Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the history book labelling Ndigbo as invaders and troublemakers.
The book, Fundamentals of Civic Education for Basic 8 (JSS 2), is authored by Sola Akinyemi and approved by the Ministry of Education in Civic Education curriculum.
According to IPOB, it is very disappointing and unfortunate that the Ministry of Education would approve such ethnic hate-based textbook.
In a statement, yesterday, IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, accused the Minister of Education of being tribalistic, insisting that “the Yoruba author is masterminding hatred against Ndigbo by distorting history in the Civic Education subject.
The statement reads: “The global family and movement of IPOB, ably led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, have condemned, in totality, the false history labelling Ndigbo as invaders and troublemakers in a book authored by Sola Akinyemi and approved by the Ministry of Education in Civic Education curriculum entitled Fundamentals of Civic Education for Basic 8 (JSS 2).
“In the history of Nigeria, there is no record that Ndigbo have either invaded nor attempted to conquer any other tribe, now or in the past. But because of hatred and bigotry against the Igbo tribe, the Ministry of Education under the Fulani government and leadership of Yoruba cabal introduced a book in primary school, describing Ndigbo as troublemakers and invaders. This is not only wicked but also an attempt to brainwash non-Igbo children to hate Ndigbo.”
Demanding the removal of such “distorted history books” from Nigerian schools, IPOB said the Ministry of Education and the author should organise public fora for Nigerians and the world “on this false history of Igbo invasion of Ife kingdom.”
The group added: “Moreso, we demand that educators, the states Ministries of Education, headmasters/headmistresses, and proprietors of Igbo extraction lead a petition to demand the removal of this ethnic hate-based book from education curriculum, within 14 days of this statement.”