Igbo Jews

Some of you may remember that the 3 biggest ethnic groups in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. You also might remember that almost all citizens are either Christian or Muslim. However, I just learned that the Igbo people, among others, may actually be Jewish:

The Igbo Jews, are members of the Igbo people of Nigeria who practice the Jewish religion and are said to be descended from North African or Egyptian Hebraic and later Israelite migrations into West Africa. Oral legends amongst the Igbo state that this migration started around 1,500 years ago.

The Igbo are not the only Nigerian group claiming Jewish heritage; there are other communities practicing Judaism in Nigeria that are not of the Igbo people, such as those among the Annang, Efik and Ibibio of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State. The Sefwi people of Ghana, too, believe they are descendants of Jews who made their way to West Africa. In addition, Messianic Jewish communities have sprung up in Nigeria.

Some sources assert that a Jewish presence existed in Nigeria as early as 638 BCE. It is thought that Jews fled to Africa after the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and established communities all across the African continent. The population came south into sub-Saharan Africa and west across North Africa, possibly following the path of the Arab conquests. Descendants could also have arisen from migrants from Djerba, Tunisia who had fled to North Africa after the destruction of the biblical Temples.

The Igbo Jews traditionally claim descent from three particular Israelite tribes: Gad, Zebulun, and Manasseh. Some hold that families amongst the community are descendants of Kohanim and Levites, the Jewish priests and their assistants who functioned in the Jerusalem Temple. The Nigerian Jewish community is said to be composed almost entirely of descendants of Kohanim.

Outreach to Nigerian Jews by the wider Jewish world community gained official status in 1995–1997, when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sent a team to Nigeria in search of the “Lost Tribes of Israel.” Western rabbis and educators such as Rabbi Gorin have visited the community at times and Jewish communities in the West support those in Nigeria by sending books, computers, and religious articles. However, the State of Israel has, to date, not recognized the Igbo as one of the Lost Tribes.

Religious practices of the Igbo Jews include circumcision eight days after the birth of a male child, observance of kosher dietary laws, separation of men and women during menstruation, wearing of the tallit and kippah, and the celebration of holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. In recent times, the communities have also adopted holidays such as Hanukkah and Purim, which were instituted only after many of the tribes of Israel had already dispersed.

Kwara State

So, I have been a bit busy planning and budgeting for next year. Now, back to the State Scale Up Program this year. I am going travel back to Kogi and then an to Kwara State during the first two weeks of November. I really want to help the doctors to get more patients in their sites by doing more community outreach for more identification. So this mean community testing days. Anyways, here is a bit about Kwara State:

Kwara State was created on 27 May 1967 when the Federal Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon broke the four regions that then constituted the Federation of Nigeria into 12 states. At its creation, the state was made up of the former Ilorin and Kabba provinces of the then Northern Region and was initially named the West Central State but later changed to "Kwara", a local name for the River Niger. The capital of the state is Ilorin, which lies 306km northeast of Lagos and 500km southwest of Abuja.

Kwara State has since 1976 reduced considerably in size as a result of further state creation exercises in Nigeria. On February 13, 1976, the Idah/Dekina part of the state was carved out and merged with a part of the then Benue/Plateau State to form Benue State.
On August 27, 1991, five local government areas, namely Oyi, Yagba, Okene, Okehi and Kogi were also excised to form part of the new Kogi State, while a sixth, Borgu Local Government Area, was merged with Niger State.

Important tourist attractions in Kwara State include Esie Museum, Owu Falls, Imoleboja Rock Shelter, Ogunjokoro, Kanji Lake National Parks Agbonna Hill Share among other attractions.
Ilorin Airport is a major center both for domestic and international flights and as now been built up into a hub for transportation of cargoes.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and the principal cash crops are cotton, cocoa, coffee, kolanuts, tobacco leaves, beniseed and palm produce. The state has two universities, two polytechnics, three colleges of education.

OTHER NEWS

Last week a friend of mine, whose wife and kid live in Botswana, had his family visiting. I went with them to a huge back in the middle of Abuja, Millenium Park. I got to speak some Setswana, so that was fun. His kid is pretty cool, here is a pic. You can see me not paying attention in the background:

A different friend had a birthday party. We celebrated at a wine bar near my house.

Lagos

Ok, so this will also be a less educational entry like the last and just a bunch of pictures showing what I have been doing. So I was able to get some rest this past week. The end of Ramadan allowed the office to be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Then, luckily, Wednesday was Independence Day (October 1, 1960).

The weekend did not start as I hoped. I was required to be in a meeting most of the day on Saturday. On Sunday, I finally slept most of the day. Finally, on Monday morning, I decided I couldn't waste this valuable time off and flew to Lagos to meet some friends down there. Here is me very happy to be away from Abuja:

On Monday night I was just given a tour around Victoria Island and hung out at a club owned by some famous soccer player I never heard of :)

On Tuesday I spent the whole day at the beach. It was so packed for the holiday:

Of course I partook in some local cuisine. This becomes much easier with the help of beer. This food was actually pretty yummy, even if does not look or sound good. Here we see a giant snail and some bush meat (Ok, this is called grasscutter, described to me as a giant rat).

I had a blast at the beach. There was horse riding and lots of food and drink. The water was rough with huge waves and that was fun to play in. The weather was really hot and I did get a little bit burnt. Here is just a random picture of some traditional healer with a bell on the beach:

On Monday I went to this kickass place for breakfast called Chocolate Royal. I had chocolate capacinnos and other chocolate cakes and candy. After that we went to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, a small reserve still inside Lagos. It was pretty hilarious. You walk through the forest on a walkway and there are tons of Mona Monkeys in the trees. Right when we entered we saw a snake so of course I was already swearing. Then there were 3 monkeys who kept following us and weren't scared of my yelling at all! I had to run away. Remember, these are tiny monkeys that weight about 10 pounds. There are many funny videos with would take too long to post on this site, but here is a pic with some monkeys in it. Can you see?

So it was a great time and just what I needed. I think the fun will pretty much be over now until Christmas time when I hope travel some more over a longer period of time. So get ready for more work intensive postings to come.

Other thoughts:

Why hasn't Sarah Palin dropped out yet?

How will Chicago handle it when neither team makes it to the World Series?

How happy am I to miss the upcoming winter in the US yet again?

Can I ever come back to the U.S. if McCain is President?

Anyways, hope you enjoyed