My friend Malachi Okwudiri Iheanacho, an MSc student at UI, and Igbo- Israel Union liaison for the South-West, and UI, advocated that the Igbos be re-branded.
Essentially by excavating the Igbos history and re-presenting Omenana as it is, I've been re-branding the Igbos. So I took what Iheanacho said as a call to do more. I began my latest work; 'An Introduction to the Chronicles of Igbo -Israel'. This work details how the Igbos began as ha Ibri, became Ibo, then became the Igbos, and today are on the verge of just being known by their Nigerian designated states such as Anambra, Abia, etc. In other words many Igbos would in the near future forget that they were Igbos; and would forget that they were Hebrews, and Israelites. Most still remember that they are Hebrews, because the word 'Igbo' is close to 'Ibri' (Hebrew). To make sure that the identity is not lost I resolved to re-brand the Igbos with the Igbos proper name; and to me this name is 'Igbo-Israel'.
More in the days ahead.
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The Igbo 'town unions' which really are clan unions are slowly coming out of doldrums. This associations which are equivalent to Jewish synagogues and community centres were the Igbos' engines of growth in the later decades of the 20th century. They sent bright young people who hadn't wealthy parents to school. they trained orphans. They contribute development to their communities. Many markets, boreholes, etc, in Igboland were financed by 'town unions'.
ReplyDeleteThen the town unions began to decline. We at the Igbo Israel Union have decided to help the 'town unions', to reinvent them. Join us, and contribute your quota to rebuilding Igbo Israel.
Below is a position from an Igbo 'town union' for your enjoyment and enlightenment. Remy Ilona
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2008/dec/31/national-31-12-2008-02.htm
Jos crisis: Igbo in Netherlands want culprits punished
By ZIKA BOBBY
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
•Photo: Sun News Publishing
* More Stories on This Section
Members of the Awka Development Union of Nigerian (ADUN), based in the Netherlands, have said the recent Jos crisis which claimed so many lives and destroyed property worth billions of naira was unacceptable and uncalled for.
Speaking through their Chairman, Obi Ochije on telephone from the Netherlands, the group said Nigerians are tired of killing one another, as they called for an urgent probe into the matter to forestall a recurrence.
"This is not the first time this type of crisis is happening in Jos. It is because nothing was done in the previous ones that is why the same killing continues unabated. If some one or some people have been brought to book, this kind of senseless killing would have long stopped.
This recent crisis has nothing to do with politics. What is the relationship with innocent people that were killed, houses of God that were burnt, to the local government elections in Plateau? This was a crisis that was premeditated by a particular group of people who I call killers and terrorists. They are a danger to the growth and peaceful coexistence of the entity called Nigeria. That is the more reason they should be fished out and appropriately dealt with.
“Nigerians should learn to see one another as brothers and sisters and with one love, not to use election to destroy all that we have jointly built together. Violence all the way, the loss will be enormous and it will affect all parties, whether you are Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. Why can't we live like the Americans? Today they have a black man as President-elect. That is even the more reason we should stop killing ourselves.
Nigerians abroad are worried sick when we hear that our brothers are killing and destroying what they took time to build. It is sickening. How do you think we will now want to bring our money to Nigeria to invest? So that you wake up one day to discover that what you suffered for has been destroyed by a fellow countryman. Think about it. It doesn't make sense.
I believe that as a Nigerian I can decide to live in any part of the country that I choose. It was once said that 'though tongue and tribe may differ, in brotherhood we stand.'
The group said Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State has done well in the state. "We are happy to have a governor like him and what he does with the state money is by giving us a true democracy. He has affected all facets of lives. The people are happy with him, which means he is actually doing well.”
The governor prefers to plan and he has made it clear to the people that 'he who fails to plan, has planned to fail,' that is why he has done well in all sectors of development in the state, particularly on road construction.
A Dutch friend who went to Nigeria and decided to visit Anambra State came back and described Anambra State as one huge construction yard. He said virtually all the roads are under construction. He has done more than any previous government in the state. More than 300 kilometers of road in the state has been tackled. He is not doing any road because the road passes through the house or town of Obi's friend but to satisfy the masses."