Prof Omoh T Ojior
My
beloved people of our country, in the name of Osinegba, Oghena, Olorun
Olodumare, God, and the Gods of our land, Africa, please remove all the foreign
language courses from our childrens school curriculums. Especially, the French language course should
be removed without any further delay. Equally the Chinese language course that
is reported to have been introduced into some schools curriculums in Ibadan
should also be replaced forthwith with Yoruba, Etsako, Calabar, Igbo, Edo,
Hausa, Esan and Urhobo, to mention but just these few. Our founding fathers and mothers are not
resting in their graves with the goings on inour
dear country, Nigeria. They are praying that their effort must not be in vain.
It
has been reported that the treacherous Chinese had compelled some of our misplaced
people that are in positions of authority to learn to speak Chinese. This was to enable our people to read
contracts written in Chinese language in our land here in our country. It is sad, to say the least, that some of our
front officials in whatever capacity may be sick to have accepted such an
immoral idea in our country. Please, my people do not take my comment as being
harsh and too strong. I have written
about the Chinese attitude towards Africans and their practices in Africa and
in our country many a time before now.
Memorandum to Nigerians on How Nigerian Can Ensure the Survival of
Nigeria, 2008, (Our Green Book), was published by Onima Institute for
Tradition and Development USA, Inc. Be
careful of the Invading Chinese, page 50, is a section in the Green Book
devoted in 2008 to advising our people about the unfavourable aspects of the
Chinese that will be detrimental to the well being of our people, our culture and
land, if we do not take our time. The
Chinese have actually invaded our land. Can any Nigerian tell me how the
Chinese could take over Zambian Police Force and set up a Chinese Police post
in South Africa? Chinese children that
are now learning Igbo and Yoruba languages in our country are a Chinese project,
to do so as a way for the Chinese to know how to know us to get us, just as the
British brought English and the Christian Church to capture our emotion,
spiritual understanding to destroy our human strength, our language, traditions
and culture.
The
same thing is the character, attitude and behaviour of the French in Africa and
precisely, in our country. Each time I
remember what the blasting of an Atomic Bomb in the Sahara in the 1960s by
France, and the negative impact, did to our people, I tend to feel differently
about the French in Africa. I love all
peoples with human touch, but what are we to do with our human imperfection, to
those who deliberately seek us to be in perpetual pains and agonies? Our Founders
would be unhappy with these inhumane events in Africa were they alive.
Historical
event of recent revealed about the French in the lives of 14 West African
countries should be of a serious concern to all Africans. The 14 West African countries are Benin
Republic, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Cote dIvoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal,
Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial
Guinea and Gabon. The African Union Ambassador to the United States, Her
Excellency Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, has in recent months exposed France to
the public in her speeches. France has been collecting 500 billion US dollars
every year from the 14 West African countries, all which were Frances former
colonies. The former Ambassador revealed that the 500 billion Dollars is a form
of Tax that the French had written into the agreement that the former colonies were
compelled to sign before they were granted a so-call Independence. The 14 West
African countries that are former colonies of France are still paying the tax to
date. The French call the signed agreement, Colonization Continuation Pact for
the Benefits of Slavery and Colonization.
Each
of the former presidents of any of the 14 independent former colonies who had tried
to opt out of the colonization continuation pact/agreement was immediately
assassinated. It has been in doubt that
the hands of France was not in all of the assassinations. It is a big shame on racist
France that formulated such obnoxious and dehumanizing policy of colonization
continuation agreement for the benefits of slavery and colonization. It is a
shame as well on Africans for having failed to get racist France to nullify or
abrogate the provision that compelled or forced an inhuman taxation on Africans
who were in its former colonies.
In
spite of this slave master mentality of France and the French toward Africans
in post slavery and post flag Independence eras, the people of our country, the
people of Nigeria have also, continued to maintain a colonial-neocolonial
mental attitude in matters that fall within nonnegotiable parameter for Black
peoples. When the French continue to
doubt and debate within and among themselves, the acceptance of the Black
persons as humans, it is a nonnegotiable issue that the capacity, intelligence,
endurance and capabilities of the African, anthropologically speaking, have
been proved beyond measure. It is an
incontestable fact naturally; the French man or woman is no match for an
African male or female. To subjugate our selves before the French is a sin before
God and the Gods of our land including the Founding Mothers and Fathers of our
political entity.
Therefore,
the removal of French language from the school curriculums of our children has
been over due. The learning, teaching and or speaking of the French language in
our country should only be opened to those who have been employed or deployed
into Nigerias diplomatic corp. institution or Foreign Service. Nigerians in Foreign Service or in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs are well suited to study French language course in
a special school for that purpose. There are such special schools in some
countries whose citizens are very conscious of themselves, their sovereignty
and, culture. That we have many French
language speakers as our neighbours is not a valid reasonable argument as it is
such an argument that undermines our sovereignty and as a people; such an argument
can only be proposed from an unconscious mental state of the mind. It should therefore be unacceptable. Our children are speaking English in
ignorance with their parents unable to speak their own mother tongue and they
are made to learn French. This is very unhealthy for today, tomorrow and the
future of our country.
It
is time for the people of our country to demand true Independence for our
country from our neocolonialist politicians who seem to be concerned only about
looting the national wealth of our country. The people of this country, Nigeria,
should not become a laughing stock before the international communities. We are not fair enough to criticize government
over its short comings when we, the people, have not demonstrated our true nature
and desire to be free. It is our understanding that a government is as good as
the people it governs. There is nothing political that the people are doing to
contribute to the political development of our country. In a democracy people interact with their
government, elected representatives and political appointees, and such
interactions include protests and demonstrations. If a government is bad and
unresponsive to the needs of the people, and the people are good and care about
their lives and that of the future wellbeing of their children, it is their
right and duty to replace that government.
Nigerians
need to wake up now from their deep slumber to do what is right. The British
gave us flag Independence and treacherously put our political destiny in the
hands of uninstructed, uninformed and unprepared nomads. It is our time to assume true Independence status
with our body and Soul. We belong to no
one else but to ourselves, therefore we cannot remain undisturbed when our
country is not standing firmly. Nobody can destroy this country for us, (Aisha
Yesufu) unless we fold our hands and do nothing about restoring our right to
earn a true living. Foreign
idiosyncratic banners and symbols should now evaporate by the peoples energies
of our land. While Ghana is welcoming
home Africans in the Diaspora and conferring on them with Ghanaian citizenship,
members of the Nigerian cabal are busy legislating
land for cows while planning how every Nigerian will become an Arab by religion
in his own home, Nigeria.
The
name Nigeria comes from the racist word nigrittas, and it meant Negros
land, which is what they call Black peoples, but the British colonizers twisted
the meaning in deceit and told Africans that the name Nigeria means people of
the Niger area. The original name of the River that Mongo Park, a British, called
River Niger is Osimhi or Oshimili, but renamed Niger, which, to the racists,
actually meant Negro river. Renaming was what they did to many places and
things throughout Nigeria; things and places which they did not know their true
original names. Historically, the proper
name our country ought to have assumed upon Independence should have either be
Biafra or Shongai. Many countries that
were of the former British Empire went back to their historical names before
colonization. This is the ideal thing to
be done by our people now. The same
thing goes for the Green and White Flag. A flag that befits our country should
have positive and dynamic colors such as Black, Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, White
and Orange, because these put together will invoke dynamism and strength,
therefore our current Flag of Green for agriculture and White for peace need to
be change.
Also,
for us to demonstrate that we appreciate our culture, beginning with our
President and our elected representatives our people should renounce their
foreign names and replace them with our native names which identify us first as
Nigerians. The name one bears is who he or she is; if one answers to Arabic or
English name, he or she is Arab, English or British because a name is an
identity.
Finally,
French language should only be used by our men and women in Foreign Service,
and Nigerians should help to decolonize all of the Franco Phone countries with designed
cultural exchange programmers. This is with a view to restoring their original
languages before French colonization. French language is not an African language
therefore there is no valid reason to sustain it at the detriment of all the
original African languages ordained by our Creator in the now nick-named Franco
Phone region in Africa. Let us restore democracy that existed before
colonization, during post colonial era, post Independence and before Military
interregnum, in our life. Let us become
a true independent African nation that we ought to be for the rest of the
African States to follow. It is a duty we owe to our Creator, the gods of our Continent
and to humanity.
Omoh T. Ojior,
Ph.D, is a Professor of Political Science. He canbe reached viaonimainstitute@gmail.com
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