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Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

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Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933[1] – 26 November 2011[2]) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who served as President of the Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970 during the Nigerian Civil War.[3] He previously served as military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, which he declared as the independent state of Biafra.[4]

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
1st President of Biafra
In office
30 May 1967 – 8 January 1970
Vice PresidentPhilip Effiong
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byPhilip Effiong
Governor of Eastern Region, Nigeria
In office
19 January 1966 – 27 May 1967
Preceded byFrancis Akanu Ibiam
Succeeded byUkpabi Asika (East Central State)
Alfred Diete-Spiff (Rivers State)
Uduokaha Esuene (South-Eastern State)
Personal details
Born
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

(1933-11-04)4 November 1933
Zungeru, British Nigeria
Died26 November 2011(2011-11-26) (aged 78)
London, UK
NationalityNigerian, Biafran (1967–1970)
Political partyNigerian Military, Biafran military, later NPN, APGA
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Okoli
Njideka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Stella Ojukwu
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Children7
EducationCMS Grammar School, Lagos
King's College, Lagos
Epsom College
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (M.A. History)
Mons Officer Cadet School
ProfessionSoldier, politician
Military service
Allegiance
Branch/service
Years of service1957–1967 (Nigerian Army)
1967–1970 (Biafran Army)
Rank
Battles/warsCongo Crisis
Nigerian Civil War

Ojukwu was born in Zungeru, Nigeria during British colonial rule. He was the son of Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, a wealthy and successful Igbo businessman. Ojukwu was educated at King's College, Lagos in Nigeria and Epsom College in Surrey, England. He graduated from Oxford University in 1955 with a master's degree in history and returned to Nigeria to serve as an administrative officer. He later joined the Nigerian army and was rapidly promoted. Following Nigerian independence in 1960, a group of mostly Igbo junior army officers overthrew Nigeria’s civilian government in the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, another Igbo, became the new Nigerian head of state, and he appointed Ojukwu as military governor of the predominately Igbo Eastern Region. However, Hausa and Yoruba army officers feared an Igbo-dominated government, resulting in the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup and the subsequent 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom.

In response to Igbo demands for secession, Ojukwu reorganised the Eastern Region as the Republic of Biafra, and he declared independence from Nigeria. Nigeria invaded Biafra, sparking the Nigerian Civil War. The Nigerian military, with support from the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, blockaded Biafra and cut food supplies, which created a mass famine. Ojukwu made use of foreign media to highlight the plight of Biafran civilians and depict the war as genocide against Igbos.[5] The shocking images of starving Biafran civilians turned the war into an international media sensation, as this was one of the first globally televised wars alongside the Vietnam War.[6] Biafra received international humanitarian relief during the Biafran airlift.

Biafra eventually capitulated to Nigerian forces in 1970 after millions of Biafran civilians died. Ojukwu subsequently fled to Ivory Coast in exile, where President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who recognised Biafra as a sovereign and independent state, granted him political asylum. In 1981, newly democratically elected Nigerian president Shehu Shagari granted amnesty to Ojukwu, allowing him to return to Nigeria without facing political or legal consequences from the war. Ojukwu spent the remainder of his life unsuccessfully attempting to return to Nigerian politics as a democratically elected politician rather than a military ruler.

He died in 2011 at the age of 78 in London, England.[7] His body was returned to Nigeria, where Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan arranged a state funeral. He was buried with full military honours, including a 21-gun salute from the Nigerian Army, and thousands of people attended his funeral. Ojukwu remains a contentious figure in the history of Nigeria. Many Igbo people regard him as a hero and a messianic figure who did what was necessary to ensure the survival of Nigeria's Eastern population while facing the possibility of a genocide after the 1966 coup. Other Nigerians have deemed Biafra's secession unnecessary, blaming Ojukwu for the events of the war and accusing him of oppressing Biafra's non-Igbo ethnic minorities.[8]

Early life and education

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Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu was born on 4 November 1933 at Zungeru[9] in northern Nigeria to Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, an Igbo businessman from present-day Nnewi, Anambra State in south-eastern Nigeria. Sir Louis was in the transport business; he took advantage of the business boom during World War II to become the richest man in Nigeria. He began his educational career in Lagos, southwestern Nigeria.[10]

Emeka Ojukwu started his secondary school education at CMS Grammar School, Lagos aged 10 in 1943.[11] He later transferred to King's College, Lagos in 1944 where he was involved in a controversy leading to his brief imprisonment for assaulting a British teacher who put down a student strike action that he was a part of.[12] This event generated widespread coverage in local newspapers.[10] At 13, his father sent him to the United Kingdom to continue his education, first at Epsom College and later at Lincoln College, Oxford University, where he earned a master's degree in History. He returned to colonial Nigeria in 1956.[13] He was a Roman Catholic.[14]

Early career

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Ojukwu joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer at Udi, in present-day Enugu State. In 1957, after two years of working with the colonial civil service and seeking to break away from his father's influence over his civil service career,[15] he left and joined the military initially enlisting as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in Zaria.[16][17][18]

Ojukwu's decision to enlist as an NCO was forced by his father (Sir Louis)'s pulling of political strings with the then Governor-General of Nigeria (John Macpherson) to prevent Emeka from getting an officer-cadetship.[19] Sir Louis and Governor-General Macpherson believed Emeka would not stick to the gruelling NCO schedule, however, Emeka persevered. After an incident in which Ojukwu corrected a drill sergeant's mispronunciation of the safety catch of the Lee-Enfield .303 rifle, the British Depot Commander recommended Emeka for an officer's commission.[19]

From Zaria, Emeka proceeded first to the Royal West African Frontier Force Training School in Teshie, Ghana and next, to Eaton Hall where he received his commission in March 1958 as a second lieutenant.[20][21][22]

He was one of the first and few university graduates to receive an army commission.[23] He later attended Infantry School in Warminster, the Small Arms School in Hythe. Upon completion of further military training, he was assigned to the Army's Fifth Battalion in Kaduna.[20]

At that time, the Nigerian Military Forces had 250 officers and only 15 were Nigerians. There were 6,400 other ranks, of which 336 were British. After serving in the United Nations’ peacekeeping force in the Congo, under Major General Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, Ojukwu was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1964 and posted to Kano, where he was in charge of the 5th Battalion of the Nigerian Army.

1966 coups and events leading to the Nigerian Civil War

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Lieutenant-Colonel Ojukwu was in Kano, northern Nigeria, when Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu on 15 January 1966 executed and announced the bloody military coup in Kaduna, also in northern Nigeria. It is to Ojukwu's credit that the coup lost much steam in the north,[24] where it had succeeded. Lt. Col. Odumegwu-Ojukwu supported the forces loyal to the Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Major-General Aguiyi-Ironisi. Major Nzeogwu was in control of Kaduna, but the coup had failed in other parts of the country.[25]

Aguiyi-Ironsi took over the leadership of the country and thus became the first military head of state. On Monday, 17 January 1966, he appointed military governors for the four regions. Lt. Col. Odumegwu-Ojukwu was appointed Military Governor of the Eastern Region. Others were: Lt.-Cols Hassan Usman Katsina (North), Francis Adekunle Fajuyi (West), and David Akpode Ejoor (Mid West). These men formed the Supreme Military Council with Brigadier B.A.O. Ogundipe, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, Chief of Staff Army HQ, Commodore J. E. A. Wey, Head of Nigerian Navy, Lt. Col. George T. Kurubo, Head of Air Force, Col. Sittu Alao.

By 29 May, the 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom started. This presented problems for Odumegwu Ojukwu, as he did everything in his power to prevent reprisals and even encouraged people to return, as assurances for their safety had been given by his supposed[26] colleagues up north and out west.

On 29 July 1966, a group of officers, including Majors Murtala Muhammed, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, and Martin Adamu, led the majority of Northern soldiers in a mutiny that later developed into a "Counter-Coup" or "July Rematch".[27] The coup failed in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria where Ojukwu was the military Governor, due to the effort of the brigade commander and hesitation of northern officers stationed in the region (partly due to the mutiny leaders in the East being Northern whilst being surrounded by a large Eastern population).

The Supreme Commander General Aguiyi-Ironsi and his host Colonel Fajuyi were abducted and killed in Ibadan. On acknowledging Ironsi's death, Ojukwu insisted that the military hierarchy be preserved. The most senior army officer after Ironsi was Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe. However, the leaders of the countercoup insisted that Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon be made head of state, although both Gowon and Ojukwu were of the same rank in the Nigerian Army. Ogundipe could not muster enough force in Lagos to establish his authority as soldiers (Guard Battalion) available to him were under Joseph Nanven Garba, who was part of the coup. This realisation led Ogundipe to opt-out. Thus, Ojukwu's insistence could not be enforced by Ogundipe unless the coup plotters agreed (which they did not).[28] The fallout from this led to a standoff between Ojukwu and Gowon, leading to the sequence of events that resulted in the Nigerian civil war.[29][30]

Biafra

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Following the incessant killings of Igbos all over the nation as a result of tribal intolerance and fear of domination by Igbos, Ojukwu, being the southeastern general and Yakubu Gowon who was selected as the supreme general and head of state agreed to hold a peace conference at Aburi, Ghana hosted by General Joseph Ankrah. An agreement of autonomy was reached by the two parties where the southeastern region will become independent. However, on reaching Nigeria, Gen. Yakubu Gowon breached the agreement and failed to implement the system of autonomy and further declaring war against the agreed secession of southeastern Nigeria. As a result Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared Eastern Nigeria a sovereign state to be known as Biafra:[31]

Having mandated me to proclaim on your behalf, and in your name, that Eastern Nigeria is a sovereign independent Republic, now, therefore I, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by the authority, and under the principles recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters, shall, henceforth, be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of The Republic of Biafra.[32]

On 6 July 1967, Gowon declared war[33] and attacked Biafra.[4] In addition to the Aburi Accord that tried to avoid the war, there was also the Niamey Peace Conference under President Hamani Diori (1968) and the OAU-sponsored Addis Ababa Conference (1968) under the chairmanship of Emperor Haile Selassie. This was the final effort by Generals Ojukwu and Gowon to settle the conflict via diplomacy.[34]

During the war, in 1967, some members of the July 1966 alleged coup plot and Major Victor Banjo were executed for treason with the approval of Ojukwu, the Biafran Supreme commander. Major Ifeajuna was one of those executed. The defendants had argued that they sought a negotiated ceasefire with the federal government and were not guilty of treason.[35]

After two and a half years of fighting and starvation,[36] a hole appeared in the Biafran front lines, and the Nigerian military exploited this. As it became obvious that the war was lost, Ojukwu was convinced to leave the country to avoid assassination.[37] On 9 January 1970, he handed over power to his second in command, Chief of General Staff Major-General Philip Effiong, and left for Ivory Coast, where President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – who had recognised Biafra on 14 May 1968 – granted him political asylum.[38][39]

Return to Nigeria

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In 1981, Ojukwu began campaigning to return to Nigeria. Nigerian president Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari granted a pardon to Ojukwu on 18 May 1982, allowing him to return to Nigeria as a private citizen. Ojukwu re-entered Nigeria from Ivory Coast on 18 June.[40] Ojukwu declared his candidacy for the Nigerian Senate in 1983. The official tally showed him losing by 12,000 votes, though a court attempted to reverse the ruling in September of that year, citing fraud in the election results.[41] However, the disputed result was rendered moot when the Shagari government fell in the 1983 Nigerian coup d'état on 31 December. In early 1984, the Buhari regime jailed hundreds of political figures, including Ojukwu, who was held at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison.[42] He was released later that year.

Ojukwu married Bianca Onoh (former Miss Intercontinental and future ambassador) in 1994, his third marriage. The couple had three children, Afamefuna, Chineme and Nwachukwu.[43] In the Fourth Republic era, Ojukwu unsuccessfully contested the presidency in 2003 and 2007.[37]

Death

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On 26 November 2011, Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu died in the United Kingdom after a brief illness, aged 78. The Nigerian Army accorded him the highest military accolade and conducted a funeral parade for him in Abuja, Nigeria on 27 February 2012, the day his body was flown back to Nigeria from London before his burial on Friday 2 March. He was buried in a newly built mausoleum in his compound at Nnewi. Before his final interment, he had an elaborate weeklong funeral ceremony in Nigeria alongside Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whereby his body was carried around the five Eastern states, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, including the nation's capital, Abuja. Memorial services and public events were also held in his honour in several places across Nigeria, including Lagos and Niger State, his birthplace, and as far away as Dallas, Texas, United States.[44]

His funeral was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and ex-President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana among other personalities.[45][46]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ojukwu's birthday". Archived from the original on 8 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Nigeria's ex-Biafra leader Chukwuemeka Ojukwu dies". BBC News. 26 November 2011.
  3. ^ "Odumegwu Ojukwu | Biography, Education, & Biafra | Britannica". www.britannica.com.
  4. ^ a b Daly, Samuel Fury Childs (7 August 2020). A History of the Republic of Biafra. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108887748. ISBN 978-1-108-88774-8.
  5. ^ Anthony, Douglas (3 July 2014). "'Ours is a war of survival': Biafra, Nigeria and arguments about genocide, 1966–70". Journal of Genocide Research. 16 (2–3): 205–225. doi:10.1080/14623528.2014.936701. ISSN 1462-3528.
  6. ^ Anthony, Douglas (3 July 2014). "'Ours is a war of survival': Biafra, Nigeria and arguments about genocide, 1966–70". Journal of Genocide Research. 16 (2–3): 205–225. doi:10.1080/14623528.2014.936701. ISSN 1462-3528.
  7. ^ "Odumegwu-Ojukwu Dies At Age 78". Allafrica.com. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  8. ^ Ekpo, Charles (8 September 2021). "Who Was Ojukwu?". The Republic.
  9. ^ "Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu obituary". the Guardian. 27 November 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Early Life of Emeka Ojukwu". Allafrica.com. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  11. ^ Nwakanma, Obi. "Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1933–2011)". Vanguard Nigeria. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  12. ^ "Throwback: Day Ojukwu slapped his teacher". The News (Nigeria). Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Educational History of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu". Allafrica.com. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  14. ^ "Nigerian Catholics reflect on 50th anniversary of Biafran War". ncronline.org. 8 February 2020.
  15. ^ Forsyth, Frederick (1992). Emeka. Spectrum Books, 1992. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9789782462091. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  16. ^ Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chukwuemeka (January 1989). Because I am involved. Spectrum Books Ltd., 1989. p. 79. ISBN 9789782460462. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  17. ^ Madauwuchi. "Emeka Ojukwu Biography: Things You Did Not Know About Him". Nigerian Infopedia. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  18. ^ Forsyth, Frederick (1992). Emeka. Spectrum Books, 1992. p. 27. ISBN 9789782462091. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  19. ^ a b Forsyth, Frederick (1992). Emeka. Spectrum Books, 1992. pp. 26–29. ISBN 9789782462091.
  20. ^ a b "Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  21. ^ "Federal Nigerian Army Blunders of the Nigerian Civil War – Part 9". www.dawodu.com. Dr Nowa Omoigui. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  22. ^ Miners, N. J. The Nigerian army, 1956–1966. Methuen, 1971. p. 49.
  23. ^ Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966–1976) P30. Max Siollun. 2009. ISBN 9780875867106. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  24. ^ Whiteman, Kaye (27 November 2011). "Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  25. ^ "1966 Countercoup".
  26. ^ "Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chukwuemeka (Nigeria)", The Statesman’s Yearbook Companion: The Leaders, Events and Cities of the World, Palgrave Macmillan UK, p. 289, 2019, doi:10.1057/978-1-349-95839-9_574, ISBN 978-1-349-95839-9
  27. ^ Siollun, Max (2009). Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966–1976). Algora. p. 97. ISBN 9780875867090.
  28. ^ "1966 Countercoup" (PDF).
  29. ^ "The Biafran War, Nigerian History, Nigerian Civil War". www.africamasterweb.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  30. ^ "Civil war in Nigeria - Jul 06, 1967 - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  31. ^ "What Ojukwu told me before the Civil War – Gowon – Entertainment Express". Entertainment Express. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  32. ^ No Place To Hide – Crises And Conflicts Inside Biafra, Benard Odogwu, 1985, pp. 3, 4.
  33. ^ "Yakubu Gowon | head of state of Nigeria". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  34. ^ "A Befitting Monument for Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu". Archived from the original on 3 February 2012.
  35. ^ Oliver, Brian. "Emmanuel Ifeajuna: Commonwealth Games gold to facing a firing squad". Guardian. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  36. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (26 November 2011). "Odumegwu Ojukwu, Breakaway Biafra Leader, Dies at 78". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  37. ^ a b "Odumegwu Ojukwu | Nigerian military leader and politician". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  38. ^ Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chukwuemeka (January 1989). Because I am involved. Spectrum Books Ltd., 1989. pp. 66–67. ISBN 9789782460462.
  39. ^ "THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE NIGERIA-BIAFRA WAR". IPOB. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  40. ^ James, Raphael (18 June 2020). "18 June 1982: Ojukwu's return to Nigeria from exile". The News (Nigeria). Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  41. ^ "Biafran Hero Wins Nigerian Senate Seat". The New York Times. AP. 21 September 1983. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  42. ^ "NEW CHARGES IN NIGERIA CITE WIDE CORRUPTION". The New York Times. Reuters. 12 February 1984. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  43. ^ Shapiro, T. Rees (29 November 2011). "Odumegwu Ojukwu, 78: Rebel leader who broke the Republic of Biafra away from Nigeria". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  44. ^ "At Ojukwu memorial in Dallas, USAfrica's Chido Nwangwu challenges the Igbo nation to say "never again" like Jews". USAfrica. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  45. ^ Isiguzo, Christopher; Osondu, Emeka (3 March 2012). "Goodnight Ikemba Ojukwu". THISDAY LIVE. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  46. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (26 November 2011). "Odumegwu Ojukwu, Leader of Breakaway Republic of Biafra, Dies at 78". New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
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