Igbo Speech ........ Excerpt

[Pastor Bros]

But above all, it is our culture that will act as the rudder to our future. Often, I hear people dwell so much on why our lot in Nigeria has become a difficult one. They tell our youth that it is because we lost a civil war. But from today, we must tell our youth that Igbo history did not begin or end with the civil war. We must teach our children that we are a people of great heritage. We must tell our children that we have cultural values that held human life sacred and held our womanhood inviolable and that Biafra was a sanctuary to defend these our values; that we are the only group that have never subjected ourselves to any external imperial force, be it colonial or Islamic; that it was this indomitable Igbo spirit that inspired a 12 year old Igbo boy, Olaudah Equiano (Olu-uda Ekwuano), when he was captured by slave raiders to cry out: (I am Eboe!) Abu m Onye Igbo! Ekwuano went on to buy his freedom, became a merchant, a great sailor and an abolitionist, and helped resettle other Igbo slaves in present day Sierra Leone. There is a beach somewhere in this United States, where Igbo slaves chose to drown instead of being landed ashore as slaves! I understand it is called Eboe Beach! Tell our children that it took only three decades from 1943 when we produced the first Igbo lawyer to 1964 to not only catch up with, but also overtake our closest rivals in Nigeria. Don’t tell our children only about our losing the civil war; tell them also about our exploits in the battlefield and our inventions during the war. Teach our children about the contributions of great Igbo sons, Azikiwe, Mbonu Ojike, Michael Opara, Dennis Osadebe, Nwafor Orizu and Z.C Obi to the political emancipation of Nigeria. Don’t talk of only defeat to our children; teach them about Chinua Achebe, Chike Obi, Eni Njoku, Kenneth Dike, Chinweizu and other Igbo literary and scholarly icons. Above all, teach our children that Igbo nation transcends the five South-Eastern states. As legendary Chinua Achebe himself said, if we do not know where the rain started to beat us, we may never know when we are dry! And if you do not know where you are going, every road leads to your destination! My brothers and sisters, if we do not let our children know about our great past, they can never have the confidence to march into the future. We must therefore rededicate ourselves to the rebirth of our cultural values; especially that of industry, honesty, hard work, sanctity of life and respect for elders.


Full link to Ukiwe's Speech at the 2006 Igbo Conference

http://www.kwenu.com/record/2006/ukiwe_wic2006.htm

[kai]

...There is a beach somewhere in this United States, where Igbo slaves chose to drown instead of being landed ashore as slaves! I understand it is called Eboe Beach!

...Funny, I just saw a picture of that beach at an art museum on sunday. The exhibit stated that the captured igbo's said "its the water that brought us here, and we will return to it" or something of that nature...Igbo Kwenu!

[Pastor Bros]

Originally Posted by kai

...Funny, I just saw a picture of that beach at an art museum on sunday. The exhibit stated that the captured igbo's said "its the water that brought us here, and we will return to it" or something of that nature...Igbo Kwenu!

Igbos