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Emeka Ojukwu)
The Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (born November 4, 1933) was the leader the secessionist state of Biafra in Nigeria (1967–1970), during the Nigerian Civil War. He is usually referred to in news and other sources just as Ojukwu. There is a Frederick Forsyth (who is/was a friend) novel about him titled Emeka, after Ojukwu's personal nickname.
Chukwuemeka was born in Zungeru as the child of Sir and Mrs. Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu . Chukwuemeka's name meant "God has done well." During World War II, Ojukwu became very political and was locked up in 1944 at the age of ten after a student revolt at Lagos' Kings College. An English school teacher named Mr. Slee dared the students to cross their barricades, laughing at them as being unserious and amusing. The ten year old Ojukwu, whose job was to supply water and food to those at the gate, slapped Mr. Slee, and there was silence everywhere, but Slee would not make do with such. Ojukwu was charged to court after briefly being in jail. This event caused a flare among the papers of the region. Ojukwu was the son of Nigeria's first millionaire but decided he wanted to enter the military. Ojukwu's father did not accept that choice and when he applied to serve in the Nigeria Army, Louis Ojukwu received a phone call from the Governor General of Nigeria, Sir Macpherson , informing Louis of what his son was up to.
They both decided to set up obstacles to prevent Ojukwu's admission to the armed services. Ojukwu, who in an attempt to get out of his father's shadow nicknamed himself "Emeka", attended Oxford and got a degree in history. His father had wanted Emeka to be a lawyer. Emeka's educational intellect would cause friction with his instructor. The instructor was explaining the parts of a rifle and pointed at the safety catch and asked them what it was? Emeka answered "safety catch", but was told by the instructor, "Damn fool, you sabi nothing", and another recruit said "saplica", and the instructor said "Good". "There is no such word in English language", snapped Emeka. This landed him in guardroom which subsequently led to his victory and a recommendation of promotion.
He would later become a Lieutenant Colonel in the Nigerian Army and was instructed by a meeting of customary chiefs in the Eastern region of Nigeria, held at Umuhia , to declare independence and sovereignty under the name of Biafra. The name would come from the Bight of Biafra. He agreed to lead the new country, which was the first nation in West Africa to be formed by Africans . Basically, this conflict was caused by a pogrom in the Muslim Northern Region against Christian and Animist Ibos from the Eastern region. The Northerners were unhappy that the Sardauna of Sokoto, the leader of the Northern region and Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa had been killed in the coup of January 16, 1966, which was carried out by an Ibo lieutenant, and that no Ibo leaders had been killed. General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who commandeered the coup straight away, was also an Igbo. Ironsi appointed Ojukwu as military leader in the heavily Igbo populated Eastern Region of Nigeria.
Colonel Ojukwu, a very competent commander, survived the harsh war. After spending an entire decade in exile, he was invited to return to Nigeria by then-President Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1980. He joined Shagari's National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and contested the 1983 election for the Senate , but was defeated in the election. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency in the 2003 presidental election. He claimed to have "won" the election, despite garnering only 3.3 percent of the vote, and filed a court challenge against what he said was the "massive fraud" that allegedly denied him the presidency. This time, however, Emeka will not meet the dispute with a secessionist army.
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Last updated: 05-21-2005 19:50:41
Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46
