I Stand With Igbo Network (I WIN): Going Back To The Igbo ROOTS

Rediscovering Our
Lost Igbo Brethren

by Chukwurah Emeagwali
at Igbo Cultural Day celebration
at Calgary, Canada on August 23, 2003.
Ozi nkwado Ndi Igbo nke Ma'zi Chukwurah Emeagwali
degara Ndi Igbo bi na obodo Calgary, Canada n'oge emume afo ncheta Igbo.

Emeagwali

Ndi b'anyi ndeewo nu O!
I felted honored when Ma'zi Kene Ufondu invited me to say a few words to you.
As part of your celebration, I urge you to reflect and remember the contributions of tens of millions of Diasporan Igbos (ndi bi n'Igbo Uzo, nwanne di na mba) that left Ala Igbo a few centuries ago.
On Igbo Day, I remember Ma'zi Jubo Jubogha alias "Ja Ja," the 12-year-old slave-boy that became King of Opobo (Eze n'Opobu Igbo). Ma'zi Jubogha was summarily tried in a British court and found guilty of "treaty breaking." For "blocking the highways of trade," Ma'zi Jubogha was permanently exiled to Barbados and St. Vincent, West Indies. He is now immortalized in Barbadian folklore and song.
On Igbo Day, I salute Ma'zi Olaudah Equiano, another 12-year-old slave-boy, for proudly writing: "I am Eboe" (Abu m Igbo). I thank Ma'zi Equiano for providing us the earliest written account of the culture and customs of Ndi Igbo. I thank Ma'zi Equiano for chronicling the horrific injustices of slavery.
The following chant mourned the loss of young Olaudah:

Who are we looking for, who are we looking for?
It's Equiano we're looking for.
Has he gone to the stream? Let him come back.
Has he gone to the farm? Let him return.
It's Equiano we're looking for.

Ma'zi Equiano is an ichie, nna-mmuo (revered ancestor, great spirit). Scholars immortalized this nwa'afo Igbo (true son of the soil) with the title: "father of black literature." On Igbo Day, I invoke the spirits of the ten heroic "Eboe" men, women, and children of Georgia's Sea Islands who jumped off a slave ship and drowned themselves to escape slavery. Sea Islands folklore recalls how ten defiant and courageous "Eboe" slaves, shackled at their ankles and necks, with tears in their eyes, chanted in unison, the eerie refrain:

"The water brought us; the water will take us away."

The act of courage and fierce resistance of the "Eboes" to the condition of bondage is immortalized in the folklore and song of the Gullah people of coastal Georgia.
May the spirits of those "Lost Igbos" walk beside you, whisper to you, and guide you in your quest for knowledge and wisdom.
Ma'zi Equiano described himself as a "stranger in a strange land." As strangers in Canada, I commend you for providing an opportunity for Umu Igbo to know their brothers and sisters. Ndi b'anyi si na njiko ka, mmadu ka e ji aba.
Igbo Kwenu!
[Chukwurah nwa Emeagwali bu onye onicha]

Emeagwali Chukwurah Emeagwali dropped out of school at the age of 12, served in the Biafran army at the age of 14 and came to the United States on scholarship in March 1974. Emeagwali won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, computation's Nobel Prize, for inventing a formula that lets computers perform their fastest computations, work that led to the reinvention of supercomputers. He has been extolled by Bill Clinton as "one of the great minds of the Information Age," described by CNN as "A Father of the Internet," and is the world's most searched-for scientist on the Internet.

Ichoputaghari Ihe Banyere Umu Igbo Furu Efu

Ozi Nkwado Ndi Igbo nke Ma'zi Chukwurah Emeagwali degara Igbo Cultural Association of Calgary, Canada n'oge emume afo ncheta Igbo

August 23, 2003 na Calgary di na obodo Canada

Ndi b'anyi ndeewo nu O!
Obi bu m so an~uli oge Ma'zi Kene Ufondu kpokurum ka m bia buru onye obia puru iche na emume ncheta Ndi Igbo 2003 na Calgary. Ya mere nji were si ka m'gwa unu okwu nkwado.
Iji kwado emume unu, ana m akpoku nwa Igbo obula ka ochee echichi ma lotakwa ihe iriba ama puru iche Umu Igbo gara mba imilikiti afo gara aga megasiri ikwado oganiru madu.
Ewerem ubochi Icheta Igbo were lota Ma'zi Jubo Jubogha nke ana etu "Ja Ja," onye nke atoro na oru nafo iri na abua ma gbagide mbo we buru Eze Igbo n'Opobo. Ndi ulo ikpe Britain kpurulu Ma'zi Jubogha ga n'ulo ikpe ha ebe ha noro maa ya ikpe na odara iwu site na imebi "nkwa udo okwere" na kwa "igbochi nnukwu uzo azum ahia". Na itaya ahuhu, achupuru Ma'zi Jubogha nobodo ya, buru ya ga n'obodo anakpo Barbados na kwa mba nke St. Vincent, di na West Indies.
Iji kwanyere ya ugwu ruru ya, ndi mba Barbados etinyena akuko maka ndu ya na akuko iro ha, makwa na ukwe.
Ozo, ewerem ubochi Icheta Igbo were kene Ma'zi Olaudah Equiano, nwata ozo dikwa afo iri na abua erepulu n'oru onye nke jiri aka ya dere si: "Abu m Igbo". Ewerem ukpa ekene bunye Ma'zi Equiano onye nke mere ka anyi nwee akuko edere ede banyere odinani na omenani ma kwa emume Ndi Igbo oge gboo. Ekenekwasim Ma'zi Equiano ka osi were mee ka uwa ghota ijo ihe din a igbo oru, soro nua ogu iji kwusi ya, ma dekwa akwukwo banyere ajo agwa di na igba oru.
Abu na esota bu abu nke ejiri were kwaa obere nwa anyi Olaudah furu efu:

"Obu Onye ka anyi na acho? Obu Onye ka anyi na acho?
Ikwuano ka anyi na acho.
Obu iyi ka ochulu? Biko nya nata.
Obu ugbo ka ojelu? Biko nya nata.
Ikwuano ka anyi na acho."

Ma'zi Ikwuano bu ichie, burukwa nna-mmuo. Ndi ogu akwukwo dum, iji bobe ya ndu anwu anwu, nyere ya aha otutu: "Nna akuko banyere ndi ojii." Ewerem ubochi Ncheta Igbo were kponite mmuo Umu Igbo nwoke, nwanyi na umuaka ndi Georgia's Sea Islands ndi nke miri rigbadoo oge ha siri na ugbo oru manye na miri iji gbanari agbam oru. Akuko ndi anakpo n'oyibo ndi Sea Islands nerota etu "Oru ekwe ekwe Umu Igbo", ndi anya miri juru anya siri buru iga akponyere ha na olu makwa na ukwu, kwa akwa alili, were otu olu were tie nkpu akpata oyi na asi:
"Oshimiri butel'anyi, Oshimiri g'ebu anyi laa"
Omume dike nke Umu Igbo, makwa inupu isi ha nupuru banyere agbam oru madu ewerela onodu anwu-anwu na akuko makwa abu ndi bi na ikpere miri Georgia, ndi anakpo ndi Gullah.
Ka mmuo Umu Igbo furu Efu soro unu n'akuku n'ije unu, gbanyere unu izu okwu, makwa dube unu na ochucho amam ihe na ako n'uche unu.
Ma'zi Ikwuano kowara onwe ya sin a ya bu "obia na obodo oghotaghi" Dika ndi obia na obodo Canada, ajalum unu ike na nnukwu oghere nke a unu weputara maka umu Igbo iji makorita onwe ha.
Ndi ba anyi si na njiko ka, mmadu ka e ji aba.
Igbo Kwenu!
[Chukwurah nwa Emeagwali bu onye onicha. Ma'zi Emmanuel Chinyeaka Okoli de re nka na asusu Igbo. Udo di ri gi, nwannem.]
Ja Ja of Opobo

Birth: c. 1820
Death: 1891
Nationality: Nigerian
Occupation: politician, nationalist, slave
Source: Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

JaJa of Opobo (ca. 1820-1891) was a political and military strategist, brought to the Bonny Kingdom as a slave, who was perhaps the most troublesome thorn in the flesh of 19th-century British imperial ambition in southern Nigeria. The story of Ja Ja recounts a man of servile status hurdling intimidating odds to attain wealth and power, and founding in the latter half of the 19th century the most prosperous city-state in the Delta area of Nigeria. Information regarding his parentage and early childhood, derived from uncertain and speculative oral tradition, is scanty and unsatisfactory. According to informed guesstimates, Ja Ja was born in 1820 or 1821, in the lineage of Umuduruoha of Amaigbo village group in the heartland of Igboland, Southeastern Nigeria. He was sold into slavery in the Niger Delta under circumstances which are far from clear. One version of the oral traditions says that he was sold because, as a baby, he cut the upper teeth first, an abominable phenomenon in traditional Igbo society. Another version claims that he was captured and sold by his father's enemy. Regardless, he was bought by Chief Iganipughuma Allison of Bonny, by far the most powerful city-state on the Atlantic coast of Southeastern Nigeria before the rise of Opobo.
To follow the Ja Ja story or, indeed, revolution, an explanatory note is necessary. Until the end of the 19th century, the Delta communities played a crucial role in European and American trade with Nigeria. Acting as middlemen, these communities carried into the interior markets the trade goods of European and American supercargoes stationed on the coast and brought back in exchange the export produce of the hinterland, basically palm oil. As the Delta is dominated by saline swamps and crisscrossed by a labyrinth of creeks and rivers, the canoe was indispensable for trade.
The Delta society was organized in Canoe Houses. A Canoe House was the pivot of social organization and also, notes K.O. Dike, "a cooperative trading unit and a local government institution." It was usually composed of a wealthy merchant (its founder), his family, and numerous slaves owned by him. A prosperous house could comprise several thousand members, both free and bonded, owning hundreds of trade canoes. In this intensely competitive society, leadership by merit--not by birth or ascriptions--was necessary if a house was to make headway in the turbulent, cut-throat competition that existed between houses. Any person with the charisma and proven ability, even if of servile birth, could rise to the leadership of a house, but could never become king. Ja Ja would achieve this, and much more.
Finding young Ja Ja too headstrong for his liking, Chief Allison made a gift of him to his friend, Madu, a chief of the Anna Pepple House, one of the two houses of the royal family (the other being the Manilla Pepple House). Ja Ja was slotted into the lowest rung of the Bonny slave society ladder, that of an imported slave, distinct from that of someone who was of slave parentage but born in the Delta.
As a youth, he worked as a paddler on his owner's great trade canoes, traveling to and from the inland markets. Quite early, he demonstrated exceptional abilities and business acumen, quickly identified with the Ijo custom of the Delta, and won the hearts of the local people as well as those of the European supercargoes. It was unusual for a slave of his status to make the transition from canoe paddling to trading, but Ja Ja--through his honesty, business sense, and amiability--soon became prosperous.
For a long while, Ja Ja turned his back on Bonny politics, concentrating his immense energies on accumulating wealth through trade, the single most important criterion to power in the Delta. At the time, Bonny politics were volatile as a result of the irreconcilable and acrimonious contest for supremacy between the Manilla Pepple House and the Anna Pepple House to which Ja Ja belonged. Coincidentally, both houses were led by remarkable characters of Igbo slave origins--Oko Jumbo of the Manilla House and Madu (after him Alali his son) of the Anna House.

Ja Ja Rescues Debt-Ridden House

In 1863, Alali died, bequeathing to his house a frightening debt of between £10,000 and £15,000 owed to European supercargoes. Fearing bankruptcy, all of the eligible chiefs of the house declined nomination to head it. It was therefore a great relief when Ja Ja accepted to fill the void. With characteristic energy, he proceeded to put his house in order by reorganizing its finances. Conscious that the palm-oil markets in the hinterland and the wealth of the European trading community on the coast constituted the pivot of the Delta economy, he ingratiated himself with both sides. In a matter of two years, he had liquidated the debt left behind by his predecessor and launched his house on the path of prosperity. When less prosperous and insolvent houses sought incorporation into the Anna House, Ja Ja gradually absorbed one house after another.
By 1867, his remarkable success had become common knowledge throughout Bonny. The British consul to the area, Sir Richard Burton, had cause to remark that although Ja Ja was the "son of an unknown bush man," he had become "the most influential man and greatest trader in the [Imo] River." Predicted Burton: "In a short time he will either be shot or he will beat down all his rivals."
Burton's words proved prophetic. Ja Ja's successes incurred the jealousy of opponents who feared that, if left unchecked, his house might incorporate most of the houses in Bonny and thereby dominate its political and economic arena. Oko Jumbo, his bitterest opponent, was determined that such a prospect would never materialize.
Meanwhile, two developments occurred in Bonny, serving to harden existing jealousies. First, in 1864, Christianity was introduced into the city-state, further polarizing the society. While the Manilla House welcomed the Christians with a warm embrace, the Anna House was opposed to the exotic religion. Not surprisingly, the missionaries sided with the Manilla House against the Anna House. Second, in 1865, King William Pepple died and, with this, the contest for the throne between the two royal houses took on a monstrous posture.
Three years later, in 1868, Bonny was ravaged by fire, and the Anna House was the worst hit. In the discomfiture of his opponent, Oko Jumbo saw his opportunity. Knowing that the fire had all but critically crippled Ja Ja's house, he sought every means to provoke an open conflict. On the other side, Ja Ja did everything to avoid such a conflict, but, as Dike states, "Oko Jumbo's eagerness to catch his powerful enemy unprepared prevailed."
On September 13, 1869, heavy fighting erupted between the two royal houses. Outmatched in men and armament, though not in strategy, Ja Ja pulled out of Bonny, accepted defeat, and sued for peace with a suddenness that surprised both his adversaries and the European supercargoes. Peace palaver commenced and dragged on for weeks under the auspices of the British consul. This was exactly what Ja Ja planned for. It soon became doubtful if the victors were not indeed the vanquished.
Ja Ja had sued for peace in order to gain time to retreat from Bonny with his supporters with little or no loss in men and armament. A master strategist, he relocated in the Andoni country away from the seaboard at a strategic point at the mouth of the Imo river, the highway of trade between the coastal communities and the palm-oil rich Kwa Iboe and Igbo country. There, he survived the initial problems of a virgin settlement as well as incessant attacks of his Bonny enemies.

He Proclaims Independent Settlement Of Opobo

In 1870, feeling reasonably secure, Ja Ja proclaimed the independence of his settlement which he named Opobo, after Opubu the Great, the illustrious king of Bonny and founder of Anna House who had died in 1830. As Dike writes:

[I]t is characteristic of the man that he had not only a sense of the occasion but of history. . . . Kingship was impossible of attainment for anyone of slave origins in Bonny. Instead he sought another land where he could give full scope to his boundless energies.

Long before the war of 1869, Ja Ja had been carefully planning to found his own state. The war merely provided him with the occasion to implement his design.
In naming his new territory Opobo, Ja Ja was appealing to the nostalgia and historical consciousness of his followers while giving them the impression that he was truly the heir of the celebrated king. That this impression was widespread and accepted by most Bonny citizens may be judged from the fact that of the 18 houses in Bonny, 14 followed Ja Ja to Opobo.
To no avail, the British consul tried to coerce Ja Ja to come back to Bonny. Against the admonition of the consul, and in the face of Bonny's displeasure, many British firms began to trade openly with Opobo while others transferred their depots there. By May of 1870, the Ja Ja revolution had driven the death-knell on Bonny's economy. British firms anchoring there are said to have lost an estimated £100,000 of trade by mid-1870. The city-state fell from grace to grass as Opobo, flourishing on its ashes, became in Ofonagoro's words, "the most important trade center in the Oil Rivers," and Ja Ja became "the greatest African living in the east of modern Nigeria."
For 18 years, Ja Ja ruled his kingdom with firmness and remarkable sagacity. He strengthened his relations with the hinterland palm-oil producers through judicious marriages and blood covenants which bound the parties into ritual kingship. He armed his traders with modern weapons for their own defense and that of the state. He thus monopolized trade with the palm-oil producers and punished severely any community that tried to trade directly with the European supercargoes.

Queen Victoria Awards Ja Ja Sword Of Honor

In 1873, the British recognized him as king of independent Opobo, and Ja Ja reciprocated by sending a contingent of his soldiers to help the British in their war against the Ashanti kingdom in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Queen Victoria expressed her gratitude in 1875 by awarding him a sword of honor. It seemed a honeymoon had developed between Opobo and Britain.
Ja Ja's reign has been described as a striking instance of selective modernization. He retained most of the sociopolitical and cultural institutions of Bonny, such as the house system, and stuck steadfastly to the religion of his fathers, arguing that Christianity was a serious ferment of societal destabilization. While recognizing the value of Western education and literacy, he objected to its religious component. Thus, he sent his two sons to school in Scotland but insisted they acquire only secular education. He established a secular school in Opobo and employed an African-American, Emma White, to run it. An Englishman who visited Opobo in 1885 stated that the standard of the pupils in the school compared quite favorably with that of English children of the same age.
The honeymoon between Ja Ja and the British turned out to be meteoric: the ultimate ambitions of the two ran at cross-purposes. Ja Ja guarded his independence jealously, had a tight grip on the interior markets and confined British traders to Opobo, away from these markets. He made sure that the traders paid their comeys (customs and trade duties) as and when due.
But in the 1880s, the clouds of British imperialism were closing in menacingly on Opobo, the overthrow of indigenous sovereignties having been initiated by John Beecroft, the first British consul to Nigeria (1849-54). British imperialism had begun to assert itself forcefully; British officials on the spot were increasingly ignoring indigenous authorities, while British traders had begun to insist on trading directly with the hinterland palm-oil producers. Ja Ja tackled these formidable problems judiciously and with restraint.
In July 1884, fearing German intrusion in the Delta, the British consul, Edward Hewett, rushed to the area, foisting treaties of protection on the indigenous sovereignties. With a veiled threat from a man-of-war, Ja Ja too was stampeded into placing his kingdom under British protection. But unlike the other African monarchs, this was not before he had sought explanation for the word "protectorate," and had been assured by the consul that his independence would not be compromised. Hewett wrote to Ja Ja informing him, inter alia (among other things), that:

the queen does not want to take your country or your markets, but at the same time she is anxious that no other nation should take them. She undertakes . . . [to] leave your country still under your government; she has no wish to disturb your rule.

At Ja Ja's insistence, a clause providing for free trade in his kingdom was struck off before he agreed to sign the treaty.

European Powers Sign Treaty Of Berlin

The following year, European powers entered into the Treaty of Berlin which set the stage for the scramble and partition of Africa among themselves, without regard to the wishes of Africans. The treaty provided for free navigation on River Niger and other rivers, such as the Imo, linked to it. On the basis of this, the British consul asserted that British firms were within their rights to trade directly in the interior palm-oil markets. That same year, 1885, Britain proclaimed the Oil Rivers Protectorate, which included Ja Ja's territory. Sending a delegation to the British secretary of states for the colonies to protest these actions by right of the treaty of 1884, Ja Ja's protest fell on deaf ears. A man of his word, he was shocked at Britain reneging on her pledge.
Worse times were yet to come as political problems were compounded by economic dispute. The 1880s witnessed a severe trade depression that ruined some of the European firms trading in the Delta and threatened the survival of others. The surviving firms responded to the situation in two ways. First, they reached an agreement among themselves, though not with complete unanimity, to offer low prices for produce. Second, they claimed the right to go directly to the interior markets in order to sidestep the coastal middlemen and reduce the handling cost of produce.
As would be expected, Ja Ja objected to these maneuvers and proceeded to ship his own produce directly to Europe. The British consul directed the European firms not to pay comey to Ja Ja anymore, arguing that in shipping his produce directly to Europe, he had forfeited his right to receive the payment. Once again, Ja Ja sent a delegation to Britain to protest the consul and the traders' action. Once again, this was to no avail.
Under a threat of naval bombardment, Ja Ja signed an agreement with the British consul in July 1887 to allow free trade in his territory. By now, he knew that Britain's imperial ambition was growing rapidly, and he began transferring his resources further into the Igbo hinterland, his birthplace. But as Elizabeth Isichei points out, "he was confronted with a situation where courage and foresight were ultimately in vain."

British Official Reneges On Promises

Harry Johnston, acting vice-consul, a young hothead anxious to advance his colonial career, imagined that Ja Ja would be a perfect stepping-stone to attain his ambition. Arriving at Opobo on a man-of-war, Johnston invited Ja Ja for a discussion on how to resolve the points of friction between Opobo and the British traders and officials. Suspicious of Johnston's real intentions, Ja Ja initially turned down the invitation but was lured to accept with a promise of safe return after the meeting. Said Johnston:

I hereby assure you that whether you accept or reject my proposals tomorrow, no restrictions will be put on you--you will be free to go as soon as you have heard my message.

But again the British reneged on their pledge: Ja Ja would not return to his kingdom alive. Once on board the warship Goshawk, Johnston confronted him with a deportation order or the complete destruction of Opobo. Nearly 18 years to the day when he pulled out of Bonny, Ja Ja was deported to the Gold Coast, tried, and declared guilty of actions inimical to Britain's interest. Still afraid of his charm and influence on the Gold Coast, even in captivity, Johnston saw to it that he was deported to the West Indies, at St. Vincent Island.
With the exit of Ja Ja, the most formidable obstacle to Britain's imperial ambition in Southeastern Nigeria had been removed. But the circumstances of his removal left a sour taste in certain British mouths. Lord Salisbury, British prime minister, could not help criticizing Johnston, noting that in other places Ja Ja's deportation would be called "kidnapping." Michael Crowder describes the event as "one of the shabbiest incidents in the history of Britain's relations with West Africa." Among the indigenous population, it left a deep and lasting scar of suspicion of Britain's good faith and, for a long time, trade in the area all but ceased.
In exile, Ja Ja is said to have borne himself with kingly dignity. He made repeated appeals to Britain to allow him to return to Opobo. In 1891, his request was granted, belatedly as it turned out: Ja Ja died on the Island of Teneriffe en route to Opobo, the kingdom built with his sweat and devotion. His people gladly paid the cost of repatriating his body and spent a fortune celebrating his royal funeral.
Today, an imposing statue of Ja Ja stands in the center of Opobo with the inscription:

A king in title and in deed. Always just and generous.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

The story of Ja Ja recounts a man of servile status hurdling intimidating odds to attain wealth and power, and founding in the latter half of the 19th century the most prosperous city-state in the Delta area of Nigeria. Information regarding his parentage and early childhood, derived from uncertain and speculative oral tradition, is scanty and unsatisfactory. According to informed guesstimates, Ja Ja was born in 1820 or 1821, in the lineage of Umuduruoha of Amaigbo village group in the heartland of Igboland, Southeastern Nigeria. He was sold into slavery in the Niger Delta under circumstances which are far from clear. One version of the oral traditions says that he was sold because, as a baby, he cut the upper teeth first, an abominable phenomenon in traditional Igbo society. Another version claims that he was captured and sold by his father's enemy. Regardless, he was bought by Chief Iganipughuma Allison of Bonny, by far the most powerful city-state on the Atlantic coast of Southeastern Nigeria before the rise of Opobo. To follow the Ja Ja story or, indeed, revolution, an explanatory note is necessary. Until the end of the 19th century, the Delta communities played a crucial role in European and American trade with Nigeria. Acting as middlemen, these communities carried into the interior markets the trade goods of European and American supercargoes stationed on the coast and brought back in exchange the export produce of the hinterland, basically palm oil. As the Delta is dominated by saline swamps and crisscrossed by a labyrinth of creeks and rivers, the canoe was indispensable for trade.
The Delta society was organized in Canoe Houses. A Canoe House was the pivot of social organization and also, notes K.O. Dike, "a cooperative trading unit and a local government institution." It was usually composed of a wealthy merchant (its founder), his family, and numerous slaves owned by him. A prosperous house could comprise several thousand members, both free and bonded, owning hundreds of trade canoes. In this intensely competitive society, leadership by merit--not by birth or ascriptions--was necessary if a house was to make headway in the turbulent, cut-throat competition that existed between houses. Any person with the charisma and proven ability, even if of servile birth, could rise to the leadership of a house, but could never become king. Ja Ja would achieve this, and much more.
Finding young Ja Ja too headstrong for his liking, Chief Allison made a gift of him to his friend, Madu, a chief of the Anna Pepple House, one of the two houses of the royal family (the other being the Manilla Pepple House). Ja Ja was slotted into the lowest rung of the Bonny slave society ladder, that of an imported slave, distinct from that of someone who was of slave parentage but born in the Delta.
As a youth, he worked as a paddler on his owner's great trade canoes, traveling to and from the inland markets. Quite early, he demonstrated exceptional abilities and business acumen, quickly identified with the Ijo custom of the Delta, and won the hearts of the local people as well as those of the European supercargoes. It was unusual for a slave of his status to make the transition from canoe paddling to trading, but Ja Ja--through his honesty, business sense, and amiability--soon became prosperous.
For a long while, Ja Ja turned his back on Bonny politics, concentrating his immense energies on accumulating wealth through trade, the single most important criterion to power in the Delta. At the time, Bonny politics were volatile as a result of the irreconcilable and acrimonious contest for supremacy between the Manilla Pepple House and the Anna Pepple House to which Ja Ja belonged. Coincidentally, both houses were led by remarkable characters of Igbo slave origins--Oko Jumbo of the Manilla House and Madu (after him Alali his son) of the Anna House.

Ja Ja Rescues Debt-Ridden House

He Proclaims Independent Settlement Of Opobo

[I]t is characteristic of the man that he had not only a sense of the occasion but of history. . . . Kingship was impossible of attainment for anyone of slave origins in Bonny. Instead he sought another land where he could give full scope to his boundless energies.

Queen Victoria Awards Ja Ja Sword Of Honor

the queen does not want to take your country or your markets, but at the same time she is anxious that no other nation should take them. She undertakes . . . [to] leave your country still under your government; she has no wish to disturb your rule.

At Ja Ja's insistence, a clause providing for free trade in his kingdom was struck off before he agreed to sign the treaty.

European Powers Sign Treaty Of Berlin

British Official Reneges On Promises

I hereby assure you that whether you accept or reject my proposals tomorrow, no restrictions will be put on you--you will be free to go as soon as you have heard my message.

A king in title and in deed. Always just and generous.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name variations: original Igbo name, Mbanaso; named Jubo Jubogha in Bonny (shortened to Jo Jo but popularized in European historical literature as Ja Ja). Born around 1820/1821 in Amaigbo village group in the heart of Igboland; died in exile in 1891 at Teneriffe Island; early childhood and personal family life unknown.

CHRONOLOGY

c. 1832 Brought to Bonny as a slave

1863 Elected head of Anna Pepple House

1865 William Pepple, king of Bonny, died; political turmoil escalated

1869 Civil war erupted in Bonny; Ja Ja evacuated Bonny and founded Opobo

1870 Proclaimed Opobo an independent state

1873 Britain recognized Opobo as an independent state

1875 Ja Ja awarded sword of honor by Queen Victoria for service in the British-Ashanti war

1884 Signed a treaty of protection with Britain

1885 Treaty of Berlin--prelude to European scramble for and partition of Africa; Britain proclaimed the Oil Rivers Protectorate, embracing Opobo

1887 British Vice Consul, Harry Johnston, deported Ja Ja to the West Indies

1891 Died at Teneriffe Island

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

When Olaudah Equiano (pronounced ek-wee-AHN-o) was 10 or 11 years old, kidnappers came into his Ibo village in what is now eastern Nigeria and took him and his sister captive. Sold into slavery in Africa and then shipped to the West Indies on a slave ship, Equiano never returned to his homeland. As a slave he sailed on ships ferrying goods and slaves between the West Indies and North America and Great Britain. On board ship and through the help of kind acquaintances, Equiano learned to read and write. By the time he was 21 years old, in 1766, he had saved enough money through years of shrewd trading to buy his freedom. As a freed slave he worked on sailing ships for several years and traveled throughout the Mediterranean and even to the Arctic. Eventually, he settled in England and became involved in the antislavery movement. In 1789 Equiano published a two-volume book, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African. It is an account of his life, from his childhood in Africa to being a slave and then a free man. His book was famous in its time, running into 17 editions in Great Britain and the United States and translated into Dutch and German. The autobiography provides unique insight into the experiences of an African as a slave and the problems of a freed slave.

Taken captive

Equiano recalls in his narrative how kidnappers stole him and his sister from their family's village when the elders were out working in the fields. He says they traveled about six or seven months before he reached the coast. Some time during the trip, he and his sister were separated from each other. Equiano went from one master to another on the way to the coast; once a master sold him for cowrie shells (small hard white shells from the Indian Ocean used as money by West Africans). Once he arrived at the coast, British slavers bought him for work on the plantations in the West Indies or Caribbean. Equiano says he was put on board by "those white men with horrible looks, red faces and loose hair.... I asked them if we were not to be eaten by [them]." The following is his description of the conditions aboard the slave ship. "The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome that it was dangerous to remain there for any time.... The closeness of the place and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died.... This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains, now become insupportable, and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women and the groans of the dying rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable." After several months at sea, the ship landed at Bridgetown, Barbados, where the traders sold the surviving slaves to merchants and sugar planters. No one bought Equiano, probably because he was too young to provide much labor. They put him and other unsaleable slaves on board a boat bound for the colony of Virginia. There he worked on a plantation belonging to a Mr. Campbell, pulling weeds and collecting stones. Not long after, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Michael Henry Pascal, bought him from Campbell for between 30 and 40 pounds sterling. Pascal commanded a merchant ship trading between the colonies and England. He bought Equiano as a present for a friend in England. On board ship Pascal gave him the name Gustavus Vassa. (Why Pascal named Equiano Gustavus Vasa is a mystery. Gustavus Vasa [1496-1560] was one of the greatest Swedish kings. Equiano spelled Vasa with a double s.) Luckily for Equiano, a 13-year-old American boy named Richard Baker, only a few years older than he, was on board and the two boys became fast friends. After 13 weeks at sea, the ship landed at Falmouth, England. Equiano remained in England, on the isle of Guernsey, with Richard Baker and a family friend of the captain. In the summer of 1757 Pascal sent for him and for Baker.

Education at sea and in England

In 1754 France and Britain went to war in North America over control of the fur trading posts and land west of the Appalachian Mountains and over fishing rights off the coast of Canada. The British Royal Navy commissioned Pascal as first lieutenant of the HMS Roebuck to fight against France along the Newfoundland coast of Canada. Initially France was successful. But when British General James Wolfe took command of the troops in the New World, the British quickly turned the situation around and conquered all of French Canada. As a slave on board the Roebuck, Equiano was present at the siege of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia in 1758. When they returned to England, Equiano lived with some friends of Pascal's, the two Guerin sisters. They sent him to school, where he had an opportunity to learn to read and write. They also arranged for his baptism in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, in 1759. Later that year, Pascal set sail again, this time aboard the Namur for the Mediterranean. While the Namur was taking on supplies at Gibraltar, the French fleet attacked them. The British eventually repelled them but Pascal suffered some injuries. When he recovered, he was given command of a fire ship called the Aetna. Equiano became his steward, a position he says he enjoyed because he had free time to improve on his reading and writing skills.

Cheated of his freedom

Toward the end of 1761 the ship returned to England, to Deptford on the Thames. Although Equiano says he had no specific promise from the captain that he would be given his freedom when they returned to England, he certainly expected it. Instead, the captain forced Equiano onto a barge and later onto a ship sailing for the West Indies. Equiano believed that Pascal had cheated him of his freedom because, he claimed, the law in England held that a baptized man could not be sold. Equiano also accused Pascal of keeping his prize money--his share in the value of the ships captured and their cargoes. Equiano's protests were useless and he soon found himself at sea again, headed for the West Indies. Under instruction from Pascal, the captain sold Equiano when they got to Montserrat in February 1763 to a Quaker merchant, Robert King. King had a reputation as a kind and charitable man and while working for King, Equiano did a little trading of his own. He would make a small profit by buying an item in the Indies and reselling it for a small profit in North America. Likewise he would purchase something in North America and then sell it in the Indies for a small profit. In this way he earned enough money eventually to buy his freedom from King, who reluctantly agreed to accept 40 pounds sterling and grant Equiano his freedom in 1766. Equiano soon found, however, that the life of a freed man in the islands was fraught with danger. Blacks had no protection under the law and might easily be kidnapped and taken away on a ship as a slave. To protect himself, Equiano signed on as a sailor for 36 shillings a month on a ship going to England. He learned about sailing on his many voyages between North America and the islands.

Life as a freed slave

Equiano continued as a sailor for several more voyages. Once he had to command the ship himself as the captain and first mate took ill. The captain died on board the ship and Equiano successfully sailed the sloop safely into harbor. He also survived a shipwreck in the Bahamas caused by a self-assured captain who steered an incorrect course. In 1766 Equiano went to London where he worked for a short time as a hair dresser, a skill he had learned aboard ship. Unable to make ends meet in London, in 1768 he signed up again as a sailor on a ship going to Turkey. He spent several more years sailing in the Mediterranean and made several more trips to the West Indies. In the early 1770s he returned to England and worked for Dr Irving, whose business was purifying salt water into potable or drinkable water. Equiano acted as his assistant, purifying between 26 and 40 gallons a day. When a Captain Phipps asked Equiano to accompany him on an expedition to the Arctic, Irving asked to join Equiano on the trip. Equiano says that in their four-month voyage they explored farther north than any navigation team had done before. Not long after their return to London, Dr. Irving bought a 150-ton sloop (sailing boat) that he planned to sail to Jamaica to establish a plantation there. In 1775 Equiano accompanied him on this venture. After several months with the doctor along the coast of Nicaragua and Honduras, Equiano left and returned to Jamaica. He planned to go back to England, but in several instances of bad judgement, he put his trust in people who duped, cheated, and enslaved him. Finally, in January 1777, he returned to England.

Joins the antislavery crusade

The final phase of Equiano's life was much more predictable and serene than the years leading up to it. He became involved in the antislavery movement and began work on his autobiography. Because of his activities in the abolitionist movement, the naval authorities in England appointed him Commissary for Provisions and Stores for the Black Poor going to Sierra Leone. In 1787 British abolitionists, humanitarians and church groups had established a community for freed slaves in Sierra Leone, a small British colony on the West Coast of Africa. The Sierra Leone Company started as an experimental colony with 411 freed slaves repatriated from Britain. Its goals were to "introduce civilisation among the natives and to cultivate the soil by means of free labour." Equiano never made the trip back to Africa. He quarrelled constantly with the agent and wrote a public letter to the newspaper accusing the promoters of the expedition of corruption and deception. In retaliation the agent accused him of insubordination (disobedience to authority) and insolent behavior toward his superiors. The Navy dismissed Equiano from his post and the expedition went ahead, although slightly delayed. After his dismissal from the expedition, Equiano completed his book. When it was published in 1789 he traveled throughout England promoting it and making speeches against the slave trade. In 1792 , at the age of 47, he married Susan (or Susanna) Cullen. Historians disagree as to whether he had a son or a daughter. It seems fairly certain, however, that he and his wife had a daughter who died while a young child. Equiano died only four months after his daughter, in late April or early May 1797. Although Equiano did not live to see the abolition of slavery, his narrative made the public aware of the horrors of the trade.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Olaudah Equiano (1745-ca. 1801) was an African slave, freedman, and author who wrote the first outstanding autobiography in slave narrative literature. Olaudah Equiano was born at Essaka, an Ibo village (not now known) in the Benin Province of present-day Nigeria. At age 11 he was kidnaped into domestic slavery. After short service in African households he was sold to British slavers in 1756 and sent to Barbados in the West Indies. Transshipped immediately to Virginia, Olaudah, who said his African name meant "vicissitude" or "fortune," became the personal slave of Lt. Michael Henry Pascal of the Royal Navy, who gave him his second name, Gustavus Vassa.
Thus spared the fate of plantation laborer, Equiano spent the next 30 years as servant, barber, seaman, and trader, traveling widely to such varied places as Turkey, the Arctic, Honduras, North America, and London. In the process he became a literate and articulate observer of the slave trade, slavery, and his own condition.
After service in the Seven Years War, including the siege of Louisburg on Cape Breton Island and the capture of Belle Isle, Lt. Pascal surprisingly disappointed Equiano's expectation of freedom and sent him back to the West Indies for resale in 1763. Equiano's new master, a Quaker merchant of Montserrat and Philadelphia named Robert King, gave him both recognition for his abilities and the opportunity for manumission. Employed as a clerk and captain's assistant on vessels trading in the islands and carrying slaves to the American colonies, Equiano was allowed to trade on his own account and bought his freedom in 1766 for £40, the price King had paid for him. Equiano went to London, where he qualified as a barber and musician and improved his education before taking to the sea again as a free servant in 1768.
Equiano had been baptized as a youth in 1759, but Christian religion did not deeply influence his life until during or just after participating in an Arctic expedition in search of the Northeast Passage in 1773 which nearly ended in disaster. At that time he experienced profound depression and soul-searching that resulted in his conversion to Evangelicalism in 1774. Living in London again after 1777, he petitioned the bishop of London to ordain him a missionary for service in Africa, but he failed.
Subsequently Equiano rose to prominence in London's society of free blacks, became a close friend of Ottobah Cugoano, and associated with the British humanitarians opposed to the Atlantic slave trade. In 1783, for example, he brought the famous case of the ship Zong to Granville Sharp's attention. Sharp made it a cause célèbre in the parliamentary battle for abolition. One hundred thirty-two sick and shackled slaves had been thrown overboard alive and then claimed for cargo insurance. In this connection also, late in 1786 Equiano was appointed by Charles Middleton, the comptroller of the navy, to be commissary steward of Granville Sharp's subsidized expedition to repatriate London's "Poor Blacks" in Sierra Leone. However, the scheme was beset with delays and mismanagement, and in a letter which his friend Cugoano published in London before their departure, Equiano charged his superior, Joseph Irwin, with theft of stores and ill treatment of the blacks. Middleton supported Equiano, but Irwin and several colleagues, acting through London businessmen interested in the venture, engineered his dismissal by Treasury authorities.
Equiano's famous autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of O. Equiano, or G. Vassa, the African was then written in 1787-1788 partly to vindicate his role in the Sierra Leone affair, as well as to recount his exemplary rise from slavery to freedom and to argue the case for abolition of the slave trade. Although one critic (G. I. Jones, 1967) has doubted Equiano's sole authorship because of its stylistic felicities, there is little doubt that the work was essentially his own. Unlike Ottobah Cugoano's sophisticated Bible-based discourse, Equiano's is an account of action in which the realities and iniquities of slavery and the trade emerge eloquently in the telling of his own story. Besides its importance as "the first truly notable book in the genre" of slave narratives (Arna Bontemps, 1969) and its value as one of the few genuine personal recollections of the slave trade as seen by the victims themselves (Philip Curtin, 1967), Equiano's account is especially interesting in two respects: first, for its extensive recollections of the author's African childhood and his retention of an African point of view in judging experience and, second, for its rational economic argument against the slave trade. Not only did he argue the moral transgressions of the trade but also its economic insanity. On the basis of demographic projections he urged the potential of legitimate commerce for British manufactures in Africa as an economic alternative to the trade in lives. This was a view shared with Cugoano's book, and it figured prominently in the ideological preparation for abolition.
Despite his sense of mission, Equiano was destined never to return to Africa. He lectured extensively in Britain against the slave trade during the 1790s and married an English girl, Susan (or Susanne) Cullen of Ely, in April 1792. He is believed to have died in London in 1801.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) was a Liberian educator and statesman. More than any other figure, he laid the foundation of West African nationalism and of pan-Africanism. Edward Blyden was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on Aug. 3, 1832, of free, literate parents. A precocious youth, he early decided to become a clergyman. He went to the United States in May 1850 and sought to enter a theological college but was turned down because of his race. In January 1851 he emigrated to Liberia, a African American colony which had become independent as a republic in 1847.
He continued his formal education at Alexander High School, Monrovia, whose principal he was appointed in 1858. In 1862 he was appointed professor of classics at the newly opened Liberia College, a position he held until 1871. Although Blyden was self-taught beyond high school, he became an able and versatile linguist, classicist, theologian, historian, and sociologist. From 1864 to 1866, in addition to his professorial duties, Blyden acted as secretary of state of Liberia.
From 1871 to 1873 Blyden lived in Freetown, Sierra Leone. There he edited Negro, the first explicitly pan-African journal in West Africa. He also led two important expeditions to Fouta Djallon in the interior. Between 1874 and 1885 Blyden was again based in Liberia, holding various high academic and governmental offices. In 1885 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Liberian presidency.
After 1885 Blyden divided his time between Liberia and the British colonies of Sierra Leone and Lagos. He served Liberia again in the capacities of ambassador to Britain and France and as a professor and later president of Liberia College. In 1891 and 1894 he spent several months in Lagos and worked there in 1896-1897 as government agent for native affairs.
While in Lagos he wrote regularly for the Lagos Weekly Record, one of the earliest propagators of Nigerian and West African nationalism. In Freetown, Blyden helped to edit the Sierra Leone News, which he had assisted in founding in 1884 "to serve the interest of West Africa ... and the race generally." He also had helped found and edit the Freetown West African Reporter (1874-1882), whose declared aim was to forge a bond of unity among English-speaking West Africans. Between 1901 and 1906 Blyden was director of Moslem education; he taught English and "Western subjects" to Moslem youths with the object of building a bridge of communication between the Moslem and Christian communities. He died in Freetown on Feb. 7, 1912.

Writings, Ideas, and Hopes

Although Blyden held many important positions, it is more as a man of ideas than as a man of action that he is historically significant. He saw himself as a champion and defender of his race and in this role produced more than two dozen pamphlets and books, the most important of which are A Voice from Bleeding Africa (1856); Liberia's Offering (1862); The Negro in Ancient History (1869); The West African University (1872); From West Africa to Palestine (1873); Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race (1887), his major work; The Jewish Question (1898); West Africa before Europe (1905); and Africa Life and Customs (1908). His writings displayed conversancy with the main current of ideas as well as originality, and he was often controversial.
Blyden sought to prove that Africa and Africans have a worthy history and culture. He rejected the prevailing notion of the inferiority of the black man but accepted the view that each major race has a special contribution to make to world civilization. He argued that Christianity has had a demoralizing effect on blacks, while Islam has had a unifying and elevating influence.
Blyden's political goals were the establishment of a major modern West African state which would protect and promote the interests of peoples of African descent everywhere. He initially saw Liberia as the nucleus of such a state and sought to extend its influence and jurisdiction by encouraging selective "repatriation" from the Americas. He hoped, also in vain, that Liberia and adjacent Sierra Leone would unite as one nation. He was ambivalent about the establishment of European colonial rule; he thought that it would eventually result in modern independent nations in tropical Africa but was concerned about its damaging psychological impact. As a cultural nationalist, he pointed out that modernization was not incompatible with respect for African customs and institutions. He favored African names and dress and championed the establishment of educational and cultural institutions specifically designed to meet African needs and circumstances.

FURTHER READINGS

A full-length biography of Blyden is Hollis R. Lynch, Edward Wilmot Blyden: Pan-Negro Patriot, 1832-1912 (1967). Edith Holden, Blyden of Liberia: An Account of the Life and Labors of Edward Wilmot Blyden (1966), is an important source containing biographical details and excerpts from Blyden's letters and published writings. See also Hollis R. Lynch, ed., Black Spokesman: Selected Published Writings of Edward Wilmot Blyden (1971), the only representative anthology of his writings.

edward wilmot
blyden saint thomas liberia west africa pan africanism

Edward Wilmot Blyden, a renown Pan-Africanist, declared himself: "a true son of the Eboe tribe." Blyden's writings inspired Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah.

To be sold, on board the ship Bance Island, ... negroes, just arrived from the Windward & Rice Coast
Photograph of newspaper advertisement from the 1780s(?) for the sale of slaves at Ashley Ferry outside of Charleston, South Carolina.

Olaudah was enslaved at the age of 12

Julie Dash's exquisitely alive film chronicles the last days of the Gullah. The companion book has a chapter entitled "The Ibo Landing."

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THE EGBA YORUBA
(AN AFRICAN - AMERICAN LINK TO IGBO ORIGINS)
BY ISHAQ AL - SULAIMANI
(NWANNE DI NAMBA NDI IGBO)
ishaqa777@hotmail.com
ANYONE WHO HAS EVER TAKEN A SERIOUS INTEREST IN THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE TRIBAL ORIGINS OF AFRICAN - AMERICANS WOULD MOST LIKELY UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT YORUBA ELEMENT AMONGST THE AFRICAN CAPTIVES WHO WERE TAKEN TO THE AMERICAS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WRITING IS TO FURTHER SUPPORT RESEARCH THAT PROVES THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE SLAVES BROUGHT TO THE AMERICAS WERE IGBOS BY ACKNOWLEDGING THE YORUBA ELEMENT TO BE IGBO AS WELL.
IN ADDITION TO THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF IGBOS DOCUMENTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED TO HAVE BEEN SHIPPED DIRECTLY OUT OF THE IGBO DOMINATED AREAS OF THE NIGER DELTA,MILLIONS OF OTHERS WERE BROUGHT TO THE AMERICAS FROM IGBO SLAVE COLONIES WHICH WERE ESTABLISHED ALL OVER THE AFRICAN CONTINENT AND THUS ARRIVED UNDER A VARIETY OF NATIONAL AND TRIBAL LISTINGS. SLAVES CLASSIFIED AS ASHANTE WERE ACTUALLY IGBOS WHO WERE IMPORTED TO GHANA BY PORTUGUESE JEWISH SLAVE TRADERS TO WORK THE GOLD MINES. OTHERS LISTED AS ANGOLAN WERE ALSO IGBOS. SOME IGBOS WERE IMPORTED TO ANGOLA PRIOR TO THEIR ARRIVAL IN THE AMERICAS, OTHERS WERE BORN AND RAISED IN THE IGBO SLAVE COLONY OF ANGOLA. THE YORUBA CLASSIFICATION PROVED TO BE NO EXCEPTION TO THE RULE, AS THOSE SLAVES DOCUMENTED TO BE YORUBA WERE MORE SPECIFICALLY REFERRED TO AS EGBA yoruba were more specifically referred to as EGBA YORUBA. THE WORD EGBA IS A DERIVATION OF IGBO( EGBA,EGBO IGBO) AS THE EGBA YORUBA ARE OF IGBO ORIGINS.
SOUTHEAST NIGERIA MARKS THE LOCATION OF THE PRESENT DAY IGBO TRIBE. HOWEVER INITIALLY THE IGBO WERE THE RULERS OF THE ENTIRE SOUTH INCLUDING THE SOUTHWEST WHICH IS CURRENTLY CLASSIFIED AS YORUBA TERRITORY. THE YORUBA FIRST ENTERED THE SOUTHWEST PART OF NIGERIA AS INVADERS AND COLONIZERS OF THE ORIGINAL IGBO INHABITANTS WHO LATER BECAME KNOWN AS THE EGBA YORUBA. THE YORUBA(oyo,ijebu etc.) invasion was led by a man named ODUDWA WHO IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE " FOUNDING FATHER " OF THE PRESENT DAY YORUBA PEOPLE. TO THIS DAY YORUBA INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS STILL EXIST WITH THE HOPE OF ESTABLISHING THE INDEPENDENT YORUBA NATION OF WHICH THEY WISH TO CALL ODUDWA. THE DEFEAT AND CONQUEST OF THE IGBOS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA IS CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR BY THE YORUBA AT THE ANNUAL EID FESTIVAL(THE KINGDOM OF THE YORUBA - ROBERT SMITH 3RD EDITION UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS)
ONE OF THE LARGER YORUBA TRIBES ARE CALLED THE IJEBU. IT IS AN ESTABLISHED FACT THAT THE IJEBU WERE SELLING EGBA IN MASS NUMBERS DURING THE SLAVE TRADE. THE CITY IJEBU - IGBO STILL EXISTS IN THE YORUBA HEARTLAND WHICH NOT ONLY REFLECTS THE EARLIER IGBO HISTORY IN THE SOUTHWEST BUT FURTHER SERVES AS A MEMORY CONCERNING THE USAGE OF IGBO PRIOR TO THE TRANSFORMATION TO EGBA IN THAT PARTICULAR REGION. IN ADDITION TO THE EGBA THERE REMAINS A YORUBA TRIBE THAT LIVES IN THE KWARRA STATE WHICH CONTINUES TO USE THE MORE ORIGINAL IGBO AS PART OF THEIR TRIBAL NAME AS THEY ARE CALLED THE IGBO - MINA TRIBE. THE USAGE OF THE TERM EGBA WAS INSTITUTED TO DECLARE A STATE OF SECRECY AMONGST CERTAIN IGBOS. THE CURRENT IGBOS OF SOUTHEAST NIGERIA CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN EGBO AS A SECRET SOCIETY WHILE THE SAME TERM EGBA REFERS TO OTHER SECRET IGBO TRIBES.
1. EGBO - A SECRET SOCIETY AT ONE TIME EXISTING AS A POLITICAL BOND BETWEEN VARIOUS TOWNS ESPECIALLY EASTERN NIGERIA - WORLD BOOK DICTIONARY A - K 1974
2. EGBA - A CONFEDERATION OF NEGRO TRIBES NORTH OF THE SLAVE COAST- FUNK AND WAGNALS NEW STANDARD DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE - 1963
ALTHOUGH THE CONCEPT OF LEGBA VARIES IT BEGAN AS AN ANCESTRAL MEMORIAL DESIGNED TO MAINTAIN THE IGBO IDENTITY DURING TIMES WHEN TRHE IGBO DECLARED THEMSELVES TO BE IN A STATE OF SECRECY CALLED EGBA. LEGBA WAS NOT ONLY USED TO FEND OFF INVADING AFRICAN TRIBES BUT WAS ALSO ACTIVATED IN THE NEW WORLD TO COUNTER MODERN SLAVERY AND ITS ATTEMPTS TO WIPE OUT THE EGBA(igbo) IDENTITY OF THE CAPTIVES. THE DEITY LEGBA IS DESCRIBED IN YORUBA MYTHOLOGY AS THE DIVINE TRICKSTER WHO WIELDS GREAT POWER BECAUSE OF HIS ABILITY TO OUTWIT HIS FELLOW GODS. EVIDENCES OF LEGBA HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTED THROUGHOUT THE AMERICAS IN SUCH PLACES AS BRAZIL, GUIANA, TRINIDAD, HAITI AND NEW ORLEANS UNDER VARIOUS NAMES SUCH AS LEBBA, LEGBA, ELEGBARRA AND LIBA.
THE TERM ELEGBARRA OR LUGBARRA IS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE BECAUSE NOT ONLY DOES THE NAME APPEAR IN THE AMERICAS AMONGST THE EGBA SLAVES WHO ARE OF IGBO ORIGIN BUT IT IS ALSO THE NAME OF A TRIBE THAT LIVES IN SOUTHERN SUDAN AND NORTHERN UGANDA WHO ARE LIKEWISE RELATED TO THE IGBOS OF NIGERIA. WHEN TRAVELLING IN UGANDA I PERSONALLY MET A LUGBARRA MEDICAL DOCTOR WHO PREVIOUSLY STUDIED ALONGSIDE OF IGBOS FROM NIGERIA.THE LUGBARRA STATED THAT HE COULD UNDERSTAND MUCH OF THE IGBO LANGUAGE WHICH NATURALLY HAD MUCH IN COMMON WITH HIS OWN LUGBARRA TONGUE. THE DOCTOR WAS CONVINCED THAT THE LUGBARRA AND THE IGBO WERE DEFINITELY AKIN.THE LUGBARRA TRIBE LIVES ALONGSIDE OF AND ARE RELATED TO THE KAKWA TRIBE. IT IS FROM THE KAKWA THAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE USAGE OF KWA AMONGST THE IGBO. THIS INCLUDES BOTH THE IGBO AND EGBA LANGUAGES BEING CLASSIFIED AS KWA LANGUAGES AND SUCH NAMES AS THE KWA IBO RIVER.
IN 1967, HAITI BECAME THE ONLY COUNTRY OUTSIDE OF AFRICA TO RECOGNIZE BIAFRAN INDEPENDENCE.THIS WAS DUE TO THE HAITIANS MEMORY OF THEIR OWN IGBO REVOLUTIONARY PAST. THE NUMEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL SLAVE REVOLTS IN HAITI ARE CLEARLY ACKNOWLEDGED AND DOCUMENTED AS IGBO UPRISINGS, BUT YET WE FIND THE STRONGEST PRESENCE OF THE ANCESTRAL DEITY LEGBA AMONGST THE HAITIANS. IN HAITI LEGBA IS DESCRIBED AS THE MOST POWERFUL OF ALL OF THE LOA. HE IS THE GUARDIAN OF THE GATE BETWEEN THE MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WORLD. HE HAS GREAT WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. EVERY RITUAL BEGINS WITH A SACRIFICE TO LEGBA. HE IS THE GUARDIAN OF THE SUN AND HIS COLOR IS BLACK. THE GUARDIAN OF THE SUN IS MOST LIKELY A CODE FOR THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN WHICH IS BIAFRA. IN SUMMARY THE SLAVES TAKEN TO THE AMERICAS AND CLASSIFIED AS YORUBA WERE EGBA MEANING IGBO.

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Dear Donita,
Attached in MS Word .doc is a reaction mail and response concerning the goodwill message. Please you should bring it to the attention of Prof. Emeagwali. I know it will thrill and interest him. Such comments will help him appreciate what he has written.
Personally, I find his message very powerful and kind of poetic. The more you read, the more meanings you get out of it. I guess he was truly inspired. The way he intelligently called up the heroic deeds and achievements of Umu Igbo through history and brought it poetically to inspire Umu Igbo in their quest for "Knowledge and Wisdom" leaves no doubt that he was inspired by the lives of these great Umu Igbo.
When I recall the experiences of Olaudah and Jabogha at 12 years of age, I cannot but relate it to Chukwuma’s "tragedy" of "dropping out" of school at 12 to carve his name in the annals of accomplished individuals and great minds of the world! I hope that our young ones will "eat" and "grow" from the juice of his message.
I already have a link to his website. He is also recognized in feathers of honour for distinguished Umu Igbo: http://www.africanwritings.com/tribute.htm.
If I have enough time, I will work to see if I can develop a dramatic performance piece for the message to go with the reading!
Please my regards to Prof.
Emmanuel Okoli
NOTE: This is my response to a person's mail about Emeagwali's Goodwill Message My point to point response follows.
Dear.......(name removed on request)
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I need to put certain things right for you to enable you understand the philosophy of Igbo and Igbo traditional religion which is very much linked to the Jewish culture.
When Saul was troubled by evil spirits (ajo mmuo), he sent for the witch at Endor, (person he had expelled earlier for practising witchcraft) requesting her to evoke or call up the spirit (ezi mmuo-good spirit)of Samuel". She "did" as we were told by the Bible. My point here is that Ndiigbo believe in Ezi mmuo (Good spirit) and Ajo Mmuo (Evil Spirit). Those ancestors who lived good lives are believed to act as guiding angels who are in their resting place ready to intervene when called upon to protect and inspire their offsprings. You have to call for them to answer you. It is like prayers, if you fail to call on God to intercede, he may ignore you. You have to demonstrate your loyalty, love and trust in Him before HE intervenes. It's the same with these "ancestral good spirits. Unlike the good spirits, the evil ones roam the earth restlessly causing mischief and wrecking havoc wherever they can because they lived a bad life and are unhappy. They are the causes of quarrels, fights, divorce, wars, crimes and generally most human sins. Emegwali's did not "invoke" King Jaja of Opobo and Olaudah Ikwuano individually but collectively. He selected the spirits of those that lived good and exemplary lives. Having identified individuals that we know of, who lived good lives, he collectively called on all dead to be near to us, whisper silently to us (remember "the still small voice") and guide us in our pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.
"May the spirits of those "Lost Igbos" walk beside you, whisper to you, and guide you in your quest for knowledge and wisdom". His wish and prayers assume that we should aim and fight to acquire "knowledge and wisdom" which is the sum of all human endeavours. King Solomon knew this and asked God of it. Now Emeagwali is praying that those spirits should abide with us and assist us acquired the desirable.
Below is my point to point response to your concerns!
Chinyeaka
(May God Give "us" a helping hand" or May God help us)

Reader:
To restate my point in other words, Dr. Emeagwali is without a doubt a genius in the computer engineering world. I am sure of that. But does he know the significance of what he is saying here??????
I don't think that he realizes the significance of his word.
Emmanuel Okoli:
I think he does! Even if he doesn't, such heart-felt messages are inspired and so could be coming directly from those good ancestors. Remember he may have been inspired by the same 'spirits' to achieve what he did for mankind.
Reader:
The Jews say in prayer: Barukh she'amar v'haya ha-olam, which when translated is Praised be God who create the world with His word. Some concepts from small prayer are that our words, no matter whether spoken in passing or a formal speach, are never to be taken lightly for they can do things beyond our intentions. I am sure that Dr. Emeagwali's intentions are not intended to be harmful but these words can be interpreted as such.
Emmanuel Okoli:
The problem, I suppose lies with the interpretation itself!
Reader:
You know the basic ancient Ndi-Igbo beliefs. You cannot permit someone regardless of their social status call for the invocation of Ajo mmuo and Ekwensu during the Igbo day festival. You just cannot permit that behaviour!
Emmanuel Okoli:
He did not invoke Ajo Mmuo and Ekwensu. Those heroic Ndiigbo were victims of slavery like Olauda Ikwuano and JaJa. They were captured and put into the ship to come and slave for their masters. Since they were victims of human inhumanity to fellow humans, they are believed to have died in protest of oppression and slavery like Ikwuano and Jubogha. Their spirits will always fight evil where ever they are and so might be called good spirits. They will not harm their children, brothers and sisters when evoked, will they?

Reader:
Invocation of the spirit of Olaudah Equiano yes! But I do not see any mention of this.
Emmanuel Okoli:
He did. He concluded by telling us:
"May the spirits of those "Lost Igbos" walk beside you, whisper to you, and guide you in your quest for knowledge and wisdom."
The title of his message is "Rediscovering our lost Igbo Brethren" The lost Igbos therefore include Ikwuano, Jebogha and all those that died at sea.

Reader:
Perhaps Dr. Emeagwali did not write this email but rather it came from one of his understudies.

Emmanuel Okoli:
He must have written it himself. Like the great mind he is, the more I read his message, the clearer it comes to me, and very strong and powerful too.

Reader:
I would get to the bottom of this before the event.
Emmanuel Okoli:
I guess I may have brought you nearer. Again, you know he is not coming for the event this year. That's why the "goodwill message"

Reader:
Do not hesitate forwarding this email to him but without my email address nor any information about me as I must have my anonymity preserved. A few years ago I had an interlude with Cardinal Arinze when he came to Calgary to give a lecture...we seemed to make a connection, I will see if I can contact him for advice concerning this important matter.
Emmanuel Okoli:
I will forward the mail as well as my response. I will not disclose your identity as requested. We learn from minds like you to seek explanations to things they do not understand.

.........................................

Subject: request for revision of Calgary Goodwill message
To: donita@emeagwali.com
Dear Dr. Emeagwali:
Greetings and congratulations on all your success in the computer engineering industry. May God bless you with continued advancement in this field and life in general.
Please find on futher down in this email transmission correspondence from me to a fellow member of the Igbo Association of Calgary. I have some 'syntax' errors in deciphering your goodwill message to the NdiIgbo of Calgary for our cultural celebration day this month. I know that your intention are without a doubt sincere, however the passage could be interpreted to invoke 'evil spirits' at our celebration potentially endangering those present. I am requesting that you rephrase the goodwill message to invoke only the nna-mmuo (good spirits) of Igbo landing or perhaps not mention them at all.
I would like to emphasize that I do not represent the NdiIgbo Association of Calgary. In fact, I rarely attend their assembly. Further, I am 1/2 Ndi-Igbo and 1/2 British. Having said that, I am still a titled Ndi-Igbo and my voice is of equal value. I neither doing this out of spite nor resentment but sincerity. I wish you continued success.
Blessings,
[name withheld on request]

.........................................

Ma'zi Chinyeaka,
After further examination of your writings, some clarity on the Igbo-landing issue is resolved and it is a point mid-way between both extremes of thought. Odinani would clearly classify those at Igbo landing who did not respect their temple and potentially took others NOT willing to do the same as ajo mmuo (evil spirits). I am taking that position now and they are not deserving of proper buriel rites. I do feel though that efforts should be made to repose their troubled souls albeit.
Now, thanks to your guidance, those poor souls who were taken without choice by the 'suicide bombers' as you call them are clearly nna-mmuo (hallowed ancestral spirits). Any one of them through their industrious Igbo nature and intelligence could have been an Olauda Ikwuano but their lives were cut short by ajo mmuo. They are tantamount to the Askenazic innocents of the Nazi death camps. They are heralded saints who stayed true to their core beliefs and were not martyred by the 'slavers' as you call them but rather by their own people, 'ajo mmuo'.
It is consitent with Odinani that these very same ajo mmuo could come back (ogbanje) to cause severe physical or mental suffering to our community, the NdiIgbo at Igbo day celebration. This is why it is of tantamount importance to clearly invoke the 'nna-mmuo or Ndiichie of Igbo landing' and not just the 'mmuo of Igbo landing'

Emeagwali wrote: On Igbo Day, I invoke the spirits of the heroic "Eboe" men, women, and children of Georgia's Sea Islands who jumped off the slave boats and drowned themselves to escape slavery. Sea Islands folklore recalls how "defiant Eboe slaves," shackled at their ankles and necks, with tears in their eyes, chanted in unison, the eerie refrain:
He uses the adjective 'heroic' which would clearly imply nna-mmuo. It would be contradictory to describe evil as heroic would you not agree? He then goes on to clearly take the position that these people are heroic for destroying their temple to escape slavery. Logic would deduce that Emeagwali is not consistent with Odinani. Note well that I am not making a judgement on Emeagwali nor the souls of Igbo-landing. I am merely using logic to come to a rational conclusion to protect our people.
Odinani does state that ajo mmuo can cause severe physical and mental pain to mmadu (humans). Odinani does state that destruction of one's temple is an unpardonable sin (ajo njo). Everyone is capable of ajo njo, including you and I. I did not make these governing laws. They were created by Chukwu and it is not for us to massage them to meet our worldview which is strongly influenced by the west. This is why 'Things Fall Apart'. We must 'think outside the box'. The western worldview is causing our core beliefs to decay. The general saying goes that 'nobody is above the law'. This applies to everybody, including Ndi-Igbo who have achieved great success in the west. We have this terrible habit in the west of idolizing those who have done great things yet forget that they are mere humans and are capable of making tremendous errors. As you know, my belief is that the Ndi-Igbo and the Hebrews are chosen people and wh en we make these errors we will be judged first by G-d as we are supposed to know better (Romans 2:6-29). As it is a new lunar day my thoughts are much clearer now and I have taken and will stand up to this position without hiding behind a psydonym. Where do you stand?
Yours in Yeshua Ha Mashiach,
[name withheld on request]

---------------------------------------

Okenwa Nwosu writes:
Chukwurah,
The oru and osu castes represent classes of people whose societal rights are compromised as a consequence of roles they play in the traditional Igbo setting. The oru is literally a slave. The oru's bondage to the master is mostly economic. The master provides protection and nurture while the oru reciprocates with his services and unalloyed loyalty to his benefactor. The osu is not owned by any specific individuals or groups. The osu and his progeny are dedicated to the service of an Igbo deity. The indigenous traditionalist Igbo held deities in deep reverence and would fear to engage in intimate social interactions with the osu in order not to invoke the wrath of the deity that owned him. Since the introduction of osu caste system, about 600 years ago, the number of osus have increased steadily since joining the caste was a one-way journey till date. The number of orus, on the other hand, has fluctuated over much longer period of time because orus can buy their total freedom by paying off or negotiating with their owners. You can see that the osu issue has some spiritual overtone. While economic liberalization can practically wipe out the oru caste system, eradicating the osu system shall require much more.
I have some difficulty in grasping your reasons for characterizing Olaudah Equiano and Jubo Jubogha alias "Ja Ja," as orus. In traditional Igbo sense, they were like prisoners of war or booty for the conquering white slave traders. They joined the ranks of Diaspora Igbo population by force. The modern-day celebrants of Igbo Day in Calgary, Canada and elsewhere are, more or less, in voluntary exile in a foreign land. Heroic Igbo ancestors rejected slavery to the extent of opting to drown in the sea than live humiliating lives of being someone else's slaves in a strange land. Being an oru, in traditional Igbo sense, was actually not comparable to being a Whiteman's slave in the 18th Century New World. An oru in Igbo society is fully integrated into the societal mainstream as long as the relationship to his master is understood and observed. It is not unusual for a well-behaved oru to receive the assistance of his master in extricating the former out of his slave status.
As you may already be aware, I am member of Osondu Foundation, Inc. which is intent on spearheading a campaign to remove the last vestiges of osu caste system from Alaigbo. This is a complex undertaking which shall demand all that we can muster at present to throw at it. The first important step is ascertaining the facts about this issue and disseminating them to all willing ears and minds, both in Alaigbo and beyond. Some of us believe that a faster and more far-reaching impact shall be made by incorporating the elimination of osu caste system into a new consensus Igbo agenda aimed at creating the renascent 21st Century Igbo. There are many successful osus throughout Alaigbo as we speak. Personal successes, however, cannot extricate fellow Igbo from an osu heritage. That is why there aren't visible osu stars in the like of former orus who had risen to great heights from their humble beginnings.
When you complete this article, I would like to have it published also at the Osondu web site (http://www.osondu.com/ ) which is the publishing arm of Osondu Foundation, Inc. If you are interested, I would like to invite you to play a role in deriving the new consensus Igbo agenda for which a committee was set up on July 12, 2003 during the Dallas All-Igbo Political Summit. I am the Chairman of this committee.
Let's stay in touch.
Okenwa Nwosu

POINT OF CORRECTION
Dear Donita,
I wish to commend Okenwa Nwosu for his input on the OSU and ORU in Igboland. We all are into his fight to eradicate Osu Caste system in Igboland. I have actually been fighting this battle since 1983! Also, we tried to address the issue on Igbonet about four years ago. I hope that we shall succeed in no distant time. I wish to correct Okenwa Nwosu's assumption about Ndiigbo particularly those of us here in Calgary as well as about our Igbo Day Celebration. He wrote, "The modern-day celebrants of Igbo Day in Calgary, Canada and elsewhere are, more or less, in voluntary exile in a foreign land".
I totally disagree with such unscientific assumption and conclusion. Where did he get the 'facts' to draw such a 'sweepy' generalization? I bet you that one may not find up to 2% of Ndiigbo here who are on voluntary exile (depending on what he means by voluntary exile). A person on exile does not travel to the "forbidden land" to and fro at will. You get my drift? Canada as well as Nigeria allows dual citizenship. As citizens of both countries, it is our duty to serve both countries and integrate them towards better understanding of one another. This is what we are doing. I would rather have him call us 'cultural bridge' assisting in integrating Ndiigbo at home with the rest of the world through exposure and sharing of our cherished culture. I will love him to study our programmes and projects as well as attend our Igbo Day celebration, and the all famous Nigerian-Canadian Association of Calgary Galanight celebration to find out if we are actually on voluntary exile or are ambassadors of our people!
Emmanuel Chinyeaka Okoli
Founder, ICAC
Calgary, Canada
caditech.com
africanwritings.com
Visit: igbocalgary.com

Okenwa Nwosu replies:
Emmanuel,
Your point of correction is well noted and accepted in good faith. The import of massive emigration of Africans, particularly Ndiigbo, to the industrialized countries of Europe and North America shall be missed if this earth-shaking phenomenon is simply regarded as providing a "cultural bridge" between the countries concerned. Bridge building is supposed to be a collaborative bilateral effort. When it becomes unilateral, one is apt to characterize the situation as a voluntary exile or brain drain. Dr. Emeagwali was recently reported by one of the Nigerian newspapers as decrying the brain drain that currently ravages the economies of many poor African countries. Would you prefer the Igbo intelligentsia to massively desert Alaigbo and sojourn elsewhere as "cultural bridge", as is the case now, rather than provide leadership at home where most of our kith and kin are domiciled?
I commend Ndiigbo in Calgary for organizing to orchestrate annual Igbo Day celebrations. The ultimate ambition of the Igbo elite, however, must still be the establishment of a virile home base in Alaigbo so as to minimize the acute urge for its gifted sons and daughters to prefer to live and procreate in foreign lands. If this trend continues unchecked, things may soon fall apart to the extent that celebrating an Igbo Day anywhere shall become an oxymoron.
Okenwa.
osondu.com

This book describes the social outcasts in Igbo land called osu and oru. Ma'zi Equiano and Jubogha belonged to the oru caste. By definition, the 200 million Diasporan Africans also belong to the oru caste.
Read excerpts from the above book at
http://www.gamji.com/NEWS1563.htm
http://www.gamji.com/NEWS1529.htm
http://www.umuaka.net/Politics/Politics.htm#dike
http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/particles/politics_of_descent.htm

Ma'zi Equiano died on 31 March 1797

.........................................

Excerpts: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African.

I was born, in the year 1745, in a charming fruitful vale, named Essaka. The distance of this province from the capital of Benin and the sea coast must be very considerable; for I had never heard of white men or Europeans, nor of the sea.
The dress of both sexes is nearly the same. It generally consists of a long piece of calico, or muslin, wrapped loosely round the body, somewhat in the form of a highland plaid. This is usually dyed blue, which is our favourite colour. It is extracted from a berry, and is brighter and richer than any I have seen in Europe. Besides this, our women of distinction wear golden ornaments; which they dispose with some profusion on their arms and legs. When our women are not employed with the men in tillage, their usual occupation is spinning and weaving cotton, which they afterwards dye, and make it into garments. They also manufacture earthen vessels, of which we have many kinds.

.........................................

My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow up, including myself and a sister, who was the only daughter. As I was the youngest of the sons, I became, of course, the greatest favourite of my mother, and was always with her; and she used to take particular pains to form my mind. I was trained up from my earliest years in the arts of agriculture and war; and my mother adorned me with emblems, after the manner of our greatest warriors. In this way I grew up till I was turned the age of eleven, when an end was put to my happiness in the following manner:- - Generally, when the grown people in the neighbourhood were gone far in the fields to labour, the children assembled together in some of the neighborhood's premises to play; and commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents' absence, to attack and carry off as many as they could seize. One day, as I was watching at the top of a tree in our yard, I saw one of those people come into the yard of our next neighbour but one, to kidnap, there being many stout young people in it. Immediately, on this, I gave the alarm of the rogue, and he was surrounded by the stoutest of them, who entangled him with cords, so that he could not escape till some of the grown people came and secured him. But alas! ere long, it was my fate to be thus attacked, and to be carried off, when none of the grown people were nigh. One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both; and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could, till night came on, when we reached a small house, where the robbers halted for refreshment, and spent the night. We were then unbound; but were unable to take any food; and, being quite overpowered by fatigue and grief, our only relief was some sleep, which allayed our misfortune for a short time.

...........................................

The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast, was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled, and tossed up to see if I were sound, by some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me.
Their complexions, too, differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, (which was very different from any I had ever heard) united to confirm me in this belief. Indeed, such were the horrors of my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own country.
When I looked round the ship too, and saw a large furnace of copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted. When I recovered a little, I found some black people about me, who I believed were some of those who had brought me on board, and had been receiving their pay; they talked to me in order to cheer me, but all in vain. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men with horrible looks, red faces, and long hair. They told me I was not: and one of the crew brought me a small portion of spirituous liquor in a wine glass, but, being afraid of him, I would not take it out of his hand. One of the blacks, therefore, took it from him and gave it to me, and I took a little down my palate, which, instead of reviving me, as they thought it would, throw me into the greatest consternation at the strange feeling it produced, having never tasted any such liquor before. Soon after this, the blacks who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned to despair.

..................................

I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a greeting in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life; so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think, the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely.
The white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among my people such instances of brutal cruelty. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us.
The air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died. The wretched situation was again aggravated by the chains, now unsupportable, and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable.

...........................

At last, we came in sight of the island of Barbados, at which the whites on board gave a great shout, and made many signs of joy to us. We did not know what to think of this; but as the vessel drew nearer, we plainly saw the harbor, and other ships of different kinds and sizes, and we soon anchored amongst them, off Bridgetown.
Many merchants and planters now came on board, though it was in the evening. They put us in separate parcels, and examined us attentively. They also made us jump, and pointed to the land, signifying we were to go there. We thought by this, we should be eaten by these ugly men, as they appeared to us; and, when soon after we were all put down under the deck again, there was much dread and trembling among us, and nothing but bitter cries to be heard all the night from these apprehensions, insomuch, that at last the white people got some old slaves from the land to pacify us. They told us we were not to be eaten, but to work, and were soon to go on land, where we should see many of our country people. This report eased us much. And sure enough, soon after we were landed, there came to us Africans of all languages.

................................

We were not many days in the merchant's custody, before we were sold after their usual manner, which is this: On a signal given, (as the beat of a drum) the buyers rush at once into the yard where the slaves are confined, and make choice of that parcel they like best. The noise and clamor with which this is attended, and the eagerness visible in the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to increase the apprehension of terrified Africans, who may well be supposed to consider them as the ministers of that destruction to which they think themselves devoted.
In this manner, without scruple, are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each other again. I remember, in the vessel in which I was brought over, in the men's apartment, there were several brothers, who, in the sale, were sold in different lots; and it was very moving on this occasion, to see and hear their cries at parting. Is it not enough that we are torn from our country and friends, to toil for your luxury and lust of gain? Must every tender feeling be likewise sacrificed to your avarice? Are the dearest friends and relations, now rendered more dear by their separation from their kindred, still to be parted from each other, and thus prevented from cheering the gloom of slavery, with the small comfort of being together; and mingling their sufferings and sorrows? Why are parents to lose their children, brothers their sisters, husbands their wives? Surely, this is a new refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress; and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery.

................................

While I was thus employed by my master, I was often a witness to cruelties of every kind, which were exercised on my unhappy fellow slaves. I used frequently to have different cargoes of new Negroes in my care for sale; and it was almost a constant practice with our clerks, and other whites, to commit violent depredations on the chastity of the female slaves; and these I was, though with reluctance, obliged to submit to at all times, being unable to help them. When we have had some of these slaves on board my master's vessels, to carry them to other islands, or to America, I have known our mates to commit these acts most shamefully, to the disgrace, not of Christians only, but of men. I have even known them to gratify their brutal passion with females not ten years old; and these abominations, some of them practised to such scandalous excess, that one of our captains discharged the mate and others on that account. And yet in Montserrat I have seen a Negro man staked to the ground, and cut most shockingly, and then his ears cut off bit by bit, because he had been connected with a white woman, who was a common prostitute. As if it were no crime in the whites to rob an innocent African girl of her virtue, but most heinous in a black man only to gratify a passion of nature, where the temptation was offered by one of a different color, though the most abandoned woman of her species.

................................

Thursday, 10 February 2011

Going Back To The Igbo ROOTS

by Chukwurah Emeagwali at Igbo Cultural Day celebration at Calgary, Canada on August 23, 2003. Ozi nkwado Ndi Igbo nke Ma'zi Chukwurah Emeagwali degara Ndi Igbo bi na obodo Calgary, Canada n'oge emume afo ncheta Igbo.

Emeagwali

Ja Ja Rescues Debt-Ridden House

He Proclaims Independent Settlement Of Opobo

Queen Victoria Awards Ja Ja Sword Of Honor

European Powers Sign Treaty Of Berlin

British Official Reneges On Promises

Ja Ja Rescues Debt-Ridden House

He Proclaims Independent Settlement Of Opobo

Queen Victoria Awards Ja Ja Sword Of Honor

European Powers Sign Treaty Of Berlin

British Official Reneges On Promises

Taken captive

Education at sea and in England

Cheated of his freedom

Life as a freed slave

Joins the antislavery crusade

Writings, Ideas, and Hopes

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by Chukwurah Emeagwali
at Igbo Cultural Day celebration
at Calgary, Canada on August 23, 2003.
Ozi nkwado Ndi Igbo nke Ma'zi Chukwurah Emeagwali
degara Ndi Igbo bi na obodo Calgary, Canada n'oge emume afo ncheta Igbo.