Persuasive Speech

My fellow companions of the Igbo people and members of the Royal Colonial Institute, I am hereby present to defend the cause of my people alongside Igbo beliefs and cultures and inform you of the distinct and unique beauty that lies within it.


When the British first arrived in the mid-1600's, our people were shockingly interfered with and "used" as mere slaves for the white men, yet we did not revolt or come against the action of such misjudgment. It was soon after the slave-trade abolishment that signs of colonial rule began to develop after the inclusion of Christian missionaries in small villages of the lower and upper Niger, whereby the people were not only stripped of the little culture and identity that remained, but separated and divided them amongst their own people. Destruction was created and caused and complete villages had been annihilated, why? The people who colonized us never really understood the systems of our functioning society, nor did they attempt to, and were still confident of stepping into our world, with no real concern for our people.


We were provided with Christian Missionaries, to begin with, to display the false symbol of peace and divulge the Igbo people to approach and join the white men. Yet, we were, once more, "used" as an economic benefit and land of commerce and trade of palm oil and other commodities to the English through local slaves. Why is this so? The Igbo's tranquilly welcomed the white men, we provided you with satisfaction instead of approaching you with conflict and revolting your forces out of our land. This was our land, we were the rightful owners being exploited by outsiders like a cat in a dog’s shed, yet prolonged with the idea until we discovered that harmony was never to come.


Thus, I urge you to look towards those before attempting to reset and erase their form of belief. We understand what is known as the “White man’s burden” or desire to correct civilization, yet will never gain from it if we are unlawfully transgressed to follow paths we do not wish to attain. As a result, I plead that we should hold a relationship of strong bond rather than a race to hierarchy, and maintain as well as share advantages one holds upon another. Colonialism is most inadequate in settling such terms and will long aim to a point of conflict and struggle rather than the road of light.