Compendium of Igbo Heritage, events and achievers – 2024 Edition (A publication of Hall of Igbo Achievers Foundation)
Reviewer: Uche Maduemesi Esq.,
This is a work of two veteran journalists, Sam Nwanze and Mike Ubani, who have paid their dues in the pen-pushing profession. They came together under the aegis of Hall of Igbo Achievers Foundation, founded in 2018. So many years down the line, the burning desire in the two journalists never waned until they gave birth to this product in 2024.
As the name implies, this book is a compendium of Igbo heritage and achievers divided into five parts namely: The origin of Igbo people by Prof. Alaezi; Kolanut in Igbo culture and Nigeria Biafra Civil War by Professor Chinua Achebe.
Southeast Governors and their profiles
Fifty winners of Igbo Achievers list
Traditional Institution and Igbo cultural heritage with emphasis on Onitsha, Item, Ibeku and Amurri communities.
Our Heroes past. Opinion: Zik’s account of Ojukwu, His roles during the war and more.
For me, this work is a collector’s item for any Igbo as it puts into proper perspective the answer to the key question of who is an Igbo person. The origin of the Igbo as a tribe rather than an ethnic group. Though this might engender a lot of debate, the author, Prof Alaezi said: “Igbo as a word or name is the parody or distortion of the word written and pronounced as ‘egbo.’ Egbo itself is the parody or corruption of an Ibibio word ‘ekpo’ pronounced as ‘okpo,’ ‘egbo’ in Item and some other Igbo dialects before being commonly and generally pronounced as ‘Igbo.’ In actual sense, Egbo or Igbo is the distortion of Ekpo, an Ibibio/Efik word for ghost.
The writer went further to describe who is Igbo, the Indigenous Igbo tribe? He delved into the often-held thought that the Igbo have a relationship with the Israelites of the Babylonian Jews. He opined that of the three major tribes in Nigeria, the Igbo is the only one whose origin is traceable only in Nigeria and thus may be said to be the most indigenous.
Prof. Alaezi, again in his second piece, discussed the two main cultural items held dear in Igbo culture which are Nzu (The white Chalk) and Oji (Kola nut), with Item in the present day Abia State as the setting. The two items are inseparable when it comes to welcoming guests in Igbo land. The white chalk shows that the host has a clean mind as the Nzu is drawn on the ground, most times, four strokes, signifying the four market days in Igbo culture. This rite is performed by all present then followed with the presentation of kola nuts.
Any serious gathering in Igboland/culture starts with presentation and breaking of kola nuts with which prayers are offered to beckon on our ancestors to descend, bless and be part of the gathering. The chapter: The Basic Igbo Cultural Elements – White chalk (Nzu) rituals and Breaking the Kolanut (Oji); the Item Igbo version espouses the importance of our culture (Omenala) which is the way of life of Igbo people of which Omenala Item is an integral part.
‘Omenala Igbo includes rituals such as shrine and temple worship, divination, ‘igba aja, ‘igba afa,’ annual festivals such as new yam festival (festival of the first fruits), masquerading, moonlight narratives, plays, dances for entertainment and leisure, white chalk and kola nut rituals to welcome visitors, pouring of wine libation, …circumcision of the male child on the eight day of birth, blood sacrifice, holder of the family staff of office…”
“Omenala Igbo prescribes eternal duties for a sane Igbo society such as self-help and self-reliance, hard work, honesty, justice, and compassion,” the erudite Professor observed and rightly. The third chapter: “Nigeria-Biafra War’ by the late internationally acclaimed writer, Professor Chinua Achebe, is a piece that strikes a chord in every full-blooded Igbo man or woman.
‘The Nightmare’ began on May 26th 1967, with an emergence of a Special Advisory Committee of Elders and Chiefs constituted by Col Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.. The consensus then was building across his cabinet that secession was the only viable path. The chapter put in perspective how a people decided to take their destinies into their own hands to stand off several acts aimed at demeaning and eliminating them from the face of the earth. It began with the January 15, 1966, coup d’etat, and the counter coup which witnessed the decimation of 185 Igbo military officers and the massacre of tens of thousands of mostly Igbo people and Easterners in pogroms which started in May 1966 and lasted for months, unabated.
According to Professor Achebe in this chapter, “as we fled ‘home’ to Eastern Nigeria to escape all manner of atrocities that were being inflicted upon us and our families in different parts of Nigeria, we saw ourselves as victims. When we noticed that the Federal Government of Nigeria did not respond to our call to end the pogroms, we concluded that a government that failed to safeguard the lives of its citizens has no claim to their allegiance and must be ready to accept that the victims deserve the right to seek their safety in other ways- including secession.”
Part 2 of the compendium has the profiles of the five Southeastern Governors. These are those on whose shoulders the drive for good governance and development of the core Igbo nation rest. They are Dr. Alex Otti of Abia State; Chief Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru of Ebonyi State; Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State; Dr Barr. Peter Mbah of Enugu State and Senator Hope Uzodinma of Imo State.
Part 3 has the maiden Winners of the Achievers list, 2024 edition. It comprises Igbo men and women from all spheres of life who have distinguished themselves in their respective areas of endeavor.
Some of the people singled out for recognition include:- Chief Emeka Anyaoku erstwhile Secretary of the Commonwealth; novelist, Chimamanda Adichie; Dr A.B.C. Orjiakor; Ms Aruma Otteh; Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iwuala of the World Trade Organization; Professor Barth Nnaji; Late Paschal Dozie; Bishops Emmanuel Chukwuma and Godfrey Onah; our own Mr Peter Obi; Mr Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors; Chief John Nnia Nwodo; Mrs Stella Okoli, Christian Chukwu; Pete Edochie; Adaora Umeoji; Prince Arthur Eze; Lt Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (Rtd), Chief Vincent Obianodo of Young Shall Grow Motors, and several others.
This array of Igbo men and women and others not mentioned here were selected for the exemplary roles they have played in the building of Nigeria and most especially in making Ndigbo proud.
Part 4 of the compendium highlighted three key Igbo flagship activities namely the Ofala Festival featuring the ancient city of Onitsha, the New Yam Festival featuring that of Ibeku in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, and lastly, the Oriri Ani festival in Amurri in Enugu State.
Our Heroes Past encapsulated the profiles of the early political leaders of Igbo nation starting with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, First Governor General/First President of Nigeria; Chief Michael Iheonukara Okpara, the Premier of Eastern Region (1960-1966); Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi and Dikedioranma of Igboland); Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, Former Head of State of Nigeria; Justice Charles Dadi Onyeama, former Judge of the International Court of Justice at The Hague; Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe, Former Governor of Imo State; Dr K.O. Mbadiwe; Prof. Eni Njoku; Prof. Kenneth Dike, the Historian and first Nigerian Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan and President of Anambra State University of Science and Technology, Enugu; Sir. Dr. Francis Akanu Ibiam, First Governor of Eastern Region.
Part Six contains a measured response to a tribal attack by one Professor Ahmed Bako in the garb of an inaugural lecture. Our brother, Professor Chima Onuoha in a paper titled: Igbophobia Continues: Laconic response to Prof. Ahmed Bako’s Inaugural Lecture. In measured words and tenses, Prof Onuoha exuded the Igbo spirit by debunking all the anti-Igbo sentiments and narratives being spewed unhindered by Igbo haters. He observed rightly that the Igbo intellectuals should not lay back but challenge all those narratives by stating the correct records and making them public for the young ones to know and imbibe. I share his thought that when such narratives remain unchallenged, they seem to be the correct. ‘Alu gbaa afo obulu omenala’.
Another veteran journalist, Ugo Onuoha capped it all by asking Ndigbo the rhetorical question: What happened to Igwebuike in community development? The Igbo have been known for pooling resources and developing their homesteads. This appears to be fading away. Igwebuike literally described as strength in unity should be engendered once more and chart our own course. We should take our destinies in our own hands and not wait for Nigeria to come to our aid.
That is the gravamen of our gathering today to call on Ndigbo to wake up and do the right thing. Taa bu gboo.
I recommend this compendium to every discerning Igbo adult regardless of gender. We should emulate all those with good track records by eulogizing them as the pathfinders we crave for. I challenge the founders of Igbo Hall of Fame not to relent but fish out and highlight achievers in the real sense of the word.
