By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
An Igbo Socio-Culltural organisation, the Ndigbo Royal Heritage Worldwide (NIRIH), has vowed that the reclaiming of the Igbo cultural heritage is a task that must be done.
The group stressed therefore that all hands must be on desk to leave a bequeathing legacy for the succeeding generation
Speaking at a press conference, titled, “Abuja unveiling of unity day celebration,” (the unification of Igbo nation), in Abuja yesterday, the President General of NIROH, Dr. Paul Okoye, lamented that the the Igbo nation is at the verge of passing as a people without history or cultural identity.
Dr Okoye noted with regrets what he called the total erosion of culture and tradition of Ndigbo by extremists, warning that something must be urgently done about it.
The group also lamented that the Igbos are losing grip of their children while money tends to be their God.
Okoye said: “We as a people must accept that our culture is being bastardized in the wholesome acceptance of the western culture and Europeanization of our populace in the process of neocolonialism.
“The total erosion of our culture and tradition by extremists has to be checkmated without further delay.
“We are losing grip of our children and money tends to be our God. No respect for elders.
“We are at the verge of passing as a people without history or cultural identity. Our language is suffering near extinction and nobody seems to be proud to associate himself with Igbo origin.
“As the Holy Scripture says, let’s give to Caesar what belongs to him and to God what is His.
“The reclaiming of our cultural heritage is a task that must be done. All hands therefore must be on desk to leave a bequeathing legacy for the succeeding generation.”
He further said that the celebration is designed to amend the broken bridge that linked the Igbo to the North, which was broken by the coup of 1966.
According to him, “This event therefore, is designed also to rebuild that bridge that was broken in 1966 and initiate the process of healing the land, especially in the realization that no ethnical component of Nigeria can do it alone.”
