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…Says Obua is suffering from low level of education
We read with mixed feeling the press statement issued by the Rivers PDP titled, “Dakuku’s Attack on Odili, Height Of Frustration, Rascality – Rivers PDP Chairman”
Though, it is not our intention to exchange words with a group that have proved themselves as insensitive to the lives and plight of the Rivers State people but in order to put the records straight, let us state that the Rivers State PDP Chairman, Mr Obuah was totally wrong in his statement as Dr Peterside never insulted the Odilis but it seems that Mr Obuah must be suffering from low level education as he could not interpret correctly the statement by a credible and respected by PhD holder and respected gentleman from Rivers State who have proved himself as a better leader.
For avoidance of doubt, Dr Peterside was only reacting to the insinuation by Chief Wike that the Odili’s were the forces behind his Supreme Court’s victory. For avoidance of doubt, this is what Dr Dakuku Peterside said, “For the records, in his speech at the church service, Gov. Nyesom Wike probably forgot that he was on live telecast when he stated: “Let me thank our former governor, Dr. Peter Odili [husband of Supreme Court Justice, Mary
Credible information confirmed that Nyesom Wike had earlier confessed to some persons of having met one of the Justices of the Supreme Court in Mbaise during an important burial, another at Owerri in a hotel and yet others in Dubai and Saudi Arabia respectively. These Justices were in the panel that decided the matter in Wike’s favour.
However, the most striking revelation by Nyesom Wike is contained in his account at the thanksgiving service last Sunday. He obviously stunned his audience and the watching world when he confessed that when it came to the Judges, Dr. Peter Odili and the wife Justice Mary Odili [a Justice of the Supreme Court] were his advisers. This simply confirmed his earlier statements that he had contact with the Justices after several attempts to reach the Chief Justice of the country failed. It is therefore obvious that the decision of the Supreme Court on the Rivers State Election was not a product of justice but rather a product of compromise and orchestrated contrivance to legalise electoral violence and rigging and, in turn, reward injustice. This calls for serious introspection by our Judiciary and judicial officers.
For the records, in his speech at the church service, Gov. Nyesom Wike probably forgot that he was on live telecast when he stated: “Let me thank our former governor, Dr. Peter Odili [husband of Supreme Court Justice, Mary Odili]. He will call me midnight to tell me what to do….he will say ‘go so so place.’ I took all his advice, and here we are today.” This shocking confession needs no further explanation except for you and other decent Nigerians to further make your fair conclusions”.
With this clarification, Mr Obuah should try and busy himself with how to clean the dirty environment Wike’s administration has bestowed on Rivers State as a legacy.
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze SSA on Media and Public Affairs to the State Chairman, APC Rivers State
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A RESPONSE TO FEMI FALANA, AN INTEGRITY-CHALLENGED CHARLATAN (ICC)
The malicious attempt by Lagos Lawyer, Femi Falana to mix Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala up in issues that have nothing to do with her in his letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a desperate joke by an integrity challenged charlatan (ICC).
This misadventure shows that the so-called learned lawyer does not have any idea of what the mandate of the ICC is about.
He has resorted to this action because his previous efforts to tarnish her name – through his discredited NGO, SERAP and petitions to the EFCC – failed because they were lacking in credibility.
This latest effort to try to attach her name falsely confirms that Femi Falana is nothing but a tool of corrupt elements whose interests were hurt by the work Dr. Okonjo-Iweala did in fighting corruption while she was in office.
These elements have now made a habit of making false allegations against Dr Okonjo-Iweala whenever she receives any national or international recognition for her work. The pattern is clear and Nigerians should be alert to it. But Dr Okonjo-Iweala will not be intimidated from going on with her life and performing her duties. She will not give in to cowardly and unmanly bullying.
Falana’s latest attempt to implicate Dr Okonjo-Iweala falsely suggests that he is suffering from an ailment that may be described as Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA) because he simply has no grasp of the facts.
Here are the facts:
FACT NO 1: OKONJO-IWEALA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE $2.1 BILLION ARMS CONTROVERSY
Contrary to Falana’s lies, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged misuse of $2.1billion by the office of the former National Security Adviser. Falana and his sponsors are simply trying to invent a connection where there is none.
The January 20, 2015 memo in which Dr Okonjo-Iweala sought and received the approval of former President Jonathan for the release of part of the newly returned Abacha funds to the NSA for purchase of arms is totally separate from the $2.1 billion issue.
The memo which is now in the public domain speaks for itself. The release of the resources was in response to an approval by the former President following a meeting chaired by him after a committee had considered the request.
The memo clearly documented Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s insistence that the proper procedure be followed, subject to appropriation and according to financial regulations. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala went further to state that the former NSA should account for the funds to the former President since she is not a member of the Security Council. The attempt to link Okonjo-Iweala to the $2.1billion issue is therefore dead on arrival.
FACT NO 2: OKONJO-IWEALA WAS NOT IN GOVERNMENT WHEN MOST OF THE ABACHA FUNDS WERE RECOVERED
Falana and his sponsors have claimed that billions of dollars of Abacha funds were recovered and that Dr Okonjo-Iweala should account for the recovered funds.
The fact is that some of the funds recovery was done under the regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo when Dr Okonjo-Iweala was not even in government.
During the time Dr Okonjo-Iweala was Finance Minister in the second Obasanjo administration, $500m was recovered. As documented by the Field Study conducted by the World Bank with the assistance of national and international NGOs, this amount was properly applied.
Falana’s insistence on the contrary shows how despicable he is and how he is ready to ignore facts and concoct a fiction in the service of his sponsors.
FACT 3: OKONJO-IWEALA LEFT STRONG LEGACIES AS A CHAMPION OF TRANSPARENCY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION WHILE IN GOVERNMENT
It is on record that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala championed transparency and vigorously fought corruption during her two terms as Minister. Among other actions, starting from the second Obasanjo administration, she, for the first time in Nigeria’s history, published monthly revenue allocations to all tiers of government for Nigerians to see.
While serving in the Obasanjo administration, she requested the assistance of the World Bank and DFID, the UK’s development agency to build institutions and systems that could block leakages from the treasury. This work stalled after she left office in 2006. In August 2011 when she returned under the Jonathan government, with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance Team, she re-invigorated the establishment and use of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Management Systems (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA), all of which saved the country billions of naira by drastically reducing avenues for corruption in the public service. These facts are well documented in successive World Bank, DFID and IMF Article 4 Reports.
It is gratifying that the present government has adopted and is further building on these systems for the benefit of the country.
FACT NO 4: DR. OKONJO-IWEALA’S MOTHER WAS KIDNAPPED AND ALMOST KILLED BECAUSE OF THE FORMER MINISTER’S STANCE AGAINST CORRUPTION
Falana is callous beyond belief for ignoring a fact of recent Nigerian history: the kidnap of Professor Kamene Okonjo, the then 83 year old mother of Dr Okonjo-Iweala by agents of fuel subsidy fraudsters who were angry that the former Minister had blocked them from defrauding the country further.
The kidnappers had told the traumatised old woman that they were sent to punish Okonjo-Iweala for refusing to pay some oil marketers. It is on record with the State Security Services that the kidnappers initially demanded the resignation of Dr Okonjo-Iweala in return for the release of her mother. Thank God Professor Okonjo is still alive to tell her story today and she will not be silenced.
It is extremely insensitive and, in fact, inhumane for Falana and his sponsors to level false accusations against someone like Dr Okonjo-Iweala who went through this kind of searing personal ordeal for her principled fight against corruption.
CONCLUSION
Falana’s attempt to implicate Dr Okonjo-Iweala falsely is a disservice to law, justice and the image of the country. It is sad that a person who had earned some prominence as a human rights lawyer now tramples on the human rights of others as a political jobber.
He and his sponsors are engaged in nothing but media harassment, cyber bullying and intimidation against innocent persons like Dr Okonjo-Iweala for political and pecuniary gain. That is why Nigerians should not give in to Falana’s self-imposed Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA).
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The attention of the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been drawn to a statement by Gov. Nyesom Wike signed by his media assistant, Simeon Nwakaudu, in which the governor deliberately and mischievously misrepresented ongoing security operations by security forces to neutralise known criminals in dark spots across Rivers State.
In the said statement, Gov. Nyesom Wike vigorously tried to paint the wrong picture of politics on otherwise purely security operations hopefully contrived by security agencies in response to the fast degenerating security situation in Rivers State.
Under normal circumstances, the state governor and his government should have risen in support of the ongoing exercise especially as security of lives and property are the primary responsibility of government anywhere in the world.
Unfortunately, Governor Nyesom Wike and his PDP in Rivers State have resorted to the highest form of blackmail against security agencies by claiming that locations the security agents have raided to arrest criminals belong to their members and that the criminals being sought for are PDP members.
If truly the criminals being sought for by security agents are indeed members of the PDP as claimed by the governor, then this confirms the widely held opinion that the State government and its highly placed officials are behind the rising spate of killings, kidnapping, cultism, armed robbery and other dangerous crimes across Rivers State. Again, there is no denying the fact that the criminal kingpins responsible for the various crimes in Rivers State were same persons Nyesom Wike and his PDP people used to unleash mayhem on Rivers people and residents before, during and after the 2015 general elections.
In all locations so far covered by the security operations, various illegal weapons and other materials have been reportedly recovered by security agents. At the Abuja Estate Waterside, arms and ammunition were discovered and retrieved. Similar discoveries including 669 PVCs were made by security agents at locations in Degema and Buguma belonging to the Asari-Toru Caretaker Chairman, Egberi Papa. At Yeghe, Gokana home of Solomon Ndigbara alias Osama bin Ladin, various guns and materials were recovered. The ONELGA abode of the notorious kingpin, Don Wannie, various sophisticated arms and ammunition were also recovered.
The question the APC and well-meaning people are asking is this: is Governor Nyesom Wike saying that these individuals he claims to be his PDP members have any legal right to keep firearms, ammunition and other persons’ Permanent Voters Cards in their possession?
Let the governor and his party accept that there can never be peace and security in Rivers State as long as those behind such insecurity are allies and members of the party in charge of the state government. This is the highest level of conflict of interest to the collective detriment of the peace-loving people and residents of Rivers State.
The APC wishes to strongly condemn the deliberate politicisation of simple and clear security operations being undertaken by security agents at great risk to their lives in order to stem the high level of insecurity presently bedevilling our dear state. Indeed this is the height of mischief by the state governor and his party, the PDP.
The APC calls on the proud and courageous people of Rivers State not to be deceived and cowed by threats or blinded by filthy blood money from the outgoing state governor and the criminals he illegally appointed as Caretaker Chairmen but to stand up and raise their voice in support of ongoing legitimate actions of security agencies aimed at restoring sanity in Rivers State and secure lives and property.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Orange today announced it has entered into a firm agreement with Cellcom Telecommunications Limited
PARIS, France, January 12, 2016/ — Orange (www.Orange.com) today announced it has entered into a firm agreement with Cellcom Telecommunications Limited to acquire, through its subsidiary Orange Côte d’Ivoire, 100% of Cellcom’s Liberia subsidiary, the leading mobile operator* in Liberia, with the strongest market commercial momentum.
Orange will provide its marketing expertise and world-class technical capability to further strengthen the network operator, enhance services to consumers and contribute to the economic growth of Liberia. Cellcom’s founders and employees will remain involved in the business to ensure a smooth integration, support performance and continue long-standing relations with the Government of Liberia.
This acquisition is part of the international development strategy of Orange, which aims to accelerate its growth by entering new emerging markets with high potential. This will enable Orange to strengthen its positions in Africa, which is a strategic priority for the Group.
Liberia is a country of over 4.3 million inhabitants, with a mobile penetration rate of 66%, lower than in many neighbouring countries. With a national mobile license and its significant market share in the country in number of subscribers, Cellcom has excellent potential for growth over the coming years.
The completion of the transaction remains subject to approval by the competent authorities.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Rivers State Chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC notes, yet again, with disappointment that the Rivers State Governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike learnt nothing in 2015 when it comes to honesty in governance.
This belief stems from the largely self-gratifying New Year message the governor broadcast to Rivers people and the world today. In the said message, Gov. Nyesom Wike claimed that he was working in line with a developmental blueprint for Rivers State. Nothing can be more primitively dishonest than that statement.
During the election campaigns, on January 26, 2015 Candidate Nyesom Wike formally presented to the public what he called his development blueprint aimed at repositioning Rivers State. While making that presentation which he reportedly titled “A new Rivers State, new vision, new thinking, better possibilities”, Nyesom Wike said that the blueprint was expected to guide the incoming administration and address development challenges that had crippled the state.
Wike further described the blueprint as a social contract between him and the people, declaring that the blueprint was premised upon employment generation which will drive infrastructural development, inclusive governance, administration of justice, education, roads and healthcare delivery.
Surprisingly, a couple of weeks after the swearing in of Gov. Nyesom Wike on May 29, 2015 the APC and Rivers people were stunned when the governor announced that he was setting up a Steering Committee on Development of Blueprint for Rivers State headed by Barr. Nimi Walson-Jack as the Chairman. Subsequently, the Committee was inaugurated by the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Chief Kenneth Kobani who named members of the committee to include Prof. K. F. A. Ebeku, Prof. Gloria Obuzor, Engr. Deinabo T. Horsfall, Dr. A. J. Beredugo and Engr. Joel Rowland Ibiabere.
It was at that point that it dawned on honest Rivers people that Nyesom Wike had pulled a fast one on everybody. His earlier launch of a blueprint at the start of the campaigns was a mere ruse laced with big, big talk signifying nothing.
The question remains: If Nyesom Wike launched a blueprint during the campaigns on January 26, 2015 which other blueprint did he set up the Nimi Waltson-Jack Steering Committee to draw up for Rivers people in June, 2015?
In the past seven months of Nyesom Wike administration in Rivers State, kidnapping, cultism, armed robbery and other dangerous crimes have become the order of the day. The government has not started a single project or programme suggesting that it had a blueprint of any sort.
The Nne Kurubo Model Secondary School at Eleme has been shut down with no hope of reopening. Youths of Rivers State on overseas scholarships have been disgracefully repatriated because the Wike government decided to levy group punishment on them, not necessarily because the government cannot dig deep to sustain their stay to finish their studies. Similarly, the RSSDA and the various projects and programmes the agency operates have been abandoned by the administration. The Banana Farm at the Ogoni axis has even been burnt down by suspected government arsonists while the Buguma Fish Farm and others have been abandoned by the State Government. The list is virtually inexhaustible.
The APC is grateful to God that Rivers people have seen through the deceit of Nyesom Wike and have decided to make earth-quaking moves beginning from this January. Indeed, Rivers people have realised that they have been duped because Barr. Nyesom Wike is ready for anything but responsible governance.
We are convinced that even if Nyesom Wike declares every card-carrying PDP member in Rivers State as Commissioner, Special Assistant or whatever, Rivers people have taken a stand and Nyesom Wike will soon discover that he is standing alone. The real Rivers people are proud people who choose their company carefully and would not, for whatever pecuniary reasons, choose the company of Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike because the different peoples and enclaves that make up Rivers State have age-old rich history that has no place for mediocre characters that we now find.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Lagos—The Police in Lagos have handed over cadets Peters Solomon and Abdullahi Fahad, who were intercepted by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, last Wednesday, while manhandling an artisan, Dahiru Lawal in Ketu area of the state, to authorities of the Nigerian Air Force.
The cadets were alleged to have beaten Lawal to a pulp, for breaking their car windscreen, and locked him up in the trunk of their Chrysler Stratus car when the governor’s convoy showed up.
Consequently, the governor, who was returning from an inspection visit ordered that they (cadets) be handed over to the Police for further investigation and prosecution.
Cadets Solomon and Fahad reportedly spent four days in police custody before they were handed over to authorities of the Nigerian Air Force at the Logistics Command, Ikeja, weekend.
Police sources hinted that while the cadets were in their custody, they claimed to be personnel of the Logistics command.
“We had to contact the command to ascertain if the claim was true. Thereafter, preparation towards their hand over was made. They have been handed over as constitutionally expected”, police sources told Vanguard yesterday.
Also, sources at the Logistics command hinted that the next line of action will be an in-house investigation. Thereafter, a court Marshal would be instituted to try them.
Air Officer Commanding Logistics Command, Air Vice Marshal Muhammed Muhammed, had earlier described the suspects conducts as contrary to the ethics of the NAF.
He said: “The leadership of the Nigerian Air Force will like to make it absolutely clear that the Service does not condone this kind of behaviour. We clearly understand our responsibilities to the public”, he said, adding that appropriate judicial process would be conducted as soon as the personnel were handed over to them.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Tigo Tanzania in partnership with a local NGO, Reach For Change, have once again announced two winners of the Tigo Digital Changemakers competition
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, December 16, 2015/ — Tigo Tanzania (www.Tigo.co.tz) in partnership with a local NGO, Reach For Change, have once again announced two winners of the Tigo Digital Changemakers competition. The competition is a social entrepreneurship programme aimed at identifying and empowering young Tanzanians with innovative digital solutions that can help to solve some of the country’s most pressing community needs.
The winners of 2015 bring to nine the total number of social entrepreneurs that have received funding from Tigo Tanzania through digital program in the past four years – each winner is given US $ 20,000 to implement their project idea. The seven existing Changemakers had until end of 2014 impacted the lives of over 10,000 children of the East African country, according to Tigo Tanzania Chief Commercial Officer, Shavkat Berdiev.
This year’s winners announced in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, December 16th are Neema Shosho and Bihaga Edward. They were among the 15 finalists who in 2015 made the cut in a grueling duel that usually pits hundreds of applicants with project ideas to improve the lives of children and the larger society using digital toolkit.
Each of the two winners benefit from a grant of $ 20,000 and a business management mentorship from Tigo to enable them achieve their dreams of putting their innovative solutions and technology into practice as change agents for the under-privileged in the society.
Renown as Tanzania’s leading digital lifestyle telecom operator, Tigo has been investing heavily in corporate social responsibility initiatives, the Digital Changemakers program being of them. The telecom, which has over 10 million subscribers, also supports programs in the health sector, education and sports.
“Our support for community development projects demonstrates our commitment to drive digital transformation not just for our customers but to the larger Tanzanian community as well. We are proud that by helping these social entrepreneurs, our organization is helping to solve some of the community’s challenges through digital solutions,” says Berdiev.
What the Digital Changemakers have done
The seven past winners of the Tigo Tanzania Digital Changemakers program are: Tadei Msumaje, Joan Avit, Leka Tingitana, Debora Shuma, Faraja Nyalandu and Carolyne Ekyarisiima.
Tadei Msumaje, who hails from the picturesque, Tanzanian northern city of Moshi that’s located on slopes of the panoramic Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s largest mountain, has pioneered Majengo Kids and Youth Technological School that integrates the use of ICT with other learning structures such as nursery education and entrepreneurship to ensure that the benefits of ICT spur learning processes to children in Tanzania.
For Joan Avit, hers is, ‘to assist in improving the quality of early childhood education for children through an easy-to-learn child-friendly and interactive technology literacy tool-kit’ called GraphoGame. GraphoGame is a Kiswahili-Finnish game-based, child-friendly innovation designed to help children read more easily and effectively by themselves. Her initiative has impacted more than 900 children. Through Tigo’s US $ 20,000 award, Avit was able to purchase GraphoGame devices and circulate them to more than 4,200 children in more than 20 schools in Moshi and Rombo in northern Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro region.
“Looking back”, says Avit; “Tigo’s support has helped a great deal in realizing the dreams of the children especially those with slow-learning abilities”.
It’s an innovation that conforms to Jean Piageat’s models of cognitive learning that conclude that children learn best if allowed to discover things for themselves.
In a country whose maternal mortality rate stands at a not-very-inspiring 454 per 100,000 live births and an infant mortality rate of 44 in 1,000 live births (according to Tanzania Demographic Health Survey, TDHS-2012), any intervention aimed at mitigating the situation is highly welcome.
That is why, thanks to Tigo’s support, Leka Tingitana’s mobile communications platform, eAFYA is providing a life-line to expectant mothers in Mwanza, a beautiful lake-shore city overlooking the world’s second largest fresh-water body, Lake Victoria.
With his budding digital company, LXT Technological Solutions for Africa, Tingitana’s innovation aims to ‘support the emerging network of community health workers (CHWs) who are at the fore-front in providing health-care support to expectant and new mothers in the Lake Zone’.
Tingitana proudly says of his life-saving digital project: “eAfya connects physicians and health-care providers by allowing the transformation of electronic data across a wide network of systems bringing about an organized way of diagnosis and creating sustainable dissemination of information on health matters thus allowing doctors and health workers to get access to important medical tests and results in a centralized registry!”. The project could be a game-changer in the health sector if the government through the relevant ministry leverages on it and spreads it all over the country.
Gabriella Rehabilitation Centre, another program by the Tigo Changemakers program, provides on-site occupational therapy in which therapists and teachers provide assessment, education and disability awareness to parents, care-givers, mentors and the community at large. The centre founder Debora-Shuma conceived the idea that rehabilitates disabled children as well as working towards eliminating stigma against them and integrating them with their abled-bodied counterparts through vocational training.
Computer literacy in Tanzanian primary schools is its nascent stages. This is the area that another Tigo Digital Changemakers, Faraja Nyalandu, has ventured into. Nyalandu has developed a digital toolkit that creates digital educational content that empowers youth and children via desktop and mobile learning services.
“Through my company Shule Direct, mobile learning services have impacted over 7,300 children within one year, thanks to support from Tigo,”Nyalandu says.
Similarly, Carolyne Ekyarisiima’s project of teaching basic and complex computer skills to young girls aged 10-18 years had by the end of 2014, impacted over 700 pupils.
Tigo Tanzania social investment is happening in parallel with the company’s investment on its infrastructure. In 2015, according to Berdiev, the telecom has invested US$ 120 million on its network expansion and improvement which include scaling up its 3G sites and fibre network as well as launching Tanzania’s biggest and fastest Tigo 4G LTE network.
Tigo Tanzania is the biggest commercial brand of Millicom, an international company developing the digital lifestyle in 12 countries with commercial operations in Africa and Latin America and corporate offices in Europe and the USA.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
THE widespread notion that the Igbo of the South Eastern Nigeria are direct descendants of the Jews has been a subject of debate.
While many ascribe it to the fact that there is a connection between the Igbo and Judaism based on a critical study of their linguistic, archeological, genetic and cultural ties, some others disagree saying that it is not so as they attribute the Jewish identification among the Igbo as a result of Christianity brought by missionaries, since most Igbo people are Christians.
But what is the true story, though many writers have written on this subject matter, but the book, The Igbos And Isreal; An Inter- Cultural Study of the largest Jewish Diaspora written by Abuja based Igbo author, lawyer and activist, Remy Ilona is unique in that it is a concerted move to answer the question based on a research carried out about it.
Written with the background that a significant part of the origin of their custom emanated from the ancient Isrealities and that Jewish identification has been part of the Igbo experience, the author who is one of the few Igbo authors with profound knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and its later Jewish commentaries carried out a comparative research, studying what others have written earlier on the subject and interviewing some of the eldest priests and others at Nri, and other Igbo locations.
It is his findings that formed the bulk of the 284 pages book divided into 20 chapters.
A study of the book shows that The Igbos And Isreal; An Inter- Cultural Study of the largest Jewish Diaspora is an inter cultural study of the systematic comparism of Igbo culture to the Hebrew and Isrealites. One special attribute of the book is the author’s ability to document and interprete some of the cultures of Igbo people, some of them which are outdated.
Chapter 1, takes a critical look at Life circle events which focusses on Igbo rituals associated with the birth of children, Initiation rites and Marriage and how it is linked to the Jewish culture.
Chapter two highlights the Comparative study of the ideas underlying Omenana and Judaism. Here, the author explains the meaning of Omenana and its importance to the early period unlike now when modernisation has eroded some of them. He also looked at Igbo perception of God (Chukwu) where he gave evidences that indeed proved that it is similar to the Isrealites perception of the Deity.
In Chapter 3, the author highlights the rituals associated with dying and death in the topic Onwu na Akwamaozu, the various ways Igbo handle the issue and how it was practiced by the Jews.
Feasts and festivals
Issues like feasts and festivals, New yam festival( Iri ji), Passover and Unleavened bread(Oriri Achicah), Sukkot (Ima Ntu), Eke Ukwu/Nkwo oru(Sabbath) and others were treated in Chapter four. Though some of them are no longer practiced in all Igbo land, there are some areas where they are observed. Chapter 5, examines some socio religious customs while chapter 6 takes a critical look at Abomination and purification(Aru na Ikpu aru) as it is done in Igbo land and its similarity to that of the Isrealites.
The concept of sacrifices and offerings(Ichu Aja) as practiced in Igbo land is treated in chapter 7. Here the different types of sacrifices in Igbo land especially those similar to the Jews are addressed. Chapters 8 and 9 looked at Classes among the Igbo and the socio-Religious personalities and authorities in Igbo land. While chapter 10 to 15 takes a comparative survey of the duties,. How do the Igbo people handle cases of crime and other offences, irresponsible and unnatural sexual behaviours, land matters, ritual cleanliness and Dietary matters in relation to that of the Isrealites were also treated.
In Chapters 16 to 19, the author bares his findings in similarities between Igbo and Semitic manners of dress,Joining the Igbo and Jewish people and leaving them and the Igbo society in general. Finally, he concludes with what he termed Thought- provoking Phenomena, where he narrated some Igbo folk-lores, Igbo and Isrealite farming practices and family trees.
The book can be described as a masterful job with a scholarly attention to detail. It serves two important purpose, first it documents the cultural practices of Igbo people many which are already going into extinction and secondly it beautifully narrates the Judiac rituals, beliefs and concepts as they are practiced in the Igbo culture of Nigeria.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Recognition for African developers who are working to deliver apps, websites and services for learning/education and economic empowerment; $US150, 000 awards for winners in two categories
Facebook is launching the Internet.org Innovation Challenge in Africa, with the aim of recognising developers and entrepreneurs who are using the internet to improve the standard of education and economic health in their communities. Developers across Africa are invited to enter the challenge.
Facebook will present an Innovation Challenge Award of US $150,000 to the app, website or service judged to be the best in two categories: learning/education and economic empowerment. Each Innovation Challenge Award winner will also receive a package of tools and services worth up to $60,000 from Facebook’s FbStart program. Two apps, websites or services in each category will receive an Impact Award prize in the amount of $50,000.
Connecting people across growth economies
This follows the success of Facebook’s Internet.org Innovation Challenge in India, an award designed to recognise people making the internet more relevant for women, students, farmers and migrant workers in India. Facebook awarded prizes to services working on these challenges in India, where it was inspiring to see the range of entrepreneurship devoted to improving people’s lives.
“The Internet.org Innovation Challenge in Africa supports our vision of a connected world by recognizing those who are working on solutions that aim to improve education and economic health of communities in Africa,” says Ime Archibong, director of strategic partnerships at Facebook. “We’re looking forward to seeing how African developers are providing real value for their communities. By connecting people and empowering them with access to services and information, we can help them achieve extraordinary things and help them to enhance their lives.”
The details of the awards
The awards are open to developers of apps, websites and online services that provide real value to African communities under the following pillars:
a) Learning/education (apps, websites or online services that make use of technology to inspire and deliver learning)
b) Economic empowerment (apps, websites or online services that help to advance the economic strength and ability of communities)
All entries must be received by 1 May, 2016. Winners will be announced in August/September 2016.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Prof. Catherine Acholonu and his co-authors explained, “The discoveries at Ugwuele show that the ‘out of Africa’ migrations were more or less an ‘out of Igboland’ migration and that Igboland was original home of Homo Erectus and that all of those who migrated out of Africa were Igbo ambassadors.
They stated that in the olden days, the ancestors carved stones as means of communication and also a way to give honour to great men and women who made great achievements in the society, and these stones were named after people, whom they were dedicated to.
Some of these carved stones known as monoliths were discovered in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria, about 300 kilometers from Calabar, the state capital and the villagers called them Akwa Nshi, meaning that they were made by Nshi, Stone Age people. ‘Nshi’ in Igbo means dwarf.
Based on archeological discoveries, the researchers also claimed that they have found out that one language was spoken at the beginning of mankind, the same language spoken by Adam and Eve and that the language was indeed none other than Igbo.
“Likewise, the story of Adam and Eve has links with Igbo tradition through remnants of Igbo language found in all words connected to Adam and Eve story. For instance, Hebrew name for Adam as first man was ‘Esh,’ which is also spelt Eesh/Eshi/Ishi. The Bible says that Eve’s name ‘Ish-she or Esh-she’ because she was taken out of the man.
This means that ‘Esh’ and ‘Esh-she’ means in Igbo ‘Taken from the dwarf (as in she-puta-to pull out). She also means in Igbo ‘to become less, ‘to reduce,’ implying that by creation of woman from man, man became weaker or less than he was originally. Adam’s popular name by which he is known throughout the world has a straight meaning-Adaa m ‘I have fallen, I have become less than my original self’ but not so in Ikom language,” they stated.
“Also the name of Adam’s second son, Abel, who was murdered by his elder brother, and who became known as the ‘lamb that was slain’ seems to have been derived from Igbo word, Ebula meaning lamb. (We heard of the blood of Abel being compared with the blood of Jesus ‘the Lamb of God’).
Cain, who killed his brother, was banished and he began to roam the earth and took the name Amakandu (condemned to life of roaming), but as time went on, some of his children got tired of roaming and decided to build settlements for themselves. And accordingly they changed their names to Dunu, meaning ‘settle’ or ‘sit’ in Igbo, revealing that the first generation of humans on earth spoke Igbo. In fact, there is a clan in Anambra State that goes by the name Dunukofia, meaning that to settle is better than to roam.”
It was noted in the book that if “the Bible tells us that God’s first instruction to humankind was written on stone, the Igbos have an oral tradition published under the title “Ndi Ichie Akwa mythology or folklore tradition of Ndigbo by I.N.C. Nwosu, which narrates that God gave a set of 10 laws on stone to his people called Ndiichie Akwa, which were symbolised by 10 fingers etched on stone. This has a similarity to Hebrew story of the laws given to Moses by God.
The story says that after the world was destroyed by the great flood, the children of the great ancestor of Igbo people were instructed by God to return to the center of the earth where he and his lineage will dwell with God in peace and tranquility.
They continued: “We believe that Ikom (and its monoliths) was the destination of the journey of the children of Noah as indicated in the Biblical Genesis and that the people who journeyed to West Africa, were a branch of Ham’s children, possibly Canaan and that the monoliths served as a landmark for the new immigrants.
In the Bible, it is actually reported that Noah instructed his second son, Ham to return to Africa with his children. South Eastern Nigeria (which includes South South) is actually the cartographical (from the map of the world) location of the center of the earth, because all the ancient territory of Biafra was the ‘Median” and ‘Median’ means centre in any map.”
Acholonu and his co-authors noted however that the monoliths were not the only stone writings associated with the Igbo, since in the British Isles, stones have been found bearing Igbo language inscriptions written in form of writing known as Ogam, said to have been written on a stick as well as a stone, giving it the name Ogama, which in Igbo language, might have been Ogu-ama, meaning ‘Stick for External use’ or ‘Writing on sticks for masses’. Ogu is also linked to the Igbo concept of Iji ofo na ogu-a stick that stands for justice and innocence.
They stated that apart from the Igbo based ancient Ogam inscriptions found in British Isles, another proof that Igbo people lived in and colonised the British Isles in pre-historic times is the presence of numerous Igbo words in English language such as doro (draw), Mmanwu (Man); Saa (Say), Ukwe (Choir), Ekpere (prayer), Mfe (fair), Okuko (Cock), Mmiri (Marine), ga (go) among others.
“We found evidence that in pre-historic times, Igbo people were known as people of light and Sons of God (Opara/Okwara). They were worshipped by other clans of humans. They were the first kings and god-men known to human beings in general. Appollo, whose name was pronounced as Okpara, was the first example. The Pharaoh of Egypt actually took their title from Okpara Ihe (Son of Light). There are available records from 2000 BC showing that Pharoahs sent expeditions to West Africa to import Eshi (dwarfs), whom they valued as divine beings who bestowed blessings on Egypt.”
Reviewing the book, They Lived Before Adam, at its public presentation at Michael Okpara Square in Enugu on June 27, 2009, a senior lecturer at the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Nwankwo Nwaezeigwe said that from the title of the book, it is all about tracing the origin of the Igbo people to the remotest past of human existence, a study whose methodology cuts across such disciplines as history, linguistics, applied arts, geology, economics, geography as well as science and technology.
Nwaezeigwe said that he has come to the conclusion given the characteristic embellishing masculinity of the work, that Prof. Catherine Acholonu is an enigmatic mistake of divine creation, one of those rare women who are imbued with every ingredient of manhood except the manhood itself.
“This, one can evidently notice by an internalised driving force in her, a force for adventure, a force to conquer and an ever propelling carriage ready to accept challenges, all embellished with a passion for upholding her, do I say, his Igbo identity, pride of the past and culture. She is not just a pan Igboist, but also a universal proponent of the primacy of Black human kind in the cradle of human existence.
“The book is not merely an emphasis within the broad spectrum of historical studies. Built on a panoply or oral ethno linguistic and archeological studies, and to some appreciable extent, on array of written sources, the work fundamentally represents a paradigm shift from traditional school of thought which often seeks to define Igbo origin in particular and black race in general, in context of non-African root,” Nwaezeigwe said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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