Born of high parentage, Ojukwu, early in life, chose a part only a few would brave. He evinced courage in the face of daunting challenges. Though his provenance was aristocratic- even ducal, he nevertheless aligned himself with the cause of the common man. He quite early divorced himself from the comfort of riches and charted a path that would eventually endear him so highly to history. That course has continued to accord him a primacy of attention in a congregation of equals. In the political arena surfeited with wimps and sybarites as leaders, Ojukwu dared to be different by calling a spade by its name. He chose the part of service at the expense of great personal comfort. Determined to reverse what many would easily accept with groveling obeisance, he declined his father's offer of position in Louis Ojukwu's business empire. With this, he defied the first concept in family wealth acquisition and sybaritism. He refused to be ensconced in Ojukwu's great wealth as is wont with children of the rich, while they play possum to the poverty of their immediate environment. Amidst the political challenges of his time, the Ikemba had other ideas to what use he intended to put his services for his people. Wealth, it would seem, had less attraction to him hence, he opted for administrative job in the Udi Province from where he veered off into the army. His role in the post-independent crisis in the country seems to becloud the fact of his wealthy family background. Not many people know that Ikemba's father was the first Nigerian millionaire, the first black man to live in Ikoyi or that he was the first Nigerian graduate to enroll in the army even as a recruit and rose to become its first Quarter-master General. This is not intended as a recast of Ojukwu's heroics (for enough has been said and written on that), but just to show that his emergence as the only living legend in the category of politicians was not in error. One thing is quite certain, getting leaders of Ojukwu's ilk in our society today is difficult, not because of want of those with similar backgrounds as his, but for the simple reason that many tend towards materialism with mindless relish. The children of the rich in our society today are more comfortable remaining under their fathers' shadows than carving out independent personalities. Some are so indulgent that their only contributions to the State are being celebrated as big spenders, coming close to no other in aesthetic pleasure and sartorial elegance than the Arab oil magnate, the sybaritic Ednan Kashoggi. Any wonder wealth is today being elevated to the status of an idol that men worship with uncommon dedication at a great expense. Leadership traits like steadfastness, sincerity, boldness, selflessness, and determination are certainly lacking in those who parade themselves as leaders in our midst. And this may well continue in the near future if we fail to address crass opportunism that characterises our political leadership. Leadership qualities are neither hobbled in pettiness nor consumed in unbridled ego, but they show themselves in nobility of mind and tenacity in the face of daunting challenges. Ojukwu's leadership even in post-war Biafra is something akin to a mass movement. It is on record that at the dawn of civilian administration in 1999, his party, APGA, won almost all the states in the South-East and also made appreciable impacts in other zones of the country. Even though the results were not allowed to stand unlike in the search for the living legends, yet, the people were unwavering in their attachment to Ikemba. You would easily see within MASSOB, currently led by Uwazurike, those that would commit self immolation at Ojukwu's behest without a whimper. No living Nigerian is known to enjoy such followership among his people. In fact, that type of dedication can only be likened to the one Fidel Castro enjoyed with his July 26 Movement in Mexico (though a guerrilla group) which aided him in his overthrow of Fulgenzio Batistuta's government in Cuba and equally made American soldiers eat the humble pie in the Bay of Pigs. Ojukwu was indeed a legend, for no Nigerian has been discussed as much as he. Nor has any had as many books written on him by both local and international scholars. By the sheer force of his personality, Ojukwu has engraved his name in the Hall of Fame of the first 100 notable Africans. His personality was so magnetic that even the ex-beauty queen who married him at the age she did, had a wide range of choices but opted for the Living Legend. That was a further confirmation of his consummate personality. Surely, the man was an asset to his generation. The legend lives on.Conclued'Anyaduba wrote in from Abatete, Anambra State
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