Reno Omokiri’s Response to Iwuanyawu…..

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Dear Breaking Biafra News,

Thank you for your feedback. Don’t you think it is fallacious for you to say this, given the abundance of documentary evidence that disproves your claims? And would you not think this is a bit too much, especially as many of your followers tend to be overly sensitive and accuse others of hating them?

I am Itsekiri. We know our history. In writing. Not oral history. Itsekiris are one of the few peoples in the geographical location now called Nigeria who can trace, in writing, our ancestry for the last 500 years.

For example, the oldest letter written by a person from the geographical location now known as Nigeria was written by my ancestor, Ogiame Oyenakpagha, to Pope Clement X in 1652, requesting for additional Catholic Christian priests for the Iwere Kingdom. That letter is preserved to date in The Vatican.

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What were your ancestors doing in 1652?

Another of my ancestors, Ogiame Atuwatse I, the 7th Olu of Iwere, was the first West African, and possibly the first sub-Saharan African, to graduate from a university. He graduated in 1611. I have a photograph of the school he attended. He was the father of Ogiame Oyenakpagha.

What were your ancestors doing in 1652?

Though I am not too proud of it, my ancestors sold certain people, and we have written receipts, one of which is in a museum in the Caribbeans. How can you say people who have receipts from over a century ago documenting their sale of **** people do not know their history?

As for the Yorubas, it is odd that you should say such a thing. Please Google this query:

‘When did Christianity get to Igbo land.’

Christianity got to our beloved Igbo brothers and sisters in the year 1857. Please research it yourself. Before 1857, there was no knowledge of Christianity in Igboland.

Now, who brought Christianity to Igboland? It was not the British directly. Christianity was introduced to Igboland by Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther in the year 1857, and he wrote about it in his books.

He first attempted in 1854-55 and could only get one convert. He wrote about that in his book, ‘Journal of an Expedition Up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers, ‘ published in 1855.

He was more successful later in 1857 and wrote about his experiences converting the Igbos to Christianity in his book, ‘The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger: Journals and Notices of the Native Missionaries Accompanying the Niger Expedition of 1857-1859′.

Now, let me quote Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther

“When we arrived Onitsha, we found the people in a state of idleness, with its attendant evils. They were scantily and filthily clothed’.

I don’t want to quote more because if I do, some people may insult me. But I have a copy of this book and can mail it to you. You can also order it on Amazon.

But note that Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther founded ‘Mission House’ from where he and his converts preached the Gospel to the Igbos.

Additionally, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther was the first man in history to write a book in Igbo and about the Igbo language. He learnt how to speak Igbo and codified the language in his book, ‘Vocabulary of the Ibo Language’, published in 1882.

So, when you insult me and the Yorubas as people who have no history, I laugh. If you say the people who brought Christianity to Igbo land have no history, then what are you saying about yourself?

In the British Museum are the one thousand-year-old Ife Bronzes showing Yoruba people fully clothed and riding horses.

What were your ancestors doing in one thousand years ago?

Thanks again, and may God bless you.

Reno Omokri
Table shaker