historic mission of Rebuilding and Development of the Igbo nation
as well as the Advancement of the Spirit of her Culture and Civilization.
ADF shall work relentlessly for the survival of the Igbo
race, to ensure that Ndigbo live at peace with their neighbors, able to protect
themselves, their ancestral homes and their religion, as well as be a
significant player in the family of nations as her citizens are global
citizens.
PROF.
UZODINMA NWALA
ADF PRESIDENT
17-07-17
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