Ichie Akajialor's Column
Ichie Akajialor Ezemelue Okafor comments on the Igbo cause with an intensity, a passion, and devotion that only him and a few can achieve. For the common good Ichie Akajialor does not care whose horse is gored, he dishes it the way it is. He also accepts contributions from like minded people.


Ojukwu: Hero or Villain?

Chief Odumegwu OjukwuOdumegwu Ojukwu is a man that inspires conflicting emotions in people.  To some he is a born leader and hero.  To others he is an ambitious man that tried to break up the federation of Nigeria.  Where Ojukwu is concerned, no one is a neutral.  The conflicting opinions on him are consistent with his inconsistent personality and history. Ojukwu is an educated man that entered a profession that many Nigerians regarded at the time as a profession for the uneducated.... 

Nd'Igbo Do Not Need Leaders; They Need Opportunities

The average Igbo man feels that he has the skill, dexterity, perseverance, and luck to dare his own failure or his own success, sometimes in spite of the incipient odds of failure. That is why the Igbos are dispersed throughout Nigeria and the world with each person daring his own failure or success. But that which makes us successful as individuals fails us as a group because group dynamics is not always the sum of the parts that make it up.

Prof Emmanuel Obiechina Passes On (USAfricaonline.com)

Prof Emmanuel Obiechina
November 8, 2010: The distinguished and prolific scholar of English language, English literature, African literature and general arts Prof. Emmanuel Obiechina , USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com learned a few minutes ago from close family sources, has died here in the United States.

Achebe at 80: Leaders debate things fall apart in Africa (Vanguard)

Professor Chinua Achebe
The novel, Things fall apart, continues to be a reference point to African crisis. And as its writer, Africa’s foremost novelist, Prof Chinua Achebe, marks his 80th birthday, which began well before his November 16 birthday, commentators the world over have been using the title of the novel, written to depict the colonial impact on Africa, to describe present Nigerian/African crises as tributes to Achebe.

The Igbo And Jonathan's Presidential Ambition

In Nigeria, the Igbo have always been at the political crossroads. Whenever they stretch out their hands for the proverbial handshake across the Niger, they end up holding the wrong end of the stick. They are the beautiful bride of Nigeria’s vicious political landscape, wooed and solicited by all, but abused and abandoned after elections.

2011: Ndigbo, Think Hard Now!

Those old enough would remember a time when the celebration of the Ibo State Union Day outclassed the nation’s independence anniversary in terms of pomp and pageantry. This was also when the Ibo State Union built educational and healthcare institutions in several parts of the nation and Igbo politicians straddled the polity like colossi.

The War In Igboland

Okey Ndibe
For years, the fiercely republican Igbo carelessly allowed themselves to dance to lyrics that proclaimed “ana enwe obodo enwe” – roughly translated as “a community is owned.” At first glance, that lyrical claim would appear innocuous, even persuasive. Another lyric set out to name the Igbo’s “nnukwu mmanwu” – big masquerades. Any discerning person would be shocked by the questionable pedigree of some of the men advertised either as the “owners” of their community or big masquerades.

Ngige: Opposition or politics of relevance?

As Ngige goes to the Election Petition Tribunal to contest Peter  Obi’s victory in the February 6, 2010 governorship election, it could be argued that the action would one way or the other enrich our democracy. A judicial review of the election process which promises to sensitize the electoral body to better performance, speaks loudly about the benefit of opposition activism.

New dawn of Igbo renaissance

Before now, Igbos have been known and admired all over the world for their intelligence, industry and proclivity for inventiveness, including capacity  for perseverance even in the face  of extreme adversity.
As a people known for reinventing their environment to match even the most sophisticated anywhere, Igbos have come to symbolize a true strength of character, wisdom and bravery….rare attributes that can only be matched by few races in the world.

Martin Luther King's Easter message

Eddie S. Glaude

For Christians, this holiest of days announces that death does not have the final word and that eternal life awaits those who would just believe.
Sunday also marks the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death. Forty-two years ago, an assassin's bullet took his life as he struggled to secure the promises of American democracy for the children of slaves. His sacrifice, along with countless others, helped usher in a new chapter in American life -- one that prepared the way for the election of our nation's first African-American president.