Of Nations, National Heroes and Tribal Bigots

By Dan Amor
Nigeria is a nation of experts without roots. We are always creating tacticians who are blind to strategy and strategists who cannot even take a step. And when the culture has finished its work, the weak institutions handcuff the infirmity. But what is at the centre of the panic which is our national culture since we are not yet free to choose our leaders? 

*Buhari and Obasanjo 

Seeing how ineligible dunces who don't even understand the secret of their private appeal, talk less of what the nation needs jostle for power, I realize all over again that Nigeria is an unhappy contract between the rich and the poor. It is not that Nigeria is altogether hideous, it is even by degrees pleasant, but for an honest observer, there is hardly any salt in the wind.

Yet, in Nigeria, the myth of politics and the reality of life have diverged too far. There is nothing to return them to one another: no common love, no cause, no desire, and most essentially, no agreement here. Nigeria needed a hero before the exit of the White man, a hero central to his time. Nigeria needed a man whose personality might suggest contradictions and mysteries which could reach into the alienated circuits of the underground, because only a hero can capture the secret imagination of a people, and so be good for the vitality of his nation. A hero embodies the fantasy and so allows each private mind the liberty to consider its fantasy and find a way to grow. Each mind can become more conscious of its desires and waste less strength in hiding from itself. Roosevelt was such a hero, and Churchill, Lenin, De Gaulle and Mandela. Even Hitler, to take the most odious example of this argument, was a hero, the hero-as-monster, embodying what had become the monstrous fantasy of a people, but the horror upon which the radical mind and liberal temperament foundered was that he gave outlets to the energies of the Germans, and so presented the twentieth century with an index of how horrible had become the secret heart of its desires.

The North Prospers From The Bad Blood Between The Yorubas And Ndigbo

By Femi Aribisala

THE Yorubas and the Igbos, two of the most resourceful, engaging and outgoing ethnic groups in Nigeria, are becoming implacable enemies. Increasingly, they seem to hate one another with pure hatred. I never appreciated the extent of their animosity until the social media came of age in Nigeria. Now, hardly a day passes that you will not find Yorubas and Igbos exchanging hateful words on internet blogs.

The Nigerian civil war ended in 1970. Nevertheless, it continues to rage today on social media mostly by people who were not even alive during the civil war. In blog after blog, the Yorubas and the Igbos go out of their way to abuse one another for the most inconsequential of reasons. This hatred is becoming so deep-seated, it needs to be addressed before it gets completely out of hand. It is time to call a truce. A conscious effort needs to be made by opinion-leaders on both sides of the ethnic divide to put a stop to this nonsense.

Both the Yorubas and the Igbo stereotype one another. To the Igbo, the Yorubas are the “ngbati ngbati” “ofemmanu” who eat too much oil. They are masters of duplicity and deception; saying one thing while meaning another. To the Yorubas, the Igbo are clannish and money-minded. They are Shylock traders who specialise in selling counterfeit goods.

Why Hasn’t Biafran Spirit Died?

By Asikason Jonathan

” What had started as a belief was transmuted to total conviction; that they could never again live with Nigerians. From this stems the primordial political reality of the present situation. Biafra cannot be killed by anything short of total eradication of the people that make her. For even under total occupation Biafra would sooner or without colonel Ojukwu rise up again”

– Frederick Forsyth

Let me start by disagreeing with Forsyth that apart from total eradication of Biafran people that Biafran spirit cannot be killed. The problem here is with the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and what Achebe described as the ‘Igbo problem.’

The 1999 constitution of the  Federal Republic  of Nigeria did not only incorporates the colonial mistakes of 1900s which made the Northern Nigeria a force  to be reckoned with in the country’s politics but it created also a leviathan out of the federal government to such a nauseating level that the component units are seen as dependents and not co-ordinates.

Many people have asked: what do Igbo people want? The answer is very simple! We want political inclusion, we want a society where fair play, justice and equity, rule of law and meritocracy reign – that’s just what Ndi Igbo want!

The resurgence in the agitation for Biafra lies on fact that the Igbo – 48 years after civil war – are yet to find their bearings in the Nigerian federalism. We are yet to distinguish between the dictionary and the political conception of the maxim: No Victor No Vanquished. Let us not forget Ojukwu’s question: What did he [Gowon] do to make the victor not being the victor and the vanquished not being the vanquished?

Biafra: A Home Truth

By Chuks Akamadu

THE current pro-Biafra wind blowing across the length and breadth of south- eastern Nigeria and some contiguous parts of the south-south geo-political zone reminds me of the timely warning of the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido. Not too long ago, the banker- turned traditional ruler was reported to have cautioned the nation on the grave danger in failing to pay proper attention to the worries of Ndigbo, noting that this generation of Igbo youths would likely dare the Nigerian state in an unimaginable manner since they neither suffer from a hang-over of the Nigeria/Biafra civil war – having not witnessed it, nor do they harbor any memories of that darkest page of Nigeria’s story book.

I would like to add that the present crop of Igbo youths grew up with a be- ware-of-the-enemy-within mindset, a siege mentality and a vanquished orientation, all of which combine to leave them in highly inflammable state. To make matters worse, the environment where they were nurtured was (and still is) rich in lack, rich in deprivation and rich in hostility. It is little wonder, therefore, that they willingly received the strange dogmatic exhortations of an Nnamdi Kanu and his Radio Biafra as food (holy sacrament, if you like) to their drained souls.

Elsewhere, I had argued that who I see on the streets clutching Biafra flag are not Biafran patriots – and they are not Biafra enthusiasts either; they are frustrated youths who are at war with a system that appears irrevocably committed to shrinking their individual prospects of survival and forecloses their chances to prosper.
Fortunately for them, the Radio Biafra hate ministrations capture, in significant ways, both their corporate imagination and existential realities whilst Nnamdi Kanu’s present duel with the law has offered them a window for self-expression.

The Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu I Knew

By Nnanna Ijomah
On this day the 26th of November three years ago Chief Emeka Ojukwu passed away, and on this third anniversary of his death, I want to join millions of Nigerians to honor and celebrate his life. In 1988, I was an unemployed young Political Science graduate, resident in Lagos, when I first met Chief Emeka Ojukwu, by way of recommendation and introduction by some mutual friends, one of whom was my cousin, who had informed me that he, the Ikemba was looking to employ a Personal Assistant.

The odds of my getting the job was further enhanced and I would say virtually assured when during the interview at his Villaska lodge residence, the late Dr Chuba Okadigbo walked in and practically vouched for my intellectual ability and competence to do the job for which I was about to be hired. For those who might be wondering how Dr Okadigbo came into the picture. It so happened that a few years earlier during the commencement ceremony of the University of Benin, the late Dr Okadigbo had taken note of me when I was presented with an award, as the best Political Science student in the degree exams.

On that fateful sunny afternoon, 22 years ago, I found myself standing before the Ikemba, a larger than life figure, whom I'd heard so much about all through my teenage years during the civil war. But now in my early twenties, standing before him, I was not only scared and nervous, but also full of admiration and respect, while at the same time experiencing an overwhelming feeling of excitement, just for being in his presence. As I gazed at those bulging eyes, each time he made a point of emphasis, I could not but feel a sense of accomplishment, just for achieving this great feat of being there. At that moment in time as I remember it today, whether I ended up getting the job or not, I was going to savor this once in a life-time opportunity for all it was worth. After a few pointed questions and a detailed explanation of what the job entailed, he proceeded to ask me if I was ready to start work right away. Thus began my association with the Ikemba. A job which I can truthfully say afforded me the most learning experience of my life.

During the period I worked for him, Ikemba was more than just my boss. He was a father figure in the sense that he treated me like a son. He was my mentor and was very protective of me. When I decided to leave for the United States, he did not try to dissuade me from doing so. Rather he encouraged me to leave, since at that point in time some government officials were snooping around, making inquiries regarding the contents of the book we were working on. The general impression at the time was that he the Ikemba was writing a book about the Civil war. 

The book generated so much concern in certain quarters that he, Ikemba got worried about my safety, and in his own words, said to me " they can never do anything to me, but they can come after you in their attempt to know what the book is all about and I would not want you to get into any kind of trouble on my account'. Months later in 1989, he sent me an autographed copy in New York. 

Solving The Biafra Agitation Problem

By Hannatu Musawa

Bckground: For 16 years now, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has made its voice heard. Emeka Ojukwu was alive when MASSOB was formed but he never gave it support, nor have important political and traditional leaders of south-eastern Nigeria. MASSOB leader Ralph Uwazuruike has, several times, clarified that MASSOB is not a violent group and will not engage in armed struggle. The group has relied on some provisions in the United Nations Charter, especially those relating to people’s right to self-determination.  What has made MASSOB and its younger sibling IPOB (Indigenous Peoples of Biafra) popular both at home and abroad is the occasional crackdown on their members during peaceful protests.

*Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu being sworn 

in as the head of state of the Republic of 

Biafra in May 1967

Referendum?
If a referendum were held today, there is no doubt that over 70% of people in the five south-east states would vote YES for separation. A little over 50% in Rivers State would also vote YES. Between 40% and 50% might vote YES in other south-south states: Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Edo.

A similar result might be reproduced if the people of the south-west were to be subjected to a referendum to determine whether Oduduwa republic should come into being.

Therefore, the Federal Government should not agree to a referendum. Every section in Nigeria feels marginalised in Nigeria, apparently because the country is not practising true federalism. The state of the nation’s economy is also a contributor: Many have fallen on hard times and become frustrated.

Political Reform
Political reform is the way to go. The current 36-state structure is not working; it should be replaced by a six-region federal structure. The 2014 National Conference, therefore, needs to be re-examined. The government can go back to that conference and other previous conferences and provide a white paper. Barring any obstacle that may be constituted by the National Assembly, a new political structure should take effect from 2019, along with a new revenue allocation formula. There would not be loud cries over Biafra or Oduduwa or Boko Haram after a restructuring that would shift the country away from Unitarianism. Nigeria needs a weaker centre and stronger regions.

Tackling IPOB and MASSOB
Agitation for Biafra is heightened by the overzealousness of security agents. The agencies should be restrained from arresting people involved in the peaceful demonstration. On occasion, criminals attempt to hijack peaceful protests; anyone caught in acts of lawlessness could be arrested briefly and then prosecuted in court immediately. Similarly, operators of illegal radio stations like Nnamdi Kanu should be charged to court immediately. There have been at least three court decisions directing that Kanu should be released, but he is still held even after he has met his bail conditions. The government itself should abide by the rule of law.

Things To Appreciate And Emulate About The Igbo

By Abdu Abdullahi

The Saturday Sun, July 4th, 2015, featured an opinion column with the above caption. It was characterized by the writer’s reflective and expressive capacity for deep lamentation, protest, extolment and optimism about the Igbo State of affairs. A very careful reading of the piece offered me a clear and unbiased understanding of the writer’s primary aim of unveiling the true picture of the Igbo Nation in its giant strive to forge ahead within the league of federating units that have been engulfed into a prolonged crisis of confidence.

*Chinua Achebe Reads And Igbo Poem at 2011 

Achebe Colloquium at Brown University, in Rhode Island

Thus, the writer was able to impressively and emotionally fix significant areas of focus for the readers to digest with a view to constructing sound judgments on the critical issues raised as enshrined in the presentation. The writing was particularly outstanding because of its linguistic strength to communicate effectively with our original mind. Consequently, this impacted tremendously on my psychological make-up, empowering me with the expressive zeal of picking my pen to offer this contribution.

I particularly observed that the choice of the word “appreciate” in the title might have been informed by the writer’s resolve to renew and boost the collective image of the Igbo in the context of ethnic and political supremacy context. In fact, the word appreciate is readily endowed with the lexical power to assume the role of a persuasive agent.

In a way, the word appreciate possesses the driving force of engaging the mind in sober reflections on the Igbo. Mr. Clem Aguiyi’s opening paragraph was skillfully organized to deploy his message to the in-depth of our mind, fostering a strong cohesion from the beginning to the end of the writing.

To drive home his profound feelings and belief about the Igbo, he meticulously dwelt on historical, social, political and philosophical dimensions to carry the readers along the course of evidence based analysis, justification and verification. After scrutinizing the entire work, the central themes captured and refreshed my memory on the period that I really appreciated the beauty of Igbo land. My conviction about the productive attributes of the Igbo was consolidated.

Obasanjo Lies Like A Badly Raised Child - Gen Alabi-Isama

I implore Obasanjo to stop lying before he dies...

By Godwin Alabi-Isama

I am gravely pained to be trading words with General Olusegun Obasanjo once again on the history of Nigeria-Biafra War. He is an elder and a former ruler who, ordinarily, should be treated with utmost respect.

*Alabi-Isama (pix: vanguard)

But how can one genuinely respect an old man who tells lies like a badly raised child? Obasanjo has obviously not recovered from the shock inflicted on him by my book, The Tragedy of Victory in which I exposed the tissues of lies in his civil war memoir, My Command. It is said that a lie may travel for a thousand miles, but it takes just one step of truth to catch up with it.

I’m alive to stand up to him on the lies he has told on the war because I was a major participant in it.  I kept records.  With facts and figures at my finger tips, I have debunked Obasanjo’s lies in part three of my book, consisting of one hundred and sixty five pages, sixty nine pictures, thirteen military strategies and tactics, maps and documents.  This was the same Obasanjo who published a fake Federal Government gazette that I was found guilty by the Army when I was never tried.  I have proved that Obasanjo was an incompetent commander. I have proved that he was a wily and cunning fellow, and an incredible opportunist who reaped where he did not sow.

I have proved that he was an ingrate and a hypocrite. More importantly, I have proved that he was a coward, who ran away from the war front to go and look for phantom ammunition.  Rather than respond to my claims the way a gallant officer should, he has now responded like a motor-park tout, impugning my person and questioning my ethnic lineage. I never said I was from Ibadan. I only schooled there.

Tragedy Of Peter Obi’s Defection

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Peter Obi’s defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not surprise me.  

Unlike Bianca, widow of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, I knew the former Anambra State governor was going to take that fateful political step.

Every discerning political observer knew that despite Obi’s protestations and despite his vow that he would quit partisan politics any day he left APGA, he had a crush on the PDP. His body language betrayed him.

 That Obi had the patience to serve out his second term as governor on the platform of APGA was the only surprise.

I did not want to comment on his defection until I read Bianca’s interview in the Daily Sun and Obi’s reaction.   Bianca is pained by what she calls Obi’s “betrayal and unimaginable breach of trust.” She is livid that Obi did not take her into confidence.

Peter Obi receiving an award in Spain from Mrs. Bianca

Ojukwu, Nigeria's Ambassador to Spain, on December 4, 

2013 

Achebe's 'There Was A Country' Discussed At The House Of Commons

Chinua Achebe's There Was A Country: Reflections from the Nigerian Diaspora

DATE: Monday 10 December 2012

TIME: 6.00-9.00pm

VENUE: Committee Room 8, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

(Please allow for at least 15 minutes to clear security when you arrive)

Chinua Achebe's recently published memoirs, There was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra, have controversially reopened discussions on Nigeria's past – especially the events leading up to the first coup and the aftermath of the Biafran War. These events have had a profound impact on Nigeria and continue to critically impact developments across the country today.

  























Chinua Achebe

 

This event aims to bring Nigerians together to debate the key legacies from the coup and civil war in the context of Nigeria's present realities and future trajectory, and hopes to explore how the coup and war have:

• adversely affected peacebuilding and state-building across Nigeria (with reference to reconciliation, integration and equality)?
• shaped the relationship between the Nigerian State and ordinary Nigerians?
• influenced broader understanding of how to tackle the deep and growing levels of economic and social inequality polarising Nigeria?
• affected access to justice, transparency and accountability as well as tackling state impunity in Nigeria?Chair: Chi Onwurah MP, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Science & Digital Infrastructure 
  
  
  Speakers:

• Donu Kogbara, Print and broadcast journalist and Board Member, Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority
• Dipo Salimonu, Eirenicon Africa and founding partner of Ateriba Limited
• Onyekachi Wambu, Director Policy and Engagement, African Foundation for Development (AFFORD)
• Dr Muhammad Jameel Yusha'u, Senior Lecturer in Media and Politics, Northumbria University  
 There are a limited number of places so if you would like to attend, please RSVP by email to: events@fpc.org.uk

 Download the report (170 kilobyte PDF)

-----------------------------

RELATED POST 

Chinua Achebe’s 'There Was a Country - A Personal History of Biafra'- A REVIEW

Chinua Achebe's "There Was A Country: A Personal History Of Biafra" [ A Review]

By Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

Chinua Achebe is Africa’s foremost novelist and one of the African World’s most outstanding intellectuals. The 1958 publication of his classic, Things Fall Apart,underscores the African-centred thrust of Achebe’s esteemed literary journey. In There was a Country, Achebe revisits the 1966-1970 Igbo genocide, the foundational genocide of post-(European) conquest Africa. It is also Africa’s most expansive and devastating genocide of the 20th century, in which 3.1 million Igbo or a quarter of this nation’s population were murdered. Achebe himself narrowly escaped capture by the genocidist army in Lagos where he worked as director of the external service of Nigeria’s public broadcasting corporation.

*Prof Chinua Achebe  
 

Safely back in Biafra, Achebe was appointed roving cultural ambassador by the fledging resistance government of the new republic to travel and inform the world of this heinous crime being perpetrated in Africa, barely 20 years after the Jewish genocide. He recalls with immense satisfaction the successes of his travels in Africa, Europe and North America during the period – meeting leading writers and intellectuals, addressing church, civil and human rights assemblies, and charity and humanitarian caucuses. 

Chinua Achebe's "There Was A Country: A Personal History Of Biafra" – A Review

By Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

Chinua Achebe is Africa’s foremost novelist and one of the African World’s most outstanding intellectuals. The 1958 publication of his classic, Things Fall Apart,underscores the African-centred thrust of Achebe’s esteemed literary journey. In There was a Country, Achebe revisits the 1966-1970 Igbo genocide, the foundational genocide of post-(European) conquest Africa. It is also Africa’s most expansive and devastating genocide of the 20th century, in which 3.1 million Igbo or a quarter of this nation’s population were murdered. Achebe himself narrowly escaped capture by the genocidist army in Lagos where he worked as director of the external service of Nigeria’s public broadcasting corporation.

*Prof Chinua Achebe  
 

Safely back in Biafra, Achebe was appointed roving cultural ambassador by the fledging resistance government of the new republic to travel and inform the world of this heinous crime being perpetrated in Africa, barely 20 years after the Jewish genocide. He recalls with immense satisfaction the successes of his travels in Africa, Europe and North America during the period – meeting leading writers and intellectuals, addressing church, civil and human rights assemblies, and charity and humanitarian caucuses. 

Ndi-Igbo Germany Celebrates Odumegwu-Ojukwu

The Ikemba, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu

Tribute to Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

By Femi Fani Kayode

A great and proud warrior. A true son of Africa. The strength and pride of the Igbo race. Tell it not in the north, the south, the east or the west….for how are the mighty fallen.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu Taking The Oath

Of Office As Head Of State Of The New Republic Of

Biafra In May 1967 (Photo: AP)


You stood firm and fought hard for your people when it mattered the most. Nothing else counts. A product of Epsom College, Oxford University and the illustrious and wealthy Ojukwu family from eastern Nigeria. The father of Biafra. What an extraordinary and noble heritage. We knew your father and your father’s father. They also made their mark.

They were also great and powerful men. Yet you were the star that eclipsed all stars in the Nigerian firmament.

Unlike many others who have hailed you only in death, you were man enough to stand up and say ”no more” and ”never again” when your people were faced with genocide. The Igbo fought like great men and lions because they were led by a great man and a lion. We shall continue the fight where you stopped Ikemba.

The Ikemba, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu

The battle has passed to the next generation. May God bless and protect your precious and gallant soul as you join your ancestors in the great halls of Valhalla.

May God watch over your dear wife Bianca and your beautiful children and may your name never be erased from the annals of Nigerian history. You will live forever.

Rest in peace, great and proud warrior.

Ojukwu: The Legend Lives On

By Chinweizu

sundoor999@gmail.com

Copyright © 2012 by Chinweizu

20 Feb 2012

“Ihe eji echeta ayi, n’elu uwa nke ayi no, bu olu, ayi luru”

“What we are remembered for on this Earth, is the work that we do.”

--Line from a song I heard often in my childhood.

In this world, most people are not famous at all.

Some people’s fame is ephemeral, some are famous for 5 minutes and are hardly remembered again. Most persons are not remembered at all a year after their corpse is interred. Remembrance becomes enduring only when one’s life’s work has relevance for many future generations.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu

Why do we mourn Ojukwu’s death? Why should we keep fresh our memory of him? Let us tell the world, as well as remind ourselves, of the man, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, and of his struggles on our behalf, and let us note some of the brave services he rendered us in a period of more than 60 years; selfless services for which we are indebted to him and should hold him in highest esteem.

Ojukwu lived a life filled with such deeds as legends are made of. Here are some:

Consider the case of the Zulu hero, Shaka. When he was 13, Shaka attacked and killed a black Mamba snake that had killed a prize bull he was guarding. Like Shaka, Ojukwu as a boy exhibited the bravery and protectiveness that would win him fame as an adult.

Ojukwu: Anti-colonial Defender of the Racially Oppressed

In 1944, when he was 11, Ojukwu was briefly imprisoned for assaulting a white British colonial teacher who was humiliating a black woman at King's College in Lagos, an event which generated widespread coverage in local newspapers.

For a schoolboy to fight a teacher is unusual, and requires great courage. For any black person in a colonial society ruled by all-powerful whites, a society which practices racial discrimination, such behavior required extreme provocation or extreme folly. For an 11 year old black schoolboy in such a society to fight a teacher belonging to the master race required extraordinary audacity. And for him to do so in defence of another black person, and not of himself, showed a precocious race consciousness and a meritorious sense of racial solidarity. Marcus Garvey would have been proud of the lad and recognized him as one destined to do great deeds for the black race. Here was a boy to watch. And, when he grew up, Ojukwu did not disappoint such expectations.

Chukwemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu As Head Of State Of
The Republic Of Biafra Inspecting Troops In Biafra
In 1968

After this event, his father, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, a millionaire businessman and one of the richest men in Nigeria, packed him off to England to an elite boarding school. From there he proceeded to Oxford University. After earning his Master’s Degree in History, he returned to colonial Nigeria in 1956 and joined the colonial administration as a District Officer. After serving a year, he made an extraordinary career move. He resigned and enlisted in the Army in 1957, not as an officer cadet, but as an ordinary soldier. Nevertheless, he rose rapidly from the ranks and in 1964, became a Lieutenant Colonel, and was appointed the Quartermaster General of the Nigerian Army. All this he achieved within 7 years in a peace-time army, not in a wartime army where a high attrition rate accelerates promotions.

Soon thereafter political events pushed Ojukwu into political leadership when the coup of January 1966 led to his appointment as the Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria. That was the platform from where he performed the great deeds that have made him famous.

Ojukwu: Hero of Aburi 

The first of these deeds was his brilliant performance in the negotiations at the Conference of Nigeria’s military rulers that was held in Aburi, Ghana, in January1967. Beginning as a minority of one in a Supreme Military Council with eight other members in attendance, he prevailed on the SMC, first to renounce the use of force to resolve the crisis that had brought them to Aburi; and, secondly, to agree on a confederation arrangement for governing the country until a new constitution could be agreed.

Getting his colleagues to agree to the Aburi Accord was Ojukwu’s seminal contribution to Nigeria’s survival and to the security and progress of the entire population of Nigeria. However, the fruits of this fundamental contribution were not to be harvested. When the signatories returned to Nigeria, Gowon and his officials in Lagos refused to implement the terms of the Accord. This deepened the crisis and eventually provoked the secession of Eastern Nigeria and its quest for self-determination as the sovereign state of Biafra.



Late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu With His
 Wife, Bianca

Ojukwu: Founder and War Leader of Biafra

The next great deed that Ojukwu did was to proclaim the sovereign state of Biafra on 30 May 1967. Before the new state could find its feet, Gowon, in repudiation of yet another part of the Aburi Accord, resorted to force and sent the Nigerian army to invade Biafra to bring it back into Nigeria. When the Nigeria-Biafra War began in July 1967, Ojukwu became Biafra’s war leader. He led Biafra in a just war of self defence, a war of resistance to Nigeria’s aggression, a war to defend the Biafran People’s right to self-determination and to protect their very lives. With no resources to speak of, Ojukwu still managed to organize the Biafran people and the Biafran Army to resist the Nigerian invaders for 30 harrowing months until Biafra fell and surrendered in January 1970.

In those 30 months, Ojukwu did two other great deeds. To sustain the struggle, he mobilized the scientific manpower of Biafra into the Science and Technology Group (S&T Group) that achieved great things. Secondly he produced a Blueprint for a just Biafran society.

Ojukwu the war leader of Biafra: 

Organizer of Science and Technology

Finding itself blockaded by land, sea and air, Biafra had to be self-reliant to survive. Its Science and Technology Group (S&T Group) rose to the challenge and, among other things, conceived and produced a type of air defence dust mine for use against MIG jet fighters. In October 1967, when Biafran troops at the Ugwuoba Bridge, near Awka. fired it horizontally on advancing Nigerian troops, its devastating effect earned it the name Ogbunigwe (mass killer).

[See “Beef Was Right, Ogbunigwe Was An Anti Aircraft Missile (pic)” http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-803637.0.html#msg9558595

On March 31, 1968, a Biafran army unit ambushed and, using Ogbunigwe, destroyed a 96-vehicle column of Nigerian soldiers. The humiliating Abagana defeat to Nigerian soldiers prompted General Yakubu Gowon to remove Col. Murtala Mohammed as the General Commanding Officer of the Onitsha sector.

--See -Abagana, wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abagana 

In addition, Biafran engineers built airports and roads; designed and built petroleum refineries; designed and built light and heavy equipment. Biafra’s Research and Production (RAP) unit did research on chemical weapons as well as rocket guidance systems. It invented new forms of explosives, and tried new forms of food processing technology. The Biafra coastline was lined with home-made shore batteries and with remote controlled weapons systems and bombs. Under Ojukwu’s leadership, and in less than three years, a Biafra that was being starved by blockade, achieved a great leap forward in black African science and technology.

[see Wikipedia article on Ojukwu]

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu Declaring The Republic
In May 1967 (AP)

This achievement remains unique in Black Africa. In their half century of “independence” thus far, no other state in Black Africa has created any Science & Technology organization, let alone one to compare with the one created in Biafra’s 31 months existence. This Biafran achievement remains an inspirational beacon for the Black World in this 21^st century. It shows that if Black African states are still not industrialized today, the fault is not in us the people, not in the stars, not in our race, but in our neo-colonialist leaders and their chronic misleadership.

Ojukwu: Proponent of a New Social Order

Even in the midst of war, Ojukwu encouraged the Biafran intelligentsia to investigate and articulate their people’s aspirations for their post-war society. This effort produced a document which Ojukwu presented to the nascent Biafran nation on June 1, 1969 at Ahiara village. It became known as The Ahiara Declaration .The document eloquently and totally rejected the Nigerian social order for its neo-colonialist iniquities and inequities, and outlined the principles on which a radically different and just society would be constructed in Biafra. Ojukwu’s Ahiara Declaration invites comparison with Nyerere’s Arusha Declaration as a blueprint for a just and egalitarian Black African society.

Unfortunately, despite these achievements, the proposed new society was not to be. A Biafran cartoon of the period, captioned “The Truth about the Nigeria-Biafra War”, gave an accurate picture of the war situation: it showed a trio consisting of President Lyndon Johnson of the USA, Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Britain and Premier Alexei Kosygin of the USSR holding Ojukwu immobilized for Nigeria’s Gowon to use as a punching bag. Given that fundamental situation, it was no wonder that Biafra collapsed, after 30 months of fighting a just war. And to save him from almost certain execution by vengeful Nigerian soldiers, Ojukwu’s followers packed him off to exile in Cote d’Ivoire in January 1970, in the expectation that he would live to fight for them another day.

Ojukwu : Champion of Ndi-Igbo Interest

Ojukwu, the war leader of a defeated Biafra, spent 12 years in exile before he was pardoned and allowed to return to Nigeria in 1982. He arrived to a tumultuous hero’s welcome by his people and he plunged into Nigerian politics to champion the struggle for improvement in the hard lot of his defeated people. Alleviating the condition of Ndi-Igbo within Nigeria became his mission until his death in 2011. To do that he joined the NPN, the governing party of that time, and contested for a seat in the Nigerian senate. However, after a vigorous election campaign, he was declared defeated. Undaunted, he continued to be a voice for Ndi-Igbo in Nigerian affairs despite a stint as a political detainee during the Buhari period.

In 1994-1995, at the Abacha Constitutional Conference in Abuja, the Ndi-Igbo contingent, led jointly by Ojukwu and a former Vice President of Nigeria, Dr Alex Ekwueme, introduced and persuaded the Conference to adopt the concept of six geo-political zones in which the 36 states of Nigeria are now aggregated. In 2003, Ojukwu joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and became its Presidential candidate in the 2003 and 2007 elections. This was all in a further effort to give Ndi-Igbo a suitable presence in Nigerian politics and to promote the interests of Ndi-Igbo within Nigeria. 

Ojukwu and PRONACO

In the continuing search for a peaceful and better Nigeria, Ojukwu was among the leaders of thought who, in 2005-2006, in consultation with Chief Anthony Enahoro, initiated the Peoples’ National Conference through the platform of the Pro National Conference Organizations (PRONACO) –an alliance of 164 ethnic organizations that believed that a Sovereign National Conference ( SNC) had become imperative for transforming Nigeria and ending its people’s woes. That People’s National Conference, which was a comprehensive revalidation of the Aburi Accord by the ethnic nationalities, produced a Draft People’s Constitution which has been overwhelmingly endorsed across Nigeria as a credible path to a sustainable basis for Nigeria’s survival. As the conference rotated its sittings across various geo-political locations (including Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Jos and Kano) Ojukwu hosted that conference twice in Enugu, in February and in March 2006.



Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu

Upon the conclusion of the conference, Ojukwu actively mobilized for the informal referendum to which the Draft People’s Constitution was subjected, resulting in its endorsement by various ethnic blocs. As a part of the process for actualizing this written wish of the peoples of Nigeria, Ojukwu volunteered to be one of the plaintiffs, alongside Wole Soyinka, Anthony Enahoro and Bankole Oki, in a lawsuit before the Federal High Court, Lagos, challenging the legitimacy of the 1999 constitution. This is Suit No. FHC/L/CS/558/09. It is still in court till today. The suit is to dismantle the fraudulent and military-imposed constitution of 1999 and make space for a new order.

All of this shows that while Ojukwu contended for a place within the Nigerian political space, by joining the NPN and running for the senate in1983, by participating in Abacha’s Constitutional Conference in 1994-1995, and then by joining APGA and running twice for President on the APGA ticket, he devoted even more energy towards resolving the fundamental distortions that have brought Nigeria to the dark valley where it is languishing.

That, in brief, is an outline of the life and struggles of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Ojukwu: Unfinished business

No person dies or leaves office without leaving behind some unfinished business. Hero that he was, Ojukwu is no exception. There is the business of transforming Nigeria, a project which is being ably carried on by his younger PRONACO colleagues. While that project is for the benefit of all Nigerians, there is another unfinished business of his which concerns Ndi-Igbo exclusively. Let me now draw your attention to it.

Ojukwu did not finish the vital business of creating an institutional embodiment of the Ndi-Igbo nation, a paramount cultural-political institution for Ndi-Igbo, their counterpart of what the Ooni of Ife is for the Yoruba; and the Asentehene is for the Ashanti of Ghana; and the Kabaka is for the Baganda of Uganda; the Sultan of Sokoto is for Shariyaland, a.k.a. Nigeria’s Far North or Arewa. Or take the example of what the Dalai Lama institution is for the Tibetans, namely, a central focus of Tibetan cultural identity, a symbolic embodiment of the Tibetan national character. Such are the cultural and non-partisan institutions to which a people all give their allegiance and look to for decisive guidance in their affairs. By joining the NPN and entering partisan politics on his return from exile in 1982, Ojukwu skipped his chance to become the nucleus of a neutral institutional arbiter in the world of Ndi-Igbo.

However, he made a belated attempt to correct his error, but did not succeed. His Eze Igbo Gburugburu title, with its notion of monarchy, was probably in the wrong cultural idiom for Igbo republicanism to accept, and so it never gathered widespread or deep acquiescence.

With Ojukwu’s joining of the ancestors, the task of creating this sorely needed paramount institution, and in some effective and culturally appropriate form, is now left for the next generation of Ndi-Igbo, and especially for the leadership cadres that will emerge among them. And it is for the elders of today to guide them to accomplish that vital task.




Odumegwu-Ojukwu's Remains Carried By Nigerian
Soldiers At A Military Ceremony In Abuja

Ojukwu is physically dead, but for as long as we keep fresh our memories of his deeds, the legend lives on. Let me sum up:

At the age of 11, Ojukwu burst onto the scene as a defender of black people when he physically defended a black African woman from humiliation by a white colonial racist teacher. Then at age 33 he became the warrior defender of all Eastern Nigerians when they came under mass murderous attack by their fellow Nigerians. Then after the collapse of Biafra he settled into the role of political warrior defending Ndi-Igbo in the neocolonial dungeon called Nigeria. By the example of his deeds, the Ojukwu legend will live on wherever people, and black people especially, look for an inspiring role model of selfless defence of the humiliated and oppressed; or for a model of when an injured and defenceless people must say “enough is enough” and embark on a struggle for self determination; or for model leadership for scientific and technological advancement; or for a model of how to obtain a Blueprint for a just and equitable social order.

Ojukwu: The People’s Assessment

Let me end this assessment of Ojukwu’s life by quoting some excerpts from what ordinary Nigerians said of Ojukwu after his death, on a website discussing the seminal Aburi Accord:

“Aburi can again help us avoid another Biafra. MIDDLE BELT people are clearly being pushed & provoked without cause.” 

“Love him or hate him, he was one politician that stole no money- check the records.
Adieu, Lion of the Tribe of Biafra!”

“Ojukwu is gone but his life is full of lessons for us to learn: He stood for the truth, fought for the truth and in truth he died. He saw what others could not see - self determination of his people. It took another 40 years for Nigerians to latch on - clamouring for autonomy.”

“We will miss your courage and hatred for injustice. You gave your all for the emancipation of your people.”

“He was distinct, patriotic and fearless. He was synonymous with justice and equity. He distanced himself from the pandemic corruption that has ravaged prominent politicians of his time.”

“He was able to tell us that you can be rich and principled, you can be rich and honest, you can be rich and be a friend of the poor, you can be rich and be a friend of the needy, you can be rich and sacrifice for humanity, you can be rich and remain modest. The list is endless. Ojukwu used his money to pursue people’s course, while our present day thieves we call rulers use our money to persecute us, can you see the difference?”

“Though you are dead, your fighting spirit is still alive to actualise your dreams, and your children in their generation will immortalise and celebrate you in their new nation.”




Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Head Of State And                                                  Commander-In-Chief Of The Armed Forces, Republic Of Biafra
(codewit)

And to that, permit me to add my voice and say: 

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu!      Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu!

Ikemba Nnewi, Laa n’udo!                    Ikemba Nnewi, Go in peace!

Eze-agha Ndi Biafra                               War chief of Biafra

Dike n’aluru ndi ike adighi ogu                  Champion who fights for those without strength

Onye nchedo ndi an’emegbu emegbu            Protector of the exploited

Onye n’ebulite onodu onye an’eleli eleli      The one who raises the status of the despised

Laa n’udo, Ikemba, Laa n’udo!                    Go in peace, Ikemba, Go in peace!

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