The Igbo and their Niger Delta Neighbors

About the Book

This book is about Nigeria’s oil and gas-rich Niger Delta region: --how its peoples: the Igbo, Ijaw, Ibibio, Efik, Ogoni, Annang, etc evolved over the years; with the Igbo, as the main ingredient in the evolution process --how ethnic and regional rivalry, occasioned by petty jealousies and envy threatened their very existence in1966-1969, and led to Biafra --how greed and the gross abuse of state power by Northern Nigeria-controlled military dictatorship in 1966-1999 turned the once prosperous region into a living nightmare. The peoples are emasculated, communities/villages sacked, perceived freedom fighters persecuted and killed, including the writer/environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged in 1995. This book reminds Nigeria and the world of Biafra, and calls for fundamental changes in respect of the Niger Delta, to avoid the mistakes that led to Biafran secession in 1967. It is also a Unity call to the East.

About the Author

Nnamdi Jerome Ijeaku was born in Emekuku, Owerri, and raised in PortHarcourt, all in the former Eastern Nigeria. He has degrees in Microbiology, and an MBA in Management and Finance. He studied in the USA. Back in Nigeria in the late 1970s, he took up top management positions in industry and government, and finally retired from active service in 2005. A social scientist, Mr Ijeaku contributes regularly to national discourse in various Nigerian newspapers and magazines.