IN death, the man who, at one time, epitomised rebellion, separatism and sub-nationalism has united the diverse factions of the ruling class in an outpouring of tributes. When he passed away on November 26, aged 78, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu left behind unfulfilled dreams of a Nigeria whose diverse people would co-habit harmoniously in a federal arrangement offering equal opportunities to all. Indeed, the odyssey of the late Ikemba Nnewi is bound up with the modern history of Nigeria. His death should motivate all stakeholders to redress the stresses, the fault lines, cleavages and review the failed efforts since amalgamation in 1914, to meld the countrys 400-odd ethnic nationalities and 167 million people into a melting pot.The cleavages led to two violent and divisive coups in 1966, a pogrom and a 30-month civil war (May 30, 1966January 15, 1970) with Ojukwu as the leader of the breakaway, but short-lived, Republic of Biafra. As commander of the armys 5th Battalion in Kano, he refused in January 1966 to cooperate with fellow Igbo officers, who had spearheaded a military coup that resulted in the killing of some political leaders and military officers, rather pledging loyalty to the hierarchy. But the counter-coup of July that year led, first, to the killing of Igbo officers and over the next several months, the massacres of Igbo in the defunct Northern Region. A renowned author, Frederick Foresyth, estimated that about 30,000 out of 13 million people of Igbo ethnic origin lost their lives in the pogrom while John de St Jorre, another British journalist who covered the war, reported that up to 1.8 million Igbo refugees streamed into the Eastern Region to escape the massacres.The Federal Government appeared powerless to stop the killings despite the moves made by Ojukwu to stop reprisal killings of Northerners in the East. The pogrom against the Igbo and the ensuing constitutional crisis placed Ojukwu in a bind: As the military governor of the defunct Eastern Region who had disagreed with the Northern-led Federal Government, he could either accede to the massacres or bow to the overwhelming resolve of the Igbo to secede. He chose the latter by announcing the birth of the Republic of Biafra during a radio address at 3 a.m. on May 30, 1967.Though there are no good wars, there are necessary wars. A war becomes necessary when it gives a positive outlook on the future and allows its protagonists to correct the causative factors. But was the Biafran war necessary' Could Ojukwu have restrained the strident calls for self-determination by the Igbo' Did his personal ambition and rivalry with his colleague who emerged as head of State, Yakubu Gowon, following the Northern officers coup of July 1966, play a part in his decision to secede' Did he exhaust all avenues for peace' These questions still continue to divide historians and commentators more than four decades after the end of the war.What is however significant is that the Nigeria Ojukwu took up arms against in 1967 is more fractious today than it was back then. The seventh annual Failed States Index (2011) report describes Nigeria as only better than Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Central African, Iraq, Cote dIvoire, Guinea, Pakistan, and Yemen to rank as the 14th most failed state in the world. The report says the countrys deep grievances along religious and communal lines have resulted in violence in the Niger Delta region, the Middle Belt, and the North. Sadly, too, 41 years after the civil war, it is tragic that, in parts of the country, some Nigerians still frequently slaughter other Nigerians in their midst simply because they belong to other ethnic groups or faiths. Boko Haram terror group is hitting at the heart of the nation. Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 10,000 persons have died in ethno-religious strife since 1999.But Ojukwu was not always a separatist. Born in Zungeru in the North, he schooled and lived in Lagos in the West. Indeed, the fire of Nigerian nationalism had inspired him to join the Nigerian Army in 1958 with a degree in History from Oxford University, England, under his belt. As one of the first university graduates to join the officer corps, his rise in the emerging nations military was assured. After his official pardon by the Nigerian state, he had remained a stout defender of the nations corporate existence. His contemporaries say he was a gentleman officer. Ojukwu might not have been a man for all seasonsbut he was the right man at the right time when the Igbo needed him.Nigerians should resolve to take action urgently to resolve some fundamental issues plaguing the countrys corporate existence. Ojukwu stood for the restructuring of Nigeria in such a way that all parts of the country would feel secure, have a sense of belonging where all groups and individuals could actualise their dreams and potential unhindered and free of discrimination on any grounds. As the nation comes under further stress, stakeholders will have to meet the age-long demand for a sovereign conference of the constituent units to devise their destiny as the current federal structure has failed to inspire a sense of oneness among the people. The ingenuity displayed by the Igbo under the pressure of wartechnological improvisation, statecraft and resiliencehave not been harnessed. But history will record that Ojukwu was a man who provided determined leadership to his people at a time of their greatest adversity.
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