Enugu, the capital of the old Eastern Region where the late Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu presided as governor, will today bid him a final farewell.
President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to lead the tributes at the requiem mass for the repose of his soul.
Today’s event will be the major activity of the funeral programme before the body is taken to Nnewi, Anambra State, for burial tomorrow.
Tomorrow has been declared a work-free day by Governor Sullivan Chime.
It was in Enugu that Ojukwu declared the still-born Republic of Biafra. He lived in the ‘Coal City’ on his return from exile in 1982, until he took ill and was flown abroad on December 22, 2010.
Major hotels have been fully booked as visitors converge on the city which has been given a facelift by the state government.
More security men have been deployed. President Jonathan may also be in Nnewi for tomorrow’s funeral. Also expected are former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Heads of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. Former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings and Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka were also seen in Enugu yesterday.
Also for the funeral are the governors of Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states. Other governors are also expected. The newly re-elected governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, will attend not only as a governor, but as a direct in-law of Ojukwu. His wife, Obioma, is Ojukwu’s niece.
Delegations from Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon and Tanzania are in Enugu. These countries were pro-Biafran nations during the Civil War.
Yesterday, the Catholic Church, where Ojukwu worshipped, held a concelebrated requiem mass for the departed Igbo leader. Ojukwu never missed the daily morning mass and the mid-day angelus of the church.
The mass witnessed a large turnout of people. It was held at an open ground at the headquarters of the Enugu Diocese, the Holy Ghost Cathedral.
Although Ojukwu’s body was not brought to the service, his widow, Bianca and other dignitaries were there. The dignitaries include Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and his wife, the deputy governor of Enugu state, Sunday Onyebuchi, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Chairman Victor Umeh, Prof. A. B. C. Nwosu, Prof. Ukwu I. Ukwu and Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Eugene Odoh.
Also at the mass were the Anglican Bishop of Enugu, Emmanuel Chukwuma, the Methodist Archbishop of Enugu, Bishop Samuel Uche and the leader of the Pentecostal churches in Enugu, Obi Onubogu.
At the service was a big crowd of Biafran War veterans aged between 70 and 90 years. They performed some military manouvres and rendered some war-time Biafran songs.
The Diocesan Vicar General, Monsignor Luke Obi, officiated at the mass, assisted by over 200 Catholic priests. The homily was delivered by Rev. Fr. John Nwafor, the Cathedral Administrator.
Fr. Nwafor described the late Ojukwu as “a man of great ideas and philosopher, a man of intelligence and humility and a man who saw tomorrow many years back”, adding that the mass symbolised the celebration of the overthrow of evil by God’s blessings.
He said the late Ojukwu dreamt of one Nigeria where there will be no oppression or subjugation. “A Nigeria where the Hausa can live peacefully in Igbo land and vice versa. A Nigeria where the Igbo man can live in Yoruba land as his home and vice versa.”
The late Ojukwu, he said, lived with the conviction of an egalitarian society where everybody is equal and a level - playing ground where everyone could attain his or her life aspiration.
The clergy said throughout his life time, the late Biafran leader was never accused of corruption. He challenged anybody who thought otherwise to come forward.
He reminded the people that the late Ojukwu was wrongly being accused of fighting a war of secession. According to him, he fought a war to protect his people from extinction.
“He did not lead Igbo to war but he led Igbo in war for self defence,” he said.
Governor Obi said the late Ojukwu’s life was a challenge to Nigerians, especially those holding public trust on the virtues of being selfless in service. He spoke during a symposium in honour of Ojukwu by Anioma people of Delta State at the Grand Hotel, Asaba.
Obi travelled to Asaba from Enugu with Senator Uche Chukwumerije and Prof. ABC Nwosu and left for Nnewi to inspect the final work at the Ojukwu Mausoleum.
The governor said he was overwhelmed by the type of honour Nigerians had accorded Ojukwu.
Insisting that Ojukwu’s name has become a byword for justice, he asked rhetorically how many Nigerians today would support such an ideal without asking what material benefit would come out of it?
Chairman of the occasion Chief Sunny Odogwu said the late Ojukwu was admired by everybody, including his military colleagues for his courage and gallantry. He urged Nigerians, especially the leaders, to correct what he called “structural deficiencies and social injustices” against which the late Ojukwu fought.
The lecturer, Prof. BIC Ijeomah, described the late Ojukwu as “the only nationalist”.
As Governor of Eastern Region, he had the responsibility to protect his people. That was not a rebellion, he said. Ijeomah decried as ‘unacceptable’, a situation where Igbo would always be made the sacrificial lamb for Nigeria’s unity.source:thejuristlawsblogspot.com