Information about the Igbo Israel Union

The aims and objectives of the Igbo Israel Union are the rebuilding of the Igbo people and Igboland; the reconciliation and reuniting of the Igbos with their fellow Igbos across Nigeria and the world; the realigning of the Igbos with other children of Israel; the education of Igbos about themselves, the Jewish people, and the world of Israel; and the contribution of the Igbos to the growth and development of the global community of Israel.

The Igbo Israel Union tries to achieve these aims and objectives with the following programs in the socio-cultural, political, economic, and educational arenas:

Socio-cultural

Just as the Hebrew language and Israelite culture are the glues that hold all Israel together, likewise the Igbo language (asusu Igbo) and culture (Omenana) are the only glues that are capable of uniting the Igbos, because they are the only ideological elements that all Igbos have in common. However, we can say from experience that Igbo unity has not materialized but has rather eroded, in spite of the best efforts of many Igbos, and that Igbo unity is not foreseeable in the horizon. Therefore, the Igbo Israel Union strives to ensure that the Igbo culture (which happens to be quintessentially Hebrew in nature) is revived and that Hebrew itself is popularized among Igbos.

As Israelite culture – transmitted intergenerationally - is the instrument which helps the people of Israel maintain a distinct identity, holiness, and self-respect in the world, so too is Omenana supposed to help the Igbos achieve distinction, holiness, and self-respect. However, as we have seen Omenana abused, desecrated, and abandoned - almost to the extent that the Igbos could be said to have lost their culture, and consequently their identity, in Nigeria - the Igbo Israel Union strives to recover and revive that culture, which in years past gave the Igbo person that sensibility which other Nigerians once admiringly called "the Igbo sense."

Political

As we have seen the Igbos reduced to a minority people in Nigeria (principally due to our own carelessness), confined to five states (while equivalent peoples have six or seven states), and have been marginalized to the extent that no Igbo today could seriously aspire to be Nigeria’s president, the Igbo Israel Union strives to redress the dwindling political fortunes of the Igbos in Nigeria and heal the fissures and divisions within the Igbo people that perennially allow the competing nations of Nigeria to always get the better of the Igbos in political contests.

The Igbo Israel Union does whatever is lawful and within its power to ensure that the Igbo people receive their due political and civil rights in Nigeria and equitable treatment from their host countries internationally, while living in exile (uzo ije). Additionally, the Igbo Israel Union promotes the civilized campaign to help the current State in Israel join the African Union, as a part of our work with other peoples who are rediscovering their Hebraic/Judean origins to form a global commonwealth (or "union") of Hebrew communities.

Economic

The Igbo Israel Union strives to revive and recreate the traditional virtues, qualities, practices, ethics, and norms which made the Igbos the most skillful entrepreneurs in Africa in times past, with such programs as Project Ibu Ihu Na Ike Ihu. The Igbo Israel Union works to ensure that Igboland becomes an economic hub, so that Igbos will no longer have to flee Igboland as economic refugees and cheap laborers, and strives to highlight the tourist potentials of Igboland. A prominent Jewish visitor to Nigeria observed that the Igbos' story and culture will be inviting to tourists, if proper presentation of them is made. The Igbo Israel Union also strives to get Jewish investors in the Igboland as well as connect sincere Igbo businesspersons with sincere Jewish businesspersons.

Educational

As we have observed that most Igbos do not see anything to be proud of in Igbo culture (and consequently themselves) anymore, principally because things fell apart when colonialists entered West Africa and condemned the Igbos and their culture as inferior, starting the process of replacing Igbo culture with European culture. Igbo acceptance and internalization of the Europeans’ diktat inevitably led to the Igbos losing their self-worth and pride; because if a people are told enough times that they are inferior, they begin to believe that maybe they really are inferior, and in time they will begin to feel – and even become - inferior.

To end this blight, the Igbo Israel Union continues to highlight Igbo culture with the hope that with time the Igbos will realize that their culture is not (and never was) inferior, that their conquerors described it as inferior in order to make them a subject people, and that it is our responsibility, as Igbos and as a part of Israel, to be a light to humanity. We have also observed that the Igbos are no longer producing the record-breakers and renowned achievers of the past. Accordingly, the Igbo Israel Union strives to revive the "Igbo sense" that enabled the Igbos to produce the very best, like Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Chimamanda Adiche, Chukwuraa Emeagwali, Chukwuma Soludo, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Okey Ndibe, among others.

Additionally, the Igbo Israel Union offers attractive programs to Igbos in tertiary and non-tertiary institutions, so that they need not turn to secret societies on campuses and public cults, or participate in oppressive acts, like prostitution, which are totally alien to Igbo culture. The Igbo Israel Union strives to secure Jewish educational assistance for schools in Igboland territory, as well as establish more universities and polytechnics in Igboland so that any Igbo who aspires to have a university or polytechnic education in Nigeria can have it in Igboland itself. We have observed that Igbos who fall to more ime aru (committal of abominable acts), like insulting their parents and ancestors, are those who grew up away from home, spending their young and impressionable years outside of Igboland where cults that seem to specialize in "waging war" on ancestors abound.

The Igbo Israel Union works to achieve these objectives with its own institutions and resources, as well as in cooperation and collaboration with knowledgeable and benevolent Igbo and Jewish persons, institutions, and organizations across the world.

Membership

Membership in the Igbo Israel Union is open to every Igbo person and every descendant of Israel. Chukwukaodinaka Ilona (executive director) and Dr. Caliben Ike Okonkwo (chairman) lead the seventeen administrative officials (including two youth leaders) on the Igbo Israel Union's Governing Council. Thirty-seven ex-officio members of the Governing Council are drawn from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and the Igbos in Delta, the Igbos in Rivers, the Igbos in Edo and the Igbos residing in the other states of Nigeria and Abuja.

The Igbo Israel Union has chapters in nearly all of the thirty-six states of Nigeria, and aims to open chapters in every "Local Government Area" in Nigeria, in every Igbo clan, and in every country where Igbos and/or Jews reside. Each chapter has an administrative council modeled after the Governing Council.

The Igbo Israel Union has monthly meetings and is funded by private contributions from its members and non-members from the Igbo and Jewish communities at large, as well as contributions from other Igbo organizations and institutions. However, the Igbo Israel Union also raises funds by engaging in profitable business activities like the sale of Igbo and Jewish books, ritual items, and memorabilia.