It is a fact that one of the secrets of successful leadership is to be people-oriented. In politics as it is in organizational management, leaders who identified with the human relations' school had remarkably done well. This and other attributes, which includes selflessness, are what helps to define a leader.  A near-home example is Nelson Mandela, the revered former South African President. Mandela has proven to be a time-tested leader and an embodiment of selfless leadership.

In comparison, he and Nigeria's Odumegwu Ojukwu were once freedom fighters.  One other trait they shared in common was charisma. The both men's personality strengths are so enduring that they can easily charge their people to move a mountain. It will be recalled that Mandela successfully led the ANC and its military wing, Nkonto-We-Siswe before leading the Republic of South Africa.

While on the other hand, Ojukwu led a nation at war. And a nation whose life was cut short just two and half years into its existence. I must say that the prevailing war situation at the time did not offer Ojukwu's people the opportunity to examine the heart and the leadership style of their war-time head of state. But Mandela's case was different, he had the opportunity to lead in peace time.  There and then, the masses not only discovered his democratic credentials, they were able to see the  humane side of the man.. And one of the memorable moments was when he decided to make do with half his salary in recognition of the pitiable situation of the suffering majority blacks of South Africa.

It wouldn't be out of context to say that Ojukwu may have one or more of these qualities but didn't have the opportunity to show them. That said, It is a well known fact that the Nnewi high Chief was born rich and has remained rich ever since. But like other  rich Igbos such as Chief Rochas Okorocha, Prince Arthur Eze, Peter Okocha etc., who have known charities, Ikemba Nnewi has no known charity. He has not been credited with that kind of effort. Not to my knowledge. Perhaps, It could  be that the defunct Biafran Head of state has been keeping his charities under wraps.

For some time, I've been pondering over the pros and cons of the recent pension cheque he travelled to Abuja to collect from the Nigerian authorities. This has been going through my mind until I read the interview granted to the Sun Newspaper by no other person than Col. Joseph "air raid" Achuzia. Achuzia, known to have repelled several incursions by the federal troops into the Igboland heartland during the great war, was the commander of the dreaded Biafran third marine Commandos.

 While reaffirming  his loyalty to his former boss, Achuzia rebuffed the idea of Ojukwu receiving the cheque, or even attending the ceremony in the first place. He went on to remind the interviewer that the pension exercise was not encompassing, as it only favored about 5 percent of the Biafran armed forces i.e. those that were former Nigerian soldiers. And It left out the rest 95 percent of the former Biafran combatants.

Still talking about the 5 percent that collected the pension cheques, he  further said, “What they collected is nothing to write home about . What I say is that if I were one of them, I wouldn’t have agreed to collect because it will be a betrayal of those we enticed or we called up to participate and assist us in resisting the so-called Nigeria at the time......If you look at the roster of casualties, the majority of soldiers that bore the wounds of the civil war up till date, they were not up to five per cent that were former Nigerian Army officers".

Digesting the whole thing, Achuzia's concerns were quite understandable as there are still physical, human reminders of that war. The Nigerian government has unfortunately not been able to implement the "3Rs" as was announced at the end of the war. The casualties of the war, the bulk of which falls within the 95 percent of those that enlisted directly as Biafran combatants had long taken to street begging to make ends meet. This is a fact.

Matters such as this are sensitive issues someone like Chief Ojukwu should synthesize opinions.  Contrary to Achuzia's opinion, I believe that Ojukwu's trip to collect the cheque was in order. The real reconciliation  and integration may have begun with that ceremony at Abuja. A Journey of one thousand miles starts with one step. But what I thought Ojukwu should have done was to use the occasion to announce some kind charity. I expected that part or whole of his monthly pension entitlements would have been directed to his soldiers that did not benefit from the exercise.

If I were him, I wouldn't retire in my Hill-top Mansion with the cheque.. No, my conscience wouldn't  have allowed me.  Especially for those wounded, helpless Biafran veterans who wore my color. It would have been an occasion to remind the authorities to remember them in some form. The egoistic matters that beclouded the ceremony were the least of what should have topped the Igbo leader's aims to Abuja. I hope that in the course of time, the "General of the people" will make that very important announcement concerning his retirement benefits from the Nigerian army.

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle1766=encodeURIComponent(Ojukwu: The...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 08.02.2008 10:54

draftman  Villager

# 2 Why give these agitators, troublemakers, biafran, non nigeria goon our money, we should charge them for treason and lock them up for life. These people and their massob group are impeding our peace in nigeria. These war monger should get out of our country and leave us alone. Lt. Col. Ojukwu should renounce the massob group in the interest of peace, cos their goal is to establish biafra, therefore; they don't have interest in nigeria, the ones in the govt. are bunch of actors, all they want is Igbo right, how about nigerians right, they have not learn anything from the civil war. Its one nigeria, if you don't like it, get the heck out. This is our country, good or bad, we don't need more trouble, we have enough. If Gowon can forgive you ( a mistake) why not blend into the nigerian fabric and move on like the rest of us. The govt. cannot give in to every tribe demands, and certainly not yours, or else I will join the army myself to stop you. Posted by draftman| 08.02.2008 11:32

bobuzoechi  Villager

# 3 =draftman;4294987246>Why give these agitators, troublemakers, biafran, non nigeria goon our money, we should charge them for treason and lock them up for life. These people and their massob group are impeding our peace in nigeria. These war monger should get out of our country and leave us alone. Lt. Col. Ojukwu should renounce the massob group in the interest of peace, cos their goal is to establish biafra, therefore; they don't have interest in nigeria, the ones in the govt. are bunch of actors, all they want is Igbo right, how about nigerians right, they have not learn anything from the civil war. Its one nigeria, if you don't like it, get the heck out. This is our country, good or bad, we don't need more trouble, we have enough. If Gowon can forgive you ( a mistake) why not blend into the nigerian fabric and move on like the rest of us. The govt. cannot give in to every tribe demands, and certainly not yours, or else I will join the army myself to stop you. Draft Man, you are a very irrational and unreasonable man to write this kind of post. is it only Massob that you know that is obstructing peace in our country? anyway, You deserve no response….. Posted by bobuzoechi| 08.02.2008 12:55

i-go-better  Villager

# 4 Ojukwu did not cause the civil war, he only led a very WILLING TRIBE to war. He owes nobody any apology and carries no burden of guilt whatsoever. So all these homilies about collecting pension or not and charities are simply preposterous. Beside, the Igbo Tribe is so high-wired and conceited that any Charitable Organisation inside the Region would scavenge for beneficiary. By the way, how much was he paid and what Charity could it afford? It is germane to situate the Biafran episode in parallel with that of the Jews in the hands of Adolf Hitler Germany. The Jews had very clear cut choices; to fight and die/live or be slaughtered and gas-chambered. This was very close to the choices Nigeria left the Igbos with and like the Jews, they chose to fight and die/live. No Jewish man or woman of that generation would hold any of their leaders responsible for whatever resultant after effect of that hell on earth because the alternative was worst! The actual number of Biafran Soldiers dead or alive is not documented for obvious but regretable reasons! So how do you even begin to arrange for the pension/charity of an unknown number of soldiers? We should allow the Ikemba space to gracefully age, after all the Gowons, the Mohammeds, the Obasanjos who committed unparalleled genocide and war crimes are the same people controlling the super structure of this nation. Posted by i-go-better| 08.02.2008 20:14

AMEN  Villager

# 5 @ Draftman, the main problem with nigerians is mis-placed priorities, naija has been in an another oil boom since 1999(budget from that yr set at $23 per barrell, but oil has since gone up from $50 to $100) with OBJ and 'Adua at the helm, while the people suffer immensly and you only find time to talk about Ojukwu and Ibos, please Obj is alledgedly sleeping with his daughter in law for oil contracts, what is your take on that? all the Governors are guilty of taking 10s of billions of naija money, where is your sense of disgust? none. But Ojukwu and Ibos are the perennial objects of non-Ibo riddicle, every naija blog, fora etc use Ibos as literary cannon fodder, do you people ever wake up and look at the so called naija that your leaders killed millions of Ibos for? 1.no roads 2.plane crashes 3.hyper inflation 4.mass corruption 5.no electricity 6.no clean running water 7.no housing for the poor 8.second poorest nation on earth though sixth largest oil producer on earth(used to be fifth) 9.no working refineries though no 6 on earth 10.high petro prices though no 6 on earth 11.armed robberies where the innocent are shot and wives and daughters raped 12.satanism in high places of government and universities 13.extreme poverty 14.high levels of prostitution by girls b/w 12 and 40 due to greed and poverty and loose morals and so on But the Ibos refined oil during the war under total blockade by naija(oyibo said it will take the blackman 500yrs to understand the complexities of oil refining,we Ibos proved them wrong). we produced 56% of our own weaponry from tanks to aircraft and also beer, pomade, etc. japan and germany became great due to wartime inventions converted to peacetime uses. pls leave us alone, God says thou shalt not kill, and will judge all who hate on earth. we are people too and deserve life and dignity. pls address the ills of naija, cos it doesn't even look like you people won a war now, as the place is messed up big time. peace Amen ra Amen Posted by AMEN| 09.02.2008 08:42

blondie  Villager

# 6 =draftman;4294987246>Why give these agitators, troublemakers, biafran, non nigeria goon our money, we should charge them for treason and lock them up for life. These people and their massob group are impeding our peace in nigeria. These war monger should get out of our country and leave us alone. Lt. Col. Ojukwu should renounce the massob group in the interest of peace, cos their goal is to establish biafra, therefore; they don't have interest in nigeria, the ones in the govt. are bunch of actors, all they want is Igbo right, how about nigerians right, they have not learn anything from the civil war. Its one nigeria, if you don't like it, get the heck out. This is our country, good or bad, we don't need more trouble, we have enough. If Gowon can forgive you ( a mistake) why not blend into the nigerian fabric and move on like the rest of us. The govt. cannot give in to every tribe demands, and certainly not yours, or else I will join the army myself to stop you. Take away the 'r' in this dolt's name and you will know what he really is. Isn't there a way nitwits can be screened from making very dense contributions on NVS? Posted by blondie| 09.02.2008 09:43

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 7 =draftman;4294987246>Why give these agitators, troublemakers, biafran, non nigeria goon our money, we should charge them for treason and lock them up for life. These people and their massob group are impeding our peace in nigeria. These war monger should get out of our country and leave us alone. Lt. Col. Ojukwu should renounce the massob group in the interest of peace, cos their goal is to establish biafra, therefore; they don't have interest in nigeria, the ones in the govt. are bunch of actors, all they want is Igbo right, how about nigerians right, they have not learn anything from the civil war. Its one nigeria, if you don't like it, get the heck out. This is our country, good or bad, we don't need more trouble, we have enough. If Gowon can forgive you ( a mistake) why not blend into the nigerian fabric and move on like the rest of us. The govt. cannot give in to every tribe demands, and certainly not yours, or else I will join the army myself to stop you. @ Draftman, It is totally wrong to place Ojukwu and the Igbos on the same platform. Have you asked yourselves if the Igbos or any other groups or regions have been denied their rights as Nigerians? Why must Igbos remain Nigerians by force? Do see them as Nigerians? I too have my grouse against Ojukwu but having a grouse against Ojukwu should not translate into a grouse against millions of Igbos.Nigeria is a war with the Igbos and this is a fact that cannot be denied. They should be treated as equal citizens and partners in the project you call Nigeria if you want the agitation for Biafra or any other republic to cease. Nigeria is not only for the Hausa-Fulani-Yoruba oligarchy it should be for all of us if we want peace and prosperity to reign. Posted by Son of the Delta| 09.02.2008 10:11

draftman  Villager

# 8 If expressing my view the way I sees is unreasonable, I guess I am unreasonable, according to you. If you cannot see what these trouble are doing to our country, then you're blind. Massob is the main agitators, other groups want to be part of the country, they are just fightingfor social issues. Massob does not want to be part of the country, so let them go to anothem place that will treat them better. Posted by draftman| 09.02.2008 14:42

draftman  Villager

# 9 Amen, I am only responding to the subject at hand, that is why I am only talking about Ibos. There's a reason why everyone on those site you mention is riddicueing the Ibo people, most people that I know do not most Ibo people support of massob. All your list does not address the issue at hand. The issues in our country is endless that is why we do not need any distractions from the Igbo who has been causing trouble for us for long time, begining with the first coup by an Igbo man, then biafra. The Ibo people are not Nigerian by their admission, so they need to get out of our country (good or bad) and find their well run country, where they can you all these talents they claimed to have. We don't need you. I don't need to address the ills, we need to start addressing the solution, a good start is to get rid of the agitators, and non patriotic, wanna be nigerians, go and find your better country, and if you already found one in the oyinbo land, then stay the heck out of my country business, as you are not one of us. I am tired of talking about the ills, enough of that, let's talk solution and ideas. All the weaking link should butt out. Posted by draftman| 09.02.2008 15:02

draftman  Villager

# 10 Thanks lord you're not in the position of authority, you will silence your critics cos they disagree. Dictators like to sensor anyone that disagree with his messed up ways. Posted by draftman| 09.02.2008 15:07

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