YESTERDAY, November 26, 2011, Dim
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the number
one Igbo citizen and a Nigerian patriot said
goodbye to this world after a protracted illness. I
was privileged to accompany Gov. Obi (his 9th
visit) to see him in London on the 25th of
November, on our way to Nigeria from France,
where he accompanied the president to the
meeting of Honorary Investors Council of
Nigeria’s meeting. Our plane hardly touched
ground at 5:30 am when the Governor received a
text message from Ojukwu’s son that the father
had passed on.
He was momentarily lost as he kept shouting Oh
noo ad infinitum. He immediately made some
calls, including to Ojukwu’s wife, Bianca who is in
London. He called his wife, Margaret who was in
France with us, but had to stop in London to
immediately go and stay with Bianca and make
sure everything was in order. Mrs Margaret
Peter-Obi had tried in vain to persuade her
husband to spend the night in London, but the
Governor said that he had so many things to do
in Anambra that he could not afford one minute
of rest.
Turning to me, he told me to call his travel agent
for the next available flight to London for himself,
myself and Emeka, Ojukwu’s son. The agent got
back with the news that British Airways was fully
booked. Thereafter, we went to fetch the son in
town and raced back to the airport for the next
flight to Lagos to catch the Virgin flight to London.
Since only two economy class were available, I
could not make it; Gov. Obi and Emeka did.
While we were in London, Gov. Obi had audience
with the President. After the meeting, he told me
how nice our president is, his concern for the
good of the country and how he showed deep-
rooted concern for Ojukwu. The issue arose
because Obi discussed with him the possibility of
naming the dual carriage road from Head bridge
after Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu.
He had written to him on that but Mr. President
was of the opinion, and rightly too, that it would
be after the rehabilitation of the road, which is on-
going now. Even while the President spoke to our
people in France, he said that his SSA in Diaspora
(Bianca) would have been in the meeting but for
special permission granted her to appropriately
look after her husband. As all this took place,
nobody knew that death was hovering over him.
But why this unusual reactions to Ojukwu’s
death? The reason is simple, he was a great man.
Shall we sample him?
By the standard of today, his father, Sir Louis
Odumegwu was a Billionaire. With his wealth, he
reared the little but charming Emeka with all the
affection that parents lavish upon their children in
ever y age. He was determined to give him the
best education. Consistent with Sir Louis’ vow,
the child, Emeka, was almost crushed with
education. The first school he attended was St.
Patrick’s Primary School, Idumagbo, Lagos.
There, during break hours, he relished sham
battles in which, time and again, he and his
friends were nearly killed. Because of this, only
few pupils could dare play with him. Later, he
attended Church Missionary Grammar School
(CMS) and King’s College, both in Lagos.
While in King’s College, his father had already
discovered that his child, Emeka, was intellectually
precocious and keen, well endowed with good
judgment and restless with ambition. How best
could a man develop his potentialities? In those
days, as it is today, it helped to attend good
schools. King’s College was in fact, one of the
best secondary schools in Nigeria. Since
education was still developing in the country, Sir
Odumegwu wanted for his son a country where
education has reached advanced stages, for
effective intellectual insemination. It is a fact of
history that when one grows among advanced
people, he is more likely to imbibe their civilization
with great ease. After discussing the idea of a
British education with some of his enlightened
Nigerian friends, they settled for Epsom on the
understanding that at thirteen he would transfer
to Eton, Britain’s most exclusive public school.
As planned, Emeka, 12, was admitted into Epsom
College, in the county of Surrey.
His English education began in earnest. Epsom
thenceforth became a formative ordeal for him in
a strange environment. The college inspired the
talented Emeka with a great love for history. He
came to know and admire English civilization. Like
any child with his disposition, he equally learnt a
great deal of the virtues and vices that go with
growing up,
Emeka later gained admission to Lincoln College,
University of Oxford in 1952. Oxford, as expected,
was full of the frolic of students, the odour of
learning and the excitement of independent
thought. There, his father was anxious that
Emeka should study Law saying, “I think there is
the material of a good lawyer and legal director of
my business in him.”11 This was in line with the
prevalent disposition among Nigerians, where, till
today, fond parents always want their children to
read Law which they regard as an open sesame
to wealth and high social status.
The insistence of the father that Emeka studied
Law was the first serious conflict between father
and son. In filial compromise Emeka took up the
studying of Law; but as a student of Law, the
prospect of studying modern History and
observing the lives of heroes held a secret
fascination for him. At a stage, having studied
Law for a year, he burnt his law books, forgot
Jurisprudence and followed History as if under a
spell.
In 1955 he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree.
Back to Nigeria, he soon returned to Oxford to
receive his Master of Arts degree. With all these,
and while in the flower of his maturity, he
inwardly felt satisfied that he was now well
armed with the weapon of education. His desire
to contribute to the development of his country
could now begin. Silently, he resolved to begin in
earnest.
On his return and excited and happy with his
son, Sir Odumegwu took Emeka to a lavishly
furnished office complex, and handed him the
keys. On getting home that day, Emeka had a
vision or something close to that; he was offered
a choice of life of ease, pleasure, plenty and vice,
or one of hardship, danger, glory and virtue. He
followed wise counsel and chose the more
difficult but virtuous life. Thereafter, he rejected
the cosy path cut for him by his father, gave him
back the keys and decided to cut his own path.
This crave for individualism made him join the
Eastern Nigerian Public Service as an
Administrative Officer. Sir Louis was not pleased
at all that his son took what he considered the
ridiculous job of an administrator. Exhausting all
persuasion, the father upbraided the son for
trying to make his family a public jest. Rather
than budge, the son showed ever less interest in
the father’s business, ever more in
administration.
The dust generated by Emeka’s administrative
work had hardly settled down when, in search of
an organization that would escape his father’s
influence, he generated another controversy that
threatened to separate him from his father for
good. He joined the Army! This was in 1957,
when the Nigerian Army was merely a part of an
all-embracing British West African army called the
Royal West African Frontier Forces (RWAFF).
These forces included the armies of Nigeria, Gold
Coast (now Ghana), Sierra-Leone and Gambia.
Thinking the task of bringing his son to his
“senses” had gone beyond him, Sir Odumegwu
enlisted the help of his friends; Zik and others
were contacted. Zik called Emeka and advised that
if he were Emeka, he would accept his father’s
offer and avoid the hazard of joining a brutal
force. Emeka remarked that he would do so if he
were Zik. Being Emeka, he maintained that his
father’s offer would make him perpetually
delineated as Ojukwu.
After the drama of being forced to enter the force
as a recruit, the new Cadet went to Teshie in
Ghana, thenceforth to Officer Cadet School at
Eaton Hall in England,. He later attended Infantry
School at Warminster and Small Arms School at
Hythe and Joint Services Staff College (JSSC) at
Latimer.
In Nigeria, Ojukwu served with the First Battalion,
Kano, before his appointment as an instructor,
Royal West African Frontier Forces Training
School, Teshie, Ghana, 1958-60. Ojukwu
returned to fatherland in 1961 and served as staff
officer in the ‘A’ Branch of the new Nigerian Army
Headquarters in the Defence Ministry building in
Lagos. He had no problems carrying out his
assigned duties. Six months as a Captain, Ojukwu
was promoted to a Major. Because of the respect
Emeka’s father had for the rank of a Major, he
broke the silence with his son and celebrated his
promotion with him. Father and son drank a
bottle of champagne between them as a gesture
of re-union. Very soon he was transferred to
Kaduna as a Staff Officer with the First Brigade.
While there, like his contemporaries, he served
with the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces in
Congo in 1962. Between 1964 – 66, Ojukwu was
the commander of Fifth Battalion, Kano. The
period of his command can be described without
tongue-in-cheek, as the most gruesome time in
the history of Nigeria. While he was in the Fifth
Battalion, the first attempted coup took place. He
did not, like most commanders, abdicate his
command. He opposed the coup and was later
appointed the governor of the Eastern Region.
His tenure as governor portrayed him as a
master in the art of governance, and an eloquent
public speaker. None who heard him speak could
forget the cadence of his speeches, his mellifluous
tones, the eloquence of his words, the geniality of
his spirit, the charm of his courtesy, the vivacity
of his wit, the poetic sensitivity of his mind. Both
in his prepared and impromptu speeches, he
made use of all the faculties he had, natural or
acquired, such that he far surpassed in force and
strength all the orations of his contemporaries. He
has the rare capacity for dramatic poses.
Clenched fist, jutting jaw and theatrical action,
were part of his fiery speeches.
The regime of General Ironsi, which Ojukwu was
part of, tried to save Nigeria within the limits of
their vision and creed. With the death of Ironsi,
an organized pogrom was carried out. An
eyewitness told how orders were given to some
Northern soldiers to kill all Easterners. The terrified
soldiers at first refused to obey the command.
They were however induced to kill a few. The
heat of the murder inflamed them and it passed
into massacre. This spread to the barracks and
Igbo quarters with fluid readiness. Ojukwu and
other concerned Igbos raised horrified protests,
even as soldiers of Northern region congratulated
one another.
Igbos then came to the belief that the security of
the Easterners was in their own hands. The
courage of their leader, Ojukwu, gave dignity and
splendour to their survival cause. Thousands of
onlookers must have been disturbed as millions
of Igbos left the North in a prolonged and
melancholy exodus.
This was the genesis of the civil war crisis. As the
crisis deepened, Ojukwu’s resistance grew, but
Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon wanted to retain him
in the army. In an attempt to placate him, the
prospect of being the Chief of Staff Supreme
Headquarters was dangled before him with
enticing conditions. However, Ojukwu, who
would not support indiscipline, spurned the
dangled carrot. Were he different, he says: “I
would not have chosen to resist Gowon instead
of the easy way of acquiescence chosen by my
colleagues.”
As one of the means of seeking peace, the actors
in that conflict needed a meeting.
Ojukwu knew that his security and that of the
Easterners was not guaranteed. Likewise neither
Gowon nor Lt. Colonel Hassan Katsina was
prepared to go to the East. A compromise would
have been Benin City, the capital of the Mid-
Western region, but for the presence of Northern
soldiers, it was unacceptable to Ojukwu. In sum
then, a meeting could only be held in a neutral
territory that would be willing to host such.
Finally, the meeting was held at Aburi, Ghana,
under the auspices of General Ankrah. The two
warriors and their lieutenants, as expected, flew
off to Ghana well armed with the problems of the
country as if to a decisive battle.
The Aburi meeting was held on the 4th and 5th
of January 1967, at Peduase Lodge, a luxurious
hilltop retreat built by late President Kwameh
Nkrumah. The serenity of the place could bring
wandering souls back to their senses. It was an
ideal place for sober reflection.
At Aburi, for the first time in Nigerian history the
problems of the country were faced honestly and
honest solutions sought. From that bitter
moment, Ojukwu the Administrator receded into
history, and Ojukwu the General, aged 33, turned
his soul to war. He went to war not because he
liked war, but because he had no option. The
problems he faced seemed to have defied a
peaceful solution. After the war, he went to exile
where he stayed for 12 years.
With the end of the war, Ojukwu was granted
political asylum by the Late President of Ivory
Coast, Houphuet Boigny. Thus, from 11 January,
1970, Ojukwu’s exile started. He needed a
secluded place that would be conducive to sober
reflections and contemplation. He needed to be
away from the prying and prancing eyes of
many that sought to see that powerful man of
Biafra. He needed a place that would be
inaccessible to assassins. The search for a good
place finally ended at Yamoussoukoro, which also
houses the Ivorian Summer Palace. Its imposing
Catholic basilica now enhances the pride of the
city. Later, when tension reduced, he moved to
the capital, Abidjan.
After his pardon by the then President, Alhaji
Shehu Shagari, Ojukwu came home on board a
chartered Boeing 727 Nigeria Airways Flight WT
700. Soon after the plane touched down on
Nigerian soil, the welcome song rent the air.
Work at the airport was almost paralysed, as all
airport officials who got wind of his arrival
abandoned their posts for hours to catch a
glimpse of Ojukwu, the returning hero. There
was hardly anybody in the country that had not
the curiosity to come and see the formidable and
indefatigable freedom fighter. There was what
seemed like mass movement of Easterners,
Westerners and Northerners to the airport. The
airport was partly destroyed.

INDEED HE IS AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN. OTHERS MOVE FROM RAGS TO RICHES BUT HE OPTED FOR RICHES TO RAGS. AM SO PROUD OF THE MAN OJUKWU. HE WAS ALSO THE FIRST GRADUATE TO ENTER THE NIGERIAN FORCE. DADDY U MAY NOT BE HERE BUT YOU WILL FOREVER LIVE IN US.
KA CHIFUO!

Great Man iwe

Indeed no single word will suffice.

Call Him a rare gem, not enough

Call Him a brave man, not enough

I will not mourn YOU IKEMBA, Am proud of you and will always celebrate you.

GAA NKE OMA.

Please there is no Chief as title in Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu's Name, His title is Dim
He rejected everything English including the Title.

He died a great man, unlike his Southwest mate(traitor) dat drank otapiapia