Nigerians from around Ireland gathered at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin on Saturday (28 January) to honour the life and legacy of Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the late leader of the Igbo nation.
The interdenominational service, interspersed with performances of gospel and hymns, was organised by the Igbo Committee for Ojukwu's Memorial Service Ireland to pay tribute to their leader, who died on 26 November last at a London hospital following a protracted illness, aged 78.
Those in attendance remembered how his words and actions inspired the Igbo people during the Biafran War, when he fought his state’s secession from Nigeria.
Ukachukwu Okorie of the African World newspaper described Chief Ojukwu as a man without equal in the history of Nigeria.
“There is a need to remember [Chief Ojukwu] and Plato’s comment that necessity is the mother of invention,” he said. “The sophistication of the whole infrastructure and political machinery of the short-lived Republic of Biafra could not have been led by anyone less competent than Ojukwu… Unfortunately to date, these achievements have yet to be surpassed in the rest of Africa.”
Ndidi Nduka-Ugbebor of the organising committee said that Chief Ojukwu “believed all Nigerians should be treated fairly, no matter their tribe. No doubt his legacy will live on from generation to generation.”
Poignant addresses were also made by Rev Fr Stephen Ezenwegbu, Apostle David Moses of the Lighthouse Assembly International Church, Prophet Elijah of Victory Deliverance Ministry Ireland, and Rev Father Cornelius Nwaogwugwu who led the gathering.
Chief Ojukwu’s burial has been rescheduled for 1 March in Nnewi, Anambra State in Nigeria.
