Igbo Net

It is indeed my pleasure to announce to you the creation of Igbo--net mailing list. If you are interested in issues on and about the Igbo people of west Africa, the Igbo--net mailing list will satisfy your needs. If you are interested in the material and technological transformation of Igboland as well as other places in eastern Nigeria, the Igbo--net mailing list will help to link you up with like-minded people.

The Igbo--net mailing list has now been in operation for about a week. Within this time, we have conducted test-runs with selected individuals in various locations in the U.S, Canada, Australia, England, etc., etc . Based on the results of the tests, we can confidently say that potential members in Europe, north and south America, Australia, and the far east, should not encounter any problem subscribing to Igbo--net.

For more details about Igbo--net mailing list, please read on...

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     An Invitation To Join A New Mailing List Called "Igbo--net" 
      __________________________________________________________        
           

      Igbo--net address
       (for posting messages):    igbo--net@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu

      Igbo--net list Processor 
       (for administrative requests): listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu

      List Administrator:             Uzo Okoroanyanwu
                                      (cmar536@mintaka.chpc.utexas.edu)

INTRODUCTION
------------
The creation of Igbo--net was borne out of the realization that to date, there exists no computer discussion group or mailing list devoted exclusively to the discussion of issues on and about the Igbo people of West Africa as far as their culture, history, religion, art, literature, philosophy, science, etc.--in fact their contributions to civilization - are concerned. Numbering nearly 20 million, and located in southeastern section of Nigeria, the Igbos have a long history, with rich culture rife with extensive oral literature and folklore, and an interesting series of belief systems and philosophies. Traditionally, the Igbos have emphasized individual enterprise (without loosing the sense of community), which has sometimes been used as an explanation for their "success" and mobility. In his article, "I[g]bo Receptivity to Change" {{William R.Bascom and Melville J. Herskovits Eds., Continuity and Change in African Cultures. The University of Chicago Press, 1959}}, the well-known American anthropologist, Simon Ottenberg states:

"I[g]bo culture can thus be characterized by its emphasis on individual achievement and initiative, alternative prestige goals and paths of action, a tendency toward equalitarian leadership, considerable incorporation of other peoples and cultures, a great deal of settlement and resettlement of individuals and small groups, and considerable cultural variation". "Yet paradoxically, of all Nigerian peoples, the I[g]bo have changed the least while changing the most. While many of the formal elements of the social, religious, economic, and political structure, such as lineages, family groups, age grades, and secret societies, have been modified through culture contact, many of the basic patterns of social behaviour, emphasis on alternative choices, and goals, achievement and competition, and the lack of strong autocratic authority, have survived and are a part of the newly developing culture. But basic patterns of social behaviour, of interpersonal relationships, have changed little (the most striking exception is probably the decline in the respect for seniority of age), though symbols of success replace old ones and new goals appear."

Along the same line, the eminent Igbo historian, professor A.E. Afigbo, states in his book, "Ropes of Sand: Studies in Igbo history and culture, Ibadan, 1981"., that "though colonial rule [by the British] transformed Igbo society in many respects, it did not destroy the Igbo identity or cultural soul. The Igbo have remained 'Igbo' in their attitude to and style of life; that is, while changing they were able to preserve their 'ethnic essence' because they were astute enough to use in their own way, the new institutions and values introduced by colonialism"

Today, over 5 million Igbos are living outside of their ancestral homeland. Nearly 1 million of them are living, studying, and working in places as far away and as varied as North America, Europe, Australia,India,Japan, etc. With this large proportion of the Igbos in diaspora, along with a teaming population of international scholars whose research interests in one way or the other intersect aspects of the anthropology, sociology, history, culture, ethnology, religion, philosophy, politics, literature, science, etc. of the Igbos, the need for a mailing list to serve as a discussion forum for issues on and about the Igbos can never be over-stated. It was on the above stated premise that I formed the "Igbo--net" to serve as a discussion forum to link all these people together through the miracle of the internet. The goals, policies, special features, and the organizational structure of the Igbo--net mailing list are outlined below.

MISSION OF IGBO-NET
-------------------
Igbo-net is a mailing list for Igbos and friends of Igbos, and scholars whose research interests intersect with aspects of Igbo life past and present. This electronic mailing list is a free forum for the discussion, debate, and the sharing and formulation of ideas that in one way or the other concern the Igbos.

Postings can cover any topic of interest. Such topics include anthropology, linguistics, economics, culture, education, history, geography, religion, architecture, agriculture, medicine, literature -- written and oral, science and technology, etc. Postings can also include news, opinions, observations, humor, announcements,or requests.

It is our hope that the discussions that will emanate from this electronic forum will help to generate ideas that will be employed to unify the whole of Igboland -- from the northern frontiers of Nsukka to the southern frontiers of Ikwerre/Etche, from the western frontiers of Asaba/A[g]boh areas to the eastern frontiers of Arochukwu, etc., etc. We hope to use the facilities of this forum to link up all Igbo community organizations in Africa, Europe, North and South America, Asia, Oceania, etc. that have access to Internet. Any resolutions we adopt as a group will be forwarded to the "Mkpoko Ndigbo" (All Igbo Assembly), and News Organizations in Igboland, various state governments in Igboland, etc.

It is our objective to aid in the pooling of our human resources in technology transfer from wherever we are currently located to Igboland. We hope to be involved in the campaign for the expanded teaching of Igbo studies in more universities beyond our shores. We see this mailing list as an extension of the guiding principles of Igbo Improvement Unions of yore that were very instrumental in many developmental projects throughout most of Igboland before the advent of the Nigerian civil war.

CONDUCT
-------
Access to the network is a priviledge, and not a right; this access could be temporarily revoked at any time for abusive conduct. Such conduct could entail the placing of unlawful information on a system, the use of abusive or derogatory language in either public or private messages; the sending of "chain letters", or "broadcast" messages to lists or individuals, and any other type of use which could cause congestion of the networks or otherwise interfere with the work of others.

DUES/FEES/CHARGES ON IGBO-NET
-----------------------------
There are no dues associated with Igbo--net. The only costs to be incurred would be by those members that subscribe to commercial internet or gateway providers. Igbo-net itself, has no dues, no fees, no charges, no budget, pays no salaries, and funds no projects. In essence, the Igbo-net will have no financial operations and obligations.

SUBSCRIPTION/MEMBERSHIP/ADMINISTRATION OF IGBO--NET
---------------------------------------------------
To become a member of Igbo--net mailing list, send mail to:

listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu

This is where subscription and unsubscription requests should be sent to. The body of the mail should contain just one line:

subscribe igbo--net

Do not write anything on the SUBJECT line of the header of your mail. For instance, to subscribe myself to igbo--net, I will have to type ONLY the following in the body of my mail:

subscribe igbo--net Uzo Okoroanyanwu

The list processor figures out your return address from the mail system header, so there is no need for you to provide your address again.

All administrative requests including removal from the list, either permanently or temporarily will have to be submitted to the list-processor. To acknowledge the success of your subscription request, the list-processor will send you an acknowldegement notice that contains a set of instructions of what you should do next, one of which is resetting your assigned password. Suppose your assigned password is ABCDEFGHI and you wish to change it to NMOPQRSTU. Again, you send mail to

listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu

The body of the mail should contain just one line:

set igbo--net password ABCDEFGHI NMOPQRSTU

At this point, you are pretty much done with the list-processor . Subsequently, to post messages to the list members, send mail to:

igbo--net@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu

At the risk of redundancy, note the following:

1) You interact with for getting into the mailing list.

2) Use the mailing list by sending mail to

3) Note the double dashes -- in the igbo--net.

Third party request will not be honored. A member can only ask for his/her name to be added or removed from the list.

The list administrator has the sole right to remove anyone from the list. The removal of such an individual shall be effected only when the person either repeatedly contravenes the etiquette of the net, or continuously sends mails that are irrelevant to matters concerning the Igbos. The ultimate penalty of removal shall only be carried out after at least three private warnings to the offending party. The notice of such a removal would be publicly announced on the net.

LANGUAGE OF COMMUNICATION ON IGBO--NET
------------------------------------
Mails can be posted to Igbo--net in either Igbo language or English language, using standard ASCII format.

IGBO-NET PHILOSOPHY
------------------
Igbonet has no political, religious, or economic affiliation. It will draw its strength from the diversity of opinions expressed by its members, thus reflecting the full make-up of the Igbos, friends of the Igbos, and international scholars whose research interests intersect issues concerning the Igbos.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF IGBO-NET
----------------------------
Igbo--net has the following distinctive features:

1) "Unmoderated" Igbo--net is an unmoderated mailing list. "Unmoderated" means that all messages posted to the list are automatically forwarded to the entire members of igbo--net.

2) "Open Subscription" Igbo--net has an open subscription. This implies that list subscriptions are granted automatically by the list- processor.

3) "Open Posting" Posting of messages to igbo--net is open to anybody in the entire universe of internet electronic mail.

4) "Forward Rejects" Messages sent to igbo--net from non-subscribers are forwarded to the list administrator for handling.

5) "Archives" It is possible to maintain archives of igbo--net mailing list traffic on the list-server host. At this time it is not possible to store other files of interest to the list members except by special arrangement.

6) "Digests" The list is configured so that individual members, should they desire, can choose to receive messages in digest form.

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Should you encounter any problem in subscribing to igbo--net mailing list, or even posting your messages after you have been subscribed, please contact me at:

cmar536@mintaka.chpc.utexas.edu

Goodluck.

-- Uzo Okoroanyanwu
=========================================================================

From uzo@lioness.MIT.EDU Mon Aug 22 15:50:53 1994
From: uzo@lioness.cm.utexas.edu (Uzo Okoroanyanwu)
Message-Id: <9408221921.AA12641@lioness>
Subject: igbo--net
To: naijanet@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 14:21:25 -0500 (CDT)