Monday, 21 May 2012
Ojukwu: A Titan Who Won’t Die By Okey Ndibe
Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
Columnist:
Okey Ndibe A telephone call startled me awake at 3:41 a.m. last Saturday. Still gripped by sleep, I fumbled in the darkness until I palmed my phone. “Hello?” I slurred, my tone testy, ready to chide whoever was on the other end for so thoughtlessly interrupting my sleep.
The caller was a friend of mine. I was still searching for a mild way to protest when he revealed that he’d just heard that Ikemba Nnewi, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, had died in a UK hospital where he’d been receiving treatment for several months. Had I heard the news, he asked?
Stunned, I told the caller that I needed to make a call to London to ascertain the veracity of the report. By this time, the fog of sleep had cleared, leaving my senses alert, my emotions a topsy-turvy. It took me one call to the UK – to one of Dim Ojukwu’s children – to confirm that the man who led Biafra – and, in several ways, epitomized it – had indeed died.
In life, Ojukwu was at once a spellbinding presence and approachable; he was both charismatic and truly larger than life. One measure of Ojukwu’s stature as a historical figure is that, among those who knew him – or merely knew of him – it’s extremely difficult to meet many who can honestly say they were indifferent to him. No, he inspired adoration or invited disdain; he drew fierce adulation and provoked fulsome hate, but none, friends or foes alike, could ignore him.
The death of such a personage often inspires a clatter of emotional responses from people, especially those who had the fortune of knowing him on a personal level. I was one of those fortunate ones.
As a fledging journalist in Lagos in the mid-1980s, I ran into Ojukwu in Enugu and received an open invitation to drop in at his 29 Queens Drive residence in Ikoyi, Lagos. Sometimes alone, sometimes along with a few colleagues – among them, Nnamdi Obasi and C.Don Adinuba – I’d often visit Ojukwu’s residence with that famous sign at the gate, “Beware of snake”.
Alone or accompanied by others, I’d spend several hours listening as Ojukwu discoursed. At these informal sessions, he’d smoke cigarette after cigarette and sip from his glass of cognac as he weighed in on Nigerian politics. His favorite subject, a theme he returned to again and again, was the failure of the Nigerian state to crystallize anything approaching a clear sense of citizenship. He was troubled that the Nigerian was in no position to affirm that there was any verifiable content to being a citizen.
Of course, Ojukwu was not alone in articulating that specific malady, that contradiction that easily betrays the hollowness at the heart of Nigeria’s claim to being a meaningful community and coherent idea. What made his voice urgent and lent poignancy to his stipulations was, apart from his uncommon prowess as a speaker, his stature as the man who led a war to resolve that contradiction. There was something heartrending, then, about the experience of sitting with Ojukwu as he eloquently, piquantly, and ruefully demonstrated that Nigeria had embarked on a ruinous war, but had failed – despite the sacrifice of more than a million lives – to address the central question that had triggered the war.
A few months into these informal exchanges, Ojukwu agreed to grant his first extensive interview since returning from exile to the African Guardian, the now defunct weekly magazine that I worked for at the time. One bitingly sunny afternoon, a team of us from the magazine – Editor Ted Iwere, senior correspondent Kingsley Osadalor, and I – spent several hours asking questions that ran the gamut of his life as a historian, soldier, war leader, exile, and refreshed Nigerian.
What emerged from that encounter were two paradoxical, but far from inconsistent, considerations. One was Ojukwu’s declaration of his readiness to go to war in order to preserve the unity of Nigeria. The other was his insistence that Nigeria as a nation had not come to terms with its meaning, that its constituent elements had not hashed out the terms of their engagement, and that the country had yet to take seriously the redemption of its implicit pledge to all citizens, especially erstwhile Biafrans.
In the heady flush of emotions after his death, there are those who would leave the impression that Ojukwu was beloved by all Igbo. That impression fudges the evidence. No, he was no object of universal acclaim. Like all great men – and he was a great man in all the ways that count – he was too complex to command everybody’s affection. Many despised the haste with which, once home from exile, he entered the partisan political fray on the side of the widely unpopular National Party of Nigeria, thus seeming to spurn the going political sentiment of most Igbos at the time. He paid a stiff price for that precipitate decision, and seemed to reel from its effect till the very end. I regret that he never took time to offer the world his own written insider’s account of the darkest moments in Nigeria’s history.
Still, nobody would seriously deny that, when his people were tested by fire, he stood up to be counted. Born into privilege on a legendary scale, Ojukwu sacrificed his worldly possessions in the fight to secure a safe space for his beleaguered people. In a Nigeria where relative paupers shoot or rig their ways into office and loot their way out to obscene wealth, here was a man who went in as a leader wealthy and left (relatively) materially wretched.
That, and his other gifts, among them an inimitable way with language, an uncommon insight into the plight of dispossessed Nigerians, an ability to speak a language that resonated with the downtrodden, a deep historical acumen, and that incomparable sense of drama – these endowments defined his titanic personality. Since the death of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and Alhaji Aminu Kano, the Ikemba has given us our closest glimpse of a true leader’s mettle. I’m willing to predict that, with time, his leadership credentials are likely to receive wider appreciation and magnification whilst his flaws slip into insignificance. He’s physically dead, but his spirit will loom, will infuse the hearts of those he touched and whom he allowed to touch him in return. May his soul rest in peace.
Lotachukwu Ezeudu: A Memo to the Police and Prisons
Both the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of Nigerian Prisons ought to take an urgent interest in the sad saga of Lotachukwu Ezeudu, a 19-year-old accountancy student at the University of Nigeria (Enugu campus) who was kidnapped in September, 2009 and has not been seen since. Thanks to the unyielding devotion of young Lota’s parents, the tenacity of police investigators, and the diligence of prosecutors at the Enugu State Ministry of Justice, most of the suspects in Lota’s kidnap have been identified – and arrested.
Even so, certain developments in the case threaten to cause further serious dents to the already terribly tarnished image of the police and prisons.
One of the suspects in Lota’s kidnap is a young man named Uche Moses Amajor. Declared wanted in connection with the case, Moses, whose father is a businessman and the owner of Prosper Hotel in Trans-Ekulu, Enugu, went underground for a year and a half, eluding police investigators. It was only in April this year that his parents finally surrendered him to the police.
And then the story became trickier – in a really sordid, disturbing way. First, one Mahmud Isah, the area commander of the Funtua police in Katsina State, reportedly signed a letter stating that the suspect, Moses Uche Amajor, had come to the station on September 25, 2009 to file a report that armed robbers had stolen various documents from him. If that report were true, then Amajor would have produced proof that he wasn’t in Enugu on September 26, the day Lota was kidnapped. That would have amounted to a perfect alibi.
Except that the investigators in Enugu insist that Moses Amajor was indeed in Enugu and participated in a heinous crime. If their account is true, it follows that, a, perhaps the “alibi” letter from Funtua police was forged (in which event the person who produced the letter ought to be arrested and prosecuted) or, b, that a senior police officer in Funtua consented to give a false statement with the aim of misleading the law and miscarrying justice. That calls for a serious investigation by the IG of Police. If he finds the officer guilty, he must order his immediate firing, arrest and prosecution. Police officers who give cover or comfort to criminals worsen the already bad image of the police and are a menace to society.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General should also order an investigation into the whereabouts of Sam Chukwu, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) who has been named as a suspect in the kidnap. On several occasions, Mr. Chukwu has failed to show up in court to face charges. Is it not time the IG ordered a wide search to nab him, wherever he’s hiding?
More recently, a doctor at the Nigeria Prison Service reportedly wrote a statement to the effect that the same Moses Amajor was suffering from hepatitis. The prison doctor then recommended that the suspect be released to seek treatment on his own.
The report is troubling, and not only because prosecutors question its veracity. A man accused of a crime as grave as kidnapping should never be released to fend for himself. Even if Moses Amajor is infected with hepatitis, he is not a threat to other prisoners or prison staff unless there’s somehow exchange of blood with them. Surely, the prison authorities can ensure that he does not jeopardize others through blood contact. If necessary, he should be held in a secluded space. At any rate, the director general of prisons should order a second set of tests to ensure that the diagnosis of hepatitis is sound – not another attempt by Amajor to dribble his way to freedom.
Follow me on twitter @ OkeyNdibe
Okey Ndibe (okeyndibe@gmail.com)
Comments
41 comment(s)
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Well, Ikemeba I'm not your
Submitted by Yadudu (not verified) on December 3, 2011 - 22:49.
Well, Ikemeba I'm not your fan,base on the fact that you take arm against your fatherland.You occupied bendel State and almost take Ondo state. All this are on call for. You are suppose to be fighting the Hausa/Fulani but instedady you attack Midwestern and Western state. For this you are suppose to be arrested and lock-up when you came back from your sojoun in Ivory CoastYes you need to apologize to Yoruba and the Edo people.But nevethelessaudeo and rest in perfect pease.Eze Igbo Gbugburu. Ajagunsalo Ikemba
a great man
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 2, 2011 - 11:07.
Lets all Give some minutes silence to the former President of The Federal Republic of Biafra
@ John Smith
Submitted by Koboko-Dem! (not verified) on December 1, 2011 - 17:04.
The saying goes: " Do not argue with a fool, lest you are mistaken for one." Get it? Wawa.
@ John Smith
Submitted by Koboko-Dem! (not verified) on December 1, 2011 - 16:33.
Dan ubanka! Not half as smelly as your ma's.
JUSTICE - A UNIVERSAL IDEAL
Submitted by ENYI OHA (not verified) on December 1, 2011 - 14:02.
OJUKWU IS BEING CELEBERATED EVEN BY HIS 'ENEMIES' BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE PURITY OF WHAT HE REPRESENTS - JUSTICE TO THE BLACK MAN IN PARTICULAR AND HUMANITY IN GENERAL.
TO THE LESSER MINDS - ILLITERATE, SEMI ILLITERATE AND PLAIN STUPID WHO SPEW HATRED IN THE FORUM-I SAY LIBERATE YOURSELVES FROM MENTAL SLAVERY SO YOU CAN SEE THE POSITIVE CONNECTION BETWEEN YOU AND THE LEGEND, AND BY LOGICAL EXTENSION TO OJUKWU'S PRIMARY CONSTITUENCY WHICH IS IGBOLAND.
IF YOU BELIEVE OJUKWU'S MORTAL SIN WAS THAT HE STOOD BY HIS PEOPLE IN DANGER OF ANIHILATION, I HAVE ONLY THIS TO SAY:I WISH YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE WHATEVER YOU WISH OJUKWU AND HIS PEOPLE, AMEN.
Ojukwu was the most patriotic
Submitted by pee (not verified) on December 1, 2011 - 13:04.
Ojukwu was the most patriotic Nigerian ever. He loved Nigeria but hated the injustice perpetrated by those that rule(d) Nigeria. He was a brave man willing to fight for the cause he believed in. He was incorruptible and always out to defend his people. To the eternal shame of little minds, especially the gorilla that wants to distort history by claiming that Ojukwu was remorseful about his past role, Ojukwu is not dead. He lives on. He is even more alife now.
@Koboko Dem you are Fucking
Submitted by John Smith (not verified) on December 1, 2011 - 13:00.
@Koboko Dem you are Fucking shit if it comes to hausa language, so you are better up with your igbo. By the way you are nothing but just a nasty and little twerp, kiss your mother`s smelly arse you DUMBO.
Ibos ignore the lesser nkapis their Elites have spoken well of O
Submitted by Jay Don (not verified) on November 30, 2011 - 03:42.
Please I urge all ibos in this forum to ignore all the lesser nkapis......(that smelly pointed mouth rat)
From the North from the South from the South West and from all corners of Nigeria their men of timber and calibre their elites have spoken , those who have the intelligence to understand history and the learning to appraise others have spoken well please therefore ignore thier guys with no relevance not even to their very immdediate envorn and never in their tribe of origin....
When they make statement ignoring all the evidence all the available evidence does not support how do you expect them to think and research intelligently about the war...
How do you expect them to begin to even understand Ojukwu and appraise his contributions ...
Some relevant sons of Yoruba have spoken well those of the north have those of the south south have why them waste time with these lesser animals who recycled old tales and hates as collected from badly educated parents and grand parents
Sylvester Amadi..... non-ibo ikwerre why abuse yorubas?
Submitted by Jay Don (not verified) on November 30, 2011 - 03:17.
Sylvester with your surname Amadi those who without ibos conquering them bear ibo names in every home and village in Ikwerre(River state) yet claim not ibos. They were never enslaved by the ibos yet ibos is all around them who against all the principles in Anthropoly claim they are not ibos you have come hear to stir hatred against ibos bu attacking yorubas claiming to be ibo.
The war the need for survival brought this lie yet it lives on.
There are some yorubas now reading this and not knwowing the machinations of some of your orgin would in turn direct attacks against ibos.
Primitivity and uncivility amongst black africans never ends
Ojukwu
Submitted by ndubueze muoneke (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 22:28.
Ma ichoro ya ma ichoghi ya, OJ nwa mama bu nna ndigbo nile ma odi ndu ma onwuru anwu. ndi iberibe ndi mallam, na ndi ofe mmanu, na ufodu ndigbo ugha(fake igbos) nwere ike ikwu ihe soro ha. Odighi ihe owepuru nna anyi ojukwu na ndi igbo nile n'ahu. Anyi kwere na ojukwu rue mgbe ebighi ebi n'aha Onye nwanyi Jesu Christi, Amen
Ojukwu
Submitted by ndubueze muoneke (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 22:04.
Ma ichoro ya ma ichoghi ya, OJ nwa mama bu nna ndigbo nile ma odi ndu ma onwuru anwu. ndi iberibe ndi mallam, na ndi ofe mmanu, na ufodu ndigbo ugha(fake igbos) nwere ike ikwu ihe soro ha. Odighi ihe owepuru nna anyi ojukwu na ndi igbo nile n'ahu. Anyi kwere na ojukwu rue mgbe ebighi ebi n'aha Onye nwanyi Jesu Christi, Amen
ojukwu
Submitted by euwez (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 21:43.
Chi(Ekwensu)nedu or whatever you call yourself, for daring to denigrate the institution of Ikemba ndigbo, it shall never be well with you. may you never see good in life, may your life be a permanent nightmare, may you never escape from the guillotine, may your dreams, plans, aspirations, endeavours, and ambitions be shattered and truncated. in fact, may your horrible life be cut short. And may stupidity and gullibility be your portion forever in SATANS name. AMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN
@ John Smith.
Submitted by Koboko-Dem! (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 20:42.
What the...? Who in the devil's name are you? Presumably, you're drunk on that alcoholic beverage made by someone you're named after(John Smith Bitters)?
Since my understanding of the Hausa language is not good enough for you, let me write in English: Kiss my dog's arse, knobhead!
Yorubas are mentally lazy
Submitted by Sylvester Amadi (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 19:34.
Only God knows how far Biafra would have gone by now.
Ojukwu and his technocrats would have consolidated the economic gain of M.I Okpara's regime as the eastern premier. The three years Biafra was in existence, they form their own government, anthem, coat of arm, currency, build refinery, build ammunition, radio house, build hope and solidarity among the region. You can imagine all these was achieved during war.What did yorubas achieve under Nigeria then and now.Even though that all igbos were given red card and the field was left for yorubas only to play the ball and yet they could not score single goal.Even when they were part of the power brokers and yet they could not build one infrastructure for themselves while Igbos under Dee Sam Mbakwe built airport through collective contribution, shame on yorubas!!!!!
@Daoud Akano, People like you
Submitted by Obi moore (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 19:34.
@Daoud Akano, People like you are always grinding with envy on the success of Igbos in all human endeavours, you people should get over it, it is not our fault that we came out of the war much more prosperous. Let it be noted by people like you that the Igbos has bounced back from the war and fully embraced Nigeria even to the chagrin of enemies of Igbos like you. It is on record now that Igbos hold the Unity of this country, most of you are just spewing your ignorance and hate, the Igbos are the major pillars upon the Unity of this country is standing today. If Gowon had not jettisoned the Aburi Accord, the war would have been avoided. Be that as it may, everyone is paying the price one way or the other now, the corrupt institutions we have today were as a result of the fall out of that war, where the supposedly winners saw Nigeria as a war bounty which they continue to loot and share amongst themeselves today.
No dout, General Ojukwu was d
Submitted by mbekiman (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 19:30.
No dout, General Ojukwu was d only person amongst his contemporaries who dreamt while odaz wil sleepin• The first Nigerian gratuate to enlist in d colonial army• By virtue of his historical background, Ojukwu knew d.Concepts: nationalism, nation, nation state, federalism, confederalism etc more dan his colleaguez in d army• No wonda Gowon came bak frm Aburi lookin for political analystz to educate him on wht was discussed at Aburi• Tuday, dose he fought for are killin his people• Gudbye to d Titan who saw tumoro General Ojukwu•
@Daoud Akano, I barely
Submitted by Obi moore (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 19:20.
@Daoud Akano, I barely understand the import of your postings, what are you ranting about? undescerining minds reading you may think Nigeria has reached eldorado already, without knowing that all the ills that led to the war still bedevils the country today. Innocent bloods are still being shed everyday in the North, Minorities are being slaughtered like cows, the Igbos are still being targeted and killed in most cities in the North. You then wonder why this seeming cowardice on the part of the Southern Nigeria, where our people are being wasted everyday in the North whereas theirs are going about their businesses unmolested in South, let us tell ourselves the home truth, we missed great opportunity in 1967 to free ourselves from those parasites feasting on our peoples blood. Ojukwu deserved all the tributes he is getting today because what he saw then is much more present with us today even if we hate to admit it.
yorubas are basket mouth
Submitted by Sylvester Amadi (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 19:19.
When you critically look at yorubas you will understand their inclination towards Hausa/fulani, because the latter made them slaves and exert authority on them. You can see why 70% of them are muslims, very soon Boko Haram will invade Oyo, because there is no different between hausa man and yorubaman.
I asked myself even as Igbos was fighting a war, that yorubas could not progress beyound the reach of the igbos. Governor of Oshun confess that poverty is killing his people.Even today they are still crawling, Awo was used and dump,since democracy in 1999 Nigerians has always put their hope on igbos in any cabinet, Soludo,Ngozi, Akuyili,Bath Nnnaji, Ezekwesili, name one yoruba, all of them have case with EFCC.
yorubas are hausa/fulani slaves
Submitted by Sylvester Amadi (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 19:05.
Arrant Nonsense! Who is Awo to lead Yorubas out of Nigeria? Awo and his group wanted to cash into the confusion going on them to re-launch himself, after his political rival S.Akintola humiliated and disrobed him his political relevance and make sure he was sentence to prison. Yorubas can't fight anybody; in Lagos we see how their wives beat them up.
Igbos always fights to defend them, younger Igbo officers sacrificed their life to install Awo from prison, during June 12 Zik and Ojukwu spoke against the annulment. It was igbo sons like Sen Polycarp Nwite,Dr Ezeife (Okwa dike), Chief Ralph Obiora, Arthur Nwankwo,Adm Ndubuisi Kalu, Chief Ebitu Ukiwe (Leader)chief Onyema Meribe etc that fought against Abachi under NADECO.While their weeping general Diya was knelt down by junior officer. History has it that Yorubas was conquered by Othman Dan fodio and install his religion (Islam) in Yorubaland.
REST IN PEACE IKEMBA OF NNEWI.
Submitted by Benjani (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 18:12.
Folks tone down your superlatives. Calling Ojukwu what he wasn't does him more harm than good.
In the Nigerian Army, Ojukwu was not the first university graduate. Check out the name Olutoye.
Ojukwu's last official rank in the Nigerian Army was Lt. Colonel, and not a General.
As a state governor in 1966, Ojukwu had no power to release anyone jailed on federal charges. Only the head of state, Gowon had such power.
The only way now to respect his soul is not add to what he did or take out of it. Let them be.
No doubt Ojukwu was a great man in his own way.
May his soul rest in perfect peace, Amen.
i am always amazed at the
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 16:40.
i am always amazed at the logic of people like daoud akano and his ilk. if Ojukwu and the ibos are the cause of all the problems in nigeria, then why not allow them to go their own seperate ways. you can not have it both ways daoud, you son of a goat. it is either ibos are the bane of nigeria and thus should be excluded from nigeria or they are not the problem but rather the solution. if a nation is still suffering from events that happened 45 yrs ago and one can make a definitive statement that things were better 49 yrs ago than today, then such nation does not deserve to be in existence. nigeria will eventually collapse once the oil in the south finishes or oil is found in commercial quantity in the far north.daoud leave ibos alone, and please chase your fake nigerian dream ass-wipe.
GEORGE WILLIAM, YOU CAN GO HUG A TRANSFORMER
Submitted by Uzoma (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 15:40.
George Wiliam, if you don't like Prof Ndibe's write-up and praise for the leader of Ndigbo, Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, you can commit suicide. Ojukwu remains a man to recon with in the life of every Ibo man, he is our hero, he is our mentor, he deserves more than the praise accorded him while alive and in death. There is no tribal anything here. If you were an Ibo man, you will understand. So, just shut your crap. He is not like the corrupt leaders ruling your Nigeria of today. HE IS THE SYMBOL OF THE IBO RACE, PERIOD. MAY HIS BRAVE AND INCORRUPTIBLE SOUL REST IN THE BOSSOM OF THE LORD, AMEN.
A House Divided Against Itself...
Submitted by Andy (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 15:08.
As I scan through the various reactions trailing Dr. Ndibe's article, I can't help but think that the late Ikemba has been vindicated already by the words of bigotry being traded on this forum. Everything said or written, every action, every body language is subjected to the twisted microscopic lens of tribal-religious bigotry, thus beclouding our nationalistic outlook regarding our affairs as a people. A house divide against itself cannot stand! No wonder Nigeria will keep groping in the darkness of backwardness, and may never find, let alone take her place in the driving seat in the comity of nations! It's a terrible shame!
@Koboko Dem please kindly
Submitted by John Smith (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 13:58.
@Koboko Dem please kindly take one simple advice DO NOT EVER pretend to speak any LANGUAGE you DO NOT KNOW.With regard to education in general and intellectualism in particular, do not look further from your people i.e one so-called computer wizard Philip Emeagwali, please check this article title: How Philip Emeagwali Lied His Way to Fame in Sahara Reporters published on 18 Oct. 2010. This an example of typical Igbo intellectual 419/Fruad. Not to mention the witchcrafts, arm robbers, kidnappers, Fraudsters, prostitutes, drug pushers the list goes on and on...
@Chinedu (Hausa/fulani fool)
Submitted by Chyko (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 12:59.
Ur father must be an imbecile for such a Transgenic birth in u. U are an hausa/fulani-Bokoharamite claiming to be an igbo...may u cum in ur mothers mouth. Hausa goat!
So far two comments sum it up
Submitted by John Smith (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 12:32.
So far two comments sum it up what really Ojukwu was: @ George Williams and Ahmed were really SPOT-ON period.
So far two comments sum it up
Submitted by John Smith (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 12:29.
So far two comments sum it up what really Ojukwu was: @ George Williams and Ahmed were really SPOT-ON period.
So far two comments sum it up
Submitted by John Smith (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 12:27.
So far two comments sum it up what really Ojukwu was: @ George Williams and Ahmed were really SPOT-ON period.
@ Chinedu aka Ahmed
Submitted by Koboko-Dem! (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 12:26.
Kai, dan ubanka! The way you spell "soul" shows exactly how effective your quota system free education is, and how your State government has wasted it's money.
Dan banza, shegu.
Rest in peace Emeka
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 29, 2011 - 12:07.
Rest in peace Emeka
