You may already know that the Igbos are also the Biafran People, but today we are not focussing on Biafra as the Igbos are also the heartbeat and life wire of Nigeria, Today we are focusing on the Igbos as a people. One undeniable thing is that majority of the Nigerian history is about the Igbos, it does not matter if it is the civil war; if it is a revolution; if it is business, the first president, the first head of state, sports, industry and more, once they start talking about Nigeria if the Igbo nation is not at the centre of it all, then it is definitely not about Nigeria.
The Igbo Province of Nigeria is a traditional democratic government of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria, the emergence of the Igbo province of Nigeria became eminent as the 1966 illegal balkanization of the old Eastern Nigeria brought untold chaos to Eastern Region in particular and Nigeria in general.
Igbo Province of Nigeria is existing as a traditional government which should be a preserve of the Igbo Nation to decide if we need a traditional government or not also in a bid to invalidate the old saying “Igbo Enwe Eze” (Igbos don’t have King) which have hurt a lot of our aspirations as a people, Igbo province emerged, given the illegal state creation since 1967. Igbo province, however, hopes to reach some amicable compromises with the Nigerian state as soon as possible.
We don’t see the need to continue or start on the part of provocation, as such we need to state categorically that we only aspire for peace and prosperity. The traditional government of the Igbo people will not be quite different from the seat of government of the Attah of Igala, Sultan of Sokoto, the Oba of Benin, or the Ooni of Ife.
As I have noted in my book, “The Dirt We Swept Under the Carper”, there shall be the need for compromises because the state creations especially those of Yakubu Gowon was illegal and did not take account of the nature of the Igbo people, for instance, the state creation in other regions took account of indigenous regularities because it was done with the contribution of the affected people but a situation whereby the East was not a witness to the primary division of the East is unfair, as such that people who do not understand the internal relationship between Igbo people nor our culture divided our lands without us witnessing it, for instance, there is no way we can have Sokoto State, Oyo State reflecting a traditional state under a traditional monarch but can’t have Onitsha State or Anioma State, at least one of our Kingdoms or traditional state ought to be a state in Nigeria to serve as a traditional fortress.
Bayelsa State is the smallest state in the county, so I don’t see why Onitsha or Anioma can not be a state, our tradition as Igbo people had been rendered invisible, our language is becoming endangered because of these systematic or I should rather say mistaken decimation.
There are also the cases of separating one community into two different states, this has so far impacted cohesion, this wouldn’t have been the case if the Igbos were carried along during the state creations the imposition of states on Igbos by outside forces is quite unjust, it is just a case of negligence to the plight of the people, for one community to have half of their population in Imo state and another halve in Rivers State or the case of Benue and Ebonyi where some communities are in Benue while some are in Ebonyi, this breaks loyalties and creates confusion as people are still attached to their people at the other side yet needs to be loyal to their states, we are not talking about the same town in two states we are talking about same community, same kindred.
The situation of the South-East geopolitical zone is another unfair reality, while quite understanding that AlaIgbo (Igbo land) is not limited to the South East but still if Nigeria had decided that geopolitical zones become so significant as they had been, I don’t see why other geopolitical zones will have 6 states and North West even have 7 states while South East only has 5 states, South East remains the Igbo heartland but definitely not the entire Igboland.
The situation of the Quota system and the deliberate attempt to cage the Igbos: I’m not arguing that the quota system should be scrapped, if at all not now but while at it, if Nigeria MUST keep the quota system, there shall be avenues to let the Igbos contribute extra quota that can take care of our extra demands. This was visible in the old Eastern region where we invested in Education more than every other region, the traditional government of the Igbo people under the Premier of Igbo province of Nigeria shall ensure that education and other vital needs of the Igbo people will get the attention it deserves.
The Igbo Province of Nigeria as a Traditional government of the Igbo people is still very much at its formatives yet we had decided that since the Igbos have a decent population and are Republican by culture, that the seat of the premier of Igbo province shall not be a monarchy but a democratic government where any qualified Igbo in the future shall be eligible to contest for positions…The Ikenga Store is one of the channels the Igbo province had started out with to secure the economic future of the province.
The Igbos are known to be resilient and determined people, about 50 years ago our parents had to start out with nothing but £20 to valid bank account holders just after the Biafran War, a time we ought to be getting aid our parents got economic raid, this injustice happened despite the fact that before the war, the Igbos was in clear lead in the Nigerian economy and other sectors even the Nigerian chamber of commerce had an Igbo Sir Lius Ojukwu as its first Chairman but despite the challenges of the civil war aftermath, our parents didn’t give up and today the Igbos are again at the centre of influence.
All these show that we are not scared of starting the Igbo province, we might not have the mineral resources as most of those are in the hands of the Nigerian state, we might not have the capital yet but we have the zeal and determination inherited from our parents, we have the Igbo people which is our biggest assets, we are blessed with abundant and refined human resources and our minds is our biggest resources.
If starting means starting with nothing then be rest assured that nothing will stop us from starting.
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Read This Book “The Dirt We Swept Under the Carpet” By the Premier of Igbo Province: Click Here to View