History was made on Friday 27 December 2024 when Barr Dr Emeka Emekesiri, was honoured with the prestigious Ohanaeze Global Media Award as the OUTSTANDING ADVOCATE FOR IGBO UNITY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE. The event took place at Enugu organized by Ohanaeze Global Media as part of the launch of the Ohanaeze Global Television and Radio Station. Eminent Igbo sons and daughters attended the programme while some sent their representatives. Notable among the attendees and recipients of various awards are eminent Igbo sons and daughters at home and abroad (especially from Nigeria, UK and USA) including Onowu of Abagana, Dr Nwachukwu Anakwanze, Hon Chief Joseph Chukwuma Ikunna, Nze Amadiebube Mbama, Hon. Chief Mrs Nkechi Irokwu, aka SLIMFIT, who sent a representative, Nwada Ifeoma Nwadike, President of Ogbako Umunwanyi Igbo Worldwide, who sent a representative, and others too numerous to mention.
Nzeobi Barr Dr Emeka Emekesiri delivered the keynote address titled “Restoring the Peace and Dignity of the Igbo Nation: One People, One Nation, One God, One Blood, One Destiny”. He lamented that the once-peaceful Igboland with its honour and dignity has been destroyed by overzealous youths in the name of fighting for freedom. On the problem of insecurity and unknown gun men enforcing sit-at-home order in Igboland, Nzeobi said that the unknown gun men are known because they are not sprits. He narrated how they sanitised Aba by creating the bakassi Boys in 1998 using the Igbo Philosophy of “ABA MA NDI ABA” (Aba knows Aba people). This means that every Igbo community knows everybody in the community. He proffered the solution to insecurity by recommending community self-policing whereby the youths of every community would embark upon combing their forests and houses as they did during the Biafra war. He quoted the Nigerian law of self-defence that gives the people the power to protect their lives and properties including their farmlands. He spoke with authority as a lawyer and gave legal advice to the Igbo Nation about how to protect their lives and properties from criminals operating as unknown gun men and kidnappers. He referred to the Bible that says, “Resist the devils and they will flee away” and urged the people to resist the criminals. He berated the Igbo leaders and rebuked them for keeping quiet in the face of the abominations and criminalities going on in Igboland.
Part of his speech reads as follows: “The destruction of Igboland by unknown gun men enforcing sit-at-home order in pursuit of Biafra must stop now. The Igbo Nation can no longer allow criminals to control the Igbo national life and decide when we come out from our houses or when to sleep. Often, their supporters have blamed the Fulani herdsmen for the atrocities being committed in Igboland. It is possible that Fulani herdsmen are involved in the destruction of Igboland, but we have heard the voices of two Igbo men, Nnamdi Kanu and Simon Ekpa, who ordered the people to sit at home on Mondays or be killed. They created the monsters called sit-at-home and unknown gun men that killed many Igbo people who disobeyed the order before the monsters were hijacked by criminals. Imagine the abomination committed by Igbo men in killing their brothers and sisters in pursuit of freedom. Igboland has been desecrated. The Blood of the innocent people is crying for justice. Now, I recommend community self-policing by Ndi Nche under Customary Law as we did during the war. All Community Youths should protect their communities and stop the unknown gun men. The unknown gun men are known because they are not spirits. Every village knows everybody in the village and what everybody does. The youths of the village should police the village by combing its forests and houses and arrest anybody that operates as an unknown gun man. Every village or town should police itself”.
Nzeobi urged the Igbo people to repent and return to God and restore their lifestyle of honesty, hard work, holiness and righteousness, quoting from the scriptures that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. His full speech is as follows:
“I express my profound gratitude to the Leadership of Ohanaeze Global Media for this Award of Honour and invitation to deliver the keynote address on “Restoring the Peace and Dignity of the Igbo Nation: One People, One Nation, One God, One Blood, One Destiny”. My profound gratitude also goes to the Host, the Executive Governor of Enugu State, my learned friend and my Governor, His Excellency, Barr. Dr. Peter Mbah, for hosting this Award ceremony. My name is Emeka Chigozie Emekesiri. I am from Amucha, Njaba Local Government Area, in the Orlu , Imo State. By professional training and qualifications, I am a Barrister & Solicitor practising in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom, Estate Surveyor & Valuer, Management Consultant, Theologian and a Minister of God, operating as an Apostle of Jesus Christ.
The topic about restoring the peace and dignity of Igbo Nation implies that we are trying to restore what was there in the beginning but now lost. Igboland was a land of godliness, righteousness and honesty. It was a holy land. The Igbo people knew God before the coming of the Europeans with their Christian Religion. In the traditional Igbo society, we did not put our agreements into writing. Our YES was our YES as Jesus Christ taught his disciples. When we stood on the earth and spoke words in agreement, we believed that the earth and heaven heard us, and the spirits in the air heard us, and all the elemental spirits heard us and would bear witness to the agreement. It was an abomination to lie and deceive others or commit crimes. But today, the devil has given our people a terrible philosophy that a fish that does not eat another fish would not grow. Therefore, we now kill and destroy one another in order to grow. How did we get to this abominable stage of our Igbo national life?
As a result of the war between Biafra and Nigeria, the peace and dignity of the Igbo Nation was destroyed. The truth is that the war did not end in 1970, and perhaps, has not even ended as I speak now because nothing has changed. Immediately after the war, the Nigerian Government confiscated our money. They made a policy that all our money in the banks would amount to only £20. They seized all our millions of pounds and gave us £20 for the millions of pounds we had. In 1972, the Nigerian Government made the Indigenisation Policy by which they sold the shares in all the blue-chip multinational companies. As we had no money to buy the shares, only the Yoruba and the Hausa and Fulani people bought the companies. We were forced into petty trading. At that time, I was an apprentice trader helping my brother at Aba. We engaged in “Igba Oso ahia”. It was from this £20 that Igbo people have rebuilt Igboland and created wealth in all parts of Nigeria more than we had before the war. It is by the Grace of God.
In 1976 (six years after the war), the Nigerian Government embarked upon what it described as Boundary Adjustment and carved many Igbo communities into the present-day South-South and North Central Regions (Middle Belt). The Igbo people carved into other regions denied their Igbo identity. In 1979, the Nigerian Government under President Olusegun Obasanjo promulgated the Abandoned Properties Act and seized all the properties of the Igbo people who are regarded as the Biafrans. This was nine years after the war. To avoid this persecution, many Igbo people denied their Igbo Blood. The effect of the persecution and deprivation is that the Igbo people started to struggle for survival. It became a case of survival of the fittest. It is natural that where everybody is drowning in an ocean, everybody will seek to save himself first and will not care for what happens to his neighbour.
Since after the war, the Nigerian Government has systematically marginalised and discriminated against the Igbo people as every decision or policy is targeted against them. It is an unwritten policy that no Igbo man can rule as the Executive President of Nigeria. The highest office the Igbo can hold is the Vice President. The Persecution of the Igbo People has continued up to this day which has made some people to deny their Igbo blood. I have observed that the fastest way to gain favour from the Nigerian Government is to deny your Igbo Blood and seek to destroy or betray Igboland.
It is normal and natural for some people to deny their ethnic identity in times of war to survive. It could be interpreted as a war strategy and wisdom for self-preservation. But it is unforgivable for a man to keep denying his ancestry and his blood identity after the war as some Igbo carved into other Regions are still doing today. The Igbo people of the South-East have continued to suffer for the Biafran cause because they have refused to deny their Igbo blood. However, by the special Grace of God Almighty who we serve, the Igbo People have not been consumed by the hardships imposed on them by the Government of Nigeria. They have fulfilled the scriptures as it is written: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4: 8.
Yes, indeed, we have been cast down but not destroyed; persecuted but not forsaken by our God. We can boldly sing like David in his psalms that “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, our enemies would have swallowed us alive” Psalm 124: 1 – 8. Igbo people are not only in the South-East Region of Nigeria. They are found as indigenous people inhabiting 13 States of Nigeria including Abia State, Akwa Ibom State, Bayelsa State, Benue State, Cross River State, Delta State, Ebonyi State, Edo State, Enugu State, Kogi State, Imo State, Rivers State, etc. They are in the minority in some States and Regions of the South-South and Middle Belt, while in the South-East, they are in the majority. They are also indigenous in other lands outside Nigeria such as Equatorial Guinea and Cameroun. Their descendants are also found in the Caribbean and United States of America.
The Igbo People are One People, One Nation, One Blood, with One Destiny irrespective of where they are in the world. Although since after the war, some Igbo people denied their Igbo Blood to avoid persecution, the truth is that the enemies of Igbo people can smell the scent of the IGBO BLOOD even if you try to hide your identity. They know who you are. Therefore, why are you trying to hide? Be bold and proud and proclaim your Igboness. They know who you are and what is in you. Be proud as an Igbo man or Igbo woman. You are special in the sight of God. It is the grace of God on you that makes the enemies to hate you. The Igbo man or Igbo woman is very enterprising and succeeds where others fail.
We must revive our tradition of hard work, honesty, communal living, kinsman love and unity. The Igbo people are known to be very friendly and hardworking believing in fairness, equity and justice. They believe in the concept of reward for hard work and not reward for laziness. In the traditional Igbo society, we had no beggar, and it was a shameful thing to be a beggar. The Igbo people are daring and adventurous, taking risks to succeed where others fail. They love themselves and also love strangers even more than they love their own brothers. Anywhere they settle down in this world, they make the place to look like their own home. They contribute to the development of their places of habitation in all parts of the world.
They know that the Government in Nigeria has failed them at all levels and therefore they do not rely or depend on the Government but on their individual and community efforts. However, we have observed that the individualistic tendency is getting to an unacceptable extremism contrary to the Igbo Philosophy of “Igwe Bu Ike”, “Ike Otu Onye Adighi Ire”; “Anyukoo Mamiri Onu, Ogbaa Ufufu”. These are Igbo Philosophies that preach the power of love, unity and synergy of teamwork. This is the strength we are lacking now and which we must regain in order to succeed as a nation not as individuals.
Curiously, despite their sufferings, persecutions, hatred and discriminations, the Igbo are the only tribesmen in Nigeria who truly believe in One Nigeria in word and in deed as they settle in all parts of Nigeria and develop the lands with multi-million-naira structures. A taxi driver from Edo State who I met in the North during my research work told me a story. He took a passenger on “special drop” to a very remote village in a part of Northern Nigeria. As he was waiting outside for his customer who had gone into the compound to bring some money, he saw a young boy who was about 20 years old by his estimation looking around. He noticed that the boy’s dressing or mannerism was different from the dressing of Northern boys. He suspected that the boy must be an Easterner. He called the boy and asked who he was and why he was looking around. The boy said he had come from the East, from Onitsha in particular, to look around the villages in the North and know their needs so that he would go back to the East and bring goods for sale. The taxi driver was both surprised and impressed that a little boy of that stature could leave the East and travel to the North to conduct a market survey for his business while other youths from other tribes were engaged in unproductive behaviours.
The truth of the Igbo enterprising spirit is that the little boy from the East would come to that remote village of the North several times on business trips and after about six months he would rent a single room in the village or rent a vacant plot and erect a batcher store. He would sleep in the batcher at night and display his goods in the daytime for sale. He would eat very little, sometimes only bread and water, until he has saved money and built up his capital. He would travel to the East and buy the small electric generator called “I better pass my neighbour” and bring along a small TV set and Home Video Films to show in his shop. Soon, his shop becomes a meeting snack joint for many people in the village who come for relaxation. He begins to grow from there and becomes a big man. Within a few years, he buys the very vacant plot that was rented to him. He becomes the landlord and builds a solid house. He has become a big man! Then, he will go back to his village in the East to take a small boy who would serve him as an apprentice in the business.
Many people today wonder how the Igbo dominated the free market micro economy in commerce, industries, and transportation. It was as a result of the practice of “Odibo afo asaa” (Seven-year benevolent servitude) which Moses commanded our forefathers in Deuteronomy 15: 12 – 14, saying: “If your brother, an Hebrew man or Hebrew woman (Eboe man or Eboe woman) is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year, you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; you shall supply him liberally from your flocks, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the LORD has blessed you with, you shall give to him”.
This was the only kind of slavery permitted by God Almighty among the ancient Hebrews. It was servitude with compassionate heart requiring the master to settle his servant liberally in the seventh year to enable the servant to stand on his own. The servant was not subjected to any rigour or hardship but was required to render service to his master with his whole heart as unto the LORD. In the seventh year, his master settled him, and he became a big man also. As tradition dies hard, our forefathers maintained this tradition and passed it down to us. Today, we call it “Igba Odibo” or “Igba Boy”. Though many changes have occurred in the system as some greedy masters now find it difficult to settle their boys by accusing them falsely while some boys no longer serve up to seven years if they are willing to serve at all, the tradition remains the same despite the fact that some Igbo people seem to have forgotten the fundamental principles behind it, and that it was established by Chukwu Abhiama (God of Abraham) as a traditional growth principle for the Hebrews who were called Eboes in this part of the world up to the 16th and 17th Century but now called Ibos or Igbo.
By this principle of growth, the small boy serves the big man for seven years and learns the trade. His master settles him in the seventh year, and he becomes a big man also standing on his own. When his own business becomes too big for him to manage alone, he goes to the East and brings another small boy to serve him, and the chain of wealth creation continues. After some time, the Igbo population would increase in that area with wealthy Igbo sons and daughters doing very well in their businesses, living happily in love and unity as kinsmen. Oddly enough, the Muslim boys from the village would come, usually after their Friday Prayer, to burn down the shops of the Igbo men and loot their goods out of sheer jealousy! The State Government would make a political statement, setting up a Panel of Inquiry and promising to bring the perpetrators of the crime to book, but nothing would happen afterwards. The Igba Boy Apprenticeship System has been acknowledged and recognized as the best wealth creation and mentorship system in the world. We must revive this “Igba Boy” Apprenticeship System and possibly regulate the practice to protect the rights of both the apprentice and the master under the law.
We must put our house in order first. The psyche of the Igbo society was destroyed after the war between Biafra and Nigeria in 1970. We observed that before the war, there was orderliness and effective governance in the whole Igbo nation by the Elders of the land right from the Family Head to the Community Head. If you brought a large sum of money home without a visible source of income, the Family Head or Elders of the Village would invite you to explain how you made the money. If your source or sources of wealth and riches were questionable, they would ostracise you from the Village Meeting. They believed that good name was better than silver and gold. Their philosophy was “Ezi Afa Ka Ego”. The youths who misbehaved were brought to the Village Square and flogged as a deterrent to others.
There was a strong foundation of godliness, morality, honesty, integrity, fear and respect for elders and constituted authorities in the land. Thus, there was orderliness anchored on effective leadership and followership in the Igbo Nation. The Igbo Union (Predecessor of Ohanaeze Ndigbo) was the powerbase of the Igbo Nation where decisions were made in the interest of the entire Igbo people in Nigeria. Today, the youths of the present generation have lost their bearing. They have decided to wander in the wilderness like sheep without a shepherd even though the old shepherds from the old generation are still alive and willing to guide the youths to the Promised Land. Unfortunately, most of the youths of today have become unteachable and incorrigible.
The major problem in the Igbo Nation now is the spirit of rebellion among the youths and present-day elders. In fact, almost all Igbo organizations have split into many factions because of insubordination and rebellion. When I told some people that I had been nominated for the Ohanaeze Global Media Award, they asked which of the factions of Ohanaeze? They told me that Ohanaeze had been divided into various factions. I said that the Ohanaeze I know is the one whose past Presidents-General were my mentors including His Royal Majesty, His Lordship, the Hon Justice Eze Ozobu (deceased), Dr Dozie Ikedife (deceased), etc, and which shall soon be led by an Igbo man from Rivers State beginning from January 2025. They said it is the correct and original Ohanaeze and that any other Ohanaeze Is fake. Therefore, there is only One Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
I am aware that sometime ago, some rebellious Igbo men applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission Abuja and registered Ohanaeze Ndigbo as a limited liability corporation called Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly. They announced that the original Ohanaeze Ndigbo is not registered. They described the original Ohanaeze Ndigbo as “Ohanaeze Ndioshi”, “Traitors” and “Saboteurs”. They incited the youths against Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Unfortunately for them, they thought that the Nigerian Law is like the British Law where Nnamdi Kanu and Uche Mefor registered their faction of IPOB as a limited liability company called Indigenous People of Biafra (UK) Limited. Their coup against Ohanaeze Ndigbo failed and their certificate was withdrawn by the Corporate Affairs Commission.
They did not know that Customary Law is part of the Nigerian Legal System and Customary Institutions are not registered. In fact, the major characteristic of customary law is that it is unwritten. Ohanaeze Ndigbo is a customary institution that does not exist on a piece of paper called Certificate of Registration. The Federal Government of Nigeria and the International Community know this and respect the Leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. It is a customary institution that remains valid even if Nigeria disintegrates just like the Nzuko Umunna of my village. I will not be surprised that one of these rebellious children may someday go to the Companies House in the UK and register Nzuko Umunna (UK) Ltd and obtain a certificate of registration.
These youths have destroyed Igboland. The destruction of Igboland by unknown gun men enforcing sit-at-home order in pursuit of Biafra must stop now. The Igbo Nation can no longer allow criminals to control the Igbo national life and decide when we come out from our houses or when to sleep. Often, their supporters have blamed the Fulani herdsmen for the atrocities being committed in Igboland. It is possible that Fulani herdsmen are involved in the destruction of Igboland, but we have heard the voices of two Igbo men who ordered the people to sit at home on Mondays or be killed. They created the monsters called sit-at-home and unknown gun men that killed many Igbo people who disobeyed the order before the monsters were hijacked by criminals. Imagine the abomination committed by Igbo men in killing their brothers and sisters in pursuit of freedom. Igboland has been desecrated. The Blood of the innocent people is crying for justice. Now, I recommend community self-policing by Ndi Nche as we did during the war. All Community Youths should protect their communities and stop the unknown gun men. The unknown gun men are known because they are not spirits. Every village knows everybody in the village and what everybody does. The youths of the village should police the village by combing its forests and arrest anybody that operates as an unknown gun man. Every village or town should police itself.
Repentance from evil is the starting point for healing and restoration. Let me quote from the scriptures what the LORD God Almighty said about the healing and restoration of our land. In 2 Chron 7: 14, he said, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”. We must not point accusing fingers at others and exonerate ourselves and try to look holier than others. The scriptures say that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3: 23). But there is hope for the sinners as the scriptures say in Ezekiel 18:27 that “If a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life” because “If we confess our sins to God and repent, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 9) .
The message of repentance is very clear and crucial. There is so much wickedness in Igboland. In fact, it is easier to bear the pains inflicted by a foreigner than the pains inflicted by your fellow Igbo man or Igbo woman because you are of the same Igbo Blood. It is against the “Umune Blood Bond” in the Igbo Spirituality (“ihe nwanne mere nwanne”). This brings curses upon Igboland. There is no peace for the wicked. We must uphold righteousness and eschew evil for it is written in Proverbs 14: 34 that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people”
Our Igbo Love Bond must be restored. In the olden days, when an Igbo person heard the voice or name of another Igbo person suffering, his body would respond with goose pimples. There is a spiritual connection between them that makes them to care for one another. He cannot abandon his brother or sister. It is the spirit of Igbo love bond anchored upon “Onuru Ube nwanne agbala oso”; and “Onye aghala nwanne ya”. This was why there was no refugee problem in Biafra. We accommodated and cared for all refugees in our houses. But today, what we see is that the Igbo man or woman who you have trusted as your brother or sister is the same person who will betray you and help the enemies to kill you. When they dupe you, they celebrate the evil and describe you as “mugu”. So, I am a mugu for trusting my brother or my sister! Satan has given them a demonic philosophy that “Overtaking is allowed even if you must destroy your brother to succeed”. When Nnamdi Kanu hijacked the vehicle I created and called IPOB, this is what his followers said. “Overtaking is allowed”. What is the result now? He has hijacked the vehicle and used it to cause fatal accidents and destruction of Igboland. This is an abomination.
For the Igbo Nation to move forward and achieve its goals, we must restore our love bond and have effective leadership by competent and honest leaders who fear God and hate evil. There is no need to create multiple organizations as rivals to Ohanaeze Ndigbo. This is why we have made it clear that Ohanaeze Ndigbo is the APEX Igbo Organization. Every other Igbo organization must become an affiliate to Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The membership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is automatic by birth just like the membership of the Nzuko Umunna of my village. You do not need registration to become a member of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Without disciplinary measures, there will be no effective leadership and followership. The rebellious children are emboldened by the lack of controls and punishments in the Igbo National Politics. They may think that nothing can be done to them. They may have riches and wealth and connections in high places but a pronouncement of ostracism by the Leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo against them will certainly subject their names to generational shame and opprobrium. I therefore advise the Leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to pronounce ostracism against the rebellious coup plotters as a deterrent to others. There must be discipline and orderliness in the Igbo Nation otherwise we shall not achieve our goal.
The Igbo Nation must move forward. The vital question is “What do the Igbo People want?” I conducted extensive research for seven years and answered this question in the book, “Biafra or Nigerian Presidency- What the Ibos Want”. The Igbo Nation believes in the concept of “Egbe Bere Ugo Bere” (Let the Eagle perch and let the Hawk also perch). We believe that the world is large enough to accommodate everybody. In the same way, we believe that Nigeria is large enough to accommodate everybody but if we are not accepted and accorded the same rights and privileges as given to the people of other ethnic nationalities, we shall leave Nigeria based on our philosophy that “Onye ajuru aju anaghi aju onwe ya” (He that is rejected does not reject himself).
Therefore, the Igbo Nation held the Mkpoko Igbo Conference in 1994 at Enugu and drew a roadmap to restructure Nigeria by devolution of power to the Regions and emancipate all the people of Nigeria from the institutionalised injustice and neo-colonialism entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution and bad Politics. The Conference was held in preparation for the Sani Abacha Constitutional Conference scheduled for the following year 1995.The Igbo Master Plan was approved by the Conference and signed by General Abacha. It was the Master Plan that produced the current 6 geopolitical regions of Nigeria. This Master Plan was handed over to us by our fathers to implement. It was in pursuit of this Master Plan that MOBIN submitted the Memorandum to the National Assembly to restructure Nigeria to Regional Autonomy by devolution of power to the Regions.
Now, we want to develop Igboland to look like Dubai. We are not asking for a territorial or geographical Biafra but economic Biafra. Some people think that Dubai is a country. Some think that Taiwan is a country. Some people even think that London is a country. Most of the people agitating for Biafra do not have the correct mind-set. They are thinking about going to their Promised Land without understanding that we are already in our Promised Land. We are not like the Israelites who travelled for 40 years and fought wars for 40 years before reaching to their Promised Land. In our own case, we did not lose our Territory. We were not annihilated. We have argued in the Federal High Court in the case between Biafra and Nigeria in Suit No FHC/EN/CS/103/2019 that what we lost after the war was our sovereignty and not our indigenous identity as a people.
Therefore, we are Nigerians by citizenship but Biafrans by indigenous identity until we gain independence from Nigeria by due process. We are the remnants of Biafraland that were not consumed in the war. This is why I coined our name as Indigenous People of Biafra. We want to develop our Region to become like Taiwan, London, Dubai, etc, so that the whole world will be coming to Biafraland for business and tourism. From Regional Autonomy we can pursue outright independence in future just like Scotland is doing in the United Kingdom now. Agitation for freedom is legitimate but must follow due process of law, politics and diplomacy. This is the Igbo Master Plan for the emancipation of the Igbo Nation. Everything has a process. It is a long-term plan. Patience is required.
Some of the Awardees include:
Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze aka Onowu n’Abagana
