By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
Volumes have been said and written about the Nigeria/Biafra War: the pre-war hostilities that degenerated into the pogroms that eventually provoked the mass exodus of Eastern Nigerians from several parts of the country to the East; the secession of the people of the East to create a separate entity for themselves where they felt they could take charge of their own security and dignity as humans; the war that followed and the gallant efforts by the Easterners to pick the bits and pieces of their lives and survive the devastating effects of the bitter war.
But despite the very huge body of historical (and fictional) works that have accumulated on the war from Nigerian writers, foreign observers and journalists, a key aspect of the story continues to be conspicuously missing. The leader of the defeated republic, Biafra, left the country for Ivory Coast few days to the end of the war in January 1970 and remained there as an exile for twelve years before returning to a hero’s welcome in 1982 following the unconditional pardon granted him by the Shagari government.
Naturally, there have been intense yearnings by many people to be
updated on the developments that marked those years between the end of the war
in 1970 and Ojukwu’s return from the Cote d’Iviore in 1982. What were the
things that occupied the Biafran leader in exile? What were his plans for
Nigeria for which several meetings were held in Cote d’Iviore, Ghana, Nigeria
and some European cities? Who were the Nigerians that visited him several times
in Cote d’Ivoire and how were their trips arranged to ensure that the security
operatives of the Yakubu Gowon’s regime which were keenly interested in him and
his activities in exile were not aware? How
did he build the very formidable network of trusted contacts, friends, loyal
and dutiful associates and aides that facilitated his ability to easily send
and receive messages to and from Nigeria and know almost every significant event that occurred
in Nigeria within the shortest time – in fact, even before many people in Nigeria
got to know?
Accomplished electronic and print media journalist, eminent writer and public relations expert, Kanayo Esinulo “who worked at General Ojukwu’s State House…” in Biafra and followed him “to Cote d’Iviore and served as one of his closest aides all through his years of exile” has finally bowed to pressure from friends, colleagues, journalists, scholars and diverse interested parties, to write a book that admirably fills that gap.
