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A statement on the purported exclusion of Igbo as a national language in Nigeria
KEVIN ANI England, UK
Monday, April 25, 2005
The Civil Rights League-Ng is a non-governmental organization which monitors human/civil rights and social justice in Nigeria.
Reports have emerged in Nigeria which suggest that, in addition to the introduction of the so-called Sharia Law in a constitutionally secular country, the Nigerian state has now extended its attack on the Christian Igbo people by seeking to suppress their language and culture. Igbo language is spoken by over 40 million as mother tongue in large sections of Nigeria. It is the language of commerce and the law, of politics and administration, education and of culture at all levels in large areas of Southern Nigeria. It is used as a language of commerce in the neighbouring states of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea and elsewhere in the West African sub-region and widely studied world-wide.
Without any justification whatsoever, the Nigerian government in which the Igbo are grossly under-represented has submitted a so-called draft constitution to the on-going National Political Reforms Conference, which reportedly excluded the Igbo language as a national language, providing only for English, Hausa and Yoruba. Section 60 of the so-called draft constitution states: “The business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, Hausa or Yoruba ..."
We view the reported exclusion of Igbo language as an extremely provocative act capable of further tearing apart, the already fractured Nigerian state. As expected, the purported exclusion of Igbo language has been largely interpreted as a gross violation of Igbo cultural rights, an extremely offensive act by all Igbo speakers who constitute 25% of the Nigerian population. Nigeria is set to implode.
The present attack on Igbo language is the climax of anti-Igbo policies pursued against the Igbo people since the Biafran genocide of 1966-70. As one Igbo put it “Igbo cannot be pushed further beyond the point to which it has already been pushed."
Article 2, of the UN 1951 Convention on Genocide is clear that any acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group is genocide. The attack on Igbo language is cultural genocide. Given its size and reach, it is clear that Igbo language cannot go down without bringing the Nigerian state down with it. A crisis of colossal dimensions is therefore unfolding in Nigeria over the unjust treatment of 40 million plus Igbo people in that state.
Whether or not the so-called draft constitution excluded the Igbo language, is beside the point. The mere contemplation of such a move is a gross criminal act. To actually produce and circulate such a xenophobic proposal is a moral and legal wrong which must be punished. We demand that the issue be properly investigated and those responsible for this action be brought to book. Such an investigation must explain why the Igbo language was singled out for exclusion, why and on whose order. We call on Igbo people to remain calm but firm in their demand for social justice in Nigeria. ` We call on the United Nations to immediately constitute a pre-emptive mission to Nigeria with a view to defusing the crisis of immense proportion brewing in that state over the mishandling of the Igbo question. Instead of waiting for the country to implode like Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, DRC etc. and then taking a rearguard action of sending in "peace keepers", the UN can and should act now to prevent a great African tragedy which is unfolding in Nigeria over the mishandling of the Igbo question.
Maazi Kevin Ani is the Executive Director, CIVIL RIGHTS LEAGUE-NG
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