Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011) was a Nigerianmilitary officer and political figure who served asPresident of Biafra from 1967 to 1970. As the military governor of theEastern Region of Nigeria, which he declared as the independent state ofBiafra, Ojukwu led theBiafran forces during theNigerian Civil War against the Nigerian government forces.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
1stPresident of Biafra
In office 30 May 1967 – 8 January 1970
Vice President	Philip Effiong
Preceded by	Position created(none)
Succeeded by	Philip Effiong
Governor ofEastern Region, Nigeria
In office 19 January 1966 – 27 May 1967
Preceded by	Francis Akanu Ibiam
Succeeded by	Ukpabi Asika (East Central State) Alfred Diete-Spiff (Rivers State) Uduokaha Esuene (South-Eastern State)
Personal details
Born	Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (1933-11-04)4 November 1933 Zungeru,British Nigeria
Died	26 November 2011(2011-11-26) (aged 78) London, UK
Nationality	Nigerian, Biafran (1967–1970)
Political party	Nigerian Military, Biafran military, laterNPN,APGA
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Okoli Njideka Odumegwu-Ojukwu Stella Ojukwu Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Children	7
Education	CMS Grammar School, Lagos King's College, Lagos Epsom College
Alma mater	University of Oxford (M.A. History) Mons Officer Cadet School
Profession	Soldier, politician
Military service
Allegiance	Nigeria  United Nations  Biafra
Branch/service	Nigerian Army United Nations Peacekeeping Biafran Armed Forces
Years of service	1957–1967 (Nigerian Army) 1967–1970 (Biafran Army)
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel (Nigerian Army) General (Biafran Armed Forces)
Battles/wars	Congo Crisis Nigerian Civil War

Born inZungeru,British Nigeria toLouis Odumegwu Ojukwu, a wealthyIgbo businessman, Ojukwu was educated atKing's College, Lagos andEpsom College inSurrey, England. He proceeded to Lincoln College,Oxford University where he obtained a master's degree in Modern History in 1955. He returned to Nigeria to serve as an administrative officer and would later join theNigerian army. Following the independence of Nigeria in 1960, a group of military officers overthrew Nigeria's civilian government in the1966 Nigerian coup d'état andJohnson Aguiyi-Ironsi became the head of state. Ironsi appointed Ojukwu as military governor of the Eastern Region mostly dominated by the Igbo tribe.^[a]

In response to Igbo demands for secession, Ojukwu reorganised the Eastern Region as the Republic of Biafra, and he declared independence from Nigeria. Nigeria invaded Biafra, sparking the Nigerian Civil War. The Nigerian military, with support from theUnited Kingdom and theSoviet Union, blockaded Biafra and cut food supplies, which created a mass famine. Ojukwu made use of foreign media to highlight the plight of Biafran civilians and depict the war as genocide against Igbos.^[1] The shocking images of starving Biafran civilians turned the war into an international media sensation, as this was one of the first globally televised wars alongside theVietnam War.^[2] Biafra received international humanitarian relief during theBiafran airlift.

Biafra eventually capitulated to Nigerian forces in 1970 after millions of Biafran civilians died. Ojukwu subsequently fled toIvory Coast in exile, where PresidentFélix Houphouët-Boigny, who recognised Biafra as a sovereign and independent state, granted him political asylum. In 1981, newly democratically elected Nigerian presidentShehu Shagari granted amnesty to Ojukwu, allowing him to return to Nigeria without facing political or legal consequences from the war. Ojukwu spent the remainder of his life unsuccessfully attempting to return to Nigerian politics as a democratically elected politician rather than a military ruler.

He died in 2011 at the age of 78 in London, England.^[3] His body was returned to Nigeria, where Nigerian presidentGoodluck Jonathan arranged astate funeral. He was buried with full military honours, including a21-gun salute from the Nigerian Army, and thousands of people attended his funeral. Ojukwu remains a contentious figure in the history of Nigeria. ManyIgbo people regard him as a hero and a messianic figure who did what was necessary to ensure the survival of Nigeria's Eastern population while facing the possibility of a genocide after the 1966 coup. Other Nigerians have deemed Biafra's secession unnecessary, blaming Ojukwu for the events of the war and accusing him of oppressing Biafra's non-Igbo ethnic minorities.^[4]

Ojukwu was born as the second son ofLouis Odumegwu Ojukwu.^[5][b] Loius is the son of a clan chief fromNnewi,Anambra State.^[7] Louis married at the age of twenty five to a young wife and after a short union, they separated. Before then, the wife lived atZungeru, a village in Northern Nigeria. After the birth of Ojukwu in November 1933, Louis visited from Lagos and reclaimed Chukwuemeka, his given name.^[8]

TheWorld War II broke out when Ojukwu was seven.^[8] His father sent him to St. Patrick's School and CMS Grammar School both in Lagos.^[5] In 1944 at the age of 10, Ojukwu started studying atKing's College, Lagos.^[9] In 1945 when Ojukwu has stayed for two years in Kings, his father, who want him to be educated in England, made consultations from his English friend.Epsom College in Surrey was recommended and by 1946 Loius sent Ojukwu there for an advanced education.^[10] Ojukwu stayed at Epsom for six years. During that time, he excelled in academics as well as in sports and athletics. He playedrugby for the college winning the spring javelin throwing anddiscus. At 18 he enteredLincoln College, Oxford and studied briefly in 1952.^[11] Loius wanted his son to be a lawyer as it was the most common in Nigeria but Ojukwu wants to readmodern history.^[12] Between 1952 and 1955 he studied law and later switched to history.^[13] He also joined theWest African Students' Union in Oxford. During his final years, he joinedOxford Rugby Union as wing three quarter in Lincoln College's team.^[14] Ojukwu graduated with a B.A in arts in 1955 and travelled back to Lagos. He would later return to Oxford to obtain his M.A.^[15]

After informing his reluctant parents, Ojukwu joined theNigerian Civil Service inUdi, as an Assistant District Officer.^[16] He was posted to the East since local authorities mandated all young civil administrators to serve in theEastern Region.^[17] He hardly spokeIgbo since he was born in the north, raised in the west, and educated in England, hence, he could speak English and Yoruba fluently, and satisfactoryHausa.^[18] Ojukwu started learning Igbo in order to communicate with the people.^[19] Throughout his stay in Udi and other later postings inUmuahia andAba from 1955 to 1957, he stayed with people living in bushes.^[20] From Aba, he was posted toCalabar. His father, believing thesuperstition that Efik women casts spell and bewitches young men, he called his friend, the then Governor-general,John Stuart Macpherson, to terminate the appointment, and he did.^[21]

Ojukwu became angry about the termination, and he then applied to join theNigerian Army in 1957.^[21] His reason was to escape the influence of his father over his chosen career.^[22] The Nigerian army was regarded as a small administration that people who held commissioned offices had their last degree from primary school. Seeing Ojukwu apply to join the military, surprised theGovernor-general, high Army Commands, and his father.^[23] Loius, through Macpherson, ensured that Ojukwu is denied officer cadetship, hence he would not enter as a private soldier, which is more difficult but Ojukwu still Joined as a private soldier at the Army Recruit Depot inZaria.^[24] During a recruit training by Sergeant Moussa Fort-Lamy, Ojukwu corrected his English speaking errors. Surprised by that, he sent Ojukwu to be interviewed by the Depot commander and subsequently apply for an officer commission-cadetship. It took a month for the paper to be out and during the waiting, Ojukwu was assigned the duty of escorting the wife and daughter of the Colonel in their horse ride and tennis parties.^[25][c]

The application was successful, and from Zaria, Ojukwu first moved toTeshie in Ghana and then to Officer Cadet School inEaton Hall, England in February 1958. After a six months course, Ojukwu became a Second Lieutenant and before returning to Nigeria in November, he visited Infantry School, Warminster and Small Arms School, Hythe. In Nigeria, Ojukwu was posted to the 5th Battalion inKaduna.^[26] He was sent to Ghana's Teshie Frontal School in 1959, to teach infantry tactics, and one of his student wasMurtala Muhammed.^[27] From Teshie, he taught military law at the Ghana Academy. A British Brigadier, who was on a visit to Nigeria, requested that Ojukwu return as his staff in the brigade atApapa. The Nigerian Army at Central Lagos disputed the request and asked Ojukwu to report to the headquarters in January 1961. Ojukwu returned to Nigeria to witness the 1960Nigerian Independence but returned to Ghana to finish his work. He returned again to Nigeria before Christmas in 1960 and saw he was already promoted to the rank of a captain.^[28] From January 1961 to mid 1961, he worked as a staff of branch A of the new Nigerian army headquarters located within the building of the Defense ministry in Lagos.^[29] After the independence, many British army officers were removed and there were more space for new administration. It was six months of Ojukwu's captaincy when he was promoted to the rank of a Major in the summer of 1961.^[29]

Shortly after his promotion, Ojukwu was sent to Kaduna as a staff officer of the 1st Brigade.^[30]Zaire also had independence in 1960 and had begun to break intoKatanga, a rich in minerals province. At the end of 1961, the 1st Brigade were sent there and took over the works of theUnited Nations (UN) forces at Luluaboury. Ojukwu served as the Adjutant to the British commander, Brigadier Mackenzie.^[29][d] The British Government informed Lagos about the remaining single vacancy of one Nigerian officer to attend theJoint Service Command and Staff College (JSSC) course in 1962.^[e]

Lieutenant-Colonel Ojukwu was in Kano, northern Nigeria, when Major Patrick ChukwumaKaduna Nzeogwu on 15 January 1966executed and announced the bloody military coup inKaduna, also in northern Nigeria. It is to Ojukwu's credit that the coup lost much steam in the north,^[32] where it had succeeded. Lt. Col. Odumegwu-Ojukwu supported the forces loyal to the Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Major-GeneralAguiyi-Ironsi. Major Nzeogwu was in control of Kaduna, but the coup had failed in other parts of the country.^[33]

Aguiyi-Ironsi took over the leadership of the country and thus became the first military head of state. On Monday, 17 January 1966, he appointed military governors for the four regions. Lt. Col. Odumegwu-Ojukwu was appointed Military Governor of the Eastern Region. Others were: Lt.-ColsHassan Usman Katsina (North),Francis Adekunle Fajuyi (West), andDavid Akpode Ejoor (Mid West). These men formed theSupreme Military Council with Brigadier B.A.O. Ogundipe, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, Chief of Staff Army HQ, CommodoreJ. E. A. Wey, Head of Nigerian Navy, Lt. Col.George T. Kurubo, Head of Air Force, Col.Sittu Alao.

By 29 May, the1966 anti-Igbo pogrom started. This presented problems for Odumegwu Ojukwu, as he did everything in his power to prevent reprisals and even encouraged people to return, as assurances for their safety had been given by his supposed^[34] colleagues up north and out west.

On 29 July 1966, a group of officers, including MajorsMurtala Muhammed,Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, and Martin Adamu, led the majority of Northern soldiers in a mutiny that later developed into a"Counter-Coup" or "July Rematch".^[35] The coup failed in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria where Ojukwu was the military Governor, due to the effort of the brigade commander and hesitation of northern officers stationed in the region (partly due to the mutiny leaders in the East being Northern whilst being surrounded by a large Eastern population).

The Supreme Commander General Aguiyi-Ironsi and his host Colonel Fajuyi were abducted and killed inIbadan. On acknowledging Ironsi's death, Ojukwu insisted that the military hierarchy be preserved. The most senior army officer after Ironsi was BrigadierBabafemi Ogundipe. However, the leaders of the countercoup insisted that Lieutenant ColonelYakubu Gowon be made head of state, although both Gowon and Ojukwu were of the same rank in the Nigerian Army. Ogundipe could not muster enough force in Lagos to establish his authority as soldiers (Guard Battalion) available to him were underJoseph Nanven Garba, who was part of the coup. This realisation led Ogundipe to opt-out. Thus, Ojukwu's insistence could not be enforced by Ogundipe unless the coup plotters agreed (which they did not).^[36] The fallout from this led to a standoff between Ojukwu and Gowon, leading to the sequence of events that resulted in theNigerian civil war.^[37][38]

Following the incessant killings of Igbos all over the nation as a result of tribal intolerance and fear of domination by Igbos with figures ranging from about 4000 to 30000 dead, maimed and missing, Ojukwu, being the southeastern general and Yakubu Gowon who was selected as the supreme general and head of state agreed to hold a peace conference at Aburi, Ghana hosted by GeneralJoseph Ankrah. An agreement of autonomy was reached by the two parties where the southeastern region will become independent. However, on reaching Nigeria, Gen. Yakubu Gowon breached the agreement and failed to implement the system of autonomy and further declaring war against the agreed secession of southeastern Nigeria. On 30 May 1967, Ojukwu declared the independence ofBiafra, after an official vote of secession conducted in the Eastern Region.^[39]

Having mandated me to proclaim on your behalf, and in your name, that Eastern Nigeria is a sovereign independent Republic, now, therefore I, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by the authority, and under the principles recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters, shall, henceforth, be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of The Republic of Biafra.^[40]

On 6 July 1967, Gowon declared war^[41] and attacked Biafra.^[42] In addition to the Aburi Accord that tried to avoid the war, there was also theNiamey Peace Conference under PresidentHamani Diori (1968) and the OAU-sponsoredAddis Ababa Conference (1968) under the chairmanship of EmperorHaile Selassie. This was the final effort by Generals Ojukwu and Gowon to settle the conflict via diplomacy.^[43]

During the war, in 1967, some members of the July 1966 alleged coup plot and MajorVictor Banjo were executed for treason with the approval of Ojukwu, the Biafran Supreme commander. Major Ifeajuna was one of those executed. The defendants had argued that they sought a negotiated ceasefire with the federal government and were not guilty of treason.^[44]

After two and a half years of fighting andstarvation,^[45] a hole appeared in the Biafran front lines, and the Nigerian military exploited this. As it became obvious that the war was lost, Ojukwu was convinced to leave the country to avoid prosecution, incarceration or even summary execution.^[46] On 9 January 1970, he handed over power to his second in command, Chief of General Staff Major-General Philip Effiong, and left forIvory Coast, where PresidentFélix Houphouët-Boigny – who had recognised Biafra on 14 May 1968 – granted him political asylum.^[47][48]

In 1981, Ojukwu began campaigning to return to Nigeria. Nigerian presidentShehu Aliyu Usman Shagari granted a pardon to Ojukwu on 18 May 1982, allowing him to return to Nigeria as a private citizen. Ojukwu re-entered Nigeria from Ivory Coast on 18 June.^[49] Ojukwu declared his candidacy for the Nigerian Senate in 1983. The official tally showed him losing by 12,000 votes, though a court attempted to reverse the ruling in September of that year, citing fraud in the election results.^[50] However, the disputed result was rendered moot when the Shagari government fell in the1983 Nigerian coup d'état on 31 December. In early 1984, theBuhari regime jailed hundreds of political figures, including Ojukwu, who was held at theKirikiri Maximum Security Prison.^[51] He was released later that year.

Ojukwu marriedBianca Onoh (former Miss Intercontinental and future ambassador) in 1994, his third marriage. The couple had three children, Afamefuna, Chineme and Nwachukwu.^[52] In theFourth Republic era, Ojukwu unsuccessfully contested the presidency in2003 and2007.^[46]

On 26 November 2011, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu died in theUnited Kingdom after a brief illness, aged 78. TheNigerian Army accorded him the highest military accolade and conducted a funeral parade for him inAbuja, Nigeria on 27 February 2012, the day his body was flown back to Nigeria fromLondon before his burial on Friday 2 March. He was buried in a newly built mausoleum in his compound atNnewi. Before his final interment, he had an elaborate weeklong funeral ceremony in Nigeria, wherein his body was carried around the five Eastern states, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, and the nation's capital, Abuja. Memorial services and public events were also held in his honour in several places across Nigeria, including Lagos and Niger State, his birthplace, and as far away asDallas, Texas, United States.^[53]

His funeral was attended byGoodluck Jonathan Former president of Nigeria and ex-PresidentJerry Rawlings of Ghana among other personalities.^[54][55]

• Forsyth, Frederick (1982).Emeka. Ibadan, Nigeria: Spectrum Books.ISBN 978-978-2265-52-4.OCLC 690898672.
• Nwakanma, Obi (3 December 2011)."Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1933-2011)".Vanguard News. Retrieved10 February 2025.
• Elusoji, Solomon (14 January 2020)."Timeline: Biafra War In Key Dates".Channels Television. Retrieved16 February 2025.