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Living Off Nigeria Railways Carcass
By Armsfree Ajanaku Onomo and Gbenga Adetunji
THE painful story of decay that has continued to render the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) comatose for so many years, has been repeatedly narrated. Also renowned are stories of tepid and largely
uncoordinated efforts aimed at revamping this crucial means of transportation. The untold story, however, revolves around what has become the fate of those whose sources of livelihood had always depended on, or was connected to the rail system, when it worked efficiently. Although many of them have moved on with life, some have remained behind with their sad stories to tell.
Some of them nostalgically remember the good old days when the trains ran efficiently, ruing what the system has now become. From big business men to traders of all manner of goods, it was the same story of regrets at the collapse of the system. One place to find some of these people is at the NRC compound in Oyingbo and its environs.
A few of them who spoke to The Guardian reflected that the decline in the fortunes of the rail system seemed to have triggered the reversal of their own fortunes. aWhen the trains used to work well, you won't see me sitting here and selling all these petty things. We used to go to the terminal to sell and business was booming then," says Yinka Adetutu, a septuagenarian who now sells groceries just at the edge of the rail track.
Ade Olotu, who used to deal in grains in the good old days when the trains worked, says he now shuttles between jobs. He recalls that after it became almost impossible to convey goods from the North using the trains, his business began to crumble, as he suffered losses in road mishaps while conveying his goods with trailers. He bemoans the collapse of the rail system thus: aI don't know why they killed the railways. This place used to be a busy area because of constant business opportunities. People were coming with goods from all parts of the country, and there were jobs for people to do. It is not so anymore; we are only just struggling to feed our families."
EVEN so, the likes of Adetutu and Olotu are only outsiders. Those who spent years working for the system have also been lamenting. According to them, the moribund state of the NRC has continued to cause them nightmares. One of them said: aIt is sad to see that the system we worked for during our youthful days is now in shambles. Those of us who gave the corporation our best have our pensions paid far in between. And when you think of the fact that these trains used to carry people and goods across the whole of the country, you would know how painful it is to see what they have become."
Beyond counting their losses, majority of these people who have either worked with the corporation, or did their businesses around the terminals have now turned the corridor along the rail line into a vast stretch of shanties. Others have built fairly big houses a few meters from the rail line at Oyingbo.
The burgeoning of these shanties along the corridor is now the clearest manifestation of the homelessness that a number of those who worked with the corporation now experience. Efforts, in form of a few raids made in time past, especially last year to dislodge them did not yield results, and there is a continuous increase in the population of squatters along the corridor.
THE corridor at Oyingbo, for example, is a chaotic world of shanties that plays host to countless brothels, and makeshift cinema houses. The thriving ghetto in the area, with its full complement of churches and mosques, belongs not only to the wretched of Lagos's earth, but also to those who fell from riches to rags. Stories abound of people who moved to the area because of accommodation problems or loss of job. What such people deemed as short-term measures to address their difficulties soon turned to long drawn-out, resulting in years of residing in the chaotic environment.
Disorderly as the environment may seem, the law is not far from the people here. There is the Railway Police Command nearby, and interestingly, a magistrate court very close to the long stretch of matchbox dwelling places. In fact, the court is normally used as a thoroughfare in accessing the ghetto on the rail lines.
A concerned Lagosian who decried how the people in the area carry on with life said: aIs it not better for all these people here to return to their villages, instead of staying in this hell of a place. I don't understand why people would choose to live like this because it would be unfortunate for any child to be raised in this kind of environment.
This is now part of the reality of a system, which was a pillar of the Nigerian economy up till the 80s. It has turned out to be a typical Nigerian story of how graft destroys. The gross mismanagement of funds allocated to the sector by the past administrators and the long-time neglect by the federal government have been variously identified as factors responsible for the decline of the railway system.
While describing the reality of the system as pathetic, a retired staff of the corporation said that the bitter lesson from the past public investments in the corporation stem from the fact that the huge outlays have simply disappeared into the bottomless pit of graft and mismanagement. For instance, he observed that a former Minister of Transport, Abiye Sekibo in 2006 raised hopes of reviving the sector and a sum of $2bn was released as part of the take-off of the Inland Container Terminals.
Today, what do we have? Nothing. The money has gone down the drain," he said.
He recalled that another sum of $500m rail rehabilitation contract signed by the Sani Abacha junta in 1995 with the Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company had also failed to meet stated objectives. Later, it was discovered that the Chinese firm supplied aged and defective locomotives.
At the end, the Chinese firm, accused cronies and some politicians, who were given the contract to supply the local contents of the project, of either walking away with the money or supplying sub-standard materials. And before that deal, the government had engaged the Rail India Technical and Economic Services in 1979. That contract was also terminated in 1982 for non-performance.
Another sum of N12.3 billion contracts for the rehabilitation of 488 Kilometers Lagos-Jebba rail track was recently awarded to a Chinese firm by the Federal government, disclosed the source. The contract is said to have covered the provision of signal and telecommunication facilities for the Nigerian Railway Corporation, is expected to be completed within 10 months by China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC).
To him, there are some crook individuals and group of people in the country who are bent on making sure that the sector fails in order to satisfy their own selfish interest.
He, however, expressed optimism that things would only change for the better if the Federal government privatizes the sector.
Kehinde Ojajuni, a prominent cocoa merchant dealer in Ibadan agrees that privatization is the solution to the problems dogging the rail system. He said: aWhy should federal government allocate huge sums of money to the sector every time without any trace of development? Let the government hands off the sector and hand it over to the private sector, I am quite sure that things would change for the better".
HOWEVER, in a chat with the immediate managing director and chief executive officer of the corporation, Mazi J.C. Nwakwo, recently in Lagos, he admitted that a lot of things have gone wrong with the corporation and that majority of the locomotives were not working again simply because some of them were aged and outdated.
Nwakwo stated that urgent steps are needed to revive the sector from its present state of decay. He called on the corporation to employ the services of young school graduates and also acquire modern day locomotives that would aid the transportation of goods and persons in the country.
Callistus Uyimadu, public relations officer of the NRC, Dugbe unit, Ibadan, told The Guardian, that the corporation is presently undergoing aggressive rehabilitation as promised by the federal government. He claimed that management of the corporation was living no stone unturned in its supervision of rehabilitation, and that it was prepared to achieve completion of all the facets of repair in record time.
However, a senior staff of the NRC office in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, who spoke on condition of anonymity said contract for the construction of single-track standard gauge spanning 186km length of distance had been awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) on October 26, 2009 at a cost of $849m. Also, a sum of $24million has been paid to TEAM Consultants for its consultancy on Kaduna-Abuja project.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that the Kaduna-Abuja rail standardization project would be funded partly with $500m, which is to be provided by Chinese Government as concession loan. Besides, the scope of work for Lagos-Ibadan segment is under review together with its cost implications.
He said, aI am confident that the corporation will wear a new look if all these laid down projects are actualized". He admitted that a lot of funds that accrued to the corporation had gone down the drain due to selfish interests of the people who had one time served at the corporation.
Adeseyi Sijuwade, current managing director of the NRC, during the official hand over ceremony from his predecessor at the headquarters in Lagos recently, said he would endeavor to change the public perception of the corporation for the better. Tracing the woes of the nation's railways to the lack of funds, he stated that year 2010 would mark a change as the Federal Government was committed to providing the needed funds to revive the ailing corporation.
Source: The Guardian, 21st Feb 2010.
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Ndigbo - Strategising for the Future
By Daniel Kanu
The Issue of formidable unity and the way forward for Ndigbo was at the front burner recently, at a dinner organised by Ndigbo Lagos, in honour of the new president-general of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Ambassador Raph Uwechue.
It was as if the gathering was designed to mark a new dawn of Igbo unity - in Nigeria and the Diaspora.
It was a gathering of prominent Igbo sons in search of a solution to re-enact their cherished values as an enterprising and hard working people.
Most especially the occasion provided a veritable platform for soul searching, articulation of a roadmap for a new beginning and a re-awakening for a people that have suffered pronounced set-back and socio-economic and political neglect since the end of the civil war.
The fate of Ndigbo in contemporary Nigeria was brought to the fore at the occasion. Although some believe that Ndigbo have had much talk shop on the issue of their neglect, many still believe that what is important is to develop the will power to confront any problem, no matter how monstrous it may appear.
From the beginning of Independence till date, a lot of economic and political blue prints have been marshalled out to make Ndigbo able to stand on its own and cater for the overall needs of their people. But, somewhere along the line, they have become political issues, which eventually end up in the dustbin of history.
The very robust ones put in place during the First Republic could not stand the test of time because they too were abandoned, as crude oil boomed, to the detriment of the people. Today, the zone is grappling with a lot of problems that have refused to go away.
But, Ambassador Uwechue set the tone when he asserted: "I feel greatly elated by the event we are witnessing today. Let us not forget our past, for I can recall that when things were based on merit, fairness, equity and justice we know where we were in relation to other ethnic groups. Nobody should feel apologetic. No Igbo person has any reason to apologise to any person, because we built and sustained this nation.
"We will use our population to our advantage. Unity is our strength, we should stop mouthing it rather, we should practice it. Let every Igbo stop bothering about what others think about us, rather let us rise and speak with one voice and, no group can match us.
" I am speaking today not as a diplomat, but as a full-blooded Igbo. Any greatness that was recorded at any point in time has Onye-Igbo as partner in that feat. Let's even look at recent records: the Charles Soludo, Oby Ezekwesili, Mrs Okonjo Iweala, Mrs Dora Akunyili, etc., - all left their imprint. There is every reason for us to celebrate among ourselves, among brothers, friends and sisters."
According to the diplomat, what the Igbo want is very simple: the best for Nigeria, because, when it is good for Nigeria, it will also be good for Ndigbo.
"It's high time we retraced our steps with a view to reversing the trend. And, we must do it now for the sake of our children," he stressed.
The challenges facing Ndigbo, Uwechue, said are the Igbo unity, networking and empowerment, gradual disappearance of Igbo language, cultural heritage and identity.
The newly elected President who held the gathering spell bound also threw another challenge to his kinsmen, when he chargrd: "Some of us are now asking the inevitable question: what the fate of Ndigbo existence is in the near future, with this growing challenges and constraint? One would have thought that in the face of the growing global ethnic identity drive, Ndigbo would need to look to our strengths which increasingly will lie in the talent and diligence of our people: our demography, our capacity and ability to refocus and re-educate ourselves and bounce back."
Ndigbo, he advised, should to shun selfishness and internal strife in order to progress and, above all, take their collective destiny in their hands if they must make headway; as selfishness, bickering and other vice must be jettisoned, if they must get to the promised land."
For Dr Sylvan Ebigwei, President-General, Aka Ikenga, an intellectual think tank of Ndigbo, there is the need to take vital step that will be aimed at re-orientating, re-branding and re-focusing the psyche of Ndigbo, to properly integrate in a society it has paid so much sacrifice, including a civil war.
Ebigwei stated: "We are a strong people. We are an enterprising and creative people. We have competitive spirit and self-confidence. We are daringly adventurous and can take ourselves to any height. We, therefore, have no business remaining backward, even if any adversary wishes us to remain down."
Mrs Njideka Anyadike, former governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), stressed that the era when Ndigbo were treated with disdain and levity because of absence of a leadership structure was over, urging all to continue to forge a formidable umbrella organisation that would always champion their cause.
She urged the new leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo in the country under the able leadership of Uwechue to be tolerant and to accommodate all kinds of opinion, while members should accord the leadership their loyalty and commitment to achieve success.
" We shall marshal new development strategy and pass the information to all our kindred to abreast them on the new wave of Igbo unity, and those groups that believe that Ndigbo cannot unite will be living in old times."
The major problem, bedeviling the people of the South East geo-political zone, in the thinking of many, is not that of building infrastructures or increasing the statutory allocation to the five states in the zone, but that of harnessing and galvanising the vast potentials that abound in the zone.
It is believed that some of the things that ought to have become a thing of the past are now major issues for discussion, leading to cries of marginalisation and the wanton deprivation suffered by the people everywhere including their very communities.
To many, it appears the economic status of the zone has taken a nosedive into the abyss, while the very infrastructure which the successive administrations have claimed to build have all given way and the people are merely existing in their states and communities, wasting away, and virtually eating out of the bread of sorrow.
Dr Ossai Ossai told Daily Independent that Ndigbo has remained an endangered specie in Nigeria as they have remained haunted.
"Elsewhere across the nation, Igbo people are being haunted down and butchered in different ethnic, political and other crises, which had engulfed the nation at one time or the other."
The reason for this continuous heavy loss on the side of the Igbo in various parts of the nation, like the recent happening in Jos, Plateau capital, to many analysts, is not far-fetched. It stems, they say, from the fact that their leaders have failed woefully to understand the endowment that God has bestowed on them, or if they do, have failed woefully to harness them to their advantage.
There is also the contention that those speaking for Ndigbo have not sincerely carried the groups' interest along, rather their personal interests.
" They had not only abandoned their responsibility to those who put them into power, but have aligned with others to undermine and impoverish, as well as risk the people's lives," regretted an aggrieved Igbo lady who pleaded for anonymity.
"In stead of speaking with one voice at different fora, these our leaders are more conscious of how the benefit of their current engagements can provide insurance for their fourth generations," she added.
It appears it was in the realisation of this woeful failure of leadership that the present call for change is coming.
Saint Iyk Ekeh argued that it would be counter productive if the unity of the South East, continued to be subsumed in the partisan politics of Igbo leaders and their followers, positing that it is only then would the area be able to undertake projects as a united body which would trigger economic growth as well as generate employment.
According to Ekeh, "the beauty of the gathering lies in the message of its import that sent a serious signal to those who thought that Ndigbo couldn't work together. We have discountenanced our diverse religious, cultural and political inclinations to work together for the common good of our people."
Many who spoke at the occasion including former Governor of Lagos State, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, alluded to disunity in Igboland, which had contributed much to their sorry position in the nation's polity.
Joe Igbokwe stated, pointblank, that it is either Ndigbo work together for the good of the people or risk being consigned into obscurity, stressing that Nigeria is becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex.
Igbokwe said that Ndigbo must defend themselves politically because it would be in their disadvantage to separate in a country they have suffered to ensure its development.
He said the country was rubbing the South East close to N400 billion since the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, pronounced that an additional state would be added to the region.
"For the past 38 years - after the unfortunate civil war - Ndigbo has been in constant search of a vibrant and virile leadership. This lack of leadership has robbed the people of the social, economic and political benefits due to them, and left the people, painfully, marginalized," he reasoned.
Igbokwe, who argued that the thinking that any Igbo man could be bought, described such a notion as not only nauseating but a negative allusion
It is believed that Ndigbo lost great opportunities that came their way in their march to nationhood, but what is important is that the people have demonstrated in unmistakable terms in their different submissions at the occasion that they are ready for moral renewal and rearmament.
But, to some observers, what the people of the region are asking for is no longer long speeches and verbose expositions, but action on the part of its leadership. The people are not only expecting the putting in place of infrastructure such as roads, industries that would create employment opportunities for their teeming youth, but above all unity among the people.
In the majority view, the challenge is now to present a united front politically with visionary leadership.
© Daily Independent
29 /12/2008
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Rising Number Of Igbo In Overseas
Prisons Worry Leaders
From Lawrence Njoku Enugu
The number of Igbo serving various prison terms outside the country, those already executed and the ones facing death sentences for various offences were said to have formed the nucleus of discussions on Friday, in Enugu, as political leaders of the South East Zone met.
The Guardian gathered from a source at the closed door meeting, which was attended by the five Governors in the Zone, serving members of the National Assembly led by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, as well as other leaders of thought deliberated on the situations of the affected Igbo with a view to assisting them.
It was gathered that about 2400 Igbo are serving various jail terms outside the country. Of the figure, 3 was said to have been executed in Indonesia while 18 is facing death sentence in the same country. About 1500 is also said to be serving various prison terms in South Africa.
Although, details about how the leaders intends to assist the affected persons was not made public, but it was, however agreed that poverty and unemployment ravaging the South East Zone have contributed to the rising number of inmates, stressing that ,there was need to make the economic situation of the zone more attractive.
Ekweremadu, who briefed reporters at the end of the meeting, said all the South East Governors and members of the National Assembly from the Zone have resolved to work together irrespective of party affiliations for the general interest of the zone. Add that several issues affecting the zone, including the ecological problems and the state of infrastructures were discussed.
While describing the meeting as a very good development for discussing matters affecting the zone, he said, it has also for the first time brought political office holders, irrespective of the political party, together for peace. Adding that the meeting will henceforth be held on quarterly basis.
Another source however, disclosed that the meeting also discussed a common position on state creation for the zone.
Source: Guardian, 30th November 2008.
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Biafra Foundation
1629 K Street, N.W, Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
Phone: 202-508-3798, Fax: 202-508-3759
Email: Biafrafoundation@yahoo.com
VOBI 12 12 08
SO ONYEIGBO IS NOW WORTH NOTHING IN NIGERIA
Ndigbo, so it has finally been established that an Igbo man alive or a dead, woman or child is worth nothing, not even a kobo in Nigeria. Ndigbo themselves have now clearly shown the Hausa Fulani Yoruba that Onyeigbo in Nigeria is as worthless as a piece of garbage. In fact it is not only Igbo, it is now also Ijaw, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan, Urhobo – all of you have now shown Ndiawusa/Fulani na NdiYoruba that you are as worthless as garbage. No wonder the Hausa Fulani Yoruba treat you like garbage. All of you so called leaders of these Nations, or ethnic groups; all of you should hide your heads in shame. In fact your children should look you in the eyes and spit in your faces; the youths of your respective communities should drag you out in the Public Square and throw shit at you. Why, because you have just demonstrated that you, so called leaders – political leaders, religious leaders, so called traditional rulers; all of you are not worth the piece of shit that the youths will throw in your faces. You have become redundant nonentities, without redemption and without value.
It is now more than one week since the Hausa Fulani Islamofascists killed hundreds of your sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, neighbors, and inlaws in the northern city of Jos and surrounding communities. They did not just kill them, they slaughtered them like sheep. Then they set upon their property and looted and burned them. First they went to the markets. Motor parts market they looted it carrying away all sorts of motor parts including engines of cars and buses; second hand clothing market they looted it carrying away bales and bales of expensive textile; electronics market they looted it gleefully carting away television sets, other electronics, electric fans, cell phones, refrigerators, etc. When they finished they turned their attention to lock up shops – systematically they looted lock up shops belonging to Ndigbo and other people from Eastern Region. They know that Igbo traders keep much of their money in the market stalls and in their shops. Guess what happened? Many of the Hausa Fulani jobless barbarians loafing around the day before with goworo colored teet became instant millionaires – carrying away millions of Naira which Igbo men and women labored for years accumulating. When they finished taking everything they wanted they set about setting whatever was left in the markets and lock up shops ablaze. They burned down the markets and burned down the shops – all to ashes.
Then they looked at what they had done and felt happy. But they were not yet finished with the foolish Igbo and their brothers from the East. They went to their houses, looted their personal property and then set those private houses ablaze. Igbo women and girls who happened to be home became easy prey and were repeatedly raped by these savages. Finally they remembered the churches – those magnificent edifices that the Igbo and their brother Easterners spent years collecting money and building – the Hausa Fulani took their petrol bombs and matches doused each and every one they could get to and set them on fire. Mission accomplished – Allah Akhbaar!!! They intoned and then they went home and celebrated.
As the Hausa Fulani were killing Ndigbo and their brothers as usual – they have done this routinely more than thirty five times for almost thirty years; yes as they were killing Ndigbo and their brother Easterners as usual they ran into and killed about one hundred and thirteen Yoruba men and women by mistake. What happened? All hell broke loose. Yoruba governors, political leaders, religious leaders, and traditional rulers, all condemned in the strongest terms the killing of their people and warned that any more of such nonsense will be met with grave reprisal. The governors immediately sent luxury buses to Jos and environs to evacuate Yoruba citizens and bring them back to Yoruba land. Even the governor of Benue State also sent luxury buses to Jos to evacuate Tiv and Idoma citizens back to Idoma and Tiv land. So much for One Nigeria! These leaders did not mince words in telling the Hausa Fulani that any violence meted out to their citizens will be matched by retaliation that will shock them.
For one whole week now we have been waiting to hear from Igbo, Ijaw, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan, and Urhobo governors, political leaders, religious leaders, so called traditional rulers, intellectuals, delusional people who call themselves "Eze Ndigbo of Jos, Lagos, Sokoto, Kaduna, Ibadan, Kano, Maiduguri, Lagos, Ibadan etc. where are they? Where are evangelist this and pastor that; bishop this and Arch Deacon that; prophet this and savior that? Olee unu now? All the governors from Eastern Region and Delta – where una dey now? All those former governors who claim that every Fulani man is their brother – Orji Uzo Kalu who ties dirty black rags on his head and calls it turbaning, did you tell your blood brother Umaru Yar'Adua and his savage Hausa Fulani brothers to stop killing our people? Where is Alex Ekwueme, Anthony Anini, Edwin Clark, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Anthony Enahoro, Vincent Ogbulafor, Ojo Maduekwe, where are they? They are in Abuja negotiating contract deals with Ndiawusa, and begging NdiYourba for money. Where is Sam Egwu, Chimaroke Nnamani, Godswill Akpabio, Lyle Imoke, Attah, Uduagham, onye ohi James Ibori, David Ejoor, Samuel Ogbemudia, Pius Anyim? Where is Chinweoke Mbadinuju, Peter Odili, Arthur Nzeribe – where are they? They are hiding in our towns and villages where they are busy killing our people and stealing their land – big man for nothing. Where is Chekwas Okorie, Babangida's houseboy? May be he is waiting for Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu to say something and then Babangida and the Sokoto Caliphate will tell Chekwas to insult Ojukwu. That's when he will open his stinking mouth. Where is Edwin Ume-Ezeoke and all those thieves masquerading as political leaders of the Igbo, Ijaw, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan, Urhobo – where are they?
Where are the Cardinals and hundreds of Bishops, Apostles, Evangelists, etc we have in every village, town and city in Eastern Region – where are they now? They are waiting for the cows and goats that will be given to them by the poor suffering masses on Sunday during offertory after which they'll tell them that Heaven is their reward – God will reward them with paradise when they die – it is best for them to be poor now but the clergy must not be poor- the clergy must live in very decent houses, drive very good cars and eat the fattest goats and cows. Don't even talk about the bishops of the Evangelical Churches who squeeze every naira out of our poor masses every Saturday and Sunday. In fact some of them now keep armored bullion vans in the Church compound to take the millions they con out of the poor people to the bank as soon as service is over. But they will never stand up and speak out on behalf of these poor people; they will never defend these poor people; they will never fight for them even as the Hausa Fulani Yoruba enslave them, persecute them, murder them in thousands and take their land and the resources in their land. They will never condemn the fake leaders, the rogue politicians who collude with the Hausa Fulani Yoruba in persecuting our people, enslaving them and robbing them of everything that makes them human. No, rather they put them in the front pew in their churches and glorify them as heroes.
Where is Jonathan Goodluck? Is he still the vice president of Nigeria? Where is Inspector General Michael Okiro and Assistant Inspector General Onovo. The last time we checked both were still Ndigbo. Even Jonathan Goodluck whose middle name is Ebele is Igbo. Where are all the big Igbo, Ijaw, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan, Urhobo Generals, Colonels, Captains, Majors in Lucifer's army in Nigeria – where are they? Olee ha now? All our big professors in our big universities; our big lawyers – where are they now.
All these people were there as our people Igbo, Ijaw, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan, Urhobo were massacred in Jos one week ago; their businesses looted and burned, their houses looted and burned, their churches looted and burned and not one of these groups, not one of these individuals asked the question how many of our people were killed in Jos. Not one of them took any steps to find out how many of their people were killed by the barbarians in Jos, not one of them cared to arrange to have the bodies of their brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers murdered in Jos sent back to their homes in the East for decent burial. As the Yoruba and the even the Tiv evacuated their people living and dead and published the exact figures of their people killed, the Igbo, Ijaw, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan, Urhobo did not care. Ha ! Haa!! Haa!!!. Alu. As far as they are concerned their people are worth less than garbage. And so it was that our people killed in Jos by the barbarians were buried in mass graves like garbage. See how low our people have been reduced in Nigeria to be treated worse than garbage. Our people have adopted the philosophy of "so long as it is not me, I don't care." But next time it will be you.
The international community has learned not to care about you since you don't care about yourselves. The whole world was paying attention to India where less than two hundred people were killed by terrorists at the same time that over five hundred of our brothers and sisters were being slaughtered in Jos. Last weekend there was four days of unrelenting riot in Greece because the police shot and killed one 15 year old boy. When asked why they rioted one of their leaders said: "If we don't teach them a lesson then they will kill another person and believe that it is okay and that nothing will happen." You see in life if you say that you are then other people will say that you are. If you shut up, give up your freedom and never defend yourself even your chi will shut up and never defend you. Youths of Eastern Region, Igbo, Ijaw, Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan, Urhobo a word is enough for the wise. You can fight for your freedom, your future and your destiny or you can wait in vain for your brothers and sisters begging for contract in Abuja and Lagos to save you. They will never do it. The choice is yours. All we will keep telling you is that Biafra is your only hope. Without your freedom you are nothing and not even your life will be spared.
May God bless you all and the sovereign independent State of Biafra!
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Biafra Foundation
1629 K Street, N.W, Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
Phone: 202-508-3798, Fax: 202-508-3759
Email: Biafrafoundation@yahoo.com
VOBI 11 28 08
Dear good people of Eastern Region [Biafra]
We ask each of you individually to sit down quietly in your respective homes, flats, or wherever you are, reflect and then ask yourself this hard question: Has Nigeria destroyed my soul? All of us are human beings created by God who endowed us with free will and the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. This knowledge of good and evil and the free will to exercise judgment is what makes us Homo Sapiens; that is what bestows on us the title of Human Being different from beasts and wild animals. Without this knowledge and free will we will just be like monkeys, baboons, dogs and goats. When a human being ceases to demonstrate this knowledge of good and evil and or purposely perverts the judgment demanded in making that distinction between good and evil then that person ceases to be a human being and gets relegated to the level of an animal, a beast; like dog, cow, goat or pig.
There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Nigerian leaders have since descended to the level of beasts. They behave like baboons, monkeys and goats. Their souls have been destroyed by One Nigeria. So the question that we are asking you today is: Are you one of the people whose soul Nigeria has destroyed? Are you one of those people who Nigeria has reduced to the status of an animal; a goat; a donkey or a pig?
Here is a description of the rulers of Nigeria from 1970 till today including those who call themselves rulers of our people in the Eastern Region, in occupied Biafra; those who were imposed on our people by Satan Nigeria. These people have reduced themselves to the level of animals as you can see from these quotations taken directly from the Bible. Obviously men and women like these people existed in history and were eventually destroyed by their own evil and wickedness.
For in their mouth there is no sincerity; their heart teems with treacheries; their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. Punish them oh God; let them fall by their own devices Psalm 5: 10-12. They are filled with all iniquity, malice, immorality, avarice, wickedness; being full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity; being wisperers, detractors, hateful of God, irreverent, proud, haughty, plotters of evil; foolish dissolute without affection, without fidelity, without mercy. They have not understood that those who practice such things are deserving of death. Romans 1: 29-32. All have gone astray altogether. They have become worthless. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Romans 3:12-14. Sin speaks to the wicked man in his heart; there is no dread of God before his eyes; for he beguiles himself with the thought that his guilt will not be found out or hated; the words of his mouth are empty and false; he has ceased to understand how to be good. He plans wickedness in his bed; he sets out on a way that is not good with no repugnance for evil. Psalm 36: 1-5. Small and great alike all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice fraud. They are odious; they have done abominable things; yet they are not at all ashamed; they know not how to blush. Hence they shall be among those who fall. Jeremiah 6:13-15.
Take a close look at all the people who have ruled Nigeria since 1967. Is there any one of them who does not perfectly fit the description above? Begin the Yakubu Gowon the baby killer who starved millions of innocent babies, nursing mothers, pregnant women to death while pretending to be a Christian. Oh yes he still went to church every Sunday; and even now he has been running all over Eastern Region organizing what he calls Nigeria Prays. What he is organizing is actually Devil Worship because his soul has since been occupied by the Devil. Do you want to talk about Murtala Mohammed, the savage who organized the slaughter of thousands of unarmed innocent men who were doing a dance of welcome for him and his men at Ogbeosowa in Asaba and 300 men women and children who were praying in the Apostolic Church in Onitsha. The massacres in Asaba and Onitsha were repeated in Warri and Sapele. Do you want to talk about Olusegun Obasanjo, the motor park tout whose naked hatred of the Igbo has virtually consumed him. Before he dies this hatred will make his insanity so sever that he will take off his clothes and walk the streets naked like his good friend and fellow Igbo hater so-called Christian, mad man Theophilus Danjuma. How about Shehu Shagari, the sly deceitful serpent who participated in planning and organizing the slaughter of 100,000 Easterners in the three cycle pogrom of 1966 carried out all over Northern Nigeria. Doesn't his tongue speak only deceit, and isn't h is mouth an open grave? Do you want to talk about the barbarians: Ibrahim Babangida, the snake, the gap toothed Dracula that feeds on human blood. Isn't he so evil that he actually called himself "the evil genius?" He should simply have called himself Satan. How about Sanni Abacha, the savage. Well his soul is now roaming the plains with other wild animals at night. Don't even bother to talk about the Islamofascist terrorist Muhammadu Buhari; the pathological thief Abdulsalami Abubakar, or the psychotic leper, the mentally deranged criminally insane Umaru Yar'Adua. Bring all these people together with their ministers, advisers, and special assistants etc, and you begin to understand why Nigeria is a failed state.
But that is not our problem now since everyone in the world believes and knows that Nigeria is a dead State. The world is only waiting for it to disintegrate into its component parts. We are now more interested in the people called leaders in Eastern Region, occupied Biafra and the damage they have done and continue to do to our children, people, communities and our culture since 1970.
Look at the people the Hausa Fulani Yoruba have foisted on you and called them your leaders; governors, commissioners, ministers, senators, assemblymen, local counselor. Look at those they have foisted on you as so called traditional rulers. Look at those people and you will immediately agree that apart from a handful, 99% if these people are rogues, cheats, liars, con men and women, 419ers, armed robbers, convicted felons, men and women without soul or morality, bastards, vagabonds, lazy, indolent, incompetent fools, highly unintelligent, unimaginative crooks, men and women talented only in evil and wickedness; people without scruples or conscience, psychopaths and sociopaths who will do anything to destroy the society in which they live and treat their fellow brothers and sisters like garbage; people whose only goal in life is to steal and rob anyone near them including their own parents, brothers and sisters; indeed these men and women are the dregs of society. In decent organized society most of them would be in jail for their criminal behavior for a very long time.
Go back to Ukpabi Asika who watched gleefully as his brothers and sisters, fellow Igbo men, women and children were slaughtered in cold blood in his own town of Onitsha/Asaba by the Hausa Fulani Yoruba army of vandals. Think of Eugene Esuene who watched as the all Yoruba 3rd Marine Division of the Nigerian army slaughtered his people in Calabar and Ikot Ekpene, starved thousands of children in Ikot Ekpene prison until they died or turned into skeletons. Think of the other rulers then from Benin to Calabar who watched will satisfaction as their brothers, sisters and neighbors – Anang, Efik, Ibibio, Igbo, Ijaw, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko , Esan, and Urhobo ; neighbors with whom they have had a long history of intermarriage and social interaction were massacred by the Hausa Fulani Yoruba jihadist army. Look at these people and you will see that Nigeria destroyed their soul. They were no longer human. They had descended to the level of beasts.
Fast forward to the 1980's, stretching into the 1990's and on to the present day. Look at the so-called governors, ministers, senators, representatives, and assemblymen and women. What did those ministers and governors do for you the people. Orji Kalu Jubril Aminu's house boy asked the Igbo to apologize to the Nigerian barbarians for starving millions of our people to death and looting our personal effects. Then he turned around and stole every penny the Satanic government of Nigeria gave to the people of Abia State, killed so many citizens of Abia State while literally selling Abia State to the Hausa Fulani. The other governors of Eastern Region did exactly the same thing. Chimaroke Nnamani, Sam Egwu, Lucky Igbinedeone, James Ibori, Lyle Imoke, Donald Duke, Victor Attah, Peter Odili, Achike Udenwa, Chris Ngige, Arthur Nzeribe and other senators, representatives, assemblymen councilors all have turned themselves into thieves, liars, cheats robbing their own people of the little money that Satanic government of Nigeria gives them and then denying them even the basic amenities of life. These people are lying to their people and condemning their own people to slavery at the hands of the Hausa Fulani Yoruba. Even our clergy are not spared. They have drunk the poison of One Nigeria. Even some of the leaders in the Niger Delta are negotiating with the Hausa Fulani Yoruba Satanic government of Nigeria to give them one quarter of the money that rightly belongs to them. Well we now know that these men are one quarter men. They are no longer full men.
This very sad situation to which our people have been subjected by even their own sons and daughters is what demands that we work ever harder to actualize Biafra for our people who are now being persecuted by even their own sons and daughters. We challenge the leaders of the Biafra to examine themselves and make sure that they have not been infected by this deadly Nigerian disease. They must reassure themselves and the citizens of Biafra that words from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is not filled with destruction; their throat is not an open grave; that they do not with their tongue speak deceit; that they have not become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity; that they are not full of deceit, and malice and that they still have their eyes on the ball –the actualization of Biafra. This is the challenge of the leaders of the different Biafra Movements and they must take this challenge very seriously.
May God bless you all and the sovereign independent State of Biafra!
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Biafra Foundation
1629 K Street, N.W, Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
Phone: 202-508-3798, Fax: 202-508-3759
Email: Biafrafoundation@yahoo.com
VOBI 11 28 08
If you still believe in one Nigeria
If you are a citizen of Biafra, if your parents and ancestors are from the Eastern Region, if your home is in the Eastern Region from Sapele/Warri through Bonny/Port Harcourt to Calabar/Ikom; from Obudu, through Nsukka to Ella; if you come from anywhere with in this area and you still believe in One Nigeria, you ought to ask yourself some critical questions: "Why do I still believe in One Nigeria that is growing backwards into the stone age; what is life like in Nigeria – is it like being in paradise or being in hell; why is it that everyone who has the opportunity to do so escapes from Nigeria in the blink of an eye; what part of life in Nigeria can be said to be attractive to any decent human being; why is it that all over the world anyone who calls himself a Nigerian no matter how highly placed is immediately deemed to be a thief, a robber, a con man, and a bank robber, an evil person and immediately treated with the worst disrespect and ignominy? The reason is simple. Nigeria is seen as the major center of evil in the whole world today. Nigeria and Nigerians are seen by the whole world as evil.
So why would any sensible, self respecting man or woman want to be associated with evil, want to be a citizen of evil and want to live in evil? Which human being rich or poor, educated or illiterate, strong or weak, white, black, or any other skin tone would like to be part of the most corrupt bastards in the world, the dumbest and most stupid leaders in the world, the most arrogant and dishonest people in the world. Why is it that intellectuals, business entrepreneurs and even common folk who were driven out of Nigeria by successive military and civilian governments go on to become really successful people and even world leaders in their fields once they settle in other countries of the world than Nigeria? Have you seriously asked yourself why people from Eastern Region find it so very difficult to succeed in Nigeria unless they turn themselves into slaves of the Hausa Fulani Yoruba or are willing to kill their parents, brothers, and sisters, uncles and aunts; destroy their communities, towns and cities; steal everything that their communities have and send to them to Ndi Awusa na Ndi Yoruba?
Dear good people of Eastern Region, at home and in the Diaspora hear this and hear it very clearly you have no future in Nigeria; your children have no future in Nigeria. The only thing that await you in Nigeria is slavery, poverty, untold suffering, and murder at the hands of corrupt barbarians in the Nigerian government and their agents called army and police. We repeat this to you again, you have no future in Nigeria. It does not matter what you have now you have no future in Nigeria. The Hausa Fulani Yoruba oligarchy, the Sokoto Caliphate, and the Nigerian government will never allow you to freely express your high intelligence, gigantic talent and skills, and humongous ingenuity and creativity. As early as the fourteenth century when our ancestors came in contact with Europeans and other people from other lands those people recognized that we the people of Eastern Region are very intelligent, creative, talented, and very enterprising. They exchanged ambassadors with our leaders and our governments then; they traded with our people – they sold goods to us and we sold goods to them; they saw that we had our own nations and governed ourselves very effectively and efficiently. The Kingdom of Biafra stretched from nine miles after Benin in Igboakiri all the way to Southern Cameroon to Gabon. The Kingdom of Benin stretched from Benin to Eko or modern day Lagos. Biafrans established powerful trading posts at the entrance to big markets of the interior. King Jaja an Igbo man established and controlled the palm oil trade at the mouth of the River Niger at Opobo. The Oba of Benin controlled trade from Benin to Lagos. Greedy British traders resented the control being exercised by King Jaja and the Oba of Benin. The British government declared war on the Oba of Benin and his people and slaughtered them. Seeing that they could not defeat King Jaja in a military conflict they begged him to come onto their ship to sign a treaty, a trade agreement after giving him guarantee that they were only going to sign a treaty on trade with him and that he was not going to be harmed, kidnapped or killed. Once onboard their ship they kidnapped him and sent him into exile and he never came back to his land again. With the two powerful leaders and their armies destroyed the British took over trade in our land and also hated our people for having the effrontery to stand up for their rights, to exercise their freedom and assert their rights over their private property.
Since then successive British governments have hated our people, the peoples of the Kingdoms of Biafra and Benin and have continued to punish our people for standing up like men of valor. They have continued to subject our people to unimaginable and unconscionable cycles of torture and death. Sometimes they do it directly by themselves but often they use the Hausa Fulani and the Yoruba as surrogates to slaughter our people. Notice what they did during the Nigeria Biafra War. Watch what they are now doing using the Oil Companies like Shell; the so-called Nigerian government which is actually the British government using Hausa Fulani Yoruba savages as stooges. Think of this where did Sho Sho boy Yakubu Gowon, mad barbarian Murtala Mohammed, area boy motor park tout Olusegun Obasanjo, Simpleton Shehu Shagari, Islamofascist terrorist Muhammadu Buhari, the savage, snake, gap-toothed Dracula Ibrahim Babangida; the night prowling barbarian Sanni Abacha and the leprous recluse Umaru Yar'Adua; where did they learn the art of governance, where will they borrow the brains to rule people like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Prof. I.E.Eyo, Dr. Nwafor Orizu, Dr. M.I.Okpara, Chief Dennis Osadebey, Chief Jereton Mariere, M.T. Mbu, Dr. Akanu Ibiam, Prof Eyo Bassey Ndem, Chief Ekukinam Bassey, Dr. S.E. Cookey, Justice G.C.M. Onyiuke, Justice Louis Mbanefo, Prof. Kenneth Onwuka Dike; Chief Margaret Ekpo, Dr. K.O. Mbadiwe, Chief Frank Ugbut, Chief Frank Opigo, Dr. Alvan Ikoku, Dr. Ifegwu Eke, Chief Ralph Uwechue, Prof Eni Njoku, Mr. I.S. Kogbara, C. C. Onoh, Mr. S. N. Dikibo, Chief N.U. Akpan, Dr. Okechukwu Ikejiani, Prof. B.I.C. Ijeoma, Justice Aniagolu, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Justice Nnaemeka Agu, Justice Eze Ozobu, Justice Graham Douglas, Chief Oyibo Odinammadu, Ken Saro Wiwa, Chinua Achebe, Prof Claude Ake, Prof Chike Obi, and the thousands and thousands of high level intellectuals and administrators the people of Eastern Region produced. Where, where will they steal the brains? They can't get it anywhere. And so it has been that the blind, deaf and dumb have been ruling highly intelligent men and women with their sights and hearing intact. Why would Nigeria not be in miles deep bottomless pit? Nigeria belongs in this bottomless pit and will never make it to the surface. That is the truth and that is what the British love. That is why they are solidly supporting the Hausa Fulani Yoruba oligarchy and the Sokoto Caliphate.
That is also why they have supported the Hausa Fulani Yoruba oligarchy and the Sokoto Caliphate in imposing thieves, robbers, and high time criminals on our people and called them governors, senators, representatives, ministers etc. Look at these people and judge for yourself how many of them you will allow into your house as a guest not to talk of as a friend: James Ibori, a thief and a felon, Lucky Igbinedeon, Alamesiagha, Jonathan Goodluck, Peter Odili, Orji Uzo Kalu, Achike Udenwa, Chimaroke Nnamani, Chris Ngige, Chris Uba, Nnamdi Emmanuel Uba, Sam Egwu, Theodore Orji, Chinwoke Mbadinuju, Godswill Akpabio, Timipre Sylva, Liyle Imoke, Rotimi Amechi, Ikedi Ohakim, Sullivan Chime, Emmanuel Uduagham, Arthur Nzeribe, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, and hundreds of others who are actively collaborating with the Hausa Fulani Yoruba government of Nigeria and the Sokoto Caliphate in destroying our people, our communities, our families, and our future. Peter Odili, Orji Uzo Kalu, James Ibori stole all the money given to their states, transferred much of it back to NdiAwusa na NdiYoruba and kept whatever was left to themselves. They did this while our children had no schools, were taking classes under trees like animals, for lack of court buildings judges were holding court in the shades of trees as if we were living in the early 19th century, and our people were dying in thousands everyday due to lack of hospitals, doctors and medicines and the children are dying of kwashiorkor as the rogue governors and politicians steal everything.
Look at the Nigeria that you live in: the British government and courts are helping James Ibori hide the billions he stole from the people of Delta State as well as the stealing he did in their country; gap-toothed Dracula Babangida and his family are enjoying vacation in one of the most expensive places on earth, Monaco – they flew there and to other parts of Europe in their very expensive private jet they bought with your money; Yar'Adua's children were photographed playing with thousands of dollars worth of foreign currency, real money in their house; Maurice Iwu who conducted the worst election in the history of the world is telling the American people to come to Nigeria to learn how to conduct elections. This was after the Americans had elected Barack Obama a poor black man president of the United States of America; Umaru Yar'Adua stole the presidential election and confessed so. Very soon he will celebrate his second year in office as president of Nigeria while the case is lingering in the Nigerian courts. There is massive, overwhelming evidence that area boy Obasanjo and his criminal gang of governors, ministers and senators stole billions of dollars of government money. Have you heard anyone asking them any questions?
If you are Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ijaw, Igbo, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Esan Urhobo; If you come from around Warri, Sapele, Aboh, Agbor, Ogwashi, Asaba, Degema, Bonny, Brass, Ahoada, Elele, Andoni, Opobo, Ogoni, Eket, Uyo, Abak, Ndoki, Ikot Ekpene, Calabar, Enyong, Ikom, Obubra, Ogoja, Abakaliki, Afikpo, Bende, Umuahia, Aba, Owerri, Orlu, Okigwe, Awgu, Nsukka, Awka, Onitsha, and Enugu; if you come from any of these places hear this and hear it clearly, continuing to be in One Nigeria or to talk about One Nigeria is the greatest tragic error you will ever make in your life. It is the worst danger, the greatest injustice you can do to your children and your family. It is like putting your children and indeed your entire family in a windowless room without lights, a room filled with a dozen deadly cobra snakes and then locking the only door into room behind you. You have guaranteed that your children, your family will all die gruesome, painful deaths. It doesn't really matter how rich you think you are today it will eventually happen to you and your children.
It is on this account that we are now calling on all our people from the communities we have enumerated to resolve to act together like one people to pull ourselves out of this evil called Nigeria. Nothing good will ever come out of Nigeria. It will always be evil and more evil. Fight to actualize Biafra; fight for your freedom; fight for your liberty; fight for justice; fight for your own liberation; fight for your children; fight for the liberation of your family; fight for the liberation of your communities; fight for the preservation of your culture,; fight for the preservation of your ancestral land and the future of your children and families. That is your only option.
May God bless you all and the sovereign independent State of Biafra!
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Anambra, Microsoft to develop Igbo computer
By Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka
ANAMBRA State government said it is working in partnership with the global computer giant,
Microsoft to programme Igbo language into computer software.
Governor Peter Obi, who disclosed this at the first Ofala celebration of the traditional ruler of Igbukwu, Igwe Martin Eze, said this was part of efforts to promote the use of Igbo language and increase computer literacy among Ndigbo. He said Igbo language was not only compulsory in all secondary schools in the state, but also a major language to be used in all social functions.
Obi expressed satisfaction with the high level of peace, love and understanding across the state and stressed the need for everybody to make conscious effort to sustain it. He explained that his administration will continue to work in every community in one sector or another, as the state resources will continue to be used for the collective welfare of all.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo, who also spoke at the occasion, noted that Igbukwu community is blessed with human and material resources and called on privileged individuals to support government efforts in the provision of social amenities and infrastructural development as state government has limited resources.
According to him, the support was now needed, as Anambra State was lucky now to have a governor, who was committed to the progress of the state.
The traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Eze, said Governor Obi had not only restored peace, security and order in the state, but had equally put smiles on the faces of the downtrodden through people-oriented projects and lay strong foundation for a brighter future for the upcoming generation. He assured the community will continue to support the administration as he has remained responsive to the wellbeing of the people.
Source: The Guardian, 1st January 2009.
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