“I AM PRAYING NOT ONLY THAT NIGERIA SHOULD BE A COUNTRY BUT THAT AFRICA SHOULD BE A COUNTRY” Says Dr. Kenneth Okonkwo Esq…

My most cherished motto is “the world is my country, all mankind are my brethren and to do good is my religion”. I am Igbo and I thank God for making me Igbo. This is why I spend time going round the world, teaching Igbos why they should be proud to be Igbo and why they should believe in the unity of the world not only Nigeria.

Dr Kenneth Okonkwo with Igbo families in the United States

In Genesis 1:28, “God blessed them (Igbos) and God said to them (Igbos), Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (The world) and subdue it: and have dominion”. From day one of my knowledge of God, I held unto this blessing and believed God to be one of the people He will use to dominate His world with His goodness. God assured me that not only has He endowed me with such blessing but that He has endowed every Igbo man with the blessing and favour to dominate his world through ingenuity, creativity and wisdom with or without governmental support.

It was not surprising that at 24 years of age, God blessed us with the movie Living in Bondage, where I played the lead role, Andy Okeke, which was shot in Igbo language. This movie led to the birth of Nollywood, which changed the entertainment world not only in Igbo land but in Nigeria, Africa and the world.

No other singular event has showcased Igbo language and Igbo people to the world like that movie. Ironically, it was shot in Lagos, outside Igbo land because that was where we could gather the best Igbo professionals to make the film. This shows that Igbos belong to the world and are created to impact their world positively. I no longer see Igbos as Igbos in US or London or Nigeria or South Africa etc, I see Igbos as Igbos of US, London, Nigeria, South Africa etc. Only the world is big enough to be a country for Ndigbo.

Igbos have done magnificently well in other fields of human endeavour around the world and are dominating their world with God’s goodness wherever they are. This is why I believe that whoever is defining Igbo land from the myopic view of the tiny land and enclave of the South East and seeking for the independence of the tiny landmass of the south east is doing a disservice to the entire Igbo nation world wide especially now that the world is a global village. God has given us the ingenuity, creativity and wisdom it takes to dominate the earth and let us look inwards in us to discover it and use it to launch out to the world and take our rightful position among other gifted Peoples of the world rather than dissipating our energy trying to shrink within the tiny geographical enclave of the south east where we will likely implode if all of us come back home to dwell. Whoever knows me knows that I fight for the interest of the Igbo nation world wide. I will support any initiative channeled towards expanding the interest and reach of the Igbo man and will resist any attempt by anybody to reduce or shrink the reach and interest of Ndigbo whether geographically, psychologically, politically, economically, socially or otherwise I am praying not only that Nigeria should be a country but that Africa should be a country and by the grace of God, that the whole world should be a country, all for the good of Ndigbo. I pray that every Igbo person should discover his/her destiny and use such destiny to positively impact, change and dominate his/her world. If you are Igbo and you believe it say a loud amen. Welcome to the new generation of world overcomers from Igbo land by the grace of God and to the glory of God.