By Dimm Uche Okwukwu The Ngwa are Igbos. The Ikwerre are Igbos. They are offsprings of the same father. So the statement attrib...
By Dimm Uche
Okwukwu
The Ngwa are Igbos. The Ikwerre are Igbos. They are
offsprings of the same father. So the
statement attributed to His Excellency, Barrister Nyesom Wike, Governor of
Rivers State was shocking. He said an illustrious Igbo son, and I believe he
was referring to the Honorable Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi,
was only claiming to be Igbo to further his ambition of becoming Nigerian
president come 2023. Wike further disclaimed being Igbo himself.
Agreed, Wike has the right to hold any view so far as it is
within the ambit of the law and not counter-productive. He can define himself
in any manner he deems fit. But Amaechi, who holds the traditional chieftaincy
title of ”Ochi Ariri Ikwerre,” meaning the Defender of Ikwerre in Times of
Difficulty, also has the same right to see and define himself as Igbo. Wike
does not enjoy the prerogative of determining himself and at the same time
defining others.
Amaechi was former National President of the National Union
of Rivers State Students, NURSS. He was former Speaker of Rivers House of
Assembly, Chairman of the Conference of Speakers in Nigeria, two-term governor
of Rivers, Chairman of the Governors Forum of Nigeria, GFN, and two-term
Minister of Transportation. He is the first Nigerian to be appointed Minister
of Transportation and first Ikwerre to be appointed full-fledged Grade A
minister. As an Ikwerre, I am proud of Amaechi. As an Igbo, I am also proud of
him.
Coming from the humanities, Amaechi is conscious of history
and social anthropology. He said, “Look, I’m Ikwerre. But I’m also Igbo.” By so
saying he did not in any way stop any Ikwerre from presenting himself as
non-Igbo. Such an Ikwerre who denies his Igbo identity would have to explain
himself to the gods. Amaechi’s assertion
of his Igboness on the BBC should not cause anyone a headache.
The Ikwerre Is Igbo
It is important to state for record purposes that
historically Ikwerres fully identified themselves as Igbos without suffering
harms. Chief Joseph Wobo, member of the Council of Chiefs of Eastern Nigeria,
clearly stated he was an Igbo. Nobody can dismiss him as he defended
Ikwerreland in colonial Nigeria.
Sir Jackson Mpi, first and last Ikwerre to be conferred with
Knight of the Order of British Empire, OBE, by Queen Elizabeth II of England in
1960, identified himself as Igbo. From the ancient Kingdom of Isiokpo, Sir Mpi
worked tirelessly for Igbo advancement.
Dr Obi Wali was the first Ikwerre PhD holder, senator and university
lecturer. He was also the only Ikwerre in the 1978 Constituent Assembly where
he was selected one of the 50 Wise Men that drafted the 1979 constitution. The
great Dr Wali identified fully with his Igbo heritage and was gruesomely
assassinated defending it.
Okogbule Wonodi, first Ikwerre registrar of any university,
first and only Ikwerre poet and Paramount title Holder of Eze Ohiaemeru.
Ohiaemeru, where you have present-day Comprehensive College in Borokiri, was
his ancestral home before the British vacated them between 1913-1923. Wonodi
remained a respected member of Nzukor Igbo and Ohanaeze Ndigbo till the end of
his life. Patriot Emmanuel Aguma was former Mayor of Port Harcourt. As
Principal of St John College, Diobu, he was the first Ikwerre to head any
college. One of six pre-independence Ikwerre University graduates, former
administrator of Port Harcourt Province in the defunct Peoples Republic of
Biafra, first Ikwere minister in 1979, Aguma remained a member of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo.
Emmanuel Oriji was a respected local government
administrator, traditional ruler, a commissioner in old Rivers and core Igbo
nationalist. The immediate past Deputy Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo,
Chief Isaac Wonwu, is an illustrious Ikwerre son from Elele. He is known to
assert his Igbo identity. Equally valid, Chief Jackson Womenazu from Rumukrushi
in the Evo Kingdom is a member of the Elders’ Council of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
In colonial documents, written when Igbos had no capacity to
influence anything, Ikwerres also defined themselves as Igbos. When Ikwerre
leaders presented their case before the 1957 Sir Henry Willinks Commission,
Wobo declared that Ikwerres were Igbos and Port Harcourt to Onitsha was
Igboland.
The cream of Ikwerreland have asserted their Igboness. Most
illustrious sons and daughters. Tell me any Ikwerre whose CV can match those of
Mpi, Wobo, Aguma, Wonodi, Dr Wali or Amaechi?
The Ikwerre: Space
and Survival
We must resolve all outstanding issues occasioned by the
military-inspired partition of Ikwerreland as war booty.
Our irreducible stand includes: One, Ikwerres are Igbos and Ikwerreland is so
important to the Igbo that they will never take any step to destroy Ikwerres or
toy with their destiny. In geo-strategic terms, Ikwerreland is the tongue of
the Igbo race to the sea. Two, we are
aware there are plans to landlock the Igbo nation. These plans are rooted in
history. My brother and personal friend, Wike, should not be a crusader for
such plans because it will be resisted with the sword as no nation will allow
itself to be landlocked. All legitimate, moral and spiritual means available to
Ndigbo would be used to resist the excise of Ikwerreland from the larger
Igboland.
Three, “Obigbo,” means “Heart of Igboland.” It is the right
name for that Local Government Area, LGA. “Oyigbo” means nothing and was never
and will never be the name of Obigbo. The British met local people on ground
who said their world was called Obigbo. Any researcher can go there and verify
for himself. None should be persecuted for calling Obigbo its original
pre-civil war name. I, Uche Okwukwu, call it Obigbo and I have no apologies for
that.
Four, “Ohiaemeru” is the original name for Borokiri. It was
the British who removed the indigenous Ikwerre population there before declaring
the place Crown Land between 1913-1923. Equally so, “Igweocha” or “Diobu” is
the original name for Port Harcourt. We must set the record straight. Five, demographically and historically, Igbos
constitute the majority in the Niger Delta. Wike’s idea of the region is flawed
considering that nine states make up the Niger Delta Development Commission,
NDDC, namely, Imo, Abia, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Ondo and
Rivers.
It is absurd and unacceptable stating that Umuagwo is not in
the Niger Delta but Ogoja is. Be that as it may, there is now a statutory
definition of the region manifest in the NDDC Act. Any definition that excludes the Igbo from
the Niger Delta, or tends to disenfranchise them from the privileges thereof,
is unacceptable. This is because there were plans in the past that destroyed
any benefit coming to the Igbo. Boundary adjustments were carried out to remove
oil-producing areas from the former East Central State.
Six, in terms of ethnicity and language, Igbos are also in the
majority in Rivers. It is fallacious that there are no Igbos here. Igbos are
here because Ikwerres are Igbos. Ogbas are Igbos, Ekpeyes are Igbos. Etches are
Igbos. Obigbos are Igbos. So no one can talk about Igbos coming in to cause
trouble. Igbos are peaceful. Rivers is our home, and we are its
autochthones. Seven, Binis have no
cultural or historical link with Ikwerres. We worship different gods, have
different market days with different monarchical structures. Our Kingship is
not from father to son like the Binis. Our kingship is based on gerontocracy
where the oldest person assumes leadership. What brought us together was the
1914 amalgamation. No pre-colonial or colonial record has it that Ikwerres
migrated from Benin.
The post-war purported claim that Ikwerres are Binis is
parasitic, defeatist and self-hate.
Eight, Ikwerreland is heavily garrisoned. Two million Ikwerres in four
LGAs are tightly sandwiched by two naval barracks at Iwofe and Borokiri; two
army barracks at Port Harcourt and Elele; air force base in Port Harcourt and
an army shooting range in Igwuruta. Large swathes of land were appropriated for
the building of the international airport, University of Port Harcourt and its
teaching hospital, Rivers State University, Ignatius Ajuru University, Nigerian
Television Authority, Area 1 Seaport, etc.
We believe in the unity of this country but the Federal Government
should dismantle the military formations and return their locations to
land-bereft inner-city Ikwerres. Our burgeoning population has no living space
and this could lead to the Oromo experience.
Why is Wike denying his
Igbo roots? Wike is an illustrious Ikwerre son. And for emphasis, he is
an Igbo man. A kettle might call itself an electric kettle, but it remains a
kettle. Wike will do himself great service to forget the purported prejudice of
the past and assert his Igboness. You don’t deny your own roots because they
may not be there anymore when later you need them. All those who deny their
people have always regretted it. Was
Wike not doing an overkill saying that an Igbo son desirous to be president was
claiming to be Igbo? His utterance undermines our 2023 presidential project. My
real pain concerning Wike’s outburst is why he chose these trying moments when
some mischievous Nigerians lumped Ndigbo with IPOB.
It is frightening and I would like to know who is writing
the script for him. There was no nexus
between the ENDSARS protest and an innocent Igbo desirous to be president.
Where is the link? Wike is not a member of the APC. It is not his business who
becomes the party’s flag bearer in 2023. He should be more concerned with the
presidential candidate of his own Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Who drafted
this spoiler-script for Wike?
In these trying moments when our own son, Nnamdi Kanu, has
taken negative steps to bring us to public scorn, our brother, Wike, must not
help our detractors consummate their agenda. Ndigbo have made it abundantly
clear that IPOB does not represent their interests. It assaulted Ike Ekweremadu
in Germany and Amaechi in Spain. It also insulted Orji Uzoh Kalu, Rochas
Okorocha, Nnia Nwodo, Ralph Uwazurike, Uche Okwukwu, etc. Naturally, one would
call on Wike to retract his statement.
I’m sure Wike wanted to exonerate himself from the IPOB excesses by
saying he wasn’t Igbo. But none has said that IPOB was Igbo, not even the
Federal Government. They know that Kanu’s followers are not limited to Igbos
alone.
There are elements from other ethnic groups. But anytime
Kanu erred, instead of dealing with him alone, they deal with every Igbo. The Federal Government must be careful
dealing with IPOB bearing in mind the way the war ended and how those who were
defeated perceive Nigeria. Agitation for Biafra can be doused by giving the
Igbo a bite of the cherry. For instance, forty years after the creation of
Rivers the Ikwerre were excluded from ruling the state. Things got so heated up
till Ikwerres came to power. Likewise,
separatists can be contained by giving the Igbo the chance to rule Nigeria.
Such brinkmanship can avert an implosion in the former Eastern Region likely to
consume everyone, including those who don’t believe in IPOB. Wike himself may
not be safe from such a catastrophe.
No comments