August 20, 2022
Dear Prof. Sir,
My attention has been to your purported Facebook update dated August 19, 2022 with caption.
"IPOB members say I am a ‘self-proclaimed professor’ but still addressed their letter to the University of Oxford. If you called them ‘self-acclaimed Freedom Fighters,’ they will get angry".
The above update was enough for me who do not know who you are, your status in the society from Adam to get involved because wherever IPOB is mentioned either for better or for worse it will definitely draw my concern for three reasons:
1. As Indigenous People/Person of Biafra
2. As free son of Igbo race who lives with the agony, the stale memory of the genocide perpetrated against our parents, kiths and kins in 1967-1970. The Biafra/Nigeria war was undeniably a genocidal war against the Biafran people.
3. As a media activist supporting and championing the Biafra cause as freedom fighters who has volunteered myselves to join hands with like-minded individuals of our generation under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to restore our ancestral identity back; the Biafra nation in order to be proud of my Igbo-ness again. Hence my brief research about who is Professor Onyeka Nwalue ?
An Igbo Professor of Oxford University by name Onyeka Nwalue who do not recognize himself identity as an Indigenous Person of Biafra but rather was busy making jests of those who have discovered their true identity and are proud of their identity as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
In the course of my research; wikipedia did a very basic justice to what guided my findings when it addressed you as thus:
Onyeka Nwalue is a Nigerian filmmaker, publisher, talk-show host, author, academic visitor and founder of the James Currey Society, at the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford. You are the Dean of the School of Cinematographic Studies at Université Queensland in Haiti.
And this alone enthused me to wow, Yes you heard me quite alright. I am addicted to admire an academician with versatile knowledge, but I didn't stop there as I moved a step further to take a look at the catalog of your Google image then I spotted a photograph of you and a world renowned novelist Professor Chinua Achebe of blessed memory then I became more enthused to wow for the second time. I was quick to think that in you there is a great Chinua Achebe as your role model.
But how wrong I was when I made enquiry about what is that rift between you and the Indeginous People of Biafra who are actually by practical terms carrying out on professor Chinua Achebe's project and legacies that he left behind.
Professor Chinua Achebe's quotes from his personal recounts of the events that led to the war, in his story book titled "There Was a Country". Professor Chinua Achebe gave his audience a first hand account of the Biafra War, on quote". There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.
This quote draw my conclusion and summary that I was wrong to have earlier thought you are what you should be with your vast knowledge to your name and person. The glaring fact remains that you haven acquired knowledge does not equal or measure to say you have obtained wisdom or earned yourself integrity in any way at all.
Reason is because wisdom comes from God Almighty and not man while knowledge is fruits of your hard labour and concentration to yourself desires in life. Integrity is the only legacy that will sustain your values in a given society either positively or negatively now or thereafter.
To make a case with my submission more clear with substantiated facts; there is a recent invitation you extended to the Supreme Court of Nigeria imposed Governor of Imo State Hope Uzodinma as a guest speaker at the forthcoming James Currey Literary Festival on September 3, 2022, at the University of Oxford, in honour of eminent British publisher, James Currey.
As reported by The Punch News Paper publication of August 16, 2022 titled :
Uzodimma To Honour British Publisher At Oxford University. Of which the part of the statement reads as follows. Founder of the James Currey Society and Director of the James Currey Literary Festival, Onyeka Nwelue, who is also from Imo, confirmed to our correspondent that the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Declan Emelumba will also be in attendance with the governor at the forthcoming festival in London.
It is interesting to know that an average Biafran will always celebrate a man of your calibre as our own who we believe God have positioned in a right place for the sake of the voiceless to use your voice to favour the interest of the oppressed. But it is unfortunate that the opposite has always or mostly becomes the case, rather than you, using your position in that prestige level, voice and present a case for the oppressed in Nigeria unfortunately you chose the later by rather being busy chasing rat when your home - Igbo land is on fire put up by the enemy of Ndi Igbo.
It is appalling that you have chosen to use your position in life to encourage the oppressor to continue with their brutishness. The sole administrator of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma tyrannical government have wasted the lives of thousands of Imo Youths under his administration. Imo State Indigenes mostly Youths have become target to prey on, victims of extrajudicial execution, forceful disappearance from public seen, illegal abduction and incarceration without court trial.
Every sane mind will believe that as an illustrious son of Imo State that you should have use your status to fight for justice for Imolites against this tyrannical government of Hope Uzodinma and call it a duty to use your profession as an author to petition every relevant institution demanding for justice for Imo State citizens even as a filmmaker you should use same to demonstrate your talent using your acting prowess to pass your message to the world calling for justice in protest against Hope Uzodinma's oppressive administration against Imolites which you are one among them.
But today I'm surprise that you are inviting him - the killer of young Imo state youths - Hope Uzodinma for an honour award, to celebrate and dance with you without being remorseful concerning the plights of our people back home. More foolishly of your action is that you choose to make jest of those angry over your decision to align self with power over powerless in Chinua Achebe's quotes.
Permit me to conclude this open letter by referencing you to one of Chinua Achebe's of blessed memory legacies and leave you to meditate on your own legacy that you are building that the society will remember you for now or thereafter.
Professor Chinua Achebe of blessed memory declined a national honor award as a commander of federal republic of Nigeria in 2004 and also decline same for the second time in 2011 in protest for what he called unaddressed question of lawlessness and other raging issues of marginalization. That is a man of integrity to me who rejected the devil's Greek gift.
Click here to read The Guardian publication of November 14, 2011 titled: Chinua Achebe refuses Nigeria National honour.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/14/chinua-achebe-refuses-nigerian-national-honour
Kindly meditate on it then and be the judge; examine your conscience on how your knowledge as a Professor is adding value to the Biafra society and the world at large or is it all about selfish interest?. If your actions and inactions to the plight of our people seems to be aligning with our oppressors instead of to be with the oppressed then there's no better way to put it than to say that you are a self acclaimed Professor who lack ethics or rather put it this way a selfish Professor in the making.
Written By Anyi Kings August 20,2022
Edited by Ndubuisi Eke
Twitter Handle: @NdubuisiEke07
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