AN ODE TO DIM CHUKWUEMEKA ODUMEGWU OJUKWU

 Toby Uche Mbamalu

Tis said that old soldiers never die; but they only fade away!
And so, on seven and twenty of Nov. 2011,
Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,
A Man with courage of moral convictions,
The voice of the voiceless,
The conscience of Nigeria,
The eponymous general,
A historical historian,
An unparalleled patriot,
The pride of the Igbos
A romantic warrior,
A soldier`s soldier,
The lion of Biafra,
Faded away!
Faded away, in our sights, but not in our minds!
For how can we ever forget,
Such a rare gem,
Whom neither shape of danger could dismay,
Nor thought of tender happiness betray?
Eloquence was in his voice,
Bravery in his heart.
His life, he devoted to the cause of his people,
to justice, to fairness, to equity.
And for this he was cannonaded, while he lived,
By the rapine vultures that devoured the land,
The famished land called Nigeria.
They called him a rebel;
And he answered, yes, I was a rebel:
A rebel against a pack of mercenary wretches
Bent on unleashing genocide on my people;
A rebel for refusing to barter conscience for pittance;
A rebel for choosing freedom over slavery!
Oh goodness, that truth would be so scarce,
And lie so aplenty in the land!
And he stood, like a solitary rock in a turbulent sea,
warning and admonishing,
taking the blows;
And his long endurance and vision made him,
An icon, A sage, A hero.
Now he is gone, the way of all mortals.
Did I hear the roaring of lions,
The howling of wolves,
The raging of the stormy sea,
Announcing the departure,
Of the great one into the beyond?
Did I hear his voice roar from the grave, saying:
You, the despoilers of the land,
And oppressors of my people,
Do not stain my bier with your worthless pomp of homage vain
Nor decolorize it with your leasings!
To his people he challenged:
Ye sons and daughters of Igboland, nay, Nigeria,
Awake to glory,
Dare to be true,
For no nation build on a lie,
Can ever attain her potentials.
Farewell, farewell to thee, beloved leader,
Ikemba,
Ochiagha,
Odenigbo,
Dike-di-ora-nma,
Eze-gburu-gburu-ndi-Igbo!
May you awaken to joyful activity in the great beyond;
And May the Light of the Lord guide you upon this journey!

Dr. Toby Uche Mbamalu is an Energy economist and clinical psychologist, in Oslo, Norway