By Adadareporters
Archbishop Amos Amankechinelo Madu, the pioneer Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province of the Anglican Communion and former Bishop of Oji River Anglican Diocese, Saturday, described the Igbo nation as ‘ingrates’ for failing to thank God for saving them from annihilation during the infamous Biafran War of 1967 – 1970.
He spoke on the topic, ‘End of Nigerian Civil War and Unfulfilled Gratitude to God by Ndigbo, a Way Forward’, anchored on Enugu-based Solid 100.9fm’s ‘Freedom Square’ hosted by Cyril Anioke, PhD.
According to Madu, the self-imposed slavery the Igbo nation found themselves shows that ‘God is still in charge of the world’. He said, “There is time for everything. This is the time to explore what is happening to the Igbo nation. How, when and why did we get here is the question on the lips of many. We must probe beyond the surface to find satisfying answers to some of these questions.”
Asserting that the Nigerian Civil War was ignited by some soldiers, and later tagged ‘an Igbo coup’, and how the Igbo ‘were attacked in the North, ran home, and eventually the war began’, Madu said the time had come for deep thinking ‘since we don’t read history in schools again’.
Quoting him, “There was a war that battered Ndigbo, and they cried out to God and the war ended. It ended because of the finger of God. Since the end of the war, Ndigbo have been in the spiritual wilderness, looking for identities in Nigeria. It has become the Igbo dilemma. Over the years, our spirits and conscience have been troubled over the situation of the Igbo race and Nigeria particularly. The Igbo, which few decades ago, epitomised worthy enterprises and shining light of the Nigerian nation have now become noise-makers in our country. The previously enterprising Igbos have today virtually lost everything for which they were known, including shares in Nigerian resources, access to power, freedom from doing genuine businesses, capacity to participate in governance, right to build and live where they choose, right to cultivate and harvest in their farmlands as well as capacity to govern themselves, and most agonisingly the freedom to worship their God as they please.”
He noted that, “It is a great irony, and urgently calls spiritual mobilisation. There is a clarion call for collective action through prayers to reverse and focus the Igbo nation on the path of God-directed progress and sustainability. We have failed to do what we ought to have done.
“The realisation has come that Nigbo have forgotten that they fought and survived a deadly war from 1967 to 1970 fifty-four years after. Ndigbo are yet to express gratitude to God through thanksgiving for what God has done for them during and after the genocidal war. They are yet to recognise and treat survival of the war as a critical and memorable milestone in their collective existence. They do not realise that they owe God a heartily expression of thanksgiving for surviving the war. It has become evidence that it is the failure and neglect of Ndigbo to pay this debt of appreciation that is responsible for the lingering and escalating sufferings and disadvantages, hatred of Ndigbo by many in Nigeria. It is the Igbo dilemma.”
He said it is for this reason that some men of God ‘have come up with the need for a thanksgiving, adding that, “We found the solution from God alone. Ndigbo are expected to do their own version of the Passover. We want to follow the example of Noah. God remembered him and caused the waters to recede and dry up. He came out and offered sacrifices to God, and God blessed him and his nation.
“God stopped Biafran War due to the cries of Ndigbo, not because Ndigbo did Ogbunigwe, after all the leaders of the war left the country when the situation became very hot. When the war stopped, no one could believe that it stopped, including Nigerian soldiers and the political leaders. Biafran people and other countries did not believe it. No one could raise a finger against anybody. People were afraid even to return home. God was at work.
“But when the war ended, Ndigbo failed to do what Noah did. The Igbo people survived the war, started to progress, but they failed to thank God. That is what is missing. That is why many things remain unattainable. Christians all over the world celebrate thanksgiving every Christmas for the gift of Christ. The Jews celebrate their Passover. End of slave trade is still being celebrated.”
On what Ndigbo should do considering their multi-religious backgrounds, the man of God said, “Pagans do thanksgiving before sowing their seeds. Wine tappers do the same in front of their divinity. Pagans also do thanksgiving in the church when I was young. Everyone can do the thanksgiving in their own ways. Christians can do theirs in their different denominations. The bottom line is turning to God to say we are sorry, having forgotten Him for fifty-four years. We then ask God to accept our thanks, and then we turn from ourselves to God. He knows the best for us.”
On those championing the cause, he said, “It is no man’s show, but vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. The discussion has been going on among church leaders of Igbo extraction across denominations. On 15th of this January, churches held services to appreciate God for saving Ndigbo during the war, and to forgive Ndigbo for not thanking him. It is not a political matter, but spiritual. Those who should propagate this should mainly be church leaders. It is a spiritual problem. The Igbo nation is not at peace with God. Until Ndigbo agree and decide as a united race to set themselves for worshiping, praising and thanking God for surviving the civil war, all their attempts and struggles for freedom from their self-imposed slavery and bondage in Nigeria will remain a mirage. If it is in those days, people will resort to seers, but today there is the Supreme God, Who has spoken.
“God heard the prayers of our fathers, and saved them. That is why many are living. Sixty percent of Igbos doing well in businesses today were born after the civil war, so they don’t even know what we are talking about. They are progressing, but the identity is not there. They feel they don’t belong.”
He said those agitating for the Sovereign State of Biafra have reasons for that, but failed to know where the problem started. In his words, “They don’t even understand what they are doing. Some say they want Biafra, others declare sit-at-home. Do we understand the language? Parents know that when a child cries, he or she is talking, not disturbing. The young men and women protesting are not doing what is abnormal. But are the religious people listening to them? Have the elders called them? I am not talking about politicians. The young people are saying sit-at-home against themselves. It is not against the federal government, but Ndigbo. If we understand, we could have called them together, and demand to know what is happening. Then you show them the road on the bush path, and inform them what happened during the war.
“Anybody who knows what happened during the Biafran War will never think about another war. When we give thanks to God, we tell Him ‘just as you said there will be no more flood in destroying the world, no more war in Igbo land, and Nigeria’. That will be the outcome of the thanksgiving. When young people are told what happened during the war, they will never dream of the war again. During the thanksgiving, those who fought the war should be invited to tell people what really happened.
“People talking about secession and so on, they are only protesting. They are not going anywhere. But are the elders ready to listen to them? Ndigbo cannot do without Nigeria and Nigeria cannot do without the Igbo race. Ndigbo are like the salt of the nation. We are part and parcel of Nigeria: football, business, singing, education, and even politics. If Nnamdi Azikiwe was not there, Nigeria wouldn’t have been what it was in those days. Nobody wants to break away.
“When we do this, we turn to God, and God will hear us. The Igbo people are in their wilderness today. If we turn to God, He will hear our cries and repentance. He will heal our land, and save us from further destruction in Nigeria. He will make people love Ndigbo in Nigeria. When God blesses Ndigbo, Ndigbo will remain blessed. Meetings upon meetings will never make any headway. We are not united. When God blesses us, we will begin to think like the Jewish people, like the Israelites. We will begin to do things like Yoruba people who do things together. Touch a Fulani man, you have touched all of them. When God blesses us, other nationalities will have no alternative than to support Ndigbo. They will begin to seek forgiveness for the years they had been dealing with Ndigbo.
“We played into their hands and they used the opportunity to deal with Ndigbo. But when the Igbo nation turn to God in repentance, and show our gratitude, God will bless the Igbo nation. There will be no more war, disunity, infighting in Igbo nation. We shall then return to where God wants us to be. People will then integrate the Igbo man. There will be a Ministry of Reconciliation. Igbos will feel they are part of Nigeria again. Young people won’t protest anymore, but they presently have reasons to protest. Until Ndigbo listen, the wandering in the wilderness will not stop. It is the time for people to know why we are where we are, and the way forward. God alone is Supreme.”
