Ojukwu @ 78 – Filling the puzzle

By Ikeddy ISIGUZO, Chairman Editorial Board
CHUKWUEMEKA

Odumegwu-Ojukwu mostly defies description. It is a quality that delights him, another is his intellectual fecundity, enthused into their solid frames at some of the best schools in the world. He never made too much of them but when he spoke, people knew he had been to places.

Ojukwu, who turns 78 today, remains a puzzle. He made his choices early in life. Those positions are elaborately available in his barely acknowledged book, Because I am Involved. The 1989 book was so vilified that it is doubtful if its reviewers ever read it. One of the most uncharitable comments it generated was particular about effusive encomia Ojukwu lavished on his belle, the still beautiful Bianca, who he married.

Any serious reading of the book would reveal it as a walk through the minefield called Nigeria. Ojukwu knew Nigeria well enough to write about it. Born into what would surpass even today’s vague terms of standards for wealth, he had the best education, in the best schools in Nigeria and England, then returned to a demeaning job of administrative officer.

The choice scandalised his millionaire father Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, one of the founders and pioneer President of the Lagos Stock Exchange, now the Nigeria Stock Exchange. Later, he joined the army, the second graduate after James Olutoye. His critics easily overlook his contributions to Nigeria to excuse their own inadequacies.

Born on November 4, 1933, in Zungeru (birth place of the great Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe), he attended St. Patrick’s Primary School, Idumagbo, CMS Grammar School, King’s College, all in Lagos. He proceeded to Lincoln College, University of Oxford where he obtained his Bachelor’s, and Master’s in History. From 1957 to 1967 when he led the secessionist struggle, he had been Quarter Master-General of the Nigerian Army, Commander, 5th Battalion in Kano (1964-66) and Military Governor, Eastern Region (1966-67).

He dedicated his book thus: “To my father who set the standard that I strive to reach.” The dedication is somewhat intriguing. Sir Odumegwu-Ojukwu was more famous for merchandising and politics than the controversies his son hugs. His business empire stretched across the country and more than six decades ago, he was rated among the wealthiest Africans. Ojukwu, the Ikemba Nnewi, Dikedioranma, Eze Igbo Gburugburu, and more titles on, kept the youthful fire that caused him to lead protests from his days at King’s College to the Civil War.

The most acerbic criticisms against him are on the Civil War. As a young man, just 33, he had the burden of liberating his people, set up a country that ran better than most countries at peace (at least there was no fuel scarcity, some would counter that there were few vehicles).

He sought peace, while he fought the Civil War. Generations of Ndigbo would remain grateful to him for his prosecution of the war. The war might have been lost, but one of the respects still accorded him is for his awesome role in the struggle, which he elevated to the highest display of professionalism in organisation and execution. [/b]Bias apart, nobody can write about Nigeria without generous spaces left for Emeka, as his associates fondly refer to him. [b]He is as passionate about Nigeria as he was about Biafra, a project many now condemn in their quest for acceptance in Nigeria.

Ojukwu himself has fought that war for acceptance at other levels – thrice vying for political office and failing to win. From exile in Cote d’Ivoire, he plunged into politics in 1982, contested the Onitsha senatorial seat only to learn the betrayal that is the hallmark of our brand of politics. He was one of those imprisoned when the military returned a year later. Several things stand Ojukwu out.

He possessed an uncanny ability to be spot on. Issues that led to the Civil War and the many engineering innovations that climaxed in the weaponry at the disposal of the Igbos during the war are reminders of that dark past that is a quality lesson for the future. Some of the issues rejected at the Aburi Peace Conference were treated exhaustively in Because I am Involved. They remain relevant beyond Ojukwu.

National question

Forty-one years after the Civil War, 50 years after independence, Nigeria remains at the throbs of various crises, mostly related to the national question. Ojukwu said: “The true problem with Nigeria is that she is fully embroiled in an identity crisis. The Nigeria of today is a socio-path in search of an identity. The source of our problems is rooted in our fear of unity – or put this in a different way, our lack of will to transform our primordial instincts and create a modern polity.”

This presidential candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA in 2003 and 2007, was as guilty as anyone of some accusations he made against the Nigerian leadership. “Once we accept our addiction to privilege, we can then easily understand our obsession for status symbols. The Nigerian must wear the most expensive clothes, drive the most expensive cars, build the most expensive palaces, patronise the most expensive clubs, send his children to the most expensive schools, drink the most expensive beverages, throw the most lavish parties, and mate the most mercenary women. The objective is neither comfort nor luxury. Rather, it is in order to be recognised.”

He might as well be talking about himself. Ojukwu was not one to run from a fight. He remained combative about Nigerian issues. He tackled national question in Aburi 44 years ago. Many of those asking for a national conference today were teenagers then. Have they seen the wisdom in confederation, which was canvassed and lost in Aburi?

If we were a country that loved the truth, the issues that were raised in Aburi, the factors that led to the Civil War, and Ojukwu’s wholesome treatment of issues from religion to the condition of the prisons, not leaving out the economy, would have been dealt with in a manner that cared for the survival of Nigeria, instead of investing so much energy in dismissing the source of the wisdom.

Ojukwu annoyed his critics to no end with his intellectual prowess, his oratory, his charm, and a near-cult following. His commitment to Nigeria can be clearly seen from his vision for his fatherland. His thoughts on Nigeria are diverse and they remain relevant as the country gropes. “The civil war was a stage,” he said. Some might say an unnecessary stage and some might say an inevitable stage in our march to nationhood. Whichever way, it was a stage and a milepost in our agglomerate development. We cannot wish it away. We must forever take it into consideration whenever the subject is Nigeria.”

Though a former military governor, he said of coups: “As a committed democrat, every single day under an unelected government hurts me. The citizens of this country are mature enough to make their own choices, just as they have the right to make their own mistakes.

You cannot ban coup d’etats just as you cannot ban adultery or armed robbery. In each case, the thrust of our national effort should be in the direction of making the act unprofitable and very risky.”

If you have ever complained of millionaire generals, Dim Ojukwu affirmed, “It is easy to notice these days that generals who are penniless are mostly those who served under Ironsi. The era of millionaire-generals came after the second coup – the Gowon era. Since then, the phenomenon of millionaire-generals has become the rule rather than the exception.” “Governments,” he reasons, “should always maintain a preferential option for the poor as the true base of social justice. I believe that the justice of a community is measured by its treatment of the powerless in the society: those described as the widows and orphans, the poor and the strangers in our land.”

His socialist leanings were encapsulated in Ahiara Declaration, a June 1, 1969 speech that pointed a socialist direction for Biafra, made in Ahiara, Mbaise.

In that speech, he had harsh criticisms for the decadent state of Nigeria by 1967. They still sound familiar. “Nigeria committed many crimes against her nationals, which in the end made complete nonsense of her claim to unity. Nigeria persecuted and slaughtered her minorities; Nigerian justice was a farce, her elections, her politics her everything was corrupt.

Qualification, merit, and experience were dislocated in public service. In one area of Nigeria, for instance, they preferred to turn a nurse who had worked for five years into a doctor rather than employ a qualified doctor from another part of Nigeria.

Corruption and nepotism

“Bribery, corruption, and nepotism were so widespread that people began to wonder openly whether any country in the world could compare with Nigeria in corruption and abuse of power. All the modern institutions the legislature the civil service, the army, the police, the judiciary, the universities, the trade unions and the organs of mass information were devalued and made the tools of corrupt political power. There was complete neglect and impoverishment of the people. Whatever prosperity there was, was deceptive,” Ojukwu said in Ahiara.

“There were crime waves and people lived in fear of their lives. Business speculation, rack-renting, worship of money and sharp practices left a few people extremely rich at the expense of the many, and those few flaunted their wealth before the many and talked about sharing the national cake.”

Now that his health is failing him, and he is celebrating this birthday from a sick bed, he may finally enjoy an acknowledgement of his place in Nigeria. He had his failings, but he is doubtlessly involved in the Nigerian project. It is impossible to replace the puzzle called Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

[size=16pt]***Happy birthday Eze Igbo Gburugburu!! ***.[/size]

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/11/ojukwu-78-%E2%80%93-filling-the-puzzle/

the ojukwu phenomenon, puzzling and intriguing yet inspirational

If his father was one of the founders of the lagos stock exchange, then is the current president ngozi (is it) onyiruike related to the ojukwu family?

Just wondering.

The only interesting thing about this sob story is how Nigeria suddenly became a "she" just because "she" is problematic.

The true problem with Nigeria is that [size=18pt]she[/size] is fully embroiled in an identity crisis

Ileke-IdI:

The only interesting thing about this sob story is how Nigeria suddenly became a "she" just because "she" is problematic.

The only interesting thing about Ekiti is how 'her' governor still rolls in a convoy composed entirely of Keke-Napeps and 'Long John' bicycles (police escorts) while the women gyrate and dance topless around the city like yahoos.

Areosapien:



The only interesting thing about Ekiti is how 'her' governor still rolls in a convoy composed entirely of Keke-Napeps and 'Long John' bicycles (police escorts) while the women gyrate and dance topless around the city like yahoos.

Very interesting

God bless him and add many years to his life. Isee

Ikemba may God bless and strengthen you.