It’s often said that a
lie told so many times, if unchallenged, may – in course of time – begin to
pass for the truth. One of such is the terrible lie, institutionally purveyed
since the end of the Civil War, to the effect that Igboland is landlocked or has
no access to the sea. The purpose of this essay, therefore, is to debunk
this lie with some simple historical and topographical evidence that are even
in plain view, if you care to dig or do some physical explorations of your own.
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| *John Nnia Nwodo President General, Ohaneze Ndigbo |
Suffice it to say that
it is a profound tragedy that entire generations of the immediate post-War
Igbos never bordered to check but seemingly accepted this brazen institutional
falsehood, largely intended to taunt the Igbo and put them down. A few
that knew it to be false just didn’t care anymore. And that History was banned
since the end of the Civil War made it worse, plus the fact that most people
don’t take physical Geography that serious anymore, otherwise they would have
known that Abia, Imo and Anambra States have varying short-distance paths to
the Atlantic through Imo, Azumiri and Niger Rivers.
