…UK, Congo send condolences
Nigeria’s most decorated officer with the iconic Nigerian Army (NA 10), Colonel Conrad Nwawo, would be buried on May 27 with a three-day programme of activities dedicated to his memory in Onicha Ulona, Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State.
Secretary of the Central Burial Committee, Ogbueshi Emma Okocha, told Daily Sun that the Nwawo would be given a “burial befitting his status and his extraordinary accomplishments as a United Nations peace trooper and as the last commander of the Mohicans.”
On the detail programme for the memorial event, Okocha disclosed that the committee has drawn a three-day programme and once the family and the Nigerian Army give the okay, the secretariat would announce it.
He said there would be a colloquium in Nwawo’s memory and presenters would contribute papers on ‘Nigeria, Half a Century Peace Keeping Roles in Africa and the World’.
“Having defined the memorial theme, we hope to invite military historians, experts in intervention, conflicts, peace and diplomacy to contribute and pay tribute to this award winning pioneer peace commander who saw action in the Congo. We are happy that, already, former Nigerian United Nations, ECOMOG commanders who commanded international contingents either for United Nations or ECOMOG are already in the lineup for the last parade for the late commander. We are expecting General Chris Garba, who commanded an African peace keeping force in Angola; General Cyril Iweze, who dismantled Major Johnson, the Liberian warlord in Monrovia.
“Indeed, commanders and all those expected presenters who had played different peace keeping roles since Nwawo’s Congo operations are coming to Asaba to participate in the colloquium on the day of the national tribute to the late commander. We hope it will be another day of epiphany for these officers to embrace each other in unforgettable reunion as they approach the evening period of their lives.
“We are, therefore, expecting the former head of state and commander-in-chief, General Yakubu Gowon, Brigadier Robert Adebayo, who belongs to Col. Nwawo’s generation of pioneer Nigerian officers who took over from the British colonial officers before Independence.
Brigadier Oluwole Rotimi, another very senior officer who was Nigeria’s ambassador to the US is also expected to present a paper on the theme of the colloquium. Former Nigerian commander of the Ordinance, General Gold Eburu, has already indicated his willingness to participate even though Col. Nwawo was not part of his generation.
“Also expected to take part in the colloquium are General Chris Ali, former Army Chief of Staff; General David Mark, who saw action as a young subaltern fighting against the late consummate commander of the Biafran 11 Division at Ashaka in the then Midwest 1967.
Others who have confirmed participation in the memorial programme include General Alabi Isama, who recently authored a classic war chronicle of the civil war.
Okocha said Brigadier Samuel Ogbemudia, who the late Colonel Nwawo credited for his rehabilitation efforts of the former Biafran officers, would be one of the Keynote presenters.
‘As of now, we have received responses, condolences, letters from the United Kingdom, the Congolese embassy, top retired army officers,” he said.
Okocha recalled that Col. Nwawo, in 1961, shared with the late Col. Francis Adekunle Fajuyi the rare honour of being recognised with the highest British Military Award. “They were the first and also the last officers to be so recognised by the international community for their sheer gallantry and leadership in the battlefield in the face of enemy fire in the Congo,” Okocha stated.
After the Congo Operations, Okocha recounted that the late Colonel was the Nigerian pioneer military Attache at the Nigerian Embassy at St. James, London. “From his Nigerian London embassy seat, he was recalled home by the then head of state and supreme commander, General Thomas Aguiyi Ironsi, to intervene on the standoff between the latter who was in command of the South in Lagos, and the young charismatic major, the leader of the January 15 putsch who had taken over the First Brigade Headquarters at Kaduna and was contemplating marching down to complete his revolution.