As a starter, I want to extend my condolences to the families and friends who lost their loved ones in the Biafran-Nigerian conflict.
The memories that come flooding back with the thirteen months civil war and the passing of Lt. Col. Chuku Emeka Odemewu Ojukwu, are so horrific that for some it may require some form of collective amnesia to cope with it.
MY FATHER- THE LATE CHIEF ODUOK:
To my father, and brother who suffered the humiliation of being stripped naked before Eket populace and condemned to death by firing squad in Urua Nka square Eket for seeking statehood and the liberation of our people from neo colonialists, you have my special thanks for your enduring sacrifices. We thank God that his intervention spared your lives although you my father lost your hearing as a result of the savage beating and torture by Biafran soldiers.
To my colleague Nkatah -an Annang man who was taken out of police custody in Calabar and shot to death and the body dumped in a dish near calabar hospital by a Yoruba soldier after being arrested by a Yoruba Mobile Police Officer who had issues with you when you were serving at Ibadan, I say thank you and apologize for my inability to convey your greetings to your wife as you instructed me to do because I am still unable to locate your wife to inform her of the circumstances of your death and where your body may be found and the callousness of his soulless killers.
To the late Brigadier General U.J. Esuene; LT. Col. Usoro;
Major Eshiet; Sgt. Sunday Lazarus Etuk and the living Brigadier Etukudoh; Sgt. Ndun Oduok; Kokoette Oduok; Ikpa Asam and a host of other Eket sons and daughters and Akwaibomites, too numerous to list who fought in the conflict, you all have the thanks of a grateful nation the state and its people. Some were not as fortunate as you were to come out alive. We pray for the repose of their souls.
To my good friends Ubong Eshiet, Tim Isong, Azib and Edoho - the vanguards of the civil rights movement -Old Calabar and Ogoja Youth Movement, (OKOYO) I keep wondering what you may be thinking when you witness the mess that is going on in the state that you put your lives on the line to fight for its creation but have definitely been resigned to footnote in history. Those who knew you knew the vital roles you played in our struggles for statehood. You have the thanks of a grateful state and its people.
THE COMMANDER OF THE SOUTH EAST SECTOR OF THE WAR- LT. Col. Adekunle:
We thank you for taking the fight to Biafra from our sector of the war.
Lt. Col. Adekunle hailed from Yoruba but did not build his legacy on his folk’s roots. Instead, he rose to prominence as a military hero in the Biafran-Nigerian conflict. He was a ruthless, bombastic and blood thirsty commander and basked a reputation as self styled scorpion. His bizarre and eccentric behavior defined the woes of our people in the war. Most Yoruba fighters and even police officers took advantage of the fact that the commander was one of their own in committing criminal activities including raping our women leaving them infected with diseases at a time when they could not find medication to treat themselves.
THE BIAFRAN-NIGERIAN CONFLICT:
As a word of caution, we are here not dealing with miracles, Angeles, pervasive spirituality and prayer for deliverance.
Also, we are not talking about exacting annoyances, pulling internet trigger or, doing internet suicide squad.
Furthermore, we are not talking about political dynasty, “political family” or aristocracy, rather, we are here talking about liberation war and addressing the heroes who fought and died in that war so that we can maintain our political identify, live as a free people and the departure of the central player in that conflict.
For thirteen months, we waged a bloody struggle on both sides of the conflict either to keep autonomous provinces or secure our freedom from the tyranny of Biafran Republic . Pick whatever side you wish and you will find that our people paid the price of fighting for their liberty.
The central figure in that struggle was Lt. Col. Odemekwu Ojukwu who has now entered a sleep in which there is no waking up. His passing revives the memories of the conflict and a troubled nation still marred in fending off attacks from rivalries that helps in defining Ojukwu’s legacy.
LT. Col. OJUKWU:
Who was Lt. Col Odmekwu Ojukwu and why does he merit a spot in the nation’s pantheons of hero or revolutionaries?
Lt. Col. Ojukwu in the writers view symbolizes a military legacy that changed Nigerian society forever. History now seems to vindicate Okukwu and his admonition that the North is intent on dominating the South and that we should let them go their way and we our way. That our culture and those of the Northern people do not mix. The unrest in the North continues till this day. Nigeria is still in the throws that led to the conflict. Northerners still massacre Southerners and the prompt violent response from Southerners show a shift that pogrom by Northern barbarians will no longer go uncontested. But this is not who we are.
Some Northerners construe the quiet dignity of our people as a sign of weakness. The callousness of the soulless killers and the extravagance of their wealthy create uncertain future and constitute a menace to our system of government.
he realities of the new era makes absurd the invocation of old practices of Northernization policy to address new political character. The challenges of our times do not allow us to be held back from growing to enable others to catch up with us. It seems that the unbridgeable impasse between the Northern and the Southern cultures has taken a permanent shape and that the two cultures cannot mix. Thus, at some point, the South might have to be forced to go its way if our neighbors do not appreciate our union.
WHERE ARE WE TAKING THE COUNTRY AND OUR STATE?
The future of the country is unpredictable. We do not seem to be heading in the right direction. We fought in the conflict to either change our history and our destiny and for our protection against exploitation of our people by the Iboe government. But the exploitation continues unabated.
The wounds that plagued the country during the Northern pogrom is kept afresh by constant killings of Southerners by Northerners such that all will agree that the country is not going in the right direction.
Our state is in the hands of unworthy leaders who never contributed in any known way nor suffered the calamities of murder and broken lives nor saw a shred of the conflict but are reaping their rewards and constantly sending a message of violence to our people.
LT. COL. OJUKWU -A MILITARY HERO OF THE BIAFRAN-NIGERIAN CONFLICT?
Lt. Col. Ojukwu knew the dangers his people were about facing but that knowledge did not deter him from declaring Biafran Republic . He saw what the Easterners (“yamini”) as we were all called, went through during the Northern pogrom and defended our values and causes. Any rational leader would have done what he did- disassociate himself and his people from such barbarians. He demonstrated that bravery and determination makes us who we are. This makes him a hero in the conflict.
May his soul rest in peace:
Dr. Inyang Oduok
Atlanta, Ga.
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