A Movie, Boko Haram, Igbo Beginning, and the World Cup

Half Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun

Our son Sam who was here for few days departed today for a wedding and meetings in Paris before heading back to Nigeria. He said the film Half of a Yellow Sun, made from Chimamanda Adichie’s novel by that name, had now passed the censors in Nigeria. It appears it will be showing there soon, though it may be slighty edited. It is showing now in the United States but in only a few locations. I hope it will be in more soon.

Boko Haram, the Background

Professor Moses Ochonu, speaker about Boko Haram at Friends of Nigeria meeting

Professor Moses Ochonu, speaker about Boko Haram at Friends of Nigeria meeting

In a recent post I mentioned the talk about Boko Haram by Vanderbilt Associate Professor of African History, Moses Ochonu.

He spoke at the Friends of Nigeria meeting in Nashville, and I said his talk was excellent. Much of what he said is in this blog post.

He had published  in March in Global Post; in that article he relates more of the history of Nigeria that he believes laid the groundwork for the conflict today.

But his opinions are challenged by Abdullahi Edward Tomasiewicz, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960’s and now lives in Kano, northern Nigeria. He disputes several points made by Professor Ochonu, including the contention that revenue from the south outpaced that from the north in the early days of Nigeria as a unified entity. He also says that Boko Haram should not be called Islamist, and asked members of Friends of Nigeria to counter this claim when and if we could.

I checked Wikipedia – my frequent source – which does list Boko Haram as an Islamist group. Wikipedia says that, “Islamist movements seek to implement a conservative formulation of Islamic law and remove Western influences from Muslim society.” It seems to me the definition fits.

Perhaps Abdullahi will post a comment to counter Wikipedia’s definition.

Further analysis of Boko Haram was provided this week by Professor Vinnie Ferraro in his blog. He referred to a paper by the Oxford Research Group. You’ll find the link in Vinnie’s post or here.

And if you want something more cheerful about Nigeria, read on!

Igbo Beginning

A lighter piece of press on Nigeria and the current situation came from the paramount ruler of Igbo-Ukwu in Anambra State, Igwe (chief) Martin Ezeh. In the Sun newspaper I read, “He has declared that the incessant killings of innocent Nigerians by insurgents will not split the country. He predicted that the country will come out of the crisis stronger.” I do so hope he is correct.

He made the statement as he was laying plans for the Mbido Igbo (Igbo Beginning) festival in his palace.

Bronze roped pot from Igbo-Ukwu

Bronze roped pot from Igbo-Ukwu

Do you know why the ruler of Igbo-Ukwu holds a festival called the “Igbo Beginning”? 

The Igbo-Ukwu bronze roped pot is famous – I knew of it before I ever went to Nigeria. It’s a clue to the answer.

World Cup 2014

A few days ago we suffered Nigeria’s loss at the World Cup. Then the U.S. lost their match. Today I watched Brazil defeat Colombia in a dramatic 2-1 victory. I also watched some of the Germany – France match, won by Germany. So we know two of the four semi-finalists.

News flash: I just did a Google search on World Cup to check the semi-finalists. And guess what? My blog post came up in the first five results! I’m ecstatic.

And I have a second question for today: If your favorite is gone, who are you rooting for now to win?

Author: Catherine Onyemelukwe

Author, blogger, speaker. Born in New York, grew up in mid west United States, lived in Nigeria for 24 years, back in U.S. since 1986. Advocate for racial justice.

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