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OjukwuIt was a grand exit for the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojokwu, the Nkemba Nnewi, yesterday.
His interment reverberated across the length and breadth of the country.
From Kaduna to Yenagoa, Bauchi to Ibadan, Ilorin to Aba and Lagos to Markudi, traders of the Igbo extraction took a break from their normal routine to honour the man regarded as the greatest Igbo son ever.
In Bauchi, the Igbo residents shut down their businesses and locked their shops in honour of Ojukwu as he was committed to mother earth at his country home of Nnewi.
Those who took part in the 1967 to 1970 Biafran war described him as the “man who successfully created a modern Nigeria.”
In Bauchi, the capital of the state, shops owned by the Igbo on major streets were locked, leading to a lot of inconveniences for customers who were out to make purchases.
A cross section of Igbo traders resident in Bauchi said they had to close their shops to pay their last respect to the Igbo leader who also liberated other oppressed minority ethnic groups in Nigeria.
In Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, more than 1,000 Igbo, joined by their Yoruba friends, thronged the football field of the Technical College, Osogbo to celebrate the Ikemba Nnewi’s passage.
Addressing the crowd, the President of the Igbo General Community in Osun State, Engr. Ben Okoye, said they were all happy to celebrate Ojukwu in death because of his leadership role and his dogged fight to defend his people and make all Nigerians see reason for promoting justice in all parts of the country.
It was marked with lots of food, drinks and singing, especially by women groups.
Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta stood still for the late Ikemba as Igbo traders closed their shops and market stalls and suspended other private activities to mark his final burial.
They moved round Yenagoa, the state capital in a carnival-like procession terminated at the Peace Park where various speeches were made in honour of the late warlord.
In his tribute, President of the Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo, Bayelsa State Chapter, Chief Gabriel Kalu Idika, said: “This is a man who has laid a legacy worthy of emulation. He was an example of service to humanity.”
He charged all Igbo in the state, like others in the Diaspora, “to declare March 1, 2012 a work-free day as a mark of respect and honour for this late African hero. Let it be also a mark of promoting unity, love and progress among all the Igbo in Bayelsa State.”
In Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West; former Governor of Old Oyo State, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo and former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN poured encomiums on the late Igbo leader.
Ojukwu was described as a true Nigerian who fought for the liberation of the suffering masses.
They paid glowing tributes to the late Ojukwu and asked other Nigerian leaders to emulate his virtues
The event was a requiem mass organised in honour of the late Ojukwu at Saint Mary Cathedral, Oke-Padre, Ibadan where hundreds of Igbo leaders in the state and other eminent Nigerians converged to honour the late Biafran leader.
Most shops and stalls around Ogunpa, Oke-Padre and Felele areas of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, owned by Igbo businessmen and women were under lock and key as members of the Igbo community in the state abandoned their businesses to honour the late Ikemba.
A lecture was later organised at the Olubadan Stadium for the late Igbo leader.
Speaking at the lecture, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, David-West described the late Ojukwu as a patriot who signed to defend the nation, tasking the nation’s leaders to emulate him.
Akeredolu used the occasion to call for a sovereign national conference to address the various problems confronting the country.
Also, Igbo residents in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, yesterday shunned all commercial activities as a mark of solidarity with the departed Biafran warlord.
The President General, Igbo Community Association, Kwara State, Mr. Truelove Njoku had on Tuesday directed all Igbo indigenes resident in the state to observe March 2, the day of Ojukwu was buried, as a work-free day.
In compliance with the directive, offices and shops belonging to peoples of Igbo descent were yesterday put under lock and key.
Some of them were decked in black T-shirts with the inscriptions: “Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu 1933-2011,’’ ‘’Our Leader, Adieu,’’ ‘’Eze Igbo Gburu Gburu,’’ ‘’The Peoples’ General, IKemba Nnewi.”
Njoku added that the development was commendable and showed that the Igbo hold in high esteem their credible leaders.
In like manner, shops in Makurdi, Gboko, Otukpo and other towns in Benue State owned by the Igbo remained shut yesterday as they mark the final funeral rites of Ojukwu.
There was a special funeral service at the expansive IBB Square in Makurdi, where Prof. Kalu of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi and oil mogul, Chief Austin Ezekwesile, delivered lectures on the life and time of Ojukwu.
In Kaduna, business was yesterday paralysed as the Igbo in the city also closed their shops and business premises in honour of the late Biafran leader.
All shops and businesses owned by the Igbo were placed under lock and key throughout the day as they observed a sit-at-home order issued by the Eze Igbo in Kaduna, Igwe Sylvester Aneke.
The Nation learnt that spare parts shops, electronic stores, stationery stores and other shops owned by them were locked while residents of the city who were not aware of the development wondered what was going on.
Most Igbo residents in the state were seen wearing black T-shirts with the picture of the late Igbo leader in front.
In Lagos, the city with the highest concentration of Igbo outside the South East, shops and stores were also locked in Alaba, Oshodi and the popular Ladipo auto spare parts market.
Besides, Lagos Airport community paid a tribute to the late Dim Ojukwu
Led by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) who also doubles as the President General of Aro Chukwu, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, and other Igbo leaders yesterday gathered at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, to pay their last tributes to the late Biafran warlord.
Speaking to newsmen at the Cargo Village of the airport, Udoh noted that Ojukwu was a selfless leader who fought vigorously for the common man irrespective of their affiliation and tribes.
In Jos, the Plateau State capital, the Igbo also shut their shops in most parts of the city and trooped to Catholic churches to hold a requiem mass for the Ikemba.
But many of the traders opened their shops later in the day.
A trader, who pleaded anonymity, told our reoporter that “Ojukwu was a great man and deserved all the honour.”
SOURCE: The Nation, 3 March 2012. http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/
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