I
read the article published by the Anioma Is Igbo group yesterday and
stood in awe. I was "overgasted" and "Flabberwhelmed" at the knowledge
and uncommon courage oozing out from the said article.
But something struck me in the write up apart from the punches delivered to the pro APC Anioma faction who are catalyst to this division unknown to the elders. Do not get me wrong, a lot have been said about the issue I refer to but it has never been well captured the way these knowledgeable men and women captured it.
An extract from the article says
"1. The area of Ndoki south covering the present Oyigbo (originally Obigbo) transferred from the old Aba division and lumped to Rivers State in 1976. Also, in the 1980s, three Ndoki villages namely Ohaobu, Mkpukpuaja and Ogbuagu villages carved from the then Imo State and lumped to Etim-Ekpo LGA of Akwa Ibom State. It is noteworthy to state that Oyigbo LGA apart from Oloibiri was the first place in Nigeria to produce oil and gas in commercial quantities (at Afam). Unlike Oloibiri which has dried-up since the 1980s, Afam and other Oyigbo oil-fields keep yielding vast quantities of petroleum.
2. Egbema communities now in Rivers State. Egbema has 16 villages and out of these 16 villages , 3 namely Mgbede, Aggah and Okwuzi has the largest reserves of oil and gas in the community. This is apparently the reason they were lumped to Rivers while the other 13 villages were left in Imo State where they had to contend with more modest reserves of the commodity.
It is important to note that this “punishment” at least as perceived by many Igbos did not end up with the eastern Igbo people. The Aniomas or Western Igbos had to lose Ndoni area to Rivers State and Osekwenike-Onyah area to Sagbama area of Bayelsa State. Just like the other examples we gave, all of these areas are oil-producing. It is often claimed that the Nigerian Civil war was a war fought over oil and gas and the actions of the federal government just like these examples seems to reflect suggest that the federal government had intended to give a tag of non-oil producing to Igbo areas including Anioma. While it is interesting to note that parts of Igbo land has been excised and lumped to other states, a good part of Itsekiri land embracing what is defined as Ugbege area was lumped to Ondo State; A state where Itsekiri people are not indigenous. This is one just an example of the double standards in Nigeria which seem to swell such protests. It therefore lies with the federal government to initiate moves to douse such feelings of alienation or punishment for the war. A common song by Peter Tos , which has one of its iconic lyrics “Everyone is crying out for peace but no one for justice” brings to the fore what we are trying to pass across here."
The point above resonates with the point mentioned by Col. Joe Achuzie in his recent interview where he stated that, "we believe that the issues leading to the end of Biafran war and the pacification which followed thereafter has not assuaged a good percentage of the Igbo people of Nigeria that they have been fully integrated in the country. Many of them still feel they have been treated as second-class citizens and there are empirical evidences to suggest that some of these claims have some taints of truth and reality in it"
The above extract was part of what left me speechless. There are lots you can learn from intelligent people, especially in these times that history is no longer part of our curricular.
In case you missed it. Read it here
But something struck me in the write up apart from the punches delivered to the pro APC Anioma faction who are catalyst to this division unknown to the elders. Do not get me wrong, a lot have been said about the issue I refer to but it has never been well captured the way these knowledgeable men and women captured it.
An extract from the article says
"1. The area of Ndoki south covering the present Oyigbo (originally Obigbo) transferred from the old Aba division and lumped to Rivers State in 1976. Also, in the 1980s, three Ndoki villages namely Ohaobu, Mkpukpuaja and Ogbuagu villages carved from the then Imo State and lumped to Etim-Ekpo LGA of Akwa Ibom State. It is noteworthy to state that Oyigbo LGA apart from Oloibiri was the first place in Nigeria to produce oil and gas in commercial quantities (at Afam). Unlike Oloibiri which has dried-up since the 1980s, Afam and other Oyigbo oil-fields keep yielding vast quantities of petroleum.
2. Egbema communities now in Rivers State. Egbema has 16 villages and out of these 16 villages , 3 namely Mgbede, Aggah and Okwuzi has the largest reserves of oil and gas in the community. This is apparently the reason they were lumped to Rivers while the other 13 villages were left in Imo State where they had to contend with more modest reserves of the commodity.
It is important to note that this “punishment” at least as perceived by many Igbos did not end up with the eastern Igbo people. The Aniomas or Western Igbos had to lose Ndoni area to Rivers State and Osekwenike-Onyah area to Sagbama area of Bayelsa State. Just like the other examples we gave, all of these areas are oil-producing. It is often claimed that the Nigerian Civil war was a war fought over oil and gas and the actions of the federal government just like these examples seems to reflect suggest that the federal government had intended to give a tag of non-oil producing to Igbo areas including Anioma. While it is interesting to note that parts of Igbo land has been excised and lumped to other states, a good part of Itsekiri land embracing what is defined as Ugbege area was lumped to Ondo State; A state where Itsekiri people are not indigenous. This is one just an example of the double standards in Nigeria which seem to swell such protests. It therefore lies with the federal government to initiate moves to douse such feelings of alienation or punishment for the war. A common song by Peter Tos , which has one of its iconic lyrics “Everyone is crying out for peace but no one for justice” brings to the fore what we are trying to pass across here."
The point above resonates with the point mentioned by Col. Joe Achuzie in his recent interview where he stated that, "we believe that the issues leading to the end of Biafran war and the pacification which followed thereafter has not assuaged a good percentage of the Igbo people of Nigeria that they have been fully integrated in the country. Many of them still feel they have been treated as second-class citizens and there are empirical evidences to suggest that some of these claims have some taints of truth and reality in it"
The above extract was part of what left me speechless. There are lots you can learn from intelligent people, especially in these times that history is no longer part of our curricular.
In case you missed it. Read it here
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