IGBO DAY — 60 YEARS AFTER SEPTEMBER 29, 1966
IGBO DAY — 60 YEARS AFTER SEPTEMBER 29, 1966
Sixty years ago today, thousands of Igbo and other Easterners were māssacred in N0rthern Nīgeria.
September 29 was chosen by Ohanaeze Ndigbo as Igbo Day in remembrance of this tragedy.
Sadly, the kiĺling did not end in 1966. Its consequences, and discrimination against Ndigbo, have continued in different forms: politically, economically, culturally and socially.
Perhaps the most painful consequence is this:
Some Igbo now hide or deny their Igbo identity to avoid discrimination. Some have made themsekves today tribeless.
Some have adopted foreign first names and surnames to conceal their identity. Many have stopped practising their traditions and culture to avoid disclosing their tribe.
When a people become afraid to say who they are, the violence has achieved something deeper than kiĺling bodies. It has begun to attack identity itself.
We remember the dead.
We defend the living.
We refuse to disappear.
