THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT COLONIAL ERRORS
The biggest country in Africa that the United Kingdom colonized is Nigeria. The biggest country that the United Kingdom colonized in Asia is India (which then comprised the present Pakistan and Bangladesh). When the UK came into Nigeria and India, like all other countries they colonized, they brought along their technology, religion (Christianity), and culture: names, dressing, food, language, etc.
Try as hard as the British did, India rejected the British religion, names, dressing, food, and even language, but they did not reject the British technology. Today, 80.5% of Indians are Hindus; 13.4% Muslims; 2.3% Christians; 1.9% Sikhs; 0.8% Buddhists, etc. Hindi is the official language of the government of India, but English is used extensively in business and administration and has gstatus of a “subsidiary official language.” It is rare UN an Indian with an English name or dressed in suit.
On the other hand, Nigeria embraced, to a large extent, the British religion, British culture – names, dressing, foods, and language – but rejected the British technology. The difference between the Nigerian and the Indian experiences is that while India is proud of its heritage, Nigeria takes little pride in its heritage, a situation that has affected the nationalism of Nigerians and our development as a nation. Before the advent of Christianity, the Arabs had brought Islam into Nigeria through the North. Islam also wiped away much of the culture of Northern Nigeria. Today, the North has only Sharia Courts but no Customary Courts. So from the North to the South of Nigeria, the Western World and the Eastern World have shaped our lives to be like theirs and we have lost much or all of our identity.
Long after the British and Arabs left Nigeria, Nigeria has waxed strong in religion to the extent that Nigerians now set up religious branches of their home-grown churches in Europe, the Americas, Asia and other African countries. Just like the Whites brought the gospel to us, Nigerians now take the gospel back to the Whites. In Islam, we are also very vibrant to the extent that if there is a blasphemous comment against Islam in Denmark or the US, even if there is no violent reaction in Saudi Arabia, the Islamic headquarters of the world, there will be loss of lives and destruction of property in Nigeria.
If the United Arab Emirates, a country with 75% Muslims, is erecting the tallest building in the world and encouraging the world to come and invest in its country by providing a friendly environment, Boko Haram ensures that the economy of the North (and by extension that of Nigeria) is crippled with bombs and bullets unless every Nigerian converts to Boko Haram’s brand of Islam. We are indeed a very religious people. Meanwhile, while we are building the biggest churches and mosques, the Indians, South Africans, Chinese, Europeans and Americans have taken over our key markets: telecoms, satellite TV, multinationals, banking, oil and gas, automobile, aviation, shopping malls, hospitality, etc.
Ironically, despite our exploits in religion, we are a people with little godliness, a people without scruples. It is rare to do business with a Nigerian Pastor, Deacon, Knight, Elder, Brother, Sister, Imam, Mullah, Mallam, Alhaji or Alhaja without the person laying landmines of bribes and deception on your path. We call it PR, facilitation fee, processing fee, transport money, financial engineering, deal, or whatever. But if it does not change hands, nothing gets done. And when it is amassed, we say it is “God’s blessings.” Some people assume that sleaze is a problem of public functionaries, but the private sector seems to be worse than the public sector these days.
One would have assumed that the more churches and mosques that spring up in every nook and cranny of Nigeria, the higher the morals in our society. But it is not so. The situation is that the more religious we get, the baser we become. Our land never knew the type of bloodshed experienced from religious extremists, political desperadoes, ritual killers, armed robbers, kidnappers, internet scammers, University cultists, and lynch mobs. Life has become so cheap and brutish that everyday seems to be a bonanza.
We import the petroleum that we have in abundance, rice and beans that our land can produce in abundance, and even toothpicks that primary school children can produce with little or no effort. Yet we drive the best of cars and live in the best of edifices, visit the best places in the world for holidays and use the most expensive electronic and telecoms gadgets. It is now a sign of poverty for a Nigerian to ride a saloon car. Four-wheel drive is it! Even government officials, who were known to use only Peugeot cars as official cars as a sign of modesty, have upgraded to Toyota Prado, without any iota of shame, in a country where about 70 per cent live below poverty. Private jets have become as common as cars. A nation that imports toothpicks and pins, flaunts wealth and wallows in ostentation at a time its children are trooping to Ghana, South Africa and the UK for university education and its sick people are running to India for treatment.
India produces automobile and exports it to the world. India’s medical care is second to none, with even Americans and Europeans travelling to the country for medical treatment. India has joined the nuclear powers. India has launched a successful mission to the moon. Yet bicycles and tricycles are common sights in India. But in Nigeria, only the wretched of the earth ride bicycles.
I have intentionally chosen to compare Nigeria with India rather than China, South Korea, Brazil, Malaysia, or Singapore, because of the similarities between India and Nigeria. But these countries were not as promising as Nigeria at the time of our independence.
Some would say that our undoing is our size: the 2012 United Nations estimate puts Nigeria’s population at 166 million, while India has a population of 1.2 billion. Some would blame it on the multiplicity of ethnic groups: we have 250 ethnic groups; India has more than 2000 ethnic groups. Some would hang it on the diversity in religion: we have two major religions – Christianity and Islam; but India has many. Some would say it is because we are young as an independent nation: we have 52 years of independence; India has 65 years, while apartheid ended in South Africa only in 1994.
Our land is sick and needs healing. We need more godliness than religion; more work and less hope; and more action and less words. Let everyone tidy up his or her corner first and demand fervently that our leaders tidy their areas of governance. Our nation is degenerating at a fast pace and we need to save it now.
The family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the most enlightened, peaceful, resilient and courageous freedom fighting indigenous mass movement of the world today, has grossly lost her members to the spate of hostilities orchestrated by the Nigerian armed security forces. IPOB members have intermittently been extra-judicially brutalised, arrested, imprisoned and gruesomely killed while quite some others have been declared missing. Nigeria is an evil enclave contrapted by the British colonialists through Fredrick Lugard in 1914.
As a result of tyrannical policies precipitated against the Biafran people, unaccountable number of breadwinners, children, youths and domestic animals have been killed particularly during the 2017 despicable military expeditions in Biafraland tagged Operation Python Dance II. The murderous exercise paved way for the invasion of the residence of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his aged parents - His Royal Majesty (HRM) Eze Israel Okwu-Kanu Kanu, the traditional ruler of Afara-ukwu Ibeku ancient kingdom in Umuahia, Abia State and his wife, Lolo Sally Okwu-Kanu. Eversince that fateful date of 14th September 2017 till date, they have neither been seen nor heard of. The Nigerian army abducted them and had kept incommunicado in a secretive custody. In that bizarre commando-styled invasion, over 28 Biafran youths were murdered, including the palace cook and a pet dog. Properties worth millions of United States dollars were wantonly destroyed.
The question that has been consistently asked by concerned Biafran citizens and well wishers is "Where is Nnamdi Kanu and his aged parents, HRM Eze Israel Okwu-Kanu and his Queen?". Reason being that they were last seen in their home before the dastardly act of the military invasion of the Hausa-Fulani terrorists infested Nigerian army. Reflectively, it is of great importance to put ourselves in the position of blood relations of all those massacred or unjustly treated and ascertain the inherent pain and sorrow.
Come Friday 14th September 2018, we must be parts of the upcoming General Strike Action/Sit-At-Home to remember all these our fallen brethren. It is also a day to call to mind the activities of saboteurs who connived with our enemies to invade our land and kill our people. This they orchestrated out of greed and selfish frivolities over and against the collective aspirations and well being of their people. These saboteurs/snitches include Ohaneze Ndigbo socio-cultural group led by John Nnia Nwodo, the Southeast/Southsouth governors, Senators, members of the House of Representatives, some traditional/religious leaders, amongst others. These are the evil ones that have surreptitiously mortgaged the destinies of Biafrans for crass egocentric gains.
All private and public engagements including markets, shopping centers, motor parks, transportation companies, banks and schools are all expected to be shutdown on Friday 14th of September 2018, as an unmistakable statement to the Fulani Islamic fundamentalists government of Nigeria, their foreign allies led by Britain and the entire global community that Biafrans need their total freedom coupled with the restoration of the sovereignty of their fatherland.
Written by Prince Dan
The biggest country in Africa that the United Kingdom colonized is Nigeria. The biggest country that the United Kingdom colonized in Asia is India (which then comprised the present Pakistan and Bangladesh). When the UK came into Nigeria and India, like all other countries they colonized, they brought along their technology, religion (Christianity), and culture: names, dressing, food, language, etc.
Try as hard as the British did, India rejected the British religion, names, dressing, food, and even language, but they did not reject the British technology. Today, 80.5% of Indians are Hindus; 13.4% Muslims; 2.3% Christians; 1.9% Sikhs; 0.8% Buddhists, etc. Hindi is the official language of the government of India, but English is used extensively in business and administration and has gstatus of a “subsidiary official language.” It is rare UN an Indian with an English name or dressed in suit.
On the other hand, Nigeria embraced, to a large extent, the British religion, British culture – names, dressing, foods, and language – but rejected the British technology. The difference between the Nigerian and the Indian experiences is that while India is proud of its heritage, Nigeria takes little pride in its heritage, a situation that has affected the nationalism of Nigerians and our development as a nation. Before the advent of Christianity, the Arabs had brought Islam into Nigeria through the North. Islam also wiped away much of the culture of Northern Nigeria. Today, the North has only Sharia Courts but no Customary Courts. So from the North to the South of Nigeria, the Western World and the Eastern World have shaped our lives to be like theirs and we have lost much or all of our identity.
Long after the British and Arabs left Nigeria, Nigeria has waxed strong in religion to the extent that Nigerians now set up religious branches of their home-grown churches in Europe, the Americas, Asia and other African countries. Just like the Whites brought the gospel to us, Nigerians now take the gospel back to the Whites. In Islam, we are also very vibrant to the extent that if there is a blasphemous comment against Islam in Denmark or the US, even if there is no violent reaction in Saudi Arabia, the Islamic headquarters of the world, there will be loss of lives and destruction of property in Nigeria.
If the United Arab Emirates, a country with 75% Muslims, is erecting the tallest building in the world and encouraging the world to come and invest in its country by providing a friendly environment, Boko Haram ensures that the economy of the North (and by extension that of Nigeria) is crippled with bombs and bullets unless every Nigerian converts to Boko Haram’s brand of Islam. We are indeed a very religious people. Meanwhile, while we are building the biggest churches and mosques, the Indians, South Africans, Chinese, Europeans and Americans have taken over our key markets: telecoms, satellite TV, multinationals, banking, oil and gas, automobile, aviation, shopping malls, hospitality, etc.
Ironically, despite our exploits in religion, we are a people with little godliness, a people without scruples. It is rare to do business with a Nigerian Pastor, Deacon, Knight, Elder, Brother, Sister, Imam, Mullah, Mallam, Alhaji or Alhaja without the person laying landmines of bribes and deception on your path. We call it PR, facilitation fee, processing fee, transport money, financial engineering, deal, or whatever. But if it does not change hands, nothing gets done. And when it is amassed, we say it is “God’s blessings.” Some people assume that sleaze is a problem of public functionaries, but the private sector seems to be worse than the public sector these days.
One would have assumed that the more churches and mosques that spring up in every nook and cranny of Nigeria, the higher the morals in our society. But it is not so. The situation is that the more religious we get, the baser we become. Our land never knew the type of bloodshed experienced from religious extremists, political desperadoes, ritual killers, armed robbers, kidnappers, internet scammers, University cultists, and lynch mobs. Life has become so cheap and brutish that everyday seems to be a bonanza.
We import the petroleum that we have in abundance, rice and beans that our land can produce in abundance, and even toothpicks that primary school children can produce with little or no effort. Yet we drive the best of cars and live in the best of edifices, visit the best places in the world for holidays and use the most expensive electronic and telecoms gadgets. It is now a sign of poverty for a Nigerian to ride a saloon car. Four-wheel drive is it! Even government officials, who were known to use only Peugeot cars as official cars as a sign of modesty, have upgraded to Toyota Prado, without any iota of shame, in a country where about 70 per cent live below poverty. Private jets have become as common as cars. A nation that imports toothpicks and pins, flaunts wealth and wallows in ostentation at a time its children are trooping to Ghana, South Africa and the UK for university education and its sick people are running to India for treatment.
India produces automobile and exports it to the world. India’s medical care is second to none, with even Americans and Europeans travelling to the country for medical treatment. India has joined the nuclear powers. India has launched a successful mission to the moon. Yet bicycles and tricycles are common sights in India. But in Nigeria, only the wretched of the earth ride bicycles.
I have intentionally chosen to compare Nigeria with India rather than China, South Korea, Brazil, Malaysia, or Singapore, because of the similarities between India and Nigeria. But these countries were not as promising as Nigeria at the time of our independence.
Some would say that our undoing is our size: the 2012 United Nations estimate puts Nigeria’s population at 166 million, while India has a population of 1.2 billion. Some would blame it on the multiplicity of ethnic groups: we have 250 ethnic groups; India has more than 2000 ethnic groups. Some would hang it on the diversity in religion: we have two major religions – Christianity and Islam; but India has many. Some would say it is because we are young as an independent nation: we have 52 years of independence; India has 65 years, while apartheid ended in South Africa only in 1994.
Our land is sick and needs healing. We need more godliness than religion; more work and less hope; and more action and less words. Let everyone tidy up his or her corner first and demand fervently that our leaders tidy their areas of governance. Our nation is degenerating at a fast pace and we need to save it now.
The family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the most enlightened, peaceful, resilient and courageous freedom fighting indigenous mass movement of the world today, has grossly lost her members to the spate of hostilities orchestrated by the Nigerian armed security forces. IPOB members have intermittently been extra-judicially brutalised, arrested, imprisoned and gruesomely killed while quite some others have been declared missing. Nigeria is an evil enclave contrapted by the British colonialists through Fredrick Lugard in 1914.
As a result of tyrannical policies precipitated against the Biafran people, unaccountable number of breadwinners, children, youths and domestic animals have been killed particularly during the 2017 despicable military expeditions in Biafraland tagged Operation Python Dance II. The murderous exercise paved way for the invasion of the residence of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his aged parents - His Royal Majesty (HRM) Eze Israel Okwu-Kanu Kanu, the traditional ruler of Afara-ukwu Ibeku ancient kingdom in Umuahia, Abia State and his wife, Lolo Sally Okwu-Kanu. Eversince that fateful date of 14th September 2017 till date, they have neither been seen nor heard of. The Nigerian army abducted them and had kept incommunicado in a secretive custody. In that bizarre commando-styled invasion, over 28 Biafran youths were murdered, including the palace cook and a pet dog. Properties worth millions of United States dollars were wantonly destroyed.
The question that has been consistently asked by concerned Biafran citizens and well wishers is "Where is Nnamdi Kanu and his aged parents, HRM Eze Israel Okwu-Kanu and his Queen?". Reason being that they were last seen in their home before the dastardly act of the military invasion of the Hausa-Fulani terrorists infested Nigerian army. Reflectively, it is of great importance to put ourselves in the position of blood relations of all those massacred or unjustly treated and ascertain the inherent pain and sorrow.
Come Friday 14th September 2018, we must be parts of the upcoming General Strike Action/Sit-At-Home to remember all these our fallen brethren. It is also a day to call to mind the activities of saboteurs who connived with our enemies to invade our land and kill our people. This they orchestrated out of greed and selfish frivolities over and against the collective aspirations and well being of their people. These saboteurs/snitches include Ohaneze Ndigbo socio-cultural group led by John Nnia Nwodo, the Southeast/Southsouth governors, Senators, members of the House of Representatives, some traditional/religious leaders, amongst others. These are the evil ones that have surreptitiously mortgaged the destinies of Biafrans for crass egocentric gains.
All private and public engagements including markets, shopping centers, motor parks, transportation companies, banks and schools are all expected to be shutdown on Friday 14th of September 2018, as an unmistakable statement to the Fulani Islamic fundamentalists government of Nigeria, their foreign allies led by Britain and the entire global community that Biafrans need their total freedom coupled with the restoration of the sovereignty of their fatherland.
Written by Prince Dan
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