The Voice of Igbo Israel

Retaining a vital part of the Igbo peoples's essence

2010-11-28T19:38:00.000-08:00

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.

How Ndi Igbo came from Israel.

2010-11-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

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.

TITHE

2010-09-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

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!

WHO IS IGBO?

2010-08-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

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.

RESPONSE TO OBIKPO

2010-08-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

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

IGBO-ISRAEL: ORIGINS, HISTORY AND CULTURE.

2010-08-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

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

MIRACLE AND THANKSGIVING AT THE HOLY TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM!

2010-08-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

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.

Igbo Israel International Music Festival: Preparation goes into top gear.

2010-07-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Watch out for regular updates.

Igbo-Israel musician Moore Black Chi Mmadike organises the Igbo Israel International Music Festival.

2010-07-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Igbo-Israel reggae artiste, Moore Black talks about the Igbos from Australia.

2010-07-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

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

ISRAEL TO STOP KIDNAPPING IN THE SOUTH EAST.

2010-07-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

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.

MIRACLE AND THANKSGIVING AT THE HOLY TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM!

2010-07-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

CONCLUSION OF THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN

2010-07-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

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 Nigeria, what do the laws of Nigeria permit us to do to improve the welfare of our people?

My soon to be published essay; A Brief Survey Of Ancient Israel: From The Igbo Perspective and Experience answered some of the questions. The answers, and the ones that I will proffer here would serve as the building blocks for the rebuilding of the Igbo people.

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 Britain, and were amalgamated, alongside hundreds of other nations to form Nigeria. Today both co-exist in Nigeria.

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 Africa’ which will be published in the U.S, by Derusha Publishing LLC, has an entire section dedicated to ‘akwa m ozu’ (the Igbo burial and funeral). Interestingly akwa m ozu is incidentally close to the Islamic burial in a few respects because Islam is to a great extent an off-shoot of the culture of Israel, which is Igbo culture.

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 Nigeria. So the Igbos would have to go back to being a nation guided by laws, rules and regulations. I would still hark back and give information that would prove what I have asserted, which were that the Igbos do not respect the Authority today, and that the elders, and their other natural/indigenous leaders who lost their positions by being opportunistic, which made them to connive with the groups that subverted and corrupted the Igbo society in expectation of benefits that have turned out to be Greek gifts, no longer lead them today.

A clinical study of the following texts will help the reader to understand why I made the assertion above.

The Igbos: Jews In Africa series. Introduction To The Chronicles of Igbo Israel, The soon to be published ‘From the Ibri to Igbo: Forty Million More Jews In Africa’, A Brief Survey of Ancient Israel-From The Igbo Perspective and Experiences. Uri’s Travels, Reincarnation-And What the world’s Major Religions Say About It,

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 Edo State. Lately because things have reached breaking point for the Igbos, some voices have been rising, and have been making suggestions that could be helpful if they are sifted and purified with knowledge and wisdom, and applied. Recently an Igbo who deserves to be honored for citing a games, and recreation centre in Igboland called on the Igbos to honour their Nigeria/Biafra war dead, so that the departed ones who actually paid the supreme price and sacrifice for them would go to their rest (or reincarnate). He postulated that the restless spirits of our brethren may be behind our current travails. He also made a call on the Igbos to respect their gods. I know he means Chukwu Abiama (the God of Abraham), as the notion that the Igbos have gods is a new one which was introduced by the colonialists who gave the Igbos modern education/mis-education, and indoctrinated the people to begin to see many things that were non existent. The Igbos know of only the one indivisible Deity, and in fact there is no attribute, words, phrases for gods in the Igbo language. We should sift such calls, and take the good, and drop the incorrect.

Also, very importantly some Igbo state governors have began to respect the Igbo clans, and their clan unions. Mazi Peter Obi, the governor of Anambra State deserves special mention for this feat. The Igbo culture begot the clan, and the clan begot the clan union (town unions); which is the basic unit of authority which is indigenous to the Igbo people. With the clan unions as just caricature of what they should be, on what would the Igbos begin to build?

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 Biafra. Those persons that travels all over Nigeria, and the world seeking for sustenance which in the years of yore when we were more focused, and Igboland was more secure for Igbos, he brought back to Igboland, and of whom Chinua Achebe crafted the following in ‘No Longer At Ease; ‘Those ……who leave their home town[s] to find work in towns all over Nigeria regard themselves as sojourners. They return to…….every two years or so to spend their leave. When they have saved up enough money they ask their relations at home to find them a wife, or they build a ‘zinc’ house on their family land. No matter where they are in Nigeria, they start a local branch of the …….Progressive Union’. These ndi Igbo who did so much for the Igbos are endangered today. They face numerous threats today. The threats range from: instinctive imitation of the Igbo elite who has not only not done enough for the Igbo, but leads in desecration of Igbo culture and importation of abominations. Denigration from fellow Igbos who did not appreciate their efforts, and described them as illiterate traders. And external threats from innocuous sources such as fraudsters operating as religious masters who weaken him by relieving him of his hard-earned money, and brainwashing him with noxious divisive notions; and lack of knowledge about Nigerian financial, and economic policies; this noble species of the Igbo is dying off. I will also spare a word for the elites who care. Those that have tried to help by bringing some of their investments and institutions to Igboland so that they can give jobs to Igbos. And those that have been philanthropic. The Igbo Israel Union which I founded, and which lead will encourage Igbos in these categories to do more by honouring them in an annual award ceremony. It will collaborate on this with the National Times.

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

2010-07-20T06:30:00.002-07:00

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 'Biafra'. Today Igbos are seeking refuge in where of
all places? Nigeria!

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 Abuja and Lagos-both; cities
in Nigeria. In fact Igbos have broken a record in Nigeria. They have
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 Israel entered into with their God. Holy Writ which should mean much to the Igbos than other Nigerians because it is the compendium of their culture, states the following unequivocally in Deuteronomy 28:

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 Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

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 Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

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 Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

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

2010-07-20T06:30:00.001-07:00

THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN- Continued.

Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona

Tel: +234-8065-300-351

Email: remy.ilona@gmail.com

For proof that the Igbos are Jews readers should examine the following books:

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:

Ilona R.C.]

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.

I will continue the series by stating what is to be done for the Igbos to rise.

THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN

2010-07-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

THAT THE IGBO NATION MAY RISE AGAIN

Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona

Tel: +234-8065-300-351

Email: remy.ilona@gmail.com

That ndi Igbo as a nation have not succeeded in Nigeria is not disputable. In this essay which will come in many parts I will not look at Igbo history in ancient times, nor from when the British conquered and colonized the peoples living in the territory that became Nigeria, but from 1960 till the present day. I will not look at the past beyond 1960, not because it is filled with glory, but because that can only be conveniently done in a book.

I will not be very detailed in narrating the reverses, defeats and failures that the Igbos have recorded since they became Nigerians, because of the above-mentioned reason. However I will give just a few clear examples of Igbo failures and shortcomings.

Since the European intervention in sub Saharan Africa, the various peoples that became the sub Saharan Africans have not been productive, in any kind of important capacity. This is most keenly manifest in Nigeria which should be the richest, but which is one of the poorest countries in the world. We will only be distracted if we go into what caused the culture of dependency to develop in sub Saharan Africa, so we will not go into it. We will deal with a fall-out of it.

As meaningful production is non existent, resources are consequently very scarce, and there is cut-throat competition for the available resources. Individuals, nations and cliques which exist in the various states created by the Europeans consequently do everything to get what they consider as their fair share of the available resources. In this part of the world the surest way to sit atop the little resources that are available is to capture political power.

Whoever captures political power in this part of the world also controls economic power. In Nigeria it is even more so, because as a mono-resource economy, i.e, an economy dependent only on crude oil sales which is controlled by the government, the individual/nation/clique that gets power call all the shots. They would not only share and allocate what is available, but they also could squeeze life out of the opposition. Naturally every wise individual, nation, and clique in Nigeria wants to be in power, i.e, to control power.

Nigeria is made up of at least 300 different nations. Some are big. Some are medium in size, and some are quite small. These nations range from the big three; Igbos, to the Hausa and the Fulani which have intermarried so much, to the Yoruba, to the medium sized Tiv, Ijaw, Gwari, Ibibio, etc, and to the small Pyem, Itsekiri, Ogoni, etc.

In getting political power, the big three have faired thus. The Hausa and Fulani who lead and dominate what is known as Northern Nigeria have held power directly for twenty six years, and indirectly for nine years, when Yakubu Gowon ruled. The Yoruba who are emerging as the leading group in what is known as Southern Nigeria have held power for thirteen years. The Igbos have held power for six months. That’s how the big nations have faired. And from the medium sized nations arose the Ijaw who have produced a president that seems set to preside over Nigeria for the next nine years, because equity seems to be on the side of the Ijaw.

Can anybody say that the Igbos who definitely outnumber every other individual Nigerian group have faired well as far as acquisition of political power is concerned? A truthful answer can only be a resounding no. And from the look of things if Igbos get the presidency of Nigeria in fifty years’ time one could say that the Igbos got it in good time. This is because an honest appraisal of the Igbo political, economic, and socio-religio-cultural positions reveals one thing among several: that the Igbos are progressively declining in every sphere of life. The famed Igbo strength which is symbolized in the dance and song of nzogbu nzogbu enyimba enyi is fast ebbing. The real unity anchored on a shared culture (Omenana) has long disappeared, because the Igbos have virtually abandoned the culture, and replaced it with degenerate and discarded versions of European culture, and the cultures of the other Nigerian groups. Even the Igbo sense which other Nigerians coined to describe the uncommon Igbo intelligence is no longer heard again, because discernibly the Igbo is not wiser, or wise presently, because if he were, he would have held his ground in Nigeria, and not gone into full-scale decline.

Economically the Igbos are loosing ground very fast. Truthfully, since the tragic and disastrous Nigeria-Biafra war, the Nigerian state has tried to cage the Igbos by promulgating and implementing policies that would weaken the Igbos. The Igbos who are by far the most commercially oriented of all the Nigerian peoples have been denied an international airport for reasons that are at best meaningless. Also because it seems to the persons that have led Nigeria that Igbos would benefit, it has not occurred to any of them to site a mini seaport at Onicha (Onitsha) and Ugwuta (Oguta). And consistently the same individuals have paid only lip service to the objective of resuscitating the Oji Power Station which would improve electricity generation in Igboland, and enable the Igbos who were more attuned to the intricacies of modern technology than the other peoples of Nigeria, and who showed that the African’s mind can still grasp the intricacies of technology during the Biafran epoch, to industrialize Nigeria. However having talked briefly about official moves and measures that weaken the Igbos economically, I will talk briefly about the harm that the Igbos have inflicted on themselves, and which have weakened them economically.

The Igbos are the most-close knit of the Nigerian peoples. Their huge population; approximately 30-35 millions tends to make it unbelievable that all the Igbo people sprang from just one source-ancient Israel. Going through The Ropes of Sands by eminent Igbo historian A.E. Afigbo, and Nigeria In Conflict by the Igbo hating British colonial officer Robert Collis, you will find why the Igbos did not incorporate non Igbos into their ranks during wars of conquests which they didn’t fight, like their big Nigerian neighbors, yet they became a populous nation. Good food in prehistoric African times! All the Igbos; from the Igbo in Edo to the Igbos in Delta, from Agbo (Agbor) to Kwale, to Asaba, to all the ones in Anambra, Enu ugwu (Enugu), Ebonyi, Abia Imo, to the ones in Rivers, live in an area that is less than the old Benue state in size, and there has been almost no major friction, in spite of the acute scarcity of land, because the people are one people. However presently the Igbos do not want to be one people any more. As some groups in the Rivers state have denounced their connections to the Igbo people, and assumed other identities and connections that are at worst abominable, and at best ridiculous, so have most Igbos denounced and ridiculed their Igbo identity, and trampled on their connections to the Igbo society, similarly for reasons that are worthless, and that are based on empty emotions and ignorance. Hitherto the Igbo economy which has been based on izu afia (trading in all its ramifications) since the loss of the Nigeria-Biafra War was strong, resilient, and it catered to the needs of almost all the Igbos. Today that economy is close to collapse because its engine room which is the Igbo system of apprenticeship (igba odibo) has lost its spirit, because presently the Igbos have lost the fear of Chukwu (God), and love for each other, and consequently do not keep agreements any more. With this state of affairs prevailing the apprentice hardly hesitates to steal from the master, who in turn would not hesitate to cheat him by not sending him off with enough chattels after the end of his years of service. Also as the Igbos have consciously discarded almost every precept and rule found in their culture which enabled them to provide safety nets for the members of their society without looking up to a state which is too far away, the morally weak, hungry and consequently angry ones among them have began taking recourse to violent crimes. Presently almost every rich Igbo is on the run-from Igboland. At the rate that Igbo investors are divesting from Igboland, and investing in Yorubaland, the South/South, and Abuja, in a few short years only the poorest, weakest, and most ignorant will be left in Igboland.

On the socio-cultural-religious front what we are witnessing is a disaster. I culled the following from The Igbos: Jews In Africa: With Solutions To The Most Critical Igbo Problems: “………………….There is trouble. Morals have been thrown to the dogs. The women who are the real pillars of the society are in my opinion seriously in need of moral rejuvenation. Nothing humiliates, denigrates and dehumanizes womanhood like prostitution. No wonder why it was not found in Igboland when Omenana held sway. Unfortunately it is a feature of Igbo life today. Some people have defended it as ‘modernization’, while others argue that prostitution is universal. And something is very worrying about it. An Igbo woman who is compromised by prostitution would still be very religious, and announce ‘where she worships’ before you even finish exchanging greetings with her.

We are not getting good reports from the universities, polytechnics and colleges. Un-Igbo practices like the one in question have become acceptable in our institutions of higher learning. When I was in a higher institution in Enugu, many years ago, a certain genre of prostitution was widespread in the institute. It was called ‘iso ndi ogo’ (going out with lustful older men). Very young women seek out, or are sought out by older men, and are corrupted. And the whole institute, and the Igbo society accepted this as normal. But inevitably corruption exacts a price. Most of those girls that were exposed unduly to lavish lifestyles found it difficult to settle down in marriage with struggling young men, just to mention an obvious price. And for those men who felt that they were sampling young blood and flesh, broken marriages have resulted for some of them, because after being with their under sixteen’s they couldn’t find their spouses attractive again. The other side effects would make the tender hearted shrink, so its better to leave them to the imagination. This practice is to be found in all higher institutions in Nigeria. All Nigerian groups, not only Igbos are involved, but as I am Igbo, my duty is to concentrate on Igbo problems.

Another heart-rending eyesore is the presence of Igbo girls, alongside other Nigerian girls in the brothels and red light districts in Nigeria. In Lagos; Victoria Island, Allen Avenue, Ikeja roundabout, are some of the hangouts. In Abuja there is the Zone 4 junction. In our own Enugu there is the Obiagu junction; and the famed Polo Park has been turned into a virtual whorehouse. Something needs to be done fast to remove this virus which has invaded Igboland. Otherwise who knows, in the future we may hear of Igbos starting to do what some other Nigerians have been doing; voluntarily sponsoring their daughters to move to Europe for prostitution. This will happen I predict, unless……………..

And worthy of mention is the (mis)behavior of many Igbo women during the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Program.

Also another sore point which fuels immoral behavior is that Igbo girls of marriageable age are not finding husbands easily. If the Igbos had understood and respected their own religion and tradition getting good spouses would have been very easy for Igbos. Igbo custom like ancient Semitic custom, as we saw from the Laban, Jacob, Leah, and Rachael saga, stipulates that the younger must not marry before the elder. According to my friend Sam Ozoekwe, if the Igbos had respected that tradition, and had not ignored it, today, as in the past, all Igbo ladies would have found husbands. But this rule was ignored, like almost all Igbo rules and today Igbo women are in trouble, and by extension the Igbo society is in trouble.

Most of the women who could not attract spouses suffer abuse and humiliation at the hands of unscrupulous men.

This not an easy issue to discuss, because it is easy to be misunderstood. I must make it clear at this stage that I understand that these women, or most of them do what they do, because their natural families and the Igbo community have not lived up to expectation. And have even ‘died’ in many cases. In the tertiary institutions there are Igbos, males and females. In the towns hosting the red light districts there are Igbo men and women. In the towns where Igbo women go for their national service, there are Igbos. If these Igbos recognize themselves as Igbos, they would have cohesive ‘Igbo unions’ that would help, police, protect and advance the cause of individual members?

But they do not have them. Why, one would ask. Answer: most Igbos would not respect the Igbo groupings. Some would not even condescend to belong to them. They would rather prefer religious groups formed by non Igbos that promise strange, esoteric and unrealizable objectives. There they would be milked of their little monies, abused in every imaginable way, and discarded when they are no longer useful”.

Prostitution has become a way of life among the Igbos. Igbo women even dress like prostitutes while going to church in Igbo land. In Enugu a few years ago three university Igbo girls were raped by non Igbo security men deployed to Enugu for official duties. One or two of the girls eventually tested positive to HIV/AIDS. This would not happen in the Muslim north of Nigeria. If it would happen the encounter would be between sons and daughters of the soil. Did those girls dress decently? Were they at the wrong place at the wrong time? Why did the Igbos who were able to challenge imperial Britain for twenty years become so powerless that people could come into Igboland, benefit from their hospitality and turn around to molest their women-folk without any fear of retribution?

I need not repeat that Igbos; including traditional rulers are escaping from Igboland, because every Igbo who could afford to eat comfortably is afraid of being kidnapped. And as most are leaving they leave with their investments.

Ironically kidnapping as a gainful past-time has reduced banditry, which is known as armed robbery in Nigeria. But it has only reduced it in Igboland. There are Igbo towns like Onicha where economic life draws to a close as soon as its 7pm in the evenings.

We need to find answers to the following questions. Is prostitution an Igbo customary practice? Is kidnapping an Igbo practice? Is banditry Igbo? Igbo traditional rulers have to answer these questions. Igbo religious authorities need to provide answers to these questions. It is incumbent on Igbo scholars to help find answers to some of these questions. As an Igbo scholar I have looked deeply, and what I have found is that these crimes are imported. That they were copied from outsiders, but are becoming part of Igbo life, because the Igbo filtration mechanism, which is contained in Omenana has been broken.

For proof that the Igbos are Jews readers should examine the following books:

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:

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 their 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]

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.

Have some of the curses come on the Igbos? A study of the trans-Atlantic Slave trade, and of what the Igbos passed through in Biafra will confirm that some; some I repeat, have come on the Igbos. I will begin to write a book if I begin to extrapolate how the curses have come, so I’ll only mention a few things that will throw light for the intelligent. Holy Writ stated that recalcitrant Israel will plant olive trees, but won’t enjoy the fruits. Amazingly the Igbos have olive trees, but do not even know that the olive in Igboland is the olive! The Igbos lost more persons than any other African nation to the slave trade. Millions of Igbos died needlessly and in great pains, just before, and during the Nigeria/Biafra war. A thoughtful Igbo; a high ranking Civil Servant told me what shocked me recently. To my question about why the Igbos have stumbled from one tragedy to the other-he responded that ife na eme ndi Igbo si na Chi (that the Igbos are not in the good grace of God, and are consequently without enough Divine protection).

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. As it contains Igbo 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.

Steps to Redemption of the Igbos

2010-07-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

Nwannem ……. ndeewo,Monday here, and we are beginning the rat race again. Any person thatuses the brain will be depressed by 'Nigeria', and an Igbo, more so,because if the Igbos had gotten things right, Igboland, and the Igbocommunity would have been an oasis in the actual hell that sub-SaharanAfrica has turned into.Before we decided to become like others we were ahead; far ahead. Evencolonial officers who declared their hatred for us stated so loud andclear. R. Collis said that we hadn't malnutrition-because we ate greenvegetables (unlike the others, including the Yoruba whom the Igbosworship today because they take them to, and teach them about Christ).My book The Igbos: Jews In Africa carefully laid out these, and more.Nwanne Chukwu has given us enough tools to free ourselves. Didn't Heempower people, including our son Emeagwali to make the Internet, andmake it available in our time? So that we would use it to look back,look at the present, and march into the future with knowledge andwisdom! However we must decide to be free. And we must decide to beholy, because we are the seed of the only people who entered acovenant with Him. We were at Sinai. Remember His warning throughProphet Amos if I recall correctly,' Israel, ye alone have I knownamong the nations, (be careful because), I 'll look into all yourtransgressions). The child we love we must reprove!Nothing wrong with loving money (other Nigerians love it even morethan Igbos). I proved that in The Igbos: Jews In Africa, but as Igbowisdom ( the Igbo sense) has gone, Igbos do everything crassly. thesame colonialists said that they didn't see prostitution as acommercial venture among the Igbos, but today all the brothels inNigeria have more Igbo girls, than girls from the other groups inNigeria. the Igbos: Jews In Africa provided facts and figures thatshowed that ndi Igbo wu o muta ogbakaria-the amateur who out-dancesthe professionals.The 'genocide' was a consequence of a crime! High treason! Committedby the Igbos! I'll try to forward to you my article which waspublished in the National Times newspaper. I don't know why Igbosrefuse to see what should be obvious. I don't know why Igbos refuse tounderstand what 'Biafra' really stands for: Well I shouldn't besurprised> Didn't Moses say that one of the consequences of idolatrywould be lack of discernment and wisdom.I told you in one of my last letters that as Igbos withdraw fromOmenana/Laws of the God of Israel, that their wisdom, power, etc, willbe reducing. Okpara and co were prophets if compared to contemporaryIgbos, but midgets when compared to Joshua, David, Elijah, Isaiah,Equiano, the type that Okonkwo of Things Fall Apart is the prototypeof, and their other ancestors.Igbos can only begin to think about redemption of any kind when asizable number of Igbos break free from the yoke of idolatry. This iseasy to achieve. If the Igbos know what is Omenana, and begin topractice it, they will break free of idolatry. Its not easy for me tosay the following as I could be misunderstood, and viewed as indulgingin self-adulation. But as we are dialoguing I'll talk. With God's helpI have been able to excavate the true history of the Igbos, and havealso found the true Igbo culture. It is Omenana, and I found evidencethat it is the culture of Israel, and that it remains pure, even whilethe Igbos regressed, and degenerated. Presently a group of Igboacademics, professionals, and artistes, based in Nigeria, and abroad,who have read some of my books have been assembling with the objectiveof rebuilding the Igbo people with what they found in the books. Inthe words of the facilitator, and the chairman of the 'Platform, 'wehave read many Igbo texts, but The Igbos: Jews In Africa' gave us akey which we had not known about previously'. And in the words of aleader of the group based abroad, 'after reading the book, it was nolonger gloom and doom, as I began to see light at the end of thetunnel'. If you read some of them you'll have the same feelings, andwill begin to think of how to make sure that many if not all Igbosbegin to read them, and begin to study about the Igbos.And who made it possible for us to have what is actually the base of IgboStudies? Its the Jews! Today a Jewish company is working to publish'From Ibri To Igbo-Forty Million More Jews In West Africa' besidewhich the books which kick-started the afore-mentioned group palesinto insignificance. More on that later, but I'll drop this before Isign off now, to restart later. If the Igbos begin to study the Jews,as they study the Igbos, redemption will come in no time.

Note: The treason wasn't against Nigeria, but against the God of our forefathers. A close reading of Deut 28 will convince you that we benefited from the blessings when we recognized Him alone as our God, and tried to keep His commandments, and that the Igbos are reaping the curses presently, because the Igbos have turned to another god, whom their fathers did not know.

Lecturers on how Igbo-Israel treated twins 2

2010-06-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

As the intermingling continued, and the ha Ibri clans continued to assimilate the cultural practices and the words of their neighbors, they began to loose theirs. They entered the forests as ha Ibri. With time they became Ibo. It is possible that it is their neighbors that helped them to change ‘ha Ibri’ to ‘Ibo’. I say this because I have observed one thing about the Igbos. Many of the things that the Igbos believe about themselves presently, especially those ones that are not part of their cultural heritage, are what foreigners told them. For examples; the Europeans who came to buy slaves observed human sacrifices in some of the forest kingdoms in West Africa . The kings of those kingdoms on dying were buried with live slaves. When the Europeans started to write about the Igbos they simply wrote that the Igbos sacrificed humans too, as their neighbors, even though such did not happen because the Igbos did not even have the kings in the first place. Another good example is the issue of killing twins. A people that live to the south of the Igbos used to kill their twins. They indulged in this practice till a Scottish woman, Mary Slessor, educated them that it was wrong to kill twins. The people have honored her memory by erecting a statue of her in their land. And are about to release a film about her exploits among them. It is possible that some Ibos that live near to the neighboring people, and others that interacted with them might have assimilated the practice. It is also very possible that they never did. Nobody has said that he has seen the remains, such as the skeletons of infant twins in any part of Igbo territory. Nobody, not even Igbo renegades who seek to be relevant by distorting and fighting Igbo history, culture and traditions have shown a shred of evidence that killing of twins was a general and an accepted practice among the Igbos. What most Igbos can swear to is that they heard that Igbos killed twins. Nobody has been able to give strong evidence that it was an Igbo practice. Caliben Ike Okonkwo, a specialist surgeon; the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Igbo-Israel Union; one of the most important Igbo cultural organizations, had a grandmother who was a twin. The grandmother and her twin died in their nineties. They were not killed. And Caliben says that there is no story that there were attempts to kill them. Interestingly they were born during the period that killing of twins is speculated to be at its zenith among the Igbos. Yet today the Igbos, as the people that have been known as ha Ibri, and Ibo, are now known, believe without any reservation that the Igbos were killing twins. Very likely the Igbos heard from the colonialists that the Igbos killed twins, and accepted, and internalized the story, because they had gradually degenerated to believing that whatever the colonialists said was sacred.
So the by then ‘Ibos’ continued to assimilate some of the cultural practices and the stories of their neighbors. Inevitably they began to grow weaker because what they were copying were strange to them, and were mostly evil practices. The borrowed customs also began to bring divisions between them. Disaster was not long in common. Some of them; interestingly from a clan on one of their borders brought the Europeans into their territory to buy slaves. Perhaps they thought that they could just make a little money, and control the trade. But they were mistaken. The slave trade got out of hand. The following are just some of the things it resulted in for them.
According to F.K Buah17: ‘Another evil result of the slave trade was that it encouraged divisions among the various kingdoms in Africa , and brought about permanent mistrust and hatred among different peoples. Peoples were constantly at war with one another in order to gain more slaves. Cities, towns and villages were destroyed, and progress was halted. The arts and culture were also neglected. Life became so uncertain that no man thought it worth his while to try to improve his lot. Lastly, it must be added that for many years the trade in slaves made the Africans feel that they were inferior to the Europeans.
Nothing can be truer than the above. Sub Saharan Africa is in ruins. The standard of living of most of its people is unbelievably low. The people seem to be incapable of governing themselves. Many sub-Saharan Africans, especially Nigerians, even ‘well educated’ ones spend their lives aping Europeans by bleaching their skins, and trying to speak like Americans.
On the Igbos and the slave trade; Celestine A. Obi, an Igbo Catholic clergyman, Vincent A. Nwosu, Casmir Eke, K. B. C. Onwubiko and F.E. Okon, had while quoting Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore in Africa Since 1800 (London 1978) and Thomas Hodgkin in Nigerian Perspectives (London 1965), written thus:
‘It is strange and humiliating that West Africa received the true Faith in the context of colonization and a dehumanizing phenomenon like the slave trade. The inhuman trafficking in human lives went on for over three hundred years during which a large population of black Africans was transported into Europe, the United States and Central and South America . At the end of the 18th century Eastern Nigeria alone supplied 20,000 slaves a year. It is equally on record that the Igbo as a race suffered most during the slave trade. Many of these slaves died en route due to the merciless torture, starvation and exposure to the asperities of the weather. A large number of them however survived in the new world’.18
And G.T. Basden wrote thus: ‘In earlier days great numbers of these people were transported to America , the West Indies , and to other places, and traces of their language and custom are said still to survive amongst the Negroes in those countries. Many Sierra Leoneans are descendants of Ibo stock.’19
INTRODUCTION TO THE CHRONICLES OF IGBO-ISRAEL
And
The connections between the Afro-Americans and the Jews

Written by Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona

With contributions from Anthony Edwards

Nigerian edition; edited by Uchenna Onwumelu Umeokolo

ISBN: 978 978 088 976 0

Lectures on how Igbo-Israel treated twins

2010-06-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Nna ochie,

Authentic Omenana calls for a cow to be slaughtered for a major oriri (feast) if a lady delivers twins-if the husband can afford a cow. The problem is that our people are afraid to look at our past, because the missionaries who laid the foundation of our 'education' told impressionable lads and lasses that our past was barbaric, savage, and not worth looking at. And those kids naturally transfered what they learnt to succeeding generations. And today we have Igbos who know nothing about Igbo culture and religion, yet hate them with passion.

And because we are afraid to look at our past we keep on bludering in the present, and into the future. I hope that many more Igbos will begin to ask questions. Actually persons like you make it worthwhile for persons like me to remain on Igbo fora.

Ilona, R.C.

What are responsible for Igbo and Jewish higher intelligence?

2009-08-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

What are responsible for Igbo and Jewish higher intelligence?

I would aver that the Jewish people have exhibited remarkable intelligence in many more areas of endeavor; more than any other group of people in our world.

On the position that the Jewish people have demonstrated what I chose to identify as higher intelligence, some other persons seem to have an opinion similar to mine. The Economist of 4th June, 2005, has a story that presents the Jews of Eastern and Northern Europe (the Ashkenazi) as having shown more intelligence than their peers (the non Jewish population), on the average.

Quoting the story briefly would help: ‘Ashkenazim generally do well in 1Q tests, scoring 12—15 points above the mean value of 100, and have contributed disproportionately to the intellectual and cultural life of the West, as the careers of Freud, Einstein and Mahler-affirm.’

The above is part of a study by Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy and Henry Harpending of the University of Utah; in which they sought to prove not only that some ethnic groups are more intelligent than others, but the process through which that become possible.

In the story the scholars averred that while the Jews generally succeeded by using their brains, their non Jewish peers generally achieved success by engaging in activities like conquests and colonization of other peoples, brigandage, and wars, etc.

Thomas Cahill, Christian scholar, and author of The Gifts of the Jews sums up the mental acuity of the Jews with the following words: ‘The Jews started it all-and by “it” I mean many of the things we care about, the underlying values that make all of us, Jew and gentile, believer and atheist, tick’.

I am interested in studying the possible reasons why the Ashkenazi (Jews), and peoples akin to the Jews have shown more intelligence than their peers.

According to the above-mentioned authors, ‘persecution and marginalization’ of the Jews in Europe; might have enabled the Ashkenazi Jews to become conspicuously intelligent.

I will try to find out if what the above-mentioned authors listed can contribute to higher intelligence; by discussing Jewish and Igbo intelligence, and comparing both from the prism of their experiences, and other variables. The Igbos who are also widely seen as ‘Jews’ are observed to be a very intelligent people too. I will look at other things which I feel that they could be possible contributors to higher intelligence. Things like ‘culture’. I feel that culture, and other factors, may even have been more crucial in making the Jews formidable; perhaps more than ‘persecution and marginalization’.

Before continuing I would like to show some statistics which depict the Jews as an intelligent and brilliant people:
Though the global Jewish population is approximately only Fourteen millions (14,000,000m) i.e, about 0.02% of the world population, yet, from 1910 to 2000 the Jews won the following Nobel Prizes: Literature:1910 - Paul Heyse1927 - Henri Bergson1958 - Boris Pasternak1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon1966 - Nelly Sachs1976 - Saul Bellow1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer1981 - Elias Canetti1987 - Joseph Brodsky1991 - Nadine Gordimer World Peace:1911 - Alfred Fried1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser1968 - Rene Cassin1973 - Henry Kissinger1978 - Menachem Begin1986 - Elie Wiesel1994 - Shimon Peres1994 - Yitzhak Rabin Physics:1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer1906 - Henri Moissan1910 - Otto Wallach1915 - Richard Willstaetter1918 - Fritz Haber1943 - George Charles de Hevesy1961 - Melvin Calvin1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz1972 - William Howard Stein1977 - Ilya Prigogine1979 - Herbert Charles Brown1980 - Paul Berg1980 - Walter Gilbert1981 - Roald Hoffmann1982 - Aaron Klug1985 - Albert A. Hauptman1985 - Jerome Karle1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach1988 - Robert Huber1989 - Sidney Altman1992 - Rudolph Marcus2000 - Alan J. Heeger Economics:1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson1971 - Simon Kuznets1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow1975 - Leonid Kantorovich1976 - Milton Friedman1978 - Herbert A. Simon1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein1985 - Franco Modigliani1987 - Robert M. Solow1990 - Harry Markowitz1990 - Merton Miller1992 - Gary Becker1993 - Robert Fogel Medicine:1908 - Elie Metchnikoff1908 - Paul Erlich1914 - Robert Barany1922 - Otto Meyerhof1930 - Karl Landsteiner1931 - Otto Warburg1936 - Otto Loewi1944 - Joseph Erlanger1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser1945 - Ernst Boris Chain1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller1950 - Tadeus Reichstein1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman1953 - Hans Krebs1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann1958 - Joshua Lederberg1959 - Arthur Kornberg1964 - Konrad Bloch1965 - Francois Jacob1965 - Andre Lwoff1967 - George Wald1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg1969 - Salvador Luria1970 - Julius Axelrod1970 - Sir Bernard Katz1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman1975 - Howard Martin Temin1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow1978 - Daniel Nathans1980 - Baruj Benacerraf1984 - Cesar Milstein1985 - Michael Stuart Brown1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]1988 - Gertrude Elion1989 - Harold Varmus1991 - Erwin Neher1991 - Bert Sakmann1993 - Richard J. Roberts1993 - Phillip Sharp1994 - Alfred Gilman1995 - Edward B. Lewis Physics:1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson1908 - Gabriel Lippmann1921 - Albert Einstein1922 - Niels Bohr1925 - James Franck1925 - Gustav Hertz1943 - Gustav Stern1944 - Isidor Isaac Rabi1952 - Felix Bloch1954 - Max Born1958 - Igor Tamm1959 - Emilio Segre1960 - Donald A. Glaser1961 - Robert Hofstadter1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman1965 - Julian Schwinger1969 - Murray Gell-Mann1971 - Dennis Gabor1973 - Brian David Josephson1975 - Benjamin Mottleson1976 - Burton Richter1978 - Arno Allan Penzias1978 - Peter L Kapitza1979 - Stephen Weinberg1979 - Sheldon Glashow1988 - Leon Lederman1988 - Melvin Schwartz1988 - Jack Steinberger1990 - Jerome Friedman1995 - Martin Perl

Even though we know that certain people who have shown exceptional intelligence have not been awarded the Nobel Prize, we can still say that the Prize is more or less won by people who demonstrate above average brilliance, intelligence and achievement.

Discussing Igbo Intelligence
The Igbos were observed to be on the average; exceptionally intelligent. Nigerians have recognized the uncommon and unusual Igbo intelligence in the coinage “Igbo sense”. In the recent past if a person in Nigeria displayed uncommon intelligence he was said to have Igbo sense. A witty Bini (non Igbo Nigerian) musician; Joseph Osayomore; had in his album entitled ‘Igbo no be beggars’ rhetorically questioned why there is no Yoruba or Hausa sense. The Yoruba and Hausa peoples are the other big nations that are in Nigeria.

The Igbos have been observed to have a certain genius which is not common. I will try to elaborate with the following illustration. Between 1999 and 2007 Nigeria’s president was Olusegun Obasanjo. This man took over from the military who had ruled the country for many years, and had in the estimation of many Nigerians ran the country aground. When Obasanjo came there was a sort of consensus to rebuild the country. Many of the ‘best’ Nigerian brains were sought out and invited to come and man strategic places in the country. Without fear that I would be contradicted, I would say that most of the Igbos that were invited stood out. They introduced and implemented revolutionary and successful changes in their various domains. A young Igbo, Chukwuma Soludo became the Central Bank governor, and stabilized the Nigerian banking industry which had been in shambles. It is generally agreed that if Soludo had not stabilized the Nigerian banking sector, that the Nigerian economy would have collapsed completely when the global economic malaise started. Another, Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, a young woman called back from the World Bank became Nigeria’s Finance Minister. While in that position she devised strategies that enabled Nigeria to get debt relief. Before Iweala came and presented an articulate Nigerian position on the need for debt relief Western donors had shunned all entreaties for Nigeria to get relief. Another, Dora Akunyili tamed the menace of fake drugs manufacturing and importation into Nigeria. Before Akunyili a Nigerian suffering from diarrhea would more likely than not get talcum powder as ampicillin from many of Nigeria’s pharmacies and hospitals. Still another, Ngozi Ezekwesili was able to introduce ‘due process’ which is an euphemism for orderliness and discipline, into the Nigerian government business. Remarkably before these Igbos stepped into the positions from which they did so well, Nigerians from other Nigerian nations with equivalent formal education have been in the positions, but as we say in Nigeria they ‘didn’t perform’.

A British colonial officer, Robert Collis, was clear in his comparative study of Nigeria’s peoples that the Igbos had sufficient nutritious food in the era when whole populations starved to death due to inadequate knowledge of farming techniques and occasional droughts. That the Igbos achieved the feat of self-sufficiency in food production, and knew the right and proper things to eat in the period that Africa was described by outsiders as the ‘Dark Continent ‘(which Africans have not risen to deny) are in themselves evidence of high intelligence.

The same Robert Collis, the author of Nigeria In Conflict, was clearly hostile to the Igbos in his book. In fact because of his clearly demonstrated hatred for the Igbos I drew close to labeling him an anti-Semite in another write-up of mine: The Igbos: Jews In Africa. It is interesting that even though he couldn’t hide his hatred for the Igbos, yet he mentioned the following repeatedly:

‘(The Igbos) Being more hardworking and energetic by nature than the other Nigerians………But there is no doubt that Ibo men are the hardest workers in Nigeria, and their women among the most charming and the most intelligent. They are neither mentally nor physically lazy, and have shown themselves to have IQs as high as any race or group anywhere in the world’………..Many expatriates have found the Ibos easier to work with than the men of other tribes in Nigeria. I, myself, found them very pleasant work companions. They had a greater capacity for hard work than most and could grasp the significance of what they were doing very quickly. They often made first-class research workers’.

The author was British and quite hostile I repeat. So his opinion can be relied upon.

Also, after the British left Nigeria, the Igbos, still new to Western methods of life, were still able to set up the rudiments of a modern state in their Eastern Region in Nigeria. This Eastern Region’s economy was the fastest growing economy in the world in the period- 1950-1966. And during the Nigeria-Biafra War-1967-1970, in which the Igbos as the Biafrans tried to protest against genocide by attempting to secede from Nigeria, they achieved unimaginable feats; scientific and otherwise. Even though there was clear evidence that genocide was attempted and carried out against them, the whole world with the exception of four African states and Haiti turned their backs on them. Blockaded by Cameroun and other neighbors, and isolated, while their foes were supported by most of the World powers, they fell back on their intelligence, and so acquitted themselves that they were variously described as the Israel and the Japan of Africa, because of their ingenuity and resilience. During the ‘War the Igbos were able to conquer science and technology; the bogey-man of Africa.

In support of the foregoing are other evidences that the Igbos are a highly intelligent people:

One of their own, Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart is definitely always mentioned as one of the icons of literature for all times. His book is listed by the British Broadcasting Corporation as one of the greatest one hundred books of the twentieth century. He is acknowledged to be the ‘Father of African literature’. Many believe that his greatest contribution to the peoples of Africa and the rest of mankind in extension, is that he first saw that political independence, not coupled with cultural independence for Africa’s peoples, amounts to nothing. In other words that the resources, human, material, aid, etc that is available in Africa will not improve the lot of the African peoples until the people look inwards; at their own history, and culture, and from them fashion out the systems and institutions that will work for them.

Another one of them Philip Emeagwali is referred to as the ‘Father of the Internet’, because of the revolutionary work he did in that field.

Also recent research is revealing that an Igbo, Olaudah Equiano, was one of the real beginners of the anti-slave trade movement (the Abolitionist movement). Now what he did may seem quite common-place and ordinary, but when he did it, it was quite revolutionary. It can be averred that he used his brains well by initiating the battle to eradicate an aberration like slavery which I can make a case that the average person in the middle of the 18th century might have thought of as natural.

While all that I have enumerated above may show that the Igbos are a brilliant people, they may not prove that the Igbos have shown as much intelligence as the Jews. My opinion is that expecting the Igbos to have achieved as much as the Jews would be unfair, because of the following reasons: While the Jews in discussion live in Europe-the continent that has moved the world more than any other since at least the last five hundred years-the Igbos live in Africa-the continent that has been most upset and moved by the Europeans. In addition the Jews in discussion have never lost control of their affairs to the extent that the Igbos have. Since the advent of the Europeans in West Africa the Igbos have lost control of their affairs to the extent that even the educational curriculum available to the Igbos was not designed by the Igbos. An Igbo has to give more attention to learning English language, than his own language-Igbo. European history and culture have been presented to the Igbos as more important to the Igbos than Omenana-the Igbos culture. Yet in spite of all these the Igbos have managed to find meanings in things that are strange, and to thrive. But the people’s best can’t be expected to come out, because much of their time and resources is spent in trying to understand things that really shouldn’t be important to them. From all the foregoing we can see that the Igbos have used their brains well, even though they haven’t done as well as the Jews.
Now as to what could have contributed to the intelligence of the Jews and the Igbos: The above-mentioned Economist report suggests persecution and marginalization for the Jewish case. We have overwhelming evidence that Europe mistreated the Jews of Europe for centuries, and that the Arabs though not as cruel as the Europeans, were nevertheless not paragons of tolerance to the minority Hebrews in their midst. Because of some factors which I will talk about soon I can accept, though with reservations that persecution and marginalization contributed to Jewish intelligence. With reservation; because it could be argued that the intelligence existed before the persecution and marginalization. That in fact the intelligence of the Jews helped to make the conditions that aroused the jealousy of their neighbors. We can argue that the persecutors and marginalizers of the Jews were plainly evil men and women who were out to loot a vulnerable minority community. We can also argue that the Jews would not have been singled out for special persecution and marginalization if they had behaved like, and had believed in what their neighbors believed in. We can argue that clearly they were different, and they had a higher (more decent standard/not necessarily materially) standard of living which they were ready to fight to preserve, so they were perceived as a threat that had to be checked. We can argue that the checking was the ‘persecution and marginalization’. All the foregoing hints that the Jewish way of life was unique, better and superior. And what, if it is not higher intelligence that would have enabled the Jews to have a better way of life? And that it is the Jewish way of life that created the condition that excited their neighbors jealousy. And that their neighbors paid them back with persecution and marginalization. From this point we can go on and aver that the persecution and marginalization helped to sharpen the already existing unique intelligence of the Ashkenazim.

Evidence that may be regarded as ‘empirical’ has not been thrown up that the Igbos suffered extraordinary persecution before their contact with Europeans, to the extent that the Jews of Europe suffered. Perhaps this is because very little is known about the Igbos prior to their contact with Europeans. But there is evidence that they suffered more persecution and suffering than their neighbors since they made contact with Europeans. Their odyssey during the trans-Atlantic stave trade was quite harrowing. The following taken from A Hundred Years of the Catholic Church in Eastern Nigeria, 1885-1985, more than illustrates the extent of suffering that befell the Igbos during the trans-Atlantic slave trade:
‘…… it is strange and humiliating that West Africa received the true Faith in the
context of colonization and a dehumanizing phenomenon like the slave trade
……The inhuman trafficking in human lives went on for over three hundred
years during which a large population of black Africans was transported into
Europe, the United States and Central and South America. At the end of the
18th century, Eastern Nigeria alone supplied 20,000 slaves a year. It is equally
on record that the Igbo as a race, suffered most during the slave trade’.
And F.K. Buah noted on page 138-9, of his History of West Africa that:

“….Iboland and the states in the Niger Delta suffered more from the slave trade
than did many other West African states. Every year thousands of able men and
women were carried away across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. Bon-
ny became the chief port for this inhuman trade. At the peak of the trade no fe-
wer than 20,000 slaves were sold in Bonny every year for transportation to the
Americas. Of these more than three-quarters were taken from Iboland. In a mat-
ter of twenty years, over a quarter of a million people passed through the port
of Bonny”.
And on how they were treated Buah noted:
“When the slaves were captured, they were put in chains and dragged along
down to the coast, to start their journey in misery to the unknown world. As well
as being chained, the slaves had to carry heavy loads of other goods which the
agents had bought for re-sale to the European merchants. This made their
journey more unbearable. Special overseers, who treated the slaves very
harshly, were employed to bring the captured slaves down to the coast”.
Writing about his travel in West Africa in search of the true course of the Niger, Mungo Park described the sad scene of a slave caravan in these words:
“The slaves greatly fear a journey toward the coast, for the slave traders keep
them always fastened together and watch them very closely to prevent their
escape. They are commonly fastened by the right leg of one to the left leg of
another. They can walk, though very slowly. Every four slaves are also fastened
by the neck with a strong rope. In the night their hands too are tied up.
Those who complain have fastened to one leg a heavy piece of wood three
feet long.
And how much were they sold for? In most cases not more than a mere £20!
But the hardship which these poor people suffered on the journey from their
homes to the coast was slight in comparison with the hardships which lay ahead.
While awaiting shipment, they were kept in dark dungeons in a castle built
specially for this purpose. They could see very little or no light, and were given
just enough food to keep alive. When the ships arrived, the slaves were packed
on board so that no space was wasted. Under such hardship, thousands of them
died on the voyage before the slaves ship arrived in the New World.
In the plantations, the slaves were sold by auction. Then their dismal life of
hard work started. They were forced to work on the plantations and in the
mines from morning until dusk, and were allowed just enough food to keep
alive. They looked forward to death –the end of their miserable lives. In their
misery, they found some solace in what is now called ‘Negro spirituals’.
They were songs with religious theme, and were often sung by the slaves as
they worked. This explains why most of these songs are so heart-rending”.

We have gotten a taste of what the primary victims; the captured, passed through. Horrible! is the softest word that we can find to describe what happened. History is yet to beam its search-lights on the situation in the lands where the primary victims were captured from. Where the slave raiding wars, the kidnappings, etc, took place, for over three hundred years.

Also even though history has not really seen Africa as very important, and has accordingly not given some events the attention they deserved, yet we have manifest evidence that the Igbos were among the groups that bore the real brunt of British imperialism and colonialism, because they were among the few groups that challenged the imperialists for extended periods, some say, due to religious reasons.

In addition the Nigeria/Biafra war was pure agony for the Igbo people. Millions died slow agonizing deaths because of starvation. Millions more mourned painfully.

Also after the war, just like before it, the people have been killed needlessly in ethnic cum religious conflicts that legally and morally should not have affected them.

Lastly, to use the softer term; marginalization: the Nigerian state’s marginalization of the Igbos has brought suffering and deprivation too.

So we can say that Igbos have suffered more than their peers. But can suffering release the juice of intelligence? My mother ’Amaka Ilona, nee Nwosu; used to say that ‘afufu na eme ka mmadu mar’ ife’ (that suffering induces people to become sensible). Suffering can actually lead to innovativeness, to a bursting of the barriers. Certain types of suffering can lead to inventiveness. Here I will still rehash what I mentioned before. There are subtle suggestions that the Igbos were targeted. Why? The answer is that they were unique. Higher intelligence made them unique. The uniqueness aroused the ire of their neighbors, and antagonists.

At the end of the day one may be wrong to just dismiss the argument that persecution, marginalization and oppression may release the juices that give rise to high intelligence. However one would in my opinion be on surer ground if one also looks at other variables that could give rise to higher intelligence. In my opinion ‘culture’ is one such variable.

At this point I will like to bring in a story that will help to buttress my argument that culture is a major contributor to higher intelligence. The Igbo intelligence which I have talked about for a while in this write-up; from my observation; was more manifest when the Igbos were more traditional, i.e, when they lived more like Igbos. In the present era most Igbos have in pursuit of ‘modernity’ became ‘over modern’, and the higher intelligence is not noticed in most Igbos presently. The term ‘Igbo sense’ is hardly mentioned in Nigeria again, because most contemporary Igbos do not display the type of intelligence that moved people to realize that the Igbo intelligence was unusual. And when this higher intelligence rises in this contemporary period it has been noticed that it is in those Igbos who stay close to, and have sympathy for the culture of the Igbos. In other words, there is reason to look into the Igbos culture and traditions (Omenana) as a major contributor to their high intelligence. I can throw more light on my points by relating my experiences with four Igbos who have sympathy for, and are positively interested in Igbo culture, and also by talking about Igbo music. I ran into some Igbo professors recently. Our discussions were based essentially on Igbo culture, the society, its problems, and its prospects. I observed that the gentlemen were interested in Igbo culture and language. In our discussions about the Igbo people they all brought out suggestions which if implemented they will go a long way toward the improvement of the Igbos situation. They were observant enough to see that the Igbos could come together, and be healed when and if they value what they have in common; their language and culture. Truly many an Igbo who is not interested in Omenana would not know that Igbos would not be able to find unity unless and until they treasure their binding instruments: their language and culture. And on the music: Igbo music was extremely fascinating when the Igbos had not absorbed so much foreign customs, and dropped their own. G.T.Basden; an European scholar made the following observation about Igbo music in the early 19th century:

‘Whether the Ibo trace their ancestry back to Jubal-Cain it is not my purpose to discuss, but they certainly have inherited a fair share of the art originated by the “Father of Music”…..The more one listens to native music, the more one is conscious of its vital power. It touches the chords of man’s inmost being, and stirs his primal instincts. It demands the performers whole attention and so sways the individual as almost to divide asunder, for the time being, mind and body. It is intensely passionate, and no great effort of the imagination is required to realize that such music could only have originated from the son of Cain! Under its influence, and that of the accompanying dance, one has seen men and women pass into a completely dazed condition, oblivious and apparently unconscious of the world around them………it lifts men and women out of themselves’

We have a few Igbo musicians like Show Promoter, Ozoemena Nsugbe, Afam Ogbuoto who stayed traditional. They made intelligent music, which has stood the test of time. We cannot say the same about many Igbo musicians of the present era, and we can’t say the same about those that became ashamed of playing music in Igbo language. Presently the majority of those in the earlier category that sing in Igbo language would starve if they don’t praise-sing. And those that sing in English merely imitate American gutter music.

The case we have made about Igbo music, we can also make about every other field of endeavor. In this contemporary period that only very few Igbos still try to live according to Omenana (Igbo culture); fewer and fewer Igbos exhibit the uncommon, the awe inspiring Igbo intelligence and genius. As I have mentioned before, most Nigerians do not mention ‘Igbo sense’ again because most Igbos do not show extra-ordinary intelligence again. So we can say that Igbo culture is a contributor, or contributes to Igbo intelligence.

On what Jewish culture may have contributed to Jewish intelligence I am seriously thinking about what an Igbo scholar; Patrick Ugwuanyi, said about the Jews and Monotheism; the type favored by the Israelites; the imageless type.
‘The Israelites with their practice of focusing their concentration on an unseen, an abstract imageless Deity definitely had higher chances of reasoning and thinking above the ordinary and the mundane, than their peers who could only think of a deity that had physical form’.
I still have a lot of ground to cover on the area of what culture contributes to intelligence, but for now I will sum up by saying that I feel strongly that Jewish culture and Omenana contributed to the Ashkenazi, and to the Igbo intelligence, more than oppression and persecution. And I hope that I have presented convincing argument in support.

The Igbos of Nigeria and their Osu problem.

2009-07-23T01:51:00.000-07:00

The Igbos of Nigeria and their Osu problem.

REMY ILONA

08065300351, remy.ilona@gmail.com, rcilona2000@yahoo.com, www.igboisrael.com

Among the Igbos one is an Osu if one is a descendant of an Osu man or woman. In other-words one is an Osu if one is a member of an Osu family. Osu families exist in almost all the clans that constitute the Igbo people. Accordingly the Igbos know who is an Osu, because Igbos proper identification is by their clans and families. The writer; Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona can be very easily traced in Igboland if the person interested in tracing him finds out that he is from Ozubulu. The next step is to ask about the Ilona family, and in minutes the author will be accounted for. The same way the author could be traced is the same way that Igbos know who is an Osu and who is not one.

Since most Igbos would remember, the Osu is among the Igbos an inferior Igbo. He or she could be very well educated, and be super-rich; but to the rich, educated, very religious, poorest, not educated, and irreligious Igbo, he or she is still an inferior person. He could even be a Christian priest, thus falling into the category of Igbos that command respect among the Igbos today, yet to the Igbos he is still inferior. He is less than a ‘normal’, ‘freeborn’ Igbo. An Osu man would not be inducted into the prestigious ozo society of the Igbos, nor would he be made a traditional ruler in any Igbo clan, even if he is the most qualified member of the clan. .An Osu can hardly get a spouse of his choice from a non Osu Igbo family.

Today only very very few Igbos know why the Igbos treat fellow Igbos in such an ungodly way. Physically the Igbo who is an Osu, and the one who is not, are the same. They shared the same Igbo culture (Omenana), which it must be mentioned that the Igbos have generally abandoned, as they are abandoning the Igbo language. Since the Igbos are almost all Christians today both would invariably be Christians. Yet in spite of all these shared commonalities the non Osu Igbo still looks down on the Osu Igbo, and would not intermarry with him or her. A few Igbos, a few that can be counted off one’s fingers have tried to cross the lines. Their families have generally disowned and ostracized them so that the entire family would avoid the taint, and the disadvantages that follow being an Osu. Today there are millions of Igbos consigned to perpetual spinster-hood and bachelor-hood because of this problem. Well meaning Igbos; of Osu, and non Osu stock have tried to fight the problem, but have failed woefully, because rather than getting weaker, the discrimination is getting stronger. In my opinion Igbos have failed to tackle the problem successfully because the matter has not been studied at all. Any problem that is not studied cannot be solved.

I am from a noble Igbo family that was chosen to become a royal family when the Igbos began to have kings in imitation of their neighbors; the Igala, and the Bini. The Ilona/Udoji family of Uruokwe, Egbema, Ozubulu in Anambra State produces the obi of Egbema in Ozubulu. The obi is the traditional ruler (king) of Egbema, Ozubulu. Accordingly in this my present sojourn or existence in life there is no chance that I would suffer what the Osu Igbos suffer. Yet for as long as I can remember I have been disturbed about this form of apartheid that the Igbos practice. To be candid; even though I was disturbed I never thought or imagined that I would rise up one day, and fight for the eradication of the blight. Perhaps I did not give the problem much thought because I accepted as accurate what the Igbo people ‘know’ about the Osu Igbos, and the Osu issue, even though I doubted the genuineness of such knowledge: That the Osu Igbos are people whose ancestors were sacrificed to idols, gods, and deities (agbara or arusi). And people whose ancestors ran to idols, gods, and deities (agbara or arusi) for protection. Like many Igbos I have wondered about, and doubted that the explanation is accurate. This is because if the Osus became Osus because their ancestors were associated with idols, gods, and deities, and today the Igbos generally do not worship those idols, gods, and deities anymore, why do Igbos still treat the Osus descendants as if the idols, gods, and deities are still relevant? More than seventy percent of the Igbos are Christians today. Since the colonial era all the political leaders that the Igbos have produced are Christians. Presently the 5+1 Igbo governors are Christians. Also the business leaders of the Igbos are Christians. With the foregoing we can say that all the people that make and influence policies in the Igbo society are Christians. With the statistics that I have reeled out, even Europe, the continent that Christianized the Igbos can’t boast of a stronger attachment to the religion than the Igbos. Yet it appears that the Igbos still respect the ‘idols’, ‘gods’ and ‘deities’, that they are thought to have worshipped in their pre-Christian milieu as if their very lives depended on respecting them. Otherwise why do openly fervent Igbo Christians who are not of Osu stock participants in the drama of shunning the Igbos of Osu stock, who together with them are Christians? One would expect old things to have passed away, now that the ‘idols’, ‘gods’, deities’, have been abandoned, and a great majority of Igbos worship Jesus.

I felt bad, and confused but suppressed my bitterness, and doubts, and continued to pursue my career in legal practice. At a stage in my life I developed an unusual interest in the Igbo people. I began to have an urge to know the Igbos. I began to study the Igbo culture. And Igbo studies led me to Jewish and biblical studies. And working intensively in the three fields I found the origins, and meaning of the Osu institution, and how misinformation and ignorance have created a problem that never existed before, and that is today an albatross on the neck of the Igbos.

Every adult Nigerian is familiar with the notion that the Igbos are Jews. The most cursory examination reveals that Igbo culture and Jewish culture are similar. Since 2002 I have been comparing the Igbo and Israelite cultures in a systematic and scholarly way. I am well positioned to begin this. I have help and motivation from very important Jewish organizations like the Kulanu Inc, Tikvat Israel, Derusha LLC, Forest Foundation, Brandeis University, etc. I am also connected to great Jewish scholars; anthropologists, historians, archeologists, linguists, language experts, ethnologists, and theologians who have interest in finding out if Omenana Igbo (Igbo culture) is truly like Jewish culture. With collaboration from the groups and individuals mentioned above, and with the biggest Jewish and Igbo private library south of the Mediterranean at my disposal, dissecting, analyzing and studying the Igbos was not as onerous to me as it should have been. A small portion of my findings have been published as “The Igbos: Jews In Africa Vol 1”, with contributions from Ehav Eliyahu-New York, U.S.A, Israel, “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 with the connections between the Afro-Americans and the Jews”, with contributions from Anthony Edwards-San Francisco, U.S.A, ‘A Short Story from Igbo Israel”, “Igbo-Israel Union Handbook”. I contributed to “The Encyclopedia of Diaspora Jewry” edited by Professor Errhlich, “The Black Jews Of Africa”, by Edith Bruder. Also much of my thoughts are reflected in ‘Biography of Remy Ilona-The man who worked for Igbo-Israel” by Uche Onwumelu Umeokolo, and www.igboisrael.com, by American Friends of Igbo-Israel, and Derusha Publishing LLC.

Any proper study of the Igbos must engage the Osu matter, because of its centrality and importance to the Igbo people. Accordingly in my study of the Igbos I gave the Osu matter much attention. As I looked at the Osu I was led deeper and deeper into the Igbo religious culture which we believed that it gave us the Osu, and the problems associated with it, such as the discrimination which I mentioned earlier. As I probed I began to see and understand things that could only be understood if properly studied. I discovered that the Osu person was not what the Igbos think that he is today, but a different person who played a very important and holy role in Igbo life in ancient times. I also confirmed what an European scholar suspected: that the Osu institution must have become corrupt and perverted because of Igbo contact with Europeans during the European sponsored Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

To find out if the Osus were actually sacrificed to idols/deities/gods I investigated the Igbo religion. I did not find idols as objects of worship or veneration. Traditionally the Igbos do not prostrate or kneel in prayer. Also traditionally the Igbos do not kneel, prostrate or bow to any object that has physical form. The Igbo person is onye ogo Mmuo (worshipper of the Spirit). His God has no form. Also I did not find deities or gods. Interestingly the Igbos do not have a word or phrase that could be used for gods or deities, as they have a phrase-Chi- ukwu that is used for the Supreme Being (God). In English language ‘God’ stands for the Supreme Being alone, and ‘gods’ stand for ‘false’, ‘smaller’ and ‘other’ gods. This suggests strongly that the English people knew many, or at least more than one god. In other words that culturally that they are polytheistic. In Igbo language Chi-ukwu means ‘big God’, but the Igbos have no equivalent phrases like chi- nta or chi-obere (small gods) or chi-ozo (other gods) or chi ugha/asi (false god). So even at this stage we can rule out the falsity that any Igbo person was sacrificed to any idols, deities or gods. As I advanced further I found out that there was actually an Igbo religious practice that called for persons to be dedicated to the Supreme Being (Chi-ukwu). I saw an equivalent practice in ancient Israel. The Gibeonites were dedicated by Joshua, the successor of Moses. Samuel was dedicated by Hannah his mother. As I did not find idols/gods/deities worshipped by the Igbos in Omenana I ruled out the option that any person was dedicated to any phantom idol, god or deity among the Igbos, but to the Supreme Being. At this stage it was easy for me to confirm what I suspected; that it was only after the British defeated the Igbos, and the European missionaries that took charge of Igbo education and instruction taught the Igbos that the Igbos were idols, and ‘gods’ worshippers that the Igbos began to think that the Osu was dedicated to idols, deities, and gods.

Igbos also think that an Osu is someone who ran to an idol, a deity or a god for protection. Truly there was an ancient Igbo practice that guaranteed immunity to anyone who fled to Chi-ukwu for protection. As there were no idols or deities or gods among the Igbos it is simple to understand that it was the same process that led the Igbos to forget as in the former case that also made them to forget in the case in question. In ancient Israelite culture there was automatic immunity for an Israelite that ran to the God of Israel for protection.

Contemporary Igbos; cut-off from their culture, and history, would identify mmuo, arusi or agbara with idols, gods or deities. Mmuo means spirit. Arusi is an abbreviation of the following phrase: ‘ife nkea wu si aru’ (this is abominable). Ancient Igbos regarded idolatry and image worshipping as abominable. They opined that worshipping of idols was abominable. Abomination is aru in Igbo language. Anything that hints of idol or image worshipping was/is aru to the Igbos in pure Omenana.

Agbara is used to refer to illustrious personalities; living or departed. Igbos have much regard for their ancestors. In some Igbo localities these ancestors are known as ndi ichie. In some they are known as agbara. In some Igbo communities great Igbo women like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dora Akunyili, Chimamanda Adichie, Irene Malizu-Ilona, Ndi Onyiuke-Okereke, Onyeka Onwenu, Uche Onwumelu-Umeokolo, Nchedo Ilona-Onwuamegbu, my mother ‘Amaka Ilona, etc, are addressed as agbara nwanyi (strong women) I am going to great lengths to prove that in Igbo culture that there are no gods, because it would not be easy for many persons at this stage to agree that there were/are no Igbo gods, but only one: Chi-ukwu, and that the notion that there were more than the One was imported and imposed by non Igbos. With common-sense one would easily realize this; because if there were gods there would have been phrases similar to Chi-ukwu identifying them in the Igbo language.

So if we see that in Igbo culture that there is only one God-Chi-ukwu-the Supreme Being, we would easily see that the Igbo Osu was dedicated to serve that God, and that the Igbo that ran for protection to Chi-ukwu ran to the God that most Igbos believe that they are worshipping today.

And on why the Osu receives the ignoble treatment that he receives today? As in ancient Israel, the person, among the Igbos, who was dedicated to God was not to be killed, or molested. Also as in ancient Israel, among the Igbos a person that fled to God had automatic immunity from all pursuers. He could not be killed, or even molested. In fact among the Igbos it is an abomination to draw blood from an Osu; i.e, to wound him or her. With all the foregoing it is easy to see that it is the fear of violating the custom that has resulted in what we have today. A reconstruction of how the present apartheid-like situation evolved could present the following picture: ‘I shouldn’t hurt this priest-like personality. To avoid ever doing so let me give him/her a wide berth’. With time the reasons for giving the Osu a wide berth was forgotten, but the giving of a ‘wide berth’ remained, and took on the present form that is shameful.

One could ask why all these have not occurred to most Igbos. Igbos do not know all these because Igbo Studies is still very very undeveloped, and most Igbos have not yet realized that there is anything worth studying in their own history and culture. This is because the little that the Igbos have been taught about their history and culture, though filled with lies, inaccuracies, and forgeries, are not edifying, but are what the Igbos know to be Igbo history and culture.

For something that hints at support for my last statement I would like to continue this article with a quote from the ‘Ropes of Sands’ by A .E. Afigbo.
“Nevertheless, every now and again, one has a sense of an older culture lying behind what one sees, long forgotten by the people themselves, grown so faint that it is only in certain lights that one catches a glimpse of it, but the glimpse is of something so rich, so vital that the present sinks into insignificance beside it. I heard it twice in a woman’s song, saw it once in a woman’s dance, once in a ritual gesture of embrace, once in the shape and decoration of a water-pot, once in the mural decoration of a mbari house” (Mrs. Sylvia Leight-Ross on Igbo culture in African Women, 1939, p55).

I have my most substantive findings on the Osu in my forthcoming book: ‘From Ibri to Igbo: Forty Million More Jews In West Africa’, which will very likely be published in the U.S.A, by Derusha Publishing LLC this year.

The Igbos would seem to have collectively agreed to forget their problems; and concentrate on programmes and objectives that are not very important to the Igbos as a people. If the Igbos had not taken the suggested decision the Igbos would have been fighting tooth and nail to find redress for the Osu problem. This is because the problem has poisoned and divided the Igbo nation, and would not let the nation move up, or forward. I will be contributing pieces on how the problem, and other topical problems have been hindering the Igbos. I will also be suggesting solutions.

Questions and comments could be directed to me via my E.mails, and telephone.

Erudite Afro-American Anthony Edwards' response to Remy Essay 'Freedom,Democracy,and Family: The Society of Biblical Israel and the Igbo Experience'

2009-03-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

Tony once again I say thank you for your kind words.

The essay is good I think. My ancestral homestead (where my father was born is an obi). My love for the compound; the ancient altars, the ofo tree, the oji tree, the ancient walls, etc, was what inspired me. And when I began to write it began to flow. But it must be mentioned that the work became more beautiful as you saw it after the Kulanu leaders and Gladys Schwarz had helped me to review it. Also Gil Kobrin's (Derusha member) masterful editing of it contributed greatly to its profundity. When I read the piece I began to appreciate professional editing.

I have a local version of it, which is less free flowing; with many citations which I will send to you soon.

Tony your kindness is unparalleled. Your words really spur me on. And so do your great discoveries and acuity in the fields of African and Hebrew studies. I consider myself blessed to be opportuned to work with you.

I also doubly agree with you that knowledge is what we need to be free and to excel. I consider myself a beginner in Judaic Studies, but because I am looking at the subject from the Igbo angle which is very old and deep I have been able to see that Jewish Studies, resources, and their application can help humanity a great deal.

I will share your correspondence with some dear Hebrew friends who are not only keenly interested in the subject, but are also very knowledgeable about it.

More later.

Remy.

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 3:06 PM, Anthony Edwards <anthonyedwards_1@hotmail.com> wrote:
Remy I have just read your essay: Freedom,Democracy,and Family: The Society of Biblical Israel and the Igbo Experience.I am absolutely amazed beyond words, at the profound magnification of this most important subject, i'm almost speechless!You definately write with the clarity, and spirit of the Hebrew sages Of Old, there could not possibly be a single doubt left in the mind of anyone who understands the ability of the Hebrew to excel in ways that others marvel at when it comes to thinking processes, and ingenuity, and who read your work, that you are a man of Israel, a man of all the feelings, emotions and deep mental intuitiveness that comprises all the great Hebrews of ancient and modern time.I know this is quite an honor to bestow upon you Remy, and one not readily given unless due credit is in order, but I must say you have definately earned, and deserve this honor my brother.You are going to be an extremely important person, as you are already becoming, to liberate the African at home and abroad in a most revolutionary way, through knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and as they say where the mind goes the body follows, so its the minds of people that is the gateway to true liberation, and what better tool of liberation to do such work than truth itself from the living document, the Scriptures.I have also done some thinking on the name CHUKWU, and how some Hebrew Israelite pronounce YAHWEH hard with a very strong Shemitic accent, and how Chukwu can easily been seen as sounding similar to the hard pronunciation of Yahweh.Thanks again for the great research my brother, and believe me, I am sharing it with many persons here.Shalom Aleichem, Tony

tete a tete about Igbo medicine/culture between remy, & a Canada based Igbo scholar

2009-02-05T06:07:00.000-08:00

Ndeewo Patrick,

Da'alu maka aziza gi (thanks for your response)!

About Igbos and Igbo culture: Its time for those that are knowledgeable, and that care for the Igbos to come together, and educate Igbo leadership about the urgent need to start teaching Igbos Omenana Igbo in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools.If this step is not taken NOW, there won't be anything to salvage in the very near future. The colonialists/missionaries succeeded too well. They taught Igbo children that eventually grew into adults that Igbo culture is pagan, and because the Igbos are Israelites who have an instinctive fear of paganism, the Igbos grew to fear, and hate their culture. And consequently grew to fear and hate themselves.

About the Igbos and the Jews: The 'educated' Igbos are not pulling their weight in finding out who we are. Available evidence points seriously to an Israelite ancestry, but because some of us are 'educated' we became too proud to accept that the 'great' Igbo people came from the Jews. Really this is tragic, because as we Igbos ourselves have in an important saying: 'onye a ma ho ebe mmiri bido r' mawa ya adaho ama ebe o madeber' ya (he who lacks knowledge of where he's coming from will not know where to go). (forgive my Ozubulu dialect). A rough account of the Igbos' oddyssey proves the truth of this saying. We have generally degenerated, while the competing Yorubas have hurtled forward almost into a developed status. In the '80s they had 6 universities, and we had 5. Today they have over 50, and we have 9. The Hausa/Fulanis are also strategizing. I have carefully studied and analyzed why the Igbos have as a people failed. We have failed because the 'education' that the colonialists/missionaries gave us programmed us to refuse to find out who we are, and to behave as He who created us asked us to behave.

I have written several books about the Igbos ancestry. I urge Igbos to study, study, and study.

About Igbo music: A Jewish film-maker's comment about Igbo music opened up my eyes about the great opportunities that lie before we Igbos only if we can pause and listen. He studies what some persons call native music. He heard Igbo music, and wrote that this 'music' can heal sicknesses. I began to study Igbo music seriously, and discovered that its part of our medicine.

More later.

Remy.

Hello Remy,

Thank you for providing an answer to the question that set out the article on Introduction to Igbo Medicine. Since publishing this article in the website and Journals, I have been overwhelmed by the continous response readers give it. I count on it as an eye-opening contribution as some readers described it as well as a new direction to re-examine Igbo culture and its resources in a changing world. Students, I have been told, are using the effort to rethink Igbo culture and healthcare pragmatics in Nigeria.

I really appreciate your goodwill, and also for giving me the clue to google you and therefore read some of your work on Igbo and the Jews, history and settlement.

All the best,
Patrick Iroegbu
......................
- Hide quoted text -
remy ilona <remy.ilona@gmail.com> wrote:
Nobody Wants to Write in this Area; Why?

ANSWER: Everybody avoids this area even though it holds solutions to most igbo problems, because the forces arraigned against the IGBOS; FROM THE INSTITUTIONS PLANTED BY THE COLONIALISTS TO THE ONES THE IGBOS NAIVELY BORROWED FROM OUTSIDE, HAVE BRAINWASHED THE IGBOS TO SEE NOTHING GOOD IN THEIR CULTURE AND THEMSELVES ANYMORE.

THE CONSEQUENCE-A PEOPLE HELD IN DISDAIN IN NIGERIA TODAY.

REMY ILONA-A LITTLE ABOUT ME CAN BE FOUND THROGH GOOGLE SEARCH.

THANKS FOR CARING FOR THE IGBOS.

Remy's new book and Igbo music!

2009-01-26T12:18:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from Remy's latest book-published 2 weeks ago.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CHRONICLES OF IGBO-ISRAEL

And

The connections between the Afro-Americans and the Jews

Written by Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona

With contributions from Anthony Edwards

Excerpts Below!

[They worked very hard and played very hard. Their music, even in latter years could ‘wake’ the dead because of the intensity and the sweetness. In G.T. Basden’s words; ‘Whether the Ibo trace their ancestry back to Jubal-Cain it is not my purpose to discuss, but they certainly have inherited a fair share of the art originated by the “Father of Music”…..The more one listens to native music, the more one is conscious of its vital power. It touches the chords of man’s inmost being, and stirs his primal instincts. It demands the performers whole attention and so sways the individual as almost to divide asunder, for the time being, mind and body. It is intensely passionate, and no great effort of the imagination is required to realize that such music could only have originated from the son of Cain! Under its influence, and that of the accompanying dance, one has seen men and women pass into a completely dazed condition, oblivious and apparently unconscious of the world around them………it lifts men and women out of themselves’¹⁵

_{I felt the power of Igbo music in Show Promoter’s songs, and in Ozoemena Nsugbe’s Olaliputu].}

^{Pic by Daniel Lis-the author in the agbo akpu forest in his clan-Ozubulu. The tree groves like this one contained the sites where the ancestors of the Igbos worshipped God. In the forests the Igbos recreated places like the grove which contained the oak of Mamre, where Abraham worshipped the Lord. Only very few of such places have survived in Igboland, because contemporary Igbos, taught to be ignorant and afraid of their past, have also been convinced that the groves are idolatrous, and have cleared many. The groves are very beautiful, and have the potentials to become tourist attractions if they are developed. The Igbo Israel Union is preparing a proposal for the development of the agbo akpu grove}

__._,_.___

Unity will only come with respect for Omenana!

2009-01-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Everybody says that Igbos need to unite! But Igbos can't unite. Igbo unity remains a mirage. Why? The answer is that the Igbos as a people have mostly discarded the only 'uniting organ'; their culture; that they have.

The Igbo-Israel Union has started to draw Igbos back to Omenana (Igbo culture). It began this by starting to educate Igbos that Omenana is excellent, that it is the only thing that can unite Igbos, and that European culture which Igbos think they can replace Omenana with has brought only disunity, immorality, and poverty.

Support the Igbo-Israel Union. This organization will reposition Igbos for normalcy.

On another note; if anybody wants to participate in a program to comprehensively compare Igbo and Ibrit (the Hebrew language); they can. Two Jewish scholars, and I have began to work on the project.

Remy.

http://www.sunnewso nline.com/ webpages/ politics/ 2009/jan/ 26/politics- 26-01-2009- 001.htm

Only unity will give us strength – Afam Obi, deputy Speaker, Anambra House of AssemblyFrom MATHIAS NWOGU, UmuahiaMonday, January 26, 2009
Anambra State Governor, Peter ObiPhoto: Sun News Publishing
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The Sun recently organized the South-East Economic Summit in Owerri. Deputy Speaker of the Anambra House of Assembly in this interview speaks on the theme of the summit and proffer suggestions on the revamping of the region’s economy. ExcerptsSynergy between legislature and ExecutiveI sat down for the whole two days of the summit because the Executive will not do it alone without the legislature. For the governors to go along with the same projects they will need specific legislations and these legislations would not work Unless they are uniform.I envisage the synergy between the Executive and Legislature. That is why I stayed all through the preliminaries to the implementation stages.If we want to promote Igbo language as a means of institutionalizing our culture for example, and there is a decision that for one to be employed in the civil service of the state he must posses a pass in Igbo language, it would not make sense if it is not implemented in all the five states. We therefore need uniformity of legislation to achieve things like these.If the governor prioritizes on economic emancipation, industrial growth, infrastructure development, industrial park, it would not work if different Governors have their individual priorities. If any state wants to prioritize in harmony with others, it requires the approval; of the Legislature. So what we need at all times, is that the House of Assembly need to come together so that the emphasis of Imo would be the same with Abia at least in one particular area. That is what we mean by going to the future through the past.The Eastern Region was able to achieve many things things, develop genuine industry and build hotels, but when state creation came, though it brought government closer to the people, it weakened the capabilities of the government to engage in some certain types of development projects.Regional integrationIt is a kind of move to the past so that we can rescue the future. ODUA Investment is the driving force in the Economic well being of Western Nigeria. AREWA is also the driving force for the North. What we are putting together now is what he would have done in the past, but the next best time is now.CooperationCooperation is not only needed on roads or energy. Erosion is a regional issue and the soil texture of the South East is almost the same ,so instead of each state checking its own erosion sites, the states could together carry out a survey of the menace jointly and use the same data to check it. Criss-crossing the states are many roads. It does not make sense if one state builds its roads to the boundary with another state, and the road does not continue the other state.So the emphasis should be on uniformity. If Anambra plans to build Ihiala-Orlu road, people will not be ready to do it unless they agree that one governor would do the bills of quantities and another governor would agree to reimburse him. Those are the type of cooperation we are looking for.Need for legislators to be meetingAbsolutely, if the Legislators cannot come together, absolutely the governors cannot come together. This is because the legislatures make the laws if they do not have the requisite laws. If we don’t come together, Governors cannot work together because they make the policy and we make the laws. As the Governors are coming together we should be coming together. TOO. If they do not do so, they will find that when they finish coming together, they will have to wait for us. That is why I am pushing that we should also come together so that we can move along together.State creationThis is one reason why the Igbos must come together. We will achieve the creation of one state easier if all the South East Governors agree on one extra state, then work on THAT one THE entire South East together can agree on the creation. We will achieve it better than when Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu are all calling for one state from their own state. So when we go to the Federal level we begin to fight ourselves, while others sit back and watch us. If all the states in the zone agree that the state be created from a particular area, it well be a lot easier to achieve that state creation.Every organ in Igboland needs to come together including the Ohanaeze. It should be all embracing and that is the message everyone who attended the summit should go home with. We must all make the move, the Judiciary, the Executive and Legislature. Nobody should be left out. It must be a holistic thing, or anybody left out will constitute a weak link.

UNIZIK JEWISH INSTITUTE DREAM GETS SUPPORT

2009-01-24T12:25:00.000-08:00

www.unizik.edu. ng - Bulletin:Vol. 2. No. 2

UNIZIK JEWISH INSTITUTE DREAM GETS SUPPORT
Few months after the Nnamdi Azikiwe University declared its plan to establish an Institute for Jewish studies, a group of researchers and academics has indicated interest to support the dream.
Welcoming a member of the group Mr. Remy Ilona in his office, the Ag. Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Boniface Egboka thanked the group for choosing to support one of UNIZIK's laudable dreams.
The Ag. Vice-Chancellor said that Nnamdi Azikiwe University is eager to have a Jewish study unit in the University which he believes will lead to open doors for the University.
According to him, Igbos have a lot of similarities with the Jews which has led to assertions that the establishment of the Institute will help clarify.
Prof. Egboka said that the University through the Faculty of Arts will study urgently the groups' proposal with a view to moving into action immediately.
Barrister Ilona said the establishment of Jewish Institute in the University will help South Easterners go deeper into the knowledge of Igbo language which has a lot of similarities and ties with the language of the Jews.
The writer and researcher pledged as Igbo man to help ensure that the Institute be established in the University as soon as possible.

Howdy All

2009-01-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

Howdy All.

RECOVERY OF IGBO-ISRAEL

2009-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

RECOVERY OF IGBO-ISRAEL

Many Igbos are beginning to realize that the Igbo people will only be happy and fulfilled when they do teshuvah, return, and begin to practice Igbo-Jewish culture, which in asusu Igbo (Igbo language) is called Omenana.

We already have a large body of literature about how the Dispersion, the Exile, and the relocation of the Igbo-Jews to the forests (ime ofia) of West Africa isolated the Igbos from other umu Yisrael (children of Israel). And how the Slave Trade and colonialism devastated the Igbo society, and paved the way for the colonialists to demonize Omenana, and attempt to replace it with the colonialists’ culture which is at best very strange to the Igbo-Jews and thus unworkable. We also have information about how some Igbo-Jews thought erroneously that Omenana could be discarded, the colonialist’s culture adopted, and the Igbo-Jews still thrive. Evidence exists that many Igbo-Jews entertained such thoughts, and even took steps to jettison Omenana. However the effort only resulted in disappointment, misery and unhappiness, because the Holy One of Yisrael, the God of Abraham, known by the Igbo-Jews as Chukwu Abiama made it clear in Deuteronomy 28, that happiness and well-being for Israel lies in practicing the culture embedded in the Tora(Omenana), and unhappiness and ruin, in jettisoning the Tora.

It is the realization of many Igbo-Jews that the Igbo society can only be happy if and when it practices Tora/Omenana that we want to talk about here.

Since some decades this realization that the colonialists’ stories and models couldn’t be absolute truths nor good for Igbo-Jews has been with many Igbo-Jews. And many have taken steps to return to Tora/Omenana. We can’t pretend at this stage that we have a complete record of all the Igbo-Jews who have taken steps to do teshuvah, and how they have tried to achieve the return. Accordingly we’ll discuss only the most high profile cases here.

The Igbo Sabbatharians

Some three to five decades ago, some Igbos who had pass through the indoctrination of the colonialists just like other Igbos somehow realized that the Laws, regulations, etc of God-set out minutely in what they know as the ‘Old Testament’ couldn’t be a shadow of things to come. That for a people (the colonialists) who brought laws when they came to Igboland to teach that the era of the Laws (of God for that matter) has passed is grand fraud. To head back to Law, and its observance they began the Sabbatharian movement. This movement believed that the Laws of God are alive, and that their observance will give the Igbos order in their society. Definitely what they began was a return to Tora/Omenana. After all what is Omenana? Omenana if translated to English is: doing (keeping) on the ‘Land’ the commandments that God gave Israel. Our work on the Sabbatharians could be found at …………………….and to purchase the hard copy of the monograph in Nigeria contact: 08065300351, 08022237028.
igboisraelpublishing@gmail.com, remy.ilona@gmail.com , drcaliben@yahoo.com

The Godianists

This is another interesting movement. This relatively new religion which we can say that it is an Igbo initiative was ‘founded by His Highness and Chief priest, Chief Kalu Onu Kalu Onyioha.’[1]

Because Godianism as it is called has produced only few literatures we have managed to do only a little study about it. However we can say that what motivated the founder to start it is a desire to go back to Omenana. According to Nze Ifeanyichukwu Obimdike-Chukwuka,[2] a Godianist, “Godianism is the direct worship of the supreme God according to the good traditional and cultural beliefs and practices of every race.”
This definition instructs us that the Godianists would worship God with Omenana which the good traditional and cultural beliefs and practices of ‘the Igbo-Jewish people’. The Godianists’s beliefs are in many respects in accord with the beliefs of the Igbos.[3] Examples of such beliefs are-Belief that there is only one self-existing supreme God, who must be worshipped. Belief in reincarnation and in retributive justice. I would not be able to go deeply into the Godian position on this belief which they adhere to, but the Igbos believe that “ife onye metar’ oburu na isi ya” (what you sow you reap). Godianism also canvasses respect for ones ancestors.

Another thing that we think that it is an impetus that might have contributed to the birth of Godianism is the desire to save and preserve what is left of Igbo-Jewish artefacts.

We count the Godianists among the Igbo-Jews who are keen to salvage the Igbos because of their positive interest in Igbo ideas and history.

References
1. Christopher Ejizu, In: T. I. Okere, ed., Religion in a World of Change: African Ancestral Religion, Islam and Christianity (Owerri: Assumpta Press, 2003) 194.
2. Godianism in Practice, July 2002, Lagos, p.3.

Igbo rabbinic Jews

Rather than refer to Godianism as a revived form of Omenana as some Godianists would like to think I will refer to Rabbinic Judaism as the modern model of Omenana.

Judaism is the culture of the people of Israel. God began to give it to Israel when He called Ibri (Hebrew) Patriarch Abraham, and gave him monotheism. Abraham handed over what God gave him to Isaac, and Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob, the 12 sons, who in turn handed them to the multitudes of Israel. And at Mount Sinai God gave Moses the full complement of the Israelite culture. Christian writer, Mcdowell Stewart, in essence agreed with us. He observed thus; ‘Judaism had its origin when a man named Abram received a divine call from the one true God…

Today what God gave Abraham is called Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism. Judaism is derived from Judah, the name of Israel’s 4th son, the son who survived the vagaries of Dispersion, Exile, persecutions, etc, better than his brethren, as that Patriarch, and ‘prophet’ Israel, their father prophesied as he was about to rejoin his ancestors.

Millions of Igbo-Jews found themselves outside this culture, due to the Dispersion, Exile, isolation caused by the forests of West Africa, the destruction of the Igbo-Jewish society by the Slave trade and colonialism.

Today Igbos are returning to Judaism. For obvious reasons I say ‘returning’ to Judaism, and not ‘becoming’ Jews. Many synagogues have been set up, and more are going up by the day. In the synagogues the Igbos study Israelite culture and practice the ones that must be practiced communally. For what Igbo-Jews, and Jews generally believe in browse in www.derushapublishing.com

The Igbo Jews and Christians Organization

This organization was spawned after a serious discussion of the deteriorating condition of the Igbo-Jews by Remy Ilona, the executive director of the Igbo Israel Union, and Nestor Nzeribe, an avid Igbo-Jewish scholar, and Christian minister. Nzeribe requested to meet Remy after reading Remy’s latest edition of The Igbos: Jews In Africa. Apparently Nzeribe who has been disturbed for a long time about the plight of the Igbo-Jews saw too many verities in the book. And from Remy’s analysis, too many things that could be used to heal the Igbos too. At the meeting both men agreed that as the book recommended that as a matter of urgency that the mass of the Igbos must be re-educated that they are Igbos; children of Israel. That restoring Igbo pride in the identity which is being forgotten, and shed off, will prepare the people for enlightenment about their duties, responsibilities, and rights as Children of Israel.

Igbo-Jews, Jews and others who contribute through scholarly efforts and opinions

Almost every honest Igbo-Jew acknowledges that the Igbos lost so much, because much was not written down, nor preserved on easily transmittable materials. Many have began to try to recover lost ground. Set out hereunder are some Igbo-Jewish efforts:

In his book, Nri: The Cradle of Igbo Culture and Civilization, a notable clan head in Igboland, Chief Chukwuemeka Onyesoh also suggested that the Igbos from Nri clan are descendants of Eri son of Gad, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham.

Another Igbo gentleman, P. J. O. Nwadinigwe, in his books, Umu Nshi Royal Stool and The Origin Of The Igbos, also maintained that his own findings are that the Igbos are Jews.

Similarly, prolific Igbo author and academic, O. Alaezi, while writing on the subject states much the same in his book, Ibos: Hebrew Exiles From Israel -Amazing Facts And Revelations. He cited on page 30 of the book other Igbo writers who have suggestions in their writings that the traditions of the Igbos and of the Israelites are similar. The list includes Arinze; Catholic cardinal, who vied with the present pope, Benedict, for the headship of the Roman Catholic church, and Ilogu, Njaka, Oraka, Ezeala and Ononoju.

Another Igbo academic and former government minister, Miriam Ikejiani Clark, who even by Halakhah (Jewish Law) is Jewish, because she has a Canadian (rabbinic) Jewish mother, and an Igbo father said the following: ‘You know I’m from Nri (an Igbo clan) and there are similarities between the customs that we have and the Jewish customs’ (Daily Sun, Monday, July 18, 2005, p.15).

And still another Igbo man, the clan leader of Igbo Ukwu, one of the more traditionally minded Igbo clans, HRH Martin N. Eze, told the world through the Daily Sun newspaper of Friday, May 27,2005, on page 29, that ‘….Igbo Ukwu, as has rightly been said, came from Israel.’

And an Igbo, Evangelist Iheanacho, who heads an ‘Evangelical Outreach’ in Obi Ngwa, Abia state, speaking to the Saturday Sun of October 29, 2005, on page 3, described ‘the people of the Old Eastern Region (predominantly the Igbo people) as part of the Lost ten tribes of Israel, that got lost around 722 B.C.E.’

A very popular musician, and an Igbo man, called Ozoemena Nsugbe took it upon himself to ask questions about the origins of the Igbos. He conducted a tour of Aguleri, Igbo Ukwu, Arochukwu, and Ibuzo clans, and talked to people that would know. His findings continued to point to Israel. He released his findings in the form of a song. These findings and his obvious conviction on them further inspired his second album which he authoritatively entitled Give Power to Nigerian Jews.

Another Igbo man, a Christian pastor called Pastor Okwey undertook a similar mission, and using names that are similar in sounds and spellings, historical narratives and ‘visions’, he arrived at the conclusion that the Igbos are descendants of ancient Israelites.

Another Igbo pastor; Charles Ujah, wrote and published a booklet; entitled The Origin of the Ibos, from Linguistic and Cultural angle. In the monograph he concluded that the Igbos are Jewish.

Still another one; Chidi Nwaehie MacJossy, an Igbo, had also in a largely polemical piece entitled; God’s Covenant with the Igbo race-A Memoriam of the Revelation, which was endorsed by the National Council of Igbo Christian Ministers, regularly pointed out that the Igbos are Jews.

Also Chukwuma Okoye; an Igbo writer, had in his book entitled Tale of a Jewish State in Africa concluded that the Igbos are Jews.

And Matthew O. Orji had in his The History & Culture of The Igbo People which I consider a very good book made allusions that Igbo and Hebrew cultures are similar.

In the same vein, F.C. Ogbalu who started the documentation of Igbo culture in writing in Igbo language did suggest in his Omenala Igbo that Igbo and Hebrew cultures are similar.

In the Daily Sun newspaper of Wednesday, June 1, 2005, on page 15, we find an Igbo ‘Sabbath’ leader, Cohen Amakeze Aaron, the leader of the ‘Community of Y-hweh Worldwide’ declaring: ‘Saturday is the Scriptural day for the Jews….’ His group has a magen David. But he did not clarify his opinion on the Igbos ‘Israelite origins.’ His opinion is presented here because many members of the religious organization that he leads regard themselves as Jews, and because he is an Igbo leader. Like Jews his religious group believes that the Scriptural Laws in the Hebrew Bible must be obeyed. My work on the Sabbatharian movement among the Igbos is progressing.
The situation gets more interesting when non Igbos also start to opinionate and affirm that Igbos are Jews.

Scholarly efforts and comments by non Igbos
One writer, Evangelist Daniel Dele Ekpah, an Igala by tribe, (Igalas are a different ethnic group from the Igbos but they live to the north of Igboland as neighbors) also wrote a booklet which he entitled Igbo-Israel Relationship: the Great Discovery—Biblical Reasons for Their Success Above Their Fellow Men. Evangelist Ekpah also cited Olaudah Equiano's book and went on to say with some conviction, based on his interpretation of the Bible, that the Igbos could be nothing other than Jews. He raised an interesting argument which is very rife in some scholarly circles, namely: that the Igbos and the Jews share spiritual, sociological, territorial and other similarities. This section will not adequately serve me for narrating these similarities in details. I will mention some of them in the more appropriate portions of this monograph.

Another non Igbo of note, Father Hassan Matthew Kukah, the former Secretary of the Catholic (Church) Secretariat of Nigeria and a Kataf from Northern Nigeria also made an instructive commentary on this subject. While delivering a lecture on the state of affairs in Nigeria, he noted: “The Hausas, Tivs, Ikwerres, and so on, would have had nothing to do with this project called Nigeria. The Hausas, Fulanis and others who live within the geopolitical boundaries co-terminus with the Sokoto caliphate say that had the British not forcefully broken down their barricades, they would have been living peacefully in a secular Aljanah. Those in the Middle Belt say that had the British not helped the Caliphate to subordinate them, they would have been living peacefully in a collective cultural Nirvana of sorts. The Igbos say that in the East, they were more than content to live on their own and indeed, had Nigeria with the help of Britain and other countries not conspired to deny them the state of Biafra, they would have been living in an African state of Israel.”
The above commentary by Reverend Father Kukah was published in the Nigerian Guardian Newspaper of Friday, September 6, 2002.

Daniel Dele Ekpah was apparently not satisfied with his assertion in his book referenced above. This Igala-man went on to write a story in a newsletter; Jesus News, still insisting that the Igbos are Israelites.

A popular musician from Benin (traditionally identified as the Bini or Edo people), Joseph Osayomore, was quite intrigued about the characteristics of the Igbos. In his recorded album; entitled Igbo no be beggars, which in formal English means that “Igbos work, that they do not beg”, he sang that Igbos are the Israelites of Nigeria. He made a strong case for Nigeria to appreciate and reward Igbo dexterity, hard work, and contributions to Nigeria. In addition he said that Igbos achieve great feats with no visible government assistance. The Binis are an ethnic group that is different from the Igbos; that live to the west of the Igbos.

Some non Igbo Nigerians have however taken it as a foregone conclusion that the Igbos are Jews, and have asserted it with no logical build up to their conclusions, and when there were little or no reasons to do so, or when the subject wasn't the issue in discussion. Consider the following comment from Mike Awoyinfa, a prominent journalist from the Yoruba ethnic group in the Sun newspaper of September 25, 2004. Mr. Awoyinfa was writing about Igbo traders during a political demonstration in Nigeria. He said about the traders; “These are the “Black Jews” of Africa. These are the children of the “New Jerusalem.”
The respected Newsweek, in its April 16, 2001 edition, on page 48 noted that if Igbo Catholic Cardinal Francis Arinze became the pope, that he would not only be the first black pope, but the first Hebrew pope as well, because the ‘Ibos claim to be descended from the Biblical patriarch Jacob.’

And from the Jewish community we had Israel’s ambassador to Nigeria, at the time I began to write this monograph, Noam Katz, commenting in the Nigerian Sun newspaper of March 28, 2004, that basing on remarkable similarities between Igbo and Israelite traditions, ‘that he was sure that the Igbos are descendants of Jews’.

Two months before Katz’ comment, Orji Kalu, the influential former governor of the Igbo state, Abia, had expressed a similar opinion in the same newspaper.

And from the Jewish community we have Rabbi Capers Funnye, American rabbi writing in the book; In Every Tongue, the Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People by Diane and Gary Tobin, and Scott Rubin, with foreword written by American scholar Lewis Gordon, that ‘the connections (Jewish) with Africa is that many of the African peoples who were transported through the Middle passage to the Western Hemisphere were of Hebraic stock, groups like…….the Ibos of West Africa’.

The Igbos were also mentioned in The Colors of Jews, Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism, by Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz as possibly a part of the Jewish Diaspora.

And in The Black Jews of Africa by Edith Bruder, the Igbos Jewish story as related by Igbo scholars, priests and elders was told.

Also in Marc Perelman’s story of Thursday October 2, 2008, entitled ‘The Ibos of Nigeria: Members of the Tribe?, Part of a Trend in Sub-Saharan Africa To Claim Jewish Ancestry’, and published by the Forward Newspaper so many Igbos were interviewed, and they all asserted without hesitation that the Igbos came from Israel.

Remy Ilona’s contributions
And Remy has written and published; A short story from Igbo Israel, ‘The Igbos: Jews In Africa Vol 1 which African-American and Israeli Jew Ehav Eliyahu contributed to, The Igbos: Jews In Africa, With Reflections on the Civil War and Solutions to the most critical Igbo problems; the soon to be published: ‘The Igbos and Israel-40 million more Jews’, the following essays, A Brief Study of the Foundations of Ancient Israel: From the Igbo Experience, which is to be published in America as………………., and by Derusha Publishing LLC, and the present work, Introduction to the Chronicles of Igbo Israel, which African-American Hebrew scholar Anthony Edwards contributed to.

And in the newly published Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora Remy’s contribution on the Jews of Nigeria was mentioned.

And we have also done a video documentary of Igbo elders/priests performing Igbo rituals, and discussing Igbo history and culture. This video can be accessed from www.derushapublishing.com

And from the Igbo academic community

Hereafter is a report about the feelings and position of Professor Ifeanacho Orajiaka; the Vice Chancellor of Anambra State University, Uli. According to the report in the Guardian of Wednesday, December 10, 2008, which was anchored by Uzoma Nzeagwu in Awka, ‘Prof. Ifeanacho Orajiaka on Monday called on his counterparts in all the South-East state universities to revive Igbo culture, especially Igbo Language believed to be less spoken.

Orajiaka, who is worried over the way Igbo culture was being relegated to the background for foreign culture, urged Vice Chancellors of state universities in the geo-political zone to explore avenues of adopting an aggressive method in the teaching of Igbo Language in various institutions.
He disclosed that a Department of Igbo Language and Culture has been established in Anambra State University, hoping that within a short time, it would transform into an Institute of Igbo Language and Culture.
Orajiaka, who spoke to reporters at the university's main auditorium noted: "let us start from somewhere to tackle this problem. Let our people know that it is inferiority complex on their part when their children cannot speak Igbo Language, it is our identity," warning that if you deny your language, you have lost your identity’.

And a little before the very important stance of Professor Orajiaka, the Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Professor Bonnie Egboka, and the management team of the university had announced that they would be establishing a Jewish Studies Institute in the university. The relationship between the Igbo people and the Jews was one of the motivating reasons advanced for the venture.

Coupled with the growing Igbo interest in Igbo culture and traditions is growing Jewish interest to know more about the Igbos. Several Jewish scholars have started intensive work on Igbo history and culture. To mention just a few: Edith Bruder of the University of London; the author of The Black Jews of Africa, Daniel Lis of the University of Basel, African-American Hebrew Anthony Edwards, Ehav Eliyahu; Jewish scholar; Gil Kobrin, and Elana Allen; Jewish scholars, and directors of Derusha Publishing LLC, U.S.A, have been co-operating with Remy to deepen Igbo-Jewish Studies.

And the Jewish group Kulanu Inc’ considered the Igbo-Jewish project important enough to support research into the Igbos Jewish ancestry.

The Igbo-Israel Union

The Igbo-Israel Union which has Remy Ilona, Caliben Ike Okonkwo, Gil Kobrin, and Elana Allen as its arrowheads has the task to discover more, harness, polish, and make sure that anything and everything that is worthy that all the above-mentioned groups and individuals discover or introduce is put in the right perspective. And those worthy of implementation, implemented

Each person is entitled to find their own reasons for this phenomenon of Igbos choosing to return to what they were, i.e, to resume being Jewish, and to begin to observe the commandments of God again. But as for me I think that what is happening is a fulfillment of prophesy about the return of those that have been dubbed ‘The Lost Tribes of Israel’. The great prophets of Israel made it abundantly clear that the Dispersed and the Lost of Israel will return. Their statements left no room for ambiguity.

what God gave Abraham is called Judaism.

Millions of Igbo-Jews found themselves outside this culture, due to the Dispersion, Exile, isolation caused by the forests of West Africa, the destruction of the Igbo-Jewish society by the

Sabbatharianism: A Christo-Judaic development in Igbo-Israel.

2009-01-06T08:56:00.000-08:00

The Sabbatharian Movement:
A Judaeo-Christian development in Igbo-Israel.

Written by Remy Chukwukaodinaka Ilona

Links from www.derushapublishing.com

The Sabbatharians are the Igbo converts to Christianity who resigned from Christianity in the early twentieth century, and formed a new religion that is known among the Igbos as “Sabbath.”

The Sabbatharians are not easy to categorize. The Sabbatharians could be taken for Jews. They could also be seen as Christians. The Sabbath groups observe Saturday, the day that the Lord commanded the Israelites to rest (as is found in the Bible) as a holy day. The groups observe all the biblical feasts and holydays that the Lord ordered the Israelites to observe. For examples; they commemorate Passover, Sukkot, Atonement, etc, on the days that the worldwide Jewish community, with its headquarters in Eretz Yisrael does. They rigidly abhor all the foods that the Lord commanded the Israelites not to eat (as seen in the Bible). The Sabbatharians believed that keeping the Commandments was a true way to please God. In their early years they maintained and stressed that God was distinct and separate from anybody else. Their belief about God could be said to be unitarian in their early years. In that period the doctrine of the Trinity had not become popular and widely known among the Igbos, because Christianity was still new then. ‘Jah Jehovah’ was their preferred designation for the Supreme Being. I cannot recall that they had a position for anybody else in their worship in those their early years. On the Sabbath day which they called ubosi ezumike (day of rest), and other feast days they dress in white flowing robes, and when they get close to the precincts of their missions, as they address their places of worship they remove their foot wears, as they believe that their places of worship are holy ground. An essential aspect of their worship is ibu amuma (prophesying). They have guilds of prophets known as ndi ozi (the message carriers).

For Bibles they used the Tanakh; known by Christians as the Old Testament and by the People of Israel who received it from God as the Hebrew Bible. As the Bible which they use contains the Christian Bible; the New Testament, we can say they also use it. However one thing was discernible. They generally concentrated on the ‘Old Testament’.

Interestingly their main areas of interest in those years were the first five books of the Bible (Torah), and then the Psalms, and the Prophets. As far as I can remember the Sabbatharians were not particularly curious about the New Testament.

There is no evidence that they ever heard about the Talmud. Also they knew next to nothing about other important Jewish texts. Besides what they gleaned from the Bible about Israel; they knew next to nothing about Jewish history; and the modern Jewish religion.

However the Sabbatharians have a place for Jesus in their belief. But they do not equate him to the Almighty God; the Supreme Being. They see and respect him as a messiah.

And in organizational structure the Sabbath is Christian however. A Sabbath is headed by a person; the founder, who is known as onye isi nchu aja. This term could mean high priest. He is assisted by other persons who are known as ndi ozi. As I had observed ndi ozi could be ‘messengers. But the Sabbatharians see them as prophets. In recent years as the English language continues to gain precedence over Igbo language among the Igbos, and Pentecostal culture continues to permeate the Igbo society, the Sabbatharians have started to call the ndi ozi pastors.

A Sabbath could have branches everywhere as Christian churches. But it is remarkable that unlike Christian churches that they do not proselytize. I will try to explain what I think that inhibits them from proselytizing.

The development of ‘Sabbath’ as this movement is called is in my opinion inspired by some Igbos desire to practice Judaism; the religious culture of Israel. Unfortunately most of the founders of the Sabbaths did not write their personal histories so we do not have first hand information about what they thought about the Igbos descent from Israel. But we can say with certainty that they as most Igbos were aware of the knowledge that the Igbos came from Israel. Thus we can say that they developed the desire to practice Judaism because of this knowledge. But something is puzzling here. From what we know about the founders of the movement they did not know much, if anything about Israel’s religion. Most; especially the earliest founders did not have much Western education. So we can rule out the possibility that they read about Judaism. Even today, in the 21st century most Igbos, including the highly educated ones do not know much about the Jews and Judaism. So we can say quite safely that the Sabbatharian founders did not try to establish Judaic movements because they studied Judaism. Then what happened? Most said that they had visions of God calling on them to establish ‘Sabbath’. I will set out what I think that it happened. The Igbos like almost every other African people were enslaved and colonized by Europeans. The Europeans foisted foreign cultures on the colonized peoples. Initially members of the colonized entities thought that the colonization was beneficial. But with time some of their elites began to realize that colonization could not be beneficial in any way. That its short term gains are more than off-set by its long term disadvantages. The elites of colonized peoples thus always seized the first opportunity they have to throw off the yoke of foreign rule. We saw Herbert Macauley, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, etc, struggling against foreign rule. Unfortunately historians concentrate only on those that used political methods to achieve certain objectives. Well, we must not allow ourselves to digress. After years of striving and failing to stifle the various anti-colonial movements the colonial powers packed and left. But they did not go with the institutions, and the ideas that they planted in Africa. Principal among such institutions is Christianity. We will now talk very briefly about how some of the various peoples of Nigeria reacted to Christianity. After a few years in the Western versions of Christianity the various peoples of Nigeria began to try to head back to their own religions. Naturally they tried to rediscover their religions through Christianity. Naturally they had to match through Christianity because it was what they had grown up in. The Yorubas came up with the Aladura churches: The Celestial Church of Christ, the Cherubim and Seraphim, Jesu Oyingbo, etc. And Pentecostal variant, which they effectively Yorubanized. A good look at the ‘White garment’ churches as the former are known in Nigeria, Nigerian Pentecostal Christianity, and Yoruba religious culture will show that the Yorubas succeeded very well in indigenizing Christianity. The Igbo effort to do the same threw up the ‘Sabbath’. As the Igbos are Israelite ethnically what they would head back to must have distinctive Jewish features. In my estimation that’s why the Igbos ‘created’ a Judaeo-Christian movement. And the rapid spread of this movement throughout Igboland, and to wherever Igbos have migrated to is very interesting. A prominent Sabbath leader mentioned in 2005 that Sabbatharians number eight millions. They might have numbered up to the mentioned figure in the latter parts of the 20th century. Now they would number a million, because they lost many members to the Yoruba dominated Pentecostal movement.

Some of the Sabbatharians gained the respect and gratitude of the Igbos because of the feats which some of them were believed to have performed. Employing prayers, fasting, holy oil, etc, they tried to cure cancers, insanity and other difficult ailments. Many persons believe that they actually cured those ailments. Also the Sabbatharians were not known to have participated in Igbo intra-ethnic religious-denominational discrimination. This discrimination took the following form: Some groups that operate in Igboland have rules that bar their members from marrying outside their group. The Sabbatharians did not bar their members from marrying fellow Igbos. The groups that did contributed to a major problem that is bedeviling the Igbo society today: a glut of Igbo spinsters, and a rising trend in Igbo marital instability. Many persons could not find ideal spouses in their groups, and waited for too long. By the time they realized that they should marry any Igbo with clean family histories they were already old-maids. Also persons that had only very little in common were forced to marry because they found themselves in the same groups. Marital instability resulted in a great many of such arrangements. In addition the intra religious-denominational discrimination forced many Igbos into the traps of non Igbo religious con men who were out to build large congregations by promising everything in the world to vulnerable persons. The Igbos that fell into such people’s traps have turned out to be bitter haters of the Igbo people today, because the con men ensure that they turn them against the core ethos of the Igbos. The Sabbatharians could say with pride that they did not ‘teach’ any Igbo to shun fellow Igbos. Today that the Igbo society is fundamentally divided, and reuniting the Igbos is seemingly impossible many Igbos are beginning to appreciate that groups like the Sabbatharians, and the Anglicans did not join in preaching intra-ethnic religious divisions.

As I have mentioned before, prophesying enjoys preeminence in the Sabbatharian movement, as it did in the ancient version of the religion of Israel. But really there is no basis for comparison. The Israelite prophets were social reformers, and champions of true religious worship par excellence.

And while the Israelite prophet was quite national, and even international in outlook, the Sabbatharian prophet is quite provincial. It is difficult to recall a single Sabbatharian prophet who showed extraordinary concern for the Igbos as a people; as a community. We cannot also say that the poor and defenseless among the Igbos have occupied the attention of the Sabbatharian prophet very much. Nor can we say that they foresaw the dangers that the Igbos would be in as a consequence of their religiously and denominationally induced divisions, and preached against such evils. Almost all were concerned just with the welfare of their communities. Had they seen beyond their own communities they would have with their preeminence in the former years stemmed the collapse of the Igbo society.

However in one respect some of the earliest Sabbatharian prophets resemble the Israelite models. A few railed against Igbos who were trying to import a particularly heinous unIgbo practice: ikpa nsi (poisoning people).

Up till this stage I still can’t find where to place the Sabbatharians. In Christianity or in Judaism? This is because I can’t remember any early Sabbatharian who did not concentrate on ‘Jah Jehovah’ only, as his God, or who did not emphasize the importance of the Laws of God, found in the ‘Old Testament’. I have tried to find the reasons why the Sabbatharians inclined towards an indivisible (Unitarian God) in their early years. I think the reason may be that the prevailing dominant influence rubbed off on them then. Many Igbos as at when the Sabbatharian movement began to rise still retained a memory of only Chukwu as the Supreme Being. In Igbo theology Chukwu (God), was seen as a Person. A single Person. Thus it was easy for the Sabbatharians to revert to a belief on only God (Chukwu Abiama) as God. I think that this factor helped the Sabbatharians to focus only on ‘Jah Jehovah.’

Yet in spite of all the above, particularly their tendency to rigid monotheism, I still cannot bring myself to describe the early Sabbatharians as Jews or Judaists or Israelites in religion. There are features of Israel’s religion as shown in the Bible, which is not manifest in their practices: Oneness for example. From what I have seen of Judaism, or Omenana Igbo, a very important essence of the Jewish way, and the Igbo way, is the perception of the Jewish or the Igbo community, respectively as one. The community’s good is the primary concern of Judaism and Omenana. The Sabbatharians believed in communitarianism too, but they worked towards creating new communities, which were to be distinct from the Igbo community. I know several Sabbatharians who were giants in the Sabbatharian world, but I do not know any who stood out as an Igbo stalwart, as I would expect Jews to stand out in the Israelite world. Also until recent times Israel as a people, as a nation, and as a land was not of particular importance to them, as it is to Jews. I would say that they viewed their communities as kinds of ‘new Israels’.

At this stage I feel like asking some questions. And those questions are:

From what we have shown we can say that there was an effort to go to Judaism; some might call it a teshuvah; to return to keeping the Laws. But that due to dearth of information and other resources perhaps, that the Sabbatharians stopped midway with a new religion. My number one question is: Would the Sabbatharians have developed to become Jews/Judaists /Israelites? Two: Would they have grown if they had been given Torahs and other Jewish texts? Three: Would they have progressed if selfless intellectuals had joined them? Four: Would a Jewish rabbi have made the difference? I ask all these questions because I think that the Sabbatharians thought that they were replicating the Israelite worship.

My answer to these questions is a simple yes!

If they had been given Torahs, teachers; and if selfless intellectuals had joined them, they would have learned how Jews lived, and worshipped God, or how Jews are supposed to live and worship God, and they would have adjusted their practices. They would have seen the similarities between the Igbo and Jewish patterns of living, and they would have started fifty years earlier what many of them are just beginning now.

And just as I can’t call them Jews I can’t call them Christians either. I can’t recall their addressing themselves in those years as Christians, perhaps because in those years, the Igbo identity suffixed for every Igbo; unlike in the present era when the Igbo identity is loosing ground due to the erosion of Igbo culture.

Also their belief that obeying the Commandments (the Laws) of God is enough to earn them salvation clearly makes it difficult to classify them as Christians. This is because central in Christianity is the doctrine that it is Faith, not keeping the Law that saves.

I would still say that the Sabbatharians are Christians transiting to the Igbo religion, which among Jews is called Judaism.

I say this because in recent times, due to more availability of information many Sabbaths have introduced quite a lot of Judaic beliefs, practices and rituals into their practices. Many Sabbatharians have started to dress like Jews. Some wear skull caps, and don tallits while praying. Some have started to learn Hebrew. Many are familiar with elementary Hebrew. A Sabbatharian is likely to greet a friend with ‘shalom’; the customary salutation of peace that Jews are known with. Some have started to use the Jewish Siddurim to pray. And many have acquired Hebrew Bibles designed for synagogue study. And in recent years the biggest Sabbath group formulated a document about burying the dead that its members should be using. In every detail their burial practices would match those of Jews if they implement what they drew up. I will say the following even though it is digressional. If the Sabbath group disseminates the afore-mentioned document widely they would be doing the Igbos a major favor. This is because their document is reminiscent of Igbo burial practices which are Israelite; and which most Igbos have virtually forgotten everything about.

Lastly the Sabbatharians are beginning to become voracious readers of books. And many are beginning to plan to invest in schools and education. As everybody knows the Jews are the people of the Book. I would say that there are many indications that the Sabbatharians are transiting to………..

End.

Remy Ilona

Exploring the book 'The Slave Ship'

2009-01-02T03:43:00.000-08:00

I read 'The Slave Ship', by Marcus Rediker.

I have been discussing the book with African American Hebrew scholar Anthony Edwards. Our opinion is that the book is one of the greatest contributions to Igbo, African, American, and European histories.

The book has something to say about Igbo culture too.

For the first time I saw convincing evidence that Olaudah Equiano, whom the Igbos need to honour post-humously by naming a university after him, deserved a seat on the front row, as far as the abolition movement is concerned.

I recommend this book to everybody. For sure towards the end of the book the reader will be in tears, but he/she will be richer in every sense.

I will be donating copies of the book, to a few universities in Igboland in the next few weeks.

You can meet me at my blog where we can have more discussions about the book.

More in the coming days.

R.C.Ilona.

Setting the records straight!

2008-12-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

You'll observe at the end of the 2nd paragraph that the writers observed that the Igbos leave wherever they go to, for home, like the Israelites. A communique released at the end of the South East economic summit noted that the Igbos were referred to as the Jews of Africa because of their hardwork, intelligence and godliness. A reason why we do all the work we do is to help the contemporary Igbo to understand his history. The Igbos do not resemble the Jews. The Igbos are Jews. The Igbo family is like the Sephardic, the Ashkenazi, the Mizrahi families. The Igbos may have been weaned away from the Torah, due to various reasons; such as colonialism, which tried to replace Igbo history with European history, but the facts and reality aren't alterable. So much still remains. The wasted years can be recovered. The Igbos can still become like the other Israelite families that I mentioned. The Igbos can still visit Igboland, and visit Israel, i.e, they could replace wherever the tales of the colonialists led many to be going now, with Israel. Re-education is the secret.

To see some of the things we are doing educationally feel free to visit IgboIsrael.com, and please say da'alu (toda) to Gil and Elana; the jolly good fellows that are helping us to do the good work.

E-x-o-d-u-s! 5 million Igbo go home
By OLUWATOYIN AKINOLA, BOLATITO ADEBAYO & IKENNA OTISI
Sunday, December 21, 2008

Christmas is here and the rush back to the home steads is again at its peak. For many Nigerians, especially those from the South East eking out a living in Asia, Europe, America and various parts of Nigeria, there is no place like home. Thus it is not surprising that the airports and bus terminals are overflowing with passengers.
Exodus
Travelling home at this time is a yearly ritual, especially for the Igbo, no matter their location in any part of the globe. But this year, an estimated five million Igbo are said to be in the frenetic rush out of the places where they reside, like the Israelites in exodus.

Reports say close to one million of them are on their way home to Nigeria from the Americas and Europe due to the biting effects of the global meltdown on the economies of countries in those continents. Most of them have vowed never to return. Like the proverbial prodigal son, they are prepared to face the shame back home than remain in a foreign land where they could barely make ends meet.

For those traveling home from other parts of the country, their reasons range from family reunion, wedding ceremonies, cultural festivals to even memorial services. It could also be ‘settlement’ time for ‘boys’ who had served their masters for some years.

Interestingly, passengers appear not to be deterred by the high transport fares or the bad state of the roads. Unlike last year when the former Minister of Transportation, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, wept during a visit to the Ore-Benin highway and got the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to fix the terribly bad portions, there is no such green light this time around. Passengers should be ready again for longer hours and stressful journey and be prepared to sleep on the road. The federal highways to the east are simply impassable.

Peak period
Sunday Sun investigation at the Lagos Airport revealed that virtually all the airlines plying the South East route have fully booked flights till the end of the year. For instance, the Media Relations Officer at Aero Contractors, Mr Segun Medubi, confirmed that from December 20, all the flights from Lagos to Owerri and Enugu have been fully booked.

“It is usually peak period at this time, especially for those coming from outside the country. They are just heading eastward. The fights are fully booked from December 20. By 23rd, it is almost certain there would be no space except when a passenger doesn’t show up,” he said.
Chanchangi Airline has already begun additional flights on the Owerri route.
“We are adding more flights from December 26 to cope with the high turnout of passengers on that route. It is usually like this at this time of the year and we are prepared for the pressure,” said a ticketing officer at the airline’s office at the old terminal of the Murtala Mohammed Airport.
For the newest entrant in the business, Afrijet Airline, business has been encouraging and the pressure is mounting, an official informed.

“We recently had to cancel our Owerri flights because the aircraft’s delayed in returning from Yola and Maiduguri. But we shall surely resume the daily to Owerri. There is no fixed schedule for Enugu for now till next week,” he said.

At VirginNigeria, business is good as always, says the supervisor at MMA2, who preferred anonymity.

“Patronage has always been good for us. People are still flying and there is no pressure,” she said confidently.

The advertised fare for most of the airlines stood at N16,000 to Owerri and Enugu for economy class. For business class, the fares are higher.
At MMA2, the queues were longer at the South East-bound counters of the airlines and most of the passengers were returning home from abroad.
The situation is not different at some of the motor parks and luxury bus terminals visited, with the transporters and passengers offering different reasons for the rush.

At the Jibowu Motor Park in Yaba, Emeka Obioluka, a staff of The Young Shall Grow Transport, defended the new fare: “The fare is not really high compared to what it was before. There are only slight adjustments. Before it was N2600 but now its N3,000 for the small buses while for the big buses, the fare was N2300 but now N2600.”

He confirmed that there had been a high passenger turnout compared to other years.

At Chisco Motors, the manager declined comments but some of the passengers told our reporter that they were traveling because of the season and were not bothered about the fare hike.
Chike, a traveler, said: “Well, at a time like this, we all know that the fare would go up but it is still okay.”

At CY Motors, Maza Maza, Suleiman Daniel also gave reasons for the higher fare. “Aside the Christmas season, many people think we just increase the fare. But when we take people to the east, we hardly get passengers back to Lagos as a lot of people are leaving Lagos. So we try and balance the situation to make up for the empty buses we will be bringing back.”

Although the company’s fare to the east was N3,100, a driver with Dan Dollar Motors, Basil Ike, hinted that it might be increased.

“When we have too many passengers, it would surely affect our fare. From December 20, we will have more people traveling and to convey them might be a challenge to us.”

Asked if they are now smiling to the banks, he replied: “If you say we are making profit now, what about when we are coming back with empty buses? The only time we will make our money back is when the people are returning. But now, everyone is leaving for the east and if we are coming back and get people to pay us even N1500, we will be very happy.”

An Enugu-bound passenger, Mr Osita Agwu, who spoke to Sunday Sun at The Young Shall Grow Transport at Maza Maza, said the simple reason for high passenger traffic was because most Igbo families meet at this time of the year.

“If you travel in January, you won’t see much people there. It is like a family get-together for the Igbo people. They get together for meetings, weddings, festivals and almost everything happen within this period.

“For me, we are celebrating the Ofalla festival, one of the biggest festivals in Enugu and people are coming from abroad and all parts of the country. So it is like a rallying point and the best time to celebrate.”

For Frank Eze, who was on his way to Onitsha, “I’m traveling because my master wants to settle me after seven good years of serving at the Alaba International Market. I’m also going to see my parents, brothers and uncles I left seven years ago. It is going to be a wonderful experience and my parents will be happy that their first son is about becoming an importer.”

Why "Igbo Israel"? Re-Branding the Igbo People

2008-12-14T08:18:00.001-08:00

My friend Malachi Okwudiri Iheanacho, an MSc student at UI, and Igbo- Israel Union liaison for the South-West, and UI, advocated that the Igbos be re-branded.

Essentially by excavating the Igbos history and re-presenting Omenana as it is, I've been re-branding the Igbos. So I took what Iheanacho said as a call to do more. I began my latest work; 'An Introduction to the Chronicles of Igbo -Israel'. This work details how the Igbos began as ha Ibri, became Ibo, then became the Igbos, and today are on the verge of just being known by their Nigerian designated states such as Anambra, Abia, etc. In other words many Igbos would in the near future forget that they were Igbos; and would forget that they were Hebrews, and Israelites. Most still remember that they are Hebrews, because the word 'Igbo' is close to 'Ibri' (Hebrew). To make sure that the identity is not lost I resolved to re-brand the Igbos with the Igbos proper name; and to me this name is 'Igbo-Israel'.

More in the days ahead.