…Yobe people and Cross River are ethically and culturally affiliated
…same thing with Edo and Borno people
…the private sector should reinvent Nig
It was revelations galore at the just concluded Annual Conference/Congress of Historical Society of Nigeria as the Kenneth Dike Memorial Lecturer, Professor Nicodemus Awasom declared that if the genetics of blacks world over are conducted most blacks will trace their genealogy to Nigeria.
TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports this is coming just barely one week after the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle declared that her genealogy is 43percent Nigerian.
“It was also revealed at the confab that Edo and Borno people are ethically and culturally affiliated.
“Same thing with Yobe People and Cross River who share common affinities but in different locations of Nigeria.
Professor Nicodemus Awasom a Ghanaian and head of University of Legon History Department in Ghana holds two doctorate degrees in History, also stunned council members of the Historical Society of Nigeria and participants at the three-day physical/webinar which ended this weekend that his father is originally from Ibo in South Eastern Nigeria.
Awasom who was the Kenneth Dike Memorial Lecturer on the theme: Nigeria: ‘Historicising Our Connections as a Nation Since the Precolonial Period ‘ made startling revelation about Nigerians scattered all over Africa.
He specifically mentioned Nigerians in Cameroon who don’t even know that at a time southern Cameroon was part of Nigeria “and if you ask them where they’re from they will say Nigeria.
Awasom said” surprisingly there are other tribes in Africa who still hoist the flag of Nigeria but they have never in their life time stepped into Nigeria because they’re geographically located in other African countries.
“Even me standing before you now my father is originally from Ibo in the South East region of Nigeria.
“This was caused by the artificial boundaries created by colonial masters who had imperial motives from the onset that they entered Africa.
“If you conduct genetics tests across the globe on blacks, Nigerians will be ashamed that almost all blacks will trace their genealogy to Nigeria.
“Nigerians are multi-talented, around the globe there’s profession that you will not find Nigerians excelling in their different fields of endeavor.
“Look at how Nigeria took the music world by storm and they’re waxing stronger everyday in the industry.
He explained that ” the dictum which says if Nigeria catches cold Africa sneezes is apt because if Nigeria gets it right, the continent Africa will get it right but the imperialists won’t support this because our leaders have one commitment or the other with them.
“But the private sector can change this narrative by reinventing Nigeria and Africa because those of us in the private sector have a different mindset, we cannot be easily swayed.
“The pre colonial period of Nigerian history was therefore marked by African connectivity from Nigeria through the Bantu migration and trade between African people and a spate of a unifying Hausa language.
“This connectivity reflected the construction of a Nigerian co-prosperity sphere, a shared prosperity, it wasn’t a prosperity for the Hausas, it was a shared prosperity of all the Africans peoples involved, this is what we are talking about co-prosperity sphere.
“And this was done in a peaceful manner until it was dislocated by the colonial encounter, this dislocation of the African state building endeavours falls in line with Water Rhodny thesis of how Europe underdeveloped Africa or of how Europe scrapped the political and economic development, economic trade, indigenous trades taking place in Africa.
“Then the invention of Nigeria today will involve soft power diplomacy as a new nation within the borderless continental sphere for the benefit of all. Greater Nigeria co-prosperity sphere of influence that is, a ban yard that Nigeria must dominate, domesticate and co-exist within, without reaching colonial boundaries of African nation state.
“This is a soft diplomacy, making yourself accepted, selling yourself, imposing yourself, without a gun shut; a soft diplomacy which Nigeria is using and who is using this soft diplomacy? It is the private sector, it is not the government, leave the government out, the government will come when it is necessary.
“In fairness to the African government, we should understand that their hands are tied, their first constituency is not you and I, they are answerable to somebody out there, in Washington, in Paris, in Britain and so on and those imperialists are very powerful, they can do and undo.
“Sometimes we have to understand the mischief of our leaders because of their connection with imperialism.
“But for the commoners, for the private sector, they cannot control us, they cannot control our thinking, they cannot control our formulations because we don’t execute policies, we only propound policies.
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