{"id":5447,"date":"2011-12-04T04:18:41","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T04:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/ojukwu-biafra-would-have-been-the-toast-of-africa-%e2%80%93-ogbemudia\/"},"modified":"2011-12-04T04:18:41","modified_gmt":"2011-12-04T04:18:41","slug":"ojukwu-biafra-would-have-been-the-toast-of-africa-ogbemudia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/04\/ojukwu-biafra-would-have-been-the-toast-of-africa-ogbemudia\/","title":{"rendered":"Ojukwu: Biafra would have been the toast of Africa \u2013 Ogbemudia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Taye Obateru & Gabriel Enogholase
TWO-time governor of defunct Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, has described the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, as a \u201cgallant nationalist and freedom fighter\u201d who fought for his rights and for the rights of the overwhelming majority of his Igbo people.<\/p>\n

In reminiscence of their days in the Nigeria Army and the events that led to the civil war, Ogbemudia said Ojukwu \u201cwas always a visionary, forth-right, courageous, outspoken, nationalist and patriotic\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to him,\u201cOjukwu wanted to see a Nigerian nation where all ethnic nationalities are recognized and fairly treated, not a country of disparate and desperate ethnic groups. He threw all that was left of his physical and mental energy into this enterprise but did not live to see it through\u201d.<\/p>\n

He went on in his condolence message, \u201cAlthough it is a universal saying that you don\u2019t say evil about the dead, in the case of Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Ikemba Nnewi, there is truly no evil to talk about his life. Many say he was a rebel. No, he was a gallant nationalist and freedom fighter. He openly disagreed on issues and rather than stomach his dissatisfaction, he fought for his rights and for the rights of the overwhelming majority of his Ibo people who looked up to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine that he succeeded, and Biafra had become a state, going by the feats they achieved at a very difficult time, Biafra would have become the toast of Africa by now. Perhaps many other new states would have been born.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a major and later a brigade major when he was a Lt Col. commanding a battalion at Kano. We were all under the command of Kaduna 1st Brigade. Following the coup of January 15, 1966, he was appointed Military Governor of Eastern Region, David Ejoor for the Midwest, Adeyinka Adebayo for the West and Usman Hassan Katsina for the North. The crisis ensued as the North had good reasons to believe that the coup was targeted against them. Many Ibos in the North were killed in a reprisal manner. Gen Ironsi the Head of State was also killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy 1967, the crisis had worsened and Ojukwu declared Biafra. He invaded the Midwest. Same year i was appointed Military Governor of the Midwest. We fought against Biafra Army and liberated the Midwest. Midwest sacrificed human and material resources to save Nigeria. The Head of State at this time was Gen. Gowon. He appreciated this and remarked that but for Midwest, there would have been no Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat notwithstanding, my admiration for Ojukwu remained high. I contributed all I could to the rehabilitation of the east.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friendship with Chief Ojukwu effectively resumed when he returned from exile. I helped with his political reintegration and was sorry that he wasn\u2019t allowed to go to the Senate in 1983. He was always visionary, forth-right, courageous, outspoken, nationalistic and patriotic.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, an Igbo socio-cultural organization, Izu Umunna, has \u00a0urged the Senate to reverse its decision which opposed a state burial for Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, in the interest of justice and fair play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\nOjukwu: Biafra would have been the toast of Africa \u2013 Ogbemudia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Taye Obateru & Gabriel Enogholase TWO-time governor of defunct Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, has described the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, as a \u201cgallant nationalist and freedom fighter\u201d who fought for his rights and for the rights of the overwhelming majority of his Igbo people. In reminiscence of their days in the Nigeria Army and the events that led to the civil war, Ogbemudia said Ojukwu \u201cwas always a visionary, forth-right, courageous, outspoken, nationalist and patriotic\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nOjukwu: Biafra would have been the toast of Africa \u2013 Ogbemudia - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/04\/ojukwu-biafra-would-have-been-the-toast-of-africa-ogbemudia\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Ojukwu: Biafra would have been the toast of Africa \u2013 Ogbemudia - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By Taye Obateru & Gabriel Enogholase TWO-time governor of defunct Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, has described the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, as a \u201cgallant nationalist and freedom fighter\u201d who fought for his rights and for the rights of the overwhelming majority of his Igbo people. 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