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Breaking News: Great Biafran Prof. Innocent Odenigbo, author “A Human Comedy” goes home

Breaking News: Great Biafran Prof. Innocent Odenigbo, author “A Human Comedy” goes home New York[RR] New Jersey–‘Professor Innocent Odenigbo, author of “A Human Comedy’, a staunch Biafran who agitated for the freedom of Biafra, until death, goes home. According to credible sources, Innocent Odenigbo delivered multiple speeches about the Biafra genocide of 1967-1970 and most […]

Breaking News: Great Biafran Prof. Innocent Odenigbo, author “A Human Comedy” goes home

New York[RR] New Jersey–‘Professor Innocent Odenigbo, author of “A Human Comedy’, a staunch Biafran who agitated for the freedom of Biafra, until death, goes home.

According to credible sources, Innocent Odenigbo delivered multiple speeches about the Biafra genocide of 1967-1970 and most importantly he lamented the silence of the world regarding the state of Biafra.

“He is the author of “A Human Comedy”. Our heart goes out to bereaved family. The entire Biafra family lost a rare gem, Professor Innocent Odenigbo died in New Jersey United State of America. Biafrans all over the world received with shock the news of the death of one of our illustrious sons who had been championing the Biafran Restoration Project..”, our source added.

May his soul rest in perfect peace!

Credit:

Beneath was is speech at Ojukwu’s passing titled: Ojukwu’s Passing: My Epilogue By Dr Innocent Chukwunwike Odenigbo

The remains of His Excellency, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria and President of the defunct Republic of Biafra, Protector and Defender of the Igbo nation and their neighbors, was committed to mother earth last Friday. General Ojukwu, who died in a United Kingdom hospital on November 26, 2011, was given a burial reserved only for legendary public figures. In his funeral oration, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, noted that Ojukwu rose far above his contemporaries.

President Jonathan went on: “God brings people to do specific assignments…We have seen leaders in the world and some good examples are in Africa who served as presidents of their countries, but unfortunately, their corpses were not allowed to return to the country when they died. That tells you their kind of leadership. Ojukwu was one of those brought by God to lead his people”. The President observed that Ojukwu’s burial was overwhelming in all respects, noting that Nigerians including himself had not witnessed a burial like that.

Ojukwu’s burial was preceded by church services, wake keeps and symposia in many cities of the world. In London, a requiem high mass was held for the repose of the soul of the Biafran leader at the Westminster Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. In the United States, similar activities were organized in New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, California, Houston, and other cities. In France, Germany and other European countries, as well as in West, Central, South and East Africa, the story was the same. In Nigeria memorial services and symposia were held in many cities including Lagos, Zungeru, Port Harcourt, Ikot Ekpene, Calabar, Asaba and so on. In Mumbai, India, the Igbo market there was closed while the community joined the rest of the world to honor their fallen hero. The Pakistani daily newspaper, the Daily Times, covered the burial extensively.

According to eye witnesses, Ojukwu’s body arrived triumphantly aboard a British Airways plane and was taken to the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja where a colorful military parade, the type reserved for heads of state, was held in his honor. From Abuja, the body was taken to Owerri, Aba, Umuahia, Abakaliki, Enugu, Awka and finally, Nnewi, Ojukwu’s resting place.

The Igbos and their neighbors whom Ojukwu fought doggedly to defend and protect are extremely grateful to the Federal Government of Nigeria led by the President, His Excellency, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the entire nation for granting Ojukwu a befitting national burial. The Igbos and their neighbors are grateful for the wonderful tributes poured out by Nigerian leaders of all shades of opinion. I think everybody agrees that Ojukwu was not a warmonger, a rebel leader, a warlord, and that the Igbos and their neighbors were not rebels. The President said it quite clearly, “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 Ibo and Nigerians needed him most. He stood up and fought for what he believed in. He stood up for justice and refused to compromise. He challenged man’s inhumanity to man and faced issues affecting his kith and kin. He stood his ground and fought until the last plane left Biafra”.

In his tribute, the former President of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, observed that some of the events that led to the Biafran war were still evident in Nigeria today. He said, “Today, we are gathered in Nigeria to give honor to a great son and leader, Ojukwu. As a statesman, he stood for principles that seem to elude some political and military leaders of our day. He was a man who stood for equity, peace and justice and did not hesitate to defend his people militarily in pursuit of that ideal”.

Let it be said that there is no greater sacrifice than that a man laid his life so that his people might live; let it be said that Ojukwu, like Julius Caesar, came, saw and conquered; let it be known that cowards die many times before their death, but valiants taste of death but once. I believe that in due time, Ojukwu will receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his relentless struggle against oppression, injustice, tyranny, corruption, and other forms of man’s inhumanity to man.

Nigerians should seize the opportunity of Ojukwu’s passing to tell each other the truth, so that, with one voice, we can unmask this charade of “one Nigeria” which we have paraded for the past fifty years. The major problem with Nigerians is that they never tell themselves the truth when it matters; they tell the truth when it is too late. If the truths said by Nigerians at Ojukwu’s passing were said in 1966, there would not have been Biafra, the war would not have happened, and millions of our people would not have lost their lives. Instead of chanting the slogan, ‘To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done’, let the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria sit together in a civilized manner just as Ojukwu and Gowon did in Aburi Ghana, to fashion out the kind of association that will ensure peace, security and happiness for all. Unity is for the living, not for the dead.

Email: odenigbo5@aol.com

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