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Igboland Is Not A 3rd World Country. It Is A Destabilized Nation.

Udochi Okeke
5 min readJun 12, 2024
Image shows effects of oil pollution in Niger Delta

There is an old song kids used to sing in here America. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

I have said those words myself as a child, in fact. However, just like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fair and The Boogie Monster today I find that this too is a childish fairy tale.

Sticks and stones do indeed break your bones, but word…words can destroy you for eternity.

Recently I have been turning over the words “destabilized nations” in my mind over and over. I’ve heard those words before uttered about some country or other in the middle east being threatened by it’s neighbors. “Hezbola…hamass…this one is stabilizing the other…” But I never quite personalized that phrase until lately in reference to Africa.

The Evolution Of My Wokeness

Once upon a time, I referred to my ancestral homeland as “Nigeria,” because I didn’t know any better. I had no idea what Nigeria was, its history or the implications of its existence on my ancestors.

Within the past few years, I have developed a more specific identity. Recognizing myself as Igbo has allowed me to dig deeper into the language and culture and really be able to proudly identify and closely relate to where my parents…

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Udochi Okeke
Udochi Okeke

Written by Udochi Okeke

I am working to translate educational resources to the indigenous language of Igbo. If you can financially support me I sell jewelry at https://olaobi.com

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