WHEN British Prime Minister, David Cameron, at the last Commonwealth meeting in Perth, Australia, repeated his threat to English-speaking African nations that, henceforth, strings would be attached to aid that his government would offer to the affected countries, he said, “We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights, and that includes how people treat gay and lesbian people”.

The Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security recently had a hearing on emerging threats to the United States posed by Boko Haram, the Islamic group originating from Northeast Nigeria….

The Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security recently had a hearing on emerging threats to the United States posed by Boko Haram, the Islamic group originating from Northeast Nigeria….

Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s death, last Saturday, has continued to generate comments from eminent Nigerians, especially those who were with him from the time of the Civil War till his death.

Ralph Uwazuruike is the founder of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra,MASSOB, a secessionist movement with the aim of securing the resurgence of the defunct state of Biafra from Nigeria.

The name Asiegbu Ejike rings a bell in Nollywood. But unknown to many, this accomplished actor cum director who has acted in over a 100 movies was the former Personal Assistant to the late Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu at the 1994 National Constitutional Conference in Abuja.

WHEN the news came Saturday last week that the Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu had passed on in a London hospital after suffering prolonged effect of stroke, it was as if everything in Igboland had turned upside down. Many people discussed openly what would be the fate of Igbos without Ojukwu who, many believed, provided the required leadership that made it possible for the Igbo nation to remain together despite the effects of creation of states in the country.

Literary icon Prof Chinua Achebe has promised to roll out some of the most sophisticated insights on Biafra and Ojukwu and his role in Biafra as a benefitting tribute to the ex Biafran leader.

As news broke of the death of the Biafra leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, not many people knew that his first wife is dead or that his second wife, Stella died earlier last year.

THERE is more to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu than the civil war and his leadership of Biafra. In the consistent prosecution of the war by other means, 41 years after it ended, pillorying Ojukwu has become a passion, almost a profession for some, who use it in the larger fight for group relevance in Nigeria.

I MAKE no apologies about what I consider the place of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi, Dikedioranma, Eze Igbo Gburugburu in world history. Now that he is gone, I can share it without any of fears of being accused of currying Ojukwu’s favour.

EVEN as former Biafran leader and leader of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, joined the list of Nigerians who have died of stroke-related problems, indications are that the development may not be as strange as expected.

Anybody who was present at the Aburi meeting or has read the minutes, the communiqués, statements, and verbatim reports would be surprised that a person who calls himself a head of state could so deliberately mislead accredited representatives of foreign governments by saying that the implementation of each item of the conclusions required prior detailed examination by the administrative and professional experts in the various fields.

Death didn’t catch up with Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu like a thief in the night. People knew that, given his septuagenarian status and his long drawn-out battle with ill health, only one thing rang true – the inevitability of the fall of his final curtain.

Some time in 2004, the CHINUA ACHEBE FOUNDATION partnered with Vanguard to publish a series of interviews with very prominent and influential Nigerians.