Ndigbo Do Not Despair
Remember the wise Igbo saying ‘onye ajulu aju anaghi aju onwe ya’. Let them hate us and try to destroy our businesses; let them hate us and deny us jobs; let them hate us and deny us control of our resources; let them hate us and deny us infrastructures; let them hate us and prevent us from casting our votes; let them hate us and deny us political appointments; let them hate us and continue to deny us the presidency; we shall not despair. Just as the Sun can Never be prevented from rising daily from the East; Ndigbo will continue to rise, and no amount of hate can stop us. We shall rise and overcome their hate. Do not despair.
Our continued marginalisation, like every oppressive and unjust system in history, has expiration date. The captivity of Israelites in Egypt expired; Nazis onslaught of the Jews expired; South Africa Apartheid expired; the greatest oppressive system in the history of mankind-the slavery of Africans-expired. Igbo marginalisation and oppression in Nigeria will expire. The expiry date is near. ‘Ife di oku, ga aju oyi’. Do not despair.
They want to treat us as conquered people; but we are not conquered people. We are Igbos; we are warriors. Recall, they said it was going to be a police action; that they will over run us in 3 days but they were wrong. We held our ground for 3 years even with the World powers fighting for them. They did not win the war, only won a battle. They won a battle only by war crimes-weaponising hunger and sickness. Yes, they were right in their declaration of “No Victor, No Vanquish”. Recall again, after they won the battle; they stole our ‘wealth’; gave us only 20 pound note each; mocking, let see what becomes of them. That we are here today stronger is not in doubt; for we are Igbos. They may hurt and kill the physical body; but never the Igbo spirit. They have since continued the war; they have intensified the war in the last few years. Are they winning? No, they are not; on the contrary, they are losing. We spoke again with one voice recently, telling them we are Igbos; our voice and unity of purpose clear as ever; as was declared by our votes in the recent elections. We won the vote; but they as usual stole from us. We shall recover the mandate; it is a matter of time. Injustice last only for a while; the dawn of justice will soon be here. We are Igbos. Do not despair.
None have contributed as much as we have to Project True Nigeria right from inception till date; we have made the most sacrifice for Project True Nigeria. We have demonstrated by our conduct; that we are the most die hard supporters of Project True Nigeria. We take every where as home in Nigeria and continue to facilitate development every where we find ourselves; yet they treat us as if we are lightweights; as if we do not matter; yes, as if we are ants. When indeed we are heavyweights; we do matter; indeed we are elephants. We cannot be hidden; we cannot be ignored; ignore us at your peril. We are Igbos. Do not despair.
We are lions; never afraid to hunt even in the deepest part of the jungle. Hence, we shall not fear to live and do our businesses anywhere in Nigeria. Those who have morbid fear of us are indeed responsible for their fears; we have never threatened anyone; rather, we are peace-loving and progressive. Those afraid of us should save themselves from their hate-induced fears. However, as we hunt even in the deepest jungle; we should remember ‘Aku luo uno’ and ‘Okuko na-akpa nri anya ufie ako na ya’. We are Igbos. Do not despair.
They hate us for no reason; shall we return hate with hate? No, we shall not and must not; for we are Igbos and do not hate; that is not who we are. We cannot and must not contaminate ourselves with the poison of hate. We shall uphold our virtues of love, brotherliness, dignity of human person, respect for the sanctity of human life. We cannot and must not descend nor deviate from our high morals; we shall refuse to stain our Igbo spirit. We shall love and not hate; hope and not despair; work and not slothful; persevere and not surrender; confident and not arrogant; focus and not distraught; benevolent and not vengeful. We shall remain True to ourselves; for we are Igbos. We Cannot, Must not, and Will not Despair.
Ndigbo e ji eme onu, ya gazie.
From Ogbuji Anyim.
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