Dear Sir,
I trust that you and your family are doing well, and we
give glory to Chukwu Abiama.
This letter is primarily in response to your video
directed to Biafrans (IPOB) all over the word.
I promise to be polite in this letter all through, and
same time I would appreciate it that you read this letter and assimilate all
that is contained therein.
Sir, I am one amongst many who celebrate you in the movie
industry, not only as a member of ACTORS GUILD OF NIGERIA, but as an individual
and a private citizen of Igbo part of Biafra.
My love for you grew after watching through the
characters you played on sets starting from the “Things Fall Apart” where you
played the character of Okonkwo.
In the life of the Nollywood industry, we revere you as
icon till this very moment that “Things Have Fallen Apart, for Which Center
Could No Longer Hold”.
Firstly, I will start by appreciating you for the video
you made in response to the displeasure our people expressed toward your
controversial statement that Biafra land is land locked. As well as saying we
do not understand the difference between land lock and land mass. However, in
your recent response to this displeasure expressed by our people you went
further to point out something which formed the basis of this open letter to
you sir.
The following are your statements:
(1) Our
people should endeavour to communicate in Igbo Language
(2) That
you are 73 years old and older than the present governors in Igbo Land
(3) That we
insult our elders
(4) That we
insult the governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo
(5) You
said we are not learned
(6) In your
previous interview you said we should work with our killers, Nigeria
(7) You
said we do not have any sea around us for the purpose of importation and we do
not understand the difference between land lock and land mass.
Please sir lets digest these points you enumerated in
your video together;
(1) Our
people should endeavour to communicate in Igbo Language;
Yes, I quite agree with you on this. And I attribute this
to identity crisis as a result of the colonization of Biafra territory and
obliteration of our culture and history unlike the other race. And the
successive governors from the territory of Igbo part of Biafra never had any
policy in place that is geared towards the promotion of the Igbo language
unlike what you have in Lagos State for instance- where Yoruba language, as a
subject, is compulsory for all.
(2) That
you are 73 years old and older than all the present governors in Igbo Land;
Of course, no one argues this fact, just like my father
is also 78 years.
Most importantly sir, you and I understand that the age
of Methuselah has nothing to do with the Wisdom of Solomon. And if this is true
Sir, needless debating about age.
(3) You
said we insult our elders;
Let’s first define insult. This means to offend someone
by saying or doing something they think is rude.
Any issue to be considered is what causes or leads to
insult. In Igbo land there are couples of things you do and get insulted, and
some of them will be listed below;
(i) You
will be insulted in Igbo land, when you are an elder but do not speak the
truth.
(ii) You
are insulted in Igbo land when you desecrate our culture.
(iii) You
are insulted in Igbo land when you side with the enemies, just to mention but
few.
You and I can agree that those who are supposed to speak
and represent our people have failed to do so.
Sir, if I may ask you these questions;
What have the elders and the leaders done since the
commencement of the killing of our people in Nigeria, both by the Nigerian
government, through their law enforcement agencies, Boko Haram, Herdsmen etc?
What have the leaders and elders done since Biafrans'
businesses began to be burnt in Nigeria?
What have the elders and leaders done to stop the raping
of our mothers and sisters by the Fulani herdsmen?
What have the elders and leaders done in the wake of
marginalization of our people in Nigeria?
This is to mention but a few.
(4) You
said we insult the governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo;
Sir, I defined insult earlier, but for the purpose of
this point, let us look at the responsibilities of state governors.
What Are the Duties of State Government?
States shoulder the duties to administer roads,
education, public safety, justice and more, as decided by voters, state
lawmakers, and the state constitution.
Let’s look at Ohanaeze Formation
Ohanaeze Ndigbo is an apex Igbo socio-cultural group in
Nigeria.
The group represents all Igbo communities within and
outside Nigeria.
After the Nigerian civil war, some prominent Igbos
gathered to proclaim the need to unify Igbos under a common umbrella body.
This initiative was much welcomed considering maximum
displacement of the Igbos during the genocide and its aftermath.
An organizational assembly was created, referred to as
the Igbo National Assembly (INA). This organization was later banned by the
Federal Military Government at the time, probably due to the Government's fear
of a grand suspicious agenda being cultivated by the Igbos via the
organization; hence, the creation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in 1976.
Sir please if you go through the stated facts above, you
will agree with me that the governors are not anywhere close to what is
expected of them.
This is so because we do not elect any leader in Nigeria,
but they are selected by the same enemy that chastises us, for instance, in Imo
State where you currently have a Supreme Court governor in the person of
Hopeless Ozodimgba.
More so, sir you will agree with me that the formation of
Ohanaeze was done by the same enemy who rejected the existence of Igbo National
Assembly, but rather approved Ohanaeze to us, in order to force her wish on our
people.
In conclusion, the entire Igbo never gathered to form nor
delegate any power to Ohanaeze or her surrogate anywhere in the world as is
tradition in Igbo land. Hence, Ohanaeze do not represent the people.
(5) You
said we are not learned;
To be learned is defined as (of a person) having acquired
much knowledge through study.
Please sir, the last time I checked in IPOB from the
definition above, a sizeable percentage of IPOB members are educated to the
level of Ph.D. A typical example is I,
as a graduate and a clergyman.
There are millions of other successful personnel in
various fields of endeavour, including, but not limited to the academia.
(6) In your
previous interview you said we should work with our killers Nigeria;
from your video sir, you admitted that we are been maltreated
and marginalized by the same enemy and I wonder how you in turn again to asked
that we work with the same enemy. I will be glad if you will tell me how to
work harmoniously with our killers, in your response, sir.
(7) You
said we do not understand the difference between land lock and land mass and
that we are land locked, and cannot import because we do not have any sea where
ships can berth.
Please sir, you made us to understand that you are 73
years, older than the present governors in Igbo land, then how come you do not
know the territories of Igbo land in Biafra?
Sir, as an elder and educated person from Igbo land, do
you mean to tell us that you do not know the history and territories of Ndigbo
in the present Nigeria as constituted?
Sir, permit me to bring to your notice as a student of
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu that studied in the University of Radio Biafra that Igbo land
is never land locked or had small land mass.
Sir, are you not aware that the boundary of Ndigbo is not
limited to the present five (5) so-called south-east states as constituted in
Nigeria?
Are you also not aware that the listed areas below are
parts and parcel of Igbo territories according to Wikipedia?
Listed below are some parts of Igbo territories that we
have sea and water ways.
(1) Egbema
(2) Ecthe
(3) Omuma
(4) Ndoni
(5) Ikwerre
(6) Ekpeye
(7) Obigbo
(8) Opobo
(9) Ogba
(10) Igbanke/Igboakiri
(11) Igala
(12) Obubra
etc.
Please sir, are you not aware that the listed territories
are parts of Igbo land, or do you need special class to understand this?
If your answer is yes, then the above facts have proven
that you do not understand the history of Ndigbo and this, in other words has
shown that your age and education have nothing to do with the wisdom of Mazi
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB.
The above has also proven that you, Pete Edochie lack the
credential to lecture the IPOB nor anyone about Ndigbo because you do not
understand the history of the people you seek to advice.
Again, having agreed that the governors do not represent
the interest of Ndigbo, and as well failed to condemn the killing of IPOB
members and the parents of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has shown that you are complicit
in the onslaught and unleashing of Operation Python Dance 1,2 and 3 in Biafra
land you claimed to love. Hence, you are a hypocrite, and Igbo land forbids
this.
Equally, are you not aware that a meeting was called by
the south east governors to discuss with IPOB on the issue of agitation and
marginalization?
If yes what happened on the side of your almighty
governors that led to the tagging of IPOB as a terrorist organization, which
led to her proscription, and approval of operation python dance in Afara Ukwu
Umuahia where twenty-eight (28) unarmed men were murdered in cold blood?
Notwithstanding all these, Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen
and others that bear arms and kill innocent go free, and in turn, get recruited
into the armed forces of Nigeria.
But in all these killings and mayhem in our land, what
did your likes and the puppet governors in Igbo land do?
If you and they did nothing as well said anything, then
what does silence mean in Igbo Land?
It means you are evil and hypocrite for maintaining
silence while your people are murdered, but speak when your people rise up to
say enough. Aren’t you a hypocrite? You are.
(4) We
rightly, asserted the fact above that Ohanaeze does not speak for Ndigbo since
they do not have the mandate of Ndigbo. Then, what exactly is the function of Ohanaeze?
The current self-appointed president of Ohanaeze was
instrumental in the proscription of IPOB and the carnage of operation python
dance unleashed on our people.
At the same time, I quite know that you have seen your
friend and fellow conspirators in the person of Nnia Nwodo, who vowed that he
would sacrifice his life in place of killer Fulani herdsmen in Igbo land to
stay, but never did same while our mothers and sisters are raped and killed by
the same Fulani terrorists. What kind of hypocrisy is this?
After watching your recent video clip, I have the
following conclusions to make;
(1) You
have not proven to your people that you are educated and know the history of
Ndigbo.
(2) You
appeared to be part of the conspiracy against your people, taking into the
account of your silence over the killing of Ndigbo (operation python dance 1,
2, 3).
(3) Your
inability to speak out in the face of the unprovoked killing of your people
presents you as either a traitor or conspirator against your own people. This
is because in Igbo land an elder does not see evil and refuses to speak out.
(4) The
age of anyone does not determine his value or impact.
(5) Respect
is earned and not to be demanded by people of worthlessness in Igbo land.
(6) Igbo
land is not land locked as Igbo nation stretches from lower Benue to the
Atlantic Ocean.
(7) We do
not insult elders. We give respect to those who deserved it and not to
nonentity elders that baselessly demand it.
(8) The
members of IPOB are educated and principled. As we do not condone evil.
(9)
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has shown what is expected of anyone that regards
himself as a leader or elder. As leaders lead by example.
However, in my opinion, I advised you join any IPOB unit
closer to you for proper understanding sir.
Thank you, sir,
Yours obediently,
Pastor Jack
(A concerned Igbo Biafran).
Edited by:
Okwunna Okongwu
For: Lagos State Media
Published by:
Chibuike John Nebeokike
For: Lagos State Media
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