By Sam Onimisi
The humble mien of President Goodluck Jonathan ordinarily elicits the admiration and support of the common citizens of Nigeria before the 2011 general election. This support presumably translated into votes when he contested for the Presidency, which he won. This was seven months ago and now; the same common citizens are facing serious threats of abandonment by the very government they elected. Three swords are dangling against the head of the ordinary citizen and would certainly chop-off his head, come year 2012: the impending increase in pump price of fuel (deceitfully called subsidy removal); the newly commenced high tariff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and, the advertised return of toll-gates on high-ways-all of which translates into less money in the pockets of the Nigerian while he will be paying through the nose for black-out instead of light.
While contemplating the effects of all these on the take-home pay of salary earners and net profit of self-employed citizens, I relapsed into a snoop and dreamt of a rag-tag army of the masses chasing Goodluck out of the State House back to his village. I woke up only to hear over the radio that Boko-Haram invaded an Air Force secondary school in Kano and killed some airmen after which they escaped. Could the Boko Haram be the same rag-tag army I saw in my dream? I have no means of telling, but Steve Osuji of the Nation newspaper put it differently when he wrote that “you don’t have to be a genius to guess right: it is the same story of some people insisting they must rule or anoint the ruler. I wager that there would not be a bomb-hauling Boko Haram today if a Buhari or Atiku or Babangida instead of a Jonathan, was president. At best, it would remain the harmless, itinerant religious sect that it was up till two years ago. This explains the deafening silence being observed by the northern elite on this particular Haram.” It is obvious that Osuji sees the Boko Haram as the arrow-head of the total rejection of the Southern-Christian rule or leadership by the Islamic North. That may well be the case.
However, “how does this Boko Haramites challenge box the President into somnambulism?” asked a university don. I had to go on my knees to ask and understand the baban grammar of the professor. He meant to say that the President appears to be sleep-walking in his approach to the serious business of governance; and that this attitude couldn’t have been injected into the President by the Boko Haram. I tried or attempted to rationalize the President’s approach as that of a humble servant leader whose modus operandi is that of a quiet unassuming leader who feels for the poor and shares the pains of the citizens with regard to the harsh economic policies the government would have to impose on the people. “His modus Vivendi, even when he was a deputy governor, a governor or even as a vice-president was always the same; a kind of lackadaisical approach to serious or threatening issues of the economy or security. It is more of lack of capacity or courage even than a way of life. He needs to get tough or serious”, the don said. It is a long resolved riddle that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party was not the attraction to vote Goodluck Jonathan. Majority of the voters voted for the person of the president rather than his party as many see it as a cult or occultist society rather than a democratic party. What it adds up to is that the people voted for a president now held hostage to the dictates of his party instead of our desires. However, it is also now clear that President Jonathan seems to understand it the other way round; that his party was the choice of the people and not himself. No one else is deluded that the PDP is not a peculiar damsel people seeks after but a porous disposable platform of political jobbers and power brokers. Need we remind him that he is the President of a country and not of a party? And that he must listen to us more than his party?
May be what we are now seeing is the physical remains of a humble leader but who is now a different person from who we thought we know. Political office is a deadly hardener and without good luck, Jonathan may have been hardened to become impervious to our real needs and wishes. He ought not to have forgotten too soon that most Nigerians suffer from hard-core poverty, what with the all pervading chronic unemployment, under-employment and crass deprivation. The fresh air we were promised has suddenly turned a foul air by the blood-spilling Haramites, aside from the palpable inertia which has pervaded the public service, hijacked by needless power-play and power-politics of the anointed god-fathers and area-mothers.
The President’s homilies on the reasons why oil prices must be increased are understandable but unacceptable. The ruling class or party who is responsible for the past thievery and waste is well known and identifiable. Instead of holding them responsible and making them to account for their theft, they are being treated as ghosts which cannot be reached or touched. For as long as one can remember, leaders have had to impose austerity measures, belt-tightening programmes, structural adjustment programme (SAP), partial removal of oil subsidy etc. In so doing, they had promise to use the money saved in Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) which turned out to be Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited; Green Revolution of Shagari which ended in the pocket of the likes of Umaru Dikko, the various phantom projects of the Babangida regime which were used to settle the infamous IBB boys etc. All through the Abacha, Abdulsalam, recycled Obasanjo regime, the lack-luster Umaru Yar’Adua government and now, the Goodluck Jonathan administration, it is the same old story. If the past governments could not fulfill their promises, what guarantee do we have that this government will make any difference? These are the reasons for the lack of trust or confidence in any government, including the present one. This back-drop of leadership failure alienates the citizens from their governments or leaders, and no amount of preachment can change that. To begin a new year with increase in oil prices, with the return of toll-gates and a new NEPA tariff cannot come from a government that promised the people fresh air, especially when the government is generally perceived to lack the capacity to turn things around. The National Assembly may continue their games of pretence, angling for settlement but pretending to object to oil subsidy removal. Mercifully, Nigerians have come to know this Legislature/Executive game, which is often ‘settled’ through lobby and all forms of inducement.
The inability of government to embark on and carry out far-reaching reforms in the electoral process, in the Judiciary and in the Civil Service teaches us that the economic reforms will also fail. An economy driven not by any visionary or patriotic zeal, but by the voodoo economic principles engineered by the World Bank and IMF can neither grow the economy nor bring relief to the people. I am almost convinced that Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala-led economic team will lead imperceptibly to more serious social chaos. Some people believe it could bring about the political revolution now being experienced by the Arab World; but I doubt this. My doubt is based on the knowledge of the differences between the various ethnic nationalities, the gulf between their world views and religious beliefs and the cowardice prevalent among the people. They may kick-off what looks like a nation-wide protest but along the line, our divergences will abort it as it will be exploited or manipulated by the various cabals. It doesn’t take anything for Mrs. World Bank (sorry, Mrs. Okonjo Iweala) to return to her job in New York. After all, she is not accountable to the people as she was not elected in the first place. For a President against whom a war had been declared by a terrorist group, increase in oil prices, return of toll-gates and a higher electricity tariff amounts to a smooth road to political harakiri.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
A Smooth Road to Hara-kiri
By Sam Onimisi
The humble mien of President Goodluck Jonathan ordinarily elicits the admiration and support of the common citizens of Nigeria before the 2011 general election. This support presumably translated into votes when he contested for the Presidency, which he won. This was seven months ago and now; the same common citizens are facing serious threats of abandonment by the very government they elected. Three swords are dangling against the head of the ordinary citizen and would certainly chop-off his head, come year 2012: the impending increase in pump price of fuel (deceitfully called subsidy removal); the newly commenced high tariff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and, the advertised return of toll-gates on high-ways-all of which translates into less money in the pockets of the Nigerian while he will be paying through the nose for black-out instead of light.
While contemplating the effects of all these on the take-home pay of salary earners and net profit of self-employed citizens, I relapsed into a snoop and dreamt of a rag-tag army of the masses chasing Goodluck out of the State House back to his village. I woke up only to hear over the radio that Boko-Haram invaded an Air Force secondary school in Kano and killed some airmen after which they escaped. Could the Boko Haram be the same rag-tag army I saw in my dream? I have no means of telling, but Steve Osuji of the Nation newspaper put it differently when he wrote that “you don’t have to be a genius to guess right: it is the same story of some people insisting they must rule or anoint the ruler. I wager that there would not be a bomb-hauling Boko Haram today if a Buhari or Atiku or Babangida instead of a Jonathan, was president. At best, it would remain the harmless, itinerant religious sect that it was up till two years ago. This explains the deafening silence being observed by the northern elite on this particular Haram.” It is obvious that Osuji sees the Boko Haram as the arrow-head of the total rejection of the Southern-Christian rule or leadership by the Islamic North. That may well be the case.
However, “how does this Boko Haramites challenge box the President into somnambulism?” asked a university don. I had to go on my knees to ask and understand the baban grammar of the professor. He meant to say that the President appears to be sleep-walking in his approach to the serious business of governance; and that this attitude couldn’t have been injected into the President by the Boko Haram. I tried or attempted to rationalize the President’s approach as that of a humble servant leader whose modus operandi is that of a quiet unassuming leader who feels for the poor and shares the pains of the citizens with regard to the harsh economic policies the government would have to impose on the people. “His modus Vivendi, even when he was a deputy governor, a governor or even as a vice-president was always the same; a kind of lackadaisical approach to serious or threatening issues of the economy or security. It is more of lack of capacity or courage even than a way of life. He needs to get tough or serious”, the don said. It is a long resolved riddle that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party was not the attraction to vote Goodluck Jonathan. Majority of the voters voted for the person of the president rather than his party as many see it as a cult or occultist society rather than a democratic party. What it adds up to is that the people voted for a president now held hostage to the dictates of his party instead of our desires. However, it is also now clear that President Jonathan seems to understand it the other way round; that his party was the choice of the people and not himself. No one else is deluded that the PDP is not a peculiar damsel people seeks after but a porous disposable platform of political jobbers and power brokers. Need we remind him that he is the President of a country and not of a party? And that he must listen to us more than his party?
May be what we are now seeing is the physical remains of a humble leader but who is now a different person from who we thought we know. Political office is a deadly hardener and without good luck, Jonathan may have been hardened to become impervious to our real needs and wishes. He ought not to have forgotten too soon that most Nigerians suffer from hard-core poverty, what with the all pervading chronic unemployment, under-employment and crass deprivation. The fresh air we were promised has suddenly turned a foul air by the blood-spilling Haramites, aside from the palpable inertia which has pervaded the public service, hijacked by needless power-play and power-politics of the anointed god-fathers and area-mothers.
The President’s homilies on the reasons why oil prices must be increased are understandable but unacceptable. The ruling class or party who is responsible for the past thievery and waste is well known and identifiable. Instead of holding them responsible and making them to account for their theft, they are being treated as ghosts which cannot be reached or touched. For as long as one can remember, leaders have had to impose austerity measures, belt-tightening programmes, structural adjustment programme (SAP), partial removal of oil subsidy etc. In so doing, they had promise to use the money saved in Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) which turned out to be Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited; Green Revolution of Shagari which ended in the pocket of the likes of Umaru Dikko, the various phantom projects of the Babangida regime which were used to settle the infamous IBB boys etc. All through the Abacha, Abdulsalam, recycled Obasanjo regime, the lack-luster Umaru Yar’Adua government and now, the Goodluck Jonathan administration, it is the same old story. If the past governments could not fulfill their promises, what guarantee do we have that this government will make any difference? These are the reasons for the lack of trust or confidence in any government, including the present one. This back-drop of leadership failure alienates the citizens from their governments or leaders, and no amount of preachment can change that. To begin a new year with increase in oil prices, with the return of toll-gates and a new NEPA tariff cannot come from a government that promised the people fresh air, especially when the government is generally perceived to lack the capacity to turn things around. The National Assembly may continue their games of pretence, angling for settlement but pretending to object to oil subsidy removal. Mercifully, Nigerians have come to know this Legislature/Executive game, which is often ‘settled’ through lobby and all forms of inducement.
The inability of government to embark on and carry out far-reaching reforms in the electoral process, in the Judiciary and in the Civil Service teaches us that the economic reforms will also fail. An economy driven not by any visionary or patriotic zeal, but by the voodoo economic principles engineered by the World Bank and IMF can neither grow the economy nor bring relief to the people. I am almost convinced that Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala-led economic team will lead imperceptibly to more serious social chaos. Some people believe it could bring about the political revolution now being experienced by the Arab World; but I doubt this. My doubt is based on the knowledge of the differences between the various ethnic nationalities, the gulf between their world views and religious beliefs and the cowardice prevalent among the people. They may kick-off what looks like a nation-wide protest but along the line, our divergences will abort it as it will be exploited or manipulated by the various cabals. It doesn’t take anything for Mrs. World Bank (sorry, Mrs. Okonjo Iweala) to return to her job in New York. After all, she is not accountable to the people as she was not elected in the first place. For a President against whom a war had been declared by a terrorist group, increase in oil prices, return of toll-gates and a higher electricity tariff amounts to a smooth road to political harakiri.
The humble mien of President Goodluck Jonathan ordinarily elicits the admiration and support of the common citizens of Nigeria before the 2011 general election. This support presumably translated into votes when he contested for the Presidency, which he won. This was seven months ago and now; the same common citizens are facing serious threats of abandonment by the very government they elected. Three swords are dangling against the head of the ordinary citizen and would certainly chop-off his head, come year 2012: the impending increase in pump price of fuel (deceitfully called subsidy removal); the newly commenced high tariff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and, the advertised return of toll-gates on high-ways-all of which translates into less money in the pockets of the Nigerian while he will be paying through the nose for black-out instead of light.
While contemplating the effects of all these on the take-home pay of salary earners and net profit of self-employed citizens, I relapsed into a snoop and dreamt of a rag-tag army of the masses chasing Goodluck out of the State House back to his village. I woke up only to hear over the radio that Boko-Haram invaded an Air Force secondary school in Kano and killed some airmen after which they escaped. Could the Boko Haram be the same rag-tag army I saw in my dream? I have no means of telling, but Steve Osuji of the Nation newspaper put it differently when he wrote that “you don’t have to be a genius to guess right: it is the same story of some people insisting they must rule or anoint the ruler. I wager that there would not be a bomb-hauling Boko Haram today if a Buhari or Atiku or Babangida instead of a Jonathan, was president. At best, it would remain the harmless, itinerant religious sect that it was up till two years ago. This explains the deafening silence being observed by the northern elite on this particular Haram.” It is obvious that Osuji sees the Boko Haram as the arrow-head of the total rejection of the Southern-Christian rule or leadership by the Islamic North. That may well be the case.
However, “how does this Boko Haramites challenge box the President into somnambulism?” asked a university don. I had to go on my knees to ask and understand the baban grammar of the professor. He meant to say that the President appears to be sleep-walking in his approach to the serious business of governance; and that this attitude couldn’t have been injected into the President by the Boko Haram. I tried or attempted to rationalize the President’s approach as that of a humble servant leader whose modus operandi is that of a quiet unassuming leader who feels for the poor and shares the pains of the citizens with regard to the harsh economic policies the government would have to impose on the people. “His modus Vivendi, even when he was a deputy governor, a governor or even as a vice-president was always the same; a kind of lackadaisical approach to serious or threatening issues of the economy or security. It is more of lack of capacity or courage even than a way of life. He needs to get tough or serious”, the don said. It is a long resolved riddle that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party was not the attraction to vote Goodluck Jonathan. Majority of the voters voted for the person of the president rather than his party as many see it as a cult or occultist society rather than a democratic party. What it adds up to is that the people voted for a president now held hostage to the dictates of his party instead of our desires. However, it is also now clear that President Jonathan seems to understand it the other way round; that his party was the choice of the people and not himself. No one else is deluded that the PDP is not a peculiar damsel people seeks after but a porous disposable platform of political jobbers and power brokers. Need we remind him that he is the President of a country and not of a party? And that he must listen to us more than his party?
May be what we are now seeing is the physical remains of a humble leader but who is now a different person from who we thought we know. Political office is a deadly hardener and without good luck, Jonathan may have been hardened to become impervious to our real needs and wishes. He ought not to have forgotten too soon that most Nigerians suffer from hard-core poverty, what with the all pervading chronic unemployment, under-employment and crass deprivation. The fresh air we were promised has suddenly turned a foul air by the blood-spilling Haramites, aside from the palpable inertia which has pervaded the public service, hijacked by needless power-play and power-politics of the anointed god-fathers and area-mothers.
The President’s homilies on the reasons why oil prices must be increased are understandable but unacceptable. The ruling class or party who is responsible for the past thievery and waste is well known and identifiable. Instead of holding them responsible and making them to account for their theft, they are being treated as ghosts which cannot be reached or touched. For as long as one can remember, leaders have had to impose austerity measures, belt-tightening programmes, structural adjustment programme (SAP), partial removal of oil subsidy etc. In so doing, they had promise to use the money saved in Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) which turned out to be Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited; Green Revolution of Shagari which ended in the pocket of the likes of Umaru Dikko, the various phantom projects of the Babangida regime which were used to settle the infamous IBB boys etc. All through the Abacha, Abdulsalam, recycled Obasanjo regime, the lack-luster Umaru Yar’Adua government and now, the Goodluck Jonathan administration, it is the same old story. If the past governments could not fulfill their promises, what guarantee do we have that this government will make any difference? These are the reasons for the lack of trust or confidence in any government, including the present one. This back-drop of leadership failure alienates the citizens from their governments or leaders, and no amount of preachment can change that. To begin a new year with increase in oil prices, with the return of toll-gates and a new NEPA tariff cannot come from a government that promised the people fresh air, especially when the government is generally perceived to lack the capacity to turn things around. The National Assembly may continue their games of pretence, angling for settlement but pretending to object to oil subsidy removal. Mercifully, Nigerians have come to know this Legislature/Executive game, which is often ‘settled’ through lobby and all forms of inducement.
The inability of government to embark on and carry out far-reaching reforms in the electoral process, in the Judiciary and in the Civil Service teaches us that the economic reforms will also fail. An economy driven not by any visionary or patriotic zeal, but by the voodoo economic principles engineered by the World Bank and IMF can neither grow the economy nor bring relief to the people. I am almost convinced that Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala-led economic team will lead imperceptibly to more serious social chaos. Some people believe it could bring about the political revolution now being experienced by the Arab World; but I doubt this. My doubt is based on the knowledge of the differences between the various ethnic nationalities, the gulf between their world views and religious beliefs and the cowardice prevalent among the people. They may kick-off what looks like a nation-wide protest but along the line, our divergences will abort it as it will be exploited or manipulated by the various cabals. It doesn’t take anything for Mrs. World Bank (sorry, Mrs. Okonjo Iweala) to return to her job in New York. After all, she is not accountable to the people as she was not elected in the first place. For a President against whom a war had been declared by a terrorist group, increase in oil prices, return of toll-gates and a higher electricity tariff amounts to a smooth road to political harakiri.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Ojukwu: Because He Was Involved
By Sam Onimisi
A phenomenon is so called because of a uniqueness that is rare and for which there are abundant contrasts. In every facet of human values, he exhibited qualities which are beyond the ordinary even though, he remained with his human foibles still. He stood out as a shinning star in crisis situations and when overwhelmed, he knew how to stoop to conquer or run away in order to be alive to fight again. He was something of all things to all men. He was at the same time a rebel leader, a warrior, a patriot and a realist. He knew and accepted and loved the fact that he was an Igbo man. He never pretended to be someone else so as to be accepted as many others did and are still doing. By his character, we knew him as much as by his fruits, and while he was an embodiment of courage and vision, he was limited by the shortcomings and unduly high expectations of those he led and by circumstances above his control.
The Ikemba Nnewi and Eze Ndigbo Gburugburu, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was born in November, 1933 with a silver spoon as his father, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu was about the first transport millionaire of pre-independence Nigeria. The Ikemba attended the best schools in Nigeria and Britain and became a graduate in 1955. After a brief spell in the service of Eastern Nigeria civil service, he joined the army as if it was a divine prodding. For one thing, it was unthinkable for a University graduate to join the army, looked upon at the time as the place for the dumb heads and never-do-wells. He was a first-born son of his father, which in many cultures, especially in Igbo culture, thrust on him enormous responsibilities. He was not only among the first few graduates who joined the army, he was the very first university product that became a governor when he was appointed the military governor of Eastern Region in 1966 at the age of 33.
The January 1966 coup never had the input nor enjoyed the active support of Ojukwu, although he benefitted from it as it gave rise to his appointment as a military governor. Between the May 1966 pogrom against the Igbo, through the July 1966 counter coup targeted at the Ndigbo and the declaration of the rebellious Republic of Biafra in May 1967, Ojukwu had only one year to prepare for war. Meaning that the conception of Biafra and the preparation for its declaration and consequences were as a result of the events of May and July 1966. If that is the case then two facts emerges from it: one, is that neither Ojukwu nor the Ndigbo had any previous plan to secede and two, that more time would have been needed to plan for succession and its inevitable war. It then means that the Ojukwu leadership of the Ndigbo, whether as military governor of Eastern Region or as head of state of Biafra were purely circumstantial or a divine design. Well, in the realm of conjecture, even the most rational argument or logic could be rubbished if they are contrary to facts. In the same vein, when a people decide to reject anyone or anything regardless of truth and facts, no logic and argument can persuade them otherwise. All of which made perception as the decider of who caused the war and what role any individual played, before, during and after the civil war. However, the truth has a way of surfacing, no matter efforts made to suppress it.
The Ikemba Nnewi was a phenomenon in many ways. He read history and made history in such a way that he is today, history personified. If Biafra is dead, Ojukwu was its life. If Biafra remains a dream, Ojukwu is its inspiration, and if Biafra resurrects and thrive, the virtues of Ojukwu will be its driving force. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu may not have had the entire character traits of the Ndigbo whether of the positive hue or otherwise. For example, late Dr. Nnamidi Azikiwe and Dr. Michael Okpara were leaders of the Ndigbo as Premiers of the Eastern Region of Nigeria for a longer period than the Ikemba. Today, it is arguably if he hasn’t towered above them in acceptability and the personification of the Igbo dream and agenda.
As a man born into wealth and trained in the best schools and raised with high ethical standard of the time, it was a miracle that Ojukwu offered himself for the leadership of a bloody rebellion or secession. His personality and that of his chief opponent General Yakubu Gowon is a study in absolute contrast. As a graduate soldier who was also about one year older than Gowon and who joined the army a few months earlier, he considered himself superior to Gowon and so, was always forced to concede to his rival, whether in the army or during the negotiations before the war. The latent rivalries between Ojukwu and Gowon found expression during the difficult period of the January 1966 coup after which Gowon became Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters and so, superior to Ojukwu who became a military governor of a region. Gowon’s ascension to the headship of the country as well as his triple promotion to the rank of major general exacerbated the rivalry and made the peace talks very difficult. No wonder, the peace talk’s agreement were never implemented by either side to the dispute.
The Eze Ndigbo Gburugburu was a man of straight talks who found himself as both a military as much as a political leader. In his efforts to connect to the people and affect their hearts and direct them to victory, he sometimes abandons his very blunt talks and forayed into double-speak of the politician – which was not his nature. This was when he employs theatrics which he expressed in such an amateur manner that betrayed his thoughts and feelings. He was always forced to put on a face different from his actual face when he had to deal with the larger public on political issues. He knew the Igbo person, culture, traditions and tried his best to reflect those everywhere he found himself. He was totally involved in and with the Ndigbo dreams and dedicated his life to the best interests of the race – even as a sacrificial lamb. If the failure of Biafra and the ills or misfortunes of the Igbo nation in Nigeria is attributed to him, it is rightly so only on the account of the leadership price he had to pay, and not due to his perceived weakness as a leader. It is a pity I didn’t know him as I would have wanted, but I met him once and I dared the lion with a question. What was it?
Knowing that the 1967 – 1970 civil wars did allot of damage to the unity of some ethnic groups in the South, especially between the Yoruba and Igbo about the acclaimed role of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the defeat of Biafra, I know no other person who could factually answer the question than the Ikemba himself. Again, if I fail to seize the occasion and the opportunity, there was no known way of reaching him again to pose my question. The Pro-National Conference Organization (PRONACO) was having a session in Enugu in 2005 to which Chief Ojukwu played host, after which he granted private audience to Chief Anthony Enahoro and a few of PRONACO leaders, including my humble self. And I dared the lion! “Sir, was it true that Chief Awolowo deceived the Igbo people into the was and abandoned them to their fate as some people claimed?”.
He looked at me intensely for sometime and asked Chief Enahoro who I was. After my formal introduction, the Ikemba softened his looks and answered in parables that may be paraphrased thus: “when was Chief Awolowo released from prison? Do you know when we proclaimed the Republic of Biafra? I don’t know who deceived who, but I know a people no one can deceive, and that is my people, the Ndigbo!” I believed him even though he did not pointedly answer my question. As a leader, there are certain myths you need to sustain in order keep yourself miles ahead of the led. Whatever serve to promote such myths is to be tolerated – even if you don’t encourage it. I was left to interpret his answer and I believe him-because he was involved! Rest in peace, the Eze Ndigbo Gburugburu of Nigeria!!
A phenomenon is so called because of a uniqueness that is rare and for which there are abundant contrasts. In every facet of human values, he exhibited qualities which are beyond the ordinary even though, he remained with his human foibles still. He stood out as a shinning star in crisis situations and when overwhelmed, he knew how to stoop to conquer or run away in order to be alive to fight again. He was something of all things to all men. He was at the same time a rebel leader, a warrior, a patriot and a realist. He knew and accepted and loved the fact that he was an Igbo man. He never pretended to be someone else so as to be accepted as many others did and are still doing. By his character, we knew him as much as by his fruits, and while he was an embodiment of courage and vision, he was limited by the shortcomings and unduly high expectations of those he led and by circumstances above his control.
The Ikemba Nnewi and Eze Ndigbo Gburugburu, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was born in November, 1933 with a silver spoon as his father, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu was about the first transport millionaire of pre-independence Nigeria. The Ikemba attended the best schools in Nigeria and Britain and became a graduate in 1955. After a brief spell in the service of Eastern Nigeria civil service, he joined the army as if it was a divine prodding. For one thing, it was unthinkable for a University graduate to join the army, looked upon at the time as the place for the dumb heads and never-do-wells. He was a first-born son of his father, which in many cultures, especially in Igbo culture, thrust on him enormous responsibilities. He was not only among the first few graduates who joined the army, he was the very first university product that became a governor when he was appointed the military governor of Eastern Region in 1966 at the age of 33.
The January 1966 coup never had the input nor enjoyed the active support of Ojukwu, although he benefitted from it as it gave rise to his appointment as a military governor. Between the May 1966 pogrom against the Igbo, through the July 1966 counter coup targeted at the Ndigbo and the declaration of the rebellious Republic of Biafra in May 1967, Ojukwu had only one year to prepare for war. Meaning that the conception of Biafra and the preparation for its declaration and consequences were as a result of the events of May and July 1966. If that is the case then two facts emerges from it: one, is that neither Ojukwu nor the Ndigbo had any previous plan to secede and two, that more time would have been needed to plan for succession and its inevitable war. It then means that the Ojukwu leadership of the Ndigbo, whether as military governor of Eastern Region or as head of state of Biafra were purely circumstantial or a divine design. Well, in the realm of conjecture, even the most rational argument or logic could be rubbished if they are contrary to facts. In the same vein, when a people decide to reject anyone or anything regardless of truth and facts, no logic and argument can persuade them otherwise. All of which made perception as the decider of who caused the war and what role any individual played, before, during and after the civil war. However, the truth has a way of surfacing, no matter efforts made to suppress it.
The Ikemba Nnewi was a phenomenon in many ways. He read history and made history in such a way that he is today, history personified. If Biafra is dead, Ojukwu was its life. If Biafra remains a dream, Ojukwu is its inspiration, and if Biafra resurrects and thrive, the virtues of Ojukwu will be its driving force. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu may not have had the entire character traits of the Ndigbo whether of the positive hue or otherwise. For example, late Dr. Nnamidi Azikiwe and Dr. Michael Okpara were leaders of the Ndigbo as Premiers of the Eastern Region of Nigeria for a longer period than the Ikemba. Today, it is arguably if he hasn’t towered above them in acceptability and the personification of the Igbo dream and agenda.
As a man born into wealth and trained in the best schools and raised with high ethical standard of the time, it was a miracle that Ojukwu offered himself for the leadership of a bloody rebellion or secession. His personality and that of his chief opponent General Yakubu Gowon is a study in absolute contrast. As a graduate soldier who was also about one year older than Gowon and who joined the army a few months earlier, he considered himself superior to Gowon and so, was always forced to concede to his rival, whether in the army or during the negotiations before the war. The latent rivalries between Ojukwu and Gowon found expression during the difficult period of the January 1966 coup after which Gowon became Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters and so, superior to Ojukwu who became a military governor of a region. Gowon’s ascension to the headship of the country as well as his triple promotion to the rank of major general exacerbated the rivalry and made the peace talks very difficult. No wonder, the peace talk’s agreement were never implemented by either side to the dispute.
The Eze Ndigbo Gburugburu was a man of straight talks who found himself as both a military as much as a political leader. In his efforts to connect to the people and affect their hearts and direct them to victory, he sometimes abandons his very blunt talks and forayed into double-speak of the politician – which was not his nature. This was when he employs theatrics which he expressed in such an amateur manner that betrayed his thoughts and feelings. He was always forced to put on a face different from his actual face when he had to deal with the larger public on political issues. He knew the Igbo person, culture, traditions and tried his best to reflect those everywhere he found himself. He was totally involved in and with the Ndigbo dreams and dedicated his life to the best interests of the race – even as a sacrificial lamb. If the failure of Biafra and the ills or misfortunes of the Igbo nation in Nigeria is attributed to him, it is rightly so only on the account of the leadership price he had to pay, and not due to his perceived weakness as a leader. It is a pity I didn’t know him as I would have wanted, but I met him once and I dared the lion with a question. What was it?
Knowing that the 1967 – 1970 civil wars did allot of damage to the unity of some ethnic groups in the South, especially between the Yoruba and Igbo about the acclaimed role of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the defeat of Biafra, I know no other person who could factually answer the question than the Ikemba himself. Again, if I fail to seize the occasion and the opportunity, there was no known way of reaching him again to pose my question. The Pro-National Conference Organization (PRONACO) was having a session in Enugu in 2005 to which Chief Ojukwu played host, after which he granted private audience to Chief Anthony Enahoro and a few of PRONACO leaders, including my humble self. And I dared the lion! “Sir, was it true that Chief Awolowo deceived the Igbo people into the was and abandoned them to their fate as some people claimed?”.
He looked at me intensely for sometime and asked Chief Enahoro who I was. After my formal introduction, the Ikemba softened his looks and answered in parables that may be paraphrased thus: “when was Chief Awolowo released from prison? Do you know when we proclaimed the Republic of Biafra? I don’t know who deceived who, but I know a people no one can deceive, and that is my people, the Ndigbo!” I believed him even though he did not pointedly answer my question. As a leader, there are certain myths you need to sustain in order keep yourself miles ahead of the led. Whatever serve to promote such myths is to be tolerated – even if you don’t encourage it. I was left to interpret his answer and I believe him-because he was involved! Rest in peace, the Eze Ndigbo Gburugburu of Nigeria!!
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