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By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
Volumes have been said and written about the Nigeria/Biafra War: the pre-war hostilities that degenerated into the pogroms that eventually provoked the mass exodus of Eastern Nigerians from several parts of the country to the East; the secession of the people of the East to create a separate entity for themselves where they felt they could take charge of their own security and dignity as humans; the war that followed and the gallant efforts by the Easterners to pick the bits and pieces of their lives and survive the devastating effects of the bitter war.
But despite the very huge body of historical (and fictional) works that have accumulated on the war from Nigerian writers, foreign observers and journalists, a key aspect of the story continues to be conspicuously missing. The leader of the defeated republic, Biafra, left the country for Ivory Coast few days to the end of the war and remained there as an exile for twelve years before returning to a hero’s welcome in 1982 following the unconditional pardon granted him by the Shagari government.
Naturally, there have been intense yearnings by many people to be updated on the developments that marked those years between the end of the war in 1970 and Ojukwu’s return from the Cote d’Iviore in 1982. What were the things that occupied the Biafran leader in exile? What were his plans for Nigeria for which several meetings were held in Cote d’Iviore, Ghana, Nigeria and some European cities? Who were the Nigerians that visited him several times in Cote d’Ivoire and how were their trips arranged to ensure that the security operatives of the Yakubu Gowon’s regime which were keenly interested in him and his activities in exile were not aware? How did he build the very formidable network of trusted contacts, friends, loyal and dutiful associates and aides that facilitated his ability to easily send and receive messages to and from Nigeria and know almost every significant event that occurred in Nigeria within the shortest time – in fact, even before many people in Nigeria got to know?
Accomplished electronic and print media journalist, eminent writer and public relations expert, Mr. Kanayo Esinulo “who worked at General Ojukwu’s State House…” in Biafra and followed him “to Cote d’Ivoire and served as one of his closest aides all through his years of exile” has finally bowed to pressure from friends, colleagues, journalists, scholars and diverse interested parties, to write a book that admirably fills that gap.
And that book, Ojukwu: Exile, Diplomacy And Survival (which will be presented to the public in Enugu on Thursday, January 30, 2025) is one book every literate Nigerian and friends of Nigeria must read because of the diverse valuable information it contains and the rare insights it throws into why Nigeria, despite its humongous endowments, has continued to celebrate mediocrity and stunted growth.
Interestingly, the book opens with an inevitable comparison of how Ghana was able to manage the aftermath of its 1966 coup which occurred a month after Nigeria’s and spared itself the clearly avoidable, monumental waste of human and material resources witnessed in Nigeria after its own coup.
This is how the writer juxtaposed the two events: “It is instructive that while the first coup in Ghana happened on February 24, 1966, (nine years after independence in 1957), that of Nigeria had taken place a month earlier in January 15, 1966 – barely six years after its political independence (as if the two countries were swapping bad habits!) Also instructive is the fact that when Nigeria sought to resolve its interethnic crises following” the coup of January 1966, “it was to Ghana that it turned for mediation. Ghana’s coup didn’t lead to bloody upheavals. There were no interethnic crises in the wake of the Nkrumah overthrow, as there had been in Nigeria…So, Ghana, despite being a military (and by definition, illegal) regime, was peaceful enough to broker a peace agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and its Eastern Region in what became known as the Aburi Accord or Aburi Declaration, following the agreements reached at the meetings held between January 4 and 5 1967 in Aburi.”(p.x)
Sadly, the Gowon regime reneged on the agreements it freely and happily entered into in Aburi and the bitter war his action provoked consumed about three million human lives (mostly on the Biafran side), including women and children.
Then the author observed: “No one who witnessed or read about the massacre of Eastern Nigerians in May 29, July 29, August 29, September 29, and October 29, 1966, in Northern Nigeria and parts of Lagos, and subsequent exodus of Easterners to Eastern Nigerian for safety, would blame the decision of then leadership of Eastern Nigeria for considering secession a viable option. Further association with a country” that could unleash such “untold violence on a section of its own civilian population, a vast majority of who had nothing whatsoever to do with political power tussles was seen as anathema.” (pp.xi)
The book reports that despite the generosity of spirit displayed towards Ojukwu in exile, he refused to remain a burden to the Ivorian president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who took him as a son. He did business and prospered. But despite the impressive successes of the companies he floated which at a point “had over 93 Europeans and Americans on the payroll”, his mind and soul, according to the author, “were solidly embedded in what to do to help in the rehabilitation of the battered psyche and fortunes of the people and land he was forced to leave behind in war-torn Eastern Nigeria.”(p.3)
In exile, Ojukwu remained disappointed at the opportunity Africa missed when Biafra was crushed. In a letter to Venerable Bishop Godfrey Okoye from exile, Ojukwu underlined “what Africa could have reaped and benefitted from the ingenuity, creativity, and inventiveness of the good people of Biafra.” (p.7) Was it this realization that persuaded several diplomats who were clearly pro-Nigeria as the war raged to start paying visits to Ojukwu after the collapse of Biafra? He also hosted journalists from several African countries, including Nigeria. Interestingly, Nigerians from different parts of the country continued to visit him, but their movements were always routed in such a way that their trips escaped the eager eyes of Gowon’s security operatives.
Although the author made several visits to Nigeria to deliver both oral and written messages from Ojukwu to many of his diverse contacts, it is interesting that it was on August 1973 at the Lagos airport while on his way to then West Germany to undertake a course in advanced journalism that he was arrested and clamped into detention without trial. One day, they falsely accused him of being “in-charge of all the anti-Gowon propaganda abroad”! He was only released 14 days after the collapse of the Gowon’s regime whose sagging reputation had defied attempts at reclamation.
The author reports that while he was in detention, “Chief Gani Fawehinmi became the arrowhead of the struggle to free [him] from the grip of a determined tyrannical regime” of Yakubu Gowon which was often driven into irrational actions by deep-seated paranoia.
The Nigerian media, notably, Daily Times, The Sketch (Ibadan), The Standard (Jos), Renaissance (Enugu), Nigerian Tribune (Ibadan) “all joined in the battle to secure my release,” writes Esinulo. (p.41)
The international press also took interest in Mr. Esinulo’s detention. Amnesty International (AI) equally helped to raise the awareness on his detention and their effort inspired many letters of solidarity flowing to the detainee from different parts of the world.
After the author’s release, an amazing network diplomatic and other contacts coordinated by Ojukwu from Cote d’Ivoire, spirited him out of Nigeria. It is interesting to read the details of his escape for the first time.
The book also gives copious details of all the moves made to ensure that Ojukwu returned to Nigeria and the various efforts deployed by an array of Nigerians from the north, west and east to facilitate his return to the country unconditionally, with his honour and dignity intact, and contribute to its development. The contributions of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Dr. Ibrahim Tahir, Victor Masi, Wole Soyinka, Dr. Tai Solarin, Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, Obinwa Nnaji and several others were beautifully captured. There were also well-coordinated action plans and contacts that easily secured the buy-in of the Ghanaian, Ivorian, Western and selected Nigerian media which promoted Ojukwu’s return project. The details will compensate for the time devoted to reading them.
Kanayo Esinulo has written an important book that is very rich in details – a valuable contribution to our history. Hardly any detail escapes him, including Ojukwu’s relationship with some African presidents that maintained steady contacts with him. There’s also an appendix that contains various correspondents between the author and Ojukwu and several other people. Those who devote time to read this book would receive valuable enlightenment they would always cherish.
•Ejinkeonye, a journalist and author, writes on public issues ([email protected])
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