C hukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was born on
November 4, 1933 at Zungeru in northern Nigeria
to Sir Louis Phillippe Odumegwu Ojukwu, a
businessman from Nnewi in southeastern
Nigeria. Sir Louis was into transport business;
he made a wise use of the business boom
during the Second World War to become one of
the richest men in Nigeria when he passed in
1966. So it could be rightly said that
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was born into wealth.
Emeka, as he was fondly called, began hiseducational career in Kings College, Lagos in
southwestern Nigeria. He got into trouble by
participating in anti-colonial demonstrations with
such seniors as Anthony Enahoro. At 13, his
father sent him overseas to Great Britain to
study at Epsom College, England. He left Epsom
at 18 for Lincoln College, Oxford. At Oxford
University, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in
modern history. After graduate studies, he
retuned to colonial Nigeria. This was in 1956.
Expected to take his father's business, he
instead joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria
as an Administrative Officer at Udi, in present-
day Enugu State, where he was exposed to the
beauty of Waawaland. In 1957, within months
of working with the colonial civil service, he left
and joined the military as one of the first and
few university graduates to join the army: O.
Olutoye (1956); C. Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1957), E.
A. Ifeajuna and C. O. Rotimi (1960), and A.
Ademoyega (1962).
In his case, he joined as an infantry recruit
because the colonial officers would not let him
into the officer corps, no thanks to his father's
pulling of strings to keep him out of the army.
But no one lights a candle and puts it under the
bed. Odumegwu-Ojukwu soon got his way and
went on to undergo required military training in
Ghana and later back in England.
CAREER
Officer Odumegwu-Ojukwu's popular background
and sound education guaranteed his promotion
to higher ranks. Besides, as at 1956, the
Nigerian Military Forces had 250 officers and
only 15 were Nigerians. There were 6,400 other
ranks, of which 336 were British. It is not
surprising that he is N/29 and that the army
found in valuable training resources in the young
man. (W. U. Bassey was N/1, while JTU Aguiyi-
Ironsi was N/2; the first Nigerian to be
commissioned as an officer, Lieutenant L. V.
Ugboma, left in 1948) Odumegwu-Ojukwu has an
understandably fast rise in the military,
eventually becoming the Quartermaster General.
Ojukwu came into national prominence upon his
appointment as military governor in 1966 and
his actions thereafter. A military coup against
the civilian Nigerian federal government in
January 1966 and a counter coup in July 1966
by different military factions, perceived to be
ethnic coups, resulted in pogroms in Northern
Nigeria in which Igbos were predominantly killed.
Ojukwu who was not an active participant in
either coup was appointed the military governor
of Nigeria's Eastern region in January 1966 by
General Aguyi Ironsi.
In 1967, great challenges confronted the Igbos
of Nigeria with the coup d'etat of 15 January
1966 led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu who
was widely considered to be an outstanding
progressive and was buried with full military
honours when killed by those he fought against.
His coup d'etat was triggered by political
lawlessness, and uncontrolled looting and lacing
in the streets of Western Nigeria.
Unfortunately the Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir
Ahmadu Bello; the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir
Tafawa Balewa; the Premier of the Western
Region,Chief Ladoke Akintola and the Finance
Minister, Chief Festus Okotie Eboh (among
others including military officers) were killed in
the process. The pogrom of Igbos followed in
Northern Nigeria beginning in July
1966.Eventually, then Lt. Col. Odumegwu
Ojukwu declared Biafra's Independence on 30
May 1967. (Biafra- 30 May 1967 to 15 January
1970).
He took part in talks to seek an end to the
hostilities by seeking peace with the then
Nigerian military leadership, headed by General
Yakubu Gowon (Nigeria's head of state following
the July 1966 counter coup).
Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu never lost faith in a
peaceful solution of the crises, even though
citizens of Eastern Nigeria were so traumatized
they generally wanted nothing more to do with
their fellow citizens-turned-killers. Yet he
persisted on the path of peace.
First, he insisted that the military hierarchy must
be preserved; in which case, Brigadier Ogundipe
should take over leadership, not Colonel Gowon.
But Ogundipe no longer had the stomach to deal
with a riotous army; he was easily convinced to
step out and into the Nigerian High Commission
in London. On September 29, the final phase of
the planned Pogrom was executed, marked by
its brutal bestiality.
Still, while coping with the mass return of
maimed and bruised brethrens from the North
and West, Odumegwu-Ojukwu persevered; even
when it had become obvious to his people that
the basis for unity had been irreparably eroded,
he still talked with whomever would listen. He
never lost faith in seizing the moment to fashion
out a lasting legacy for generations yet unborn.
And so they ended up in Aburi, Ghana on
January 4, 1967 for a peace conference hosted
by General Joseph Ankrah. The brilliance of
Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu was apparent
throughout the talk. He succeeded in convincing
his colleagues to sign off on what became
known as ''Aburi Accord''. Just when everyone
thought that Nigeria was back on the path of
peace, Colonel Gowon reneged and proceeded to
split the Eastern Region unilaterally into three
states on May 27, 1967! Three days later on
May 30, 1967 and based on the mandate of the
Eastern Nigerian Constituent Assembly, Colonel
Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared Eastern Nigeria a
sovereign state to be known as BIAFRA:
On July 6, 1967, Gowon declared war and
attacked Biafra. And the Nigeria-Biafra War
ensued. It was an international war, NOT a "civil
war"; Biafra was already a sovereign state.
Besides, there was nothing civil about wars.
This war was most brutal and even barbaric.
For 30 bloody months, the war raged on. Now
General Odumegwu-Ojukwu knew that the odds
against the new republic was overwhelming, but
he preferred to fight for what is right and defend
the sovereignty of Biafra against what was
obviously an illegitimate regime of General
Yakubu Gowon.
The unholy Anglo-Soviet alliance, using rogue
Egyptian mercenaries fresh from the war with
Israel, pounded Biafra and Biafrans with
armaments big and small, including the use of
hunger as a weapon of war which resulted in
the ravaging kwashiorkor.
Biafra lasted for 30 eventful months during
which a potential, indigenous African superpower
almost emerged. But the forces against Biafra
were enormous.
On January 9, 1970, General Odumegwu-Ojukwu
handed over power to his second in command,
Chief of General Staff Major-General Philip
Effiong (now late), and left for Côte d'Ivoire,
where President Felix Houphöet-Boigny, who
had recognized Biafra on May 14, 1968 --
granted him political asylum.
By January 12, 1970, Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo
who was hell-bent on capturing the Biafra leader
alive, so as not to make him martyr and to
avoid continued conflict, he claimed, had to deal
with General Effiong. Obasanjo accepted the
instruments of cessation of hostilities in Owerri.
These were ratified at a formal ceremony in
Lagos, presided over by General Gowon.
Obasanjo went on to become the head of state,
following the assassination of General Murtala
Muhammed on Friday, February 13, 1976. On
October 1, 1979, Obasanjo stepped down for an
elected regime.
After 13 years in exile, the Federal Government
of Nigeria under President Shehu Aliyu Usman
Shagari granted an official pardon to
Odumegwu-Ojukwu and opened the road for a
triumphant return in 1982. The people of Nnewi
gave him the now very famous title of
''Ikemba'' (Power of the people), while the entire
Igbo nation called him “Dikedioramma” (Beloved
hero). He was indeed a beloved hero.
General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu is a
quintessential Igbo man: proud, ambitious, and
intelligent... even arrogant, as many would
accuse. Here is a young man who at 33 had the
fate of a nation thrust onto him, and he did not
disappoint. He is a rare gem, the unconquered
spirit of the Igbo personified. It is not surprising
albeit ironic that in 2003 the Igbo once again
turned to the same person, who had led them in
a war to get out of Nigeria’s gyre, to lead them
in a political battle back to Nigeria's now-
centralized center in Abuja.
The political foray ended in the now called
"4/19" fiasco, a complete corruption of the
electoral process. In the aftermath of the rigged
elections, Odumegwu-Ojukwu teamed up with
other parties, including General Muhammadu
Buhari , who had jailed him, to fight the result of
the reelection of President Obasanjo in the
courts of law. This latest fight still drags on,
and the patience of the people is running on
low.
Following the sudden success of the 26 August
sit-at-home protest by the Movement for the
Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB), the Federal Government of Nigeria
took a harder look at the organization. First, the
Attorney General declared the action
treasonable. Many legal experts disagreed. The
Vice President weighed in and condemned the
media for giving the group publicity!
Ikemba Odumegwu-Ojukwu's open support for
MASSOB did not sit well with the federal
government presided over by the man who
thought he had ended Biafra for ever. Through
its State Security Services (SSS) it sought to
haul in Ikemba for questioning. At first, it
appeared as a routine invitation to Abuja, the
federal capital territory. But events soon took a
turn for the worse. In a press conference at his
home in Enugu, capital of the southeast region,
Odumegwu-Ojukwu revealed that the Feds were
after him and the founder/leader of MASSOB,
Chief Ralph Uwazuruike . He revealed that the
SSS had sent him a one-way economy air ticket
for the one-hour flight to Abuja.
The SSS was quick to counter that the Ikemba
must show up for a chat, calling his stance
cheap blackmail and labeling him a coward.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu and his supporters were
quick to remind Nigeria of the many politically
motivated murders that remain unsolved. They
posit that if the SSS wanted to chat with the
Ikemba, they could do so in Enugu or go to court
and obtain an arrest warrant. Then again, what
would be the charges? For exercising his
fundamental right of free speech
But that was the jaw-jaw part. The fact remain
that the SSS wanted to interrogate the Biafra
hero and that the Biafra leader would not bulge.
In fact, Odumgwu-Ojukwu reminded the media
that former heads of state Muhammadu Buhari
and Ibrahim Babangida had refused to appear
before the Oputa Panel of human rights violation
and the heavens did not fall. The question on
everyone's lip was: Who wants the Ikemba
killed? Why is the presidential candidate of the
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) being
subjected to such disrespect from a retired
colonel (head of SSS) whose boss (the
President) was Odumegwu-Ojukwu's junior in the
Nigerian army?
What next? The SSS waited for him to make his
annual trip to the United States for medical
checkup. On Tuesday, night of November 16,
2004, on Zik's 100th birthday (posthumous, that
is), the SSS seized his passport at Murtala
Muhammed International Airport. And so began
another phase in endless saga of Emeka vs.
State, a rebel with a cause versus a state
looking for direction.
AFTER BIAFRA WAR
As a committed democrat, every single day
under an un-elected government hurts him. The
citizens of this country are mature enough to
make their own choices, just as they have the
right to make their own mistakes".
Ojukwu had played a significant role in Nigeria's
return to democracy since 1999 (the fourth
Republic). He had contested as presidential
candidate of his party, All Progressives Grand
Alliance(APGA)for the last three of the four
elections. Until his illness, he remained the party
leader. The party was in control of two states in
and largely influential amongst the igbo ethnic
area of Nigeria
Odumegwu-Ojukwu is married to a beauty-full
Waawa woman, Bianca Onoh, the Nigerian
1989 Miss Inter-Continental Pageant. He was
the presidential candidate of APGA in 2003
presidential elections. He still maintains primary
residence in Enugu.
CALL TO WHATEVER (DEATH)
On 26 November 2011, Ikemba Odumegwu
Ojukwu died in the United Kingdom after a brief
illness, aged 78. The Nigerian army accorded
him the highest military accolade and conducted
funeral parade for him in Abuja, Nigeria on 27
February the day his body was flown back to
Nigeria from London before his burial on Friday,
2 March 2012. He was buried in a newly built
mausoleum in his compound at Nnewi.
Before his final internment, he had about the
most unique and elaborate weeklong funeral
ceremonies in Nigeria besides Chief Obafemi
Awolowo, whereby his body was carried around
the five Eastern states, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi,
Anambra, including the nation's capital, Abuja.
Memorial services and public events were also
held in his honour in several places across
Nigeria, including Lagos and Niger state his
birthplace. the former head of state "Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo expressed sadness at the
death of Odemegwu Ojukwu.
''It is with deep sadness that I received the news
of the demise of my friend and colleague.
''He and I were subalterns in the army at
Nigeria's independence in 1960.
''In a way, his death marks the end of an era in
Nigeria Obasanjo also reminisced over
discussions he had with Ojukwu before the
latter's demise.''
In an interview in London, Obasanjo recalled
particularly that at several times, he discussed
the possibility of an expression of remorse from
Ojukwu ''on the Nigerian civil war which in itself
was a culmination of actions and reactions.''
''I condole with his family and pray for the
repose of his soul.''
DEATH, they say, is an acquired trait, and there
is no mortal who will not taste of its bitter pill.
When it will come, no mortal knows; but like an
unrelenting stalker, it shadows its victims and
takes them away the way a hen plucks its
feathers.
And so, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-
Ojukwu, the Ikemba Nnewi and the undisputable
leader of Igbo nation is dead. His death is,
nonetheless, a sting in the tail for the former
Biafran warlord, who fought with death on
several occasions to remain alive, but eventually
capitulated to its superior power as he bade the
world farewell on Saturday, 26th November,
2011in a London hospital at the age of 78.
Ojukwu, a historian, soldier and politician, was
hated and loved by many, depending on which
side of the divide one is looking at his life and
times. For larger segment of Nigerians and
beyond, he represented the soul of Nd'Igbo, even
as some still have reservation on his leadership
for leading the Igbo to the ill-fated Nigerian/
Biafran civil war in 1967.
His death marks a watershed, the end of yet
another monumental epoch, in Nigeria's
turbulent history. As an Igbo nationalist, soldier,
politician and thinker, Ojukwu is unarguably the
greatest son of Igboland yet after Dr Nnamdi
Azikiwe.
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