If it’s possible to see the sunset over the grasslands of southern Nigeria and feel the warm air, when you’ve never been there, you’ve read Adichie’s work. If you now understand what it feels like to feel plagued by the paranoid sensation that the world around you is about to evaporate like  fog when the African sun rises, you’ve probably also read her work.

Truly, I have never met someone who made human suffering so tangible and pervasive that the characters enter my dreams and waking thoughts; not since I read the works of Leo Tolstoy. (I am sadly under-educated in African writers other than Chinua Achebe and Albert Camus.)

Unlike Tolstoy, Adichie  explores the middle, working and poorest classes. She contrasts the opulent lifestyle of revolutionary thinkers, Odenigbo and his friends, swilling back cognac with  Ugwu, a quick-witted villager working  in Odenigbo’s house. Yet, the most capativating charater is Olanna, a beauty whose strength and belief in new future for Nigerians is tested by the horrors of war. The changes Adichie allows Olanna to experience are heartbreaking and dauntingly real; I can only assume this as one who has never been through a war.  

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,  Nigerian author of The Purple Hibicus and Half of a Yellow Sun, recently spoke at SEIU building in Washington, D.C. in late October. What was most interesting to me during her her talk was how she felt this sense of priviledge in being able to get a good education and become a writer. She was lucky and she was well aware of this blessing. Whenever she would return to see her cousins who stayed in the village and saw how they married young and struggled to make a living, she wondered what they must think of her, the fancy writer working in New York City. Adichie expressed interest in working with aspiring Nigerian writers in the future and possibly running a writing workshop. Currently, she finds herself very busy writing and persuing her book tour of new collection of short stories, The Thing Around Her Neck.

Now, having read Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, I can see why the room was packed and full of lit up happy faces. I am a huge fan as well and inspired by her as a writer. Adichie has the innate ability perform as a surgeon, feats that seem impossible to the average person; painting the horrors of a war she was too young to live through. And at the same time, she finds a way to make the readers also experience.  No, sense_the fragility of humanity. I will never forget the image of Olanna sitting on the floor of the train after seeing a town torn apart by fire and human destruction. The strange apathy her character feels staring into the face of a woman mourning the death of her baby leaves the tongue dry and wordless. I can only think of one other time I felt this way: seeing the four-story stupa  piled from floor to ceiling with the skulls of those killed by Pol Pot regime in Choeung Ek, Cambodia. In the same way, it’s a priviledge to have my eyes opened to these atrocities. Hopefully, I can be part of a more positive future as I know Adichie is also hoping for her cousins, former neighbors and her future family.

To learn more about Adichie, visit her personal Web site: http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/.

ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY DIM CHUKWUEMEKA ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU, CHIEF GUEST OF HONOR AT THE PROFESSOR CHINUA ACHEBE INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA.

                                      ———————————————–

Providence, Rhode Island, 11^th December 2009

TITLE:

NDIGBO SHALL REGAIN POLITICAL RELEVANCE IN NIGERIA, IN MY LIFETIME

Our host; the very distinguished; our own beloved and revered Professor Chinua Achebe, I salute you.

Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen.

I wish to begin this address by greeting everyone who has made time to attend this very important Colloquium. May the Almighty God, the God of the universe, the Omnipotent and Omniscient God, the creator of all peoples of the earth, the creator of Nigerians, the creator of Ndigbo, bless you.

My primary duty today is to welcome you to this conference being hosted by one of the very best that the creator has given to the world from the Igbo stock, a citizen of the world but who is proud to be Igbo; our very own Chinua, Chinualumogu Achebe, we your people love you.

CHUKWUEMEKA ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU

We salute you today as we did over fifty years ago when you told our story in “Things Fall Apart”. It became the mother of all firsts in African Literature. We salute you today because you continue to make us proud through your values and ideals; and your commitment and courage in standing up for what is right and just in society. We hold that these are true hallmarks of Ndigbo, Nigerians and indeed all sane human beings. We jubilated and today we thank you for spurning the “national honour” to be given to you by then President Obasanjo at the height of impunity and abuse of the Anambra State Government and people. By that action of yours whatever pride was being trampled upon by the powers that be at the time was retrieved by your courage. Ndi Anambra salute you. Thank you. Ndigbo and well-meaning Nigerians salute you for standing tall at the time. More importantly the Igbo soul yearns for more Chinua Achebes, clear thinkers, lucid writers, men of courage, crusaders against injustice, true sons and daughters of their fathers. Today I say to you, dear Chinua that you are a true son of Ogidi, Anambra, Ndigbo, Nigeria and the world. As you wrote more than fifty years ago, “the body of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu” on behalf of Ndigbo salutes you. Deme, Deme-Deme.

Professor Chinua Achebe: Conference Convener

The founding fathers of Nigeria won for us after a bitter struggle with our colonial masters the right to be governed by leaders of OUR OWN CHOICE. Today we must apologize to our founding fathers for our inadequacies, for our lack of courage, indeed for our cowardice which made it possible for us to lose this right to be governed by leaders of our own choice via massive electoral malpractices. This situation just cannot continue. We as Nigerians must resolve today, not tomorrow, to conduct free, fair and credible elections. We cannot afford to fail in this all-important task. And we shall not fail. For it is true that no violence, indeed nothing can stop a people once they have decided to win back their rights. Therefore I say to this Colloquium today that our collective future in Nigeria as one nation under God, lies in our collective resolve to organize free, fair and credible elections.

Let this, our resolve, be impregnable. Let us face the matter of free and fair elections in Nigeria with the same fervor and courage as our founding fathers faced the struggle for Nigeria’s independence. It is that serious; for the future and well-being of our nation depends  on this.  As we seek to accomplish this mission, we must, as a people, be determined to deal ruthlessly with any who obstruct the genuine will of the people.  Such people who benefit from electoral malpractices and the political instability which follow in their wake, must be decisively and summarily dealt with.  In the words of Pandit Nehru, the late Prime Minister of India, “a moment comes but rarely in history when we step out of the old, into the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation long suppressed, finds expression.”  The struggle for free and fair elections in Nigeria, which I prescribe at this colloquium today, cannot be avoided.  It should be regarded as an irreversible mission of national retrieval and rejuvenation.  It shall be the last struggle of true and genuine Nigerian patriots to save the fatherland and propel it to greater heights.

Chinua Achebe And Wole Soyinka --Kongi was there too

Let me warn that throughout history, struggles have never been for the faint-hearted.  As we know, struggle by its very nature entails suffering and sacrifice.  However, we also know that suffering breeds character, and character breeds faith, and in the end faith always prevails.  Consequently, we shall embark on this mission to exorcise Nigerian politics of the demons of electoral malpractices, which have stood before Nigeria and greatness, knowing that our future as a nation depends on it.  It will not be easy.  But it has to be won in the Anambra State Governorship elections on February 6^th, 2010, and in the nation-wide general elections in 2011.  God being our strength, and with aggressive vigilance of citizens in “community policing” of their votes/mandate, we shall achieve the objective of free and fair elections in Nigeria.

I wish to continue this address by affirming my personal resolve and commitment that Ndigbo shall regain political relevance in Nigeria, in my lifetime.  I am a Nigerian.  But I am also an Igbo.  It is my being Igbo that guarantees my Nigerian-ness as long as I live.  Consequently, my Nigerian-ness shall not be at the expense of my Igbo-ness.  The Nigerian nation must therefore work for all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.  This is the challenge, the key part of which is nation-wide free and fair elections.

Good Governance Will Ensure No One Searches For Dinner In A Lagos Dustbin

Back to Ndigbo.  They are the most peripatetic ethnic group in Nigeria.  In the words of another great writer, Professor Emmanuel Obiechina, who is well-known to our host, “Ndigbo forgot that they also had a farm of their own to tend and spent their youth and vigor working on other people’s farms whilst their own was overgrown with weeds.”  Now, the weeds have taken over and Ndigbo must engage in two struggles simultaneously – to rid their own farms of weeds while insisting on free and fair elections throughout Nigeria.  It is like jumping over two hurdles, vertically stacked. 

Compounding the Igbo predicament are the after-effects of their post civil war political and economic emasculation by the Federal Government of Nigeria.  Their shrill cries of marginalization were ignored by others and by the Nigerian Government, and they have come to terms with the reality of their present position in Nigeria.  But we Ndigbo will never give up.  It is not in our character to succumb to inequity.  Being a very major ethnic group in Nigeria, we will not accept our present marginalized status as permanent and we shall continue to seek and struggle for justice, fairness and equity in the Nigerian politics.

NIGERIA, We Hail Thee

My commitment, because I am seriously involved, is to work with all well-meaning Nigerians to bring about the Nigerian society as promised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  When this happens, and all glass ceilings and other unwholesome practices designed to keep Ndigbo, or any other ethnic groups in Nigeria marginalized are dismantled, I shall feel fulfilled.  When this happens, Ndigbo shall regain their political and economic relevance in a fair, just and egalitarian Nigerian society.  This remains my mission.  It is my commitment to Ndigbo.  It is my commitment to Nigeria, Africa and the world.  And it shall happen in my lifetime.  Not after.  This is both my desire and a promise.  I therefore urge this generation of Ndigbo, especially the youths, to gird their loins to safeguard their votes in the coming elections as to elect leaders of our choice.  We shall either achieve this in the February 6^th, 2010 Anambra State Governorship elections and 2011 General elections in Nigeria or forever hang our heads in shame as a failed generation.  Let us not be intimidated by coercive forces of Government.  The mandate belongs to us collectively, and not to government.  As for me, I cannot be intimidated, and I know that together we shall triumph.

Let me hasten to add that some of the glass ceilings have begun to disappear with some recent appointments by the Federal Government of Nigeria.  This gives me hope that previous water tight exclusion of Ndigbo from key national positions is being positively addressed.  One hopes that these positive developments shall be sustained as we continue to sustain the Government that follows.

However, over and above these tokens of de-marginalization, is the central and fundamental issue of electoral reform and the eradication of electoral malpractices in the Nigerian system.  This is at the root of continued marginalization of various groups in Nigeria.  For example, it is no secret that Governorship aspirants of the few Igbo State in Nigeria (the Igbo geopolitical zone has fewer states than the other geopolitical zones ) strive to be endorsed from outside Igboland.  When such a Governorship aspirant gets “elected”, “imposed” or “appointed” as Governor of an Igbo State, he remains loyal and accountable not to the electorate in Igboland, but to the godfathers outside Igboland that endorsed, “imposed” or “appointed” them.

This modern-day enslavement of Igbo politics must end.  And I worry as I see the same scenario about to be re-enacted with the February 6^th, 2010 Anambra State Governorship elections.  And I say, God forbid.  Chukwu ekwena.  Already, there are invasions of Anambra State by political heavyweights from outside of the State seeking to foist their preferred “Governors” on Ndi Anambra.  Before then , there was an attempt to politically castrate the political organization – the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which I lead and which currently enjoys the mandate of the people of Anambra State.  That attempt failed.   And the incumbent Governor remains the APGA candidate for the February 6^th, 2010 Anambra State Governorship Elections.  Let me assure all gathered here, and the entire people of Nigeria, that I shall be physically out there in the field to ensure that the mandate of Ndi Anambra is not stolen again.  We shall meet the invaders in the field.

Worst Hit By Bad Leadership

A curious observer may ask, “Why Anambra?”  The answer is there – Anambra State was chosen in the best-forgotten days of “garrison politics” in Nigeria as the entry point for the emasculation and enslavement of Igbo politics.  But like Horatio, APGA stands firm at the gate, refusing to yield.  In case we have forgotten, Anambra State was the only state in Nigeria where an incumbent Governor was denied a chance to seek re-election by his political party, in 2003.  In case we have also forgotten, Anambra State was where the political party which I lead, the APGA, won elections in 2003 but the elected Governor was not allowed to exercise the mandate freely given by the people because of scandalous electoral fraud that became a national shame.  The courts declared APGA as the winner of the election – the legal process taking the better part of three years.  Also, it is only in Anambra State where there have been five “Governors” – one elected Governor and others, in the same period.  The other States in Nigeria have had one or at most two Governors.  It is in Anambra State that no Governor has served two terms of office.  And finally, lest we have forgotten, it was the crass impunity and political happenings in Anambra State that incensed our host, Professor Chinua Achebe, to reject publicly with an admonition, a national honour richly deserved by him, but coming from a Presidential hand that was heavily soiled in the Anambra political mess.

Consequently, my firm resolve this time, with the political party to which I belong (i.e. the APGA), is to undertake a state-wide, grassroots community-based campaign and mobilization of Ndi Anambra against electoral malpractices in the February 6th Governorship elections.  We insist that the votes of the people must count.  We insist that the votes shall be counted, recorded and announced at the various polling centers throughout Anambra State.  The people must elect a Governor of their choice.  Ndi Anambra shall not be dictated to from outside – not from Abia, nor from any other geopolitical zone.  Ndi Anambra will not succumb to intimidation.   The invading forces of politicians must retreat from Anambra State.  The state has bled enough.  The hemorrhage must stop.  Let the February 6^th, 2010 Anambra State Governorship elections be canvassed by Anambra people, for the people, so that families and communities shall see the faces of traitors and saboteurs among their own.  In the end, let the TRUE WINNER of the elections govern.  My party, APGA, and I will always respect the will of the people.  That is what gives meaning to my life.  When this happens, that is, when the people of Anambra State effectively resist electoral fraud and ensure that the choice of the people emerges as Governor, I will retire.  As I retire, I expect that other Igbo States and the Nigerian nation will do what has to be done to exorcise the demons of electoral malpractices from the 2011 general elections in the country to ensure that these also become free and fair.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for listening.  I thank our host, Professor Chinua Achebe, who in his work titled “The Trouble with Nigeria” diagnosed our national malaise as the absence of effective leadership, for showing effective leadership by convening this conference.  May God bless him and his family.  May God bless Ndigbo.  May God bless Nigeria.

Maternal Grandfather

Where do the Igbo come from? What are their origins beyond the 1,100 plus years of the Nri Kingdom, which is considered the heart of Igbo nationality?

We know that we are Igbo, and we know that we are proud to be Igbo. Exploration into the origins of the Igbo does not imply we are somehow unsatisfied with our own history, but instead, I find it an admirable journey to explore our origins, which in turn results into an exploration of African peoples. This journey into the African past requires diligence of anyone who chooses to embark on this path. Like Earth Wind and Fire sing, “You need devotion…” That’s all you need. =)

For me, this exploration is in line with this Igbo proverb told to me by my father: “Until lions have their own historians, the tale of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.”

The time is now for the lion to rise up and tell her/his story, to reclaim the past in order to change the present course and in turn the future.

“The Nri Kingdom – is the oldest Kingdom in Nigeria. It was founded around 900AD by the progenitor, Eri, the son of Gad. According to biblical accounts, Jacob had Leah as his wife who begot four sons for him. When Leah noticed she had passed child-bearing age, she gave her maid – servant, Zilpah to Jacob to wife, and through Zilpah he had a son named Gad. Gad then bigot Eri, who later formed a clan known as Erites vide Genesis Chapter 30 verse 9; 46 verse 16 and Numbers chapter 26 verses 15-19. Eri was therefore amongst the twelve tribes of Israel via Gad.

During their stay in Egypt Eri became the high priest and spiritual adviser to Pharaoh Teti, the fifth dynastic king of Egypt around 2400 BC. During the Exodus, which marked the beginning of the mass movement of the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Eri was amongst the tribe that left Egypt following the injunction from God to the Israelites (see Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 58 – 68). Some of these tribes founded settlements in the southern part of Sudan, where they established the “Nok” culture, which is similar to that of other (sun Cult) culture, like Nri, Fiji, Samoa, and Jukun in the Northern part of Nigeria and elsewhere. But others who could not remain in the Southern Sudan traveled further South, some branched off to Jukun, in Northern part of Nigeria, others continued and arrived at the confluence of Rivers Niger and Anambara known as “Ezu-na-Ọmambala” and settled there while some veered off to the Island of Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean. An intelligence report notes that the Fijians have the same sun culture with the people of Nri.
 

The Biafran Flag is represented by the rising sun, and Biafra is called the “Land of the Rising Sun.”

The entity known as Biafra consisted of the Nine states existing in the present day South Eastern states of Nigeria, including Abia (Umuahia), Akwa-Ibom (Uyo), Anambra (Awka), Bayelsa (Yenegoa), Cross River (Calabar), Ebonyi (Abakaliki), Enugu (Enugu), Imo (Owerri), and Rivers (Port Harcourt). Within these nine states there are about 30 tribes consisting of Adaada, Agbaja, and Wawa in Enugu state; Bende, Ebonyi, Egbema, Ihiala, Ika, Izza, Nri, Oka, Onicha, Owerri, Ngwa known as central Igbo. Others are An-donni, Anang, Abanyom, Anyima, Akajuk, Adun, Boki, Ikwerre, Degema, Igbani, Ejagham, Eket, Ekoi, Efik, Etche, Ibibio, Ibeno, Izon, Ikom, Iyala, Kana, Mbembe, Mbube, Nkum, Ogoni, Okobo, Oron, Kwa, Ukale, Uyanga etc. The Biafran national anthem is titled ‘The Rising Sun’ ” (Source: “The Igbo Story,” Mazi Chukwuma Obiagwu)

Umuahia is the township where my parents are from. I will discuss in another post the Biafran War and the personal accounts given to me my by parents.

This symbolism of  a rising sun is interesting to me. The colors of the flag are Pan-African.

Solar worship was an important part of ancient Egypt and reached its peak in the fifth dynasty in Egypt. This is the same period where Eri (part of the Igbo story; see above) is identified as being in Egypt as a high priest and spirtual advisor to Pharoah Teti.

The well-known Egyptian sun god Re (Ra) of Heliopolis became a major diety by the fifth dynasty in ancient Egyptian religion. Ra/Re is the ”head of the great ennead, supreme judge; often linked with other gods aspiring to universality, e.g. Amen-Re, Sobk-Re; represented as falcon-headed. Seem as the father of the gods, it was from him that all the gods and goddesses were created. He is also known by three aspects, which correspond to the positions of the sun, Amen at dawn, Re in the evening, and Set at dusk.” (Source)

Malawi has a similar flag to the Biafran flag.

 “In 1967, Haiti became the only country outside of Africa to recognize the independent Igbo Republic of Biafra in seccession from Nigeria. The vote of confidence in favor of Biafra on the part of this tiny Carribean nation was due to the Haitian’s memory of their own “ Igbo “ revolutionary past. The numerous and successful slave revolts in Haiti are clearly documented as “Igbo” uprisings but yet we find the strongest presence of the ancestral deity Legba (Eshu) amongst the Haitians. In Haiti Legba is described as the most powerful of all the Loa. He is the guardian of the sun and his color is black The guardian of the sun is most likely a code for the “ Land of the Rising Sun “ which is an ancient Igbo reference for the Land of Biafra. The Igbo revolutionaries and devoutees of Legba (Eshu) in Haiti were in actuality the Igbo descended Mina tribes such as the Ewe and Fon(Fongbe) who are well associated with the worship and reverence for Legba.” (Source: ”The Greater Igbo Nation – Identifying Igbo Variants During the Era of the Slave Trade,” Al-Sulaimani & Grier)

“When Eri arrived at the confluence of “Ezu-na-Ọmambala” he had two wives, namely Nneamakụ and Oboli, Nneamakụ begot five children, namely (a) Nrifikwuanịm-Menri being the first son (b) Agụlụ (c) Ogbodudu (d) Onogu and (e) Iguedo the only daughter. Oboli begot Ọnọja, the only son who founded the Ịgala Kingdom in Kogi State. Meanwhile, Nri-Ifikwuanịm begot Agụkwu Nri, Enugwu-Ukwu, Enugwu-Agidi, Nọfịa, and Amọbia, while his brother Ogbodudu who later became Nrinaoke N’Ogbodudu had founded the Diodo Dynasty, while his brother Ezikannebo founded Akamkpịsị and Amanuke. Onogu Begot Ịgbariam, while Iguedo, the only daughter, begot Ogbunike, Ọkuzu, Nando, Ụmụleri, and Nteje, Known today as Ụmụ-Iguedo clan, while the former are better known as Ụmụ-Nri clan. According to Nri Oral tradition recently substantiated by archaeological findings of Ọraeri/Igbo-Ukwu objects, the unification of Agukwu, Diodo, and Akamkpịsị was enacted constitutionally during the beginning of reign of Nribụife (AD 1159 – 1252) who was the first Eze Nri to observe the Ịgụ-Arọ Festival as a pan – Igbo affair in 1160AD (Prof. M.A. Ọnwụejeọwu 2003).

Nri-Ifikwuanịm took after his progenitor Eri, and became a high priest among his people. He left Agụleri in search of a better living place, according to Mr. M.D.W. Jeffreys report, and settled at present Nri site. He started performing what Eri did at Egypt, cleansing of abominations, giving titles such as prestigious Ọzọ title, to his people, proclaiming the New Year (Ịgụ-Arọ) etc.”

We inhabit the world to the tune of over 40 million. Nigeria’s overall population is 140 million plus people. The largest ethnic groups in Nigeria are: Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa, though there are at least 250 ethnic groups in the country (Including the Tiv, Fulani, Nupe, Ibibio, Tiv, and Edo). Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba consitute the principal languages in Nigeria.

These languages fall into the following groups:

Niger-Congo – Igbo

Niger-Congo – Yoruba

Afro-Asiatic – Hausa

According to record, Nigeria is named after the Niger River, the third largest river in Africa, behind the Nile River and Congo River. The main tributary of the Niger River is Benue River.

The Niger River cuts through Guinea, Mali, Niger, on the border of Benin, and through Nigeria. It reaches the sea at the Niger Delta of the Oil Rivers. Prior to the 20th century, geographers were confused as to where the river began. The Niger River starts in Guinea.

The map below shows a trade route taken by the Songhai Empire of Mali which crosses through the Niger River.

Recent findings in Gao, in eastern Mali which is shown on the map have suggested an alternative route to between trade from Nigeria to the Nile civilizations, through Igbo-Ukwu. Glass beads found at Igbo-Ukwu have been labeled as Egyptian beads.

“The external connections of Igbo-Ukwu, in the forest belt of south-eastern Nigeria, around the ninth century AD, are demonstrated by the large numbers of glass beads, apparently of Egyptian manufacture, and are implicit in the rich collection of bronze artwork that lacks known prototypes. Although the metals were mined locally, the labor and the expert alloying and casting of numerous ritual or ornamental objects indicate an accumulation of wealth derived from distant trade of special commodities. The identification of these commodities, however, and the routes by which they—and in the reverse direction the beads—would have traveled, remain unsatisfactorily resolved. A preference is repeated here for an eastern Sahelian routing from Lake Chad to the Middle Nile kingdoms (Alwa and Makuria/Dongola), then at their height, thus avoiding the Sahara. The alternative direction suggested recently (Insoll, T., and Shaw, T. (1997) Gao and Igbo-Ukwu: Beads, interregional trade and beyond. African Archaeological Review, 14:9–23), through Gao on the Niger bend and across the west-central Sahara, seems less likely on grounds of geography and chronology. The essential items of merchandise deriving from Igbo-Ukwu are unlikely to be those commonly assumed for sub-Saharan Africa, notably ivory and slaves, but would have been more local and precious, presumably metals. The bronzes stored and buried at Igbo-Ukwu might be regarded as by-products of this export activity. Demands in the Nile Valley for tin (for bronze alloying) and for silver, both of which occur in the ores exploited, deserve consideration. A call is made for comparative study of metals and their uses between the Middle Nile and West Africa in the first millennium AD—a neglected subject owing to the intellectual gulf that persists between Africanists and Egyptologists.” (Source)

“Igbo Ukwu is an archaeological site near the modern town of Onitsha, southeastern Nigeria. The site was part of the Nri Kingdom, and it was used in the 10th century AD (date may go back further than this by at least 200 years). The site has several parts, including a main burial, and associated caches and shrines.” (Source)

What is the significance of Igbo-Ukwu?

Igbo-Ukwu represents one of the archaelogical findings in West Africa which challenges the assumption that West Africa had no advanced cultures or contributions to the world in its past, especially before the 15th century. Other findings such as the Dufuna Canoe, with a carbon date of at least 8,000 years B.P., making it the oldest boat in Africa (The Dufuna Canoe, found in Nigeria in 1987 by Fulani herdsmen, is older than Egypt’s oldest boat by at least 3,000 years. Egypt’s oldest boat is dated to 5,000 years B.P.).

“Before British colonialism, the Igbo were a politically fragmented group. There were variations in culture such as in art styles, attire and religious practices. Various subgroups were set according to clan, lineage, village affiliation and dialect. There weren’t many centralized chieftaincy, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs except in kingdoms like that of the Nri, Arochukwu and Onitsha. This political system changed significantly under British colonialism in the 19th century; Eze (kings) were introduced into most local communities by Frederick Lugard as “Warrant Chiefs”. The Igbo became overwhelmingly Christian under colonization.” (Source)

Now onto what you came here for: The Igbo Origins

Hebrew Angle

There are three major theories circulating regarding our origins under this angle. That we came:

1)  Through early Hebrew and later Israeli migrations west from the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Ethiopia,

Kenya, and the Sudan

2) Through trade and travel of North African Jews within the West African Kingdoms of Mali, Songhai,

and Kanem-Bornu

3)  Through Jews traveling with Kel Tamasheq (Tuareg) trade caravans from various parts of Northeast

I will address all three.

DNA findings suggest that West Africa has been inhabited for at least 20-30,000 years, Nigeria at least 8,000 years. But then again, we must also remember that Nigeria, came to being as a country in the early 20th century. Prior to the this time, maps of Africa labeled the region which became known as Nigeria, by such names as Biafra (in Igboland), Soudan/Sudan, Ethiopia, etc. *See maps further down*

These maps, in my opinion, show that observers saw commonalities between West, Central, and East Africans. The recent phenomenon (by at least 50 years) of continuously compartamentalizing Africa into carved out boundaries – along country, state, regional, etc. lines with such terms as Sub-Saharan for example, is simply to try and demarcate  Africaness, and say who is African and who is not African, or only somewhat African. Well, let me say this,  Africans are Africans.

Maternal Great Grandmother and Grandmother

My Family

My Aunt

To attempt to separate Africans based on supposed Caucasian features (i.e., slender nose, light colored eyes) and supposed Negroid features (i.e., broad nose, course hair) is like me separating my family members based on the fact that some have fair complexions, while others have rich, dark complexions. Or because some members have coarser hair than other members, or slender noses than other members; even though we have the same blood running through our veins and are family.

{Through early Hebrew and later Israeli migrations west from the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Sudan}

“According to most accounts, the earliest Israeli settlements in Africa were in places such as Ethiopia, Egypt and Tunisia. It is believed that these settlements may have been in existence as early as the kingdoms of David and Solomon, as well as during the Assyrian invasion of northern Israel in 722 BCE and the Babylonian captivity of Judah in 586 BCE in the Punic-Carthaginian age. These communities were augmented by subsequent arrivals of Jews after the destruction of the 2nd Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, when 30,000 Jewish slaves were settled throughout Carthage by the Roman emperor Titus.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“Africa is thus identified with it even more closely (Tamid, 32b, and the parallel passage, where, “African land,” is evidently the same as Carthage). The Septuagint (Isa. xxiii. 1), and Jerome (on Ezek. xxvii.), who, though a Christian, was taught by Jews, and very often the Aramaic Targum on the Prophets, identify the Biblical Tarshish with Carthage, which was the birthplace of a number of rabbis mentioned in the Talmud (compare above the identification with Tunis). Africa, in the broader sense, is clearly indicated where mention is made of the Ten Tribes having been driven into exile by the Assyrians and having journeyed into Africa, (Mek., Bo, 17; Tosef., Shab. vii. 25; Deut. R. v. 14; and especially Sanh. 94a).” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“Connected with this is the idea that the river Sambation is in Africa. The Arabs, who also know the legend of the Beni Musa (“Sons of Moses”), agree with the Jews in placing their land in Africa (compare Bacher, ” Ag. Tan.” i. 298; Epstein, “Eldad ha-Dani,” p. 15). The probable basis of this legend must be sought in the actual existence of the Beta Yisrael (Jews of Ethiopia) in Africa.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“The exact arrival date of the first Israeli ancestors of the Ibo Benei-Yisrael, from the Middle East into West Africa, is somewhat of a mystery. It is believed that the first migration of Semitic peoples into the region was prior to 202 BCE with the appearance of iron working civilizations, the most notable of which was the Nok.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“The linguistic reconstructions of Semitic vocabulary, related to farming and agriculture, have supported the theory that the origin of Semitic languages is in the Near East (Diakonoff ¹⁹⁸⁸; Militarev ²⁰⁰³). On the other hand, the finding of all major branches of the Afro-Asiatic language tree in Africa/Ethiopia, including those that are not spoken elsewhere in the world, suggests that the homeland of the Afro-Asiatic language family may have been somewhere close to Africa’s southwestern Ethiopia (Ehret ¹⁹⁹⁵). However, both cultural and historic evidence show tight connections between East Africa and the Semitic cultural substrate in the Near East and southern Arabia, Which points to four distinct phases of Semitic cultural intrusion into Ethiopia: First, related to the Sabaens in the 1st millennium b.c.; Second, as the arrival of Falasha Jews from southern Arabia in the first 2 centuries a.d.; Third, during the 4th–6th centuries, when Syrian missionaries brought, Christianity to Aksumites/Axumites አፁሚተ and to their descendants, The Tigrais ቲግራኢስ and the Amharas አምሃራስ : And fourth, because of the influence of Muslim Arabs, which primarily affected the southeastern parts of the country..…(Levine ¹⁹⁷⁴).” (Source)

In terms of DNA among Kenyan, Sudanese, Ethiopian, and Arabian Peninsula populations, studies have shown the presence of African haplotypes E3a/M2 and E3b/M35 at noteworthy percentages.

M2 (My haplotype) is found among the following groups in some studies:

Kenyans – 52%

Nubians (Egypt-Nile ValleyCivilizations) – 67%

Nubian Woman

 “Jerbian Hebrews from (North-Africa) Carthage/Tunisia’s Island “Jerba.” (Source)

“Sephardic-Hebrews”  Judaeo-Christians at  8.4 % North-Africa (Source: Source: “Hisory in the Interpretation of the Patten of p49a, f RFLP Y-Chromosome Variation in Egypt: A Consideration of Multiple Lines of Evidence TaqI” Keita, 2005).

example: ( Algeria-8.5%,  Libya-7.9%  and  Iberia 5-10% ..)

The Western Distribution of M2 show 80% in Senegalese Males and as well as a Southern Distribution in the Khoisan at 17.9% with

A small percentage of  3.4% In Ethiopians while the Brother clade M191 is 1% in Senegalese and 0% in Ethiopians..

The Eastern Population in Kenya displays an E3a-M2 frequency of 52%,  (Underhill et al. ²⁰⁰⁰ )”

M35/Haplotype V is “Haplotype V is  of the Horn/Supra Sahara populations, with a northern geographic distribution in Egypt in the Nile River Valley”  (Source)

For information on the mtDNA haplotype L1b (My haplotype), you can check out the post where I broke down prevalence across Africa here.

L1b, in addition to other L haplogroups and haplotypes, are found not only in West African populations but amongst North African populations as well.

“North Africans tend to cluster with West Africans, suggesting that the sub-Saharan component of North Africans originates primarily from West rather than East Africa.” (Source)

In the Canary Islands, the L haplogroup is found amongst aboriginal inhabitants.

“Significant frequencies of sub-Saharan L haplogroups (6.6%) is also consistent with the historical records on introduction of sub-Saharan slave labour in Canary Islands. However, the presence of Sub-Saharan lineages in North African populations could mean these lineages were introduced from North Africa rather than directly from Sub-Saharan Africa.^[32][33] A 2009 study of DNA extracted from the remains of aboriginal inhabitants found that 7% of lineages were Haplogroup L. This leaves open the possibility that these L lineages were part of the founding population of the Canary Islands.” (Source)

I suggest a northward movement (West Africa, North Africa, Canary Islands).

Amongst populations in the Arabian Peninsula, L haplogroups are present in notable frequencies.

“Sub-Saharan Africa L lineages in Saudi Arabia account for 10% of the total. χ2 analyses showed that there is not significant regional differentiation in this Country. However, there is significant heterogeneity (p < 0.001) when all the Arabian Peninsula countries are compared. This is mainly due to the comparatively high frequency of sub-Saharan lineages in Yemen (38%) compared to Oman-Qatar (16%) and to Saudi Arabia-UAE (10%). Most probably, the higher frequencies shown in southern countries reflect their greater proximity to Africa, separated only by the Bab’al Mandab strait.” (Source)

{Through trade and travel of North African Jews within the West African Kingdoms of Mali, Songhai, and Kanem-Bornu}

Igbo Historian Remy Ilona with Berber Jews

“In later centuries ancient Israelis and Jews are believed to have settled in Western Africa during the height of the Songhai, Mali, Ghana and Kanem-Bornu empires. According to various accounts from explorers of the region, several of the rulers of the Songhai empire were of Jewish origin, until Askia Muhammad came to power and in 1492 decreed that all Jews either convert to Islam or leave the region.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“Arab chroniclers of West Africa such as the 13th century historian Ibn Khaldun, the famous 12th century geographer Al-Idrisi, and the 16th century historian and traveler Leon Africanus wrote accountsof peoples whom they termed as “Jewish Negroes” in the Western Sudan. Looking at maps from the period we find similar use of the terms Tarshish, Ethiopia, and Kush, which were often used in ancient times to describe all peoples whom at the time some chroniclers were calling “Negro/Negroid” in the various regions of Africa. Early maps made by these explorers often depicted the “Sudan” and “Ethiopia as lands from as far-east as modern day Ethiopia to as far west as modern day Nigeria and Cameroon. This similar to the way the “Africa” is used to describe the continent.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

An 18th Century Map of Africa

A 17th Century Map of Africa

{Through Jews traveling with Kel Tamasheq (Tuareg) trade caravans from various parts of Northeast Africa into West Africa}

“Trans-Saharan trade between North Africa and the West African Sudan pre-dated Carthaginian and Roman settlement in North Africa. It was the introduction of the camel to the Sahara in the first centuries that made regular and extensive trade possible. Expansion of the trans-Saharan caravan trade, with the Arab conquest of North Africa in the seventh and eighth centuries, was a major stimulus to the creation of political organization south of the Sahara. The main commodities were gold, slaves, spices, leather, and later ostrich feathers going north and weapons, horses, textiles, and paper going south. From the eighth century on, North African Arabic writers make increasingly precise references to kingdoms in the Western Sudan straddling the Sahel-Saharan fringes: Takrur in the far west on the Senegal, Ghana further east in the open Sahel, and Gao, the nucleus of the later Songhay empire, on the Niger bend. Further south, on the upper Niger and tributaries, an incipient kingdom of the Malinke people, the likely forerunner of the Mali empire, was mentioned in the eleventh century.” (Source)

The Y-chromosome haplotype E3b has been found among Tuaregs, who speak a Berber language (part of the Afro-Asiatic language family) and who can be found in such places as Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Libya. E3b is part of an African Y-chromosome triad prevalent in Egypt which includes E3a/M2 (which is my haplotype), E3b/M35, and E3b1/M78.

North African Moor

For more on the triad and it’s prevalence in Egypt, go here.

Igbo Angle

If the Igbo are part of the ancient Hebrews (who originate from Africa) why don’t they seem “Jewish”? Well, Igbo will always be Igbo, always be African, no matter what their lineage entails. They will not abandon themselves. But, copious amounts of evidence point to the ancient Hebrews as African peoples, so whatever similarities between ndi Igbo (and many other African groups) with Hebraic tradition should be in my opinion looked at it from this perspective: Ancient Hebrews are African whether they left the continent and came back in, they were still African. And African haplogroups are the oldest haplogroups on the planet. So, rather that the Igbo, or whomever, customs draw similarity to modern Jewish customs or ancient Hebraic customs, the Jewish customs are similar to the Igbo customs and other African groups that display “Jewishness”.

“The decline of the Jewish communities of the Africa-Maghreb (West Africa) most likely began with the influx of Muslim invaders into North Africa starting in 640 CE and later into West Africa in the 1300’s and 1400’s CE. Various accounts record that Jews were instrumental in fighting with and often times leading the coalitions of peoples who unified to fight off the Islamic invasions. The most notable of which was the Jewish Berber Queen Kahina Dahiyah Bint Thabitah ibn Tifan, known as El Kahina. Believed to have been a descendent of the Israeli priestly class, El Kahina was able to lead North-African Jews, Berbers, Christians, and Greeks alike against the Arab invasions until her defeat at the hands of the Arab commander Hassan Ibn Numan. (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“During these times many of the Jews in Northern and Western Africa were forced to covert to Islam, exiled, sold into slavery, or massacred. Incursions of Christian missionaries may have also played a role in the decline of the distinct Jewish written element in the region.”  (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“As with other Jewish communities in Moslem controlled lands, the Jews of West Africa also suffered at the hands of various nobles in the Islamic ruling parties, which took power in the 1300 to 1400’s. Such is the case of Al-Maghili whom tolled the death knell of Sahara and savanna Jewry when, in 1492 after destroying the Jewish enclaves in the Tuat, Mali he convinced potentates throughout the Western Sudan and the founder of Songhai to banish Jews from the empire’s cities. No doubt that some sought refuge south and south east toward the forest. The records of such are some three hundred years later than the destruction of the independent Jewish enclaves of Qamnurya or Naghira, in the area of modern day Senegal, in the 11th and 12th century.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“Due to these and other pressures the Ibo Benei-Yisrael along with other West African Jewish communities lost whatever written documents such as Torah, and other written traditions that may have existed. Yet, these communities, including the Ibo Benei-Yisrael, to this day were able to maintain at the least a knowledge of their Israeli origin and in some cases continue to practice their traditions in secret. Records of these communities however do exist within the Timbuktu, Mali Islamic library, which has documents of the presence of several Jewish families in West Africa dating from before the Muslim arrival in the 1300’s CE.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

“Even to this day Ibo Benei-Yisrael practices are still in line with the commands given in the Torah. Even with the loss of the written record, the Ibo Benei-Yisrael people have maintained the customs and traditions of ancient Israel in an oral form. A few of these customs still in practice are: circumcision of sons on the eighth day of life, separation of women during the menstrual cycle, not cross breeding animals or plants, the prohibition of un-kosher animals for consumption, the celebration of Yom Kippur and Sukkoth, immersion for uncleanness, and Passover just to name a few. Similar to theSamaritans in Israel, and some Moroccan Jews certain Ibo Benei-Yisrael elders, believed to be descended from ancient Levites due to their Levitical practices, are distinguished within the community by donning red head coverings which only they can wear.” (“The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Africa,” Ilona & Eliyah, 2003)

*Igbo

…and it will remain poor. You foreigners might not believe this but that sentence is actually from the Finnish national anthem.

In the photo is the bottom half of the memorial of J.L Runeberg who made the lyrics for the national anthem – in Swedish for a song that was “composed” by a German (see my entry). Estonians also use the same melody.

No wonder there are people who think that Finlandia Hymn by national composer Jean Sibelius should be our national anthem. But that has already been used by the short-lived Republic of Biafra that is today part of Nigeria.

Every now and then, I can be found cruising the TED website for some random inspiration. Their tagline “Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world” is spot on and really does feature some pretty remarkable people and their equally remarkable points of view and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is certainly no exception.

I was somewhat familiar with her novel, Half of a Yellow Sun which caused a stir of excitement when it came out a few years ago. I recall seeing so many Nigerians proudly displaying their copies and talking about how great it was. Despite the fact that I consider myself an avid reader, (I consume at least 4 books a month and bits and pieces of many more) I refused to read Half of A Yellow Sun simply because “I don’t read fiction”. However, after gleaning some information from Chimamanda’s website in preparation for this post, I realized that in my ignorance I had fallen into the very trap Chimamanda warned of by assuming a single story of fiction!

So what is this book really about?  The quote below from her website says it way better than I ever can.

“Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all.”

Needless to say, my copy should be here as soon as Amazon can get it to me and who knows, there might be a book review on here someday!

Following my previous post on Chimamanda Adichie, I thought I’d share this interview held just after she had released Half of a Yellow Sun in 2006. If you haven’t purchased any of her books, Amazon still has plenty! Here’s the interview, thanks for reading (and listening)!

Click Here 

Lets face it…most American women are no size zero……and I never could understand why every darn picture of a glamour model, or Hollywood actress, looked like they had spent the year in Biafra, Africa…..I’m glad to see that Glamour magazine has stepped up …and taken a page from reality, and is featuring plus sized model\’s in their next (November) issue…beauty isn’t just starved  looking women…..

Picture by Don McCullin of young victims of the Biafra famine in the 1960s. More on the causes of famines here, here, and here. More pictures of famines are here, here, here, here, here, here and here. A warning about “disaster pornography” is here. Other posts in this “iconic images” series are here.

Como eu tinha dito hoje de madrugada, o listão de hoje tem mais do que deveria. Vamos lá!:

Twitter: Me sigam, seus Nerds!
Vídeo: Biafra quase voa
Game: Mixel Worlds
Vídeo: Fantástico Desvendando o E.T de Panamá
Lista: Fotos da semana
Tirinha: Braço quebrado
Link: 9 Gadgets (e um carro) dignos de um James Bond (está em inglês)

Mamãe! Eu ganhei!!!

Twitter: #ZeMayerFacts
Vídeo: Queda de Braço
Tirinha: Não zoe um nerd
Link: Gigagalaxy Zoom
Link: Esculturas estranhas
Game: The Last Stand 2
Game: Street Fighter 2 Flash

Até Segunda que vem!

boooooom domingo!

É galera, depois de muito tempo (devido a falta de tempo) volto a postar aqui no Kalango. E pra compensar, venho colocar um vídeo (que me acabei de tanto rir) do cantor Biafra sendo surpreendido por um parapente.

Confiram aí a cena ilária:

Putz, pense numa situação! kkk…

Hahahahahahahahahaha… esta salvou o dia (ou a noite)

Segue:

O cantor Biafra que já estava sumido há algum tempo da mídia reapareceu no Fantástico no último Domingo e agora também virou umas das sensações do YouTube com o vídeo do Paraquedista que o acerta.

Dizem que foi tudo armado para tentar traze-lo de volta a mídia, será??

Fonte: Link Louco

Pelo jeito, a “jovem” velha guarda não está com mais nada =D =D =D.. alias! Até tah.. prá comediantes!!

Rachei o bico. xDDD

O cantor Byafra virou hit na internet com um vídeo em que é atropelado por um parapente, no momento em que entoa os famosos versos “Voar, voar, subir, subir”, da música “Sonho de Ícaro”. Segundo o “Diário de S. Paulo”, Byafra ficou assustado com a repercussão do vídeo, que faz parte do documentário “Alô, alô, Terezinha”.

“É uma pena que artistas como nós só sejam lembrados em situações constrangedoras’, disse ao jornal.

O cantor contou ainda que, na hora do incidente, achou que era armação. “Mas depois vi o desespero do rapaz.”

.

.

.

Durante as Filmagens do documentário “Alô Alô Terezinha”, o cantor Biafra estava cantando seu maior sucesso, até que algo inusitado ocorre.

Após esse pequeno incidente Biafra declarou: “Aposto que foi uma sacanagem espiritual do Chacrinha”

Até mais!

Jouons à sensibiliser les gens, ou plutôt sensibilisons-les par le jeu.

Entre arcade et console, le « World Food Program » ou « Programme Alimentaire Mondial » a lancé le jeu Food Force, en Octobre 2006 en français, en partenariat avec UbiSoft (coucou Lara Croft® !).
FoodForce est destiné aux enfants de 8 à 14 ans et disponible en plusieurs langues.

Téléchargeable gratuitement en ligne donc, plusieurs tableaux vous mettent face aux différentes responsabilités de cette commission de l’ONU.
Voici leurs titres, je me permets d’être sarcastique dans les commentaires qui les suivent :

• Reconnaissance aérienne : il faut braquer un spot sur des réfugiés qui voulaient plutôt se cacher
• Rations énergétiques : il faut qu’ils mangent équilibré, sinon rien
• Largage aérien : le vent fait dériver un colis de la taille d’une vache de plus de 200m de son point d’impact prévu…
• Achat et Livraison : quels sont les pays qui vendent ou qui donnent des denrées au PAM (tiens ! les Etats-Unis sont toujours très généreux)
• Convoi : Les gens armés en plein désert deviennent vos meilleurs amis devant vos bonnes intentions d’aider tout le monde, y compris leurs ennemis !
• Assurer l’avenir : gestion de projet à long terme sur une île en péril, incluant de choisir à qui on donne et… à qui on ne donne pas. [jeu destiné aux enfants : ici pour gagner, il faut donner beaucoup à l’école et aux champs, les restes vont au dispensaire]

Tout cela entrecoupé de tableaux d’information-sensibilisation sur l’action du PAM, le pourquoi du comment et les besoins actuels.
En 30 min de jeu et 15 min d’information, on est arrivé au bout…

Mais sur le site, vous aurez aussi la possibilité de passer « de la fiction du jeu à la réalité du terrain » et, bien sûr, de faire un don.

Sans oublier les catégories « enseignants » et « presse »… Car rappelons le, ce jeu est un matériel éducatif destiné aux enfants.
Oui c’est un bel univers pour les enfants d’environ 10 ans, un peu d’utopie ne fait pas de mal à cet âge (je me permets de vous renvoyer à l’image d’entête de ce blog), mais cela n’a plus rien d’éducatif.
Si : la faim est un fléau, merci de l’information…

Mais ce n’est pas grave, c’est pour les enfants. D’ailleurs M. Gallagher (Directeur de Communication du PAM) déclare : « De nombreux parents se plaignent du sang et de la violence gratuite si souvent présents dans les jeux vidéos. Food Force propose donc une alternative à la fois ludique et pleine d’action ».
Du coup la rubrique « comment aider » sous-entendu “faites un don“ paraît déplacée : demander à des enfants leur argent de poche…
En fait il s’agit clairement : d’ « expliquer comment récolter des fonds et impliquer son entourage. » (dossier de presse). C’est vraiment plein d’action !

Il est assez délicat de critiquer ce genre d’action, mais parfois entre information réduite, tronquée et biaisée, on ne sait plus trop dans quelle catégorie on joue. C’est tout l’art de la communication dans l’humanitaire : arriver à informer le grand public sans le choquer, en lui donnant les informations essentielles. Cela doit le toucher pour qu’il s’implique, au minimum par un geste de don.

Alors de quoi s’agit-il ? On s’emmêle les pinceaux, quel est le but de ce produit de communication ?
S’agit-il vraiment d’une action de sensibilisation auprès des jeunes ?
Ou s’inscrit-il plutôt dans un plan de communication de type marketing social sur le web pour pousser au don ?

Même dans le dossier de presse, on retrouve deux fois en bas de page, un appel au don envers le journaliste :
” Pour seulement 15 centimes d’euros par jour, vous pouvez aider le PAM à distribuer dans les écoles un vrai repas aux enfants des pays pauvres : vous leur offrez l’espoir d’un avenir meilleur. “

Si ce n’est pas assez clair… !
Personnellement, je trouve que l’on joue déjà beaucoup avec la psychologie du donateur, que l’on étudie et connaît parfaitement maintenant : ses réticences, ses cordes sensibles… Et l’on maîtrise donc très bien toute la démarche à employer.

Dans notre cas, on peut dire que le PAM mélange un discours à tonalité “sobre et réaliste“ qui appelle à prendre ses responsabilités ; accompagné d’images mélangeant “l’avant-après“ et “l’évocation“. L’avant-après ne marche plus vraiment sur le donateur (Leïla d’ACF par exemple) mais ici, on le contacte par procuration.
C’est son enfant, sa propre progéniture, qui lui demande de donner. Facile à manipuler, l’enfant répond sans doute à l’appel au don, parfait comme messager, il est dans la maison du donateur potentiel, à sa table, et avec sa petite voix plaintive, il peut être bien plus efficace pour quelque injustice qui lui tient à cœur que pour la kermesse de fin d’année ! Quel magnifique contexte de réception !
Et si ce jeu est disponible en plusieurs langues, c’est que la première version anglophone a atteint tous les objectifs de don !

Personnellement, un procédé aussi facile et intégrant cette forme de manipulation me choque. Oui les organisations humanitaires (celle-ci n’est pas non gouvernementale, pas d’amalgame, c’est l’ONU) ont besoin en permanence de fonds.
Mais il ne faut pas oublier de garder un minimum d’éthique : Jusqu’à quel point l’efficacité d’une campagne en récolte de fonds justifie-t-elle de ne pas se poser de question sur la méthode employée ?

par Caroline Squarzoni

Je voudrais ici mettre une image et en remercier son auteur pour le montage (désolée, je ne retrouve plus la source) :

Un beau mélange entre cette photo (© Don McCullin) de la crise du Biafra qui provoqua tellement de changements dans le monde de l’humanitaire et ce côté très commercial/consommable de jeu vidéo…

Manda ver, Biafra!

Byafra está sendo alvo de comentários desde que virou hit na internet com um vídeo em que é atingido por um parapente enquanto canta versos da música “Sonho de Ícaro”.
O cantor disse que ficou assustado com a repercussão do vídeo, que faz parte do documentário “Alô, alô, Terezinha”. “É uma pena que artistas como nós só sejam lembrados em situações constrangedoras’, disse.

Confira o vídeo:

Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture (1966-1976) – “The Best Book on the Period So Far”

After a long hard slog, my book is finally available.

The book can be purchased from:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Politics-Violence-Nigerias-1966-1976/dp/0875867081/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243780456&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble:http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Oil-Politics-and-Violence/Max-Siollun/e/9780875867083

“What is the book about?” I hear you say. Well, read on….

Review One: By Ohsee of Toronto, Canada.

In the West, considerations of truth and objectivity in history are seen in some quarters as marks of a lack of sophistication. In Nigeria, however, they are matters of life and death. People there die as a result of history forgot, of lessons not learned. Many people die.

Such questions loom large in Nigeria’s violent political history of the first two decades after independence. The most problematic have been, what really happened during the first two coups and the resultant civil war? It is here that Nigerians need to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, because such reliable knowledge has proved useful in the past. But most Nigerian histories of those turbulent times, are often clouded by the malodorous presence of ethnic chauvinism and hatred of the Other, and the need for self-aggrandizement.

Many readers despaired of ever seeing an unbiased history from Nigerians themselves, and sought such objectivity from outsiders who often had little understanding of the subtleties of the Nigerian political milieu.

Thus Mr. Siollun’s book about the first four coups (1966-1976) must be considered something of a miracle. Unlike prior writers on the topic from that country, the Nigerian-born historian successfully checked at the door the ethnic biases he surely must have, in order to combine the dispassionate objectivity of the outsider with the nuanced knowledge of the insider. The result is a truly insightful book that is highly accessible to the general reader. The book also has enough new information to serve as a starting point for future investigators who wish to tackle some of the issues in greater detail.

Mr Siollun, whose essays about the first two coups are familiar to those who visit Nigerian websites, has tackled the four coups sequentially, and shown how they are related in terms of personnel involved and lessons to be learned. For instance, some of the participants in the second coup—such as Babangida, Abacha, Yaradua, and Buhari—dominated Nigerian coup-making culture for thirty years. Mr. Siollun shows how failing to punish murderous putschists can and did come back to bite coup beneficiaries in the arse, since “unpunished coup plotters will re-offend. The coup plotters behind Nigeria’s military regimes were repeat offenders—often with fatal consequences for themselves. They were men who lived life on the edge, snacked on danger and dined on death. For them, coup plotting was in the blood.”

Mr. Siollun’s summary of the pre-coup political situation is concise and lucid, and looks at the events in new ways. For instance, most people probably do not see the Nzeogwu coup as the second attempt at overthrowing the Balewa government by force. While many followers of Nigerian history may know that Awolowo—leader of the Action Group, one of the opposition parties in the First Republic—was jailed for treason in 1964, few are aware that it was not a trumped up charge, and that three decades later, Action Group General Secretary, S.G. Ikoku, confirmed that there was a genuine AG plot to topple the federal government.

Mr. Siollun is at his strongest where he skillfully cuts away the myths that have grown weed-like around the more controversial of those 1966 events. One of the more pernicious of these is the lie that the January 15 1966 coup was an effort at Igbo domination organized by the Igbos. Mr. Siollun demonstrates that there is a very strong case for seeing January 15 as an UPGA (United Progressive Grand Alliance) coup, or in other words, a second attempt by the South or southern political parties to wrest power from the North. By examining the national character of the Igbos, and the stereotypes that grew around their business activities, he carefully shows us the historical process via which the Igbos became the national scapegoat; we see how one section of the country practiced what he calls “transferred malice,” where the Igbos were singled out for punishment during troubles in which they only played a bit part.

In this absorbing and fascinating work, there is a good deal of new and startling information: who knew that in private moments, the genial Ironsi, the first military ruler, liked to refer jokingly to his fellow Igbos by the pejorative Northern term “Nyamiri?” We learn of the enormous family pressures on Northern officers and men after January 15 demanding vengeance for the Northern officers killed. The blood relationships between Northern People’s Congress (NPC) politicians, and some of the July 1966 plotters are revealed—Inua Wada, defence minister in the Balewa government during the First Republic, was Murtala Muhammed’s cousin, for example. We begin to understand the Machiavellian Ibrahim Babangida—military president from 1985 to 1993—better when we find out his closest friends were among the Dimka coup plotters of Feb 1976, a coup in which those very friends marked him for liquidation. We learn that Gen. Obasanjo wept when the poisonous chalice of leadership would not pass him by. Such brief character and biographical sketches of principal players inject life into the narrative, and make the historical protagonists more than just names on a paper.

The book of course has its flaws, some quite minor and perhaps fixable in later editions. The footnoting seems somewhat haphazard and sparse. To some, this may be considered a benefit, but it could be frustrating to the reader or researcher who wants to learn more by exploring sources. And one of the more vexatious things is that the footnoting, like Carlyle’s History, “is silent where you most wish her to speak.”

More egregious are the omissions and failures to explore some controversial areas. We do not know the extent of Lt. Col Adekunle Fajuyi’s involvement in January 15 even though Mr. Siollun was involved a few years back in a debate about it with someone on the Internet who went by the moniker “Arthur Unegbe”. Perhaps there is nothing to know or find out, but Mr. Siollun’s complete silence—no discussion of rumours, or analysis of possibilities—is troubling. Also surely we could learn from a brief exploration of the contradictions in the public statements of Gowon’s apologists and the actions of the man that suggest some foreknowledge of the July horrors? However, in light of the importance and intelligence of this work, it would be churlish to carp about these matters.

I admit to being skeptical before reading this work, expecting the typical tendentious and ethnically jaundiced approach that colours most Nigerian commentaries on the coups of 1966. What Mr. Siollun has given us rather is a deft, measured, and just examination of those tragic events, all done in very accessible prose. All Nigerians owe him a debt of gratitude. I wish I could find a way to get a copy into the hands of every educated Nigerian.

The book can be purchased from:

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Politics-Violence-Nigerias-1966-1976/dp/0875867081/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243780456&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble:http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Oil-Politics-and-Violence/Max-Siollun/e/9780875867083

Review Two:by Australia’s Former High Commissioner to NIgeria During the 1966-1967 Crisis

This book, by an industrious, questing and objective historian, brings together the most comprehensive and authentic documentation on the Nigerian coup and counter coup of 1966 and the Biafran War that I have ever seen.

The author does not “make a case” for anyone. Rather he sets out the evidence, gives a variety of parties their say and, by and large, then leaves you to make a judgement on the very best evidence available.

I do not think that any of us can responsibly write about the Biafran War and the steps leading up to it unless they have first read and thoroughly digested Max Siollun’s book. I say this against the background that I was Australian High Commissioner in Nigeria at the relevant time and I knew the principal players personally.

In early October 1966, I embarked on a Mission to Enugu to talk to Ojukwu – with General Gowon’s blessing – in an effort to find a negotiated resolution of Nigeria’s deep constitutional, political, racial and tribal problems. Above all, I wanted to avoid the brutal and bloody conflict that, in the event, became known as the Biafran War. In the wake of my meeting with Ojukwu, agreement was reached between Ojukwu and the Federal Nigerian Government at a meeting in Aburi in Ghana in January 1967. However, the agreement fell to pieces shortly afterwards and the first shots in the Biafran War followed within a couple of months or so.

With this background, I can responsibly and, I think, reliably assess the authenticity of what Siollun has to say and recommend his outstanding book to those who want to know, understand and be familiar with Nigerian history of that troubled period.

Review Three: by Iwedi Ojinmah for Nigerian Village Square

Once in while there comes a book that makes us either sit up straight or reflect on our lives… past and present. It is even more appreciated and of importance when such a book is a serious one and about a subject matter, that even 4 decades after it engulfed Nigeria in arguably Africa’s most vicious war pitching suspicious cousin against each other , it is still rife with so much controvesy and emotional debate that one can seriously question if true National reconcilation has not remained deferred.

Max Siollun, has produced such a wonder in Oil Politics and Violence: Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture (1966-1976) Algora Pub Hardcover : $33.95 Softcover $23.95

Right out the gates the English born Nigerian but US based Professor, separates himself from the rest of the pack of historians that have feebly tackled early Nigerian Politics with his pronounced objectivity and absolutely impeccable research. In a detailed chronological sequence of events he locks the door on many a propagated myth and exposes among others how for instance the Igbo’s became political scapegoats not by choice but by default. He also amazingly shows how for the better part of 3 decades it was pretty much “old wine in new bottles” as the same vagabonds in power continued -just like some morbid spoke of a wheel- to keep in place Nigeria’s wobbly and corrupt coup culture.

Each of the 268 pages is saturated with such intricate fact that you often have to pinch yourself back into reality to realize again that all this stuff really did occur, and is not the draft of an up till now unknown Shakespearean tragedy. The man really names names and one has to virtually munch on a mint to supress the subsequent but delicious bite.

Things Fell Apart and Have Never Been the Same Since

However while his book will serve hopefully as salve on the deep festering wound inflicted on Nigeria, it does not address the more dangerous and ever present infection that lingers on still robbing her of her full potential; because it summates just ten years out of almost 45 years. Since there is an undeniable thread linking the past to the present and vice versa ; we salivate at the possibility……NO I take that back …..“ we implore” the absolute need of a part 2 that will continue to explore the murky dysfunctional rot that is Nigerian Politics. The story after 1976 must also be examined with as equal objectivity and openness and till then we will remain hungry at the table like guests denied of a spectacular entrée after being treaded to array of amazing o’dourves….pounding our forks and just like Twist – asking for more.

The book can be purchased from:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Politics-Violence-Nigerias-1966-1976/dp/0875867081/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243780456&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble:http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Oil-Politics-and-Violence/Max-Siollun/e/9780875867083

Conhece o Biafra? Eu lembro dele vagamente, na verdade ouvi falar dele há poucas semanas no Fantástico - ainda embalado pelo desaparecimento do Belchior - numa matéria sobre cantores que fizeram muito sucesso no passado e depois caíram no anonimato.

Pois bem, o fato é que o nosso glorioso Biafra estava entre eles. Recatado, lamentando a falta de sucesso, não imaginando que em breve voltaria a ser assunto.

E não é que voltou? Talvez não da maneira que ele imaginava, mas quem se importa com isso? Veja o vídeo abaixo e perceba que às vezes coisas surpreendentes podem cair do céu…

Relaxa, se você se perguntou: “Biafra? Quem é esse cara?” Não fique puto, eu também me perguntei. Joga no google e tá tudo certo, o importante é que a cena é engraçada!

Ahh se fizessem isso com a Vanusa…

Para quem não sabe o senhor cantante do vídeo é Biafra (se eu não me engano ele mudou o nome para Byafra) e música é “Sonho de Ícaro”. O cantor estava gravando um depoimento para o documentário “Alô alô Terezinha”, sobre o apresentador de TV Chacrinha

Diretamente da minha querida Niterói… para o youtube ;]

Não sei pq, mas esse Biafra sempre me fez rir…

Eu Ri! UEAHuHEUAhEUHAE