INDEED, Ikemba's life have so far been a matter of commitment to his people's cause. Counting political feats by triumph in general polls and ability to play within the inner circles of Nigeria's mainstream shenanigans may not earn him high score, if he has not actually performed lowly in that frontier.But appraising success in politics as ability to lead people through a path they choose and being able to stand firm for them to epitomise their signpost of the goal, Chief Odumegwu-Ojukwu, comes across as quintessential. Few leaders on earth match his clout and natural ability to stand without 'shaking' with the majority of his people. He also does it with such panache that make it appear it was his personal cause.Despite the unanticipated fall on his lap, the sapping if suicidal 30-month-long execution of defunct Biafra Republic's campaigns during the Nigeria Civil War (1967-1970), he carried it on his shoulder astutely and illustriously, investing to a large extent his means (arguably, his inheritance of his late father's wealth) as the British author Fredrick Forsyte, noted in his bestseller, 'Emeka'. And not even once has he been heard bemaoning the venture even as the venture made him much much poorer as well as deeply maligned and misrepresented outside Igboland.Often coming across as proud with a knack for intolerance of foolery, praise-singing and petty antics of the irreverant and unmanly, Ikemba cuts the ice with his total of any cause he adopts. He also does not shy away from picking and boldly stating his own position on any development no matter how charged of partisan, epitomising William Shakespeare's line: 'Boldness be my friend! Arm me, audacity' ('Cymbeline').Typical of this trait is his open support for current Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi during the campaigns for February 6, 2010 gubernotorial election in the state. Ahead of Obi's second term election campaign Odumegwu-Ojukwu, despite his already degenerating health appeared in campaigns with the governor and posed for billboards and posters stating his plea to the people of the state clearly: 'Do this for me.' Hence images of him raising the governor's hand became the visual aces of the campaign. Such 'this is where I stand' attitude endears him to his people more than the sophistry of his opponents. Ikemba examplifies the Niccolo Machiavelli imagery in 'The Prince,': 'Everyone sees what you appear to be....' Beyond Obi, several Igbo sons and daughters have tapped from that fount of Ikemba's candid, if audacious appeal. And that seems natural as even in youth, he cut such image to the extent that whether in his presence or in his absence, most Igbo sons and daughters would claim to know Odumegwu-Ojukwu's stance.A typical example is the vein quest of foes to diminish his scope of influence during his period of exile after the war. Notwithstanding the notion circulated in the 1970s that he abondoned his people and fled the war, he returned to a thunderous reception and was promptly, almost literally, handed over the social reigns of Ndiigbo.The background: Upon his cognition that the Biafra mission has hit the rock, he honourably bowed out on January 9, 1970, handing over the reigns of Biafra to his Second-in-Command, Chief of General Staff the late Philip Effiong (a Biafran Army Major-General), and left for Cte d'Ivoire, where President Felix Houphet-Boigny who recognised Biafra on May 14, 1968, granted him political asylum. On January 12, 1970, Biafra dropped arms.What followed was his 13-year exile in Cte d'Ivoire. Given the grant of official pardon to him by the Federal Government, during the regime of President Shehu Shagari he returned to Nigeria in an unprecedented ceremonial reception that lasted several weeks across major South- Eastern cities and Lagos in 1982. Bestowal of remarkable titles marked the receptions. Nnewi people gave him 'Ikemba' (Power of the People), while traditional rulers in Igboland dubbed him 'Dikedioramma' (Beloved Peoples' Hero). Being not highly gifted in tact and the 'camelionics' of politics, he promptly plunged into politics, same year of return, and through a vehicle deemed not really an Igbo one, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He vied for a seat in the Senate but was beaten by Dr. Edwin Onwudiwe of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) ' a political body with more Igbo following.Yet, notwithstanding that disappointing foray into partisan politics and his continued operation in party politicking ever since which many of his followers would have blushed at, he remains a political rallying force in Igboland. In 1999, he joined the All Peoples Party (APP) and remained until it transformed into All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). Thereafter he formed his own party, PDC, which did not scale through national electoral commission's registration. Now he is the symbolic leader of All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA) ' the party which made him their presiential candidate in 2003 and 2007. Ikemba's special edge is in his being a trusted leader not in his ability to play the roulette of partisan politics. Though he is affable, cereberal and one of the most motivational orators to meet on any podium, be it one that discusses, literature, history, warfare, philosophy or just life generally, his trumpet blares louder in the realm of strength of character and ability to repose the trust of his people even in their absence. Even where he appears to stray in tow with his demons (everyone has his), his people, Ndiigbo always see him return to lead them through their own accepted path. As he wrote in his autobiographical prison diary, 'Because I am Involved,' (written in 1984 in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos): 'we are constantly in battle with the animal in us. In this place, there is no justice, there is no beauty, there is no pleasure and there is no satisfaction.'His quest to remain faithful to Ndiigbo and his social activism, if politics, of reminding the world that there is a perennial 'injustice' in the Nigerian system underscores his life so far.Even as he celebrates his 78th birthday on wheelchair, this illustrious manner of living marks him out as a very remarkable statesman ' very worthy of my encomium. Daalu Ikemba!ConcludedArticle first published on November 12, 2011chukacater@yahoo.com 08026472357
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