Follow Us on Google
The exquisitely upscaled Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia had the presence of top-tier Igbo personalities on Friday July 10, 2026. Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, in his usual respectful tradition, rolled out the red carpet in honour of a first-class Igbo progressive and former Minister of Education & Health, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, who clocked 83 years on July 9,2026. Indeed, pulling off such a flawless event was beyond luck. It took painstaking attention to detail of the state government’s committee and a fine operational balance of Senator Emma Nwaka who acted as a go-between of the committee and the family of the octogenarian. Expectedly, people from Madubuike’s home-town ably led by the National President of Isuochi Community Development Association (ICDA), Engr. Ochiabuto Orji, came in their numbers.
The occasion was not only about unwinding and paying of glowing tributes to the birthday boy. It was also a solemn moment of engaging the minds with ideas. I had the honour of reviewing one of the books titled, Aka Ekpuchi Onwa: The Igbo Unbowed, published in 2024. The 459-page non-fiction literature arranged in 37 chapters, including the select bibliography and appendices, was written in lucid and flowing language.
The central thesis is that Ndi Igbo as an internationally-acknowledged special breed and a people with the trajectory of rising from ashes to stardom, are too spectacularly ingenious and awesomely endowed, to play a second fiddle in Nigeria. For him, Ndi Igbo must strive to overcome survivalist psychology and bounce back to reckoning in the mainstream of national affairs in Nigeria. The reason is simple: If you are not at the table, you are probably on the menu.
The author’s first observation is that long before the white men visited Igbo land, Ndi Igbo had developed and practiced homegrown social democracy that was hinged on popular participation and traditional checks and balances. However, the uncritical imposition of Lugard’s Indirect Rule system with its “paternalistic, racist, and undemocratic” fangs set the tone for disarticulation and disorientation of cultural values of Ndi Igbo.
The author recognizes that though the Yoruba led the thrust of Western education in Nigeria because of their early contact with the British, but beginning from the 1930s up to 1959, Ndi Igbo had overtaken with the highest number of teachers and pupils across the country. Education became a yardstick of progress for Ndi Igbo. It was not surprising that two great Igbo sons: Professor Kenneth Dike and Professor Eni Njoku were the first Nigerian Vice Chancellor of the University College, Ibadan, and the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, respectively.
With empirical facts, the author notes that Ndi Igbo are no pushovers anywhere, as they are largely ingrained with never-say-die spirit. It was the black slaves of Igbo origin that prosecuted the Haitian revolution in the 1800s. The legendary fighting spirit also found expression in the Jamaicans of Igbo origin who challenged the subjugation of blacks as second-class citizens across the Caribbean. The Igbo have also produced world-class sports stars from the distant past, especially in the track and field events, the areas Jamaicans have excelled, too. Consequently, the author makes a case for a correlative inquiry into the superlative genes in athletics among the Jamaicans and the Igbo cousins in Africa; to find out whether they are a matter of DNA or, just environmental factors.
Other News
The entrepreneurial versatility of Ndi Igbo anywhere they are found is discussed in the book. In Benin Republic and Cote d’Ivoire, it is often said that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) would fold if the Igbo withdraw their deposits. Also, in far away, Staunton, Virginia, United States, the American Historical Museum celebrated the Igbo slaves as one of the three nationals that helped to build America. In other professions, Ndi Igbo have also excelled and shattered glass ceilings.
The author delves into the patterns of travails and cultural parallels between Ndi Igbo and the Jews, as both the Igbo and the Jews are largely treated as endangered species. During the Nigerian civil war, Dr. Henry Kissinger, former United States Secretary of State, described the Igbo as “the wandering Jews of Africa” and that they were scapegoated by other rival ethnic groups in Nigeria because they are gifted, aggressive, and largely cosmopolitan. Of course, Olaudah Equiano, the legendary abolitionist, had also noted that the Igbo share cultural similarities with the Jews. In the same vein, Nnamdi Azikiwe, in his speech to Igbo State Union in 1949 compared the Igbo to the “Jews who were destined to wear a sacrificial toga.” Instructively, the author reveals a recent discovery of a book written in 1670 at Harvard University library which indicated that the Hebrews who escaped from Romans and settled on the bank of River Niger were the Igbo and that they have Hebrew culture. Nonetheless, the author suggests further research by historiographers.
Shedding light on the plight of Ndi Igbo in Nigeria, the author sees the “negative Biafran revivalist argument” as red herring. Comparing the situation of Igbo nation to Quebec City in Canada which had agitated for self-governance, the author observes that Canada has conceded up to three Prime Ministers to Quebec City. The difference is that while Canada manages the agitations with centripetal sensitivity, Nigeria criminalizes such agitations. The author therefore urges Nigerians to treat Ndi Igbo the same way and allow an Igbo man to clinch the presidency from the standpoints of morality and fairness.
The author frowns at the extinction threat faced by Igbo Language as noted in 2006 by Amarachi Attamah, a US-based mother-tongue advocate, based on UNESCO’s prediction that Igbo Language (spoken by about 35 million) will die off in the next fifty years. The author then calls for the establishment of Igbo Academy “to stem the decline.” He calls on Ndi Igbo to revisit the famous apprenticeship scheme which made Igbo tick and also adopt the think-home philosophy (Aku Rue Ulo) through massive industrialization in Igboland.
In conclusion, the author charges Ndi Igbo to retool their political ideology and economic strategy through primordial assertiveness if they want to outdo the playbook of those who want to keep them down.
