MASSOB

Administrative Hqrts.

C/o Rescue Chambers

# 7, Igboukwu Street

(2^nd Floor) D/Line

Port Harcourt.

The Commemoration of Igbo Landing

The resolve of some Abducted Igbos to turn back and plunge into the Waters and die in 1879 at Georgia and South Carolina respectively rather than serve as Slaves in a strange land far away from Home was a "Limited Will" which only few people of the entire Human Race could do, not even the so called "Igbo Leaders" or "Warriors" could do such these days. The Act was because that group of Igbos understood beyond every reasonable doubt that Freedom is not negotiable no matter what, where and how one may be tempted to see it.

We of the above mentioned Movement here in Rivers and Bayelsa States of Biafra feel that as a matter of necessity, we should officially show our Solidarity since we can't all witness the event which is the celebration of Greatness and Will of a people who know and cherish Freedom and abhors dominance of any kind, they did show to the whole World what stuff the Igbos are really made of, the Igbo Race changed to cowardice after the Biafra/Nigeria war. Kinte Kunta who inspired the work of James Harley (ROOTS) made mention of the Igbos though spelt Ibos in the book and the Ashantes as strong willed people in Black Africa. 

We hope that this resistance by a group of then rural Igbos who never got the now dominant Western Education would be a challenge to the present self acclaimed "civilized" Igbos and their brothers in the whole of Biafra Land as regards standing up for their rights in the backdrop of the series of Injustices meted out to us in this prison called Nigeria which being adulterous as to the trace of the origin of this God forsaken country to a whore who staying at Zungeru with her adulterous Lover, Lord. Fredrick Lugard saw only the Niger river and concluded that the name a country of so many rivers and streams should be named after the Niger river, if we may ask, what happens to the rivers Benue, Imo, Ogun, Nun, Calabar, Ibom, Bonny just to mention but a few.

On the day of this great celebration, the World shall witness the Throne of Victory of Good over Evil being set up and the Judge clothed in the Glory of resistance seated upon it while both the Angels, Archangels, Saints, All heavenly Assembly, Millions of Mankind and lesser creatures shall watch and listen in awesome wonder as the history of the greatest resistance in the annals of Mankind is being unfolded to the knowledge of the whole universe. From the world's greatest battlefields where the remains of slain people lay, the depths of the ocean which serves as graveyards for the remains of these high-willed Igbos whom are being celebrated, the homeland of the Sons and Daughters of Africa whom were sold or abducted and then turned into human farming machines in the land of strangers in the name of slave trade, shall there be shouts of joy for the history which will at the end of this ceremony be written forever and ever. Deeds long forgotten, wicked practices long and carefully hidden from the eyes of mankind shall all be revealed and the entire universe will note the very awful revelation, Aghast they will stand, terror-stricken they shall watch, mouths and jaws held wide-open in surprise, sighs of pity for man's injustice to man, regret of the evil of slave trade will take over the whole world after this memorable event.

To the Christian name given to this event known as "Igbo Landing" and "Walking in the Water", the Walking on the Sea or Water Igbo fame should be commended for taking such a bold step which is currently lacking in the fold of the Igbo race, the Oppressors called the act 'Walking in the Water" because they taught that the people were stupid by thinking that they could walk back home through the sea not knowing that it was a resolve by the people not serve as slaves to any man and in a strange land, if we may ask, where and through what means did the slave hunters get to Africa, was it not through the Sea? Did the Africans not have streams, rivers, seas etc and were they not making use of these God given attributes before the coming of the oppressors? or did they , the oppressors come with the sea or even expand an inch of it while they were coming, if we may try to ascertain the real stupid ones, is it not the "Vampires" of the so called slave traders who had no regards to other people's right that are the real stupid and heartless Volks? People who, living their wives and children came to Africa to trade their fellow human beings for items as worthless as Ball-Hats, Gins, Mirrors, Walking-sticks, Gun-powders etc.

We applaud the greatness of these our past heroes and heroines who though were unfortunate at having traveled that far to die unsung, have through their bravery made history that today in the 21^st century, presents the questions of whether a section of mankind had the right to make themselves superior and other race or races inferior, whether trading on human beings was right or wrong, whether the jettisoning of humans off the slave ships on their forced voyage to strange lands was right or wrong, this singular event of bravery and might will open a new chapter to whether the Africans deserve reparation or not, the questions of the injustices that led to the Igbos preferring to "walk in the water" than serve under inhuman conditions which they envisaged but never tested, these oppressions are still continuing un-abated through the allies of the oppressors in Nigeria, Sudan, Cameroons etc, as Biafrans are now asking out of Nigeria, the Christians are asking out of Sudan, the Southern Cameroonians (of the English speaking fold) are asking out of the Cameroons.

These injustices should be reflected upon in this march to celebrate a new dawn in the Black African History at the Recrudescence in our time of the Age long struggle of Africans to their full statues. This event is known as Walking in the Water or Igbo Landing, while we love to refer to it as Walking into Freedom or Triumphant Landing.

May they all be in Paradise on the resurrection day.

Thank you,

MASSOB, Rivers and Bayelsa States

NwaMazi. Obinna E. Okoro,

Administrative Officer,

MASSOB, Rivers State.