NIYI ODEBODE writes on the late Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, his love for Ndigbo and his prophetic stand on the Nigerian federation.Chukwumeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu had no cause to abandon the affluence he was born into, but his life was a lesson in the service of the people. Eze Igbo Gburugburu (King of the Ndigbo worldwide) could have chosen the path of entrepreneurship, which his father, Louis Odumegwu-Ojukwu trod.Although his father and patriarch of the Ojukwu dynasty contested and won a parliamentary seat in the First Republic, his reputation in business towered above most of his contemporaries. He was the first and founding President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. At 13, Chukwumeka was sent by his father to study in Britain, first at Epsom College, in Surrey. Later, he earned a Masters degree in history at Lincoln College, Oxford University. Odumegwu-Ojukwu abandoned his fathers luxury and joined the army, a profession that many graduates detested in those days. Armed with a Masters degree in History, Ojukwu on his return from Britain, rejected the comfort of his fathers business, which would have made him one of the worlds richest men and initially opted for a life in the civil service as a district officer before finally joining the army in 1957, as one of the first set of graduates to enroll in the force.Dim always championed the cause of his people, the Igbo. While the first President of the country, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe (also an Igbo man), was laboriously pursuing a pan-Nigerian idea, the Ndigbo found a voice in Odumegwu-Ojukwu in their trying periods. Ikemba was aggrieved by the massacre of the Igbo in 1966. The Yakubu Gowon-led government, like an ostrich, buried its head in the sand, while the mass killings of the Igbo continued unabated in the North. Ojukwu advised Gown to end the bloodshed by repatriating troops to their regional origins. But Gowon rejected the advice. When there was nobody for them to look up to; the Igbo found a leader in Ojukwu.The failure of the Federal Government to address the injustice against the Igbo, led to the declaration of the Republic of Biafra by Ojukwu in 1967. The consequence of this action was a 30-month civil war, that claimed thousands of lives of the Igbo.It is on record that the politician in the Biafran warlord outsmarted the Gowon-led Federal Government during the series of peace meetings before and during the civil war. For instance, young army officers, including the late Head of State, Gen. Muritala Mohammed, were said to be bitter with Gowon for playing into the hands of Ojukwu at the 1967 conference in Aburi, Ghana. They were not happy that Gowon accepted Ojukwus proposal on a loose federation. Ojukwus speech after the conference had been described as a masterpiece. Insisting on the implementation of the Aburi agreement, he had said, "The East will never be intimidated, nor will she acquiesce to any form of dictation. It is not our intention to play the aggressor. Nonetheless, it is not our intention to be slaughtered in our beds; we are ready to defend our homeland. Fellow countrymen and women, on Aburi We Stand. There will be no compromise. God grant peace in our time." Although the former Governor of the Eastern Region actualised his dream of Biafra, it did not last long. When he could no longer withstand the firepower of the Federal Government, Ojukwu fled to Ivory Coast in 1970, where he remained until 1982.In an attempt to boost his support among the Igbo ahead of the 1983 presidential election, former President Shehu Shagari in 1982 pardoned Ojukwu and allowed him to return from exile. On his homecoming, Ojukwu shed the warlord toga and became a democrat.On an occasion, Ojukwu, who was well known for his oratory prowess, said, "As a committed democrat, every single day under an un-elected government hurts me. The citizens of this country are mature enough to make their on choices, just as they have the right to make their own mistakes."It was an irony that the Nnewi-born politician had never won any election, in spite of his popularity. In 1983, he contested the Onitsha senatorial poll, but lost to a relatively little known Anambra State commissioner in then Governor Jim Nwobodos cabinet, Dr. Edwin Onwudiwe. In the Third Republic, he was involved in different political parties such as the National Republican Convention. He founded the Peoples Democratic Congress which was not registered as a political party.Ojukwu joined the All Peoples Party (APP, now All Nigeria Peoples Party) in the Fourth Republic. Together with Chekwas Okorie, the former military governor formed the All Progressives Grand Alliance, on whose platform he vied for the 2003 presidential poll.There is no denying the fact that APGA owes its popularity in the South-East to Ojukwu. In 2007 and 2011 elections, many politicians dropped his name in a desperate attempt to woo voters. Even when he was bed-ridden and could neither talk nor write in a London hospital, some APGA members read goodwill messages purportedly written by him.At a point, his family was forced to issue a statement through one of his sons, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu II, to put a lie to the politicians claim. His son said, "We wish to seize this opportunity to express the familys disappointment in the conduct of a few persons who have continued to drag the name of my father into politics, especially at this his most trying moment, when he is not in any position to respond to what is being said or done in his name."Until I left the United Kingdom last week, the progress made by my father in his recovery has not developed to the point of his being able to communicate his views and opinions to anybody, including myself, orally or in writing. In fact, this has been his condition since the crisis in December last year."Ojukwu did not have a pan-Nigerian image like Zik, but like the late Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the South-West, he would continue to be a rallying point for the Igbo, even in death. More importantly, Ojukwu in his "On Aburi we stand" speech" was prophetic. The mass killings, which he complained about are still going on in the North.In the speech, through which he declared Biafra, Ojukwu concluded that it was obvious that the Easterners could no longer be protected by "any government outside Eastern Nigeria and that they could no longer be unfree partners in any association of a political or economical nature." His address at an international press conference, when he fled to Ivory Coast in 1970 was an indication of the injustice on which Nigeria was founded. According to Ojukwu, three regions of the country (West, North and East) were bound by mutual protection of life and property; security against external and internal threats and the promotion of international trade.In the address, which was published in Biafran Information Agency, Geneva, he lamented, "During the course of our first experiment in nationhood (1960-1966) it was clear that the Federal Organization (Government)had neither the will nor the desire to maintain that unity of purpose for which the federation was founded."In 1966, it became clear that the central authority was unable and unwilling to fulfil the terms for which it (Nigeria) was established. Right under her nose the people of Eastern Nigeria, now Biafrans, were subjected to such acts of barbarism, such atrocities that gave clear indication of a genocide that was to come."
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