[pukpabi]

Oga Reuben,

You wrote about those who diaparage you on the "net", and how you wish us Merry Xmas and a Happy new year. Good for you, and for us, too. But what does that change?

I am quite convinced that you mean well on the felicitations, but I, and the rest of the long suffering Igbo in Nigeria look at you as an "enemy." Why, you may ask? The Bible says, "by their fruits, we shall know them." By your writings, we know you do not mean well for the Igbo in Nigeria. You will rather have another "Shagari", like Yar'adua or an "uneducated" and rabid shariarist like Buhari to lead you, than have a "Clinton" of Igbo extraction to be at the helm of affairs in Nigeria. According to you, the fear of Biafra is the beginning of wisdom in Nigeria.

By your writings, we can tell you wish for the Igbo to be the "hewers of wood, and the fetchers of water" in Nigeria. You and your likes tried it in 1970 (remember your twenty pounds for each of us). You failed. Guess which zone has the lowest poverty level in Nigeria?

Is there hope for Nigeria? I almost lost hope, until Dr. Pat Utomi wrote "me", thereby rekindling in me the fire of hope; after all, that is what this seasons calls for. As a Catholic Christian, I have faith that God knows the heart of each and everyone of us. I also derive hope in one of the writings of Kingsley Osadolor, a columnist (former?) of the Guardian Newspapers in which he said inter alia, and I qoute ".. one day, Nigeria will have to look to the East for salvation."

Happy new year.

Paschal Ukpabi, J.D.
Michigan, USA