Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu-Ojukwu was born on 4 November 1933 at Zungeru in northern Nigeria to Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, an Igbo businessman from present-day Nnewi, Anambra State in south-eastern Nigeria. 
His father Sir Louis was in the transport business; he took advantage of the business boom during World War II to become one of the richest men in Nigeria.
Emeka Ojukwu started his secondary school education at CMS Grammar School, Lagos aged 10 in 1943. He later transferred to King's College, Lagos, where he was involved in a controversy leading to his brief imprisonment for assaulting a British teacher who put down a student...
strike action that he was a part of.This event generated widespread coverage in local newspapers. At 13, his father sent him overseas to study in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Ojukwu was an unlikely rebel leader. The son of a Nigerian millionaire knighted by the Queen of England, he grew up in
a mansion and attended a private high school in Surrey, England, where he set a school record for the discus throw.
a mansion and attended a private high school in Surrey, England, where he set a school record for the discus throw.
At Lincoln College at the University of Oxford, he played on the rugby team and was known for his flashy clothes and red
sports car.
sports car.
He graduated in 1955, then returned to Nigeria. He rebuffed his father’s offer to join the family transport business and enrolled in civil service, working on community projects building roads and digging culverts. He later joined the military partly to spite his father...
he said, but also because he sensed that “Nigeria was headed for an upheaval and that the army was the place to be when the time came.
The most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria is on the western coast, just north of the equator. For decades, Nigeria was a
British colony until declaring independence in 1960. Three years later, Nigeria became a republic within the British
commonwealth.
British colony until declaring independence in 1960. Three years later, Nigeria became a republic within the British
commonwealth.
Mr. Ojukwu rose through the army ranks before the chaos he predicted arrived in January 1966. A gang of officers overthrew the government in a coup and assassinated the prime minister.
Although Mr. Ojukwu didn’t participate in the coup, he was made the military governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich eastern region, home to many ethnic Ibo Christians like himself.
A counter-coup followed a few months later that left Nigeria in disarray. Throughout the power struggle, Mr. Ojukwu kept the eastern region running smoothly and mostly independent of federal rule. Having his plans in mind, just waiting for the time and opportunity to carry it out
In September 1966, 20,000 Ibo were massacred in pogroms in the Muslim-dominated northern region. Mr. Ojukwu called the unprovoked aggression “organized, wanton fratricide.”
The massacre took place after the January 1966 Nigerian coup d'etat led mostly by young Igbo officers. Most of the politicians and senior army officers killed by them were northerners, including the Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto.
Aguiyi-Ironsi then assumed power, forcing the civilian government to cede authority. He established a military government led by himself as supreme commander.
In the months following the coup it was widely noted that four of the five army Majors who executed the coup were
Igbo and that the General who took over power was also Igbo. Northerners feared that the Igbo had set out to take control of the country.
Igbo and that the General who took over power was also Igbo. Northerners feared that the Igbo had set out to take control of the country.
In a response action Northern officers carried out the July 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in which 240 Southern
members of the army were systematically killed, three-quarters of them Igbo, as well as thousands of civilians of southern origin living in the north.
members of the army were systematically killed, three-quarters of them Igbo, as well as thousands of civilians of southern origin living in the north.
In the aftermath Yakubu Gowon, a northerner, assumed command of the military government. In this background increased ethnic rivalries led to further massacres, Northern Nigerians were however also targeted in the Igbo dominated Eastern Nigeria.
Thousands of Hausas, Tiv and other Northern Tribes were massacred by Igbo mobs, forcing a mass exodus of Northerners from the Eastern Region.
Remember that one other factor that led to the hostility toward eastern Nigeria was the attempt by the Aguiyi Ironsi regime to abolish regionalisation in favor of a unitary system of government which was regarded as a plot to establish Igbo domination in the Federation,
which Lt. Col Ojukwu supported. The failure of the Ironsi regime to punish the army mutineers responsible for the
January 1966 coup also exacerbated the situation.
January 1966 coup also exacerbated the situation.
Ojokwu didn't consult anyone, he played on the mind of the Igbos as the Governor of the region, he knew they were angry at the attacks that occured in the north. Mr. Ojukwu started growing a thick, bushy beard as a sign of mourning for the injustice caused to the Ibo.
He acceded to mounting demands of an Ibo-led secession of the eastern region, a total area of 30,000 square miles. Then announced the birth of the Republic of Biafra during a radio address at 3 a.m. on May 30, 1967.
The ceremony featured a 42-gun salute and champagne served from waiters in white coats. He named his country after a Nigerian coastal inlet and chose Jean Sibelius’s “Finlandia” as the melody for his nation’s anthem.
So after Biafra declared independence, Nigeria struck back violently. From the outset, Biafra’s odds for survival were
minimal. The Nigerian army outnumbered the Biafrans as many as 4 to 1.
minimal. The Nigerian army outnumbered the Biafrans as many as 4 to 1.
While the Biafrans carried single-shot rifles and
five rounds of ammunition, the Nigerians were supplied heavy weapons from Britain and fighter jets from Egypt.
five rounds of ammunition, the Nigerians were supplied heavy weapons from Britain and fighter jets from Egypt.
Facing such a remote victory, Mr. Ojukwu told his army to “be prepared to die so that our children may live.” As months of combat progressed, Biafra was surrounded by Nigerian forces, cutting off food supplies.
Mr. Ojukwu contacted a Swiss public relations firm with a propaganda to get help and tarnish the Nigeria army, they sent out images to world publications showing Biafran children with swollen bellies and ribs as thin as rifle barrels.
Newspapers referred to the Biafran famine as a modern Holocaust, a comparison Mr. Ojukwu welcomed. Time magazine reported that up to 1,000 people a day died of starvation in Biafra. To combat a protein-deficiency disease,
Mr. Ojukwu’s told Biafrans to eat rats, dogs and lizards
Mr. Ojukwu’s told Biafrans to eat rats, dogs and lizards
For much of his rule, he was a revered figure among his people. A raconteur who charmed journalists, he quoted from Shakespeare and spoke authoritatively about the reign of King Louis XIV of France. He landed on the cover of Time magazine in 1968 and gained sympathetic followers
The book and movie "half of a yellow sun" concentrated more between the 1969 to 1970 when the Nigerian Army was doing area bombardment of Biafra regions. It didn't talk about how the Biafra made an incursion into Benin, Port Harcourt through the Libration Army front.
The stories were written to favor and get sympathy from the readers and viewers. She forgot to talk about how Ojukwu mercenaries left him, how the French withdrew their troops and he was left alone with his amateur fighters. Ojukwu knew the risk he was taking the Igbos into.
But his arrogance and greed won't let them see it, Chimanda didn't talk about the atrocities the Ojukwu soldiers committed too. They killed vast majorities. The casualties was much.
Ojukwu carved wood guns for his people. It was a sad experience.
Ojukwu carved wood guns for his people. It was a sad experience.
The war show case two main actors there was a young, naive head of state in person of Gen Yakubu Gowon and there was a greedy, callous, arrogant, myopic Lt Col Odumegwu Ojukwu who knew he was fighting a way he couldn't win but because of the thirst for power he killed Igbos.
The only thing that can make the Igbos to get liberated from this hurt is if they outgrow the lies. See the Biafra as a civil war, where there must be casualties and let go of the past. They will remain the way they're. Nigerians love them but hatred won't allow them to see this.
This is derived, through personal research, from the research files and archives of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia,
I also Culled from a lecture to the Students of the University of Nigeria, Nsuka,by Professor Kalu Uka, of the English and
Drama Department ,
I also Culled from a lecture to the Students of the University of Nigeria, Nsuka,by Professor Kalu Uka, of the English and
Drama Department ,
and Luke Uka Uche's 'Radio Biafra and The Nigerian Civil War: a Study of War Propaganda on a Target Audience', also 'A Revolutionary Story" an account of Lt Col Victor Banjo who was killed by Ojukwu, then Why we struck : the story of the first Nigerian coup / Adewale Ademoyega.
I also made reference to "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and also the movie "Half of a Yellow Sun" directed by Biyi Bandele .
I'm writing this last part with tears in eyes, I want to plead with my Igbo brothers and sisters, to let go of the past, the more we are together the happier we will be. Let's leave this hates for the sake of our children, I have kids who I want to be able to live with Igbos 🙏🏽
