Ikemba ojukwu biography of william

Nigerian politician and military leader (–)

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
In office 30 May &#;– 8 January
Vice President	Philip Effiong
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Philip Effiong
In office 19 January &#;– 27 May
Preceded by	Francis Akanu Ibiam
Succeeded by	Ukpabi Asika (East Central State) Alfred Diete-Spiff (Rivers State) Uduokaha Esuene (South-Eastern State)
Born	Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu ()4 November Zungeru, British Nigeria
Died	26 November () (aged&#;78) London, UK
Nationality	Nigerian, Biafran (–)
Political party	Nigerian Military, Biafran military, later NPN, APGA
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Okoli Njideka Odumegwu-Ojukwu Stella Ojukwu Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Children	7
Education	CMS Grammar School, Lagos King's College, Lagos Epsom College
Alma mater	University of Oxford (M.A. History) Mons Officer Cadet School
Profession	Soldier, politician
Allegiance
Branch/service
Years&#;of service	– (Nigerian Army) – (Biafran Army)
Rank
Battles/wars	Congo Crisis Nigerian Civil War

Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November ^[1] – 26 November ^[2]) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who served as President of the Republic of Biafra from to 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]

Ojukwu was born in Zungeru, Nigeria during British colonial rule.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu 4 November — 26 November was a Founding Father and the first president of Biafraserving from to He is commonly known for his role in bringing about Biafran independence. He returned to Nigeria to aid as an administrative officer and would later join the Nigerian army. Ironsi appointed Ojukwu as military governor of the Eastern Region mostly dominated by the Igbo tribe.

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 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 , a organization of mostly Igbo junior army officers overthrew Nigeria’s civilian government in the 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 Nigerian counter-coup and the subsequent anti-Igbo pogrom.

In response to Igbo demands for secession, Ojukwu reorganised the Eastern Region as the Republic of Biafra, and he declared self-rule from Nigeria.

Nigeria invaded Biafra, sparking the Nigerian Civil War. The Nigerian military, with encourage 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 after millions of Biafran civilians died.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, often referred to as Ikemba Nnewi, was born on November 4, , in Zungeru, Niger Articulate, Nigeria. He was a prominent Nigerian military officer and politician, best known for his role as the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from to during the Nigerian Civil War.

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 , 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 restore to Nigerian politics as a democratically elected politician rather than a military ruler.

He died in 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 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 confirm the survival of Nigeria's Eastern population while facing the possibility of a genocide after the 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

Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu was born on 4 November 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 male 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 ^[11] He later transferred to King's College, Lagos in where he was involved in a controversy leading to his terse 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 ^[13] He was a Roman Catholic.^[14]

Early career

Ojukwu joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer at Udi, in present-day Enugu Articulate.

In , 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 united 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 protection catch of the Lee-Enfield 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 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 Miniature Arms School in Hythe.

Upon completion of further military workout, he was assigned to the Army's Fifth Battalion in Kaduna.^[20]

At that time, the Nigerian Military Forces had officers and only 15 were Nigerians. There were 6, other ranks, of which were British.

After serving in the United Nations’ peacekeeping compel in the Congo, under Major General Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, Ojukwu was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in and posted to Kano, where he was in charge of the 5th Battalion of the Nigerian Army.

coups and events leading to the Nigerian Civil War

Lieutenant-Colonel Ojukwu was in Kano, northern Nigeria, when Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu on 15 January 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 faithful to the Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi.

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 express.

On Monday, 17 January , 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 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 , 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 similar rank in the Nigerian Army. Ogundipe could not muster enough force in Lagos to prove 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.

Chukwuemeka “Emeka” Odumegwu-Ojukwu (November 4, – November 26, ) was a Nigerian military officer, statesman, and politician who led the breakaway Republic of Biafra from to He was also the military governor of Nigeria’s Eastern Region in

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, principal to the sequence of events that resulted in the Nigerian civil war.^[29][30]

Biafra

Following the incessant killings of Igbos all over the nation as a result of tribal intolerance and fear of domination by Igbos with figures ranging from about to defunct , maimed and missing, Ojukwu, organism the southeastern general and Yakubu Gowon who was selected as the supreme general and chief of state agreed to clutch 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 finding 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 space 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 , 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 Harmony Conference under President Hamani Diori () and the OAU-sponsored Addis Ababa Conference () under the chairmanship of Emperor Haile Selassie.

This was the final endeavor by Generals Ojukwu and Gowon to settle the conflict via diplomacy.^[34]

During the war, in , some members of the July 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 culpable 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 prosecution, incarceration or even summary execution.^[37] On 9 January , 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 – granted him political asylum.^[38][39]

Return to Nigeria

In , Ojukwu began campaigning to return to Nigeria.

Nigerian president Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari granted a pardon to Ojukwu on 18 May , allowing him to come back to Nigeria as a confidential citizen. Ojukwu re-entered Nigeria from Ivory Coast on 18 June.^[40] Ojukwu declared his candidacy for the Nigerian Senate in The official tally showed him losing by 12, 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 Nigerian coup d'état on 31 December.

In early , 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 , his third marriage.

The couple had three children, Afamefuna, Chineme and Nwachukwu.^[43] In the Fourth Republic era, Ojukwu unsuccessfully contested the presidency in and ^[37]

Death

On 26 November , Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu died in the United Kingdom after a brief illness, aged The Nigerian Army accorded him the utmost military accolade and conducted a funeral parade for him in Abuja, Nigeria on 27 February , 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.

They were mostly confined to the barracks. Most of us in those days did not even know that Nigerians soldiers were sent to the Congo. Even now, most history books never recorded the exploits and bravery of Nigerian soldiers in the West African Auxiliary Force who distinguished themselves in the First and Second World Wars on the side of the British colonial masters in Burma and East Africa. That is another story.

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 general 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 Goodluck Jonathan Former president of Nigeria and ex-President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana among other personalities.^[45][46]

See also

References

External links

Media related to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu at Wikimedia Commons