Directorate of State of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, has described a history book which stated that the Igbos, who invaded Ife came to capture her people as slaves, as hate speech against Igbos.
It noted that what the history book wants to achieve was to lay a foundation for a Rwanda-like hatred and subsequent attack on the Igbo and their property in Nigeria.
Head of Directorate of State of IPOB, Mazi Chika Edoziem, in a statement entitled ‘Historical falsehood and cultural attack against the Igbo nation of Biafra,’ said:
“It has come to our attention, that Bola Tinubu cannot wait to start his cultural war against the Biafra Nation and more specifically against the Igbo Nation of Biafra.
“The IPOB leadership has deliberately refrained from getting dragged into the process that brought him to power.
“However, when it comes to protecting the Biafran people and Biafraland, IPOB does not take prisoners and we do not retreat from any battle that is brought to our doorstep.
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“The Nigerian Ministry of Education has miscalculated if it believes that IPOB will allow them to rewrite history by stoking up hatred against the Igbo Nation of Biafra.
“In a recently released book entitled “fundamentals of civic education” meant for Basic 8 and USS 2 students, the writer of this obnoxious book by name, Sola Akinyemi, while eulogising the exploits of one Moremi of Ife stated on page 38 that “in her days, there was a serious problem in her community.
“The problem was the invasion by the Igbos, who always came to capture her people as slaves.’
“What nonsense and how convenient to blame the Igbo for other people’s misfortune.
“It was no longer the rise of the Kingdoms of Asante, Benin, Dahomey and Oyo as well as the existence of the Trans-Saharan slave trade north of the Oyo Empire that was responsible for the constant slave raids on the communities in this region but the Igbos, who were neither interested in empire building nor were they ever under the hegemony of any of the aforementioned empires.
“This fellow called Sola Akinyemi spewing out such hate speech against the whole of the Igbo Nation is laying the foundation for a Rwanda-like hatred and subsequent attack on the Igbo and their properties in Nigeria.
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“This fool and those who sent him must understand that IPOB is here to checkmate them.
“The Nigerian government and its Ministry of Education are advised to recall this offending book called the “fundamentals of civic education” without delay and they have just two weeks from the date of this Memo to do that.
“The Ministry must make an official announcement stating that this useless book has been withdrawn and destroyed.
“After two weeks, IPoB will activate action to safeguard our children and the Igbo Nation from the false narrative contained in this book.
“Meanwhile, every book handler or seller in Biafraland must not sell this book in their book store and no school or teacher in Biafraland should use this offensive material to teach our children,” he added.
