AFRICAN HEROES AND HEROINES

AFRICAN HEROES AND HEROINES

AFRICAN HEROES AND HEROINES

In times of cāptivity, insécurity, underdevelopment, fęar, anxiěty, political cörruption, hunger, etc., there are always, in every society, men and women who come to the rescue of their society.

These are usually men and women of courage, truthfulness, integrity of character, selflessness, and bravery who are committed to the protection and development of their society. If need be, they are always ready to pay the ultimate price.

This is why no society jokes with its heroes and heroines, whether alive or dęad. That is why all over the world there are ceremonies or rituals to honour them. This was the origin of ancestral cult or worship in many societies.

Unlike in Europe, where heroes and heroines are honoured individually, many African societies honour their dead collectively in what is called ancestral veneration.

Unfortunately, in Africa, many ways of honouring and remembering our heroes and heroines have been termed idol worship and destroyed.

The consequence is that we now lack people who are ready to follow in the footsteps of African heroes and heroines. We lack men and women of integrity who are selfless and fearless.

Any society that lacks heroes and heroines will sooner or later disappear, either via expůlsion, extěrmination or assimilation.

The insécurity we see today across Africa, especially in Nìgeria and more especially in Igboland, would not have reached this extent if we had enough heroes and heroines.

Political dictātors, col0nialists, imperīalists, and other external aggręssors are always afraid of a people with many heroes and heroines. That is why they are always the first people they attack.

Heroes and heroines do not come from the land of the spirit or the sky. They come from the people. They are groomed and supported by the people.

The African, especially Igbo, society runs short of heroes and heroines today because rather than respecting and honouring them, we betray them when they are alive and spit on their graves when they are deād.

In the end we turn around and ask God why he abandoned us to suffer or be overrun by enemies. God did not abandon us. We are the ones that made ourselves easy prey by working against ourselves.