THE PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE WHO REWRITE HISTORY

THE PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE WHO REWRITE HISTORY

THE PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE WHO REWRITE HISTORY

I come from Ndoki. If you do not know where that is, let me educate you. Ndoki is one of the ancient Igbo clans balkanized through colonial and post-colonial boundary adjustments into present-day Rivers State, with our kinsmen spread across Abia and Akwa Ibom. We are Igbo people. We are not Ijaw. We never have been.

We are Igbo people, and like millions across the old Eastern Region, we were part of the Biafran story.

Let me first of all educate you and debunk those false ancestral claims you keep pushing that Kalabari is Ijaw or your ancestors are Ijaw.

I’m honestly surprised that someone of your age would publicly deny historical realities that you very well know about.

Either you genuinely know where your roots trace back to and choose to ignore it, or you are simply speaking from ignorance. And if it is ignorance at your age, then that is even more disappointing because serious people research before speaking on history and ancestry.

The Amachree/Amakri/Amakuru dynasty you proudly identify with has long been linked in historical accounts to eastern migratory roots.

Many prominent Kalabari families trace paternal ancestry to Igbo men who became integrated into the Niger Delta centuries ago through $lavetrade, migration, settlement, and pre-colonial social systems.

Names like Da Horsfall Manuel, Da Amakiri, Da Young Briggs, Da Edi Abali, Da Goodhead, Da Wokoma, Da Otagi Georgewill, Da Orikadibia, Da Bobmanuel Owukori, Da Odum Braide, Da Harry, Da Lawson, Da Okoroafor, the Okoris, Da Elebuike West, and many others are repeatedly mentioned in discussions surrounding these historical connections.

Even in Kalabari communities, many people understand and speak Igbo fluently because the historical relationship between both peoples goes back generations.

This is also one reason people are often warned not to insult others in Igbo around Kalabari communities, because many understand and even speak the language fluently — not necessarily because they learned it later in life, but because of deep ancestral and cultural ties that have existed for generations.

These are realities that cannot simply be erased because they are politically inconvenient today.

You may want to deny this and live in self-denial, but history and widely documented accounts point to the fact that many people who make up the Kalabari Kingdom — especially within some royal lineages, including the Amachree dynasty — have ancestral links to Igbo origins.

The progenitor of the Amachree dynasty itself has been recorded in several accounts as an Igbo man. So denying that connection does not erase the historical reality or ancestral roots tied to it.

If you doubt it, then let science speak. Go for a DNA test and let us see the results. If it does not show Igbo ancestry, then you can confidently call me a liar.

The expansion of Ijaw influence into Kalabari areas itself came through historical invasions and maritime dominance. These are not hidden facts.

Thank God for colonial records and early documentation preserved by the white men, because without them many people today would twist history to suit emotions and tribal sentiments.

Ijaw people need to research properly, read historical materials, and understand that there are longstanding arguments and records connecting the roots of Kalabari land and leadership structures to Igbo ancestry.

You can keep denying it from now till tomorrow, but denial does not rewrite bloodlines or history. Bring a DNA result if you want to argue otherwise.

Well, that aside..
Now to my main concern.

You claimed Biafran armies marched into Niger Delta communities to brutalize your people. History says otherwise.

The major military devastations in the Niger Delta during the civil war were carried out largely by Nigerian federal forces, especially operations associated with the 3rd Marine Commando under Benjamin Adekunle. Communities across the old Eastern Region suffered during the war.

To twist everything into “Igbo aggression against the Niger Delta” is historical manipulation.

You conveniently ignore the role played by federal-aligned forces and people like Isaac Adaka Boro during the war operations in riverine areas against Biafran sympathizers and Eastern communities.

You want to construct a modern political narrative, not tell balanced history.

King Pepple of Bonny was known to have close ties with Ojukwu during the Biafran period and reportedly suffered politically because of those associations. He was banished, humiliated and died miserably.

I am saying this simply to make you understand that the Igbo people could not have possibly brutalized a region or people with whom they shared such close historical, cultural, and ancestral affinity.

That narrative is not only illogical, it was never historically recorded either.

Now let us address your biggest distortion.

The Nigerian Civil War was not simply an “Igbo war.” It was a war fought across the old Eastern Region involving multiple ethnic groups.

The Igbos became the primary targets because they were the dominant population and had already suffered massacres in Northern Nigeria before the war even officially began.

You cannot erase the pogroms.
You cannot erase the starvation blockade.
You cannot erase the millions who died.
You cannot erase the trauma that gave birth to Biafran consciousness.

So when you reduce Biafra to some extremist ethnic cult, you expose your bias more than anything else.

On Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, people have different political opinions. But many people across the world still see his case as one surrounded by controversy involving extraordinary rendition, questionable procedures, and a deeply distrusted Nigerian justice system.

Whether you like it or not, many Biafrans see him as a symbol of resistance against marginalization, insecurity, failed governance, and decades of political exclusion.

And no amount of emotional blackmail will erase that reality.

You talk about political frustration after the 2023 elections, which has now curdled into open tension and anger.

We all know that the 2023 election was compromised and did not reflect the true will of the people.

So when people who feel deeply betrayed by the system express anger, is it really surprising?

Do you expect citizens who feel their hopes for a better future were crushed to simply remain silent and applaud?

A lot of the frustration and personal attacks you see today comes from the perception of injustice and a lack of trust in the political process. So you better mind how you write and address isaues next time.

People are reacting to what they believe is a repeated pattern of marginalization and electoral compromise.

We Igbos have historically exercised patience, supported candidates across different regions, and believed in a united system. But when we Igbos saw that credible processes are undermined and that our collective efforts to achieve fair elections were disregarded, that patience naturally wears thin.

From my perspective as someone who no longer believes in the current political arrangement called one Nigeria, I feel that trust has been severely damaged.

99% of Ndi Igbo believes more in self-determination and the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra and in pursuing their own political direction because confidence in the existing structure called one nigeria has been eroded.

This anger and frustration will continue to be expressed as long as we feel unheard and as long as we believe the system remains unresponsive to our demands for fairness and justice.

So when you see Igbos or Obi’s supporters expressing anger and frustration, you should learn how to handle it, because it is the corruption and failures of your system that created that level of resentment in the first place.

Now coming down to Lagos, Igbos have lived in Lagos for decades. They built businesses there, paid taxes there, invested there, and contributed immensely to the economy.

They did not steal Lagos. They hustled, worked, rented, bought property legally, and established themselves through enterprise.

Even the indigenous Lagos families today complain more about their fellow yoruba political elites and their land-grabbing structures than about ordinary Igbo traders trying to survive.

A lot of the loud voices criticizing Igbos in Lagos are not indigenes of Lagos.

It is also important to note that the original inhabitants of Lagos have a distinct historical identity that is more complex than the broad labels often used today, and some of them have consistently rejected being simply grouped under a general “Yoruba” tag.

What I find most disturbing about your article is the deliberate attempt to portray the Igbo community as uniquely dangerous while ignoring the frustrations, historical wounds, and political realities that fuel these emotions.

Nobody is above criticism. Not Igbo people. Not Yoruba people. Not Ijaw people. Nobody.

But if we are going to discuss history, then let us discuss all of it — not the selective version that suits modern tribal politics.

The civil war wounded everybody in the old Eastern Region. Everybody carries scars. But weaponizing those scars to demonize one ethnic group while pretending others played no role is dishonest.

You live comfortably abroad and write emotionally loaded articles about people still struggling inside the Nigerian system every day.

It is easy to judge from a distance, but harder to understand the depth of disappointment felt by those who believe their democratic expectations have been repeatedly denied.

That alone explains why many see your commentary as disconnected, elitist, and provocative.

History is complicated.
Nigeria is complicated.
And propaganda will never replace facts.

You all should leave ndi Igbo alone or you live to deal with our feedbacks.