₦airaland Forum

MY SHIFTING VIEWS ABOUT ODUMEGWU OJUKWU AND HIS LEADERSHIP OF BIAFRA
(By Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire)
Movement for peaceful change (MPC)

https://trendsdynamics..com/2021/12/my-shifting-views-about-odumegwu-ojukwu.html?m=1

In recent times, I have made a number of posts in which I expressed rather critical and unflattering view of Emeka Ojukwu. In these posts, I saw him less as a hero and more as a young man who allowed ego and emotions to get the better part of him. Even though I continued to believe that the Igbos were badly provoked and terribly persecuted in Nigeria in 1966, I continued to emphasis that Ojukwu misjudged the world, he misjudged Gowon and his team, and he misjudged his own capacity. And these layers of misjudgment led to the loss of 3 million lives and the ultimate defeat of Biafrans.

My friends would wonder what has happened to me. I had deep respect for Ojukwu. I was lucky to have met him on two occasions in my life. First, was when he attended a law students event at the University of Benin over 30 years ago. The second was on August 5, 2005, when he and his beautiful and brilliant wife were my guests at my home in Rockville, Maryland, United States. On each of these two occasions, Ojukwu left an indelible impression in me far greater than all I had read about him and all I had imagined about him growing up and hearing about the civil war. There are many areas where Emeka Ojukwu stood shoulders taller than other men. It is hard to find anyone who admired Ojukwu as much as I did to later become as critical of his leadership of Biafra as I have been recently.

What then happened to me to change me? This is a legitimate question. But a more basic question should be whether I really changed in my assessment of the greatness of the man Ojukwu. No, I don’t think I changed, despite my critical reassessment of the leadership of Biafra. I did not change. What happened to me is that a sudden and unexpected situation has arisen among the Igbos, which demands my reaction. The rise of IPOB is a big threat to the long-term interest of the Igbos. And unfortunately, IPOB’s ideology seemed to have been drawing oxygen from a rather romanticized and false reading of history. There has been a certain tendency among many Igbo youths to see the events of 1967 as something that could be reenacted with a better outcome. That is: some Igbo youths tend to think that if we have another civil war, the Igbos would do better than they did in 1967, and thereby cure the age-long injustice against the Igbos in Nigeria.

I know that this sentimentalized view of history is not only false but downright stupid and dangerous. That false view of history needed to be re-examined and corrected. To the extent that any lenient interpretation of the history of the leadership of Biafra was encouraging the folly of the moment, I became determined to help shine light on certain corners of the history of Biafra that had been glossed over. I wanted to let the leaders of IPOB understand they will not end as heroes, but that history will judge them for extreme foolishness if their actions push the Igbos into more bloody confrontation with Nigeria.

What I have done by my critical review of Ojukwu is a reality check meant to restore situational awareness in the Igbo youths. I wanted to let them know that war will not end in glory and honor or praises for those who push us into war. I do respect Ojukwu’s memory and I understand what he meant to the Igbos. However, I must stop at that point where such respect would lead to the idealization of secession in 2021.

https://trendsdynamics..com/2021/12/my-shifting-views-about-odumegwu-ojukwu.html?m=1

Ojukwu is not a hero.

He is a coward who fled like a hen at the sight of a hawk.

Stupidity and Emeka Ugwuonye are like twins.

Brexxit:
[s]Ojukwu is not a hero.

He is a coward who fled like a hen at the sight of a hawk.[/s]

Ojukwu, MNK, and Biafra will forever remain your nightmare.

Brexxit:
Ojukwu is not a hero.

He is a coward who fled like a hen at the sight of a hawk.

A lot better than Awalowo that cried inside a dirty prison cell pleading for his life.

Also better than your carton Gen. Diya who was snorting catarrh while kneeling for his Junior Gen. Abacha

anything 4 d views
. unfortunately, ur views of him is irrelevant because you are a nobody.Ojukwu we know and respect.who are you?

Wanting to eat twice from alade's plate is Ibo problem

You will leave your region to go look for trouble in another region

Nnamdi Azikiwe started it with Awolowo
Igbo are still doing it with Tinubu

I sha wan think Tinubu learn valuable lesson from Awolowo.

Make dem no jail am collect him region from hin hand

Brexxit:
Ojukwu is not a hero.

He is a coward who fled like a hen at the sight of a hawk.

I don't like reading from bias and objectivity lacking souls.

How dare you say Ojukwu is a coward.
I have my reservations about his approach to Biafra but he is never a coward.

He is a man and real man

The 2023 presidential election is fast approaching the same igbo decampaigning we witnessed in 2015 that the apc used in winning the presidential election is repeating itself all over once again. So does it mean these people can't win any presidential election in nigeria without sponsoring media war against igbo people?