REMEMBERING IKEMBA EMEKA ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU: ELEGY TO THE PEOPLE’S GENERAL 

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the people’s General, remains even in death, one ofthe very finest of men the world would ever know: gentle and refined in his human relationship, exemplary as a father, admirably caring as the ladies that came his way had since testified, unrepentantly patriotic in his attitude to national discourse, robustlyintellectual in his engagement with his peers, tirelessly welcoming in his acceptance of every level of humanity, and perennially courageous in his dispositions and pronouncements. Ojukwu was not just a “General” in Nigerians understanding of the concept. No: Ojukwu was a General’s General. But why have I chosen to go this way in a brief article that can hardly boast of telling Nigerians and the rest of the world anything new and refreshing about Dike di ora mma Ndigbo? First, may I humbly state from the on-set that my mission is not necessarily to eulogize General Odumegwu-Ojukwu, let-alone pretend to tell Nigerians and others something they do not already know about the enigma called Ikemba Nnewi. My mission is to use this medium to remind Nigerians and the rest of the world about a tiny segment of the several questions raised by Chief Ojukwu in the over forty years of his active engagement with politics in Nigeria, whether as a civil servant, soldier, or politician. Ojukwu’s question—whether we all admit it or not—is the single most important issue that confronts Nigeria as a nation: the question of Nigeria’s unity.

At a time in global history when fears are being expressed at several quarters about the possible disintegration of the country called Nigeria, it is interesting that we continue to hear prominent Nigerians speak so flatteringly and intimidating about the non-negotiability of Nigeria’s unity that many citizens sometime wonder what really is their ultimate interest. Is it for nothing that AREWA Nigerians assemble once in a while to express their displeasure about the level of development or non-development of North Nigeria? Is it for nothing that the O’odua People’s Congress continue to articulate positions on how to channel the immense energy of the peoples of South Western Nigeria into a developmental poetics that address the challenges of the zone? Is it for nothing thatsome group of Militants chose to destabilize the economy of Nigeria through dismantling crude oil production in the Niger Delta section of the “nation”? The Boko Haram group is still on rampage, and we are perhaps lucky that the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) chose the path of non-violence since its inception to negotiate its sense of belonging to a nation that has unleashed injustice of immeasurable magnitude over the decades on its people. The point needs be expressed: whether the agitation is from Boko Haram, OPC, AREWA, MOSOP, MASSOB, and others known and unknown, the ultimate question resides on the basis, nature and typology of unity which some prominent Nigerians bandy about.

Not too long ago, for instance, Ibrahim Babangida, a one-time military president of Nigeria announced his retirement from partisan politics. Many Nigerians had waited for explanations on why he has remained silent in spite of the pain being inflicted on innocent Nigerians by Boko Haram terrorists. Babangida was not convincingly forthcoming. Instead, the news that superseded everything he said at his press conference was that even at age seventy-one, he is prepared to adorn his military uniform if need be, to protect the Unity of Nigeria. And as usual: some Nigerians clapped for him, and the general smiled home, possibly with some pride. Luckily for Nigerians, Babangida did not have to wait for over two weeks to get a saner response from a highly reputable academic: Akin Oyebode, a professor of law at the University of Lagos. The venue was at the Lagos summit convened by another prominent son of the ‘nation’, Pat Utomi. Oyebode’s contribution at the debate was particularly forthright. He had drawn attention to the “infantile” mentality of many Nigerians whose conception of national unity could, at best be described as dubious. Thesummary of Oyebode’s submission is evident in the examples he provided. Natioinal unity is not something that must be foreclosed in honest dialogues about national development. Unity is negotiable and, like every other segment of our national life, should be discussed in a collectively agreed sovereign national conference. Issues about national unity or disunity is not peculiar to Nigeria as the world have since seen in places like the old Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and more recently Sudan, among others.

It is at this point that one recalls that Nigerians are only about now seeing what a thirty-three year-old boy, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu saw in the mid-1960s. One of the highlights of Ojukwu’s Ahiara Declaration is the nature of unity that some privileged Nigerians insist is non-negotiable. Precisely, General Ojukwu had asked: “Do we want the unity of Holy Matrimony or do we want the Unity of Jonah in the belly of the Whale?” “The former”, he says, “leads to procreation, while the latter leads to defecation”. Do Nigerians want a creative form of unity, or the non-creative form of unity which is both physically and psychologically destructive? In 1989, a dangerous moment in the annals of the “nation” when the military had ruled and subjected the citizenry to their whims and caprices Ojukwu had repeated this very question in his lucid semi-autobiography, Because I am Involved. A few years after, during the reign of General Sanni Abacha, Ojukwu remained forthright. He courageously reminded Nigerians that as far as the discourse on nationhood goes, the idea of unity must be negotiable. In his words, “What is important is whether the citizens of the nation would choose the option of Yugoslavia or that ofCzechoslovakia”. The question then arises: how, for heaven’s sake, can anyone fault the wisdom implicit in Ojukwu’s observations? How, indeed, could anyone accuse this most patriotic son of Nigeria of being unpatriotic? What fools define patriotism to exclude honesty in attending to the dilemma of a people whose collective identity is best perceived in the analogy of Jonah in the belly of the Whale! Are Nigerians genuinely preaching “unity” when a segment of the nation is deliberately marginalized in the number of its representatives at the National Assembly? Why are the prophets of Nigeria’s dubious form of unity silent on the deliberate asphyxiation of Ndigbo to only five states when every other zone of the country has a minimum of six? The fact is simple. Very simple. As most Nigerians would say: Another man head na coconut.

It is interesting that many prominent Nigerians would wait for Ikemba to leave the scene before admitting that every intelligent military officer would have reacted exactly like Ojukwu in 1966 following the genocide against his Igbo nation across the country, especially in North Nigeria. Over 3.1 million Igbo sons and daughters were murdered for reasons many are yet to explain convincingly to Nigerians and the rest of the world. Interviews granted the BBC by Nigeria’s military officers who instructed their subordinates to shoot at both living and non-living objects in Igboland are still being circulated till this day: the war criminals are still being protected by the Nigerian government, and some even call such murderers heroes against all logic known to sane humanity. Surviving Nazi war criminals are still being haunted across the world till this day. How many Nigerians are prepared to ask Nigeria’s federal government to release the nation’s war criminals for trial at the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity? Certainly, not many. Reason? Another man head na coconut.

Ojukwu was consistently vocal about his strong persuasions; he loved his people right through his soul; he fought to preserve the identity of a people confronted with collective annihilation. Ikemba never loved Nigeria less: but he passionately loved the Igbo more. For this, Ndigbo remain immensely proud of him. After all, Ojukwu was not the first Nigerianto draw attention to the anomalies that bestrode the nation like a Colossus right from the days of amalgamation: the Sarduana of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello expressed his displeasure over suggestions that Nigerians should forget their differences, just as Obafemi Awolowo was eloquent in his categorization of the Nigerian “nation” as a geographical expression: the heavens did not fall.

Like every Igbo child growing up in the 1970s, I was fed with all kinds of information and misinformation about Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. This should be expected, especially for kids who grew up in non-Igbo towns and cities. But even as a child, he remained for me that hero who knew what to sacrifice for the survival of his race. I never get to meet with politicians and people in corridors of power. But as a secondary school student in 1982, I was one of the many Igbo sons and daughters who climbed the fence to have a glimpse of Ikemba during his visit to the house of Chief S.N Okeke in Amichi. The experience was therapeutic. In 1994, too, I had very strong reason to admire and respect the Nigerian Army as an institution: the venue was the auditorium of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Victoria Island, Lagos. TSM, one of the nation’s leading magazines at the time had organized its annual lecture. The Guest lecturer was Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Ikemba Nnewi (although he told the audience in the course of his delivery that he could only give “a talk” since lectures come only from very profound intellectuals). One of the most memorable incidents at the occasion was the arrival of the then Chief of Army Staff, Maj-Gen. Chris Ali. When General Ali and his retinue of security detail stamped their feet on the ground and saluted Chief Ojukwu one after the other in military style, I felt some tears drip from my eyes. For a while I thought I was alone. On looking around, I observed that more than half of the audience at the venue pulled their handkerchiefs to wipe tears off their faces.

About the 20th of July 2005, I met Chief Ojukwu by chance at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos. I was about boarding a flight to Johannesburg when a sudden turn to the left section of one of the cubicles gave me something to behold. It was Chief Ojukwu in conversation with another elderly, light-complexioned man, perhaps one of his brothers or his personal aide. I quickly walked straight to him and greeted: “Dike di ora mma Ndigbo”. He smiled and stretched out his right hand for a handshake. “Nnaa kedi?” he inquired. For another ten minutes or so, Ikemba engaged me in conversation. He wanted to know why I was travelling to South Africa. He wanted to know what I was studying. He wanted to know my specific interest in English and postcolonial literatures. The questions kept coming, and when he finally learnt that I am from Amichi, he screamed: “Aah! O bu nwa nne M nwoke”: “He is my brother”. In my excitement, I did not have time to ask him what he was doing at the Airport. As I walked towards the boarding post, I saw his wife, Bianca pass, with two lovely boys who looked like twins, and a teenage girl with them. Two days later, I read through the Nigeriaworld that Chief Ojukwu was actually on his way to the USA for medical attention after suffering a mild stroke. How could I not have noticed? How was it possible that he remained very cerebral even in his days of illness? As I think back now, all I hear are the echoes of his baritone voice as he pronounced “English Literature” as he prayed for, and wished me well: “Nwa M, ji sie ike O”: “Remain determined and focused, my child, in your research”.

Ikemba’s body was interred, March 2nd, 2012, to mother-earth, to join our forebears. One challenge that we must confront is that the giant of the trees has indeed fallen, and birds of the sky have flown to unknown abodes. But the question that preoccupied the mind of the people’s General for over half-a-century on the nature of unity Nigerians desire will forever haunt the Nigerian ‘federation’ until we are prepared to face our challenges with undiluted sense of honesty and collective insistence on justice for all. For this, Dike di ora mma Ndigbo will forever be remembered; Ikemba Ndigbo will forever live in our collective consciousness; Ezegburugburu Ndigbo will forever occupy the discourse of our collective humanity, particularly as it affects our sense of belonging to the Nigerian ‘nation’. Chief Chukwuemeka, son of Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Nigerians salute your forthrightness; Dike di ora Mma, Ndigbo salute you; Ikemba: Umudim is in tears; Otolo is inconsolable; Uruagu is in confusion; Amichi mourn you; Osumenyi is in darkness; Ogidi is in tears; Owerri is bereaved; Aba is in tatters; Umuahia only see sunset at dawn: Ezegburugburu Ndigbo: our people will always love and remember you. With your exit, it is hoped that all serving governors in Eastern Nigeria will at this moment be mapping out the most important institutions and mnemic sites to be named after our war heroes, from Ikemba Nnewi, Philip Effiong, Christopher Okigbo, Emeka Omeruah, Okoko Ndem, Alexander Madiebo, Col. Achuzia, the Achibong brothers, the Onwuatuegwus, to mention but a few. This is the time to honour those who died or suffered that we may have a voice. Above all, at the eve of the Nigerian ‘centenary’, it is gratifying to note that Nigeria’s President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan would institute an advisory body for a possible national conference in early 2014. Nothing will appease the Gods of our land more than a rigorous interrogation of the nature of unity that Nigerians should embrace, if they choose to live as one nation. Herein, then,lies the most important statement left behind by the phenomenon called the Peoples’ General, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu: May God bless his soul. 

Dr Osita Ezeliora

<ositadinma.ezeliora@gmail.com>

Dr. Ezeliora studied at the Universities of Lagos (Nigeria) and Witwatersrand, South Africa. A recipient of several scholarships and postdoctoral research fellowships, he currently teaches Colonial and Postcolonial literatures, Literary theory, and a wide range of courses in Nigeria's Olabisi Onabanjo University.