Yesterday the Veterans came to Asaba to participate in the one year anniversary of the death of Col. Joe Achuzia under the leadership of Dr. Sam Ukegbu.
Below is the tribute coming from Gregory University, Uturu.
An Address of Tribute to the Family on the Occasion of the One Year Anniversary of the Death of Col. Joe Achuzia, The Hannibal of the Biafran Army, by Chief Gregory Ibe, Chancellor, Gregory Universtity, Uturu, Abia State
On the 26th of February, 2018, Asaba, the Igbos, the whole black race, lost one of the greatest seminal figures of the century. I was overseas when Nigeria buried the most courageous fighting leatherneck ever seen in any battlefield since the German Rommel collided with the ever moving George Paton, leading the American charge on the desolate plains of the Sahara, in the decisive battles of the World War II.
I was in the US when Nigeria buried its Thinker, Scientist, and Engineer. I was in faraway United States when the last of the Mohicans, the philosopher, historian, celebrated author and the stoic and stubborn advocate for justice gave up the ghost.
Though the passage of Col. Joe Achuzia was a thunderbolt to me and on account of the fact that we were in the middle of critical projects and sacred missions, I resolved that his death would ginger me on to accomplish our mission.
Even though I was not around when he died, I am grateful to him for choosing me and my university, trusting me and my Uturu academia as the environment to ventilate his caged up experience of the sad civil war.
Dead and buried, I am happy that Col. Achuzia, unlike most if his league of commanders, handed over war materials, war narratives, etc, which cannot be found in any other’s hands.
The value and the authenticity of these materials can be measured when we remember that Col. Joe Achuzia entered the Biafran army after serving in the Korean war; joining the Civilian Militia to save Port Harcourt and Asaba. When the Biafran Revolution collapsed, he was the only officer in uniform!
One year after his death, we have vowed to keep aglow his legacies. On this first anniversary, I am happy to announce that Gregory University has established the Achuzia Renaissance Centre for Igbo and Military Studies in memory of the great army strategist and commander. The Nigerian veteran who served Col. Achuzia through his evening years is presently employed as an Assistant Registrar and Researcher in the Renaissance Centre at Gregory University.
At this juncture, I shall ask the Achuzia family to find time and hand over to Emma Okocha all the historic documents, files, etc, left behind by Papa. Those materials and more would be preserved by the Achuzia Centre for the benefit of historians, writers, activists and scholars. To those of us who are breaking our backs to present and preserve the true story of the Nigerian Civil War, this is an irrevocable course. That was the Hannibal’s mission and he trusted me with that project.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will not be with the family and you, fellow great friends and followers of the great Hannibal on this anniversary ceremonials. But I have authorised a Gregory University delegation to represent me. All the selected tribute speeches would be edited and published as part of the university partnership with the family, to keep the memory of the General alive.
Emma Okocha, apart from his assignments with the Renaissance Centre, has gone far with the research with the objective of rewriting the ‘Requiem Biafra’. I shall ask him to assemble all the Achuzia materials furnished with more of our hero’s exploits; and I shall once again pledge that, on the occasion of the next anniversary, Gregory University would unveil the Battlefield Dairy of Biafra’s most successful commander to the world.
May the soul of the Hannibal continue to rest in peace.
Chief Gregory Ibe,
Chancellor, Gregory University, Uturu