Ojukwu’s burial kicks off with international colloquium on Ahiara Declaration
Posted Sun Jan 8,2012

Ojukwu

Preparations for the final burial of the former Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who passed on 26 November 2011,will commence in Ernest, next Monday, January 16, 2012, with a special International Colloquium on Ahiara declaration, at Ahiara, Mbaise , in Imo State. The event is being put together, by the Conference for Democratic Scholars[CODES] which is led by professor Timothy Uzodima Nwala, with Ohanaeze Ndigbo as the Chief host
In a statement by the organizers, signed by a member of its Media and Publicity Committee, Comrade Chuks Ehirim, CODES posited that ‘’ Ahiara Declaration was a historic, political and ideological testament declared by General Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the leader of Biafra at Ahiara Mbaise on June 1, 1969, during the heat of the Biafra War (1967-70).
The statement added that ‘’Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu passed on, and arrangements are on to honour him, culminating with the internment on February 2nd , 2012. The proposed Ahiara Colloquium is an intellectual and social component of his funeral’’.
 

It gave the historical relevance of Ahiara Declaration, stating that it ‘’was a political and ideological testament, in which a vision of a new society was articulated in the light of the contradictions which brought the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the point of civil war and near disintegration in the late sixties of the last century.

‘’Apart from the colossal destruction of human and material resources occasioned by the war, Ahiara Declaration is, indeed, the most significant outcome of that tragic episode. As a major historical manifestation of the war, it points particularly to the flowering of immense scientific and ideological genius of the intelligentsia, for whom the civil war was a challenge’’.

CODES therefore reasoned that ‘’the best way to view the Ahiara Declaration is to liken it to the place in history of the American Pilgrim Fathers who set out from Europe and went to America to found a new society devoid of the contradictions in their home-land, namely, Europe’’.
It argued that ‘’Many historians see the Ahiara Declaration as the most significant legacy of both Ojukwu and the Biafra which he led. It was authored by the Guidance Committee of Biafra, a body made up of the most outstanding elements of the Biafran Intelligentia’’. The theme of the Colloquium is ‘’Ahiara Declaration: Lessons for today and tomorrow’’.
Important dignitaries billed to grace the occasion, include the Executive Governor of Imo State, Owelle Anayo Rochas Okorocha, who is the Chief Quest of Honour, while the Chairman of the occasion will be a member of the Biafran Consultative Assembly,Ezeogo,DrAnagha Ezeikpe. Others include the Chief Host and President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo,Ambassador Ralph Uwechue.
The Keynote address will be delivered by Senator Comrade Uche Chukwumereije, while Ojukwu’s wife, Nyom Bianca Ojukwu, is the Special Quest. Also, the wife of Ojukwu’s Second in command during the War,[Gen. Philip Effiong, ],Mrs Josephine Effiong, will grace the occasion.Royal fathers of the day include Igwe of Nnewi, H.R.H. Dr K.O.N. Orizu[CON],Eze Nri,H.R.H. Eze Obidiegwu Onyesoh[Nri Enwelana 11] and H.R.H.,Eze Desmond Ogugua,[Miri Nezoroha of Eziudo Mbaise]. The Spiritual Father of the day is, His Grace, Arch. Dr A.J.V. Obinna, Catholic Archbishop of Owerri.