Everything about Emeka Ojukwu totally explained
General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,
Ikemba Nnewi, known as
Emeka Ojukwu, (born
November 4,
1933) was the
leader of the
secessionist state of
Biafra in
Nigeria (
1967–
1970), during the
Nigerian Civil War, and previously Military Governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. He is usually referred to in news and other sources just as
Ojukwu.
Frederick Forsyth, a friend, wrote a biography about him titled
Emeka. It was published in 1982. Ojukwu was also a prototype of anonymous General character in Forsyth's novel
The Dogs of War published in 1974.
Education
He was born in Zungeru, the son of
Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu (
KBE), President of The African Continental Bank, first President of The Nigerian Stock Exchange and a business tycoon who was believed to be Nigeria's first multi-millionaire. Chukwuemeka's name meant "God has done well." He attracted media publicity at a young age. In
1944, the young Ojukwu was briefly imprisoned for assaulting a white British colonial teacher who was humiliating a black woman at
King's College in
Lagos, an event which generated widespread coverage in local newspapers. He then went on to study in
Britain, first at
Epsom College, in
Surrey and later earned a Masters degree in history at
Lincoln College, Oxford University.
Biafra
Ojukwu decided to enter the
military over the objections of his father, who wanted him to study law. He joined the Nigerian military and graduated from the prestigious
Sandhurst Military Academy in England. He then became a
Lieutenant Colonel in the Army of Nigeria and Military Governor of the oil rich Eastern Region. Following an anti-
Igbo/Christian genocidal pogrom in the
Muslim Northern Region, Igbo chiefs met at
Umuahia in the Eastern Region. They decided to declare the region consisting of the Igbo heartland, the
Niger Delta (mostly
Ijaw) and the Cross River basin (
Efik and
Ibibio areas) independent. Ojukwu was chosen by the Igbos to lead the new country and appointed Head of State & General of the Peoples Army, named "Biafra" after the
Bight of Biafra.
Despite some early Biafran successes, such as the world famous Abagana ambush in which two divisions of the Nigerian Army were annihilated, the Nigerians slowly gained the upper hand, supported by the
United Kingdom and the
Soviet Union and, tacitly, by the
United States. Among the world's major nations, only
France and
Portugal offered some support to Biafra.
On
June 1,
1969, he delivered the
Ahiara Declaration, a patriotic speech, in the village of
Ahiara. The speech condemned racism and imperialism, and asserted "our inalienable right to self determination". Ojukwu condemned as
genocide the actions of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, for completely blockading Biafra without exception for children or other noncombatants.
After Biafra
Ojukwu left Biafra as it collapsed, intending to set up a government in exile. He subsequently lived in
Ivory Coast for 13 years. Seeking to bolster his support among Igbos,
President Alhaji Shehu Shagari pardoned Ojukwu and allowed him to return to Nigeria in
1980. He joined Shagari's
National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and contested the
1983 election for the
Senate.
In February of
1994 Ojukwu accepted an invitation to give a speech at the
Lagos Law School.
As the candidate of the
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), he ran for President in the
2003 presidential election. He claimed to have won the election and filed a court challenge against what he said was the "massive fraud" that allegedly denied him the presidency.
Today Ojukwu lives a quiet life in Eastern Nigeria. In early December 2006 he was again chosen to be the APGA presidential candidate for the
April 2007 election. On
January 14 2008 he received his military pension from the Nigerian government, but on this occasion he complained that he was referred to as a
lieutenant colonel and not as a general, his rank in the Biafran military.
Further Information
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