Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011) was a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
military officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...
, statesman and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served as the military governor of the
Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966 and the
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
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* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the secessionist
Republic of Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...
from 1967 to 1970, which declared independence from Nigeria during the
Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...
.
He was active as a
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
from 1983 until his death in 2011 at the age of 78.
Early life and education
Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu was born on 4 November 1933 at
Zungeru
Zungeru is a town in Niger State, Nigeria. It was the capital of the British protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1902 until 1916. It is the site of the Niger State Polytechnic and is located on the Kaduna River.
History
Colonial history
Acco ...
in northern Nigeria to Sir
Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu
Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu Ojukwu, OBE (1909– September 1966) was a Nigerian business tycoon from the Ojukwu family of Nwakanwa quarters Obiuno Umudim Nnewi.
Ojukwu, was the founder of Ojukwu Transport, Ojukwu Stores and Ojukwu Textiles. At hi ...
, an
Igbo
Igbo may refer to:
* Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria
* Igbo language, their language
* anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria
See also
* Ibo (disambiguation)
* Igbo mythology
* Igbo music
* Igbo art
*
* Igbo-Ukwu, a ...
businessman from present-day
Nnewi
Nnewi is a commercial and industrial city in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria. It is the second largest and second most populous city in the southern part of the country. Nnewi as a metropolis has one local government area, which is Nnewi North ...
,
Anambra State
Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi State ...
in south-eastern Nigeria. Sir Louis was in the transport business; he took advantage of the business boom during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
to become the richest man in Nigeria. He began his educational career in
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
, southwestern Nigeria.
Emeka Ojukwu started his secondary school education at
CMS Grammar School, Lagos
The CMS Grammar School in Bariga, a suburb of Lagos in Lagos State, is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society. For decades it was the main source of African clergymen and administrators in ...
aged 10 in 1943.
He later transferred to
King's College, Lagos
King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students on its original site at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only male students ...
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. This event generated widespread coverage in local newspapers.
At 13, his father sent him to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
to continue his education, first at
Epsom College
Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orpha ...
and later at
Lincoln College, Oxford University
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
, where he earned a master's degree in History. He returned to colonial Nigeria in 1956.
Early career
Ojukwu joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer at
Udi Udi may refer to:
Places
* Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria
* Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India
People
* Udi Gal (born 1979), Israeli Olympic sailor
* Udi Vaks (born 1979), Israeli Olympic judoka
...
, in present-day
Enugu State
Enugu State ( ig, Ȯra Enugu) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the south, and Anambra State to the west. T ...
. 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, he left and joined the military initially enlisting as a
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
(NCO) in Zaria.
Ojukwu's decision to enlist as an NCO was forced by his father's (
Sir Louis) pulling of political strings with the then
Governor-General of Nigeria
The Governor-General of Nigeria was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in Colonial Nigeria from 1954 to 1960, and after Nigerian independence in 1960, the representative of the Nigerian head of state.
The office was create ...
(
John Macpherson) to prevent Emeka from getting an officer-cadetship.
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.
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 2nd Lieutenant.
He was one of the first and few university graduates to receive an army commission. He later attended Infantry School in
Warminster
Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...
, the Small Arms School in
Hythe
Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to:
Places Australia
* Hythe, Tasmania
Canada
*Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada
England
* T ...
. Upon completion of further military training, he was assigned to the Army's Fifth Battalion in Kaduna.
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
Kano may refer to:
Places
*Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria
* Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State
**Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries
**Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
, where he was in charge of the 5th Battalion of the Nigerian Army.
1966 coups and events leading to the Nigerian Civil War
Lieutenant-Colonel Ojukwu was in Kano, northern Nigeria, when Major Patrick Chukwuma
Kaduna Nzeogwu
Patrick Chukwuma "Kaduna" Nzeogwu (26 February 1937 – 29 July 1967) was a Nigerian military officer and revolutionary who played a leading role in the first military coup d'ètat of 15 January 1966, which overthrew the first Nigerian republ ...
on 15 January 1966
executed and announced the bloody military coup in
Kaduna
Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...
, also in northern Nigeria. It is to Ojukwu's credit that the coup lost much steam in the north, 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.
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
Hassan Usman Katsina (31 March 1933 – 24 July 1995), titled Chiroman Katsina, was the last Governor of Northern Nigeria. He served as Chief of Army Staff during the Nigerian Civil War and later became the Deputy Chief of Staff, Supreme Headqua ...
(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
George Tamunoiyowuna Kurubo (27 July 1934 – 2000) was Nigerian Air Force's Chief of the Air Staff from 1966 to 1967. Brigadier George T Kurubo was the third Commander of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), the first indigenous to hold the post.
He w ...
, Head of Air Force, Col.
Sittu Alao.
By 29 May, the
1966 anti-Igbo pogrom
The 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom was a series of massacres committed against Igbo people and other people of southern Nigerian origin living in northern Nigeria starting in May 1966 and reaching a peak after 29 September 1966. Between 8,000 and 30,000 Ig ...
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 colleagues up north and out west.
On 29 July 1966, a group of officers, including Majors
Murtala Muhammed
Murtala Ramat Muhammad (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian general who led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi military regime and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil War ...
,
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".
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
Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...
. On acknowledging Ironsi's death, Ojukwu insisted that the military hierarchy be preserved. The most senior army officer after Ironsi was Brigadier
Babafemi Ogundipe
Babafemi Olatunde Ogundipe (6 September 1924 – 20 November 1971) was the ''de facto'' Vice President of Nigeria, second-in-command and first Supreme Military Council of Nigeria (1966–1979), Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters from 1966 Nige ...
. However, the leaders of the counter-coup insisted that Lieutenant Colonel
Yakubu Gowon
Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquish ...
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
Joseph Nanven Garba (17 July 1943 – 1 June 2002) was a Nigerian general, diplomat, and politician who served as president of the United Nations General Assembly from 1989 to 1990.
Early life and military career
Born in Langtang, Nigeria, 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). 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
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...
.
Biafra
In January 1967, the Nigerian military leadership went to
Aburi, Ghana
Aburi is a town in the Akuapim South Municipal District of the Eastern Region of south Ghana famous for the Aburi Botanical Gardens and the Odwira festival. , for a peace conference hosted by General
Joseph Ankrah
Joseph Arthur Ankrah Born (18 August 1915 – 25 November 1992) was a Ghanaian army general who was the head of state of Ghana from 1966 to 1969 in the position of Chairman of the National Liberation Council. Before becoming head of state, Ankra ...
. The implementation of the agreements reached by Aburi fell apart upon the leadership's return to Nigeria and on 30 May 1967, as a result of this, Colonel Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared Eastern Nigeria a sovereign state to be known as Biafra:
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.
On 6 July 1967, Gowon declared war and attacked Biafra.
In addition to the Aburi Accord that tried to avoid the war, there was also the
Niamey
Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...
Peace Conference under President
Hamani Diori
Hamani Diori (6 June 1916 – 23 April 1989) was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence. Although corruption was a common feature of his administration, he gained in ...
(1968) and the OAU-sponsored
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
Conference (1968) under the chairmanship of Emperor
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀá‹áˆˆ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä SÉ™llasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
. This was the final effort by Generals Ojukwu and Gowon to settle the conflict via diplomacy.
During the war, in 1967, some members of the July 1966 alleged coup plot and Major
Victor Banjo
Victor Adebukunola Banjo (1 April 1930 – 22 September 1967) was a colonel in the Nigerian Army. He fought in the Biafran Army during the Nigerian Civil War. Banjo was accused of being a coup plotter against Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Ta ...
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.
After two and a half years of fighting and
starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...
, 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.
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
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
, where President
Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...
– who had recognised Biafra on 14 May 1968 – granted him political asylum.
Return to Nigeria
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. 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. However, the disputed result was rendered moot when the Shagari government fell in the
1983 Nigerian coup d'état
The Nigerian military coup of 1983 took place on 31 December that year. It was coordinated by key officers of the Nigerian military and led to the ousting of the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari and the installation of ...
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
Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison is a prison west of Apapa, Lagos State, Nigeria.Chiama, Paul.Nigeria’s Famous Prisons"Archive. ''Leadership''. August 7, 2015. Retrieved on March 22, 2016. It is named after the rural Kirikiri community in which i ...
. He was released later that year.
Ojukwu married
Bianca Onoh
Bianca Odinakachukwu Olivia Odumegwu-Ojukwu (, born 5 August 1968) is a Nigerian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and businesswoman. She is the widow of former Biafra president Chukuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu is a multiple in ...
(former Miss Intercontinental and future ambassador) in 1994, his third marriage. The couple had three children, Afamefuna, Chineme and Nwachukwu. In the
Fourth Republic era, Ojukwu unsuccessfully contested the presidency in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
and
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
.
Death
On 26 November 2011, Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu died in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
after a brief illness, aged 78. The
Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army.
History Formation
The Nigerian ...
accorded him the highest military accolade and conducted a funeral parade for him in
Abuja, Nigeria
Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
on 27 February 2012, the day his body was flown back to Nigeria from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
before his burial on Friday 2 March. He was buried in a newly built mausoleum in his compound at
Nnewi
Nnewi is a commercial and industrial city in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria. It is the second largest and second most populous city in the southern part of the country. Nnewi as a metropolis has one local government area, which is Nnewi North ...
. Before his final interment, he had an elaborate weeklong funeral ceremony in Nigeria alongside Chief
Obafemi Awolowo
Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Yoruba nationalist and Nigerian statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement (1957-1960). Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe Om ...
, 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
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
, United States. His funeral was attended by President
Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...
of Nigeria and ex-President
Jerry Rawlings
Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...
of Ghana among other personalities.
References
External links
A Befitting Monument for Chukwuemeka Odumegwu OjukwuLt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu: "The East Is At The Crossroads", Prelude to Biafra, May 1967
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojukwu, C. Odumegwu
1933 births
2011 deaths
People from Niger State
Igbo politicians
Igbo Army personnel
All Progressives Grand Alliance politicians
Presidents of Biafra
Candidates in the Nigerian general election, 2003
Candidates in the Nigerian general election, 2007
Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School
Nigerian Army officers
People educated at Epsom College
Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford
King's College, Lagos alumni
CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni
Biafran Armed Forces personnel
Recipients of Nigerian presidential pardons