GOD LOVES DIVERSITY ..THUS DIVERSITY OF GIFTS...(Chukwubike)

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

by Grant Richison | Nov 14, 2002 | 1 Corinthians | 7 comments

Read Introduction to 1 Corinthians

4 “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.” 

Now the Holy Spirit through Paul turns to diversity and catalogue of spiritual gifts. God’s plan for the church is diversity, not uniformity, in spiritual gifts. Each member of the Trinity has a role in spiritual gifts: the Holy Spirit distributes the gifts, the Lord places people in ministry, and the Father empowers people to do ministry. There are varieties in gifts, ministries, and effects but they all have sameness in the Trinity. God’s doctrine is diversity in unity, not uniformity.

12:4

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

The word “gift” is the Greek word charismata. The charis part of the word means grace. The ma portion of the word is the passive suffix meaning that it is a grace given. They are grace-gifts. God did the giving or bestowing of the gift upon us. These gifts are not native within us like natural talents. Both Christian and non-Christian alike share capacity for talent but only Christians have spiritual gifts. A gift is a special, supernatural enablement or capacity to do the work of God. Spiritual gifts are not natural capacities; they are supernaturally bestowed capacity.

“Diversities” means distributions, distinctions, allotments, apportionments. The word suggests a separation of something already joined together. God distributes gifts in many varieties. No one gets all the “gifts” for there are different kinds for different people. There are about 20 gifts listed in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:7-11; 1 Corinthians 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:11).

The “same Spirit” is the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the source of all gifts. Sameness comes from source.

12:5

There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.

As there are diversities of gifts, there are differences of ministry opportunity as well. The word “differences” is the same Greek word as “diversities” in verses four and six. The word “ministries” means forms of services. The plural means different kinds of services. It is possible to have the same gift but have a different ministry. Some may use the gift of evangelism in child evangelism while others may use it on the campus. There is variety in uses of gifts. God does not give special supernatural capacities for the self but to serve.

It is the “same Lord,” that is, the second person of the Trinity, that gives different kinds of service. All ministries represent Christ. We are here to represent Him.

12:6

And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

The third category of “diversities” is “activities.” The word “activities” means effects and literally has the idea of what is worked out or energized. This word in the Greek (energemata – energizing) means manifestations of the Spirit’s power as over against human power. This is operational power. God empowers the effect. As with gifts and ministries, God gives different effects or results to ministry. There are different results from the use of gifts. God gives some ministries more fruit than others. Ministries to Muslims do not have the same fruit as other ministries.

It is the “same God,” that is, God the Father who works “all in all.” God works all the gifts in all persons.

PRINCIPLE: 

God loves diversity, not uniformity.

APPLICATION: 

God loves diversity. He does not use a cookie-cutter to stamp out the same pattern of gifts. Diversity has its underpinning in God Himself. He makes Christians wonderfully different from each other. A choir is one but has at least four sections: bass, tenor, alto, and soprano. Each contributes to a unity of beautiful music. This is more beautiful than a choir of all sopranos. There are many members in the choir but there is only one conductor. A football team with uniformity of all guards is not very exciting or effective. The Christian does not have anything to say about whether he plays guard or quarterback.

Spiritual gifts do not indicate merit or spirituality. We do not have a gift because we are better than someone else or because we have had a certain kind of experience. None of us earns or deserves a gift. It is something we discover and use. We cannot say, “What a great person I am because I have such-and-such gift.” What gifts we possess reside in the sovereign decision of God the Trinity.

God gives special, supernatural gifts to every Christian without exception. Each gift is as important as any other gift. God specially designs each gift for each believer. We cannot do God’s work without special endowment of a spiritual gift. Christian work is simply exercising our spiritual gift. There is no difference between a preacher and a plumber. There is no such thing as a “layman.”

We can neglect our gift or fail to use it but if we do, it will atrophy. If we do not use a muscle, it will atrophy and become weaker and weaker. The Holy Spirit enables us to use our gifts.

source 

THE MISTAKES OF 15TH JANUARY....

By Asikason Jonathan

APOLOGIES to
Friedrich Nietzche, the actions of the select few of Nigerian military in the wee hours of  January 15, 1966, was  done for love and thus go beyond good and evil.Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu who hatched the putsch was blunt on the motivation: “We seized power to stamp out tribalism, nepotism and  regionalism.”  He went on to say: There were five of us in the inner circle and we planned the details. On Saturday morning, the officers and men thought they were going out only for a night exercise. It was not until they were out in the bush that they were told the full details of the plan. They had bullets, they had been issued with their weapons but I was unarmed. If they disagreed, they could have shot.”

The khaki guys were not oblivious of the fact that their country was tethering on the knife edge. And Nzeogwu, the legendary Chief instructor of Nigerian Military Training College, NMTC, they knew, cannot venture into riffraff adventurism. So guided by the spirit of Nigerianism,” these men set out to save their country. But Murphy was standby waving his law: if things will go wrong they will.

On paper, the mutineers couldn’t have plotted a better coup. Nzeogwu and Onwuatuegwu were in charge of the Northern Region while Ifeajuan,a, Ademoyega and Anuforo were the principal actors in the South. These officers were not only well trained but command enormous respect in the Nigerian military.

But the implementation was done in bad faith. Some disgruntled elements among the five used the opportunity the coup afforded them to settle old scores. The death of Brigadier Zakari Maimalari who was not in the black-list was a pay back from Major Emmanuel Ifeajuana. That GOC Ironsi intimidated Ifeajuana boys and dismantled the roadblock that supposed to net him in Lagos was the first major blow to the coup. And the fact that the coup failed completely in the East was the end of it all.  Little wonder the conceptualisation of “Igbo coup.

Was it really an Igbo coup? Many narratives from the North had it that it was a well hatched ploy by Igbo people to hijack the government of Nigeria. That this logic still hold water in many quarters is so appalling. Come to think of it, the government that was toppled was led by NPC-NCNC coalition. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the titular head. So why will Igbo people overthrow their own government?

Arthur Nwankwo in his masterpiece “Igbo Leadership and Future of Nigeria” expatiated the societal strata Igbo people occupied before the khaki guys struck.  It was an epical fall from grace.

“They [Igbo People] were prominent in the government, the media, the professions, the civil service, and the armed forces in the post independent Nigeria. Their influence was felt in all aspect of our national life. On 15th January 1966, one  young  idealistic Igbo Major in the Nigerian Army struck a blow that changed our national history and unknowingly set in motion a tragic chain of events that left his people desolate and disillusioned(Nwankwo:1985).

Thankfully, Nzeogwu (1967), Ademoyega (1976) Madiebo (1980), Gbulie (1981) offered an expert and / or participant accounts of what transpired on that fateful day.

In his interview with Nigerian Tribune of July 2, 1967, Nzeogwu posist:

“Neither myself nor any of the other lads was in the least interested in governing the country. We were soldiers and not politicians. We had earmarked from the list known to every soldier in this operation who would be what. Chief Obafemi  Awolowo was , for example , to be released from jail immediately and to be made the executive provisional President of Nigeria. We were going to make civilians of proven honesty and efficiency who would be thoroughly handpicked to do all the governing.”

This view was later butressed by Major Ademoyega, in his book Why We Struck:7

“Contrary to the loads of wicked propaganda that had since been heaped upon us, there was no decision at our meeting to single out any particular ethnic group for elimination or destruction. Our intentions were honourable, our views were national and our goals were idealistic.”

Even the Personal Secretary to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Odia Ofeimun, was privy to the plot. In his interview with Guardian as published on May 6, 2007, he observed:

“People were told that it was an Igbo coup but that it is not correct. It is a very interesting part of the Nigerian story. In the first place, there have been many serious lies that have been told by our leaders. Our leaders have not been bold enough to tell us the truth. But the point is that the average Yoruba man could never really believe that some Igbo would plan a coup and hand over to Awolowo because that is not the way Nigerian is seen”.

Judging from the forgoing, any bias-free analytical rendition of the coup will describe it as Nzeogwu rightly did — a true Nigerian gathering. When Sir Kashim Ibrahim was held prisoner in the Brigade Headquarters Kaduna, It took Majors Nzeogwu and Onwuatuegwu days to convince the Northern soldiers, who surrendered the office where he was locked and were bent on killing him, that the former governor was not corrupt like other politicians of his days.

When the council of state led by Akweke Nwafor Orizu surrendered the governmental powers to GOC Ironsi, Nzeogwu refused to cave in and the Northerners were strongly with him.  Both his cook and doctor were northerners. In West, normalcy was restored as the coup ultimately doused Action Group Crisis.

Major Nzegowu struggled to bring his plan to fruition. He refused to surrender to Ironsi. He remained the defacto sovereign of Northern Nigeria for awhile before the duo of Madiebo and Ojukwu convinced him relinquish the region to Ironsi.

The failure of the 15th January 1966 coup is what Igbo people are suffering for in Nigeria today. It all started in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where Northern intellectuals did a comparative analysis of the participants and the toll of the coup. Judgment was summarily passed against the Igbo people.

The blood of Arthur Unegbe (who was killed for fighting the murder of his friend — Maimalari) could not placate them. The counter coup of 29th July 1966 that clinched the heads of over thirty thousand Easterners, including their senior military officers, couldn’t quench blood thirsty Kaduna Mafia. Civil war was fought and genocide arguably committed against the Igbo people but Northerners were not moved. This explains why marginalisation of Igbo people continues unabated. When will Northerners forgive Igbo people for the mistake of 15th January?

Truth be told, Northerners should not be blamed for the conceptualisation of Igbo Coup. They were enraged that personalities like Sarduana and Balewa were killed and nothing happened in the East. To add insult to an injury Ironsi led military government was too reluctant to court-martial the coup plotters. But the very fact that the vengeance of 29th July trumped their loss should have lay ghost their nebulous conviction.

For Nigeria to work, we need to go back to the drawing board for many things are wrong in this country. While January 15th coup exacerbated inter-ethnic rivalries and animosities that are eating up the country today, it did not originated it.

Since its creation, this country has been at war unto and against itself. For us to live up to the appellation: giant of Africa, we need to learn from our ugly past.

DEUS VULT...GOD WILLS IT......(Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095.)

In 1094 or 1095, Alexios I Komnenos, the Byzantine emperor, sent to the pope, Urban II, and asked for aid from the west against the Seljuq Turks, who taken nearly all of Asia Minor from him. At the council of Clermont Urban addressed a great crowd and urged all to go to the aid of the Greeks and to recover Palestine from the rule of the Muslims. The acts of the council have not been preserved, but we have five accounts of the speech of Urban which were written by men who were present and heard him.

[adapted from Thatcher] Here is the one by the chronicler Fulcher of Chartres. Note how the traditions of the peace and truce of God - aimed at bringing about peace in Christendom - ties in directly with the call for a Crusade. Does this amount to the export of violence?

Most beloved brethren: Urged by necessity, I, Urban, by the permission of God chief bishop and prelate over the whole world, have come into these parts as an ambassador with a divine admonition to you, the servants of God. I hoped to find you as faithful and as zealous in the service of God as I had supposed you to be. But if there is in you any deformity or crookedness contrary to God's law, with divine help I will do my best to remove it. For God has put you as stewards over his family to minister to it. Happy indeed will you be if he finds you faithful in your stewardship. You are called shepherds; see that you do not act as hirelings. But be true shepherds, with your crooks always in your hands. Do not go to sleep, but guard on all sides the flock committed to you. For if through your carelessness or negligence a wolf carries away one of your sheep, you will surely lose the reward laid up for you with God. And after you have been bitterly scourged with remorse for your faults-, you will be fiercely overwhelmed in hell, the abode of death. For according to the gospel you are the salt of the earth [Matt. 5:13]. But if you fall short in your duty, how, it may be asked, can it be salted? O how great the need of salting! It is indeed necessary for you to correct with the salt of wisdom this foolish people which is so devoted to the pleasures of this -world, lest the Lord, when He may wish to speak to them, find them putrefied by their sins unsalted and stinking. For if He, shall find worms, that is, sins, In them, because you have been negligent in your duty, He will command them as worthless to be thrown into the abyss of unclean things. And because you cannot restore to Him His great loss, He will surely condemn you and drive you from His loving presence. But the man who applies this salt should be prudent, provident, modest, learned, peaceable, watchful, pious, just, equitable, and pure. For how can the ignorant teach others? How can the licentious make others modest? And how can the impure make others pure? If anyone hates peace, how can he make others peaceable ? Or if anyone has soiled his hands with baseness, how can he cleanse the impurities of another? We read also that if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch [Matt. 15:14]. But first correct yourselves, in order that, free from blame , you may be able to correct those who are subject to you. If you wish to be the friends of God, gladly do the things which you know will please Him. You must especially let all matters that pertain to the church be controlled by the law of the church. And be careful that simony does not take root among you, lest both those who buy and those who sell [church offices] be beaten with the scourges of the Lord through narrow streets and driven into the place of destruction and confusion. Keep the church and the clergy in all its grades entirely free from the secular power.

See that the tithes that belong to God are faithfully paid from all the produce of the land; let them not be sold or withheld. If anyone seizes a bishop let him be treated as an outlaw. If anyone seizes or robs monks, or clergymen, or nuns, or their servants, or pilgrims, or merchants, let him be anathema [that is, cursed]. Let robbers and incendiaries and all their accomplices be expelled from the church and anthematized. If a man who does not give a part of his goods as alms is punished with the damnation of hell, how should he be punished who robs another of his goods? For thus it happened to the rich man in the gospel [Luke 16:19]; he was not punished because he had stolen the goods of another, but because he had not used well the things which were his.

"You have seen for a long time the great disorder in the world caused by these crimes. It is so bad in some of your provinces, I am told, and you are so weak in the administration of justice, that one can hardly go along the road by day or night without being attacked by robbers; and whether at home or abroad one is in danger of being despoiled either by force or fraud. Therefore it is necessary to reenact the truce, as it is commonly called, which was proclaimed a long time ago by our holy fathers. I exhort and demand that you, each, try hard to have the truce kept in your diocese. And if anyone shall be led by his cupidity or arrogance to break this truce, by the authority of God and with the sanction of this council he shall be anathematized."

After these and various other matters had been attended to, all who were present, clergy and people, gave thanks to God and agreed to the pope's proposition. They all faithfully promised to keep the decrees. Then the pope said that in another part of the world Christianity was suffering from a state of affairs that was worse than the one just mentioned. He continued:

"Although, O sons of God, you have promised more firmly than ever to keep the peace among yourselves and to preserve the rights of the church, there remains still an important work for you to do. Freshly quickened by the divine correction, you must apply the strength of your righteousness to another matter which concerns you as well as God. For your brethren who live in the east are in urgent need of your help, and you must hasten to give them the aid which has often been promised them. For, as the most of you have heard, the Turks and Arabs have attacked them and have conquered the territory of Romania [the Greek empire] as far west as the shore of the Mediterranean and the Hellespont, which is called the Arm of St. George. They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire. If you permit them to continue thus for awhile with impurity, the faithful of God will be much more widely attacked by them. On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it.

"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion! Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been wearing themselves out in both body and soul now work for a double honor. Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and poor, on that, the rich; on this side, the enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter is over and spring comes, let hem eagerly set out on the way with God as their guide."

Source:

Bongars, Gesta Dei per Francos, 1, pp. 382 f., trans in Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book for Medieval History, (New York: Scribners, 1905), 513-17

The Three Wise Men and the Knights Templar

The link between the Three Wise Men and the Knights Templar

 Tony McMahon

Several days after Christmas – the day which marks the birth of Christ – comes the Epiphany signifying the arrival of the three wise men at the stable.

Known in England as ‘Twelfth Night’ when players called ‘mummers’ would perform.

Up until the 19th century, Twelfth Night was as magical if not more so than Christmas Day itself.  But given that the reference to the three kings is a passing paragraph in the gospel of Matthew, how did it come to have such a powerful hold on medieval minds?

Well, like many biblical stories, it underwent a certain amount of embroidering at later hands that most Christians today are unaware of and had nothing to do with the original gospel account.

The casting of the three men as kings is largely the work of two early Christian scholars – Tertullian and Origen – whose writings were regarded as a bit suspect by the early church though they were hugely influential.

Tertullian was keen to prove that the Jews were no longer God’s chosen people and the act of obeisance by the kings to Jesus fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy thereby proving he was the Messiah.

The naming of the three kings is not recorded in any document prior to the sixth century AD and first crops up in Alexandria.  The kings were called:

Melchoir – King of Arabia – who brought gold – an old man

Balthasar – King of Ethiopia – who brought frankincense – a middle aged man

Caspar (or Jasper in England) – King of Tarsus – who brought myrrh – a young man

In medieval mystery plays, the story of the three kings got ever more convoluted. Words were put in to their mouths that had never existed in the bible.

In the English city of Chester, the mystery plays depicted different parts of the bible and trades guilds would be assigned a particular story to tell.  The drapers and hosiers did the creation of the world, the goldsmiths and masons enacted the slaughter of the innocents and it fell to the mercers and spicers to depict the three kings.

Somehow in the Middle Ages, the story of the Magi became bound up with Saint Helena – the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine who converted to Christianity at the start of the fourth century – starting a process that would take the empire from paganism to a new religion.

Helena, in real life, was from Bithynia in modern Turkey and after her son took control of the empire, she bolstered his new found faith by miraculously discovering the true cross, the nails used in the crucifixion and the robe worn by Christ just before being put to death.

But in England, Helena’s story changed dramatically in the Middle Ages.  She became the daughter of Coel the Old or ‘King Cole’ – first king of the British.  He held court in Colchester where, the legend went, Helena was born….not in Bithynia.

Furthermore, not only did she discover the aforementioned relics, but this British born saint went all the way to India and dug up the bones of the three kings bringing them back to the royal court in Constantinople.  From there they went to Milan and eventually ended up in Cologne cathedral.

So convinced were the medieval English that Helena was a daughter of Colchester that she was venerated in the city with something of a cult developing around her.  The city townsfolk said she was the most beautiful woman who had ever lived and in a well, she found three ‘golden heads’ of the Magi and they told her to look after them.  In return they ensured that she was married to the greatest of kings.

The Templar connection is even more interesting. According to some people, the Templars are descendants of priests of the first Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon. There are part of the brotherhood of Melchizedek. The Three Kings – the Magi – were also descendants. I’ll be blogging more about this in future posts.

Another theory is that the legendary (but never seen) Christian king Prester John – who allegedly ruled Ethiopia in the Middle Ages (according to some commentators) was a descendant of the Magi. It was believed that he held the Holy Grail, stolen from King Solomon by the son that Solomon had with the Queen of Sheba. One very popular book on the Templars claims the knights went to Ethiopia to try and steal the Grail but were thwarted.

SOURCE

An Open Letter to My Brethren in the "South-South"

An Open Letter to My Brethren in the "South-South"

By Donald Ekpo
Akwa Ibom State

"For as long as the Old Eastern region remain in disarray and not united, self-determination of the region will remain impossible." ~ An anonymous retired Nigerian Army Chief

The word “South-South,” even though it may sound absurd, is a name we have come to accept as a people. We can’t say exactly how we came about to be identified with the name neither can we say exactly when we were given the name, but we just know it is our name. While growing up back in the days, geography taught us about “the North,” “the South,” “The East” and “The West.” For proper definition of locations, we were also told about “The Northwest, NorthEast, Southwest and SouthEast” I can’t remember anything like the “NorthNorth”, “SouthSouth”, “EastEast” or Westwest , but here I am today, writing a letter to my South-South brethren. That is what happens to a people that are not in control of their Cultural Development or the Political and Economic Future.

That is what happens to a people that are just there for their numbers, that is what happens to people that are just kept for their services, that is what happens to people that are just custodians of wealth for a supposedly superior people, and finally, that is what happens to peoples that are slaves. Any name is suitable for them, they can only get whatever is given to them even if it is originally theirs. If in doubt, please remind me of the meaning of KUNTA KINTE.

I write this letter not because it is frustrating to see how we allowed a defrauded propaganda to position our people as the pawns in the Political Chess called Nigeria, but rather, I write this letter in an effort to request that we free ourselves from these propaganda that has lingered for too long. If our grandfathers and fathers did not ask questions, is there any divine law that says we cannot ask? We know we all belonged to the old Eastern Region of Nigeria before the Northern Protectorate took back their power after the gruesome murder of General Aguiyi Ironsi.

Just for the records, let me do us a bit of history here; Major General Ironsi as Head of State was cornered and arrested somewhere in western Nigeria on July 29th of 1966, his hands and feet were tied together, then tied to a Land Rover with a little space in between, and driven on a tarred road, face down for several kilometers. The then highest ranking Northern officer, an acting (Unconfirmed) Lieutenant Colonel was chosen to be the next Head of State ahead of serving Brigadiers, Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels of the Southern Nigeria, followed by the dreadful killings of officers and soldiers of Eastern Nigeria including our so called South South soldiers and officers.

The genocide that followed is what is recorded as the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 – 1970. As if that was not enough, the Eastern region was broken apart with the sudden creation of the then South Eastern State (today’s Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom), Rivers State (Today’s Rivers State and Bayelsa). It was during that war that propagandas were designed, created and generated to separate us from the old Eastern Region and make the average Igbo man our potential enemy in an effort to reduce their own presumed enemies. In as much as it is a bitter history, but I find it necessary to do you this preamble.

I write this letter to remind us that our region, known as the South-South today was a creation of the North for the sake of creating the disunity we face today. And moreso, it was not just for the disunity for them to win the war, but to also take away our resources, our manpower and our economic future. In 2014 when President Jonathan, a son of the so called South-South decided to re-contest the 2015 elections, Sheik Junaid Mohammed in an engagement on behalf the Northern Protectorate, reminded us that the so called South-South was a creation of the North for effective management of the Northern interest in Eastern Nigeria. How bad could this be? Can we imagine that? So while we are busy reminding ourselves that we are a different people or that the Igbos are wicked and are trying to kill us, the North is joyously taking over and owning 85% of our oil wells while the West takes over the left overs.

And what do we get? Noise! Even the supposedly football legend, Sunday Okechukwu Oliseh is busy telling us he is not Igbo as if it is a curse to be Igbo. One wonders if the name Okechukwu is of Hausa or Yoruba origin. When you speak Igbo as a language and yet claim you are not Igbo, is that not the saddest thing that can happen to any people of identical culture? Even Major Kaduna Nzeogwu that led the first coup that was said to be an Igbo coup is from Okpanam village in today’s Delta State. Could he have come out to say today like Sunday Oliseh said that he was not Igbo? If the Abakaliki or Nsukka indigene that has a more distant dialect of Igbo is Igbo, how come the Anioma or Okrika indigene that is easily understood is not Igbo? How did a people of the same culture get so separated these far?

I write these letter to speak to those of us regarded as "minority tribes." How can we be minority when in essences we are known to be about 35 million of the said 180 million of the said Nigerian population? How can we be a minority in our own lands if we were not treated as such, or if we did not accept to be such? If those from the alliance that separated us from the West are said to be about 50 million in population, and our brethren in the East are said to be about 40 million, how can we accept we are a minority? Our compatriots from the alleged minorities of the North are said to be another 30 million, who then is the minority? Having run through these figures, we know who the real minorities are.

Be it as it appears, the truth is that our region was broken into two so as to weaken our original strength given that at a combined population strength of 35 million and 40 million people, our economic and entrepreneurial strength put together would be something the alliance will be worried about. So why should we ever think that it is logical to claim we are two different people when in essence, we have always been one and the same people for over 400 years before the arrival of the white man. If what the white man did to us was not bad enough, is it not ridiculous that we allowed a certain minority immigrants to assume control of our economic and political future?

I write these letter to ask my brethren in the South-South these pertinent question; Let us assume the very worst situation in this fracas between us and our Igbo brothers, why are we worried about the Igbos taking over our “natural resources” (assuming they don’t have theirs), ARE WE PRESENTLY IN CONTROL OF OUR “NATURAL RESOURCES”? Does it make more sense that our natural resources is being controlled by some strange people from over 700 miles away? People that kill us at will at a single provocation of their religion? People that even kill us in our land? People that challenge us to the ownership of these our resources? People that show absolute disregard of who we are? People that think it is a privilege for us to be in any position of authority? And finally, people that do not in any way have the kind of entrepreneurial skills that we have?

Why would we allow our imaginary quarrel or fights with our brothers translate to the decision of one of the women in King Solomon’s Judgment that insisted that since she couldn’t have the child, the other woman should not. So are we in essence saying it is better for none of us brethren to own our resources simply because we don’t trust our brothers, yet we do nothing about the stranger that has ripped us apart? Are we logically correct in these senseless quarrel?

Even while we are senselessly worried about how the Igbos will colonize our people because that is what we were told, and that is what some of these alliance are still trying to tell us; can we sincerely tell ourselves that the Igbos are that evil? Evil enough to leave their Natural resources in Abia, Imo, Anambra and Enugu states to come and take ownership of our resources? How will they do that? How possible will it be for a people that barely kill by the sword compared to our present oppressors? Do we honestly see that as a possibility? How and why did we allow these propaganda to go these far? Is these not what the alliance has used to rule us through the divide and rule scheme? Sheik Jumiad Mohammed said it clearly that our separation was a creation of the North for the effective management of our resources while we keep fighting an imaginary enemy.

I write this letter to remind us that we and our Igbo brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers have cultural identities, we uphold the sanctity of life, we do not kill a man like a chicken, we worship the same God, and we have identical looks and reasoning capabilities. Education is a respected virtue to both of us, entrepreneurism is a common love between us. We both respect constituted authorities. Even-though we both have the cultural odds that cannot, and should not be used to castigate an entire people. So how come the Igbo man suddenly became evil shortly before the war if the castigation was not a propaganda tool of the war?

How did we accept that our Igbo brothers were evil while we were saints? How are we saints? Is there any evil that is the monopoly of the Igbos that we are totally clean of? That we don’t have a single man/woman that does same if positioned in the same situation? How did we allow a distant people determine how we leave our lives? If we think we are different and as such we are treated better than the Igbos; have we noticed that the fate of the Onitsha Port is the same fate that befell the Ports in Calabar and Port Harcourt? We from the East are all forced to go to Lagos to pay taxes to those ports. How have we been treated differently by these alliances if we were different from the Igbos? Are we not facing the same fate as our Eastern brethren? How do you think we will fare if we were the only ones to receive these treatment given a circumstance where the Igbos are no more in this contraption called Nigeria?

I write this letter to our brethren to remind us that without a unified stand of the entire region, the self-determination process will be a farce. We need each other in all difficulties. We are the Eastern Region; we are the region of the Lower Niger; we are a common people; we are not different from each other. Starting from the Hills of Ogoja to the rocky soils of Ebonyi, down to the temperate region of Anambra down to the enclaves of Ishekiri and Isoko, we all look alike.

The Akwa Ibom man and the Abia State man are the same people simply divided by boundaries. The Calabar man and the Arochukwu man have identical ancestral masquerades. The Ikwerre man is just an Igbo man that was separated by the North to act as a different people. A British woman, camped somewhere in Kaduna decided to add the “R” consonant to the “U” vowel to totally break the identities of the Igbos in today’s Rivers State. The Ijaws, Kalabaris, Oron, Efik are practically the same people positioned in different locations possibly during the settlement centuries ago. We are all interrelated in the region and as such must not be divided.

We have been used for decades, disregarded at every opportunity, our rights are perceived as privileges if not favors. We do not have control over our future as instructed by the late Ahmadu Bello when he instructed his people not to allow us have control of our future, and should be seen as a conquered territory. Are we a conquered people by some strange people that believe they are born to rule, conquer and kill? These are a people who do not hold as sacrosanct what we revere as one. How can we continue in this Union that was designed to enslave us? How can we allow the lies told by these strangers to pitch us against ourselves?

AN ADDENDUM TO MY IGBO BROTHERS

I write to you to remind you that you can only fight a lie that was imbedded into the hearts of my brethren by putting yourself in his shoes to know how best to respond. We cannot fight evil with evil. Like we know, they say two wrongs don’t make a right. It is your responsibility to subtly ask those accusing you some logical questions that may prick their hearts to realities. We are all in this mess called Nigeria together.

Our Son, Goodluck Jonathan, was treated the same way General Ironsi was treated, they were both rejected. They were both despised. Both of them wanted a united Nigeria that existed beyond tribes and religion, but what did we see? President Goodluck Jonathan was lucky to escape with his life, but the General was not that lucky; He was tied to a Land Rover and driven on the rocky tarred roads between Abeokuta and Ibadan till he died and was shredded to pieces. Based on the Alhaji and Kunle’s phone conversation I believe we all listened to, we know that it could as well have happened to President Jonathan if he was not wise enough to let go of their birthright. But can we continue like this?

Look at what they are doing to Nnamdi Kanu? These are the same people that organized 70 lawyers to represent the Boko Haram suspects that have raped, maimed and Killed Nigerians, yet the one they choose to lead us says Nnamdi is too dangerous to be released because he has dual citizenship. Is these the kind of place we will continue to belong to when we are likely going to be having malicious morons of this magnitude leading us?

I write to you my brothers to remind you that the Gambaris know for certainty that having broken a greater part of you into other states in the "South-South," it may be difficult to successfully secede knowing what we know today. So it is inappropriate for you to remind my own brothers that with or without us, that you will succeed.

We cannot allow the propaganda of these gambaris to keep us apart. We must reject it by all means and efforts. We stand a greater chance to succeed as one region. As the older one of the two broken parts of our region, it is your responsibility to expose the deception that was used to mislead my people. It is you that will tell my people you do not have any intentions to colonize them. We have to collectively put these alliance to shame by consciously keeping our relationship cordial in the region. My dear brethren, I write to request that you take it as a duty to remind us that we are all one people because in truth, WE ARE ONE!

THE LOWER NIGER CONGRESS will not succeed if we do not position ourselves for success. We cannot go to a referendum with a divided house. We have to all agreed that we cannot continue in this contraption called a United Nigeria that was not just built on lies and propaganda, but was designed to fail while it enslaves our people. We have been battered, raped, disregarded, maimed and killed at will for the past 50 years. I am talking about the entire Eastern region. While we are being raped and killed, we are busy seeing each other as our enemy, while the real enemies smiles at our folly. We cannot continue like this. We should all take the opportunity presented to us by the UNITED NATION CHARTER ARTICLES ON SELF-DETERMINATION FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE.

The Lower Niger Congress, has so far made presentations to the US Congress on the plight of our people, made a presentation to the United Nations, and have been able to secure a period by which the referendum will take place here in our region. But will we succeed during the electoral process if we are not united? Is it not time we put our swords into plowshare and see how we can take control of our political, economic future and Cultural development?

The Lower Niger Congress having met with traditional and titled leaders in all the corners of the Lower Niger Region believes the project will not be a success if we do not see ourselves as a united body. We cannot afford to go into a referendum that may be sabotaged by the propagandas of the alliance of the North. It is our duty to educate ourselves, educate our relatives, and educate our brethren. It is the best duty we can do for the generations unborn of our region.

This contraption called Nigeria was never designed to succeed, not with the present fraud of Constitution, not with the present mentality that only a section of the country were meant to rule, and finally, not with the present odds that accompany those that make it to the leadership position.

Finally, brethren, I appeal to you all to join hands in actualizing our dream to build a new nation based on principles, agreed morals, agreed terms and...

SOURCE