PLEASE JOIN ME AS WE CELEBRATE OUR HERO Born in Ibiono Ibom in present-day Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, on 18 November 1924, he joined the Nigerian Armed Services on 28 July 1945. He quickly rose through the service ranks until on 11 January 1956 he received the Queens Commission after his officer cadet training at Eaton Hall in Chester. England later commissioned him for duty in the Rhine in West Germany. He was then transferred to the Nigerian Army Ordnance Corps and then to England for further training after a peace-keeping stint in the Republic of Congo in 1961. He was Nigerias first Director of Ordnance. He had a son who was named after him.he was the first Vice President and the second President of the now defunct Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970. When Biafras military resistance collapsed, Ojukwu fled to Côte dIvoire. He assumed leadership in that situation of turmoil, starvation, and collapse. He became Head of State of Biafra on 8 January 1970 and on 12 January he announced surrender. At the time of the surrender, he believed that the situation was hopeless and that prolonging the conflict would have led only to the further destruction and starvation of the people of Biafra. At that time he said, I am convinced now that a stop must be put to the bloodshed which is going on as a result of the war. I am also convinced that the suffering of our people must be brought to an immediate end In a 1996 interview, he reflected on those events: I have no regrets whatsoever of my involvement in Biafra or the role I played. The war deprived me of my property, dignity, my name. Yet, I saved so many souls on both sides and by this, I mean Biafra and Nigeria. I felt that I played a role which has kept this country united till today. At the end of it all when I saw they (Biafran soldiers) could no longer continue and Ojukwu had fled, I did what was ideal after wide consultation He died 6 November 2003, at the age of 78 less than two weeks before his 79th birthday. Am talking about nobody else than OBONG PHILLIP EFIONG
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 06:18:07 +0000
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