Chukwumerije: Strong Voice of Ndigbo

Chukwumerije, flanked by Prof ABC Nwosu (left) & Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (right)

Chukwumerije cannot be said to be a tribalist because of his strong belief that the Igbo nation must be accorded her due recognition in the project called Nigeria. He never stood idly by and watched an Igbo man or indeed any other Nigerian robbed of his or her right.

Though Senator Chukwumerije’s primary assignment at the Senate was to represent the good people of Abia North Senatorial zone, his uncommon love for the Igbo nation had seen him fight more for the cause of Ndigbo than he did for his senatorial zone. For the greater part of his sojourn here on mother earth, Chukwumerije championed the cause of the Igbo nation with unmatched commitment and passion.

This perhaps explained why political analysts and close watchers of the evolution of contemporary Nigerian nation hold this strong belief that at the very critical moments of this evolution, Uche Chukwumerije had made some bold interventions. Before he took politics as a career, he had in the past, taken some principled positions that had portrayed him as a man of his own.

Since his fanatic plunge into ideological evangelism, a zealot in defence of scientific

socialism- first in Ibadan and onward into the Socialist Party under the genius of Comrade Eskor Toyo, no conviction, no provocation, no trumpet call had stirred Chukwumerije’s soul, electrified his whole being and provided a clearer beacon light in his existence here as the challenge of the self-redemption of Ndigbo.

As a people, Ndigbo have suffered untold hardship represented by unending genocide and a systemic and systematic repression of the people. These have constantly cried for redress and redemption. Uche Chukwumerije believed strongly that these were challenges that must be tackled even if they turned out to be life-long struggles. For him, one day, history will hear Ndigbo.

Prior to his demise, Chukwumerije was a member of the unbreakable army of stalwarts who live and breathe the challenge. In this regard, it is difficult to isolate his humble activities as a Senator from this struggle. In fact, the Senate only offered a vintage position to sustain more resistance.

During the Nigeria Civil War of 1967-1970, Chukwumerije notably played a patriotic role in the Information unit of Biafra as Director of Propaganda in the defunct Republic of Biafra. He used this platform to spur the consciousness of Ndigbo to the need to double their patriotism and passion for an independent Biafra.

Even with the ‘physical’ death of Biafra, the Igbo consciousness of Uche Chukwumerije never ceased; it kept on burning like wild fire. His later positions and engagements attested to this claim. He was pioneer director of Ohaneze Planning & Strategy Committee; pioneer organizer of Igbo Day; Chairman, Research Committee that produced Ohaneze’s petition to Oputa Panel; and was the spokesman of Ndigbo at the same Oputa Panel.

Chukwumerije’s commitment to the Igbo cause was never dimmed as a result of his membership of the National Assembly. Instead, he saw the opportunity provided by the Senate to advance more, the yearnings of Ndigbo since the end of the Civil War in 1970- that of equity and justice.

For instance, he sponsored the motion that saved many Nigerians (mostly Igbos) from the prisons in far away Malaysia; led a one-man protest against the forceful evacuation of Igbo traders from Deidei market- a market developed by the Igbo traders; he exposed the police cover-up over the infamous Apo 6 massacre; sponsored the motion that brought to the notice of the Senate, the bomb attacks on passengers (mostly Igbos) in luxury buses in a Kano park.

He was in the forefront in the struggle for the creation of additional State in the South East for the sake of equity. Lately, he rebuffed the North’s attempt to humiliate Ndigbo by criminalizing General Azubuike Ihejirika with threats of summons to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Speaking during the debate on the luxury bus blast in Kano on the floor of the Senate, Chukwumerije had echoed the position of Ndigbo against any attempt to give the victims a mass burial. “For Igbo in Kano, the people and their leadership insist on three immediate remedial actions from government. One is permission to arrange private burials for their loved ones because some of the deceased were their leaders.

“Two, the Federal Government should set up a committee to collect and arrange any compensation fund for victims because the Igbo no longer trust Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso administration. Thirdly, Federal Government should beef up security arrangement around Ndigbo and other endangered groups in the North. They demand a visibly effective termination of terrorism in Nigeria,” he asserted.

While deploring the threat by the Northern Elders Forum to drag the former Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika before the International Criminal Court (ICC), over alleged human rights violations in Baga, Bornu State, in 2013, Senator Chukwumerije said the threat coming immediately after the exit of Ihejirika and other service chiefs, only revealed the sentiments of the elders for Boko Haram.

“Besides, the fact that Prof. Ango Abdullahi and others sprung into action immediately after Ihejirika and six others left their commands has revealed the depth of long shouldering resentment of the campaign against Boko Haram by self-proclaimed leaders of the North. This raises a question about where their sympathy lies. The threat was capable of unleashing ill-will on the federation. This attempt is highly provocative to the sensibilities of all, who desire the unity and stability of Nigeria,” Chukwumerije said.

This condemnation of the Northern Elders Forum was quickly followed by denials, shifting of positions and apologies from the North.

To further attest to Chukwumerije’s position as the voice of the Igbo, the high number of aggrieved Igbo groups and unemployed applicants who thronged the Senator’s office daily especially groups victimized by the Nigerian system, seeking his intervention as the only refuge and voice in the National Assembly.

Prior to the primaries of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP last year, Senator Chukwumerije had believed that there is a very long and narrow bridge to be crossed by Ndigbo in the emerging National Assembly of 2015. Ndigbo needed the likes of Uche Chukwumerije to carry this battle and ensure that Igbo national interests do not suffer and get jettisoned overboard, and major actors drowned in the process. Unfortunately, he neither was re-elected nor is living today to avail Igbo legislators of his wealth of experience.

Uche Chukwumerije was an enigma. He was a combination of Senator Ted Kennedy of the USA; Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, the USA; former South African president, Nelson Mandela; President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Mallam Aminu Kano. These were leaders of positive, and sometimes, radical change that stood out as great visionaries, with unrepentant mission for change.

As unequivocal defenders of their citizens’ welfare, they had bluntly espoused civil rights, social justice, economic empowerment of the less fortunate in the society. Such leaders also instilled in their people, great patriotism and pride for country, citizen integrity, dignity, national self-redemption and self-rehabilitation.

For those who knew him, it is incontestable that Senator Uche Chukwumerije’s hands-on approach to challenges has been his definitive style over the years. Whether as Biafra Director of Information and Propaganda during the Civil War, as journalist with the Daily Times, Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation, and publisher of Afriscope magazine in the 70s, as Minister of Information and as Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for almost 12 years, he had the record of breaking new grounds in all that he did.

Little wonder different people saw him from different angles- Biafra firebrand; no-nonsense minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; conscientious Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Patriot and Statesman, Federal Republic of Nigeria; and the Igbo nation’s vanguard.