Is odumegwu ojukwu dead and company
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At the time of Ojukwu’s death on 26 November 2011, his name resonated across the world. But, unlike in June 1967, when his declaration of Biafran independence led to civil war in Nigeria, his passing away evoked widespread feelings of sadness and regret among Nigerians. Our associate editor Mercy Eze looks back on Ojukwu’s legacy and enigmatic life.
Never in the history of Africa has the death of a “rebel” provoked such a wave of reaction as that of the former Biafran war leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who passed away in a London hospital on 26 November 2011, at the age of 78, having suffered for almost a year after a massive stroke. He had been evacuated from his native Nigeria to the UK on 23 December 2010.
Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike have diverse memories of Ojukwu. He was adored and loathed in equal measure, not just for his failed attempt to cede Biafra from Nigeria, but also for his struggle for principles.
His eldest son, Debe Odumegwu Ojukwu, could not have sai
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Ex-Biafra leader Chukwuemeka Ojukwu buried in Nigeria
He was in the military before declaring independence for south-eastern Nigeria, where Igbo is the most widely spoken language, following the slaughter of thousands of ethnic Igbos in northern Nigeria.
This followed a 1966 coup carried out by Igbo officers, in which Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a northerner, was shot dead.
Most of the civilians who died during the Biafran war died from hunger.
Former Biafran fighters at the funeral seemed happy with the active role played by the army and the federal government during the burial, our reporter says.
"I was an officer in the Biafran army and saw active battle in the trenches and I keep telling people we were volunteers, we were never conscripted. Ojukwu stood against injustice and pogrom and we all identified [with him]," Alphonsus Nwosu told the BBC.
"This burial is burying the civil war and memories," he said.
Col Ojukwu's Biafran aspiratio
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Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
Nigerian politician and military leader (1933–2011)
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu | |
|---|---|
| In office 30 May 1967 – 8 January 1970 | |
| Vice President | Philip Effiong |
| Preceded by | Position created |
| Succeeded by | Philip Effiong |
| In office 19 January 1966 – 27 May 1967 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Akanu Ibiam |
| Succeeded by | Ukpabi Asika (East huvud State) Alfred Diete-Spiff (Rivers State) Uduokaha Esuene (South-Eastern State) |
| Born | Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (1933-11-04)4 November 1933 Zungeru, British Nigeria |
| Died | 26 November 2011(2011-11-26) (aged 78) London, UK |
| Nationality | Nigerian, Biafran (1967–1970) |
| Political party | Nigerian Military, Biafran military, later NPN, APGA |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Okoli Njideka Odumegwu-Ojukwu Stella Ojukwu Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu |
| Children | 7 |
| Education | CMS Grammar School, Lagos King's College, Lagos Epsom College |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (M.A. Hi
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