Our people say that the heads the soil has swallowed are many.

Three million Igbo sons, daughters and children, amongst them, thousands of Biafran soldiers who died in defense of the freedom we enjoy today. From their graves, marked and unmarked, they all cry out in the words of that revered poet:

“Tell them of us and say

For your tomorrow we gave our today”

But how many of us hear their cry? How many pause in our daily pursuit of material wealth to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us?

Because the dead are not here with us, we pretend we do not owe them. We pretend they did not give their today for our tomorrow.

But then, there are the injured. There are there with us. Along Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, precisely at Oji River/Ugwuoba sector, we see them begging - a stark reminder that we have failed them.

As a keen observer of life, very few things bamboozle me. But twice in the last couple of years, I have been stumped.

One was the day I was derided by other Nigerians because Okonkwo of Things Fall Apart spoke Yoruba before he spoke Igbo. It was the day the Yoruba edition of Things Fall Apart was published.

The second was the day I was ridiculed by other Nigerians after they passed through Oji River and saw ex-Biafran soldiers on the street side begging. They disparaged me thus:

“You are dreaming of another Biafra when you haven’t cared for the veterans of the first Biafra .”

“I thought you said the Igbo are never beggars.”

My Primary school teacher, Mr. Ifeanyi Obiakonwa, said that a bride does not flaunt her beauty while a festering wound sits on her head.

We the Igbo have a festering wound on our head – the appalling state of the Biafran veterans. Yet, we have had the audacity to flaunt our beauty. And we wonder why no suitor is knocking on our door.

We deceive ourselves but we do not deceive the world around us. If we do not care for those we sent at their prime to fight for us, men who paid for our freedom with their youth, if we look away while they live in squalor, it shall never be well with us.

It is in the natural law. We can silence our conscience but we cannot escape the consequences of our mistreatment of the very people to whom we owe our existence. Our collective failure in this regard will continue to undermine our individual accomplishments.

For us to sit and wait for death to deliver our heroes from the misery we abandoned them in demeans our very humanity. Even when we let ourselves be desensitized, our lack of sympathy will only guarantee us that dreadful place that Dante Alighieri said is reserved for those who in time of great moral crises feign indifference.

Our falls are not all caused by enemies who gag our steps, many our caused by the yoke of guiltiness that weighs down our souls. It stops us from souring. It stunts the flight of those of us who managed to climb us.

We live in the greatest and richest and strongest nation on earth. We are the lucky ones. We are the privileged few. Our privileges come with great responsibilities. Many less endowed look up to us for leadership. Though we may not know it, we are the people many of our people are waiting for to show them the light. Without being immodest, we are the last best hope for our people.

And what will it take to heal this long festering wound? Why has this great race of ours failed at this most sacred of all tasks? Who have we being waiting for? How did we prefer to lose our moral authority than to rise up and make whatever sacrifice is needed to permanently heal this festering wound?

It is a shame. It is our collective shame.

Shame on you for spending $1,000 for your baby’s Christening but cannot afford $10 for the restoration of our brave men’s dignity.

Shame on you for spending $1,000 to mark your birthday but cannot afford $10 to help our veterans live one day more.

Shame on you for spending $100 on the latest agbada but cannot afford $10 to cover the grief of our heroes.

Shame on you for spending $100 a-sitting hanging with your boys but cannot afford $10 to support our Biafran boys.

Shame on you for calling yourself a chief but cannot be counted in the effort to rehabilitate our champions.

Making amend is past due. None of those men should be allowed to again die broken hearted because we failed to make him feel appreciated and valued. All it will take is you and me. Margaret Mead noted that we should “never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” She said that, “indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Please support the Aladimma Project at www.aladimma.org . I sincerely urge you. Do it for posterity sake. Do it for our children. Do it for our children’s children. Do it for the memory of all those who cleared the way for us to be where we are today. Do it so that your name will be excluded from that dreadful list of names that elicit a sorrowful Tufiakwa from our forefathers.

To the first ten people who will donate $200 or more to the Aladimma Project, I will give an autographed copy of my book, Children of A Retired God.

“All our gods are weeping. Idemili is weeping. Ogwugwu is weeping. Agbala is weeping and all others. Our dead fathers are weeping because of the shameful sacrilege they are suffering and the abomination we have seen with our eyes.” - Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart

We can stop our gods from crying. We can change it all if we act today. Just $10 a year from six thousand of us you can help us atone for Igbo’s greatest shame.

Yes, we can. For when we say yes, our Chi concurs.

Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo will be signing copies of his book, Children of a Retired God at the 100 Cummings Center, suite 221 E, Beverley, Massachusetts on Sat. June 14^th at 5pm; at Igwebuke Hall in Hapeville, near Atlanta International Airport , Georgia on Sat. June 28^th at 8.pm and at the People’s Club Hall in Boston on Saturday, August 23^rd, 2008 at 8.00pm. For more information, contact Ehimen Edokpa at Integrity Business Group,129 Union Street , Lynn- Phone: 978-335-4451. More dates and venues will be announced as soon as they become available. His latest books, How I Helped to Elect Obama President & Africa: The Shit that Happened will be out soon.

Robot  Villager

# 1 We the Igbo have a festering wound on our head – the appalling state of the B...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 01.06.2008 18:04

ttonjo  Villager

# 2 =Robot;4295048950>We the Igbo have a festering wound on our head – the appalling state of the B...Read the full article. Charity begins at Home. I rest my case. Posted by ttonjo| 01.06.2008 20:19

ttonjo  Villager

# 3 =ttonjo;4295048975>Charity begins at Home. I rest my case. Where are the gang of the village noise makers? docokwy: apu nku; denker; tony; calabash; nwanza; malam or mulan; or what ever? Over to you. Posted by ttonjo| 01.06.2008 21:53

ttonjo  Villager

# 4 =ttonjo;4295048995>Where are the gang of the village noise makers? docokwy: apu nku; denker; tony; calabash; nwanza; malam or mulan; or what ever? Over to you. Oooh I forgot their leader, the 'big lamentable Son of the Delta', after all he is from the south eastern part of Nigeria as well. Posted by ttonjo| 01.06.2008 22:51

Agidimolaja  Villager

# 5 Sure, it is big shame indeed! Now,do my readers see why I called the idea of resurrecting Biafra stupid and nonsense? Almost all the leaders of past Biafra are living fine today including the Biafran Head of State,Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. Many of them are top shots and political leaders with such great influences.Many are sitting upon vast amount of money and have acquired large properties both at home and abroad. But see the pathetic conditions of those who were drafted to fight Biafran cause and in the process became maimed,deformed, homeless and miserably poor. Yet these Igbo leaders are looking the other way and unconcerned. What a shame! With this kind of ugly and wicked situation on the ground and unaddressed,those who are shouting at the rooftop for ressurection of Biafra and hoisting illegal Biafran flags should bury their heads in shame and should also consider themselves as inhuman. What if the next Biafran experiment failed{and it is most likely going to fail again} as the former one did because several reasons that led to the failure of the past one are still there today and are even far worst than ever. Tell me then,who wants to spend the rest of his life like those abandoned, maimed,poor,homeless people? Maybe Ralph Nwazuruike should first of all concentrate his efforts and meagre resources into helping those neglected "heroes" instead of trying to go on another mission impossible. Posted by Agidimolaja| 01.06.2008 23:37

denker  Villager

# 6 =ttonjo;4295048995>Where are the gang of the village noise makers? docokwy: apu nku; denker; tony; calabash; nwanza; malam or mulan; or what ever? Over to you. dis small boy, ttonjo, you dey look for problem o...problem dey sleep you want to wakem up...person wey murder sleep no go sleep again o...take you time o..my arm reach anywhere wey you dey for england..you're warned! Posted by denker| 02.06.2008 06:10

ttonjo  Villager

# 7 =denker;4295049137>dis small boy, ttonjo, you dey look for problem o...problem dey sleep you want to wakem up...person wey murder sleep no go sleep again o...take you time o..my arm reach anywhere wey you dey for england..you're warned! @dis small boy denker: Bring it on!!! Instead of you to address the main issue of the article, you have the audacity to be sending a threatening message online for the whole world to see. I am not surprise anyway, that is your regular 'trade mark.' This is not a 'banana dictatorial republic' where you're the king. How dare you sending me a bullying and threatening messages? Posted by ttonjo| 02.06.2008 06:21

Dove  Villager

# 8 =Agidimolaja;4295049008>Sure, it is big shame indeed! Now,do my readers see why I called the idea of resurrecting Biafra stupid and nonsense? Almost all the leaders of past Biafra are living fine today including the Biafran Head of State,Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. Many of them are top shots and political leaders with such great influences.Many are sitting upon vast amount of money and have acquired large properties both at home and abroad. But see the pathetic conditions of those who were drafted to fight Biafran cause and in the process became maimed,deformed, homeless and miserably poor. Yet these Igbo leaders are looking the other way and unconcerned. What a shame! With this kind of ugly and wicked situation on the ground and unaddressed,those who are shouting at the rooftop for ressurection of Biafra and hoisting illegal Biafran flags should bury their heads in shame and should also consider themselves as inhuman. What if the next Biafran experiment failed{and it is most likely going to fail again} as the former one did because several reasons that led to the failure of the past one are still there today and are even far worst than ever. Tell me then,who wants to spend the rest of his life like those abandoned, maimed,poor,homeless people? Maybe Ralph Nwazuruike should first of all concentrate his efforts and meagre resources into helping those neglected "heroes" instead of trying to go on another mission impossible. Yea! One good thing about the Igbos is that they are very good when it comes to washing their dirty linens in the open market square; to the amusement of other tribes. And of course those other tribes are as white as the snow. For instance, we have from this article learnt that in Igbo land, there are "maimed, deformed,homeless, miseable and homeless" people. While there are none in other parts of the country;including in my own part. Good to know! I have once seen that place the so called Biafran "heroes" were dumped and ignored, but I was unable to see the difference between those people and those men and women suffering from leprosy in a certain Yoruba town on that "beyond repair" express way that leads to Lagos(I have forgotten what that road is called, I am just aware that place is not far from Otta). Adigimoloja, I have yet to see any sense in your posts, especially in recent times. Moreover I havent seen anything in any part of Nigeria that is in short supply in other parts. Only that others might not have mastered the art. Posted by Dove| 02.06.2008 06:37

ttonjo  Villager

# 9 =docokwy;4295049151>18 MOST WANTED NIGERIANS IN THE US http://www.compassnewspaper.com/News/General_News/282.html @docokwy: What is all these? Are you for real? There is a Yoruba saying: 'O fi ete sile, o npa lapalapa.' Meaning: Instead of you to treat LEPROSY, you are wasting time on an ordinary wound.' Instead of you to address the issues at stake, you're wasting your time and beating about the bush on irrelevant issue. Common spit it out the vintage docokwy. Posted by ttonjo| 02.06.2008 07:08

docokwy  Villager

# 10 In a country where even able-bodied people do not eat sound meals; where able-bodied people become disabled by poverty and lack, it is only an unserious and unrealistic person that expects really physically disabled people to have all their needs met. Something has always been done to assist the Biafran vets, and will always be done. However, whether such assistance is enough to meet most of their needs is a different matter. Many personal and private donations are being made. Even churches have been helping. You sure do not expect every donor to come to the NVS to shout his donation to the rooftop. Like all humans, including us that are not disabled, the war vets are oliver twists, and would surely ask for more, deservedly too. Please see here. http://www.kwenu.com/igbo/groups/isda/visit_war_vets.htm Even Andy Uba (yes, Andy Uba) has once helped them, when he donated 2 million naira for the school fees of the vets' wards. The situation is, therefore, not completely hopeless. Posted by docokwy| 02.06.2008 08:06

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