21/04/2025
Interesting history
A MUST READ TO THOSE WHOSE FATHER'S DIDN'T REMEMBER TO TELL THEM WE'RE IGBOS AND HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE THE BINI'S INVADED OUR LANDS, SOLD AND ENSLAVED OUR FATHERS FOR CONQUEST.
I have been up all night, trying to find the right words to string this together. I had a lengthy conversation with Rita Ejidoh and it brought tears to my eyes.
The Igbo nation, are paying for a grave sin they "commited" decades ago. This sin is the root of the division and identity crisis.
In 1883, when the colonial masters increased tariffs, taxes and trade restrictions that seriously affected the Western Igbo climes, the people quietly went into strategic planning.
Watching the invaders grab their lands, desecrate ancestral shrines and temples , destroy sacred forests and muddle their customs, the people decided enough was enough. They began recruiting able bodied volunteers to form a movement.
That movement was the Ekwunaekwu(do not speak of) adulterated to Ekumeku. They were a secret guerilla group that operated in stealth and precision, attacking the British soldiers in many ambushes.
Our people stood up against the colonial masters for 31 years, held them down. This is one of the longest wars in history and one which greatly upset Britain.
It ridiculed them and put a dent on their bragging rights. This slap was too hard for them to bear. It wasn't a surprise that immediately after the war ended in 1914, they joined Northern and Southern Nigeria in amalgamation same year.
It was a calculated move to dilute the powers of the Igbo people. To achieve this, they started the divide and conquer games.
They appointed some kings as first class rulers and tagged the rest second class chiefs. The first class rulers were given preferences and they were made to seem as equal to the whites. This was to scatter the unity.
It worked. Soon the smaller rulers started seeing the first class rulers as rivals and the first class rulers suddenly felt they were now above the others and they began attacking the other towns.
The British sponsored historians and writers to go into the first class kingdoms and document their history.
These historians were in alliance with the rulers and to impress the whites and portray themselves as superior and worthy of the friendship of the European colonial government, these rulers claimed the neighboring towns were their children and descendants.
This is why they only spoke to the rulers and not the people. The rulers were blackmailed and they played along. The sole agenda, was the disunification of the Igbo nation.
Worthy of note, is the fact that the Bini were not there throughout the 31 years of war, to assist the Anioma people in the war. They actually sided with the British after having suffered defeat earlier.
The Bini were defeated by the British in just few days, but the Igbo people of the Western climes held it down for over 3 decades.
The funny thing, is that when the state creation started, the Bini ruler did plead with the Igbanke people to remain in Edo and to claim Bini ancestry. This was to strengthen the supposed Bini might.
Their ego was badly bruised after the punitive expedition and the banishment of the Oba, so they needed to regain lost glory.
When the war was fought, it was called an Igbo war. The whites have it on record that they fought with the "Igbos of the Western shores"
All documents recorded the ekumeku war as "Western Igbo war"
The Bini weren't there to support. They have never supported.
If our ancestors could stand their ground for 31 years, armed with nothing but dane guns, machetes, clubs and above all, the unquestionably divine bravery of the Igbo man, then who are we to fail today?
The Ekumeku war is the sin we committed. We stained the pride of the British and they swore to make us pay, by firstly creating disunity and then sponsoring others to claim us as their property and going on to document it so our future generations would grow up with the lies.
A town with population lower than Aniocha North, coming to claim to have birthed almost 90% of Anioma!
Anyone who's ancestors fought in the Ekumeku war, and is today claiming to be a Bini descendant, I spit on you. Your ancestors must be ashamed of you. You have denied their legacies by claiming to be who was against them.
Like I told my daughter Rita Ejidoh , in our conversation over the phone yesterday, our rulers are the biggest problem we have. They have been bought over and put under blackmail by the enemies. Only a few of them can actually say their minds. The rest cower before the altars of prejudice and lies.
We must defeat the identity crisis within by breaking free from the shackles of clannishness and refusal to connect.
Is anyone surprised with the incessant claims of ownership of Anioma land by both the Bini and Igala people?
These claims have increased in recent times and this is just the beginning. Ndị Igbo must be more united than ever.
Always remember, that our ancestors fought together against the British and against colonialism, as Igbos in Anioma region and not as descendants of Edo or Igala.
Hrh Omu Onyebuchi Okonkwo
