Professor George Obiozor Died Before He Died

By Comfort Obi

Professor George Obiozor who died on December 26, 2022, at the age of 80 years, will be laid to rest at his beloved Awo-Omama Community, Oru Local Government Area of Imo State on 10th February, 2023. That would mark the end of an eventful life.

It is easy to say ’80 years. Ah, Prof tried’. Perhaps. But for the records, Professor Obiozor died long before his death. He died months before he died. The Igbo killed him.

The Igbo killed their son. Their own. They killed one of their icons, one of their intellectual giants, an international scholar, their treasure. They didn’t need guns, machetes or clubs, or stones to kill him. They simply stripped him of all he had, all he suffered for in 80 years.

I knew Professor Obiozor from his days as the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos.

A jolly good fellow, jovial, Obiozor had smiles that streched his eyes and lips and cheeks to their limits. And he was a brilliant, fertile mind. I called him Dee Georgy. He was my senior friend.

I took to him the first day I met him at a dinner hosted by the United States Counsul General in Ikoyi, Lagos. What drew me to him was his spoken English. There was no pretence. No fake phonetics, no fake mimicking of the English or American way of speaking. No talking through the nose as Chief Zeburudiah of the popular Village Masquerade would put it. A typical Igbo man, his manner of speaking stamped his Igboness. He spoke English as if he was speaking Igbo. You know, what one could call “Igbotic” English. And he couldn’t be bothered.

At first, I was taken aback. I couldn’t understand it. With all his exposure, worldwide, I wondered why Prof spoke English his own way. So, one day, at a dinner he was hosted to after he was appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador to the US, I jokingly asked him if he would change in Washington. His answer was swift. “No. I am an Igboman. Can they speak my own native language the way I do?” Then, he laughed heartily.

And, truly, Dee Georgy was an all-round proud Igboman. He was into everything Igbo, especially after his retirement from public service. He was very much involved in high level discussions on how to move Igboland forward. He was worried about the welfare of Igbo youths. He was worried about the waywardness that has, suddenly, taken over Igboland. His worry multiplied when he was elected the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide. That was when he carried the problems of the Igbo, literally, on his head. He inherited their enemies too. He inherited enemies both sides – Nigeria, the Igbo.

On one side, he was accused of encouraging the agitation of his people, the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPoB, for an independent Biafra. And, on the other hand, he was accused of backing the Federal Government against IPoB. He was called names. Yet, all he wanted was a peaceful, prosperous Igboland where the safety of his people is guaranteed, where waywardness will not be stretched to the extent where the Igbo would turn the sword against one another, and murder themselves one after the other.

Obiozor first died on March 21, 2022, the day his country home and everything in it were burnt down by his own people; by those young enough to be his children. All his research works. Seminal works. His books – written and in the works. Photographs taken in different parts of the World with World leaders – dead and alive. Family photographs. His journey through life. Things he collected for decades. They were wiped out in a moment of madness. In a twinkle of an eye, they were gone. It was too much for him.

I spoke to him a few days after that tragic incident, and he couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t understand why he was a target. He couldn’t understand why his own people came after him so viciously. He kept asking: “Why, why?” Then he added: “I am finished. They finished me.” Even though we were miles apart, I could touch his pains.

True to his words, he was finished. From the day of that atrocious incident, he was a shadow of himself. At his age, it was difficult for him to endure. Or manage. Or start afresh. From where was he going to start? The shock was too much for him. And, Prof never recovered from it until he, finally, died.

A few times, a number of people had tried to rationalise why he was a target. They attributed it to the politics of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

Until his death, Obiozor was the President-General of the Association. A position that requires calmness, depth and diplomacy, it fitted Obiozor like a glove.

They said: “Oh, he was imposed by the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma.” How? Here is the beginning of the story.

It was Imo State’s turn to produce the President. A number of people were interested. But Obiozor emerged, perhaps, with a little push from Uzodinma. Even then, I don’t understand how Uzodinma, alone, could have imposed him on everybody, without the support of his brother- Governors in the Zone. Ohanaeze is not Ohanaeze Nd’Imo. It is Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo Worldwide. The other Governors are interested in who becomes the President. They would somebody that would be respected nationally and internationally.

My question was: “Professor Obiozor, was he not qualified to occupy the position?” He was – just like a couple of other solid Imo sons who wanted it. Yet, in my opinion, Obiozor was head and shoulder above them for that position.

The problem, they insisted, was that Uzodinma supported him. So, because of politics, they thought Obiozor would be be at the beck and call of Uzodinma.

Another group, citing his age, said he was not appropriate for the position because according to them,

“He was a Federal Public Servant, so he would dance to the tune of the Federal Government, especially, with his former boss, Ibrahim Gambari, as the Chief of Staff to the President.” This made no sense to me. I mean, if such a relationship existed, it should be exploited for the benefit of the Igbo. But, let’s face it: how much influence does Ohanaeze have in Igboland not to talk at the Federal level? We don’t even listen to what they say.

Our people have so ran Ohanaeze and its leadership down that I doubt they have that much flaunted influence at the Federal level. That is the problem with running one’s own down, publicly. When you describe your own as useless, efulefu, slave, others follow suit. Or, isn’t that why inspite of all appeals made by Ohanaeze to President Muhammadu Buhari to release IPoB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from jail, even with a Court order, indifference is the word? You have to package and respect your own to attract same for him/her from outsiders. The feeling is: “Who are those pleading for Kanu, those efulefus, according to their people?”

Ohanaeze has not been able to organize the Igbo because it has not been allowed to. Ohanaeze has no influence over the five South- east Governors, and those of Delta and Rivers States. Ohanaeze has not been able to bring peace to Igboland. It is doubtful if the Governors have any respect for the opinions of Ohanaeze. Ohanaeze’s people have not given it the opportunity to organise them, to guide them, to be the rock behind them. We pride ourselves by saying “Igbo enwee Eze”( The Igbo have no king). Is that a good thing? One must have somebody who one would say “but for him/her, I would have pulled down the sky.”

Months ago, after he predictably failed to clinch the Presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, descended on Obiozor. He said he was no longer going to recognize Obiozor as Ohanaeze President. So, where’s Ohanaeze’s influence when those who should rever its leadership talk down on it?

Before the eyes of Ohanaeze, because it has not been given the opportunity, Igboland has been destroyed. It has become a laughing stock before other Regions. Our people, within and outside Nigeria, are afraid to come home. Scared parents are warning their children to keep off home. Igboland has become a killing field – a field for the most atrocious, gruesome murders. It has become a region where young people kill their elders. Children kill their parents. Brothers kill their brothers and sisters. Friends kill their friends. And youths wash their hands in blood, and proudly behead their own brothers. Where it has become a crime to ride good cars. Or celebrate. Or live good life. Or progress. There is fear in the whole of Igboland . Its people are scared. We are killing our Academics. No where is safe. Atrocities and abominations reign. It is a land desecrated by the constant shedding of blood. Why is Igboland at war with itself? Where are our ancestral gods? Where is our God?

Who would have thought that Igboland, which was the most peaceful Region in Nigeria, the most admired, the most progressive, a tourist and business region, would suddenly, a Region of millions of hard working people, suddenly, so suddenly, become the most dangerous, the most dreaded? The Igbo economy is has reached zero level. There is zero social life. Are the Igbo happy with the situation?

So, what influence would Ohanaeze which has not been able to hold Igboland together, possibly exert on the Federal Government because Obiozor was a Federal Public Servant?

This, has also been thrown in. That Obiozor was too old to lead Ohanaeze. It was felt that a younger “gra-gra” person could have been more appropriate. How? Check out the ages of the leaders of Afenifere – at least, from Pa Abraham Adesanya to Pa Reuben Fasoranti, to Pa Ayo Adebanjo. Fasoranti was about 96 years old when he handed over to Adebanjo who is now 94 years old.

Pa Edwin Clark, the Ijaw Leader, is in his mid-90s. In the North, it is the same. How old are Professor Ango Abdullahi and co.? So, how come it is different in Igboland? Obiozor was just 78 years when he became Ohanaeze President.

Not a few people think that Obiozor’s fate was what could be called “transferred aggression.” Politics cannot be ruled out. Obiozor seems to have received, in quantum, the political bitterness and hatred some people habour for Governor Uzodinma. Not a few people reason that his absolutely normal and commendable good relationship with his Governor, allegedly, cost him his country home. Which is why Ohanaeze must detach itself from the perceived apron strings of State Governors.

Many people, rightly or wrongly, peceive Ohanaeze an an appendage to State Governments. I suggest that the body should, like its counterparts in other parts of the country, be independent of the Governors. The Governors should be members, given the offices they occupy, but not drivers of Ohanaeze. That they make monetary contributions should not make them “owners” of Ohanaeze. It is the only way Ohanaeze can call an erring Governor to order just like their counterparts in other parts of the Country do. It is the only way it can criticize the Governors. It is the only way it can be the Igbo’s Supreme Court. No South-west Governor controls Afenifere.

But back to Obiozor. I have no capable shadow of doubt in my mind that he was a victim of the weird times in Igboland. He was a victim of the new normal in Igboland. A region of tears, blood, sorrow. No joy. No happiness.

His death will continue to hunt us. The Igbo cannot keep losing its bests. We cannot continue to instill fears into our elders to the extent that they can no longer advice us, to the extent that they are afraid to call us to order. A society without elders is cursed. Who will talk for it when the chips are down, when the Elders meet?

Most Igbo agree that Igboland and its people are marginalised. They agree that Nigeria has been unfair to the region. They agree that both equity and justice do not flow the way of the Igbo. So, what do we do

An Igbo proverb says one who is rejected does not reject oneself. Sadly, that is what is happening in Igboland. We are killing ourselves. We are rejecting ourselves. We are destroying our economy. We are destroying assets in our Region. We say we want out of Nigeria. If we finish killing ourselves, directly or indirectly (as is the case of Professor Obiozor) who are going to remain to be governed? Who will be the people of Biafraland? Why are the Igbo killing themselves to the obvious indifference of other regions? Why are we watering our land with the blood of our own people? When have our people become our enemies?

Which assets will remain in Biafraland if we keep destroying every asset in Igboland? Sad, very sad.