Who succeeds Ikemba as Igbo leader?

Posted by admin Biafra, General Politics, Headlines, South-East Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Odumegwu-Ojukwu

EMMANUEL OBE writes that only time will tell whether the Igbo will, once again, have a common leader like the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu

The death of Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu closed a chapter in the history of the Igbo, one of the three major ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. Despite failing to actualise their desire of having a sovereign state more than 40 years ago, Ojukwu remained the symbol of the struggle of the Igbo people for equity, justice and self-determination.

In Ojukwu’s lifetime, and in spite of his wish for a united and just Nigerian federation, his people saw him as the one that was to take them to the Promised Land. And he apparently acquiesced to that fate, at least in his pronouncements till he passed on last November.

But his death has opened a fresh chapter in the lives of the Igbo, who quite often, have likened themselves to the Hebrews of the Bible. The Hebrews, who are the forebears of the Jews found in the region of Palestine today, were once not ruled by kings.

But due to the envy they had for their neighbours that had kings and regaled in royalty, they put up an agitation before God to let them have their own king. Operating under a theocratic state, the Jews rejected the rule by prophets and demanded to have someone, not a spirit or deity, they could relate to as their own.

God, as the story went, through Samuel his prophet, granted them that wish, but warned them of the consequences of having an earthly king as stated in 1 Sam. 8: 10 -18. With Ojukwu’s death, the agitation for an Igbo leader that will speak for them and pursue their cause is assuming a widening dimension.

Though he was well acknowledged as leader of the Igbo, Ojukwu had crowned his reign with the assumption of the title, Ezeigbo Gburugburu (Global King of the Igbo), which made him the number one leader of the Igbo, and was generally regarded as so by his kinsmen.

Howbeit, Ojukwu’s reign as Ezeigbo Gburugburu was merely honorary, having not been installed by any traditional institution. He did not have any predecessor and there was therefore no basis to assess him or allocate functions to him. Besides, the Igbo have hundreds of autonomous kingdoms that have not yet agreed to subjugate their authority to any institution that will subject them to an overall Igbo king.

Despite this, Ojukwu carried on with his title, given to him by a mere proclamation by Eze Hyacinth Ohazulike, the Eze Ndigbo Lagos, the leader of the Diaspora Igbo community in Lagos in the mid-1990s. Ojukwu operated without a cabinet and exercised no traditional authority over any Igbo but himself, giving credence to an adage in Igboland that, Igbo enwe eze, that is to say the Igbo do not have a king.

The debate about the propriety or otherwise of Ojukwu being anybody’s king might no longer hold with his passing away. But with the raging clamour for a successor to him in Igbo affairs, the questions have arisen: What kind of leader do the Igbo want? And what are the qualities of such a leader? Who are the living Igbo that fit into such qualities? Or, is there any need at all to search for an Igbo leader? What is expected of such a leader?

Mr. Uchendu Chigbu, a public affairs commentator, does not think the Igbo need to search for a king. He argues that the Igbo generally are republican in nature and a central leader is antithetical to the Igbo culture and politics.

“It should be made clear that the entirety of the Igbo nation is and was culturally subjected only to a republican system of government termed ‘oha na eze.’ So, in general, the Igbo have no king, they respect age but do not accept servitude to one central figure. This is something the Igbo should be very proud and should not be apologetic in any way for inheriting such a unique culture,” Chigbu says.

Senator Chris Anyanwu believes that the Igbo need a leader like Ojukwu and hopes that very soon such a leader will emerge. “We know that the Igbo will need someone to also guide them and lead them and talk for them. I know it will take time, but there is hope,” Anyanwu says.

Several names have been mentioned among those that may succeed Ojukwu. The list includes Chief Ralph Uwazurike, the leader of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra, who has indicated his willingness to step into Ojukwu’s shoes.

Ojukwu’s second son, Chief Emeka Ojukwu (Jnr.), and Uwazurike, are the only people whose body languages have shown so far that they are interested in taking over from Ojukwu.

Ojukwu juniorJnr. is embroiled in an internal family muscle-flexing with his elder half brother, Sylvester Ojukwu, over who is the first son of Ojukwu, and therefore most suited to inherit his place among the Igbo.

As if taking Ojukwu’s traditional titles entitles them to succeed him, Ojukwu Jnr. and Uwazurike quickly, shortly before the burial of Ojukwu, sneaked into Nawfia and Nri and took the traditional title of Ikemba II of Igboland and Ijele Ndigbo respectively. Uwazurike had reverted to Ijele after the initial plan to acknowledge him as Ezeigbo Gburugburu was heavily criticised.

Replying to a question from a journalist, who asked if he would step into Ojukwu’s shoes, Uwazurike said, “You have just said it. When Jesus Christ was asked if he was the leader of the Jews; he replied ‘You have just said it.’ What else will I say?”

Other people that have come in for mention include Governor Roachas Okorocha of Imo State, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Senator Ken Nnamani and Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Ojukwu himself was faced with the clamour for a successor to him. He insisted that anyone who wanted to lead the Igbo after him must fight for it. He had said, “I can’t suddenly wake up one morning and say, here, I have found him. It doesn’t ever work that way. More than anything else, what I am trying to do is to wake up the youths of our society. That power, the way I see it, is not my personal preserve.

“I think that more people should come forward and when they do, very simply, one day, another leader would emerge. I would like also to stress, in the context of this, that whatever it is that people admire in what I have done, let them remember also that I did most of them when I was 33. So, I don’t want a group of people laid back, always waiting for something to be served them on a platter of gold. Come out; show your hands, struggle; take over the baton, I wouldn’t fight you.”

Not a few Igbo leaders believe that there can be any Igbo person that can fit into Ojukwu’s shoes. Former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, himself considered a possible successor, says of Ojukwu, “Ojukwu is simply irreplaceable. When you look around, you discover that none of those positioning themselves to replace him has anything close to his charm and charisma. People loved and trusted him.”

Tochukwu Ezukanma, a scholar, said Ojukwu was able to claim the leadership of the Igbo because he possessed charisma. “He was a riveting presence: a consummate orator, a captivating demagogue,” he says of Ojukwu. It therefore follows that anyone aspiring to lead the Igbo must possess these qualities.

He, however, warns that any leader of the Igbo must not be from the class of politicians because they are crass opportunists, who lie a lot and never hesitate to abandon the people in bad weather.

Chief Victor Umeh, the National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Ojukwu’s party, and Mr. Tony Adibe, an Enugu-based journalist, doubt if there can be anyone good enough to succeed Ojukwu.

Umeh’s reverence for Ojukwu is so strong that he has declared that nobody will be appointed leader of APGA in the place of Ojukwu. “What we shall do is that we shall consider appointing a deputy national leader over time, somebody who will be helping him to perform his duties in the physical realm. From the terrestrial heights above, Ojukwu remains our guiding light because we don’t have any other better name to use in this party than Ojukwu,” Umeh declares.

“Anybody who is telling you today that a replacement will be found for Ojukwu or his person; that person is deceiving you. We don’t have anybody who can match his stoic loyalty and commitment to the emancipation of his people,” Umeh adds.

Adibe on his part says, “It is quite doubtful whether any other Igbo man or woman alive could be as committed and dedicated to the affairs of the Igbo people the way Ikemba did. Perhaps just as events and inevitable circumstances brought about the emergence of Ojukwu as Igbo leader, events will also throw up someone else in future to take his position.”

But Prof. A.B.C. Nworah, an academic and medical practitioner, as well as Ezeife and Adibe, believe that circumstances destined by God will one day throw up a new leader for the Igbo.wp_posts