Six months after the burial of ex-Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odunegwu-Ojukwu, his widow and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, Lady Bianca, yesterday ended her mourning. The late Igbo leader
died last November in a London hospital after suffering a stroke in 2010.
He was flown abroad in an air ambulance. She was appointed an envoy by the Jonathan administration early this year. Since then, Bianca had been around to observe the mandatory Igbo mourning period for the dead with hers counting from November when the husband passed on.
Speaking yesterday at Nnewi, Bianca said since her husband’s passage, she had received tremendous support and encouragement from government and people of Anambra State, Ndigbo and Nigerians at large, which she noted, made the experience less traumatic.
Bianca noted that the late Ikemba was a man of peace who believed in justice, equity and fair-play, saying that leaders should emulate his idea of transparency in public service to gain people’s trust and confidence. In his remarks, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, urged Nigerians to start Ojukwu’s immortalization now that the mourning has ended.
The governor called on Nigerians, especially the people of the state to keep the memory of Ojukwu alive by emulating his life which was devoid of greed and unbridled acquisition of material wealth and embrace the virtues of selfless service to the people. He said that Anambra State had concluded arrangements to name the most important roads in the South-East, namely the entrance into Onitsha Bridge Head – Upper Iweka Road after Ojukwu, which, according to him, would be unveiled by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The event which looked like a second burial for the Ikemba because of the crowd that turned up, started with a church service at St Michael’s De Archangel Catholic Church, Umudim, Nnewi, Anambra State, where Rev Lawrence Anoyiba, described him (Ikemba) as a man who sacrificed his life for the good of the Igbo. The priest said that Ojukwu dropped the comfort of his father’s wealth and put his life on line for the emancipation of Ndigbo, adding that for the late Ikemba to have used his father’s wealth to prosecute the Biafran war, showed that he was not selfish and should be emulated by the Igbo. He said the late Ikemba left a legacy for the Igbo.
“He joined the Nigerian Army as the first graduate in the system when many people regarded soldiers as those who are wayward. And he even dropped Law to study History against his father’s wish just to complete the mission he was created for,” the priest said. Rev. Anoyiba said that Ojukwu might regret in the spirit world as there is no peace in Igboland, apparently referring to the crisis in All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and urged for mutual understanding.
He said that Ojukwu came to serve others not himself. The event featured a prayer session at the late Ojukwu’s tomb with the leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Barfra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the APGA factional chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, former Deputy Governor of the state, Dame Virgy Etiaba, other APGA party chieftains, members of MASSOB from Anambra State, ex-Biafran soldiers, among others.
-The Sun
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