OSU CAST SYSTEM - AN UGLY RELIC OF IGBO PAST

OSU CAST SYSTEM - AN UGLY  RELIC OF IGBO PAST THAT NEEDS BE PUT TO AWAY TO PERMANENT REST 

(Presentation of OkpalaEzeNri Chukwuemeka Onyesoh (Oba Agbalanze) on the Occasion of His Majesty EZE Nri  Obidegwu Onyesoh, Nrienwelani II 1019th Onwasato Festival (Iliji) at Eze Nrienwelani Palace, Nri, Anaocha LGA, ANAMBRA State on Friday, 21st Sept. 2018)

1. Definition

Osu in Igbo land is simply a traditional and religious belief system, which includes that certain people should be discriminated from others. OSU by definition, is a name given to people sacrificed to the gods of Igbo community as slaves, outcasts and untouchables. And they assist the high priest of tradition of the deities they are dedicated to, in serving the deities or gods in their shrines. Prof. Michael A. Onwuejeogwu, the late Nigerian foremost anthropologist and virtually the ultimate authority on Nri cultural history,  summarizes Osu as "ritual slaves." Others variously define it as 'cult slave,' 'a living sacrifice,'  'untouchable,' 'outcast,' 'owner's cult,'a slave of the deity,' and a 'sacred and holy being.'

Osus variously named in Igbo communities: Adu-EBONYI ; Oruma in Nsukka; Nwani or Ohualusi in Augwu and Ume, Ohu, Omoni or Okpu-Aja in various other communities.

On the other side of the divide, are the Nwamu, Diala, etc i.e. the free borns who are not so encumbered.

In some special circumstances among the traditional believers/worshippers, a Diala (non-Osu) who committed certain atrocities against the land could transform into Osu through a process of intricate rituals ( offering of libations and sacrificing animals to the earth god/goddess). One also inherited this dehumanizing social status through marriage to an Osu.

2. Limitations of the System

   Osu cast system has many societal implications and is largely rooted in societal discrimination. It violates most fundamental human, civic and political rights and can be summed up as internal apartheid in Igbo land. For example marriage into the caste is forbidden. The penalty for the violation is that  the non-OSU would inherit the caste status and transmit same permanently to his lineage. 

The discrimination also I included celebration of birth, title-taking and burial and funeral of the dead. Even showing, presentation and sharing of kola nut ( both ways) in various localities, are also segregated.

3. Illegality of OSU Cast system

Osu Cast system has existed in Igbo society through the ages regardless of its non- acceptance by the NRI religious/ traditional leadership of the Igbo.The British Slave Trade Act of 1807 which became effective in 1841, was the catalyst that caused the pace of the movement for the abolishment of slavery and other forms of social segregation  in Nigeria and West Africa and could be regarded as the first official Act against Osu Cast System. Archdeacon Basden's letter of 1933 to the Legislative Council of Southern Nigeria requesting the government to take steps to investigate the Osu system for great bitterness of feelings  it was causing in certain parts of Owerri province, was the first direct action on the system. This was later followed by the Balonwu's Commission report on bride price which rekindled the desire to get the species of slavery like Osu Cast System in Igbo Land abolished. 

3.1. The 1956 Law abolishing Osu Cast System in Eastern Nigeria: Consequent upon Balonwu's report and under the leadership the Eastern Nigeria Premier, Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, the Eastern House of Assembly, passed a resolution abolishing Osu, Ohu and Ume practices throughout Eastern Nigeria, relying on the Sections 20(1) and 23(1) of the Constitution of Eastern Nigeria which stated that "no person shall be held in slavery or servitude ; and that every person shall be entitled to respect for his private and family life, his  home and his correspondence respectively." The law became effective on 10th of May 1956 and from then it became illegal to refer to anybody as Osu. The Law was also intended to help  prevent anybody from molesting, injuring, annoying, obstructing or attempting to cause any obstruction to anybody  or boycotting any body in any attempt to exercise his/her right (Laws of Eastern Nigeria 1963 volume 1). A fine or imprisonment of less than 6 months was provided for those convicted for violation.

3.2. Constitutional Protections of  Fundamental Human Rights & Osu Cast System

However, all Constitutions of Nigeria dating from 1914 to 1999 provided for  fundamental  rights and the sections guaranteed and protected the right to life, the dignity of the human person, personal liberty, private and family life, freedom from discrimination, freedom of moment, assembly and such other fundamental freedoms. These Constitutional provisions in sane climes are enough to put an end to such discriminatory systems as Osu.

3.3. International Declarations, Covenants, Conventions and Resolutions against Denigration and/or Derogation of Human Rights

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and its accompanying covenants led by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which was adopted in 1966 but came into force in 1976, and other multi- lateral treaties of the UN, brought fundamental human rights firmly into international Law and made them justiciable. The African Union's (AU) African Charter on Human and Political Rights (ACHPR) drove home the entrenchment of these rights and filled the gaps in the UN treaties referred to above. Nigeria ratified all these treaties and in the case of ACHPR, also domesticated it, thereby compelling the Nigerian courts to enforce them.

4. Absence of Will to Enforce of Laws

I have enumerated the plethora of laws, local, national and international, with which desirous person can fight the practice of Osu cast system, to show that it is not the absence of laws that that has sustained the cast system. It is the absence of the will power on the part of the government and the people including the so designated, to pursue enforcement.

There is a saying that in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve. Gullible Nigerians lack the will and tenacity to insist, pursue and assert their rights. For example, the citizens of poor Chad Republic, in Nigeria's northeast, a country with more than one and half times land space of Nigeria, mostly in the Sahara desert, with only 3.9% arable land and a population of barely 13.6 million people, mainly nomads (2015 est.), mustered the world, and pursued their former ruler, President Hissen Habre, until ICC (International Criminal Court) jailed him for life, 20 years after he left office, for human rights violations no more than what Gowon, Babangida, Obasanjo and Buhari have been doing to Nigeria, yet none has been as much as prosecuted at the ICC.

God would not come down to fight our battles for us. One unpunished immunity yields many.

4.1. The Nigerian Judicial System

The Nigerian judicial system, like almost everything in Nigeria is corrupt, expensive, tenuous and laborious; and therefore a very large cog in the wheel of human rights improvement. But as they say, only those who dare, win. Organization, patience, tenacity and persistence deflect most evil systems and quite often win in the very end.

5. The Osu Caste System is Losing the Battle

   Right from the emergence of the Colonial Administration, which brought organized society under the Rule of Law, followed by Christianity, the Osu caste system has been in the decline. First,  it was the children of this system that went to school before the free borns. They thereafter found themselves early in government and power. Can you imagine an Osu as Governor and how that breaks down all the walls. Secondly Christianity, which has swept of traditional worship under in most of Igbo land, has broken down the cast system. Do not mind the criss-crossers - Christians in the day, traditional worshippers by night. What however is left is the vestiges of the practice. There has been an Osu Governor in Anambra State, a citadel of traditional worship and I do not remember anybody denied him any of his rights as a citizen and Governor. Men & Women jostled for his attention and favor.

Vestiges of resistance however, are more prevalent in Imo state and communities in Enugu state (Umuode people in Oruku community in Nkanu East LGA, Enugu state for example), but the present emergence of organizations against, like Celibacy International (the sponsors of this colloquium) the Osu caste system is destined for the dustbin of history.

6. The Cultural Roots of the System

  Those insisting on continuation of this evil system are as parochial as the Islamists who wish to impose Sharia on all of Nigeria. Ostracism, which is the stealth approach of the adherents, requires a multi- dimensional approach to dismantle it. 

Traditional re-enactment of abolishment of the system by the Chief Priests of  Igbo traditional worship who have the right of cleansing abominations, as already scheduled for Dec. 2018, enlightenment, publicity and re-enactment of the 1956 Eastern Nigeria Osu Caste System Law in the five states of the South-East.

7. EZE NRI IS THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY TO REPEAT THE ABROGATION OF OSU CASTE SYSTEM IN IGBO LAND

Nri town gave refuge to run-away slaves, those oppressed and those who committed abomination and their lives were endangered. Any one of this category of persons who set his or her feet in the palace of Eze Nri, gained freedom. Hence the palace of Eze Nri typically had no walls. His palace is accessible at any time. (Rising insecurity from increased unemployment of youths and poverty compelled the walling of this Palace and the relevant ablutions were due to have been undertaken before the walls were erected.

7.1.The Right to Perform Cleansing rites and Abrogate anti-People Practices are the Exclusive rights of Eze Nri as the Chief Priest of Igbo Traditional Worship:

From time immemorial all dwarfs and deformed children in Igbo land destined to be thrown away, were brought to Nri town. These included twins, children who first cut the upper teeth or bridged birth. They were all accepted as human beings; thus their fundamental human rights denied them by other Igbo communities where they were born, were restored. Some were trained to become medicine men and women and royal messengers. The dwarfs were called aka Nri if a man, or ada Nri, if a woman. Humanitarianism was a primary feature of Nri civilization. It was a culture that did not accept slavery or slave trade or the caste system called osu, found in most Igbo towns. In 1823, Captain John Adam, a British Slaver, reported how Nri slaves caused revolt among the captured Igbo slaves on the coast. The slavers did not wish to buy them. To the Nri, slave trade was abomination and degradation of human personality. Eze Nri was one of the few African kings to ban and pronounced anathema on slave trade and slavers, like Okoli Ijeoma of Ndikelionwu, in the 19th century. EzeNri proclamation saved Oko community which would have been enslaved and colonized by Okoli Ijeoma. Ekwulobia and all communities around that axis, benefitted from this Eze Nri pronouncement of ANATHEMA.

The Nri culture, though well represented in hundreds of archaeological finds of bronze and other objects, dated before AD 900, and well documented from the time of Equiano, a liberated Igbo slave in 1775 to now, is still confused and under- played by some Igbo, because the British did not exalt it as they did exalt war-mongering Ife or Sokoto kingships The British were looking for a system that unified the Igbo with violence and pageantry of despotic monarchy like their European types, and failed to see it in Nri. What they found was a democratic monarchy using religious sanctions to bring the Igbo together. At first, they did not see sense in it but by 1931, the British saw sense in Nri system but it was too late. The British colonial government and the missionaries had stifled the system by 1911. Hence in 1931, the Government anthropologist M.K. Meek mourned that a system abandoned twenty years ago would be difficult to re-instate.

Nri system was like the system now employed by the United Nations in seeking for peace. But it is more morally advanced than the United Nations system because in its levitical rules, it abhors violence and killing, even in self-dense. 

The system needs to be studied more. We hereby draw the attention of Nigeria, the O.A.U. and UN to have a look into a system that tried to achieve in small scale for up to a millennium what they now are trying to achieve in a large scale since 1945 in UN in a more complex world. They might have a lesson to learn from a peace mechanism which dates back to 1045 AD, long before the United Nations which emerged on the world scene only in 1945. This is why some Igbo are proud to be associated with Nri and this is why some still associate themselves with Nri.

Nri is the glory of Igbo past and present. It is not romanticization. It is solid, and verifiable, historical and sociological facts of the past and present. A past that is still relevant to Igbo ethical personality of today and hence relevant to the future in building the concepts of peace-culture and a political moral-culture which are today additional pre-occupations. Nri peace-culture had been established and it has flourished in Nri for over a millennium. The modern global peace-culture cannot be understood if few societies with peace-cultures are not understood. This will be the importance of Nri in the present dispensation that has projected the ideology of a peace-culture. This is a summary of some of the things taught and written on Nri (Igbo) culture and civilization. 

Nri civilization and culture have provided ancient and durable foundations for modernization of Igbo people. There is cohesion through the ozo/eze title system, there is cohesion through the yam culture, the peace culture, the moral culture, the humanitarian culture, the philosophy, the traditional religion centered around Chukwu Okike, the iron culture, the age-grade culture and the Igu-aro ceremonial. 

It is the responsibility of the present administrations in the South-Eastern States, to devise ways and means to generate cohesion in the area. Since cohesion is manifested in group-oriented activities such as participation and sharing in group undertakings; expressions of loyalty, adherence to and active support for established institutions, healthy customs and mores; and similar kinds of socializations. We have mentioned that one of the ancient gifts which the Nri civilization bequeathed to the Anambra area and other Igbo, is the three-year-interval age grade system. The Nri type age-grade system is for peaceful mass participation and sharing in group undertakings; it is for the expression of loyalty, it is for moral enlightenment and rebirth. The British used the age-grade system of towns to build the old Enugu-Onitsha-Owerri road in the twenties. Many Igbo towns used it for town development until recently. The present administration can resuscitate and modernize the age-grade system of each town and direct its potentials towards meaningful grass root development.

Nri civilization and culture have provided the basis of cohesion for lasting development. It is important that there must be a change of attitude to the cultural history of the Igbo. Ndigbo must not continue to abandon the foundations established in the above legacies like the British Colonial Administrations did and  like all administrations in the Eastern Region and most South-Eastern States'administration have done and are doing. This is the importance of this presentation if it succeeds, to recognize the hard facts of culture-history and its use in reconstructing the present. Nri ideology is based on peace and when comprehended, it will install peace and tranquility all over Igbo land.

This is why I appeal to some upstarts who have been hired to destroy the Nri system operating through the Nri Town Union President, Oba Kelvin Obiegbunam, to save himself from hell fire which is the destination of all who wrestle their fathers for no reason other than they are hired for a fee. He should, like Judas Iscariot return whatever he was paid before he meets the fate of Judas. 

Nwata kpuolu Nna ya okani, uyolokoto ayochie ya anya. 

We cannot submit to those who half know and half don't now. It is a truism that the world is in danger, not so much from those who don't know or know too much, but those who half-know and half-don't know.

8. CONCLUSION

Igbo Land Must be United in Peace to Fight the Current Existential Scourge in Nigeria:

Growth, development and peace follow a trend that is culture-based. This is the first lesson social scientists of development, learn following what happened in Europe, USA, Japan, China, and the countries of Southeast Asia. A group of people living in a geo-political area, cannot develop self-reliance if they have no common values and norms that give them some cohesion. Group cohesion refers to the observable facts that certain persons form a unit of a sort that hold them together. Cohesion is “the interchange of ideas and feelings from all  to each and from each to all” (Durkheim)), “the active interchange of views and impressions” the expressions of “love for the group (patriotism)”;“Participation in a common cause,” "the constant surveillance of all over each.”are values that make the difference. A group that has cohesion can develop through the flow of knowledge and idea, innovations and circulation of its elite.

Osu caste system needs to be put to rest for Ndigbo to match shoulder-to-shoulder, as brothers, in order to unshackle the fetters which have limited us; and emerge as indeed free citizens of the world, which has left Nigeria behind as the world's capital of poverty and one of the most.

Published at www.emekaonyesoh.blogspot.com.ng, 21st Sept. 2018.

Bibliography:

1. Onwubuariri Francis: Appraising the Osu CasteSystem in Igboland within the Context of Complimentary Reflection, Nov.14, 2007. (www.frasouzu.com>Onwubuariri Franci...).

2. Dike Victor E: Osu Caste System in Igboland  Diiscrimination Based on Descent. August 2007 (www.dalits.nl>pdf>OsuCasteSystem.

3. Onwuejeogwu M.A. and Onyesoh Chukwuemeka: Nri is the Focus of Igbo Civilisation, (www.emekaonyesoh.blogspot.com.ng).

            TO BE OR NOT TO BE? THAT IS THE QUESTION!

             (The 77th Birth Message of Prince Chukwuemeka I. Onyesoh)

According to the Census Bureau of the United States, the population of Nigeria will reach 402 million people by the year 2050, making Nigeria the world's 3rd most populous country (overtaking even USA). Nigeria's 2018 population is estimated at 213 Million. That means that there would be a growth of 189 million within the next 32 years. There is therefore an annual population growth of about 6 million - annual growth of about 2.8 to 3%. Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (PPP based) growth in the past couple of years since 2015, varies from negative growth to marginal growths of 1 to 2%.
(GDP per capita  (PPP based) is the total value of goods and services produced in an economy converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity and divided by the total population in the economy).

The deficiency between Nigerian population growth, shown above as an average of 3%, and Nigerian GDP growth (from negative growth to 1 to 2% growth), is therefore as much as 1 to 3%.  That deficiency manifests as unemployment growth in the economy and culminates in the level of poverty, violence and absence of well- being in the economy.

Nigeria, World's Capital of Poverty
Above explains why Nigeria has progressively turned out the world's capital of poverty - 87 million of extremely poor, over and above India with over six times Nigeria's population (1.3 billion). Living in extreme poverty as defined by the World Bank is living under $1.90 to $2 (N680) per day and therefore unable to meet minimal needs for survival. The 2015 World Poverty Clock of the World Data Lab in Vienna, Austria, stated that  42.4per cent of Nigerians were living in extreme poverty and in June 2018, the figure was 44.2 per cent. On the average, seven people descend into poverty every minute.
Reacting to this sad extreme poverty situation in Nigeria at the 58th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Pastor, Prof. of Law and SAN, on Monday 27th August 2018, spoke in Abuja, as if he has no calculator and there is no Economist in the Presidency of Nigeria. He claimed that since 2016, the Federal Government of Nigeria distributes N500 billion annually to the poorest of the poor in Nigeria. This has been found to be  untrue. The most President Buhari's government has ever released in its National Social Investment Programs (NSIP) is about N200 billion, and till date no one has ever come across any one who has so benefitted from the scheme, nor have anybody in the government published any such names and addresses of beneficiaries. Finally, even if N500 Billion is shared to 87.52 million extreme poor in Nigeria, that would give each beneficiary only N5,712.979 in a year, amounting to a mere N15.65 per day.  To exit extreme poverty, an individual requires a minimum of  $1.90 (N680) per day. Poverty alleviation is meant to enable the poor exit poverty by being self sufficient. N15.65 per day is like a poor fundamentalist Moslem's fulfillment of zakat (Charitable giving of alms - the 3rd Pillar of Islam) to qualify such person for a place in after-life paradise.
The second half of the VP's assertion that 500,000 graduates had been employed under the N-Power scheme as  part of NSIP for providing jobs to graduates, is another bombast, more of share propaganda as no Nigerian knows of any graduates so employed since 2015; and Prof. Osibanjo and his government have bluntly refused to publish any list of such graduates, so employed.
Prof. Osinbajo spoke as the Chairman of Nigeria's Economic Council and it became obvious why and how Nigeria manufactures seven extremely poor Nigerians every minute with no hope of any exiting poverty, there being no genuine government exit plans.


Fundamentalism Generates Demagoguery, Illiteracy, Violence, Unemployment, Unregulated Population Growth and Extreme Poverty - a Vicious Cycle:

Belief in God is natural and is justified God being the creator of the world and all therein. But fundamentalism, which is the form of a religion, especially Islam or Christianity, that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture, is anti-civilizational.
Christianity, by 2015 estimates, remains the world's largest religion, making up a third (31%) of earth's 7.3 billion, with little or no growth from its 2010 population of 2.2 billion to a mere 2.3 billion in 2015. This is unlike Muslim faith which from 1.6 billion in 2010 rose to 1.8 billion in 2015. Islam is therefore growing more rapidly than any other religion in the world and will nearly equal Christianity by 2050 before eclipsing it around 2070, if current trend continues (Pew Research Centre). And there is no reason why the trend will stop given the pacifist, laid-back and lackadaisical attitude of Christian leaders in the world.

The leadership of the two faiths, is where the difference lies. Whereas most Christian leaders are liberal, most most Muslim leaders are fundamentalist. The fundamentalist Islamists set the ultimate purpose of Islam as the  subjugation and forcible conversion of all people to Islam and world domination. The model is the  the establishment by force of a worldwide Islamic state where Sharia law is enforced on all.  Conversion or follower-ship is enforced and/or sustained through Jihad - force
Therein lies the difference with Christianity in which there is total reliance on evangelism for conversion of new members and sustenance of membership.
JIHAD DEFINITION
Jihad is “a war or struggle, fought against un-believers to defend or spread Islamic faith.” Although Jihad is not one of the Five Pillars of Islam but one of the Hadiths, Al Bukhari, revealed that the Holy Prophet, in one of his teachings, ranked Jihad above all other pillars of Islam, except Pillar One: “Belief in Allah and His Apostle (Holy Prophet Mohammed).” In other words, Jihad is the second most important Pillar of Islam and it is fought in eight forms namely: Words, Deception, Sword (violence), Taxation, Financial Reward, Slavery, Sharia Law, Polygamy (population growth) and Spirits.
 Sharia Law is the backbone of fundamentalist Islam.   It is the moral code and religious law of Islam, which guides all aspects of Muslim life including daily routines, familial and religious obligations, and financial dealings. Sharia Law is derived primarily from precepts set forth in the Quranic verses (ayahs) and the examples set by the Islamic prophet in the Sunnah (Hadith – the sayings, practices, and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad) as primary sources.For questions not directly addressed in the primary sources, the application of Sharia is extended through consensus of the religious scholars (ulama) thought to embody the consensus of the Muslim community (ijma). Differences in opinions over “questions not sufficiently addressed by primary sources” between different groups of ulamas (religious scholars) quite often result in sharp differences and frequently result in violence between the sects led by different ulamas. The introduction of Sharia is the long-standing goal for Islamic movements globally . . . but attempts to impose Sharia have been accompanied by controversy, violence, and even warfare.”
  This is the source of violence in even totally Moslem countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. And that is how Nigeria ignited Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen terrorism in year 2000.
 Sharia Law is incompatible with Common Law; and inconsistent with secular democracy. Wherever they mix, there is crisis resulting in violence of a permanent nature. Fundamentalist Islam, which represented by Sharia Law, is therefore responsible for 90% of violence, the world-over, Nigeria being an example.
The Islamic fundamentalists’ attitude to secular democratic institutions is exposed in their war cry “Allahu Akbar,” which is generally misinterpreted by the international media and Nigerians as “God is great,” but actually means “Allah is greater than your God, Constitution or Government.”It is the aggressive declaration that Allah and Islam are dominant over every other form of government, religion, law or ethic, which is why Islamic Jihadists in the midst of killing infidels, so often shout it, primarily in order to 'strike terror in the hearts of the enemies of Allah.”

The implications of Jihad of Polygamy (Population Growth) for Ndigbo in Nigeria, is the Fulcrum of this Birthday Message.

 Originally conceived to replace many men killed in early Jihad, polygamy of upper limit of four wives and a latitude for as many concubines as one can maintain, plus virtual absence of birth control have been major sources of rapid increase in Moslem population. Unfortunately uncontrolled family size limits education and training that children in above circumstance can get. However, the need to have a poor class in fundamentalist Islamic societies on whom the faithful are required to execute zakat (Charitable giving: the giving of alms - the 3rd Pillar of Islam) so as to qualify the believer to enter paradise after-life makes, makes poverty in such society mandatory.

A cycle of children of the poor who emerge as adults with no literacy or numeracy except capability to recite the Quran in Arabic, the official language of Islam, the only thing (along with alms begging) they are taught from age 3 to 16/18 in their Almajiri classes, perpetuates poverty.  Marriage of girls from age 9 to 13 and consequent child motherhood,further complicates the poverty cycle. A man with three to four wives and each wife with five to six children pushes the average family size to no less than 24 all struggling to meet daily needs with no modern  health care, a home not quite fit for domestic animals, no clean water, unhealthy environment with all the complications of open defecation.

THE NIGERIAN SCENARIO:

In Northern Nigeria, Jihad of polygamy (population growth) is taken very seriously for on it relies the ability to rule the more educated and organized Southern Nigeria where more serious thought and consideration is given to the economies of family size.
The political leaders of the North West and North East are so obsessed with overwhelming the rest of the country with population that in addition to the advantages conferred on their people by the polygamous nature of marriages and little or no care for their offsprings, they also undertake some further extra-ordinary measures to boost their population growth.
Governments in the zones therefore sponsor and organize mass weddings for productive men and women who cannot afford marriages to enable them produce more children.
For example in May 2012, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, an ultra Jihadist, initiated government sponsored mass wedding of over 1,000 divorcees and widows in Kano State. In April 2013 the Governor reported that over N238 million was used in sponsoring the 3rd batch of these mass weddings (www.premiumtimes.ng.com). Thereafter Kano Hisba (Sharia) Board took over mass weddings as a serious government constant undertaking, conducted severally every year. Vanguard of 27th Oct. 2015 reported government-sponsored mass wedding of  over 2,000 widows and divorcees by Gov. Abdullah Gandunje (PhD graduate in Public Administration of the University of Ibadan) in Oct. 2015. Zamfara joined this Jihad of Polygamy (Population growth) with its initial 1,000 mass wedding in January 2013.

Nigeria's Deliberately Porous Northern Borders:
Nigeria's porous borders is another source of manipulating population growth against the best interest of the Nigerian nation. Out of Nigeria's total land borders of 3,053 kilometers, Niger shares 1,497km; Chad 87 million; Benin Republic 773km and Cameroon 1,690 km. Most of these borders verge on Northern states.  Internal Affairs ministry, Controller-generals of Immigration and Customs, all of which control movements of people and goods across Nigeria's borders, are as a matter of routine, invariably in the hands of Northern Nigerians. There are generally no marked borders between Nigeria and most of these countries, particularly those countries that share borders with the North and also share ethnic and religious affinity.
During the 1963 Census, I supervised the enumeration in a border community in Goronyo District of present Sokoto state. My guide took me into neighboring Niger Republic without any of us knowing. My 2016 investigation confirms that the borderlessness between Niger and Nigeria remains, still sustains.

Republic of Niger, a typical Case of Borderless Nigeria
The Republic of Niger is land-locked with a total land area of 1,270,000 sq.km , making it the largest country in West Africa, but 80% of its land is occupied by the Sahara Desert. 65% of the population of 21.9 million (Jan. 1, 2018 estimate) are ethnic Hausa/Fulani and the current President of Nigeria identifies very closely with them. Its relationship with Nigeria is a case study.
 Almost all manufactured goods in Niger are imported or re-imported from Nigeria with little or no official payment or duty to Nigeria. Nigeria is borrowing from China to extend the planned standard gauge rail line for 55 kilometers into Niger at no cost to Niger at the same time there is not yet standard gauge rail extension to any part of South-East zone of Nigeria.
A petroleum refinery with capacity for 100-150,000 barrel a day is planned for President Buhari's home state in Mashi Town in Katsina state; and a pipeline is proposed to be constructed to import and use Nigerien crude. At $60 per barrel of crude, Nigeria would be paying annually about $1.8Billion to the Republic of Niger for its crude, the same time a glut for Nigeria's crude in the world market leaves consignments unsold, sometimes for months. If the 1,000 km pipeline is also constructed to supply the Kaduna refinery from Niger, it will entail another $1.8Billion payment annually to the Republic of Niger. These are the economic costs of relationship with Niger. It is no surprise Nigeria is poverty capital of the world and given above circumstances will remain so for a very long time.

Political Cost of Republic of Niger to Nigeria:
In the absence of any borders between the Republic of Niger and Nigeria, 65% of Niger's 21.9 million people who are Hasusa-Fulani, easily melt into Nigeria for Census enumeration, voters' registration and actual voting at any general election.

THE QUESTIONS NDIGBO NEED TO ADDRESS

By 2050 Nigerian population would explode to 402 million,  making Nigeria the world's 3rd most populous country in the world. Most of the explosion in Nigeria's population is from Northern Nigeria's deliberate prosecution of Jihad of Population Growth - uncontrolled birth rate, family size and cross-border migration from deliberately North's porous borders.
On account of the above factors, the dangerous projection is that by 2050, more than 70% of Nigerians would be living in the North, the same time they dominate Nigerian extreme poverty and violence - religious killings, maiming, raping, conversion and forced marriage of non-Moslem under-aged and adult females and confiscation of other people's ancestral land. (The 70% projection is a conclusion drawn by Alhaji Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency in a 317 page book titled, Making Africa Work, authored by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and three others - Mr. Dickie Davies, a retired Major General in the British Army; Mr. Greg Mills, who is an adviser to several African presidents; and Mr. Jeffrey Herbst, president and CEO of the Newseum Institute, Washington DC and also the president of Colgate University from 2010 to 2015).
As is already obvious, the North would export its extreme poverty, violence and fundamentalist and religious extremism all over Nigeria and in another 20 years when up to 80-90% Nigerians would be northerners, God knows whether Afghanistan and Pakistan would be any different from that kind of Nigeria!

It does not seem that the South-West leadership being piloted by Ahmed Bola Tinubu, which is a major influence in Fundamentalist present take-over of Nigeria since 2015, is, in the least, bothered. It would seem that the lessons of history in the betrayals by the fundamentalist tendencies is lost on present South-West leadership - AFONJA, AKINTOLA, AWOLOWO, ADEKUNLE and ABIOLA! The South-West, has always rescued the oligarchy whenever their asses are on fire - 1967-70, 1975-79, 1999-2010.

Shall the Igbo join the South-West and other Nigerians in submerging their ethnic identities for the oligarchy's TOGA and just live for whatever conveniences might be allowed in a wholly fundamentalist state?

Chukwuemeka I. Onyesoh (Prince)
Enugu.
14th Sept. 2018.