By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Former Governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, on Friday, March 29, 2024, relieved some of the sad sides of the Nigeria civil war. He insisted that but for the intervention of late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe the igbo, as a nation, would have been annihilated.
The Elder Statesman who spoke when he received in audience the Management team of Awka Museum Foundation at his Amechi Awkunanaw Enugu Country home recounted how a crucial tripartite meeting among Dr Azikiwe ,General Yakubu Gowon then Head of State of Nigeria ,and Liberian president William Tubman eventually led to the stoppage of the massive killing of igbos ,and ended the civil war.
Chief Nwobodo a former Senator, said his reminiscence on the important roles played by Dr Azikiwe in preventing what could have led to an annihilation of the Igbo race was because the tag of “saboteur” attached to the great Nigerian Nationalist during the war by some Biafara leaders .
The former old Anambra State Governor remarked that Dr Azikiwe leverage his global perception as the most influential Nigerian, during the civil war to get some African leaders particularly President Tubman of Liberia to convoke a meeting with General Gowon and others which resulted in the Nigerian Government accepting to halt any further killings of Igbo.
“One day I asked him (Zik) why are some people calling you a saboteur. He smiled and said “If not for me ,there may not be any Igbo man alive today .
“Ojukwu had invited Dr Azikiwe, for a meeting in Portugal, and when he arrived ,two security operatives were detailed to carry out close monitoring of his movements..
“So whereever Zik went those security operatives followed him,feeding Ojukwu with information about where he went ,what he said and did.
“When he, Zik ,wanted to leave, he approached Ralph Uwechie and informed him . Uwechie being aware of the security ring around Zik sold a dummy to the security operatives by giving them money to buy something outside.
“That gave Zik the opportunity to leave without being followed by the security details, and he made another decoy by claiming that he was going to ease himself.
“Dr Azikiwe told me that he didn’t want to do that initially, but had to because he couldn’t understand why Ojukwu will invite him to a meeting abroad and surrounded him with security operatives when he wasn’t a thief and criminal ”
According to Senator Nwobodo, from there Dr Azikiwe proceeded to London where after a brief stay in hiding at his daughter’s residence, the meeting between him and President Tubman of Liberia was held.
Nwobodo noted that after meeting Dr Azikiwe, President Tubman made efforts to contact General Gowon who he said accepted to attend a scheduled meeting with Azikiwe and others on how to bring an end to the Nigerian civil war.
“At that meeting , Dr Azikiwe told Gowon that he would not want to see any further killings . Gowon accepted ,and that was how the entire process that led to the end of the war began,” Nwobodo stated
