Reflections on the Second Year of Igbo--net

(An address marking the second anniversary of the founding of igbo--net: the Igbo village square in cyberspace)

[By UO]
[17 August 1996]

My Fellow Igbo--netters:

Another year has passed since we celebrated the first anniversary of our coming on-line. During that time, a number of developments have taken place. On one level, these developments mark events that any major list must undergo before it reaches its natural equilibrium; these events could be called "growing pains." On another level, these developments represent, in a microcosm, the dynamics of the nature and the context of the challenges and problems facing contemporary Igbo-speaking peoples. This analysis, must therefore, begin with the root causes of some of the problems we have had to grapple with in igbo--net, and what had to be done to mitigate and in some cases solve some of these problems; and end with proposing the next logical stage of the igbo--net project: The construction of a permanent Igbo presence in the internet.

As we slowly move into the third year of our operation, we are surely moving closer to creating the ideal environment necessary for actualizing the objectives of this list. The somewhat frequent flame wars that characterized our transactions during our first year of operation have now given way to occasional worn-out bellicose rhetorics directed at "imaginary" and "perceived" enemies of Igbo-speaking peoples, utilizing the oldest psychology in the book: the appeal of the demagogue. Although these individuals write with a certain conviction, one thing should be clear to every member of this list: igbo--net must not be reduced to a forum for insults, character assassination or witch-hunting under any guise or circumstance.

Another vestige of the second year of operation that appears to have had a well-deserved death (I hope) concerns the vexing phenomenon of tawdry tales that denigrate women. For a while, a cohort of netters flooded this list with such materials, and in the process precipitated all kinds of complaints and in some instances, unsubscription of some of our erstwhile members. One can only hope that we cultivate a certain level of civility that will create the ideal environment for the unfettered exchange of ideas between all our members in this list.

It is instructive to state that for us to truly achieve the cardinal objectives of this list, we must exercise great responsibility in whatever we post on the list. We can do this by not posting any unlawful, threatening, harmful, vulgar, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially and ethnically objectionable materials to this list.

On the positive side, it must be stated that some aspects of the ideals and vision that informed the creation of this list are now getting concretized in real terms and in real time. Issues of significant import to the Igbo-speaking peoples are now coming under the critical gaze of some of our members, and their contributions to our discourses reflect that reality. The result has been an across the board improvement in the quality of the discussions.

When an Israeli film-maker e-mails us at igbo--net and requests information regarding the relationship or connection (or the lack thereof) between her people and the Igbo people, she is living the vision that informed the creation of igbo--net. The experiment is working as designed.

When an Australian student e-mails us at igbo--net and requests information about the education of igbo girls at the turn of this century, she is living the vision that informed the creation of igbo--net. And when an Australian lawyer e-mails us and requests information that may aid him in his efforts to represent his Igbo client who wants to immigrate to Australia, he, too, is living the vision that informed the creation of igbo--net. The experiment is working as designed.

Further, when Mari Glazer, a High School teacher, in Houston, TX, USA, e-mails us and requests information on the culture on which Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" is based, and proceeds to direct a play based on the Igbo Women's War of 1929, popularly called "Aba Riots of 1929," she, too, is living the vision that informed the creation of igbo--net. The experiment is indeed working as designed.

And when Riikka Korpela, a Finnish university student writes of incorporating aspects of the "culture of igbo--net: the Igbo village in cyberspace" in her academic project, she, too, is living the vision that informed the creation of igbo--net. And the experiment is clearly working as designed.

Today, we have the first ever Igbo language course in the internet, courtesy of Ejike Eze. With its own mailing list <uwa-ndigbo@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu, class discussions, handouts and related materials are archived electronically, and can be easily accessed and retrieved at one's convenience. Those of us who can speak the language, but cannot write it well enough, can look forward to this class to correct that anomaly. And those who can both speak and write the language very well, can also look forward to this class to learn some of the intricacies of the language, that someone not trained in the field will otherwise not be cognizant of.

Further, we now have a comprehensive Igbo web page, with URL:

Any surfer cruising the information highway can now make stops at this website to look at or download materials dealing with the Igbo-speaking peoples and their land. While at this website, the links to the following topics will only be a bookmark away from him or her:

It is important to acknowledge the contributions of the various individuals, without whom this project could have still remained nothing but an idea on paper or rather the computer screen, still awaiting to be put into practice, as many an erstwhile projects that were started only to falter by the way side. Whoever came up with the assertion that "strength is in numbers" must have overlooked one simple fact: If a billion people volunteer for a project, and none of them is committed enough as to make any meaningful contribution towards tackling the problem at hand, then these billion volunteers are as good as no volunteer at all. But we must not be deterred, for a small group of truly committed individuals can accomplish a lot.

Accordingly, thanks are due Prof. Bill Gardiner of The University of Texas for providing the server that hosts this web page. Mr. Nwabu Nnebe of UNDP and Mr. Uzoma Onyemaechi of University of Michigan must both be commended for providing the initial impetus for this project, and for ensuring that this project becomes a reality, respectively.

Special thanks are due Prof. J.C. McCall of Southern Indiana University for making his anthropological research notes on Igbo people, as well as those by other scholars on Igbo people, available for display in the world wide web. He, more than anybody that I am aware of, has done more for ensuring the presence of scholarly works dealing with Igbo people in this new medium, where they can be easily accessed and retrieved. Enormous thanks are also due Mrs. Ursula Jones, the widow of the late Cambridge University social anthropologist, G.I. Jones, for safeguarding her husbands enormous scholarly works and for the permission to have these works displayed in a medium where they are easily accessible to scholars and Igbo people, through the internet. You will recall that prof. G.I. Jones did extensive anthropological research in Igboland during the 1930s. Nearly 300 pictures and art works from his studies of the Ikwerre Igbo, the Asaba Igbo, the Onitsha Igbo, the central Igbo (Owerri, Mbaise, etc), the Awka Igbo, the riverine Igbo (Ahoada, Abua, Ekpehia, Opobo, etc), the northern Igbo (Nsukka, Abakiliki, etc), the eastern Igbo (Item, Ohafia, Arochukwu, etc) are now on display on the Igbo web page, courtesy of the efforts of Prof. McCall. This effort will no doubt aid to save these important works from obscurity: the worst fate that can befall any major scholarly work.

It is indeed reassuring to note that the overall thrust of this list is heading in the direction that was envisioned when it was created two years ago. It is also reassuring to know that we now have in place the necessary materials and structures that will form the foundation of the final phase of this project: a permanent Igbo presence in the internet.