Author of the book, “The Hebrew Evidence of Nigerian Jews: A Scriptural Insight”, Innocent Agu, has urged the Nigerian Government to explore the common ancestry of most Nigerian languages to promote national unity.
Agu, who made the call yesterday in Abuja during the book launch, said that majority of indigenous Nigerians were originally Israelites and Idumeans.
According to him, exploiting the common ancestry will help douse the current tension in the country, since the various geopolitical zones are more connected ancestrally.
It will reduce or even eliminate hate and distrust among Nigerian ethnic groups and bring about political harmony, the author said.
Agu added that it would also reduce religious tension seeing that the original Nigerians, both Christians and Muslims, migrated from Israel and Jordan.
“It will further show that Nigeria has the most glorious history on earth.
“It will make Nigeria a tourism destination of the world and a centre for linguistic and anthropological research, thus impacting the nation’s economy.
“It will modify the Nigerian education curriculum on history of its ethnic groups and it will ultimately unite the country,’’ he said.
The author also gave reasons why ECOWAS and the African Union should adopt findings in the new book in promoting integration of the continent.
According to him, Africa is host of the entire dispersion of Israel and Idumaea/Edom kingdoms.
“The one antediluvian language of the world which is Igbo is still spoken in Africa as can be seen in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Southern Cameroon and some other African countries.
“This discovery will enhance African integration and cultural exchange and ultimately promote Africanism,’’ he explained.
He urged Israeli authorities to also key into the project, which would be of benefit to them.
“Whether or not people in Israel were all biological Israelites or not, it does not matter because God already said that Israel would be joined with strangers on their restoration.
“Isaiah 14:1 said: For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.”
He added that the discovery captured in his book would enhance Israeli-African affinity and remove possible future tension or dispute about who legitimately owns the land of Israel.
The author called on policy makers, scholars, interest groups and people of goodwill to also support the full restoration of the house of Jacob as said by God.
“ But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers,’’ he qouted the Bible as saying.
Earlier, the book reviewer, Dean Faculty of Arts, Federal University Lafia and President Historical Society of Nigeria, Prof. Okpeh Okpeh, said the 738-page book had unravelled the 12 tribes of Israel in Nigeria.
Okpeh said the tribes included those from Northern Israel that were captured by the King of Assyria in 722 BC and the dispersal tribes of Southern Kingdom after the invasion and conquest by the Roman soldiers in 70 AD, led by Vaspasian in the Jewish-Roman war.
According to him, the book unravels the age-long mystery surrounding Igbo people and some other Nigerian tribes.
“The research findings point to the fact that several indigenous Nigerian ethnic groups share common ancestry that is traceable to the lost tribes of Israel and Edom/Iduma – the country of Esau called Edo and Idoma in Nigeria.
“The research also revealed that the Paleo-Hebrew in which the Old Testament Bible was originally written is the same as Igbo language, both in words and dictionary meanings.
“Over 1,000 different Hebrew words, phrases and sentences are recorded in the book to attest to this fact,” he said.
He said that the book described Igbo language as one of the prehistoric languages as it was the same as the Paleo-Hebrew, the original Hebrew language of the Bible.
He said that the work recorded about a thousand ancient Nigerian towns from across the country, which corresponded to the same ancient Israeli/Idumean towns recorded in the Bible.
According to him, while most of the listed towns are located in the Southern and Middle Belt of Nigeria, considerable number are also found in northern Nigeria.
Okpeh further said in the book identified many ethnic groups in Africa that are connected to the nation of Israel and that  the original people of the nation of Israel were black.
The professor noted that while tracing the origin of Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, the author used linguistic and anthropological evidences.
He said the book established that the name Igbo was derived from Eber, the great-grand son of Shem and whose entire race was called Ebeo, Ebo, Ibo or Igbo.
He said that the findings in the book would open a new vista in historical traditions of most Nigerian ethnic groups, while it solved the puzzle that had heralded the Igbo’s origin, tradition and cultural practices.