Ndi Igbo
The Society for the Advancement of Igbo Legacy, NONI, [Nnoko maka
Oganirunke Ndote ndi Igbo] has proposed an annual Igbo Heritage
Month. This, contend many Ndi Igbo, is a tall order, but a million-mile
journey starts with one step. We do not seek to move mountains; we have
to climb to the top of the mountain, if we must, slowly and steadily.
Therefore, come May 1997, the first-ever Igbo Heritage Month will kick off.
All Igbo associations, families and persons are hereby invited to take
advantage of NONI media blitz to reach Ndi Igbo worldwide. Thus, at this
threshold of the next millennium, we begin to build that bridge of
brotherhood within our communities and across to our neighbors.
The inaugural May will take off on a small scale with a Kolanut
Communion
as enshrined in our traditional rites on Thursday, May 1; followed by
prayers: Muslims [Friday], Adventists/Judaic faiths [Saturday] and all
Christians [Sunday].
While we do not intend now to prescribe a rigid program, we call on
everyone to do something, anything, Igbo throughout this month. Organize
a seminar, a lunch-break talk about Ndi Igbo. Write about an aspect of
your community feasts or rites. We promise to send you any material you
need and on any popular legacy of Ndi Igbo. Just do something; anything
at all.
*IGBO LEADERSHIP*:
NONI is aware that Igbo elders are torn apart by unfortunate crises that
common sense should have spared us all. Common sense has prevailed, for
now, but it would not take long before those who do not wish ndi Igbo
well resurrect it again on the pages of magazines. As part of our
heritage activities, we shall adopt the proposal of COCIPA, the Committee
of Concerned Igbo People Abroad," which is rooted in Igbo--net family.
We welcome any draft letter addressing the contentious brouhaha, and we
will give it the widest publicity.
We encourage netters and friends to chip in and help. We cannot stay
here and look cute while Igbo leaders are torn apart. We may not change
hearts; but unspoken, blame the shut mouth; unheard, blame the deaf ear.
We will publish it in our souvenir, premier edition of "Kwenu." Be sure
to subscribe, and help make a difference. Details later.
NONI's suggested and already published highlights include:
["African Market News" and "Igbo Basics"]
*Inauguration of first Igbo Uzo Lecture*:
This may not hold this May, but whichever organization contacts NONI
first will host the first EVER Igbo Uzo Lecture anywhere in the USA. With
time, this will be the Diasporic Ahajioku Lecture, and will rotate in
major cities worldwide. We have contacted some Ndi Igbo to think about
and research on a topic pertaining to an Igbo legacy, more cultural than
political. You are welcome to start writing on a topic of your choice;
you may the the first lecturer. We will organize the lecture; your
organization only needs to provide time (2-hours max) and space within an
existing program, even if to keep early birds busy while the habitual
late-comers make their way through town.
*Friendship Day*:
This is a day set aside for letters and messages of goodwill to non-Igbo
persons who have helped in the advancement of Igbo legacy. [Please
invite a neighbor over for a chat, even if you don't normally speak to
each other. Thank any group for helping us in our time of need, be it the
local church -- for Caritas and WCC, and any African, American, European,
etc for Red Cross and individuals who really chipped in when we needed
help.
*Uka Nne [Sweet Mother Sunday]*:
NONI plans to send reps to visit at least an Igbo woman and just say
"THANK YOU"; she will represent all mothers who lost sons and daughters
during the Nigerian Civil Crises, and who persevered to help us come this
far. "Ndinne, unu sokwe"! [Please buy your wife, girlfriend or daughter
something special and significant on this day.]
*Diaspora Day*:
A day of remembrance of all those who came this way, by force or by
choice, by air or by sea, but never found the way back. This one is
dedicated to King Jaja of Opobo, Eze Jubuno. [Please tell young ones the
story; if you don't have the details, just ask us for a brief bio and
dates. Do emphasize that as a people we DID not as a people sell our kin
into CHATTEL slavery; the Igbo were the victims. What we called "ohu" is
an entirely different issue. ]
*History Week":
This is dedicated to Olaudah Equiano ("Gustavius Vassa"): an Igbo
man,
the foremost antislavery activists, before William Wilberforce, whom we
were told about in school, but NEVER the story of Olaudah; how his
letters to the English monarch and his book touched the heart of men. In
words and deeds, Maazi Ekwuano was the father of American autobiography.
[The fact that he was later granted British citizenship has been used to
deny him his accomplishments; it won't wash: he was sold to the Americas,
bought his freedom in the Americas and only moved to Britain to fight
the source of CHATTEL slavery doctrine with his pen. Yes, his letters
got the imperialists thinking; yes, he admitted his own father had
"slaves," but what he saw done to human beings by fellow human beings,
savages do not do unto their kind.
*Party Weekend.*:
In New Jersey, Ndi Igbo will join Anambra-Enugu Memorial Weekend party,
an event that eventually may metamorphose into an all Igbo affair, as we
all come together; just like "Iri Iji" (IGBOUSA) must be an all Igbo
affair in the tri-state area at least. In New York; we will attend Mbaise
Association Ball '97. We will highlight Oru Owere festival, iri Ji Aro,
even Ezeigboship in Arkansas, etc. Others should contact NONI, if they
hold similar annual parties. NONI will compile this for the future. We
"claim" them, because they are the legacy of Ndi Igbo--good or bad. We
are not ashamed of our heritage; it is what we are as a people.
*BIAFRA WAR MEMORIAL *:
This is the last event before the Thanksgiving Day, Sunday, June 1,
1997. The first-ever Biafran Memorial Lecture will be held on Friday, May
30, 1997. Details will reach you from Ada Kameme, who is handling that
end, later today [Biafra6797@aol.com.]
*June 1 -- Thanksgiving Day":
Have a family dinner. Talk, make merry and give thanks for all the good
things that have happened to us as a people. If you have been fasting
since May 30, as will be explained later, this is the day to break it.
Enjoy, as we say: "na agha ebego."
God bless you and yours.
Ndeewo nu.
Maazi Ogochukwu (MO) Ene
PS: Please give this message the widest publicity. Send us a
message if you want any activity you have planned or putting in place to be
recorded for posterity. If you want to be kept informed via s-mail, write
to NONI , P. O. Box 2027, Bloomfield, NJ 07003 for details. We
also have a brochure to help you understand better the mission, vision
and notion of NONI.
We will appreciate contributions toward postage and handling, as in
envelopes and stamps, but we will NOT withhold info from anybody. The way
NONI is structured, every Igbo person, by birth, marriage, or association
is a member. It is about our legacy, about promoting our Igboness, NOT
about power and position. There are no positions to occupy--there is
plenty of work to be done, each according to his ability. There are no
monthly fees, no dues to pay, no registration fees, no material welfare;
it is for all those who seek spiritual fulfillment in what they do
outside their regular business. By what our members do, we recognize them
and class them "active" or "temporary inactive." Persons who want to
coordinate similar activities in any city of the world should write to
us. We will gladly make any necessary input. Thank you.
Deeme nu. Ndeewo nu. Kaa nu. Anyi ekenee unu niile;
kenekwe ife na-emelu unu ife. Kwenu: n*uo nu, rie nu, zuo
nu!!!
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