MONDAY morning in Abuja saw Nigerians of all stripes arrive the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport to pay their last respect to late influential Igbo leader, Chief Chukuwemeka-Ojukwu, whose body arrived Nigeria through the international airport.
Accompanied by his wife, Bianca; the Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi and other prominent associates of the former military head of state of the defunct Biafra republic, the body arrived Abuja aboard a British Airways flight at 5.09am.
A military parade was held in honour of the late All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) national leader by the Guards Brigade. The pall bearers were senior army officers.
In attendance at the ceremony were the First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan; Vice-President Na-madi Sambo; the Senate President, David Mark and his wife, Helen; the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Emeka Ikedioha; Defence Minister, Dr. Bello Haliru; the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Bala Mohammed and the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Terence Mcculley.
Other disgnitaries were Chief Tom Ikimi; Senator Chris Ngige; Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; Senator Uche Chukwumerije; Professor A. B. C. Nwosu; Lieutenant-General Chris Obiakor (retd); Dubem Onyia; Dr Kema Chikwe; Chief Jim Nwobodo and others.
Speaking with reporters at the airport, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Azubuike Ihejirika, said the late Ojukwu was one of the first few Nigerian officers who enlisted in the Army after acquiring an undergraduate degree. According to him, his death was a big loss to the nation and the Nigerian Army, adding that because of his love for the service to his fatherland, he enlisted and started his military career at the Army Depot, Zaria, notwithstanding that he was a graduate.
General Ihejirika noted that when the Army had five battalions, Ojukwu was one of the commanders, where his academic qualification helped to shore up the image of the military which was then regarded as a profession for drop-outs.
In his remark, Senator Ngige noted that Ojukwu’s popular thinking was against regional arrangement and that was why he joined APGA. Ngige said Ojukwu was a national and detriba-lised leader, who thought of others more than himself.
In his remark, the chairman of APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, said Ojukwu was a selfless leader who identified with the poor and the downtrodden in the society and never had a house of his own until 2008. The house, at Queens Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos, belonged to his father and that was where he always lived.
Other speakers who eulogised the Ikemba of Nnewi included first lady Patience Jonathan, Senator Mark and Vice-President Sambo.
A requiem mass was organised in his honour with the Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, John Onaiyekan, officiating. His corpse was later flown in an Airforce Hercules C130 plane in company of his family to Owerri, the Imo State capital, for further funeral ceremonies.
The body of Ojukwu arrived at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, at about 3.00 p.m from Abuja. The body was received by prominent Igbo leaders, among whom were the Imo State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha; Governor Peter Obi, while the wife of the deceased, Bianca, accompanied the body form Abuja to Owerri.
The body left the airport in a motorcade and accompanied by the host governor and others to the Government House, Owerri. The Hero Square, where the body is expected to lie in state, had been decorated as a mark of honor to give him a befitting burial.
The body would remain in the state until Wednesday, before proceeding to Aba, Abia State, before its final burial at Nnewi, Anambra State.
President Goodluck Jonathan has extended his condolences to the family of late Igbo warlord. Jonathan, on Monday, said the late Ojukwu lived a humble life, despite being the son of one of the wealthiest men in Nigeria, adding that on his return from the United Kingdom, he was at the civil service and later joined the Nigerian Army, where he began his rise in the military.
According to President Jonathan, after the Biafra war, Ojukwu was in exile for 13 years until former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, granted him official pardon and open the road for his return in 1982, adding that it was then the people of Nnewi gave him the popular title of Ikemba, meaning “the strength of the people.” According to President Jonathan, no word could adequately describe the nature, character, legacy and lessons left behind by this soldier and gentleman, adding that he believed the outpouring of encomium could not stop coming.
“Let it be said that Ojukwu died when the country needed his service most, let it be said that he lived and served with all his might when the Igbos and Nigerians needed him most,” Jonathan said.
Speaking at the reception for the remains of the former Biafran leader, held at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, Jonathan, who was represented on the occasion by Vice-President Sambo said “the legacy bequeathed to the Nigerian Army by Ojukwu as its first Quartermaster-General are now the hallmark of military processes and procedures which, till date, are in use.
News Reporting Courtesy of the Nigerian Tribune