Former Biafran warlord, Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu and 63 other Biafran soldiers were on Monday issued cheques for the arrears of their pension 41 years after their disengagement.

The former Biafran leader, who spoke before collecting his cheque, said that the camaraderie that existed at the occasion was an indication that a lot of the problems in the country were pretence as Nigerians remained brothers.

He said that Nigerians should also recognise that the country was not the first that engaged in a civil war and certainly not the first to have tried to end it.

The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who also got his pension arrears on Monday, said that he was denied pension and gratuity for over 16 years, because he granted a press interview that was considered offensive to the military.

He said that he thought that pension was a right until he was told that he was not entitled to one because he granted an interview castigating the military.

Ojukwu: ‘I’m a General,  Calling Me Lt Col is an Insult’
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 01.15.2008

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Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, will always leave a mark wherever he goes. This time, the occasion was the presentation of cheques to military pensioners and their next-of-kin for the settlement of arrears of pension and gratuity.
Ojukwu, who led the failed secession bid of Eastern Nigeria which led to a civil war between 1967 and 1970, left the Nigerian Army as a Lt Colonel but was a General in the rebel army which governed the now defunct Republic of Biafra for over three years.
So is he a General or a Lt Colonel – especially since his contemporaries like Yakubu Gowon, Usman Katsina and David Ejoor all retired as Generals?
“It’s an insult for people to address me as a Lt Col,” he said yesterday after collecting his cheque. “I want everybody to remember that the leader of the Confederate Army in the United States that we always choose to copy, Gen. Robert Lee, was made a General on the Confederate side. Ever since then, he is referred to with honour for those of you in uniform as Gen. Robert Lee,” he said.
Talking more firmly, Ojukwu expressed his anger at being referred to as a Lt Colonel.
“It gets a bit annoying to see a little boy look up at you and call you Lt. Col. It is a pity. I am a General, four-star, in the Biafran Army. I agree it is not the Nigerian Army but the Biafran Army. Anybody who has worn that uniform knows what that means. There is no way you listen to certain things and you don’t feel that there are deliberate insults. And if deliberate insults continue to be heaped on you, reconciliation becomes very difficult,” he said.
Then, he became more reconciliatory, saying he was promising his “brother officers particularly the authorities here that you will always find in me not just a friend but a supporter because what you want for yourself I have wanted, I still want and I will always want. I thank you”.
He said: “This is one of the rear occasions but it is one of those occasions that make one really feel proud to be part of this country. We have come together again as a body and we can’t fail mentioning the singular honour that I have been made subject of throughout this morning here. The way everybody has spoken has given a lie to the whole concept that this is the public enemy number one. The way everyone has taken care of my movement up and down has indicated that once you put on that uniform you remain brothers forever. I want on my own part to assure all of you that despite the problems and pretence we remain brothers.”
The Military Pensions Board (MPB) had flagged off yesterday the first phase of the payment of over N2 billion pension arrears and gratuity to military pensioners and next-of-kin with the payment to Senate President, Senator David Mark, and Ojukwu.
Mark and Ojukwu were among the first batch of beneficiaries from the exercise. The payments were made to retired offices and men who have not been on the pension payroll; discharged soldiers, ratings and airmen who attended the NAFRC Course 1 of 2007; next-of-kin of deceased personnel, particularly the senior officers, and Aircrew who died in the NAF Dornier 228 air crash of September 17, 2007; the 64 pardoned ex-officers affected by the Nigerian Civil War, and all other military pensions with genuine outstanding pension.
The medically boarded ex-soldiers, who have been excluded from the military pension scheme for decades, will be included in the military pension’s payroll from February this year.
In his address at the event which had in attendance Minister of Defence, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Fidelia Njeze, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Andrew Azazi, all the service chiefs, Senator Mark and Ojukwu, the Chairman of Military Pension Board, Brig. Gen Birtus Kwaji, said the payment was as a result of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s resolve to settle all pension arrears and ensure a stable and good quality of life for the retirees.
He stated that the process for the payment of retirees had been simplified by the Pension Board, urging all the beneficiaries to furnish the board with their respective bank details to enable the board service the accounts for their monthly entitlements.
Also in his remark, Senator Mark described the occasion as special and emotional, having been denied the right for the past 16 years. “It is a special occasion because when I retired about 16 years ago I immediately applied for my pension and I was promptly told that since I left and did an interview castigating the military government, I was not entitled to pension. I thought pension was a right and not a favour but, as it were, nobody allowed me to get that right. The point here today is that pensions for those of us who served and served meritoriously is a right. It is not a favour being done to anyone whether you are soilder or an officer, whether you are mere men or an officer, or a sailor or an officer it is your right and not a favour in any form,” he said.
And maybe it doesn’t matter too if you are a Lt Colonel in the Nigerian Army or General in the Biafran Army.

This man is too intelligent and intrepid. An exceptionally confident being

Not just the rank Ojukwu has got the brain. I doff my hat General Ojukwu.

It is just refreshing to know that the process of reconciliation has started in earnest. May this be the beginning of true, genuine comraderie and brotherhood in this nation. I pray for better things for Naija

Ojukwu was a Lt-Colonel in the Nigerian army, and a General only in the Biafran army. He is being paid his pension by the Nigerian army so why should they recognise his Biafran rank? The US government doesn't pay General's pensions to Iraqi Generals, and some governments do not recognise educational accomplishments or driving licenses issued by foreign countries. So why should the Nigerian government recognise the ranks issued by a foreign state?

Ojukwu should just be grateful that he is even getting a pension. There are millions of Nigerians and his kinsmen and woman whom he sent into war unarmed who did not have the luxury of spending over a decade abroad in luxurious retirement, marrying a beauty queen, cavorting with the enemy that murdered a million of his people, and then gratefully return to collect cheques from the people he so derided.

@maxsiollun
I wonder whether you are faning the flame of unity or discord

May be you have not EXPERIENCED REAL war, just watching it on CNN

No hard feeling but that kind of comment is surely not for the unity of this country
cheque or no cheque
general or no general

Many lives have been lost to unite this country and will should be looking at that and not promoting discord with trivialites

how much money will bring back the lives of the dead

PEACE TO ALL

Max Siollun, the Ogoni man. At last your true self is revealed. You went about at the Nigeria village square (NVS) writing on the civil war and trying to be dispassionate; and here you show whom you really are. Do you think some of us at the NVS don't come to nairaland? Never mind, we shall meet again at the NVS.

Nigerians shuold stop the distrust that exist between ethnic groups, we are better off as a united country.

I dont know why you guys are dismissive of maxsiollun's opinion considering he does make a good point.

Many ordinary Biafrans who put more at risk have not been so honored to collect a pension or some form of financial recompense.
Why isn't anyone taking up their case?

Doyin,

Why not let Biafrans (mainly Igbos) be the judge of that. How do you judge which Biafran risked more than the other? Besides, Ojukwu was not the only ex-Biafran soldier who received his pension. So what is the fuss about?

I hate to rain on your parade of nostalgique, but the fact is the war was disastrous for Igbos
and Ojukwu was at the centre of it.

On whether only Igbos should be the only one to determine effort in the war, well nominally I would agree with you.
But the military is a federal institution and the funds being distributed are from the national purse.

I think non Igbo opinions do count in that regard.

I know of many ex Biafan soldiers living in penury in Lagos without the Public exposure of a Ojukwu who could
do with some help as well.

According to you, Ojukwu was at the centre of the war, yet you make to claim that others risked more than him.

Again, you have failed to answer the question. Was Ojukwu the only one paid? If not what is the fuss about? If other Biafran soldiers are still been unpaid, is that Ojukwu's fault? Yes, the money is Nigeria's money and Igbos are Nigerians who have contributed to the said money. Or are they not?

he should donate some of his pension to the lives of non-igbo Midwesterners he ruined.

bawomol:

he should donate some of his pension to the lives of non-igbo Midwesterners he ruined.

I can pass you his phone number so you ask that of him.

I can pass you his phone number so you ask that of him.

why would i need his phone number. he would always leave with the guilt of extending a war to the point of humanitarian disaster.

Always been my hero, and always would be my hero. No wonder i was named after him. Truly great men are few and hard to come by.
I always love this man and the very day i had the opportunity to look into his eyes,and shook his hands, i knew he was, is, and shall forever remain fearless.
Whether we like it or not, he is a General(4 star). How many of these so called generals have led a battalion in warfare? The Ojukwu i know does not need the pensions and would most likely donate it to the ex-Biafran soldiers at Oji river.

Unity cannot be achieved by mere words. As Atiku rightly said: Without justice there can be no peace. That is why till tomorow, true patriotic Nigerians would always say that ON ABURI WE STAND. We need true federalism! That is the only hope for Nigeria. anything to the contrary is time wastage.
Agaracha musto come back.

he appointed himself a general as a member of the DEFUNCT biafran army. he is a rtd Lt.Col and nothing else.


who cares if a general has actual led a battalion in warfare? what matter is that he has the knowledge and trust of his officers to do when needed. Ojukwu's record as a general wasn't so great either.

@Bawomol

As they say, different stroke for different folks. All i know was that he was/is a retired general. Your opinion does not matter.

EmekaNaija:

The Ojukwu i know does not need the pensions and would most likely donate it to the ex-Biafran soldiers at Oji river.

I believe that is what he will do. He is bigger than the so-called pension given to him.

Germannig:

I believe that is what he will do. He is bigger than the so-called pension given to him.

Yeah right, Yet he collected the pension and thanked Nigeria, the same Nigeria he tried destabilizing at the height of his thirst for war!

Do you know when Ojukwu became a joker? Its not even when he came back to marry Bianca, he became comical when he came back home to contest for the 1983 senatorial election. He wanted to be the senate president and also in 2007 under his APGA umbrella. I know most of you would scream national reconcilation, blah blah blah reh reh.

But the crux of the matter is that, it is an insult to the gravesite of the more than 1  millon people who died fighting on his side and the hundreds of thousand of kids who died of kwashiorkor, ber-beri, and the lack of protein that drove people to eat lizards and other reptiles in the course of the war! 

Its is also a bigger insults to those kids studying under the trees innocously when the aerial Bombardment of the Psychopathic war Commander Benjamin Adekunle bombed them out of existence.

Those men and kids would be turning in their grave when they know that not only did Ojukwu abscond from the war, but he came home to marry a beauty queen, and that he wanted to be a senate president _{(was that what those dead souls wanted?)?} and the mother of all he sold out and collected a pension worth millions of naira from the same government those 1 million dead souls fought against!

No be only General, why not ask for the title of Alhaji!

If Ojukwu marrying a beauty queen is your problem i dont think you have one. If you dont want Ojukwu to be in your mix then lt him lead his Great Biafra to where ever he want. You dont like him but you dont want to be without him either.
He is a General and ex Head of state(Biafra), its your problem if you dont recognise that.

@rikkyjen

You must be deluded. Why must you choose to be more catholic than the pope? Why must you cry more than the bereaved? Is it not we that lost our relatives and progenitors in the war? Is it not we that made him Ikemba? Are we not the ones who support him as Ezigbo gburu gburu.

Who told you Ojukwu abandoned Biafra and ran away? Do you not know it was the decision of his military council to send him away? have you not heard about the saying that he who runs from a fight lives to fight another day? Have you read Things fall apart? If Ojukwu did not leave and was killed, every one today would be asking: why did he stay back? If you understood the Igbo world view, you would have known better.

Till tomoro, we can never abandon Ojukwu because it was a collective decision and he should be honored for having the courage to lead in those terrible times in our history. He is a true hero.

Did you ever watch, National treasure book of secrets? History would surely vindicate Ojukwu when Gowon and others are courageous enough to speak up on the events of the war. Most likely at their (Gowon and co) dying beds.

Why must you choose to be more catholic than the pope? Why must you cry more than the bereaved? Is it not we that lost our relatives and progenitors in the war? Is it not we that made him Ikemba? Are we not the ones who support him as Ezigbo gburu gburu.

Oh thats good and i hope the igbos stop reminding the rest of Nigeria about the scars of the civil war, because it seems to be the first thing young Igbos are inculcated with.

Who told you Ojukwu abandoned Biafra and ran away? Do you not know it was the decision of his military council to send him away? have you not heard about the saying that he who runs from a fight lives to fight another day? Have you read Things fall apart?

The Military coucnil sent him away? Who led the military council? was it you or me? Was it not Ojukwu? Succintly put, he sent himself away. Its absurd you restrict yourself to "things fall apart" in a bid to butress your point about Ojukwu's cowardice. He led his men to the brink of death and later fled the country and you are telling me about Okonkwo's debacle.  what is Okonkwo's business with Ojukwu? Do they share the same fate or were their circumstances the same? 

You need to read books. Infact i would even recommend the book of Fredrick Forsythe _{which is a stupid and a ass-licking book anywaw}[s][/s], One of Ojukwu's apologist. Yeah, go and read that first before reading more balanced and impartial books about the civil war!

Did you ever watch, National treasure book of secrets?

WTF are you talking about? As a non igbo, i would say this is even condescending to liken the plights of the Igbo to a fictional work from the streets of Hollywood. Wetin we no go hear? I hope you wont come back and say Cage and Jon Voigt have biafran ancestry

@rikkyjen

I like your sense of humor. You made me laugh.
The Igbos have long moved on after the war. It is not inculcation, it is a true story of bravery. I understand you were taught from a victor's perspective, but as we all know truth can never be suppresed. It is like oil which would always float on water. So, relax. Gowon is suffering from guilty conscience that's why he's been going round the country praying.

The Biafran military council is like IBB's AFRC or Abacha's SMC. It is not made of one person. It consists of all top military leaders and ministers. That is why i do not blame IBB solely for June 12 and do not blame Abacha alone too. You can call it cowardice, it is only a foolish general that does not retreat when he knows his troops has been defeated.

I wonder what you were taught in secondary school. I raised Okonkwo's story as an illustration about the Igbo world view. Okonkwo is a tragic hero in things fall apart. It describes how Okonkwa rashly killed a British messenger, and his people backed away in fear and no one supported him, which leads to his commiting suicide- which is a shameful and disgraceful death. Whatever you do, you need the people's support. I hope you understand the illustration now.
I have read Forsythe's book because i'm involved.

Are you so dumb? When i asked you about the National treasure book of secrets, i wasn't trying to relate the plights of Igbos to the work of fiction. I only tried to get your mind thinking. I wanted to get you to think how Gates was later found to be a war hero instead of villain he was presumed to be. It took years before his case was proved by his grandson. thats exactly what would happen but this time around Gowon and even Obasanjo would surely make confessions, most likely on their dying beds.

Lies do not survive for too long. Truth always prevails.

Lest we do not forget, Ojukwu remains A four star General, not a Lt.Colonel.

Germanning, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I don't know how you think you have managed to decipher my ethnic origin through a computer screen since we have never met nor seen each other. What does my ethnicity have to do with the subject of Ojukwu's rank?

Anyway, it always astonishes me how some people foam at the mouth at even the lightest criticism of Ojukwu. Only in Nigeria could a man who led his people in a disastrous war against a better armed enemy with no chance of a military victory, could be declared a hero. Note that these pensions were paid to only those Biafran soldiers that were also former officers of the Nigerian army. What about the thousands of poor, mutilated, wounded, dead others who fought for Biafra and have nothing to show for it? What of their widows, parents, and the orphaned? Did they get a pension?

I simply realise that Ojukwu (like all human beings) is not infallible. Perhaps it is time some others did too.

Only in Nigeria could a man who led his people in a disastrous war against a better armed enemy with no chance of a military victory, could be declared a hero.

@Maxsiolum

Since you were intelligent enough to notice that even though it was a disastrous war, Ojukwu still remains a hero among his people. You should have been more intelligent to find out why. You should have found out why even after 38years, millions of false propaganda, yet the people know the truth.

Emeka, and "the truth" is?

Emeka, and "the truth" is?

The truth is Nigeria is not suppose to be one country as OPC, MASSOB and Niger-Delta millitants are saying.

You must be silly not to have known the truth by now. Or are u a parasitic Hausa man?

i give my praise to the yarasleep administration for trying to restore some order/peace and reconciliation. and Ojukwu should shut up and take his pay.

he should enjoy the moment of recognition and reconciliation and not heat up the system and start another argument and hate.

maxsiollun:

Anyway, it always astonishes me how some people foam at the mouth at even the lightest criticism of Ojukwu. Only in Nigeria could a man who led his people in a disastrous war against a better armed enemy with no chance of a military victory, could be declared a hero. Note that these pensions were paid to only those Biafran soldiers that were also former officers of the Nigerian army. What about the thousands of poor, mutilated, wounded, dead others who fought for Biafra and have nothing to show for it? What of their widows, parents, and the orphaned? Did they get a pension?

i agree (and i'm IGBO born and bred)

maxsiollun:

I simply realise that Ojukwu (like all human beings) is not infallible. Perhaps it is time some others did too.

i do

Emeka,I ordinarily don't respond to insulting posts, but I will make an exception.  Since you are so fascinated by my ethnicity (revealing your own prejudices), to answer your question - no I am not "a parasitic Hausa man" (whatver that is - is that an ethnic groupin Nigeria?!)

You should learn to debate and constructively disagree with others without resorting to personal abuse.  They take away from what might otherwise be valid points you make.

[

Planner:

The truth is Nigeria is not suppose to be one country as OPC, MASSOB and Niger-Delta millitants are saying.

You must be silly not to have known the truth by now. Or are u a parasitic Hausa man?

author=Planner link=topic=105696.msg1875719#msg1875719 date=1201008482]
The truth is Nigeria is not suppose to be one country as OPC, MASSOB and Niger-Delta millitants are saying.

You must be silly not to have known the truth by now. Or are u a parasitic Hausa man?
[quote][/quote]

Make una leave dat man alone jo. The man try. He had a good reason for going into war with Gowon. Ibos were being slaughthered like ram and chiken and u expect Ojukwu not to declare Biafra republic and ask all ibos to come back home?? Till today ibos are still being killed in the north by hausa/fulani, why??

Ojukwu fought a just war, although he was not strong enough to win.