WHEN people engage in the argument about importing petrol and subsidy, I refer them to Biafra where the refineries  were producing till the end of the war. Biafra never imported fuel because it was totally blockaded.

Today, we find it difficult to maintain refineries built by the White engineers after destroying the ones built by Biafra at Uzoakoli and Oparanadim  Mbaise (OPI). RAP is also just a shadow of its Biafran self.

Ikemba, like all mortals, had his faults. The mistakes he made were also documented in many books, including Raph Uwechue’s “Reflections on the Nigeria civil war”.

There is no person in whom a warm blood runs who would not be inflamed by the death of Ironsi, the pogroms, train loads of dead bodies being transported to the Eastern Region  on daily basis and finally the attack on Biafrans at Gakem (Cross River State) where the war actually started.

During the war itself, not many advisers of the Head of State of Biafra, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu were as committed as Ikemba himself. Dr. Okechukwu Ikejiani described some of these questionable loyalties in his book, “My journey through life”.

Ikemba was prone to the faults of all men, number one of which was how to handle sycophants. At a point in Biafra, there was a constant jostle for influence between the politicians/academics on the one hand and the military officers (some whom were older and senior to then Ikemba) on the hand. As any one knows, no amount of passion can be a substitute for experience.

Wisdom goes with experience. This was why in the Bible, David prayed that God should turn the wisdom of Ahitophel into foolishness.

Biafra’s survival for almost three years was remarkable because Biafra was outgunned, out-manned and outspent by the bigger Nigeria. Ojukwu made the difference.

Ikemba’s years in exile were well spent. The Eastern Region would still have been fighting if the Ikemba had not left Biafra in search of peace. That January 1970 move saved many lives. There was wisdom in knowing when to say it was over. There is a time for war and time for peace.

Ikemba’s return to Nigeria in 1982 was mismanaged by the officers of the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, who saw it as an opportunity to break into Igbo land. It was orchestrated for their political and selfish ends. At the end of the day Ikemba was used and dumped by the people he trusted in the eighties.

During the Mkpoko Igbo conference of 1994, Ikemba had metamorphosed into a politician. Ken Saro Wiwa attended this 1994 conference and apologised to Ndigbo for the belief he had that the Igbo people were enemies of the Ogoni and the other coastal tribes. When he arrived home from the conference, the real enemies grabbed him, conducted a mock trial and executed him.

Ikemba at the 1995 conference, along with the other Igbo leaders canvassed the six zonal structures which we are practising today. I still have the picture of Dr Alex Ekweme being hackled at the 1995 Constitutional Conference and Ikemba marched to his side and bellowed” Go on, we are here, Go on, Alex!”. That is the stuff of the man, Ikemba.

Ikemba was and still is the symbol of APGA, the party whose flag he carried in his presidential quest. Even in the last few years when his health had deteriorated, Ikemba was never tired of campaigning for APGA, he still lives.

Ikemba’s death is a monumental loss not just to Bianca and her children but also to Debe, Emeka and his siblings, Brothers Prof Joseph and Lotanna or nephew, Jimmy Davies. The loss is ours. The pain is ours. The vacuum is obvious. But the memory will last even for generations unborn.

Fare thee well, Ikemba!

Mr. GODDY UWAZURIKE, a  lawyer, wrote from Abuja.