Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu at Eighty-Seven (87)

Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu would have been 87 today. In his last 10 years on earth, I took it upon myself to celebrate his birthdays through opinion pieces on him. I was inspired to celebrate him posthumously by simply posting the preface to his biography entitled: ‘Ojukwu: the Last Patriot”, which I authored.

Written as an undergraduate, I had the problem of financing the publication as all publishing firms that accepted the script demanded payment. Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu had to intervene by writing a letter of introduction, in his own handwriting, to Sen. Mike Ajaegbu. Sen. Ajaegbu owned the Minaj Publishing Company at that time and it was doing well. Alas, Sen. Ajaegbu could not assist, the rest, as they say, is now history. I have also attached the copy of the letter which I consider as archival.

Now the preface and the attached letter

PREFACE

This is neither strictly a biography, nor an essay in history or politics. It combines elements of both. However, essentially, it is the complex story of the relationship between Ojukwu and his country.

We know the character of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu largely through the civil war, which lasted for three years, 1967-1970. The two most prominent characters in that war were Generals Yakubu Gowon and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Men might be divided on which side to identify with, but the debate they once started at Aburi, Ghana, goes on. Modern Nigeria continues the argument as it rebounds through every phase of its nationhood.

The modern lovers of freedom, justice and discipline tend to say: “Gowon, you ended the order of hierarchy and precedence in the army; admit that the disruption set a dangerous precedent. Accept that your victory in the civil war was pyrrhic, in that you gained it after having destroyed everything that Nigeria held dear: discipline, faithfulness, sacredness of human life, freedom and justice. Agree that the war was unjustified inasmuch as it was against a group that was hounded out of the country and was forced to take measures to protect itself.”

Against Ojukwu, some critics say: “Ojukwu, you are not only obstinate but also pugnacious. Why, in the first place, should you enter into a war that you were not prepared for? When you had read the hand writing on the wall, and it was obvious that the war could not be continued, why did you not surrender rather than subject your people to incalculable suffering? If the recognition of Gowon as the Supreme Commander would have prevented the war, why didn’t you do that?”

In the attempts to answer the foregoing questions, hundreds of learned historians and analysts have presented Ojukwu as a hero who struggled admiringly to enthrone justice in Nigeria. Hundreds of learned historians and analysts, on the other hand, have presented him as the ogre who drained the blood of the nation to feed his insatiable desire for war and power.

The debate rages on, and is destined to continue even after the demise of the dramatis personae. It is, in fact, the task of every age in Nigeria to join in this debate. This book is the result of an attempt by the author to join in the debate – to reappraise and represent the views of the Nigerian youth. How shall we, the youth – some of who did not witness the civil war and are wont to take fright at the outbreak of street brawls understand a man who bore in his mind and person the storm and stress of that momentous event? Did he free his people or enslave them? This question is still not adequately answered. It is tugged at whenever Nigeria finds herself at the crossroads.

A study of the public career of a complex figure like Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who puts Nigeria at the crossroads now and then, and who has been a controversial figure throughout his life, invites controversies at almost every chapter. It is, however, not the job of the writer who has recourse to history to avoid controversies. It is his job, like that of biographers who re-create the storm and stress which accompany the inward resolution of heroic lives, to reconstruct the past as accurately as his limitations permit, even when his judgments contradict some existing judgments. This is what I have done. My intention has been to understand Ojukwu in the context of his time.

Therefore, after many years of exacting labour, this book, The Last Patriot, goes forth in the fervent hope that it will add its own voice towards the study of Nigeria’s foremost controversial man. It is my hope also that it will help forward the study along the right lines to the ultimate edification of humanity. I have always believed that one of the functions of biography is to inspire readers to surpass the achievements of characters so described.

Since Ojukwu’s life is still unfolding, and since it has been a complex one, let me forewarn readers that the book could not be the final statement on Ojukwu. Meanwhile a weary author may sympathize with Tai T’ung, who in the thirteenth century issued his History of Chinese Writing with these words: “Were I to await perfection, my book would never be finished.” For the same reason, Ibn Ichallakan apologised for the flaws in his book, The Obituaries of Men of Note saying that, “Allah has not permitted any book to be faultless except the Koran.” The Last Patriot is not a Koran, nor does it claim to be as infallible as the Bible.