C. Odumegwu Ojukwu

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (* November 4, 1933 in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria, † November 26, 2011 in London) was a Nigerian soldier and politician.

Life

Ojukwu was born into a rich family from the people of Ibo. In 1957, he joined the army. After studying history at Oxford and the visit of a British military academy, he was military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966. After the pogroms against the Ibo in the northern region, he said on 30 May 1967, the Eastern Region as the Republic of Biafra independence. From 1967 to 1970 he was Head of State of Biafra. After the military defeat in the Biafran war, he went to the surrender on January 15, 1970 into exile in the Ivory Coast and was amnestied in 1982. After that he was in Nigeria again politically, where he lived in the state of Anambra. He was regarded until recently as a proponent of a large degree of autonomy and independence of the Ibo region ( the city triangle of Enugu - Onitsha - Umuahia ). In 2003 he was a presidential candidate. The current President Goodluck Jonathan praised him for his constructive role after the war.