Featured

Remembering Biafran Warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu (1933 – 2011)

Published

4 months ago

November 8, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

He came as a unifying force, defying all known luxury to settle for career he was in love it – military. His name was Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu; a Nigerian soldier turned Biafran Warlord as a result of exigencies that ‘cannot be ignored’.If Ojukwu had lived till date, he would have been celebrating 92 years on November 4, the day he was born. But Ojukwu died on November 26, 2011 after a brief illness in London. He legacy has remained evergreen, especially among the Igbo speaking tribe of Nigeria, residing in the south-east region of the country; a people, he gave his utmost best to liberate from the shackles of mass murder, supervising a bloody war with little or no arms and ammunition for 30 months.

Ojukwu is the toast of the average Igboman, his shortcomings notwithstanding.

Born with the shinniest of silver spoons in the Zungeru area of colonial Nigeria, on November 4, 1933, to one of the wealthiest individuals of his time, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, the young had the best of everything life could offer, growing up. He was educated at obe of the most prestigious institutions in the country then, King’s College, Lagos, and later at Epsom College in Surrey, England.

He proceeded afterwards to Lincoln College, Oxford University where he obtained a master’s degree in Modern History in 1955. He returned to Nigeria to serve as an administrative officer and suddenly, contrary to expectation, he joined the Nigerian army, and grew by the ranks. He was the first of a kind, joining the military with a retinue of academic successes and certificates.

It would be noted that Ojukwu joined the army in protest. He was protesting the termination of his appointment in civil service when he was posted to Calabar, by the Sir John Macpherson at the instant of his father.

A breakdown of Ojukwu’s sojourn in the field of academics has it that at the outbreak of World War II when he was seven, his father sent him to St. Patrick’s School and CMS Grammar School both in Lagos. In 1944 at the age of 10, Ojukwu started studying at King’s College, Lagos. In 1945 when Ojukwu has stayed for two years in Kings College, his father, who want him to be educated in England, made consultations from his English friend. Epsom College in Surrey was recommended and by 1946, he was sent there for an advanced education.

Ojukwu stayed at Epsom for six years. During that time, he excelled in academics as well as in sports and athletics. He played rugby for the college winning the spring javelin throwing and discus. At 18 he entered Lincoln College, Oxford and studied briefly in 1952. Loius wanted his son to be a lawyer as it was the most common in Nigeria but Ojukwu wants to read modern history. Between 1952 and 1955 he studied law and later switched to history. He also joined the West African Students’ Union in Oxford. During his final years, he joined Oxford Rugby Union as wing three quarter in Lincoln College’s team. Ojukwu graduated with a B.A in arts in 1955 and travelled back to Lagos. He would later return to Oxford to obtain his M.A.

His destiny was beginning to get shaped when six years after Nigeria’s independence in 1960, a group of military officers overthrew the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa-led civilian government. The failure of the coup brought General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi to power, and he appointed Ojukwu as the Military Governor of the Igbo-dominated Eastern Region.

Following a pogrom against the Igbo in several parts of Nigeria, especially in the north after the coup that claimed Aguiyi-Ironsi’s life, Ojukwu, as the governor of Eastern Region, engaged the government in several diplomatic discussions on the road to peace. An accord was reached during some of the parley, one of which is the popular Aburi Accord.The failure of the Accord and continuous pogrom led Ojukwu into seceding from Nigeria, declaring the Republic of Biafra, and becoming its first Head of State. The action led to a civil war, which has been argued in many quarters as a genocide against the Igbos of the then-Eastern region.

Ojukwu did not have what it takes to fight the war as regards weapons. He only had the determination and willpower of his people. But that did not take them far as the Nigerian military, with support from the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, came out victorious, using the weapon of hunger and alleged genocide.

Ojukwu’s effort to use the foreign media to highlight the plight of Biafran civilians and depict the war as genocide against Igbos went unheard, receiving recognition only from France, Haiti and Cote d’ Ivoire among one other two others. He lost the war after superlatively standing off the Nigerian military with its massive oversea’s support, and with it, the young Biafran nation and about three million Biafrans.

Ojukwu subsequently fled to Ivory Coast in exile, where President Félix Houphouët-Boigny granted him political asylum. He returned to Nigeria 1981,when President Shehu Shagari granted him total amnesty.

Though he tried unsuccessfully to grab political power, he made his mark for himself and his people. He began by fighting to reclaim all his property across the country, and married the 21-year-old Bianca Onoh, daughter of a one time governor of Anambra State, C. C. Onoh.

He died in 2011 at the age of 78 in London, England. His body was returned to Nigeria, where Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan gave him a state funeral, a funeral suitable for a general, which he was. He was buried with full military honours, including a 21-gun salute from the Nigerian Army, and thousands of people attended his funeral.

To some, Ojukwu is a contentious figure in the history of Nigeria, but to many, especially the Igbo, he is a hero and wears a messianic cloak. They believe that though the war was lost, a statement was made in the loudest of voices.

Today, however, the voice of Biafra has re-echoed, first from MASSOB, and presently from Nnamdi Kanu’s Indigenous People of Biafra (IBOP).

Featured

Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

4 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.

Featured

DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.

Featured

Shiites Protest in Kano over Killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader

Published

1 day ago

March 2, 2026

Eric

Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, on Sunday, took to the streets of Kano metropolis to protest the killing of the Supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following a joint attack by the US-Israel on Saturday.

The demonstrators, who are simply known as Shiites, trooped out in their numbers at about 2.30pm in and trekked from the Fegge Central Mosque the Islamic Movement headquarters situated at Kofar Waika in the State capital.

The demonstration, adjudged peaceful, lasted for about two hours, terminating after 4.00pm.

The demonstration was followed by speeches by their scholars that spoke about the state of affairs in the Middle East and its implications on the rest of the world. A special prayer was also offered seeking Allahs intervention for the people of Iran.

The Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Abudulhi Haruna Kiyawa, resisted attempts to persuade hims for official reaction to the demonstration.