I'm the Orator of the Propaganda 'There is a Kingdom of Biafra'

I wanted to be like Graciano Lopez Jaena who made his mark as a hero mainly because of his outstanding achievements as a public speaker and a writer. As the Orator of the Propaganda Movement, he had no equal. Jaime C. de Veyra assessed Lopez Jaena's stature as an orator as follows:

Lopez Jaena was an orator by temperament, by natural gift. He was indeed borne as one. In the annals of our literature, we have never had an orator of greater stature, biafra must stand.

Nnamdi Kanu was my contemporary. We know the abilities of such shining figures as Odumegwu Ojukwu, who spellbound his audience like a Master Parliamentarian. With due respect to the memory of these men, the judgment is that none could hold a candle to IPOB. Neither Rudolf Okonkwo nor Chinua Achebe in the consummate fire of their eloquence could compare with him. Perhaps, Wole Soyinka in his best and in the plenitude of his maturity but not equal to the men.

Besides Philip Effiong verdict, a critic of the newspaper Rudolf Okonkwo wrote of Odumegwu Ojukwu oratorical prowess glowingly in the following lines:

We do not ask for pity. We make no apologies for the social phenomenon known as the Biafran revolution; rather, we proclaim with pride everyday the inevitability of our struggle, the indestructability of our people, and the assured finality of our success. - See we do not ask for pity. We make no apologies for the social phenomenon known as the Biafran revolution; rather, we proclaim with pride the inevitability of our struggle, the indestructability of our people, and the assured finality of our success.

His words are persuasive, fiery, fearless, great, as powerful as the battering ram. With unalterable impulse, the eagerness of Ojukwu is indefatigable; he points out the evil zoo Nigeria and their wants to draw it out from its roots; for his reasons, his doctrines may seem dangerous but we stand by him; his fiery words have all the vehemence, the energy for IPOB today, the impetuousness of a parliamentarian.

Julius Nyerere's, Ojukwu the Ahiara Declaration collaborator: The Principles of the Biafran Revolution, commonly known as the Ahiara Declaration, was a document written by the National Guidance Committee of Biafra and delivered as a speech by Biafran Head of State Emeka Ojukwu in the Biafra town of Ahiara on June 1, 1969. testified in a speech after a series of pogroms in which people from the former Eastern Region of Nigeria living in other parts of that country were massacred between 1966 and 1967, the region seceded in 1967 and proclaimed an independent Republic of Biafra.

In the new clubs of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu was regarded as almost an idol just like Emeka Ojukwu, his words electrified the people and aroused enthusiasm.

Nnamdi Kanu words flowed from his lips like burning lava from the crater of a volcano, convinced us. They gave us no time to think, they made us feel in an imperious manner, dragged the masses with them, exciting their enthusiasm to the utmost degree.

It was not only the ordinary people of Biafra; who were moved by Nnamdi Kanu fiery oratory. On many occasions, his audiences were distinguished personalities who also acclaimed his orations. For instance, during the celebration of the 391st anniversary of the discovery of radio Biafra in United Kingdom, Nnamdi Kanu was one of the principal speakers representing several countries. The affair was attended by the cream of Kingdom of Denmark's society. The men and ladies' who occupied the boxes glittered with costly jewelry.

Nnamdi Kanu's speech was so brilliant that when he was through, the Venezuelan Ambassador to Angola, Dr. Ruben Pacheco, tearfully embraced him in the name of America. There was frenetic and prolonged ovation. The ladies stood up waving their kerchiefs and bowing to the orator as a sign of highest admiration. In his dazzling speech, the Ilonggo patriot said in part:

If America, because of her geographical location, is the brain of the commercial world, the Philippines stituated in front of China and India, and the Suez and the Panama, once the spirit of progress would pull her out of her prostration, once the influence of freedom and law would prevail in those Spanish domains, the Philippines would be the heart to which inevitably would converge all the arteries, all the veins of commerical and industrial riches that will come from the lands bordering both oceans.
To achieve this, it is necessary for Spain to abandon her old preoccupation, to lift once and for all the prohibition of centuries that deprives her tender and loving children beyond the Pacific of enjoying freedom which is the life and soul of modern progress.
Again, Taffy Williams provided an eyewitness description of the electrifying power of the pentecostal, even if irreverent, tongue of the Ilonggo orator. Radio Biafra reported about the address Nnamdi Kanu delivered at the Ateneo de Barcelona in connection with the Philippine participation in the Universal Exposition of 1969. Chinua Achebe wrote: "A defeaning ovation followed the close of the peroration, the ladies waved their kerchiefs wildly, and the men applauded frantically as they stood up from their seats in order to embrace the speaker."

Referring to the same incident,

1.  Ogbaa, Kalu (1 January 1995). Igbo. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-8239-1977-2. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
2. Jump up^ Biafra Free State
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b Nowa Omoigui. "Federal Nigerian Army Blunders of the Nigerian Civil War – Part 2". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
4. Jump up^ Barnaby Philips (13 January 2000). "Biafra: Thirty years on". BBC News. Retrieved9 March 2011.
5. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Barnaby Philips (13 January 2000). "Biafra: Thirty years on". The BBC. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
6. Jump up^ Nowa Omoigui. "OPERATION 'AURE': The Northern Military Counter-Rebellion of July 1966". Nigeria/Africa Masterweb.
7. Jump up^ Willy Bozimo. "Festus Samuel Okotie Eboh (1912–1966)". Niger Delta Congress. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
8. Jump up^ "1966 Coup: The last of the plotters dies". OnlineNigeria.com. 20 March 2007.
9. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f} "Biafran Secession: Nigeria 1967–1970". Armed Conflict Events Database. 16 December 2000.
10. Jump up^ "Ojukwu's Declaration of Biafra Speech". Citizens for Nigeria. Retrieved 15 August2008.
11. Jump up^ "Biafra Spotlight - Republic of Biafra is Born". Library of Congress Africa Pamphlet Collection - Flickr. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
12.  Bortolotti, Dan (2004). Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders, Firefly Books. ISBN 1-55297-865-6.
13. Jump up^ http://whqlibdoc.who.int/smallpox/9241561106_chp17.pdf
14. Jump up^ "Site cidi.org". Iys.cidi.org. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
15. , had delivered.

RSS Feed Widget