AS events peak in the ongoing ceremonies towards the final internment of the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, important foreign guests are expected to grace the final moments from near and afar.
Prominent amongst such guests are former president Jerry J. Rawlings of Ghana and other important personalities from as far as Haiti and other African countries as Gabon, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.
Haiti was one of a few countries in the world that recognized the defunct Republic of Biafra upon its failed secession from Nigeria in 1967.
Nigerian Noble Laureate Wole Soyinka will also deliver a keynote lecture while the late Ojukwu lies-in-state at the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu, Enugu State.
In the meantime, the burial ceremonies have continued for the late Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Dignitaries from across the South-East gathered on Wednesday at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu, for a funeral mass.
At the event were Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi and his wife, Margaret; Enugu Deputy Governor, Sunday Onyebuchi, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) National Chairman, Victor Umeh, Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s wife, Bianca, a former minister, A. B. C. Nwosu, Senator Uche Chukwumerije and Anglican Bishop of Enugu, Rt. Revd Emmanuel Chukwuma among others.
In his sermon at the service, Administrator of the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Rev. Fr. John Nwafor, declared that peace and sustained development would continue to elude the country unless its current and future leaders embrace true federalism as canvassed by Odumegwu-Ojukwu 45 years ago.
Nwafor stated that Nigeria had come to a point where the people needed to sit down and negotiate the basis of their unity, stressing that the distortions of the past were what Odumegwu-Ojukwu attempted to correct, which led to the civil war.
The cleric said: “Odumegwu-Ojukwu dreamt of equality and a Nigeria where the Igbo can own property in the north and the Hausa own property in Uyo or Igbo land and where such property would not be destroyed by the indigenes.
“Ikemba Nnewi believed fanatically in the unity of Nigeria and fought for it. His going to war was absolutely in self-defence and to stop perpetration of injustice and operation. That is why those of us who thought that he was going to tear Nigeria apart if he was allowed to come back from his exile in Ivory Coast ate their words after his return”.
Lamenting that corruption in high places had continued to militate against Nigeria’s growth, Nwafor stated that Odumegwu-Ojukwu lived above board as a public officer, stressing that “as he served in various capacities in this country, his records were impeccable.”