By
Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo
There is no doubt that the Igbo race is the single largest
group in Nigeria comparable
only to the Nile valley in terms of population
density. Yet it is the avowed goal of certain forces in Nigeria
especially among the Hausa/Fulani establishment to wipe out the Igbo from the
face of the earth. This evil desire did not begin today. It is a command rooted
in history and otiose religious injunctions. But as the saying goes: There is
no killing the beetle!
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| *Dr. Nwankwo |
As a group of people, created and ordained by God Almighty, no person or group in Nigeria is capable of wiping out the Igbo. It is not possible. In the legends of Buddhism, the Vajra is the most important ritual implement of Vajrayana Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the word vajra is defined as something hard or mighty, as in a diamond. It symbolizes an impenetrable, immovable and indestructible state of knowledge and enlightenment. Without the Vajra, the strength of the gods of Buddhism will cease to exist.
This pristine Sanskrit philosophy of the indestructibility of
the Vajra was alluded to by Jesus Christ himself when he compared the Hebrew
children as the salt of the earth noting that the earth would be worthless
without its salt. Just as the vajra is the meat of the gods of Buddhism and the
children of light the salt of the earth, so are the Igbos the salt of Nigeria.
Without the Igbo, Nigeria
will lose its taste and Nigeria
will be no more. In all ramifications, this assertion is true.
In terms of adaptation, J.P Clark had once referred to the
Igbo as soldier ants that came relatively late to the Nigerian political scene
but as soon as they emerged they seized the floor and dictated the pace of
nationalism. Ndigbo are the only group in Nigeria that has the capacity to
make a comfortable and productive home anywhere outside their homeland. They
are industrious and determined and they do not easily give up. They are very
clever and hardworking. When it comes to business, the Igbos have the humility,
patience and resilience to nurture a business from nothing to something huge.
Ndigbo have paid the greatest price in Nigeria.
Nnamdi Azikiwe had remarked that it would appear that God had specially created the Igbo people to suffer persecution and be victimized
because of their resolute will to live and survive where others had failed.
Since suffering appears to be the label of the Igbo race, we have come to the
conclusion that we have sacrificed enough for the unity of Nigeria, and resolved that we can no longer bear
to be sacrificed further for the ultimate redemption of the Nigerian State.
I think it is historically significant to note that throughout the inglorious
history of Nigeria,
the Igbo have at every turn survived the harsh and evil conspiracies of the
Nigerian state to eliminate it.
If any person goes through the records of Nigerian history
that person will not find an occasion when the Igbo have failed to rise from
the ashes of brutality to mount on wings like the eagle.
In ancient
history, there is no record where another tribe has either marched across Igbo
territory or subjected the Igbo nation to a humiliating conquest. Instead,
there is record to show that the martial prowess of the Igbo, at all stages of
human history, has rivaled them not only to survive persecution, but also to
adapt themselves to the role thrust upon them by history, of preserving all
that is best and most noble in our culture and tradition. Placed in this high
estate, the Igbo cannot shirk from the responsibility conferred on it by its
manifest destiny. Having undergone a course of suffering in Nigeria, Ndigbo must, therefore,
enter into its heritage by asserting its birthright, by asserting its right to
self-determination within the confines of international law without apologies
to any person or group.
