By Anayo Okoli, Umuahia

Eze Peter Ginikanwa

ISIUKWUATO, a sleepy and almost neglected large community in Abia State, may not ring a bell to many, yet it occupies a position of relevance in Nigeria. Indeed not many people, even in the neighbouring states, realise the national importance of this erosion devastated area. To the average Nigerian, nay, Abian and South Easterner, Isiukwuato is just one of the erosion-prone council areas that make up Abia State. Indeed, some communities in the area had at one time or the other been sacked by erosion and many others are under severe threat. That is the unenviable tag by which Isiukwuato is known by people around here. Perhaps, they may also know that it is a name of a local government area. But because past and present governments did not put the area into reckoning, there is really nothing to attract people to the area. So it has for long remained in limbo in spite of its potentials.

Who are the Isiukwuatos?

Isiukwuato, in the main comprises of three major clans. They are Imenyi, Isuamawo and Oguduasaa. From these three clans we have a total of 34 autonomous communities which make up the Isiukwuato community. According to information pieced together from these communities, virtually every family has a military person, either serving or retired. This excludes police officers, SSS operatives and other paramilitary personnel, and cuts across the entire community. From available statistics, Ovim, one of the prominent communities, tops the list with the highest number of military Generals and other ranks.

National importance

Isiukwuato’s national importance derives from the number of military personnel (both serving and retired) it has produced. Blessed with a vast area of land which is almost marred by rocky topography, Isiukwuato can enter the record books as the Langtang of the South East, an apparent reference to the Langtang in Plateau State which is reputed to have the highest number of military Generals and officers of other ranks. Isiukwukato, presently qualifies to compete for that position. Not many people are aware of this, hence no reference is made of it in this regard.

Land of Generals

Some of the notable Military Generals and officers of Isiukwuato origin include Senator Ike Nwachukwu, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, one time Military Administrator of old Imo and Lagos states; Navy Captain Christopher Osondu, former military administrator of Cross Rivers State; the current Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika, among several other senior officers in the Army, Navy and the Air Force.

Origin of miltary culture

The story behind how Isiukwuato people came to embrace military service has been traced to a number of reasons given by some indigenes, including retired military officers. Some also said it was pure coincidence that the people embraced military service and fortunately it flourished to their advantage. The Nigerian civil war as well as the presence of a railway line that runs across the community, and of course the influence of the first senior officers from the area are part of the factors.

According to an indigene of the area, now a serving Commissioner of Sports in the State, Mr. Henry Agbaeze, retired General Ike Nwachukwu influenced some of the people into joining and rising in the army. Nwachukwu, with a Hausa parental link, fought the civil war on the side of Nigeria and after the war he helped some of his kinsmen like Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu to be reintegrated and to regain their positions in the military. Nwachukwu was later to become the Military Secretary, a position which further enabled him to assist his people to join and rise in the profession.

The effort of Nwachukwu in entrenching military culture in Isiukwuato was corroborated by another prominent indigene, a retired military personnel himself and now a serving traditional ruler in Ovim community, reputed to have the greatest number of military generals and personnel, Eze Peter Ginikanwa, the Enyim-Enachi of Uhuocha Autonomous community in Ovim. Eze Ginikanwa retired as an operative of the Directorate of Military Intelligence [DMI] and at different times served under General Oladipo Diya and Admiral Mike Akhigbe before he retired in 1999. Presently, the Deputy Chairman of Isiukwuato Local Government Area council of traditional rulers, Ginikanwa also explained that the experience of the civil war prompted the people into embracing military service because according to him, the role played by Nwachukwu and Kanu gingered the young ones to enlist in the military.

“Virtually every family in this community has a military personnel, not to talk of police personnel. The civil war opened the people’s eyes. After the civil war, they were proud of the roles played by the likes of General Ike Nwachukwu and Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu. Their contributions gingered the youths. For instance, it is said that if not for General Nwachukwu, Okigwe would have been over-run by the Nigerian troops. Kanu was made a governor and he also helped the youths. Today, in the whole of the South East, Ovim is home of the military. Virtually every family has a military man, a military history. Nwachukwu, Kanu, Ihejirika and others helped the young ones who are qualified and interested to join the service,” Eze Ginikanwa explained.

Nwachukwu, he said, has spurred the youths greatly. He is their father in the military; they consult him. For the present Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika, Eze Ginikanwa simply described him as “down-to-earth, humble man who never jokes with issues about home”, and therefore always ready to assist in any way towards the progress of the community.

However, for a former military administrator of Cross River state, Navy Captain Christopher Osondu, the military culture of Isiukwuato people could also be attributed to love and attitude to service. “It is by coincidence and a good one. Also, the old ones who joined earlier did well, hence the young ones tried to follow their footsteps; it is not by design”. There are Isiukwuato people in all branches of the military, according to Osondu. “The people are happy for it. It has brought respect to them and other local governments areas envy them,” he said.

Benefit of military culture to the people.

For an average Isiukwuato person, it is a thing of pride to be in the military which, according to them, is now a thing of envy by other parts of the state. Though there is no clear-cut reason why the people embraced the military culture, it has no doubt brought them honour and respect. But the question remains if the military service has translated into meaningful development in the area. From the level of development and availability of infrastructural facilities in the entire area, it is clear that the military culture embraced by the people has not contributed much to the general infrastructural development of the area. However, on individual basis, it could be said that the area has benefited as these retired and serving officers are living well and could afford the luxuries of life. But at communal level, the story is different. The roads to the area are among the worst in the state, more so with the menace of erosion which on yearly basis inches nearer houses in the communities. Government presence in the area is near zero.

In fact, the only tarred road that passes the area to Okigwe which has almost worn out due to age was done by Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu when he was the military governor of old Imo State, and that the present Abia State University, Uturu, was also brought by Ike Nwachukwu when he was also the military governor of old Imo State. These are projects an average Isiukwuato person would not hesitate to point out to you. But beyond these two, no other thing could be attributed to the famed the military culture in the area.

However, both Navy Captain Osondu and Eze Ginikanwa believe that the military service of Isiukwuato people, at least at state level has paid off. For them, in the area of security, the people of Abia State have benefitted. The swiftness with which the Major General Sarkin Yakin Bello-led military task force invaded and fought the kidnappers and other criminal elements who almost ran Aba aground was because the Chief of Army Staff is from the state. Today Aba and indeed Abia is 80 per cent security proof.

Again, a new Army formation, 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, has been established at Ohafia, in the state. Work is seriously in progress in the Barracks which was relocated to another part of the country years back. But it has been returned and the people see it as a mark of development as it would contribute to the economic growth of the area, and this was made possible by their Isiukwuato born Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ihejirika. There are also one or two more military camps in the state which are helping in the provision of security to the state.

But by omission or design, in Isiukwuato area itself, crime rate is low. Even at the peak of kidnapping and high crime rate in Abia State, Isiukwuato was rarely mentioned. The people attributed this to the dominant military personnel from the area which instills fear even in criminals who think that with the military connection, any criminal action in the area could be suicidal. Isiukwuato, the ‘Langtang’ of the South East, could arguably best be seen as a community that gives more service to the nation, and gets less development to the people.