ALERT
from theCenter for WORLD INDIGENOUS STUDIES
Emerging Genocide in Nigeria - Biafra
What is now rapidly unfolding in Southeastern Nigeria is the intentional and widespread murder of Igbo people, both men and women, that mimics the early stages of ethnic cleansings in Rwanda, Burundi, Congo and the Darfur in Sudan. Government sanctioned killings of Igbo peoples are developing into a form of genocide.
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This is not a new issue for the Igbo people. Over two million died in the 1960's while the world turned their heads.
Dream of free Biafra revives in southeast Nigeria"
by Estelle Shirbon, Reuters July 2006,Washington Post
"...the idea of an independent Ibo homeland has regained strength in recent years...A separatist group, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), formed in 1999 and has drawn increasing support, especially among young people..."We have many graduates in Biafra but many of them are in the market pushing wheelbarrows, because they don't have anything else,"..."We should have our own country so everyone can have the opportunity to show what they can do," ...
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP NOW?
Go here. Inform yourself. Urgent intervention must be initiated now to prevent massive, government sanctioned killings. Please read this news update and send your comments to the US State department and the Nigerian embassy in Washington D.C. at the links provided.
RELATED PODCAST AND STORIES:
PODCAST with Oguchi Nkwocha, M. D.
STORY #1: NIGERIA: Did you know people are dying?
STORY #2: NIGERIA: GREED, HUMAN ABUSE, STEALING and loving your neighbor?
STORY #3: NIGERIAN LEADERS STOLE 100 BILLION SINCE 1999
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VIKTOR FRANKL's WISDOM:
Meaning, Hope and Change Can Help Others
Horrific circumstances always lead me back to Viktor Frankl and others that have worked to help us understand the human potential we all have to change ourselves in the face of tragedy, so we can in turn respond to our neighbors crys for help and create a better world than we know today. Our friends need us and we can help no matter where we are. We have to find ways within our span of influence to help.
What can we learn from those who have found meaning, hope, courage and love to help others under the worst times of suffering themselves? From Frankl's book, MAN's SEARCH FOR ULTIMATE MEANING, written after his classic Man's Search for Meaning, he writes:
"Facing a fate we cannot change, we are called upon to make the best of it by rising above ourselves and growing beyond ourselves, in a word, by changing ourselves---...inasmuch as we may turn suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment; derive from guilt the opportunity to change for the better; and see in life's transitoriness and incentive to take responsible action. Let me quote from the book of a German bishop (Moser, 1978) the following incident:
A few years after World War II a doctor examined a Jewish woman who wore a bracelet made of baby teeth mounted in gold. "A beautiful bracelet," the doctor remarked. "Yes," the woman answered, "this tooth here belonged to Miriam, this one to Esther, and this one to Samual..." She mentioned the names of her daughters and sons accoding to age. "Nine children," she added,"and all them were taken to the gas chambers." Shocked, the doctor asked: "How can you live with such a bracelet?" Quietly, the Jewish woman replied: "I am now in charge of an orphanage in Israel."
NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, YOU CAN HELP
This time in history with barbaric realities in places like southeastern NIGERIA and in many corners of the world on the rise, all of us must look within our own lives and hearts to examine what we might change that may in some way ---- perhaps small ways ---- perhaps in direct contributions or with our vote and voice ---- perhaps in changing our indifference that may be perpetuating this kind of human abuse to our good neighbors.
Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
LEARN MORE ABOUT VIKTOR FRANKL's WISDOM:
Viktor Frankl COLLECTION at the Global Dialogue Center
The MEANING DIFFERENCE with Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.