Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 193 – 26 November 2011 was a Nigerian military officer and politician. Ojukwu served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in
1966, the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970 and a Nigerian politician from 1983 to 2011, when he died, aged 78.

CAREER:
Ojukwu came into national prominence upon his appointment as military governor in 1966 and his actions thereafter. A military coup against the
civilian Nigerian federal government in January 1966 and a counter coup in July 1966 by different military factions, perceived to be ethnic coups, resulted in
organized Killing of large numbers of Igbos in Northern Nigeria . Ojukwu, who was not an active participant in either coup, was appointed the military governor of Nigeria's Eastern region in
January 1966 by General Aguyi Ironsi.

In 1967, great challenges confronted the Igbos of Nigeria, with the coup d’etat of 15 January 1966 led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu ( who was from the Mid-Western Region-Okpanam Town, near Asaba in the present day Delta State). who was widely considered to be an outstanding progressive and was buried with full military honors when killed by those he fought against. His coup d’etat was triggered by political lawlessness, and uncontrolled looting in the streets of Western Nigeria. Unfortunately, the sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello; the prime minister of Nigeria, Sir Tafawa Balewa; the premier of the Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola and the finance minister, Chief Festus Okotie Eboh (among others including military officers) were killed in the process. The organized killing of Igbos followed in Northern Nigeria beginning in July 1966. Eventually, then Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu declared
Biafra's Independence on 30 May 1967. (Biafra- 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970).
Ojukwu took part in talks to seek an end to the hostilities by seeking peace with the then Nigerian military leadership, headed by General Yakubu Gowon (Nigeria's head of state following the July 1966 counter coup). The military leadership met in Aburi, Ghana (the Aburi Accord), but the agreement
reached there was not implemented to by the General Gowon upon their return to Nigeria. The failure to implement the agreement, and the decision of the Nigerian military leadership to establish new states in the Eastern Region and the continued killing of the igbos in Northern Nigeria led Ojukwu to announce a breakaway of the Eastern Region under the new name Republic of Biafra in 1967. This sequence of events sparked the Nigerian Civil War. Ojukwu led the Biafran forces and on the defeat of Biafra in January 1970, and after he had delegated instructions to Philip Effiong, he went into exile for 13 years, returning to Nigeria following a pardon.


1966 coups and events leading to the Nigerian Civil War

Lieutenant-Colonel Ojukwu was in Kano, northern Nigeria, when Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu on 15 January 1966 executed and
announced the bloody military coup in Kaduna, also in northern Nigeria. It is to Ojukwu's credit that the coup lost much steam in the north, where it had
succeeded. Lt. Col. Odumegwu-Ojukwu supported the forces loyal to the Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Major-General Aguiyi-
Ironisi. Major Nzeogwu was in control of Kaduna, but the coup had failed in other parts of the country.

Aguiyi-Ironsi took over the leadership of the country and thus became the first military head of state. On Monday, 17 January 1966, he appointed military
governors for the four regions. Lt. Col. Odumegwu- Ojukwu was appointed Military Governor of Eastern Region. Others were: Lt.-Cols Hassan Usman Katsina (North), Francis Adekunle Fajuyi (West), and David Akpode Ejoor (Mid West). These men formed the
Supreme Military Council with Brigadier B.A.O. Ogundipe, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, Chief of Staff Army HQ, Commodore J. E. A. Wey, Head of Nigerian Navy, Lt.
Col. George T. Kurubo, Head of Air Force, Col. Sittu Alao.

By 29 May 1966, there was a large killings in northern Nigeria during which Nigerians of southeastern Nigeria origin were targeted and killed. This
presented problems for Odumegwu Ojukwu. He did everything in his power to prevent reprisals and even encouraged people to return, as assurances for their safety had been given by his supposed colleagues up north and out west.

On 29 July 1966, a group of officers, including Majors Murtala Muhammed, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, and Martin Adamu, led the majority Northern soldiers in a mutiny that later developed
into a "counter-coup". The coup failed in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria where Ojukwu was the military Governor, due to the effort of the brigade commander and hesitation of northern officers
stationed in the region (partly due to the mutiny leaders in the East being Northern whilst being surrounded by a large Eastern population).
The Supreme Commander General Aguiyi-Ironsi and his host Colonel Fajuyi were abducted and killed in Ibadan. On acknowledging Ironsi's death, Ojukwu
insisted that the military hierarchy be preserved. In that case, the most senior army officer after Ironsi was Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe, should take over
leadership, not Colonel Gowon (the coup plotters choice), however the leaders of the counter-coup insisted that Colonel Gowon be made head of state.
Both Gowon and Ojukwu were of the same rank in the Nigeria Army then (Lt. Colonel). Ogundipe could not muster enough force in Lagos to establish his
authority as soldiers (Guard Battalion) available to him were under Joseph Nanven Garba who was part of the coup, it was this realisation that led Ogundipe
to opt out. Thus, Ojukwu's insistence could not be enforced by Ogundipe unless the coup plotters agreed (which they did not). The fall out from
this led to a stand off between Ojukwu and Gowon leading to the sequence of events that resulted in the Nigerian civil war.

Leader of Biafra General Ojukwu

In January 1967, the Nigerian military leadership went to Aburi, Ghana, for a peace conference hosted by General Joseph Ankrah. The implementation of
the agreements reached at Aburi was not carried out by General Gowon upon return to Nigeria and on 30 May 1967, as a result of this, Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared Eastern Nigeria a sovereign state to be known as BIAFRA.
On 6 July 1967, Gowon declared war and attacked Biafra. For 30 months, the war raged on. Now General Odumegwu-Ojukwu knew that the odds against the new republic were overwhelming. Most
European states recognised the illegitimacy of the Nigerian military rule and banned all future supplies of arms, but the UK government substantially
increased its supplies, even sending British Army and Royal Air Force advisors.
After three years of non-stop fighting and starvation, a hole did appear in the Biafran front lines and this was exploited by the Nigerian military. As it became
obvious that all was lost, Ojukwu was convinced to leave the country to avoid his certain assassination. On 9 January 1970, General Odumegwu-Ojukwu
handed over power to his second in command, Chief of General Staff Major-General Philip Effiong, and left for Côte d'Ivoire, where President Félix
Houphouët-Boigny – who had recognised Biafra on 14 May 1968 – granted him political asylum.

Sustaining the Biafran war Blockaded by air, land and sea, Ojukwu and Biafra
refined enough fuel stored under the canopies of jungle trees in the town of Obohia in Mbaise, Imo State Nigeria. These were the products of makeshift
refineries that moved from place to place as the enclave receded. Facing deadly air raids from Russian MiG jets piloted by Algerian and Egyptian
mercenaries, Ojukwu's Biafra and University scientists designed, collected resources, and build the "Ogbunigwe," a series of large bombs, in only a
matter of weeks. As the drums of war were sounding, Ojukwu's Biafra was planning the establishment of the University of Science and Technology in Port-Harcourt.


Biafran development

Biafran technicians conceived and produced the Ogbunigwe, a cone shaped, sometimes cylindrical
cluster bomb that disperses shrapnel with percussion. It was also used as a ground to ground and ground to air projectile and was used with telling and destructive effect. Ojukwu and the Biafra
RAP built airports and roads, refined petroleum, chemicals and materials, designed and built light and heavy equipment, researched on chemical and
biological weapons, rocketry and guidance systems, invented new forms of explosives, tried new forms of food processing and technology. Biafra home-
made armoured vehicle the "Red Devil," celebrated also in the book by Sebastian Okechukwu Mezu: Behind The Rising Sun, was a red terror in the battle field. The Biafra shoreline was lined with
home-made shore batteries and remote controlled weapons systems propelling rockets and bombs.

Ojukwu Death

On 26 November 2011, Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu died in the United Kingdom after a brief illness, aged
78. The Nigerian Army accorded him the highest military accolade and conducted a funeral parade for him in Abuja, Nigeria on 27 February 2012, the day his body was flown back to Nigeria from London
before his burial on Friday, 2 March. He was buried in a newly built mausoleum in his compound at Nnewi. Before his final interment, he had about the most unique and elaborate weeklong funeral
ceremonies in Nigeria besides Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whereby his body was carried around the five Eastern states, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, including the nation's capital, Abuja.
Memorial services and public events were also held in his honour in several places across Nigeria, including Lagos and Niger State, his birthplace, and
as far away as Dallas, Texas, United States. His funeral was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and ex President Jerry Rawlings
of Ghana among other personalities.

Source: www.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Odumegwu_Ojukwu

GMB my HERO!
AMEACHI my ROLE MODEL!!
FASHOLA my GUY!!!

ike eji eje MBA a
ur a real hero ...
IGBO _I go before others

ojukwu my g

Great Man that really understands the plight of his people.

B

He is a true hero .

He encouraged black growth in technology

Ojukwu is a very great man...

Great men do not die... They only take rest from active life... Ojukwu lives on...

.....and the same east refused to vote for him when he contested for President!

He was a man who lived before his time. He will always be in the heart of the Igbo, wether liked or nt. As ndi igbo he dwells in our souls. None like him. RIP Ezeigbo gburu gburu!