My thinking is in line with your thinking. There is a swathe of Anambra State close to O. Nsugbe's clan. There are still many adherents of Omenana there. I was there early last year. The place reminded me of the Igboland of the seventies. While there I had a feeling that I was in pre -monarchy ancient Israel. Extreme material poverty as we know it today! But absolutely no crime! The feeling was eery. I planned to go back there with a video camera, but before I could do so I fell ill. Frankly I worry that our brethren that are mad with ignorance would sooner or later destroy such places in their quest to wipe out all relics of the Igbos pre-Christian life. Such places need to be protected. I hope that we will be ready in time to do so. We need empowerment to get to those with executive powers; i.e, those in government, as it is they who could provide the resources that would be necessary to protect such places, and the way of life that's still obtainable there. Hopefully we'll have the book The Igbos and Israel soon, so that we can use it to explain to our brethren that such places are places where rabbinical, Israelite, and biblical studies students could go to, to learn. From experience I know that Igbos respect their history and culture when they recognize the similarities between them, and Israel's.
Igbo Judaists should visit such places too. Rabbinic Judaism could and should help to ensure that the practices of the ndi ogo Mmuo (worshippers of God) remain Israelite and pure. They have tried so much by retaining the basic elements of Hebrewisms, by relying on their memories, and oral traditions, but we need to get them Torah soon, so that they won't stray or become syncretistic. And very importantly, as people living in the rural areas their alliance with the Igbo Judaists will help in entrenching rabbinic Judaism in the heart of the Igbo society.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
How Ndi Igbo came from Israel.
Actually people should look at the whole of Africa when Ethiopia was mentioned in early times. There were no steel barriers confining the Israelites that moved into Ethiopia to Ethiopia. Naturally they continued downwards-and the biggest concentration of those that continued downwards settled in the south of the area that became Southern Nigeria.
There are no maps, books detailing the movements-similar to what I read about the Jews of Russia-that nobody really knows when or how they got there-but as they practiced Judaism it was clear that they were/are of Israelite stock.
This is not to say that I think that the Igbos are made up only of those that the Assyrians dispersed, i.e, the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom. My theory, supported by many sources is that Hebrews had started trickling into the African continent well before the great dispersions. [The nail that yielded the enzyme that gave us the blue in our tallits in ancient times were obtainable only in the waters of West Africa]. And that a very great majority of those that moved 'down' settled in the Niger area because of abundant water, fertile land, etc. And that when the dispersions occurred, a huge number of the dispersed also joined those that had settled in the Niger area. This would include some exiles from Samaria, and Judah. My theory is that these streams-from the entire nation of Israel built up the nation that became known as the Hebrews--------Ibri------------Ibo--------------Igbo. Retain the tribal name to provide room for everybody. An Igbo instinctively prefers to be identified as a Hebrew or an Israelite, more than as a Jew, because in my thinking, only some Igbos descended from Judah.
And can I prove all these? I can. We have the Leviim, and the Aaronides, and the acronym of their chief clan is derived from the prophesy about Levi by Jacob in Genesis.
If anybody's claim to Israelitishness is strong its that of the Igbos, because everywhere there are tell-tale signs, symbols, etc, telling us about who the Igbos are. And it must be mentioned that today, not many people, including Igbos know about all these-because these are things that have not received attention-popular or scholarly, for a long time. And in the Igbo case colonialism damaged us almost irreparably. It made Igbos to begin to chase after things that didn't concern them, while neglecting even themselves.
Now I ask myself why did I even think that the Igbos needed DNA tests, when the phrase Omenana; the Igbo religion can be found in the Torah. When every Igbo practice is parallelized by a Jewish one. When even the Igbo experience is parallelized by the Israelite experience. And I conclude that what the Igbos need is Jewish information to counter the toxic effects of European colonialism.
Ndeewo.
There are no maps, books detailing the movements-similar to what I read about the Jews of Russia-that nobody really knows when or how they got there-but as they practiced Judaism it was clear that they were/are of Israelite stock.
This is not to say that I think that the Igbos are made up only of those that the Assyrians dispersed, i.e, the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom. My theory, supported by many sources is that Hebrews had started trickling into the African continent well before the great dispersions. [The nail that yielded the enzyme that gave us the blue in our tallits in ancient times were obtainable only in the waters of West Africa]. And that a very great majority of those that moved 'down' settled in the Niger area because of abundant water, fertile land, etc. And that when the dispersions occurred, a huge number of the dispersed also joined those that had settled in the Niger area. This would include some exiles from Samaria, and Judah. My theory is that these streams-from the entire nation of Israel built up the nation that became known as the Hebrews--------Ibri------------Ibo--------------Igbo. Retain the tribal name to provide room for everybody. An Igbo instinctively prefers to be identified as a Hebrew or an Israelite, more than as a Jew, because in my thinking, only some Igbos descended from Judah.
And can I prove all these? I can. We have the Leviim, and the Aaronides, and the acronym of their chief clan is derived from the prophesy about Levi by Jacob in Genesis.
If anybody's claim to Israelitishness is strong its that of the Igbos, because everywhere there are tell-tale signs, symbols, etc, telling us about who the Igbos are. And it must be mentioned that today, not many people, including Igbos know about all these-because these are things that have not received attention-popular or scholarly, for a long time. And in the Igbo case colonialism damaged us almost irreparably. It made Igbos to begin to chase after things that didn't concern them, while neglecting even themselves.
Now I ask myself why did I even think that the Igbos needed DNA tests, when the phrase Omenana; the Igbo religion can be found in the Torah. When every Igbo practice is parallelized by a Jewish one. When even the Igbo experience is parallelized by the Israelite experience. And I conclude that what the Igbos need is Jewish information to counter the toxic effects of European colonialism.
Ndeewo.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
TITHE
PROJECT: IBU IHU NA IKE IHU
The Igbos of Nigeria who number up to thirty five millions have a customary practice called ibu ihu. This practice requires every Igbo to set aside a percentage of his annual income, and to send it to his family where all the funds/commodities that have been collected will be shared by all the members of the family.
In former times when the Igbos were less influenced by other cultures ibu ihu was generally practiced. Then the Igbos paid this due with food. This contribution helped to ensure that the Igbos did not have much food hunger, destitution and a high crime rate, because the practice was an effective way of distributing wealth. Indirectly the wealthy gave to the poorer, who received without loosing face because they contributed as well.
Presently ibu ihu is almost extinct. Now due to this and many other factors the Igbo people are poorer and their society is becoming dysfunctional. Poverty and some other factors have led to an upsurge in crimes like narcotics peddling, violent crimes, and the other social vices. Also many Igbos are struggling to emigrate.
PROJECT IBU IHU NA IKE IHU is about a revival of this practice which would empower many Igbos, strengthen family ties, and reduce social tensions. If the project gains ground the Igbo people will be the better for it because many more Igbos, will become empowered, and thus poverty will be alleviated, and crime will be reduced.
Igbo-Israel should lead by enacting this practice as it prepares to celebrate rosh hashana, and observe the yom kippur with the rest of am Yisrael!
The Igbos of Nigeria who number up to thirty five millions have a customary practice called ibu ihu. This practice requires every Igbo to set aside a percentage of his annual income, and to send it to his family where all the funds/commodities that have been collected will be shared by all the members of the family.
In former times when the Igbos were less influenced by other cultures ibu ihu was generally practiced. Then the Igbos paid this due with food. This contribution helped to ensure that the Igbos did not have much food hunger, destitution and a high crime rate, because the practice was an effective way of distributing wealth. Indirectly the wealthy gave to the poorer, who received without loosing face because they contributed as well.
Presently ibu ihu is almost extinct. Now due to this and many other factors the Igbo people are poorer and their society is becoming dysfunctional. Poverty and some other factors have led to an upsurge in crimes like narcotics peddling, violent crimes, and the other social vices. Also many Igbos are struggling to emigrate.
PROJECT IBU IHU NA IKE IHU is about a revival of this practice which would empower many Igbos, strengthen family ties, and reduce social tensions. If the project gains ground the Igbo people will be the better for it because many more Igbos, will become empowered, and thus poverty will be alleviated, and crime will be reduced.
Igbo-Israel should lead by enacting this practice as it prepares to celebrate rosh hashana, and observe the yom kippur with the rest of am Yisrael!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
WHO IS IGBO?
WHO IS IGBO?
CHUKWUKAODINAKA REMY ILONA
08065300351
remy.ilona@gmail.com, ilona@derushapublishing.com
When I ponder over this question what comes to my mind is principally; what is the origin of the Igbos? For certain reasons which I will mention later I have always tried to solve puzzles by first of all looking at the history of the puzzles.
An Igbo as understood presently is someone from the following Nigerian states: Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi. And some indigenes of Delta State. I would also say that the Igbos also include some people that are indigenous in Edo and Rivers states. The Igbos in all the mentioned states inhabit a contiguous territory. I do not think that some people in the Rivers, Edo, Delta States, and even a tiny minority from Anambra State will view my submission agreeably. This is because huge numbers of people who bear Igbo names, speak the Igbo language, and practice Igbo culture in the afore-mentioned states have openly declared that though ‘we speak Igbo, bear Igbo names, we are not Igbos’. These people actually speak Igbo. Close examination of their cultural practices reveal that Omenana; the Igbo culture, is also their culture. And clearly culture, and language which is an aspect of culture determines what or who one is; i.e, ones origins. So why do we have people who are Igbos disowning their identity?
I would need a book to answer the question, but because this is a newspaper I’ll try to compress my answer. I will get back to the question later, but for now I will try to work on what the tribal origin of the Igbos is, with the objective of trying to discover why there is so much complications with the issue of the Igbo identity.
The Igbos have generally not taken their tribal identity serious.
Igbo laxity has created room for certain people who do not know the importance of history, to introduce dangerous and mischievous distortions, and even fabrications into Igbo history.
Presently we have Igbo “historians” who have without a shred of evidence “proven” that the Igbos existed before the biblical Adam did. And they were scholarly, and bold enough to admit that they got this information from Ile Ife. And that they were motivated by Afro-centrism, and black-colour pride. We also have some who say that the biblical Melchizedek was Igbo, and that it was he who taught Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch the importance of monotheism. Even though some of these scholars lack the basic skills (knowledge of the Hebrew language, Hebrew culture and history); that one requires to understand Hebrew sources, among which is the principal book (the Tanakh), that talked about Adam, Melchizedek, and Abraham; they have rushed to the press with their ‘great discoveries’. Some Igbos have also claimed that they originated from Bini. A cursory comparison of the claimants’, and the Bini cultures reveals that the claimants were motivated to make the false claim purely by the desire to make mischief, and inferiority complex.
Distortions and fabrications should be kept out of history. Many of the conflicts that have shocked the world, and cost humanity dearly; especially the religious ones, wouldn’t have arisen if recorders had written exactly what happened. Many chroniclers have written what did not happen, as what happened, and have led many gullible people into basing their faith on empty lies, and emotions.
So, if the Igbo people have not treated their history as something that is sacrosanct, should it be surprising that some of the Igbos from Edo, Delta, and Rivers, deny that they are Igbos today?
It shouldn’t be surprising for many reasons, among which is the one that the groups that deny, do so because they are confused. And the second one which is that they learnt the fine art of self-denial from their kinsmen-those that admit that they are Igbos today. I will throw more light on what I’m getting at with the following illustration by talking about two episodes that were narrated in Things Fall Apart, and No Longer At Ease; two seminal works by that most clever Igbo; Chinua Achebe.
Okonkwo; that great Igbo freedom fighter who stood against desecration of the Igbos through desecration of Omenana, and seizure of the Igbos’ freedom by the invading British, died in the struggle. And his first son, Nwoye who had joined the enemies, refused to attend his funeral. And when Nwoye’s wife died, the son, Obi, repeated what Nwoye did, by not attending the funeral of his mother, Nwoye’s wife.
The Igbos from Edo, Delta, and Rivers, are simply repeating what the Igbos as a people have been doing. The Igbos generally act as if they feel that where they came from is not important. The self-denying Igbos from the afore-mentioned states say that they are not Igbos. In other words; just as the Igbos generally do not attach much importance to their Israelitishness, so do some of the Igbos of Edo, Delta, and Rivers, whom I regard as self-denying Igbos feel that they are not Igbo, and say so.
So at last who are the Igbos? Two Igbos; Peter Opara and Gavriel Ogugua, had after attending a meeting of the World Igbo Congress, visited the officials of the American Jewish Committee, and had told them that: ‘…. Igbos feel a spiritual bond with Jews because, Igbos have not been able to trace their origin back to anywhere else other than Israel”1.
If sharing of a similar culture is indicative of a common origin, I would agree with Opara, and Ogugua, and I agree with them. Credible and authentic research about Igbo origins have pointed only at Israel, as the place of origins of the Igbos.
If this is an established fact, and I say that it is; because studies and comparison of Igbo culture (Omenana), and Judaism (the culture of Israel), asusu Igbo (the Igbo language), and Ibrit (Hebrew language), the Igbo and the Jewish DNA’s, and Igbo history, have all indicated that the Igbos and the Jews were originally one people, and that the Hebrew culture which is the basis of their culture evolved in ancient Israel, why haven’t the Igbos done the proper thing? The proper thing should be to introduce into the curricula of the schools and other institutions that impart knowledge to the Igbos the information about the Igbos origins. But in the curricula of all the schools, and the programmes of all the other institutions that cater to the Igbos educational needs such as the churches, which have existed for decades, and the synagogues which have started growing among the Igbos, information about the Igbos origins is totally absent. This is also what obtains in most of the print and electronic mass media. Save the National Times newspaper which has been impressive, and the Sun which reports on the subject occasionally, a follower of news is not likely to get enough information about where the Igbos originated from. And the Igbo organizations! Only the Igbo Israel Union (Society), and the Igbo Origin and Culture Research Society have prioritized the very important subject of the Igbos origins.
So in the final analysis I say that the Igbos are the descendant of Israel that migrated from the Holy Land, through North Africa, the Sahara desert, and resettled in the rain forests of what became the South-East of Nigeria.
CHUKWUKAODINAKA REMY ILONA
08065300351
remy.ilona@gmail.com, ilona@derushapublishing.com
When I ponder over this question what comes to my mind is principally; what is the origin of the Igbos? For certain reasons which I will mention later I have always tried to solve puzzles by first of all looking at the history of the puzzles.
An Igbo as understood presently is someone from the following Nigerian states: Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi. And some indigenes of Delta State. I would also say that the Igbos also include some people that are indigenous in Edo and Rivers states. The Igbos in all the mentioned states inhabit a contiguous territory. I do not think that some people in the Rivers, Edo, Delta States, and even a tiny minority from Anambra State will view my submission agreeably. This is because huge numbers of people who bear Igbo names, speak the Igbo language, and practice Igbo culture in the afore-mentioned states have openly declared that though ‘we speak Igbo, bear Igbo names, we are not Igbos’. These people actually speak Igbo. Close examination of their cultural practices reveal that Omenana; the Igbo culture, is also their culture. And clearly culture, and language which is an aspect of culture determines what or who one is; i.e, ones origins. So why do we have people who are Igbos disowning their identity?
I would need a book to answer the question, but because this is a newspaper I’ll try to compress my answer. I will get back to the question later, but for now I will try to work on what the tribal origin of the Igbos is, with the objective of trying to discover why there is so much complications with the issue of the Igbo identity.
The Igbos have generally not taken their tribal identity serious.
Igbo laxity has created room for certain people who do not know the importance of history, to introduce dangerous and mischievous distortions, and even fabrications into Igbo history.
Presently we have Igbo “historians” who have without a shred of evidence “proven” that the Igbos existed before the biblical Adam did. And they were scholarly, and bold enough to admit that they got this information from Ile Ife. And that they were motivated by Afro-centrism, and black-colour pride. We also have some who say that the biblical Melchizedek was Igbo, and that it was he who taught Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch the importance of monotheism. Even though some of these scholars lack the basic skills (knowledge of the Hebrew language, Hebrew culture and history); that one requires to understand Hebrew sources, among which is the principal book (the Tanakh), that talked about Adam, Melchizedek, and Abraham; they have rushed to the press with their ‘great discoveries’. Some Igbos have also claimed that they originated from Bini. A cursory comparison of the claimants’, and the Bini cultures reveals that the claimants were motivated to make the false claim purely by the desire to make mischief, and inferiority complex.
Distortions and fabrications should be kept out of history. Many of the conflicts that have shocked the world, and cost humanity dearly; especially the religious ones, wouldn’t have arisen if recorders had written exactly what happened. Many chroniclers have written what did not happen, as what happened, and have led many gullible people into basing their faith on empty lies, and emotions.
So, if the Igbo people have not treated their history as something that is sacrosanct, should it be surprising that some of the Igbos from Edo, Delta, and Rivers, deny that they are Igbos today?
It shouldn’t be surprising for many reasons, among which is the one that the groups that deny, do so because they are confused. And the second one which is that they learnt the fine art of self-denial from their kinsmen-those that admit that they are Igbos today. I will throw more light on what I’m getting at with the following illustration by talking about two episodes that were narrated in Things Fall Apart, and No Longer At Ease; two seminal works by that most clever Igbo; Chinua Achebe.
Okonkwo; that great Igbo freedom fighter who stood against desecration of the Igbos through desecration of Omenana, and seizure of the Igbos’ freedom by the invading British, died in the struggle. And his first son, Nwoye who had joined the enemies, refused to attend his funeral. And when Nwoye’s wife died, the son, Obi, repeated what Nwoye did, by not attending the funeral of his mother, Nwoye’s wife.
The Igbos from Edo, Delta, and Rivers, are simply repeating what the Igbos as a people have been doing. The Igbos generally act as if they feel that where they came from is not important. The self-denying Igbos from the afore-mentioned states say that they are not Igbos. In other words; just as the Igbos generally do not attach much importance to their Israelitishness, so do some of the Igbos of Edo, Delta, and Rivers, whom I regard as self-denying Igbos feel that they are not Igbo, and say so.
So at last who are the Igbos? Two Igbos; Peter Opara and Gavriel Ogugua, had after attending a meeting of the World Igbo Congress, visited the officials of the American Jewish Committee, and had told them that: ‘…. Igbos feel a spiritual bond with Jews because, Igbos have not been able to trace their origin back to anywhere else other than Israel”1.
If sharing of a similar culture is indicative of a common origin, I would agree with Opara, and Ogugua, and I agree with them. Credible and authentic research about Igbo origins have pointed only at Israel, as the place of origins of the Igbos.
If this is an established fact, and I say that it is; because studies and comparison of Igbo culture (Omenana), and Judaism (the culture of Israel), asusu Igbo (the Igbo language), and Ibrit (Hebrew language), the Igbo and the Jewish DNA’s, and Igbo history, have all indicated that the Igbos and the Jews were originally one people, and that the Hebrew culture which is the basis of their culture evolved in ancient Israel, why haven’t the Igbos done the proper thing? The proper thing should be to introduce into the curricula of the schools and other institutions that impart knowledge to the Igbos the information about the Igbos origins. But in the curricula of all the schools, and the programmes of all the other institutions that cater to the Igbos educational needs such as the churches, which have existed for decades, and the synagogues which have started growing among the Igbos, information about the Igbos origins is totally absent. This is also what obtains in most of the print and electronic mass media. Save the National Times newspaper which has been impressive, and the Sun which reports on the subject occasionally, a follower of news is not likely to get enough information about where the Igbos originated from. And the Igbo organizations! Only the Igbo Israel Union (Society), and the Igbo Origin and Culture Research Society have prioritized the very important subject of the Igbos origins.
So in the final analysis I say that the Igbos are the descendant of Israel that migrated from the Holy Land, through North Africa, the Sahara desert, and resettled in the rain forests of what became the South-East of Nigeria.
RESPONSE TO OBIKPO
Answer to Ques No 1 and 2. I have tried more to find out what the Igbos think, and want to do about their origins, identity and culture. That's more important to me. You can find more about my thoughts in my latest post (to go up tonight).I don't know any Igbo that has tried to make aliyah. I have not tried. I'm still preoccupied with what I'm doing here. Have you applied to make aliyah?I'm not acquianted with Mr. Nessim Gaon, and unfortunately I'm not in a position to help, as I do not work for any Israeli outfit. I must say that I'm sorry for your troubles. I must also say that I'm not an Israeli citizen, and can't answer for 'Israeli officials or NGOs'.
Remy Ilona
Remy Ilona
Saturday, August 14, 2010
IGBO-ISRAEL: ORIGINS, HISTORY AND CULTURE.
IGBO-ISRAEL: ORIGINS, HISTORY AND CULTURE.
CHUKWUKAODINAKA (REMY) ILONA
08065300351
remy.ilona@gmail.com, Ilona@derushapublishing.com
This brief survey introduces the Igbo people, traces the origin of the Igbo people, and talks about why the Igbos must invest all their energy, strength and resources to know who they are, and reconnect to their source.
Presently the Igbos are a sub-Saharan African people numbering up to 40 millions that are autochthonous/indigenous in the territory that is currently called the South East of Nigeria. The term ‘South East’ is a political designation. The South East in Nigeria means the area called the ‘core’ Igbo states. These are Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. These states are also regarded, and referred to as the Igbo heartland.
There are also Igbos that are autochthonous/ indigenous in Edo, Delta, and Rivers states of Nigeria.
The Igbos are Igbos today, but what were they before they became Igbos? The word ‘Igbo’ is helpful in the quest to answer the question.
The tribal/national name of the people in discussion ‘Ibo; or ‘Igbo’ is derived from Ibri. Interestingly a foreigner dropped the hint which helped me to unravel the puzzle, in my opinion.
According to the foreigner; one of the missionaries who worked in Igboland: ‘All my attempts to trace the origin of the name Ibo have been unsuccessful. My most reliable informants have been able to offer no other alternative than that it is most probably an abbreviation of a longer name connected with an ancestor long since forgotten.’3
Abraham is the ancestor of Israel. And Abraham was specifically referred to as ‘Abram the Hebrew’ (Gen.14:13). Many Igbos have suggested that the word ‘Ibo’ which virtually all non Igbos use to address the Igbos is a corruption of ‘Hebrew.’ I know that they mean Ibri or Ivri which are the Hebrew language equivalents of Hebrew which itself is a Greek-Latin-English translation of Ibri or Ivri.
If as Genesis 14:13 posited, Abram is the Ibri. And his descendants from Isaac and Jacob went on to retain the name ha-Ibri (the Hebrews), we do not have to go far to know where the name/word ‘Igbo’ came from. The people known as the Jews today were known as the Israelites, and also as ha Ibri (the Hebrews), after their ancestors Israel and Abraham. All that we have seen in Igbo culture indicate that the Igbos emanated from the twelve tribes of Israel. Logic tells the rest of the story. It is a tradition for the Igbos to bear the names of their ancestors. All Igbos are from one clan or the other, and all the clans or most of them bear the names of their ancestors/founders, or at least names formed from those of the founding fathers or in a few cases mothers. One could ask; why won’t the Igbo people as a whole assume the name of their ancestor- ha Ibri? Listening to a modern Jew pronounce Ibri, you would conclude that he/she is saying Igbo. With all the aforesaid we can say that the Igbos simply retained the earliest name of/designation for the people of Israel, and the name that all the tribes would feel comfortable with. Perceptive modern Jews have observed that Igbos may feel more comfortable if identified as Hebrews rather than as Jews, because they didn’t all descend from the Jews (from the tribe of Judah). This deserves more talk though. The term ‘Jew’ is also used to represent the Israelites and the Hebrews presently, just as England stands for Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. And the U.S.A., and Russia respectively stand and stood for the American continent, and the defunct U.S.S.R.
So the above having been said and done with I repeat that the Igbos are of Hebraic descent. 99.9% of the Igbos know that the Igbos came from Israel. One would be right to wonder about why 0.1 % of the Igbos would not know about their origins. The explanations would be multifaceted. One could say that all the Igbos know that the Igbos were Hebrews a few years ago, because the knowledge of who the Igbos are was more in previous years, and in fact it recedes year by year. Knowledgeable Igbo elders who did not have the benefit of the European type education that became fashionable after the British conquest and colonization of the Igbos knew that the Igbo people are ha Ibri (Hebrews), because their fathers told them. I talked with some of them at Nri clan, and preserved their testimonies for posterity in the Igbo Israel Video Interview series. Today the knowledge is receding because Igbo history as a subject of instruction has been absent from the curricula of all the educational and religious institutions that have ‘catered’ to the ‘needs’ of the Igbos, since the Igbos were defeated and colonized. A close reading of the earlier works of Chinua Achebe, John Munonye, Chukwuemeka Ike, and Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona will reveal that the Igbo people began to develop feelings of inferiority, and self-hate, after the colonial authorities had intervened, and branded Igbo culture pagan.
The event or process that I described above led to severe losses. The same can be said about most of the mass media that have sold their products to the Igbo people. Save the National Times newspaper, no newspaper in Nigeria talks about Igbo history and culture. And Nollywood! The film industry which was built up with Igbo sweat and money but which the Igbo builders have virtually handed over to people from the competing peoples of Nigeria, because the Igbo film marketers/producers as they are called want to make money. Nollywood has excelled! It has excelled in distorting Igbo history, and ridiculing the Igbos! Even though Omenana has room for egalitarianism and republicanism only, Igbo film-makers specialize in making ’Igbo films’, which portray this Igbos as corrupt feudalists with still more corrupt monarchies. And interestingly as the film producers stray they get more destructive. Presently they use non Igbo film actors to play the roles of Igbo ‘kings’. So would anybody be surprised if a few Igbos do not know that the Igbos are Israelites. And a great majority of those that know that the Igbos are Israelites do not know that Omenana 9Igbo culture) is Israelite culture, i.e, their knowledge of their origins is not really meaningful, because they do not know what Omenana is, and that the Hebrew Bible is extracted from Omenana. However there is a minority that retain the knowledge that the Igbos are Jews, as the modern Hebrew is more regularly addressed, in a meaningful way, i.e, they know that the Igbos are Jewish, and that that sets them apart as people of God, and gives them the responsibility to live differently from their neighbours; i.e, demands that they live according to the dictates of the Written and Oral Laws of God (the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the Mishna and the Gemarra). This minority is the Igbo-Israel.
This minority is working to heal the Igbo people, and rebuild Igbo intellectual, spiritual, and material heritage.
I have been privileged to work with this section of the Igbos. That the Igbo people are in trouble is the best kept secret in the world. In Nigeria the catch-phrases for the Igbos today is ‘Igbo problem’, and ‘marginalization’. Where the Igbos live in exile the story is not different. The situation is bad to the extent that it prompted an Igbo intellectual, one of the most productive minds of the Igbos; who lives in the United States to write the following missive:
“Anybody who sees the Igbo situation in simple linear perspectiveeither is ignorant of the profound realities or dishonest. The Igbohas entered an emergency phase, and it requires good old political andsocial organizing to restore it. One of the most critical problems inAla-Igbo today is the nature of its human and ecological environment:social instability - that is, difficulties in the prospects ofsettling has made it impossible for Igbo young men and women now tomarry at the natural age - between 25-35. Young men now marry at theaverage age of 40 years. Many Igbo women are without prospects ofmarriage, having crossed certain thresholds. The implication is that45% of Igbo people are not reproducing a new generation. Those who getmarried are suffering from curious stages of infertility as a resultof environmental degradation and chemical pollution- through oilexploration activities and groundwater toxification. Anepidemiological survey carried out in the whole of Igbo land todaywill reveal a most deadly truth: a huge number of the Igbo are dyingfrom AIDS, new forms of Cancer, and Diabetes - from poor nutrition.These are issues that we must address holistically because they flowfrom the nature of the relationship between the PEOPLE and theirgovernment. The Igbo themselves have not sat down to confront theirelected representatives with an action plan, and with suggestions ofthe means to carry it out, and a timeline and oversight. The problemof insecurity occasioned by new waves of kidnapping only complicatesthis: but to put this simply, our greatest problem is not the problemof this new wave of selective and directed terrorism. It is that theIgbo as a people have learnt to be DEPENDENT on some external factor orfigure whom they expect to solve their problems. I have said thisbefore, WE ARE ALL GUILTY - either by silence, inaction, or directcomplicity.All those who wish to participate in the restoration and rebuilding ofIgbo land must begin to re-think our relationships with that land.Anaghi ano uti agba ntele ukwu. We must get active”.
The situation is as bad, or even worse than as portrayed in the missive above, but only some elements among the Igbo-Israel have really seen the handwriting on the wall. That there is danger! That there is no time to waste! The generality of the Igbos feel helpless, because they are helpless. Disarmed by ignorance, and illiteracy in Igbo studies, Igbos with even post-graduate degrees do not know what to say or do to stem the decline of the Igbo nation. Fortunately Igbo-Israel is growing!
In recognition of the above problems, and inspired by the action plan and road map laid out in books: The Igbos: Jews In Africa-With Solutions To The Most Critical Igbo Problems and Introduction To The Chronicles Of Igbo Israel-And The Connections Between The Afro Americans and the Jews, a group of Igbo scholars, professionals, businessmen, artistes, and bureaucrats have come together as The Igbo Origin and Culture Research Society to contribute to the positive growth and development of the Igbo people, and Igboland. The Society will very likely present its programmes to the Igbo people in the month of October, in 2010. It will use the opportunity to present some of the afore-mentioned books and premiere the Igbo-Israel Video Interview to the Igbo, Jewish and general public. It is also organizing an Igbo summit where solutions would be found to many of the ills that plague ndi Igbo today; such as brother kidnapping of brother which is alien to Igbo culture. In addition it will also appraise ndi Igbo about some programmes that it is working on; such as the preservation of the Igbo migration story in film. And the Igbo-Israel International Music Festival, an initiative of Moore Black Chi Mmadike, an Igbo reggae artiste, and Vice President (International) Igbo-Israel Union (Society), who is based in Australia.
Sources:
=A Short Story From Igbo Israel
=The Igbos: Jews n Africa; Vol 1
=The Igbos: Jews In Africa: With Reflections on the Civil War and Solutions to the most critical Igbo problems
= A Brief Study of the Foundations of Ancient Israel: From the Igbo Experience and Perspective
=Introduction To The Chronicles of Igbo Israel-And The Connections Between The Afro-Americans and The Jews
=From Ibri to Igbo-40 million More Jews
By Chukwukaodinaka (Remy) Ilona: Lawyer, Jewish/Igbo Studies scholar, and writer.
Kulanu Inc’ Liaison for Nigeria
Founding president: The Igbo Israel Union (Society)
Field Correspondent: International Society for the study of African Jewry (I.S.S.A.J)
Secretary: Igbo Origin and Culture Research Society
CHUKWUKAODINAKA (REMY) ILONA
08065300351
remy.ilona@gmail.com, Ilona@derushapublishing.com
This brief survey introduces the Igbo people, traces the origin of the Igbo people, and talks about why the Igbos must invest all their energy, strength and resources to know who they are, and reconnect to their source.
Presently the Igbos are a sub-Saharan African people numbering up to 40 millions that are autochthonous/indigenous in the territory that is currently called the South East of Nigeria. The term ‘South East’ is a political designation. The South East in Nigeria means the area called the ‘core’ Igbo states. These are Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. These states are also regarded, and referred to as the Igbo heartland.
There are also Igbos that are autochthonous/ indigenous in Edo, Delta, and Rivers states of Nigeria.
The Igbos are Igbos today, but what were they before they became Igbos? The word ‘Igbo’ is helpful in the quest to answer the question.
The tribal/national name of the people in discussion ‘Ibo; or ‘Igbo’ is derived from Ibri. Interestingly a foreigner dropped the hint which helped me to unravel the puzzle, in my opinion.
According to the foreigner; one of the missionaries who worked in Igboland: ‘All my attempts to trace the origin of the name Ibo have been unsuccessful. My most reliable informants have been able to offer no other alternative than that it is most probably an abbreviation of a longer name connected with an ancestor long since forgotten.’3
Abraham is the ancestor of Israel. And Abraham was specifically referred to as ‘Abram the Hebrew’ (Gen.14:13). Many Igbos have suggested that the word ‘Ibo’ which virtually all non Igbos use to address the Igbos is a corruption of ‘Hebrew.’ I know that they mean Ibri or Ivri which are the Hebrew language equivalents of Hebrew which itself is a Greek-Latin-English translation of Ibri or Ivri.
If as Genesis 14:13 posited, Abram is the Ibri. And his descendants from Isaac and Jacob went on to retain the name ha-Ibri (the Hebrews), we do not have to go far to know where the name/word ‘Igbo’ came from. The people known as the Jews today were known as the Israelites, and also as ha Ibri (the Hebrews), after their ancestors Israel and Abraham. All that we have seen in Igbo culture indicate that the Igbos emanated from the twelve tribes of Israel. Logic tells the rest of the story. It is a tradition for the Igbos to bear the names of their ancestors. All Igbos are from one clan or the other, and all the clans or most of them bear the names of their ancestors/founders, or at least names formed from those of the founding fathers or in a few cases mothers. One could ask; why won’t the Igbo people as a whole assume the name of their ancestor- ha Ibri? Listening to a modern Jew pronounce Ibri, you would conclude that he/she is saying Igbo. With all the aforesaid we can say that the Igbos simply retained the earliest name of/designation for the people of Israel, and the name that all the tribes would feel comfortable with. Perceptive modern Jews have observed that Igbos may feel more comfortable if identified as Hebrews rather than as Jews, because they didn’t all descend from the Jews (from the tribe of Judah). This deserves more talk though. The term ‘Jew’ is also used to represent the Israelites and the Hebrews presently, just as England stands for Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. And the U.S.A., and Russia respectively stand and stood for the American continent, and the defunct U.S.S.R.
So the above having been said and done with I repeat that the Igbos are of Hebraic descent. 99.9% of the Igbos know that the Igbos came from Israel. One would be right to wonder about why 0.1 % of the Igbos would not know about their origins. The explanations would be multifaceted. One could say that all the Igbos know that the Igbos were Hebrews a few years ago, because the knowledge of who the Igbos are was more in previous years, and in fact it recedes year by year. Knowledgeable Igbo elders who did not have the benefit of the European type education that became fashionable after the British conquest and colonization of the Igbos knew that the Igbo people are ha Ibri (Hebrews), because their fathers told them. I talked with some of them at Nri clan, and preserved their testimonies for posterity in the Igbo Israel Video Interview series. Today the knowledge is receding because Igbo history as a subject of instruction has been absent from the curricula of all the educational and religious institutions that have ‘catered’ to the ‘needs’ of the Igbos, since the Igbos were defeated and colonized. A close reading of the earlier works of Chinua Achebe, John Munonye, Chukwuemeka Ike, and Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona will reveal that the Igbo people began to develop feelings of inferiority, and self-hate, after the colonial authorities had intervened, and branded Igbo culture pagan.
The event or process that I described above led to severe losses. The same can be said about most of the mass media that have sold their products to the Igbo people. Save the National Times newspaper, no newspaper in Nigeria talks about Igbo history and culture. And Nollywood! The film industry which was built up with Igbo sweat and money but which the Igbo builders have virtually handed over to people from the competing peoples of Nigeria, because the Igbo film marketers/producers as they are called want to make money. Nollywood has excelled! It has excelled in distorting Igbo history, and ridiculing the Igbos! Even though Omenana has room for egalitarianism and republicanism only, Igbo film-makers specialize in making ’Igbo films’, which portray this Igbos as corrupt feudalists with still more corrupt monarchies. And interestingly as the film producers stray they get more destructive. Presently they use non Igbo film actors to play the roles of Igbo ‘kings’. So would anybody be surprised if a few Igbos do not know that the Igbos are Israelites. And a great majority of those that know that the Igbos are Israelites do not know that Omenana 9Igbo culture) is Israelite culture, i.e, their knowledge of their origins is not really meaningful, because they do not know what Omenana is, and that the Hebrew Bible is extracted from Omenana. However there is a minority that retain the knowledge that the Igbos are Jews, as the modern Hebrew is more regularly addressed, in a meaningful way, i.e, they know that the Igbos are Jewish, and that that sets them apart as people of God, and gives them the responsibility to live differently from their neighbours; i.e, demands that they live according to the dictates of the Written and Oral Laws of God (the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the Mishna and the Gemarra). This minority is the Igbo-Israel.
This minority is working to heal the Igbo people, and rebuild Igbo intellectual, spiritual, and material heritage.
I have been privileged to work with this section of the Igbos. That the Igbo people are in trouble is the best kept secret in the world. In Nigeria the catch-phrases for the Igbos today is ‘Igbo problem’, and ‘marginalization’. Where the Igbos live in exile the story is not different. The situation is bad to the extent that it prompted an Igbo intellectual, one of the most productive minds of the Igbos; who lives in the United States to write the following missive:
“Anybody who sees the Igbo situation in simple linear perspectiveeither is ignorant of the profound realities or dishonest. The Igbohas entered an emergency phase, and it requires good old political andsocial organizing to restore it. One of the most critical problems inAla-Igbo today is the nature of its human and ecological environment:social instability - that is, difficulties in the prospects ofsettling has made it impossible for Igbo young men and women now tomarry at the natural age - between 25-35. Young men now marry at theaverage age of 40 years. Many Igbo women are without prospects ofmarriage, having crossed certain thresholds. The implication is that45% of Igbo people are not reproducing a new generation. Those who getmarried are suffering from curious stages of infertility as a resultof environmental degradation and chemical pollution- through oilexploration activities and groundwater toxification. Anepidemiological survey carried out in the whole of Igbo land todaywill reveal a most deadly truth: a huge number of the Igbo are dyingfrom AIDS, new forms of Cancer, and Diabetes - from poor nutrition.These are issues that we must address holistically because they flowfrom the nature of the relationship between the PEOPLE and theirgovernment. The Igbo themselves have not sat down to confront theirelected representatives with an action plan, and with suggestions ofthe means to carry it out, and a timeline and oversight. The problemof insecurity occasioned by new waves of kidnapping only complicatesthis: but to put this simply, our greatest problem is not the problemof this new wave of selective and directed terrorism. It is that theIgbo as a people have learnt to be DEPENDENT on some external factor orfigure whom they expect to solve their problems. I have said thisbefore, WE ARE ALL GUILTY - either by silence, inaction, or directcomplicity.All those who wish to participate in the restoration and rebuilding ofIgbo land must begin to re-think our relationships with that land.Anaghi ano uti agba ntele ukwu. We must get active”.
The situation is as bad, or even worse than as portrayed in the missive above, but only some elements among the Igbo-Israel have really seen the handwriting on the wall. That there is danger! That there is no time to waste! The generality of the Igbos feel helpless, because they are helpless. Disarmed by ignorance, and illiteracy in Igbo studies, Igbos with even post-graduate degrees do not know what to say or do to stem the decline of the Igbo nation. Fortunately Igbo-Israel is growing!
In recognition of the above problems, and inspired by the action plan and road map laid out in books: The Igbos: Jews In Africa-With Solutions To The Most Critical Igbo Problems and Introduction To The Chronicles Of Igbo Israel-And The Connections Between The Afro Americans and the Jews, a group of Igbo scholars, professionals, businessmen, artistes, and bureaucrats have come together as The Igbo Origin and Culture Research Society to contribute to the positive growth and development of the Igbo people, and Igboland. The Society will very likely present its programmes to the Igbo people in the month of October, in 2010. It will use the opportunity to present some of the afore-mentioned books and premiere the Igbo-Israel Video Interview to the Igbo, Jewish and general public. It is also organizing an Igbo summit where solutions would be found to many of the ills that plague ndi Igbo today; such as brother kidnapping of brother which is alien to Igbo culture. In addition it will also appraise ndi Igbo about some programmes that it is working on; such as the preservation of the Igbo migration story in film. And the Igbo-Israel International Music Festival, an initiative of Moore Black Chi Mmadike, an Igbo reggae artiste, and Vice President (International) Igbo-Israel Union (Society), who is based in Australia.
Sources:
=A Short Story From Igbo Israel
=The Igbos: Jews n Africa; Vol 1
=The Igbos: Jews In Africa: With Reflections on the Civil War and Solutions to the most critical Igbo problems
= A Brief Study of the Foundations of Ancient Israel: From the Igbo Experience and Perspective
=Introduction To The Chronicles of Igbo Israel-And The Connections Between The Afro-Americans and The Jews
=From Ibri to Igbo-40 million More Jews
By Chukwukaodinaka (Remy) Ilona: Lawyer, Jewish/Igbo Studies scholar, and writer.
Kulanu Inc’ Liaison for Nigeria
Founding president: The Igbo Israel Union (Society)
Field Correspondent: International Society for the study of African Jewry (I.S.S.A.J)
Secretary: Igbo Origin and Culture Research Society
Sunday, August 1, 2010
MIRACLE AND THANKSGIVING AT THE HOLY TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM!
MIRACLE AND THANKSGIVING AT THE HOLY TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM!
Remy Ilona
08065300351; remy.ilona@gmail.com
Will I ever stop being grateful to the God of Israel? Two miracle workers were used by God to save mylife. They carried out a laporoctomy on me, opened my side, brought out my colon, made an incision on it,from where I passed waste for 2 months, to enable the natural openingto heal.After two and a half months I went back to the 2men of God (the surgeons). After examinations they confirmed that mywounds had healed, and they put back the colostomy successfully. Withlaparoctomy (entire opening of the stomach, and bringing out of allthe large intestines and colon for cleansing) and colostomy operationssuccessful I'm in no doubt that He who rescued Israel from Egypt, Hewho made sure that the Igbos were not completely wiped out during theBiafra war, and He whom Israel worships, intervened and saved me fromthe clutches of death. May the God of Israel, and Him alone be blessedand praised!
I offered the thanksgiving above because of the following episode.
In November 2009 I went to Maiduguri; to try to avoid impending death, and return to life. I believe that the God of Israel; the God that I offered the prayer above to; led me to Maiduguri where the duo of Dr. Uche Eni and Dr. Na’aya performed the real miracle which I will describe shortly hereafter.
The two are consultant general surgeons in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
The following story is about sickness, near death, medical practice in Nigeria, faith, real miracles, and restoration.
My problems began during a working visit to Lagos. Staying in Victoria Island while I carried out the work that took me to Lagos I began to eat junk food. As Victoria Island lacks places where an Igbo could find Igbo food such as akpu and ofe onugbu, etc, an Igbo may find himself relying on the wrong foods; such as meat-pies, egg-rolls, and mineral water.
I had constipation, and anal fissures/haemorrhoids. While I was doing my best to treat this condition many things happened. Literally I put one foot in the grave, and would have put the other in too, if God had not saved me.
The following was what happened.
I am reporting my experiences and observations; not as a doctor which I am not, but as a fully grown rational adult who can understand when things are done rightly, and when they are done wrongly.
DESCENT TO NEAR DEATH
I am a lawyer, researcher and author. These three disciplines sharpen ones ability to reason, and understand. Bad luck led me to a surgeon who works at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Plateau State, Nigeria. The man who describes himself as a consultant general, and cardio thoracic surgeon, incidentally hails from Anambra; my home state. And he is a professor of medicine. Recommended by a friend I consulted this man at his private centre in the central part of Jos, and he agreed to give me treatment for what he called a ‘very minor ailment’. Following the surgery to repair the damage which I had suffered one thing that I was sure of was that I was not getting well or even better. And I was very worried because I hadn’t regained the ability to pass waste through the natural organ. Dutifully I was complaining to the nurses. And I am sure that they were transmitting my complaints to the professor. I followed up by complaining to him, but he waved aside my complaint in some anger. Nearly two weeks after I entered the medical centre I was discharged with the instruction that I should report after one month for a check-up. After returning home I continued to follow the professor’s instructions; to administer sitz bath on the site of the operation with water that was at 100 degrees centigrade. I was not feeling better; and was not regaining the ability to exercise some of my bodily functions, but because I felt that a professor of medicine would not have made a mistake carrying out the repair of anal fissures/haemorrhoids I believed that what I was experiencing was normal. And that I would get better in time. But I did not get better. Rather my condition continued to get worse. In addition to my inability to regain the use of the organ on which the operation was carried out, with time I began to loose the ability to sleep, to urinate, and to walk or stand erect. In all I practically did not sleep for I month. Meanwhile I continued to call the professor to complain about my deteriorating condition. I can still hear his voice telling me to ‘sit on it (my ailment)’. Slowly but surely my life was passing away, and I felt it, and was filled with dread and foreboding, but still could not believe that the professor did not carry out the operation appropriately. I continued to complain to the professor, and at a point he instructed me to proceed to Jos for a check-up. I traveled to Jos, and checked into his medical centre. And this gentleman continued trying to harm me. During my first admission at his medical centre he had injured my arm while trying to insert acanular into my veins for IV infusions. During my second visit his nurses continued to carry out his instruction that the saline solution for my sitz bath should be with boiling water. And he sent me for an XRAY which returned a result that my intestines, colon, and rectum were filled with desiccated faeces. After seeing the result of the XRAY the professor began to apply enema to the site of the operation which he had confirmed that it was badly infected. All I know was that my condition continued to worsen. And the professor discharged me; issuing me with a medical report that I had recovered fully, and completely. I returned to Abuja; practically dying. Another round of consulting of doctors in Abuja ensued. Most of the doctors that I consulted turned me away because, I believe they felt that I would die. At this point my jewel of inestimable value; my wife Ife’yi’nwa decided that I must go to Maiduguri, to see her doctors; Uche Eni, and Na’aya. Then she raised an alarm that a calamity was about to happen. Money issues arose because much of my own funds had been expended paying the bills of the professor, so my niece; Uche Onwumelu Umeokolo who is as dear to me as a daughter tearfully led a fund-raising effort. Some substantial funds were raised and I proceeded to Maiduguri. By the time I got to Maiduguri I was feeling like a corpse. With my faithful friend Ndubisi Ezeatum I made my way to the Borno Medical Clinic; an excellent health facility founded by Dr. V. C. M’oghalu, an old benefactor of mine.
COMMENCEMENT OF RESUCITATION
Five minutes after entering the clinic in the semi-desert town of Maiduguri, I was sitting face to face to face with Drs. Eni and Na’aya, barely able to talk, and to even stand.
The two men reminded me of Moses who was the greatest, but also the humblest Israelite to exist in his time. Very humble men, they hadn’t any of those airs that some Nigerian achievers usually have. These men are miracle workers who do the job they have dedicated their lives to doing with passion, and love. Jocularly addressing each other as “my boss” they began the work that saved my life. To restore me back to good health they carried out on me some surgeries that many doctors that I am friendly with have confirmed that they were fearful, and very risky to be carried out in Nigeria. To remove the desiccated faeces they carried out a laparoctomy on me, and gave me a colostomy, so that the injuries inflicted on me during the initial operation by the professor, which had hitherto not healed would have a chance to heal.
Today I am completely healthy. And I am grateful to God, Who gave me a good wife, niece, family, and friends. And very importantly, Who gave to humanity the duo of Dr Eni and Dr. Na’aya.
For saving me from an early death I resolved to sing the praises of the ultimate Authority for the rest of my life. In furtherance of this did I compose the afore-mentioned prayer of thanksgiving. And to make sure that it gets to His primary earthly place of abode, my big brother Herman Storick, a man of Israel from America ensured that the thanksgiving got to the crevices of the remaining wall of the beth Hamikdash (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem); one of the places that my prayers for good health ended up in.
Remy Ilona
08065300351; remy.ilona@gmail.com
Will I ever stop being grateful to the God of Israel? Two miracle workers were used by God to save mylife. They carried out a laporoctomy on me, opened my side, brought out my colon, made an incision on it,from where I passed waste for 2 months, to enable the natural openingto heal.After two and a half months I went back to the 2men of God (the surgeons). After examinations they confirmed that mywounds had healed, and they put back the colostomy successfully. Withlaparoctomy (entire opening of the stomach, and bringing out of allthe large intestines and colon for cleansing) and colostomy operationssuccessful I'm in no doubt that He who rescued Israel from Egypt, Hewho made sure that the Igbos were not completely wiped out during theBiafra war, and He whom Israel worships, intervened and saved me fromthe clutches of death. May the God of Israel, and Him alone be blessedand praised!
I offered the thanksgiving above because of the following episode.
In November 2009 I went to Maiduguri; to try to avoid impending death, and return to life. I believe that the God of Israel; the God that I offered the prayer above to; led me to Maiduguri where the duo of Dr. Uche Eni and Dr. Na’aya performed the real miracle which I will describe shortly hereafter.
The two are consultant general surgeons in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
The following story is about sickness, near death, medical practice in Nigeria, faith, real miracles, and restoration.
My problems began during a working visit to Lagos. Staying in Victoria Island while I carried out the work that took me to Lagos I began to eat junk food. As Victoria Island lacks places where an Igbo could find Igbo food such as akpu and ofe onugbu, etc, an Igbo may find himself relying on the wrong foods; such as meat-pies, egg-rolls, and mineral water.
I had constipation, and anal fissures/haemorrhoids. While I was doing my best to treat this condition many things happened. Literally I put one foot in the grave, and would have put the other in too, if God had not saved me.
The following was what happened.
I am reporting my experiences and observations; not as a doctor which I am not, but as a fully grown rational adult who can understand when things are done rightly, and when they are done wrongly.
DESCENT TO NEAR DEATH
I am a lawyer, researcher and author. These three disciplines sharpen ones ability to reason, and understand. Bad luck led me to a surgeon who works at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Plateau State, Nigeria. The man who describes himself as a consultant general, and cardio thoracic surgeon, incidentally hails from Anambra; my home state. And he is a professor of medicine. Recommended by a friend I consulted this man at his private centre in the central part of Jos, and he agreed to give me treatment for what he called a ‘very minor ailment’. Following the surgery to repair the damage which I had suffered one thing that I was sure of was that I was not getting well or even better. And I was very worried because I hadn’t regained the ability to pass waste through the natural organ. Dutifully I was complaining to the nurses. And I am sure that they were transmitting my complaints to the professor. I followed up by complaining to him, but he waved aside my complaint in some anger. Nearly two weeks after I entered the medical centre I was discharged with the instruction that I should report after one month for a check-up. After returning home I continued to follow the professor’s instructions; to administer sitz bath on the site of the operation with water that was at 100 degrees centigrade. I was not feeling better; and was not regaining the ability to exercise some of my bodily functions, but because I felt that a professor of medicine would not have made a mistake carrying out the repair of anal fissures/haemorrhoids I believed that what I was experiencing was normal. And that I would get better in time. But I did not get better. Rather my condition continued to get worse. In addition to my inability to regain the use of the organ on which the operation was carried out, with time I began to loose the ability to sleep, to urinate, and to walk or stand erect. In all I practically did not sleep for I month. Meanwhile I continued to call the professor to complain about my deteriorating condition. I can still hear his voice telling me to ‘sit on it (my ailment)’. Slowly but surely my life was passing away, and I felt it, and was filled with dread and foreboding, but still could not believe that the professor did not carry out the operation appropriately. I continued to complain to the professor, and at a point he instructed me to proceed to Jos for a check-up. I traveled to Jos, and checked into his medical centre. And this gentleman continued trying to harm me. During my first admission at his medical centre he had injured my arm while trying to insert acanular into my veins for IV infusions. During my second visit his nurses continued to carry out his instruction that the saline solution for my sitz bath should be with boiling water. And he sent me for an XRAY which returned a result that my intestines, colon, and rectum were filled with desiccated faeces. After seeing the result of the XRAY the professor began to apply enema to the site of the operation which he had confirmed that it was badly infected. All I know was that my condition continued to worsen. And the professor discharged me; issuing me with a medical report that I had recovered fully, and completely. I returned to Abuja; practically dying. Another round of consulting of doctors in Abuja ensued. Most of the doctors that I consulted turned me away because, I believe they felt that I would die. At this point my jewel of inestimable value; my wife Ife’yi’nwa decided that I must go to Maiduguri, to see her doctors; Uche Eni, and Na’aya. Then she raised an alarm that a calamity was about to happen. Money issues arose because much of my own funds had been expended paying the bills of the professor, so my niece; Uche Onwumelu Umeokolo who is as dear to me as a daughter tearfully led a fund-raising effort. Some substantial funds were raised and I proceeded to Maiduguri. By the time I got to Maiduguri I was feeling like a corpse. With my faithful friend Ndubisi Ezeatum I made my way to the Borno Medical Clinic; an excellent health facility founded by Dr. V. C. M’oghalu, an old benefactor of mine.
COMMENCEMENT OF RESUCITATION
Five minutes after entering the clinic in the semi-desert town of Maiduguri, I was sitting face to face to face with Drs. Eni and Na’aya, barely able to talk, and to even stand.
The two men reminded me of Moses who was the greatest, but also the humblest Israelite to exist in his time. Very humble men, they hadn’t any of those airs that some Nigerian achievers usually have. These men are miracle workers who do the job they have dedicated their lives to doing with passion, and love. Jocularly addressing each other as “my boss” they began the work that saved my life. To restore me back to good health they carried out on me some surgeries that many doctors that I am friendly with have confirmed that they were fearful, and very risky to be carried out in Nigeria. To remove the desiccated faeces they carried out a laparoctomy on me, and gave me a colostomy, so that the injuries inflicted on me during the initial operation by the professor, which had hitherto not healed would have a chance to heal.
Today I am completely healthy. And I am grateful to God, Who gave me a good wife, niece, family, and friends. And very importantly, Who gave to humanity the duo of Dr Eni and Dr. Na’aya.
For saving me from an early death I resolved to sing the praises of the ultimate Authority for the rest of my life. In furtherance of this did I compose the afore-mentioned prayer of thanksgiving. And to make sure that it gets to His primary earthly place of abode, my big brother Herman Storick, a man of Israel from America ensured that the thanksgiving got to the crevices of the remaining wall of the beth Hamikdash (the Holy Temple in Jerusalem); one of the places that my prayers for good health ended up in.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Igbo Israel International Music Festival: Preparation goes into top gear.
Watch out for regular updates.
Igbo-Israel musician Moore Black Chi Mmadike organises the Igbo Israel International Music Festival.
Igbo Israel musician Moore Black Chi Mmadike is organizing an international music festival with Remy Ilona, an Abuja based lawyer, writer, and founding president of the Igbo Israel Union. Also working with the duo on this project is the National Times newspaper. The artiste who is better known by his stage name Moore Black, and who is based in Australia conceived the idea of holding the festival which is tagged 'The Igbo Israel International Music Festival' as a way of contributing to the growth of arts and culture in his homeland; Igbo-Israel; attracting investments in tourism to Igbo-Israel, helping Igbo-Israel artistes, among other reasons. The consortium which the trio has formed to stage the event which promises to be an annual event is going to hold the event in the last quarter of 2011, in one of the metropolitan cities in Igbo-Israel. The idea/project has began to receive important assurances of support from musicians such as Irene Orleansky of Israel, Ozoemena Nsugbe of Igbo-Israel, Nigeria, American Terry Hess, etc. Watch out for regular updates.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Igbo-Israel reggae artiste, Moore Black talks about the Igbos from Australia.
My sojourn abroad, notably Greece (where I lived for seven years before
migrating to Australia), did not only help me to understand who we are &
how holistic our culture (Omenala) is; it opened up my eyes to how different we are from other "tribes" in Africa, even in the world!. Thus, it's not an overstatement to proclaim that we Igbos have something (s) no other people in the world have, with the exception of the Jews.
There were many Nigerians in Greece. A cursory look would show that
we (all Nigerians) have the same culture. However, whenever something
like death occurred, you find that Igbos were/are practically a unique people.
Everyone would rally round, boasting that it is aru (abomination) for any nwa
afo Igbo (Igbo son/daughter) to be buried in ala mba (foreign land). Then
people (Igbos) would be levied for the body to be conveyed home. I would
say as an eyewitness that the Igbo are the only African people that didn't bury their own in foreign lands.
In the case of the Western peoples that we always try to mimic, if for instance a
German national dies in a foreign land, the German people there wouldn't as
A DUTY (I said as A DUTY), unlike the Igbos, levy themselves to convey the
body back to Germany. Rather, the responsibility would fall on the family of the
deceased or the embassy...
Today, I see many Igbos, especially those who have immeasurably benefited
from Omenala, fighting against it. On my last visit to Nigeria (Igboland) I had a
discussion with Uwa, not his real name. Uwa is the last child of seven children.
Unfortunately, he was a toddler when his father died. His uncles financed his
two elder brothers' education, from the secondary school up to university. They
both finished with flying colours, secured very good jobs, and were able to support their siblings/the rest of the family. Owing to that Uwa is now a medical doctor.
In the course of our discussion, Uwa told me he loves the Western culture so
much & wished we could emulate the Western way of life. At this juncture, I had to remind him of his humble beginning...
In the Western culture, Uwa's uncle wouldn't have had anything to do with his
elder brothers and chances are that his mother would have found a new boyfriend, who might not like Uwa. In such scenario he (Uwa) might be put up for adoption or tossed around from one foster home to the other. The best possible scenario: Uwa's mother might remarry to someone that would tolerate him just as a stepson and not bother about paying for his education... And his elder brothers/siblings would be "EVERY ONE ON THEIR OWN."
However, I made him realize that it is our Omenala which teaches "Onye aghala nwanne ya" (be your brother's keeper or let no one forsake their brother/sister) that made him what he is today...
As a musician, student of archaeology/anthropology (Flinders University, South
Australia), and someone who has been to different parts of the world and is conversant with other cultures, I can say with PRIDE & CLARITY that other nations, especially the West, have a lot to learn from our Omenala, and not the other way round! It has always been my MISSION to revive Omenala, but because of our neglect of it I was on the verge of giving
up hope (due to the rate it's desecrated by some Igbo renegades) before I discovered Remy Ilona's work. When he (Remy) sent me the "Introduction To The Chronicles Of Igbo-Israel" I said to myself as I was about to open it "another history book." Alas! It wasn't so. Reading the book, 15,000km away from Igboland, was like reliving the Igbo way of life. Maazi Ilona was not just writing history, he was giving an account as an eyewitness; telling our story the way it should be told. That's why I called him the Igbo Josephus, and his book "Living History." I would say, Maazi Ilona is the only Igbo historian that has succeeded in keeping our record. Every Igbo man/woman can relate to the context in the book. Besides, some of the "outdated" practices therein are not of remote past...
Knowing Maazi Ilona infused me with a lot of hope. It's no longer GLOOM & DOOM! Here is someone with a clear vision and mission to restore the Igbo nation’s greatness by reviving their culture which is the only instrument that can give us unity, and greatness, and lead us back to idebe iwu Chineke (keeping the laws of G-D). It was Maazi Ilona's dedication to our people that inspired me to join the Igbo-Israel Union, which Maazi Ilona formed, since the group’s objectives if pursued vigorously can lead the Igbos to success, and happiness.
As the vice president (international) of the Igbo-Israel Union, I would like to thank the publisher of the National Times newspaper for his contribution to the community. Everybody knows the power of the press. Your newspaper has come at the right time. I pray it would be handed down to your children's children. Long live Times International! And while I am still at it I thank you for identifying with, and giving support to the international music festival which we at the Igbo Israel Union are organizing.
To the group Igbo Origin and Culture Research Platform; academics and professionals who have come together to support Maazi Ilona’s work I say jisie nu ike. We will all work together to ensure that we the Igbos are rescued from the present sad state that we are in.
To the founder of Igbozurume, Owele Rochas Okorocha, your contributions to the Igbo race have
echoed far & wide. The Most High will repay you ten-fold. I can't thank you enough. I wish
you all long life & good health.
Dalu,
Moore Black Mmadike
migrating to Australia), did not only help me to understand who we are &
how holistic our culture (Omenala) is; it opened up my eyes to how different we are from other "tribes" in Africa, even in the world!. Thus, it's not an overstatement to proclaim that we Igbos have something (s) no other people in the world have, with the exception of the Jews.
There were many Nigerians in Greece. A cursory look would show that
we (all Nigerians) have the same culture. However, whenever something
like death occurred, you find that Igbos were/are practically a unique people.
Everyone would rally round, boasting that it is aru (abomination) for any nwa
afo Igbo (Igbo son/daughter) to be buried in ala mba (foreign land). Then
people (Igbos) would be levied for the body to be conveyed home. I would
say as an eyewitness that the Igbo are the only African people that didn't bury their own in foreign lands.
In the case of the Western peoples that we always try to mimic, if for instance a
German national dies in a foreign land, the German people there wouldn't as
A DUTY (I said as A DUTY), unlike the Igbos, levy themselves to convey the
body back to Germany. Rather, the responsibility would fall on the family of the
deceased or the embassy...
Today, I see many Igbos, especially those who have immeasurably benefited
from Omenala, fighting against it. On my last visit to Nigeria (Igboland) I had a
discussion with Uwa, not his real name. Uwa is the last child of seven children.
Unfortunately, he was a toddler when his father died. His uncles financed his
two elder brothers' education, from the secondary school up to university. They
both finished with flying colours, secured very good jobs, and were able to support their siblings/the rest of the family. Owing to that Uwa is now a medical doctor.
In the course of our discussion, Uwa told me he loves the Western culture so
much & wished we could emulate the Western way of life. At this juncture, I had to remind him of his humble beginning...
In the Western culture, Uwa's uncle wouldn't have had anything to do with his
elder brothers and chances are that his mother would have found a new boyfriend, who might not like Uwa. In such scenario he (Uwa) might be put up for adoption or tossed around from one foster home to the other. The best possible scenario: Uwa's mother might remarry to someone that would tolerate him just as a stepson and not bother about paying for his education... And his elder brothers/siblings would be "EVERY ONE ON THEIR OWN."
However, I made him realize that it is our Omenala which teaches "Onye aghala nwanne ya" (be your brother's keeper or let no one forsake their brother/sister) that made him what he is today...
As a musician, student of archaeology/anthropology (Flinders University, South
Australia), and someone who has been to different parts of the world and is conversant with other cultures, I can say with PRIDE & CLARITY that other nations, especially the West, have a lot to learn from our Omenala, and not the other way round! It has always been my MISSION to revive Omenala, but because of our neglect of it I was on the verge of giving
up hope (due to the rate it's desecrated by some Igbo renegades) before I discovered Remy Ilona's work. When he (Remy) sent me the "Introduction To The Chronicles Of Igbo-Israel" I said to myself as I was about to open it "another history book." Alas! It wasn't so. Reading the book, 15,000km away from Igboland, was like reliving the Igbo way of life. Maazi Ilona was not just writing history, he was giving an account as an eyewitness; telling our story the way it should be told. That's why I called him the Igbo Josephus, and his book "Living History." I would say, Maazi Ilona is the only Igbo historian that has succeeded in keeping our record. Every Igbo man/woman can relate to the context in the book. Besides, some of the "outdated" practices therein are not of remote past...
Knowing Maazi Ilona infused me with a lot of hope. It's no longer GLOOM & DOOM! Here is someone with a clear vision and mission to restore the Igbo nation’s greatness by reviving their culture which is the only instrument that can give us unity, and greatness, and lead us back to idebe iwu Chineke (keeping the laws of G-D). It was Maazi Ilona's dedication to our people that inspired me to join the Igbo-Israel Union, which Maazi Ilona formed, since the group’s objectives if pursued vigorously can lead the Igbos to success, and happiness.
As the vice president (international) of the Igbo-Israel Union, I would like to thank the publisher of the National Times newspaper for his contribution to the community. Everybody knows the power of the press. Your newspaper has come at the right time. I pray it would be handed down to your children's children. Long live Times International! And while I am still at it I thank you for identifying with, and giving support to the international music festival which we at the Igbo Israel Union are organizing.
To the group Igbo Origin and Culture Research Platform; academics and professionals who have come together to support Maazi Ilona’s work I say jisie nu ike. We will all work together to ensure that we the Igbos are rescued from the present sad state that we are in.
To the founder of Igbozurume, Owele Rochas Okorocha, your contributions to the Igbo race have
echoed far & wide. The Most High will repay you ten-fold. I can't thank you enough. I wish
you all long life & good health.
Dalu,
Moore Black Mmadike
ISRAEL TO STOP KIDNAPPING IN THE SOUTH EAST.
ISRAEL TO STOP KIDNAPPING IN THE SOUTH EAST.
Remy Ilona
08065300351, remy.ilona@gmail.com
Recently the newspapers were awash with news that the MOSSAD; Israel’s intelligence agency has been contracted by the Nigerian government to help rid the South East, and South South sections of Nigeria, of the menace of kidnappings, which is sending the Igbos into exile.
The MOSSAD is a successful secret service. Its role in enabling beleaguered Israel to survive, and even thrive cannot be over-emphasized. Surely it has a lot to offer Nigeria in terms of security. If Israel with little natural resources, location in deserts and semi deserts, religious and cultural diversities could be secure, Nigeria, with its endowments should.
MOSSAD would help to douse the fire raging currently by helping the Nigeria Police, and our other security agencies to keep abreast of the latest innovations in intelligence and information gathering. Surely this would stem the tide, improve security now, and allow concerned parties to settle down and give the problem a long-term solution. The kidnapping is a symptom of something which needs to be treated. The societies in which kidnapping for ransom has almost become legitimized are largely dysfunctional; with all forms of legitimate authority broken down. And all the institutions that could genuinely help to foster social harmony rendered sterile, and irrelevant.
For long-term solutions; among the Igbos who share a similar culture with the MOSSAD operatives, the Israelis could help by enabling the Igbos to see that their traditional social organization, which has been largely displaced without good reason, and which is presented in the essay A Brief Survey Of Ancient Israel: From The Igbo Perspective and Experience, has the potential of stabilizing the society, reducing crime to the lowest level and also make it easier for the police, and other security agencies to succeed in combating crime, if and when they occur. Criminals thrive in societies that ‘thrive’ on injustice. The Igbo society in its pure form has inbuilt mechanisms that ensure that injustice does not take root. The afore-mentioned study which compared the Igbo and Israelite societies shows that the Republic of Israel which owns the MOSSAD operates a society akin to the traditional Igbo society, and enjoys the consequent social harmony and equilibrium.
If the MOSSAD instructs the Igbos to reduce poverty, and empower more of their people by starting to practice those aspects of their culture which mandate the rich to share their wealth and opportunities with the poorer members of their community, they will have a listening ear, because many Igbos have started to realize that Igbo abandonment of Igbo culture has only led to problems. A look at the mission statements of Igbo groups such as the Igbo Israel Union, the Igbo Origin and Culture Research Platform, and Igbozurume will confirm what I just mentioned.
Remy Ilona
08065300351, remy.ilona@gmail.com
Recently the newspapers were awash with news that the MOSSAD; Israel’s intelligence agency has been contracted by the Nigerian government to help rid the South East, and South South sections of Nigeria, of the menace of kidnappings, which is sending the Igbos into exile.
The MOSSAD is a successful secret service. Its role in enabling beleaguered Israel to survive, and even thrive cannot be over-emphasized. Surely it has a lot to offer Nigeria in terms of security. If Israel with little natural resources, location in deserts and semi deserts, religious and cultural diversities could be secure, Nigeria, with its endowments should.
MOSSAD would help to douse the fire raging currently by helping the Nigeria Police, and our other security agencies to keep abreast of the latest innovations in intelligence and information gathering. Surely this would stem the tide, improve security now, and allow concerned parties to settle down and give the problem a long-term solution. The kidnapping is a symptom of something which needs to be treated. The societies in which kidnapping for ransom has almost become legitimized are largely dysfunctional; with all forms of legitimate authority broken down. And all the institutions that could genuinely help to foster social harmony rendered sterile, and irrelevant.
For long-term solutions; among the Igbos who share a similar culture with the MOSSAD operatives, the Israelis could help by enabling the Igbos to see that their traditional social organization, which has been largely displaced without good reason, and which is presented in the essay A Brief Survey Of Ancient Israel: From The Igbo Perspective and Experience, has the potential of stabilizing the society, reducing crime to the lowest level and also make it easier for the police, and other security agencies to succeed in combating crime, if and when they occur. Criminals thrive in societies that ‘thrive’ on injustice. The Igbo society in its pure form has inbuilt mechanisms that ensure that injustice does not take root. The afore-mentioned study which compared the Igbo and Israelite societies shows that the Republic of Israel which owns the MOSSAD operates a society akin to the traditional Igbo society, and enjoys the consequent social harmony and equilibrium.
If the MOSSAD instructs the Igbos to reduce poverty, and empower more of their people by starting to practice those aspects of their culture which mandate the rich to share their wealth and opportunities with the poorer members of their community, they will have a listening ear, because many Igbos have started to realize that Igbo abandonment of Igbo culture has only led to problems. A look at the mission statements of Igbo groups such as the Igbo Israel Union, the Igbo Origin and Culture Research Platform, and Igbozurume will confirm what I just mentioned.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
CONCLUSION OF THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN
CONCLUSION of THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN
Remy Ilona
08065300351, remy.ilona@gmail.com
In the last edition of National Times I began to talk about the things that would be done before the Igbos would rise again. I dwelt so much on the importance of information, to the Igbos, because good information would give knowledge, and the knowledgeable person has a good chance to be wise. Without laying emphasis on it, any intelligent person would know that the Igbos have not performed well in nation-building, because we have not been united, nor well organized. Infightings have taken much of our time, energy and resources. And this has happened because the information we have assimilated, have been subtly given to us with the sole motivation to divide us, so that we would be more easily subdued dominated, and pocketed. The British used this tactics against us, by planting a knife in our middle, demonizing what held us together (our culture) after which we fell apart, and have continued falling since then. Since then we have been apart, and every year our divisions increase in degree, and severity. At times I have wondered if the Igbo of today who can hardly gather together for Igbo causes would have lasted three months if faced with the travails that the Igbos faced from ’66 to ‘70. Of course the Igbo of today wouldn’t have survived the shock, because the rallying institution; the culture; is almost gone; disrespected completely by we the Igbos! And without the culture, what is the people? Nothing! We are Igbos because we speak Igbo, and practice[d] Igbo culture.
However as the Igbo condition has deteriorated to the stage that we can say that Igboland is fighting the Igbos (many communities are under threat of extinction because of erosion, and other environmental problems), and the Igbos are almost lapsing into a civil war (well to do, and not so well-to-do Igbos are fleeing from Igboland because of the abnormally high rate of kidnappings and other violent crimes in Igboland), one can expect the Igbos to begin to ask hard questions, and to be ready to receive hard answers which will help us to analyze our problems so that we can begin to rebuild the Igbo society.
To rebuild successfully; mainly Igbo resources would be in the new foundations. This is where information, knowledge, and wisdom would help the Igbos. At this stage it is pertinent for the Igbos to ask: where would we have been if the British had not disrupted our society by instigating, and participating in our commercial enslavement, colonizing us, demolishing our institutions, and replacing them with the present models which have not only not given the greatest happiness to the greatest number of Igbos, but have bequeathed us with institutions that have institutionalized divisions among us. Who would have been our leaders? A pertinent question in an era when an Igbo could get up and say anything on behalf of the Igbos, or do anything, no matter how inimical his actions or words would be to the Igbos. Would we have been an independent nation, happy, proud, and free? And as we are a part of a state called
My soon to be published essay; A Brief Survey Of Ancient
I would say that we would have been among the first ten most successful countries in the world if we had not been subverted by colonialism. I would say so because my research informs me that we were guided by laws, rules, and regulations before the British advent. The same laws, rules and regulations that the Europeans borrowed and used to inspire the creation of the almost eldoradoic societies known as the Western world or developed societies that they have today, if we are looking at just their administration of justice and governance. I am referring to the legal and ethical provisions of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament to the Gentiles) Possibly we would have been the second nation after the Republic of Israel, the state which is the primary representative of the people who received those laws, rules and regulations because those very laws, rules, and regulations which secure Israel, and which have among other things made it the most innovative country in the world would have been our grundnorm. The Newsweek of November 23, 2009, on page 45, observed; ‘how does Israel-with fewer people than the state of New Jersey, no natural resources, and hostile nations all around-produce more tech companies listed on the NASDAQ than all of Europe, Japan, South Korea, India and China combined?’ I would say that had we not come under colonialism that we would not have become the disorderly people that we are today,- a nation where everyman behaves as he likes. I will illustrate what I am trying to say with the following example, and in order to highlight what I want to say I will compare the Igbo and the Hausa funeral/burial experiences. The above-mentioned communities have some things in common. Both were colonized by imperial
The Igbos funeral/burial customs are called akwa m ozu, or ikwa ozu. These mean- to mourn the dead. The most important part of the ceremony is the mourning. In Igbo traditions the pretence that death could be good, or not painful does not exist. As Igbos, guided by Igbo culture Igbos believe that everything possible should be done to preserve life. This gave rise to the Igbo saying; mpempe ndu ka mpempe onwu mma (a bit of life is better than a bit of death). Igbos would spend everything they have to ward off the evil, but when it comes eventually, the Igbos would mourn! They would mourn! Mourning would be manifest in every aspect of their lives for one year. This dread of death led to the Igbo advancement in medicine which saw them handling difficult cases like igbakwa okpukpu, (mending fractured bones), igwo otoro na kitikpa (curing two diseases that may be akin to HIV/AIDS), etc, before colonialism. Today the dread of death, and accompanying mourning is no longer so manifest when some Igbos are bereaved. Imitating mainly the Yoruba; the powerful people to their west who are exercising considerable influence over the Igbos presently, and who are most likely to assimilate them, the Igbos routinely describe funerals/burials as ‘celebrations of life’, ‘gone to glory’, dress in aso ebi and aso oke during funerals, and display huge billboards of the dead with their pictures, as if they were film-stars receiving advertisement. To put it succinctly the Igbo funeral/burial customs have been replaced with borrowings, which have turned the Igbo funeral into a carnival. And the consequence? Among the Igbos, anarchy as far as funerals and burials are concerned. Some Igbos who are intelligent and perceptive enough know that something very horrible and wrong had crept in, but many do not know what to say, or do, because they have no idea that Igbo culture contains funeral/burial traditions.
And what do the Hausa do? They have a standard set for them by Islam, their adopted religion. The state president, the billionaire, and the pauper go the same way when they depart. Among them the tension which is in the Igbo society, and which could be evinced from the agonizing cries of the mentioned Igbos would hardly manifest, because they have rules which they respect.
The Igbos have burial and funeral rules, but they are mostly forgotten. My forthcoming book; ‘From the Ibri to Igbo: Forty Million More Jews In
What I have just illustrated with funeral/burial traditions manifests in almost every aspect of Igbo life. Total disrespect for the only Authority that could and would save the Igbos. Disrespect for the elders; the only fairly identifiable body among the bodies that were appointed to be His representatives among the Igbos! Dereliction as far as observance of the laws, rules and regulations that would improve Igbo life, and the Igbo society is concerned! And what are we reaping today? Anarchy! Today the Igbos who are not fighting any visible war, who are not suffering drought, are nevertheless going into exile, and heir destination is the ghettoes of the cities in the non Igbo cities of
A clinical study of the following texts will help the reader to understand why I made the assertion above.
The Igbos: Jews In
Things Fall Apart, The Arrow Of God, The Only Son, The Potter’s Wheel, The Only Son, The Slave Ship, Torah For Gentiles, The Ropes Of Sands, The Purple Hibiscus, and many others which I will be listing in subsequent editions of the National Times.
All these texts need to be studied by the Igbos with the intention to get the messages which their divinely inspired writers wanted to pass to them.
And the Igbo who would be wise would always have a copy of J. H. Hertz’ Pentateuch and Haftorahs, and the National Times on his breakfast table. And playing softly to him should be music from intelligent Igbos like Show Promoter, Ozoemena Nsugbe, Moore Black, etc.
And because there is no time to waste; as we are studying we have to begin to apply what we get from studying by starting to rebuild, and intensify rebuilding where we have started. As I have striven to point out; we can only build what will last if we rebuild our own institutions, and indigenize the foreign ones that we must keep. The foreign ones that have caused us only divisions and problems we must ostracize, or ban. We can borrow a leaf from other Nigerians such as the Hausa and Fulani, and the Kanuri who realized that the Nigerian State would not try to obstruct them, either legally, or on grounds of equity, if they try to combat crime, and improve the morals of their people, and the resident aliens among them, by extending the applicability of the Sharia Laws to criminal matters. The Yoruba who spawned the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) as a militia to defend the Yoruba, have turned the organization into a crime-fighting machine, which works with the Nigeria Police, and promoter and defender of Yoruba culture and interests. Recently the Bini monarch Omo no oba Eradiuwa and the Bini chief priest Nosakhare Isekhure led the Bini people, and from inside the Bini religion and culture they activated forces that would reduce violent crime in
Also, very importantly some Igbo state governors have began to respect the Igbo clans, and their clan unions. Mazi Peter Obi, the governor of
In addition some have began to identify with the Igbo people practically. I was thrilled when I saw Chief Ikedi Ohakim, and the chairman of the Igbo traditional rulers Eze Cletus Ilomuanya discussing Igbo welfare with some Hausa and Fulani leaders in Gombe.
We need more of such, and we can only begin to see more when our people get more and more immersed in Igbo Studies. To see Ohakim and Ilomuanya showing concern for the Igbo trader is very touching. Every Igbo needs to be concerned about the welfare of the Igbo trader for that is likely to be the Igbo species in Gombe, and the Igbo common man generally. I have always wondered where the Igbos would have been without the Igbo trader; and the unsophisticated Igbo; those persons that used an Igbo customary practice; igba odibo; to speed up Igbo economic revival and growth after
In my efforts to unravel Igbo history in order to give relevant information to the Igbos, so that the Igbos would become knowledgeable and wise, and take back their life from their oppressors, I have seen prophetically that the Igbos will begin to recover and rise when the Igbos begin to study about themselves. We, the Igbos should begin to study ourselves and make the teaching and preaching of Igbo unity our Torah (Teachings), Gospel, and Quran truths. Daily Igbo prayers should include a call on Chukwu Abiama to turn the hearts of all the Igbos so that they will begin to see each other as brothers and sisters again. People give out what they take in. If from infancy all Igbos had been receiving the indoctrination that they are nwanne (brethren), in all the schools, synagogues, obis and churches that they attend and congregate in, we would not be who we are today- a people who could neglect their poorer brethren, destroy their land, drive their brethren into exile, to suffer endlessly.
To provide a school where Igbos should begin to study, the Igbo Israel Union and the National Times newspaper which is a national newspaper with an Igbo background, have began an Igbo Studies Institute. More information about it will be available to the Igbo public very soon.
THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN
THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN- Continued.
Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona
Tel: +234-8065-300-351
Email: remy.ilona@gmail.com
I began this series by drawing a brief outline of the failures, and reverses that the Igbos have suffered. Readers have been calling me, and National Times, about the expositions which should be self-evident, but which become more so, after they followed our article-‘That the Igbo nation may rise again’. One question has been coming consistently. The question is. Why is the Igbo society breaking up? I’ll try to answer this question before I’ll begin to proffer what are the possible solutions to the Igbos decline. And the steps already taken to halt the decay.
The Igbo society is collapsing because the Igbo people are descendants of Israelites who violated the Covenant they entered with the God of Israel; the God of their fathers, and are reaping the consequences of the suspension of diplomatic ties between them, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For proof that the Igbos are Jews readers should examine the following books:
The Igbos: Jews In Africa Vol 1, The Igbos: Jews In Africa: With Reflections on the Civil War and Solutions to the most critical Igbo problems, Introduction to the Chronicles of Igbo Israel-And the connections between the African Americans and the Jews, the following essay, A Brief Study of the Foundations of Ancient Israel: From the Igbo Experience, and the soon to be published books; From Ibri to Igbo-40 million more Jews and Uri’s Travels.
For more information readers can reach the writer at remy.ilona@gmail.com, and at 08065300351, and may also browse through www.igboisrael.com
For more evidence that the Igbos are in serious trouble, and that it is so clear now, consider the following which are exchanges between me and some Igbos who are resident in the United States:
[For Igbo eyes alone!
Change they say is the only constant phenomenon. In '66 the Igbos fled from
Nigerian territory to '
all places?
Today, Igbo elites; from traditional rulers, businessmen, academics,
scientists, lawyers, out of office politicians, etc, are on the move-away
from Igboland. And the first ports of call are
in
produced traditional rulers who 'rule' their clans from outside Igboland.
And what is responsible for this reverse Exodus? Abnormally high incidence
of kidnappings, and general societal dysfunction].
[Mazi Ilona:
You made the right call. ………………Build heaven o, build earth o, if your people are
fleeing the state due to insecurity to life and property, you have aided the
reverse exodus.
Sincerely,
[Magnus Ekwueme]
[Da'alu nwanne mmadu. It helps to see that there are still some who note that uno ndi Igbo na agba oku. The way I see it is that the 'governments' can help, but the people need to be involved. Too many of our people feel that they do not have any stake in the wellbeing of of the Igbos, and Igboland anymore. And perhaps they have no stake truly. Isn't it intriguing that a society that had very little crime when it was materially poor, dependent on subsistence farming, is today crime-ridden, in spite of the billions that flows into it. Social and economic security for the poor need to be factored into any Igbo programme.
Ilona R.C.]
[Mazi Ekwueme,
It is not the responsibility of the governors in the East alone. It is the responsibility of ALL individuals and ALL communities to begin to create conditions that will secure and sustain the security of lives and property. Government is a mere abstraction if there are no people or systems to organize and govern. The sheer economic, cultural, and social implication of what is happening now in Igbo land must be clearly placed before EVERYONE - and let us decide whether to live with or die trying to change it. It is better to die than to live without freedom. But the core important questions are these:
A) Who is driving the Igbo, especially its elite and middle class out of Igbo land?
B) Why? To what end?
There seems to me to be a real situation here in which the Igbo, once again unwilling to safeguard there own unique personal and collective interests will allow the massive evacuation of the Igbo people from their homelands into the margins of the urban ghettoes where they will live in fear and at the edge of culture. Perhaps the true equivalence of the "Jewish exile" is happening right before our very eyes, and we are busy complaining and wringing our hands. Two hundred years from now, when a new people have resettled Igbo land, and become more dominant, and we would have ceded the greatest gifts of our heritage - land and its culture - the Igbo would then be fully the rootless, homeless people of the future. But may our ancestors never permit that we allow this.
What is to be done? This is an emergency that must involve every Igbo HOUSEHOLD in a discussion towards a restoration of the land. We must FIND those who are doing this - and there are few of them with support from external sources - and we must DEAL with them in a collective fashion in the time-honored Igbo way. We must send the EGWUGWU after them. Organize our own faceless and dreadful counter-measure to hunt down anyone involved. That is my own suggestion. We must play the asymmetrical game with all these forces of crime and bad governance in Igbo land. There was a time in the 16th, 17th, 18th and some part of the 19th century when people marauded Igbo land to kidnap people whom they sold across the seas. Our Igbo ancestors knew exactly what to do. If we, in the 21st century do not know what to do to this kind of emergency, then we do not deserve to live, and probably deserve slavery and exile. It must be all hands on deck. It is not a work for the governors. The governors MUST today be like horses in our hands, it is up to us to send them to the stream. We must rein them and force them to take action, or otherwise, give way. That is the meaning of what we have always had: democracy. Perhaps we must return to the true democratic structure - the Okpu Umunna - reconstitute it through "igba-ndu" and "idu-isi." Perhaps we must begin once more the tradition of treaty making between one clan and other for treaties of mutual security and protection, and by that means create a powerful, people-based security umbrella in the East. It is time to act, and no longer time to worry. And it is each man's responsibility - for indeed, this is one implication: wer are all DEAD. But we dare not give up our homes to those who say we must not return otherwise the dowries paid for our mothers would have been better used to buy a she-goat.
Obi Nwakanma]
One could begin to wonder why the fate of the Igbos should be as it is. I repeat that it is so because the Igbos are Israelites who have not kept the Covenant that
Curses for Disobedience
However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. [a] The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The LORD will afflict you with the boils of
You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. The sights you see will drive you mad. The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.
You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.
All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.
If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God- the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. He will bring upon you all the diseases of
Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. The LORD will send you back in ships to
Holy Writ (the Hebrew Bible) should not appear as an abstract document to the Igbos. It should be terrifically real to them because it contains the written version of their culture. So there should not be any question of Igbos doubting even one iota of any of its provisions-be it the legalisms, or the prophesies. An Igbo who doubts anything in the Torah, Neviim, and Kethuvim (the Hebrew Bible), is like the Igbo who doubts that there is an Igbo people with a distinct culture and language.
I will continue the series by stating what is to be done for the Igbos to rise.
tT
THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN- Continued.
Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona
Tel: +234-8065-300-351
Email: remy.ilona@gmail.com
I began this series by drawing a brief outline of the failures, and reverses that the Igbos have suffered. Readers have been calling me, and National Times, about the expositions which should be self-evident, but which become more so, after they followed our article-‘That the Igbo nation may rise again’. One question has been coming consistently. The question is. Why is the Igbo society breaking up? I’ll try to answer this question before I’ll begin to proffer what are the possible solutions to the Igbos decline. And the steps already taken to halt the decay.
The Igbo society is collapsing because the Igbo people are descendants of Israelites who violated the Covenant they entered with the God of Israel; the God of their fathers, and are reaping the consequences of the suspension of diplomatic ties between them, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For proof that the Igbos are Jews readers should examine the following books:
The Igbos: Jews In Africa Vol 1, The Igbos: Jews In Africa: With Reflections on the Civil War and Solutions to the most critical Igbo problems, Introduction to the Chronicles of Igbo Israel-And the connections between the African Americans and the Jews, the following essay, A Brief Study of the Foundations of Ancient Israel: From the Igbo Experience, and the soon to be published books; From Ibri to Igbo-40 million more Jews and Uri’s Travels.
For more information readers can reach the writer at remy.ilona@gmail.com, and at 08065300351, and may also browse through www.igboisrael.com
For more evidence that the Igbos are in serious trouble, and that it is so clear now, consider the following which are exchanges between me and some Igbos who are resident in the United States:
[For Igbo eyes alone!
Change they say is the only constant phenomenon. In '66 the Igbos fled from
Nigerian territory to '
all places?
Today, Igbo elites; from traditional rulers, businessmen, academics,
scientists, lawyers, out of office politicians, etc, are on the move-away
from Igboland. And the first ports of call are
in
produced traditional rulers who 'rule' their clans from outside Igboland.
And what is responsible for this reverse Exodus? Abnormally high incidence
of kidnappings, and general societal dysfunction].
[Mazi Ilona:
You made the right call. ………………Build heaven o, build earth o, if your people are
fleeing the state due to insecurity to life and property, you have aided the
reverse exodus.
Sincerely,
[Magnus Ekwueme]
[Da'alu nwanne mmadu. It helps to see that there are still some who note that uno ndi Igbo na agba oku. The way I see it is that the 'governments' can help, but the people need to be involved. Too many of our people feel that they do not have any stake in the wellbeing of of the Igbos, and Igboland anymore. And perhaps they have no stake truly. Isn't it intriguing that a society that had very little crime when it was materially poor, dependent on subsistence farming, is today crime-ridden, in spite of the billions that flows into it. Social and economic security for the poor need to be factored into any Igbo programme.
Ilona R.C.]
[Mazi Ekwueme,
It is not the responsibility of the governors in the East alone. It is the responsibility of ALL individuals and ALL communities to begin to create conditions that will secure and sustain the security of lives and property. Government is a mere abstraction if there are no people or systems to organize and govern. The sheer economic, cultural, and social implication of what is happening now in Igbo land must be clearly placed before EVERYONE - and let us decide whether to live with or die trying to change it. It is better to die than to live without freedom. But the core important questions are these:
A) Who is driving the Igbo, especially its elite and middle class out of Igbo land?
B) Why? To what end?
There seems to me to be a real situation here in which the Igbo, once again unwilling to safeguard there own unique personal and collective interests will allow the massive evacuation of the Igbo people from their homelands into the margins of the urban ghettoes where they will live in fear and at the edge of culture. Perhaps the true equivalence of the "Jewish exile" is happening right before our very eyes, and we are busy complaining and wringing our hands. Two hundred years from now, when a new people have resettled Igbo land, and become more dominant, and we would have ceded the greatest gifts of our heritage - land and its culture - the Igbo would then be fully the rootless, homeless people of the future. But may our ancestors never permit that we allow this.
What is to be done? This is an emergency that must involve every Igbo HOUSEHOLD in a discussion towards a restoration of the land. We must FIND those who are doing this - and there are few of them with support from external sources - and we must DEAL with them in a collective fashion in the time-honored Igbo way. We must send the EGWUGWU after them. Organize our own faceless and dreadful counter-measure to hunt down anyone involved. That is my own suggestion. We must play the asymmetrical game with all these forces of crime and bad governance in Igbo land. There was a time in the 16th, 17th, 18th and some part of the 19th century when people marauded Igbo land to kidnap people whom they sold across the seas. Our Igbo ancestors knew exactly what to do. If we, in the 21st century do not know what to do to this kind of emergency, then we do not deserve to live, and probably deserve slavery and exile. It must be all hands on deck. It is not a work for the governors. The governors MUST today be like horses in our hands, it is up to us to send them to the stream. We must rein them and force them to take action, or otherwise, give way. That is the meaning of what we have always had: democracy. Perhaps we must return to the true democratic structure - the Okpu Umunna - reconstitute it through "igba-ndu" and "idu-isi." Perhaps we must begin once more the tradition of treaty making between one clan and other for treaties of mutual security and protection, and by that means create a powerful, people-based security umbrella in the East. It is time to act, and no longer time to worry. And it is each man's responsibility - for indeed, this is one implication: wer are all DEAD. But we dare not give up our homes to those who say we must not return otherwise the dowries paid for our mothers would have been better used to buy a she-goat.
Obi Nwakanma]
One could begin to wonder why the fate of the Igbos should be as it is. I repeat that it is so because the Igbos are Israelites who have not kept the Covenant that
Curses for Disobedience
However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. [a] The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The LORD will afflict you with the boils of
You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. The sights you see will drive you mad. The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.
You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.
All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.
If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God- the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. He will bring upon you all the diseases of
Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. The LORD will send you back in ships to
Holy Writ (the Hebrew Bible) should not appear as an abstract document to the Igbos. It should be terrifically real to them because it contains the written version of their culture. So there should not be any question of Igbos doubting even one iota of any of its provisions-be it the legalisms, or the prophesies. An Igbo who doubts anything in the Torah, Neviim, and Kethuvim (the Hebrew Bible), is like the Igbo who doubts that there is an Igbo people with a distinct culture and language.
I will continue the series by stating what is to be done for the Igbos to rise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)