…we should stop all these desperate attempts to make others, who just can’t stand our being Ibo by nature, love us.
Have you ever, whether as a Christian or just a curious reader, read the words of Jehovah God to Abraham(Ibiam) in Gen.12:3 (“I will bless those who bless you,I will curse those who curse you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”)? Have you ever bothered to find out why the State of Isreal is still surviving in the midst of 9 enemy countries,each with enough hatred to detonate an ICBM (InterContinental Balistic Missile) on her,and go to sleep? Why is it that the electric wires on your walls do not shock you,even when you touch them? What happens if you try as much as you can,bending over backwards, to ensure you live in peace with a neighbour who has been conceived, compelled and counselled to hate you for being Hebrew,Heebo or Ibo? Electric wires are insulated.
Ndigbo have to insulate themselves from those who hate them. We should stop all these desperate attempts to make others, who just can’t stand our being Ibo by nature, love us. FOR THEY WOULD NOT!!! We are Eagles. Our descending to the terrestial level as chickens wont affect the poignant pounding of the pulses of these persecuting people,permanently propelled and powered by preposterous pedantic passion. I promised to take you back to March 17,1964.
My evidence is from the MASSACRE OF NDIGBO IN 1966, a publication of Report of Justice G.C.M.ONYIUKE Tribunal set up on 14th December, 1966 to investigate the polgrom of about 37,000 Eastern Nigerians, and powered by Igbo Youth Movement (IYM). Read this report from pages 17-21 and draw your own conclusions. May God bless and keep you all,in the name of JESUS CHRIST! As much as they hate us, may we never hate back. There is a God that ‘rules in the affairs of men'(Dan.4:17) and He is fighting for us
HAPPY READING
The book begins
…..My name is Luke Ebere Ejikonye, formerly of AH 11, Benue Road Kaduna. I was a transporter and general merchant, selling motor spare parts. I went to Kaduna in 1944 where I had my primary education. I left Kaduna on August, 1966. I am 37 years old. I had many Lorries by 1966 and they operated all over Nigeria. I was president of Orlu Divisional Union and Treasurer of Ibo State Union, Kaduna. Between 1957 and 1959 I was a councilor in Kaduna before in 1963 my relation with Northern Government was very cordial, although my councillorship was through NCNC – NEPU alliance. This alliance was in the majority in the Kaduna Central Local Government. In spite of their strength, it was a clear understanding between the NCNC and NEPU not to field Eastern candidates for elections to the Northern House of Assembly. During 1959, the Northern Government made the life of councilors in our council unbearable and their decision worthless, so we resign en mass before the Federal election. After the Federal elections, I withdrew completely from political activity although a few Easterners continued in politics.
In 1963, the administrator wanted to dispose the Easterners of their stalls in Kaduna market. He dissolved all allocations, some of which had been held for 15 years to 20 years and asked everybody to re-apply. All the stall holders decided to send delegation on which I was nominated to go and see the administrator. There were delegates as follows: Hausa 3, Igbo 3, Nupe 2, Yoruba 3. The leader was an Hausa man, Alhaji Katcha. This was in November 1963. My participation in this delegation stated my troubles with Northern Government. I was asked to quit my house which I was told was acquired by the Administrator. The case dragged in the court up till today. At a stage I was jailed for 2 years. I did not serve the term.
Was this action of the Kaduna Administrator in attempting to dispossess Easterners to their market stalls an isolated act of a spiteful civil servant or was it an expression of a deliberate Government policy? Our witness Luke Ebere Ejikonye maintained it was the latter and in support of this, he tendered the Hansard(official report of the parliamentary debates in the House of Assembly of Northern Nigeria of 17th March, 1964). This was admitted as Exhibit LEE/203. The debate on the Ministry of Land and Survey Head 247 makes interesting reading. Let some of the Honourable members speak.
Mr. AA. Agbogede (Igala East):
“I have one or two appeal to make. Mr. Chairman, Sir, my other point of advice to the minister is that in most areas in the riverine areas, especially where I came from, in Igala Division, Ibos do farming a lot. I hope there will be legislation to prevent the Ibos from farming in the Northern Region and if I am competent and we are allowed, we shall legislate on such matter in Igala Division…I am very glad that we are in a Moslem country and the Government of Northern Nigeria allowed some few and the Christians in the Region to enjoy themselves according to the belief of their religion but building hotels should be taken away from the Ibos and even if we found some Northern Christians who are interested in building hotels and have no money to do so the government should aid them instead of allowing Ibos to continue with the hotels… I suggest the certificate of occupancy of all Ibos having hotels should be withdrawn and transferred to non-Ibo Christians”
Mr. Bashari Umaru (B/Kudu):
“Mr. Chairman I have nothing to say. We are all aiming at the same thing. This is our house, the North belongs to us. The only solution to this problem is to take over all the houses belonging to Ibos and revoke all their certificate of occupancy. A certain Ibo trader living in Kano accommodated all the delegates attending the NCNC (rival political party) convention in Kano and it was in one of his house that he entertained us… These are the sort of people whose houses should be confiscated by the Minister of Land and Survey”
Alhaji Usman Liman (Sarkin Musawa):
“What brought the Ibos into this region? They were here since the colonial days. Had it not been for the colonial rule, there would hardly have been Ibos in this Region.
Now that there is no colonial rule Ibos should go back to their Region. There should be no hesitation about this matter. Mr. Chairman, North is for Northerners, East for Easterners, West for Westerner and the Federal is for us all. (Applause). Mr. Chairman we do not want to have another trouble leading to bloodshed”
The Minister of Land and Survey (Alhaji the Hon. Ibrahim Musa Gashash O.B.E.):
Mr. Chairman, Sir, I do not like to take up much of the time of this House in making explanation, but I would like to assure members that having heard their demands about Ibos holding land in Northern Nigeria, my Ministry will do all it can to see that the demands of members are met. How to do this; when to do it, all this should not be discloed now. In due course you will see what will happen”. (Applause).
It was not in land holding that the House expressed strong views on the position of Ibos in the North during this session. On the Civil Service of Northern Nigeria, Mallam Ibrahim Musa (Igala Nnorth West) had this to say:
Mr. chairman, Sir, we first and foremost, what I have to say before this Hon. House is that we should send delegate to meet our Hon. Premier to move a motion in this very budget session that all Ibos working in the Civil Service of Northern Nigeria including the Native Authorities, whether they are contractors or not, should be repatriated at once.
On manning of Federal posts in the North: Mallam Muktar Bello:
I would like to say something very important that the Minister should take my appeal to the Federal Government about the Ibos in the post office. I wish the numbers of these reduced. There are too many of them in the North. They were just like sardines and I think they were just too dangerous to the Region.
On Government aspiration and intentions the premier (Alhaji
The Hon. Sir Ahmadu Bello The Sarduana of Sokoto) had this to say: it is my most earnest desire that every post in the Region, however small it is, to be filled by a Northerner (Applause).
We can only end these recitals by saying that the people of the North through their representatives have spoken. It was merely a question of time for trouble to erupt.
What were the reasons for these hostilities to Easterners and especially the Ibos? We shall deal with this matter most fully in a separate chapter. At this stage we shall merely refer to the evidence of a witness, Chukwuma Anueyiagu (110th witness). This witness lived in Kano from 1949 to August, 1966. Says he:
Between 1962 and 1963 there was a sort of campaign against Easterners in the whole North that the Ibos must quit the North. When we asked some of the members of the Sarduana Brigade who were the chief campaigners of this ‘Ibo-must-go’ order, they said that with the exception of the Eastern premier, Dr. Okpara, others was stubborn, the Hausa people would have gained full control of the whole of Nigeria. At one stage in about 1963, some members of House of Assembly carried out some campaign to the parliament in that one of them Alhaji Musa Gashash told the House that it was not difficult problem to get the Ibos out of the North, that he knew best how to handle them.
Evidence showed that the Sarduana Brigade mentioned above was a para-military organization built up, trained and maintained by the then Premiere of Northern Nigeria, the late Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sarduana of Sokoto as his private army and was the instrument to be used for eliminating of Easterners from the North.
Q. 5522 “Why the campaign for Ibos to quit the North?
“One of the reasons was the census trouble… Again during the 1964 general election, members of the Sarduana Brigade went round telling people that there would be trouble in the whole country if the NPC should lose election. Many NEPU men and women were killed because they were in alliance with the NCNC. Hundreds of them were imprisoned in the North. What saved the situation and a mass killing of Ibos in 1964 was the boycott of the 1964 election by the U.P.G.A
In fact during one of the meetings of the U.P.G.A for North campaign, we had to write Dr. Okpara that the elections should be boycotted or postponed because of the threat given us by the Sarduana Brigade and some Northern parliamentarians at that time. Of course between 1962 and 1964 whenever there was any local election or regional election, people were chased up and down especially people who were living in Sabon Gari. They had some trouble with the Ibos because of the alliance with the N.E.P.U”
Welcome back to 2019 from1966!
Has anything changed? They thought they were doing us a favour by allowing us in the North.They wanted to stay on their own while we remain in or return to the East.
What has changed today?Why must we be ‘one’ today?What does someone who hates the very sight of you desire you stay together,and for whose interest?Why must meat that cause diseases be used to destroy plants whose fibers sustain life?Why must our lands be used as bargaining chips for Jihadist onslaught? Who is gaining?Who is losing?What is the World Order for?Who’ll appease the blood crying all over Nigeria?
Thanks for your time.
Evang. Joseph N Agbo, Ph.D.
