The first time I came close to Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was during the National Constitutional Conference that lasted between 1994 and 1995. He was a delegate to that controversial conference that took place during one of the most critical periods in Nigerian history. It was a period when a break-up of Nigeria was again looming on the horizon. Ojukwu, like many other leading patriots, came to that conference in search of the way forward and how to keep Nigeria together as a united country.It was there that an incident occurred whose significance opens the door for a deeper understanding of the Ojukwu mystique and symbolism. There was a disagreement between him and the rest of the delegates from the Igbo-speaking parts of Nigeria. He was reported to have made a statement which the delegates regarded as a deviation from their mandate. Consequently, a committee of six was raised, comprising Chief Alex Ekwueme, the late Chief Austin Egbo from Delta State, Dr. Josiah Ogbonnaya from Abia State, Dr. Joshua Odunna from Imo State, the late Chief Okogbule Wanodi from Rivers State and my humble self, as secretary of the Igbo Delegates Forum to that conference.Our mandate was to urge him to refrain from the line he was toeing and to appear at the meeting of the Forum to clarify his position. Ojukwu did appear at the forum which, incidentally, he was the official chairman. However, on that particular day, Dr. Sam Mbakwe took the chair.When we got to the relevant item on the agenda, the Ikemba was asked to address his brothers and colleagues. He spoke for over 25 minutes, arguing that the mandate of the delegates did not prevent them from expressing contrary views. He ended up accusing the delegates of irreverence to him and of behaving in consonance with the historical fallacy that Ndigbo Enwe Eze. His speech provoked very fierce reactions from the delegates. It is not my intention here to recall the mundane elements of that debate. Rather, I would like us to reflect on the significance of that event and on other critical moments in Ojukwus biography (or rather his life and times).That will help us to appreciate more fully his place in the socio-cultural history of the Igbo nation, as well as the political history of the Nigerian federation.While some of my colleagues reacted in various ways to his speech, which many considered as not only offensive, but a sign of one man against the rest, and, therefore, wanted to beat him into line; I saw it as an opportunity to address the historical fallacy that Igbo Enwe Eze. Incidentally, I had previously and privately discussed this view with the Ikemba in his Apo Village Residence. I had argued that Ndigbo were among the greatest hero worshippers in history. I said the Ikembas life was a testimony to this.Then I drew his attention to three episodes in his life: his role as the leader of Biafra, his return from self- exile in Ivory Coast and his membership of the National Party of Nigeria.In summary, I told the Ikemba that the Igbo leader, hero, king was not the one who commanded the people to do his wish or screamed orders at them as though they were members of a military formation. Such a man would be seen as an impostor and the people, sooner or later, will consign him to the dust-bean of history.The Eze in Igbo society is a democratic creation. He is the man who is part of the people, who communes with them, shares in their sorrows and their aspirations, who eloquently and courageously espouses and defends them; who is ready to die in defense of the peoples interests and aspirations. Thus, the Eze is not just an institution; it is a role. Ojukwu did not invent Biafra. He had no hand in the making of the tragic circumstances that led to the Igbo predicament or the unhealthy inter-ethnic rivalries that ushered in the holocaust. He found himself, out of circumstances beyond his control, at the leadership of a people whose very physical, economic and social existence were threatened by extinction.He rose to the occasion by identifying himself with the suffering of the people, with their aspirations. The people saw him as the most eloquent, courageous, articulate and charismatic leader of their struggle. He became their universally accepted leader, their hero, their Eze, their King. This is the way Ezes emerge in Igbo Community and the very essence of their being. Any such Eze loses his throne the very moment he seizes to be the symbol of their aspirations, abandons or betrays their trust. Indeed, Igbo leadership is a democratic institution, not a military command structure. Even in those areas of Igboland where hereditary Ezeship exists, what you have is still a democratic role within a democratic structure in which the Eze is just the Chairman of the Council of Elders. He is their spokesman, who must speak what they have all agreed upon through a democratic debate. Just watch such a scene in any typical Nollywood film.After the Constitutional Conference, Ojukwu set out to recover his throne, and tried to fill a vacuum that still exists in Igbolandthe absence of a universally accepted Igbo leader.Ojukwu set out to have himself crowned as Igbo king and assumed the title of DIM CHUKWUENEKA ODUMEGWU OJUKWU, EZE IGBO GBURUGBURU. That first step was an abstract step. It was stoutly resisted by many. Those who resisted his attempt to bear the title, Eze Igbo Gburugburu, enjoyed a lot of sympathy. Many people regarded what he did as preposterous. Eventually, Ojukwu did what some of the spineless people claiming Igbo leadership did not have the courage to do. He provided spiritual leadership to the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra. Who else in Igboland has that courage to identify himself with those angry youths' Those MASSOB youths, as expression of extreme frustration over their predicament and that of their people in Nigeria, preach secession. Ojukwu embraced the APGA, which for all intents and purposes is seen as an Igbo-based party, a reincarnation of the Nigerian Peoples Party of old and its allied political formations. Many equate APGA with the Igbo cause. Without minding its initial limitations, Ojukwu held on to that party.With these moves, no one else in or outside in Igbo land could justifiably claim to be the symbol of Igbo aspirations. Thus, Ojukwu recovered his throne as king of the Igbo, not by imposition but by playing the role of leader.The first student demonstration in Nigeria after the Civil War took place at the University of Lagos, Akoka. The students were reported to have engaged in violent demonstrations, chanting and carrying placards, some of which read We want Ojukwu! We want Biafra! Then, I said to the Ikemba. "Those students were not yearning for the bearded rebel leader; they were not yearning for the charismatic Oxford-trained orator. They were yearning for the vision of society as embodied in the Ahiara Declaration; a society without inequities, without injustice, without discrimination, a genuine democratic order."Finally, in the words of the British philosopher, Bertrand Russell, one can say that Ojukwu was both an effect and a cause-effect of his social circumstances and of the politics and institutions of his time. He had also (and fortunately too) been "a cause of beliefs, which mould and shall continue to mould the politics and institutions of later ages."In writing about him, therefore, it is important (still in the words of Russell) to exhibit him, as far as truth permits, as an outcome of his milieu, a man in whom were crystallised and concentrated the thoughts and feelings which, in vague and diffused form, were held by the community of which he was a part. Prof. Nwala is the President, Codes Global Foundation
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