[size=15pt]Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu- Ojukwu (1933-2011)[/size]

He stole fire from the gods

By Amanze Obi

Sunday, November 27, 2011


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He had a protean disposition. In his life time, he was variously described as a demagogue, a rabble-rouser, a megalomaniac and even a war-monger. But Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the leader of the defunct Republic of Biafra, could not be pigeon-holed. His life remembered an open enterprise with a wide receptive canvass until he succumbed to the cold hands of death at the age of 78.

As an ideologue of the first order, Odumegwu-Ojukwu, at the prime age of 34 became the symbol of a struggle. The quest by Eastern Nigeria to become an independent Republic at the time he was the Military Governor of the Region has remained till this moment, the epic of a race. Even in his death, the struggle of the Igbo in a fractured Nigeria which began with the Birafran revolution will remain a philosophy, even a belief system.

His life and times were those of a titan. He happened upon the Nigerian scene in the manner of a Prometheus. But whereas the legendary Greek god stole fire from heaven and was chained and tortured, Odumegwu-Ojukwu was daringly original. He shunned subjugation and broke loose from the shackles of degradation and dehumanization.

By so doing, he stole the soul of Nigeria, leaving the entity groping endlessly in search of relevance. The Igbo struggle which he led left Nigeria as a fraction. The country has, ever since, continually laboured to find its integer.
Forty four years into the struggle, Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the author and progenitor of the revolution, has bowed out with grace. But he did not do so without leaving his footprints on the sands of time.
But exit will thrown up a lot of concerns from the watching world. As the Igbo icon who led his people to a war whose memory is deeply etched in their imagination, what will the Igbo make of Ojukwu’s absence from the scene? Will be struggle end with him? Will the absence foist on the Igbo a deep sense of loss to the point of inertia?

Analysts see these possibilities as far-fetched, As a people with an indomitable spirit, the Igbo are likely to be supremely challenged by Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s absence. But rather than relapse into mournful surrender, the people are likely to ensure that his iconic image remains the rallying point or a point of reference with which the Igbo can wake themselves from slumber. This is because, Odumgwu-Ojukwu, until his death, remained the only Igbo man who was truly lionized and revered by the people. Not even the legendary Nnamdi Azikiwe occupied such a prime place in the heart of the Igbo.

Indeed, Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s preeminence in the imagination of the Igbo should be well understood for what it is. The real story of the Igbo people of Nigeria is the story of Biafra. Even though the Republic collapsed less than three years after its declaration, its birth and death seem to summarize the place of the Igbo in today’s Nigeria.
As an Igbo, indeed a Nigerian, you do not need to be born before 1967 to know that Nigeria went to war with the Igbo nation over the secessionist bid of the latter. Even though the attempt failed, the Igbo have imbibed all things Biafran. The people believed and still believe in the struggle. They are constantly reminded by the state of affairs in Nigeria that Biafra is a dream deferred. Sometimes the Igbo moan and groan, albeit quietly, over the loss of their dream Republic. They know that things are what the are because they lost their Biafra.

The corollary of this is that the Nigerian federation managed by non-Biafrans have tended to isolate the enclave that was Biafra. The post-War Nigeria is suspicious of the Igbo nation. The promoters and beneficiaries of post-War Nigeria see Igboland as a conquered territory and the people as a defeated lot. The Nigerian leadership, in line with this thinking, adopted a scorched earth policy that was meant to constantly remind the people that they are yet to be reintegrated into the mainstream of Nigerian affairs.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu, in his life time, was a witness to this deliberate effort at undermining the people he led to war. Since it is the prerogative of the victor to rewrite history, there have also been invidious attempts by anti-Briafan elements to give the defunct Republic a bad name. But Odumegwu-Ojukwu rebuffed all of this. He remained faithful to the struggle he led. He never wavered or equivocated. He lived and dreamt Biafra. He stood by the struggle till the last moment.
As he journeys along into eternity, Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the graduate of History at Oxford University, England, will be remembered as the true man of the people. His early exposure to wealth and education helped to give his life the meaning that culminated in Biafra. It also helped to keep critics at bay.

This is because the man knew his onions and could not be led by the nose. He had an oratorical prowess that even his glib critics could not ignore. But all the gift of excellence that he had could not have been for the sake of it. He was sent from Heaven by the creator to give expression and meaning to the beliefs and convictions by his people.

He carried out the assignment to the best of his ability. Therefore, no matter what anybody may say of him, Odumegwu-Ojukwu was the true symbol of the Igbo quest for a just and equitable Nigeria. This ideal could not be achieved in his life time. But certainty, the Igbo will hold aloft the torch of forbearance which Odumegwu-Ojukwu lit in their hearts 44 years ago. Certainly, the dream shall not die.


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