The General’S Orderly: An Autobiography of a Biafran Child Soldier

By Arua Okereke

Arua Okereke shares his personal account of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, which ended in 1970, in this inspirational and informative autobiography.

While there have been numerous accounts of the war, they have largely been written by governmental participants, military leaders, or academic historians, but this autobiography explains what the war did to everyday men and women.

As a private in the Biafran Army and later an orderly to the second-in-command in the Biafran Army, a glorified military name for a servant, the author was involved in the war directly and indirectly.

As a fresh child recruit with no battle experience, Okereke had no way of knowing the danger he would face. He did not realize how much he needed to prepare for battle emotionally, psychologically, and physically or how the war would continue to affect him long after it ended.

Devastated with the outcome of the war, the author had to cope with the dashed hope of a free Biafra as well as the desertion of his hero, the Peoples General, Odumegwu Ojukwu. Find out how he picked up the pieces of a broken life in The Generals Orderly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Feb 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781489714176

Arua Okereke

Arua Okereke is a construction engineer and a professor of construction technology and management. He earned a doctorate degree in engineering sciences and a master of science in civil engineering from the Higher Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Generals Orderly is his seventh book.

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Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-1418-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1419-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1417-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017917884

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 1/31/2018

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: Early Childhood

Going to Cameroon

The Prophesy

Life in Cameroon

Chapter 2: Return from Cameroon

The only year in school at home

Mrs Bassey as my Teacher

Chapter 3: To Warri with Love

Going to Warri

Life in Warri

My Catholic Schooling

¹st Prophesy Fulfilled

On a bike to my Profession

The January 15 Coup

Chapter 4: The Brewing Storm

My Escape from Warri

Face-to-face with Ehugbo Tradition

The Genealogy of Oko Aja Family

Life at NIGERCEM, Nkalagu

The Birth of Biafra

Out Break of Biafra-Nigeria War

Chapter 5: Joining the Biafra Army

Recruitment of the Child Soldier

At Umuna Military Training Camp

Passing out Parade

First Day at the War Front

The Failed Attack

Chapter 6: The fall of Afikpo

On Foot to Afikpo

Runaway Soldier

Life at Ihube Garrison

Chapter 7: The General’s Orderly

Posting to Umuahia

Life at CBI Camp

The General’s Household

Unity for the Living, Not for the Dead

The Fall of Umuahia: Politics in War

Life at Shell Camp, Owerri

Chapter 8: CGS moves to Akabo GirlsSecondary School

Shell Camp Residence

Ahiara Declaration and its Casualties

The Final Fall of Owerri

Oga’s War Books

Chapter 9: In Search of Peace

The Surrender

Sunset at Mid Day

Chapter 10: Encounter with Federal Troops

To Your Tents O’Biafrans

Chapter 11: My Return Home

My Hopeville Experience

My Last Encounter with the Federal troops at Timber shade, Afikpo

The Last Bravado

Kalu Ezera: A Victim of War Crime

Chapter 12: Back to School

Admission into Government TradeCentre (GTC) Enugu

The ³rd Battalion and the Protest

Chapter 13: Early Working Experiences

My Return to Warri

Meeting Grace

Life in Bendel State

Supervisor at Mid-West Cultural Centre

Last Time with Grace

Early Spiritual Development

Brotherly Love

²nd Prophesy Fulfilled

Travelling to Europe

Travelling to Bulgaria

Chapter 14: Across the Seas

Welcome to Bulgaria

Encounter with Palestinian Arabs in Bulgaria

A visit outside Sofia

My Greek Experience

Government for the People

Racism in Bulgaria

Finding a wife in Bulgaria

The last Prophesy

Political Lessons from Bulgaria

Chapter 15: My Return to Nigeria

Home, Sweet Home

On National Service

Cutting my teeth in Academics

Chapter 16: Afikpo as a Microcosym of Ndi Igbo in Failed Biafra

Relocating to Afikpo

The Age Grade System in Ehugbo

Obtaining a Doctorate Degree

Community Development among the Igbo:The Politics of Ukpa Town Hall

Local Politics in Igbo Communities: My Baptism of Fire in Afikpo Politics

Town Unions in Igbo land: My Tenure as the NationalPresident of Afikpo Town WelfareAssociation (ATWA)

Standing Up For Your Rights:My Experiences as as a Public Servant

Stint in the Private Sector

The Rots and Intrigues in the Ivory Tower

Politics of Selection of the Engineering andEnvironmental Sciences Campus of Imo StateUniversity in Okigwe zone

Chapter 17: Biafra: Let the the truth be told

The unholy alliances of the North and South-West against Ndigbo

Nnamdi Azikiwe as my Mentor

Ohaneze and the Biafra Struggle

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I sincerely wish to acknowledge the works of past authors on the issues of Biafra and the Igbo nation, who are so numerous to mention. But special mention goes to Chinua Achebe in his most recent account of Biafra There was a Country, Emefiena Ezeani, whose In Biafra Africa Died: The Diplomatic Plot I consider the most well researched work on the Biafra issue; and most especially my Oga, General Philip Efiong, whose post humous publication, Nigeria and Biafra: My Story triggered my desire to complement his book with some unheard version of the Biafra stories from my vintage position as one of his house boys (orderlies).

My special thanks go to my numerous friends in the academia and social circles, for urging me on to break the egg. You stood stoutly behind me as I laboured to offload this burden. I strongly believe in your continued support as the masquerade is unleashed, apologies to Professor Adiele Afigbo of blessed memory.

I wish to thank Professor Chinedu Nwajuba, Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, whose burning interest in matters concerning Ndigbo served as an elixir to write this book; Professor Aja Akpuru-Aja, of the Department of Political Science, Abia State University, Uturu and former Directing Staff, National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, who was kind enough to accept the onerous task of putting my thoughts straight to improve the readability of the book. To all others too numerous to mention, who contributed in one way or the other to making this project realizable, I say many thanks.

For his editorial assistance which contributed in no small measure to improve on the communication quality of the book, Mr. Chuma Mmeka (Tchar) deserves special acknowledgement. Thanks a million times, Uncle T, for a job well done.

I cannot end these acknowledgements without the role played by my family members, especially my daughters Barrister Ejimole and my budding arctress and poet, Bistra for believing in me. Your words of encouragement did the magic. To my grand children, Valentino Arua Jnr. (Ogbom), Adanna and Chibuike, your innocent and inquiring eyes kept reminding me of your desire to know the truth as told by grand pa in your usual shout of story, story, and story grandpa. I hope as you grow up to read this work as told by your own grandpa, you will be more informed of the Biafra story.

Arua Okereke

March, 2017

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to the memory of all child soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the survival of a Biafra that was not to be; and to all those young men and women whose educational pursuits and normal growth were disrupted, or affected in any way as a result of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war.

More especially, this work is dedicated to the memory of a man once described by General Ibrahim Babangida as a great patriot, distinguished officer and gentleman, General Philip Efiong, (Akangang Ibiono Ibom), whose courage and clear headedness in the midst of chaos saved millions of men and women who would have lost their lives in the confusion that followed with the desertion of General Ojukwu, in the last days of the civil war, leading to the capitulation of Biafra. History will forever remember his bravery, loyalty and total commitment to the Biafran cause.

Above all, I dedicate this work to my late parents, Omezue Okereke Oko and Nyee-Omezue Ejim Uche Okereke, who bore the pain of sleepless nights thinking and worrying of the safety of their children for as long as the war lasted. Theirs represented the ordeal of all parents in Biafra.

PREFACE

According to one of Nigeria’s foremost journalist, Duro Onabule, Wars, whether civil or international, are by their nature, ever unpleasant; leaving in their trails, bitter memories with accounts: personal, or official, ever partisan. Even when credible, such accounts are bound to be disputed.

In spite of the previous books written about the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, I was emboldened to write this book with the belief that every account depends on the author and the critic. The military men and politicians cum administrators have variously given their own accounts of the war; but never has an ‘other rank’, not involved in decision making, either in battle or out of it, written about the war, from the point of view of an observer, or as a person directly affected by the decisions of the military war lords and super administrators/politicians. This book is therefore an attempt to make the world hear the other side of the story from this group of war participants made most vulnerable, by the actions and inactions of the ruling class which eventually determined the course of the war.

Having been a growing up boy, just barely in my teens, during the war, this book brings to the fore, the unknown and unheard stories of young men and women, whose education was disrupted by the outbreak of the war. It is a story of how we were affected by the war and the extra efforts we made to surmount the negative impact which the war had on our future. I strongly share the views of Onabule that there can never be an end to such accounts.

My belief in the need for this book is strengthened and more especially at this phase of our national history, in which we have witnessed an unprecedented avalanche of sectional and ethnic jingoism and demands for the restructuring, or total breakup of the present Nigeria as a nation state. It has become imperative to write this book, so that the young ones will know the implications of what they are asking for. This is not out of place, because till today, even the Americans, whose grandparents were not yet born at the time of their country’s civil war are still engaged in telling stories, either as academic exercises, or in dealing with issues perceived as offshoots of the American civil war, with a special focus on the war time leader, Abraham Lincoln and the opposite confederates. Again, though the two world wars ended many years ago, there are still today fresh books on the wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.

On the Nigerian civil war, which ended in 1970, barely 46 years ago, there is a compelling need to add to the various accounts and observations from those who were directly or indirectly involved, or affected; there would always be different shades of opinions by participants and observers of the events of that war. War from time immemorial has always been like the proverbial elephant among the blind. Its form will always be a source of controversy as it depends on which part of the elephant the blind was touching. If the Igbo saying were anything to go by, men fight wars, while women tell stories about them. It was for this reason that among the military, there is a common adage: a living recruit is better than a dead General. And in my local Afikpo parlance, it is better for a log of wood to remain in the fireplace even if it does not smolder

Although a private in the Biafran Army and later an orderly to the second in command in the Biafran Army, a glorified military name for a houseboy, or servant, I was seriously involved in the war, both directly and indirectly. As a fresh child recruit with no battle experience, I found myself at the war front like most young men who joined the army without knowing the dangers associated with such a decision. We were inadequately trained and armed with antiquated rifles, and with virtually no modern weapon. We were both psychologically and emotionally ill-prepared to face the reality of battle fronts, and the consequences of an after-war life.

Devastated with the outcome of the war, and left with the dashed hope of a free Biafra, following the desertion of our hero and inspirator, the People’s General, Odumegwu Ojukwu, in search of peace, we were left in a state of confusion on how to pick up the pieces of life. How do I go back to Warri to continue with my education, which I abandoned in class two? After the wasted three years in a senseless war, my classmates would have long left secondary school; some must have entered the university to continue with their educational pursuits. To avoid the ridicule of answering too many questions from friends and classmates whom I had left in Warri, I decided to continue my education in the East by enrolling through competitive entrance examination into Government Trade Centre (GTC), Enugu, where we formed the 3rd Battalion, a group of over grown students, some of whom were officers in the Biafran Army, when the war ended.

Feeling disadvantaged that we were still in various classes in a 3-year programme that would lead to acquiring the intermediate Craft Certificate of City and Guilds of London Institute in the various trades offered in GTC, I organised a protest in my capacity as the General School Prefect with Mr. Denis Ogwuegbu as Principal and Commander of the 3rd Battalion .

To avoid unrest in the school system soon after the end of the war, the East Central State Government under Ajie Ukpabi Asika acceded to our request to change the name to Government Technical College, still maintaining the acronym of GTC. The implication of this change was that the curriculum of the school was modified to prepare students not only for the C&G, but also the GCE examinations in some basic subjects such as English Language and Mathematics. This was to enable some brilliant students to qualify for admission into the universities and colleges of technology, instead of being limited to only craft certificates which took them straight into the job world without opportunities for further educational prospects.

This arrangement enabled some of us to prepare for the C&G and GCE at the same time. By 1973, I had obtained both my C&G Full Technological Certificate (FTC) and GCE O&A levels which enabled me go back to Warri and take up appointment in my former school as an instructor. These were efforts to cover as much as possible, lost ground during the wasted 3-year Nigeria-Biafra war. It was not an easy feat, and only few of some of the victims of the civil war were able to achieve this. It involved a lot of self denials and discomfort to straighten up our educational pursuit which had been turned crooked by the war.

INTRODUCTION

The book The General’s Orderly, is a true story of a young man as told by himself. He left his parents at the tender age of 7 years to live with his maternal uncle in far away Cameroon. While there, he exhibited an uncommon intelligence and wisdom for his age. From the year he was enrolled in the Native Authority School, Muyuka, Balong, he maintained the first position in the class terminal examinations, even when he missed school for more than half of the school calendar due to illness. Because of his brilliance and smartness in whatever he did, he was nicknamed Patrick Arua; reminiscent of his uncle’s classmate, whose name was Patrick Arua. This was an addition to his real name, Arua. While in his elementary two class in the Cameroon, he won a government lottery bought by his uncle for each member of his household. During a party organised to celebrate this piece of luck by his uncle Chief Ogbonnia Ekuma Uche, a prophesy was made that little Patrick had a date with destiny. According to the prophesy, there were several seas and oceans before the young boy. Most interesting of the prophesy was that even though the boy would excel in his class examinations, he would surprisingly fail to pass the examination while he was in his elementary five.

Patrick and his uncle, together with the entire household were forced to leave Cameroon and return to Nigeria in the heat of a political uncertainty caused by the forthcoming plebiscite to decide whether the English controlled Southern Cameroon, which was then part of Nigeria should join the French controlled Northern Cameroun in their bid for independence. This created a lot of tension and insecurity among foreigners, mostly some prominent Nigerians living in the then Southern Cameroon. They were suspected of not being in favour of the planned merger of the divided parts of Cameroon by the Younde based government. Being the President General of Igbo Union in Southern Cameroon, Patrick’s uncle, like many other Nigerians were easy targets and victims of brutality and harassments by Cameroonian gendarmes. Patrick’s uncle and his household were therefore forced to return to Nigeria, for their safety before the plebicite early in 1961.

On return to Nigeria, Arua joined his eldest brother Ogbonnia who was a pivotal teacher at Oso-Edda Central School, owned by the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM). While at Oso-Edda, Arua continued with his exploits of academic brilliance and became a good sprinter in his age category. In no distant time, he attracted the attention of his teachers. His stay at Oso-Edda was however short-lived as he had to relocate home, following the enlistment of Ogbonnia in the Nigeria Police Force in Lagos. Arua once again was forced to change school, barely a year after relocating to Nigeria from the Cameroon. He enrolled in elementary 3 at the nearest Primary school in his village Ukpa-Amachara Primary School, also owned by the CSM.

While at Ukpa-Amachara Primary School, young Arua was faced with the onerous challenge of competing with some of the pupils in his class who had never been known to lose the first position since they started schooling. The entire school was however shocked when Arua was announced not only as the first in his class, but also as the pupil who had the highest average performance in the entire school for that term. He was lifted to stand on top of the headmaster’s table before the entire school for all to see the all conquering Arua. For three consecutive terms, he kept his position intact, brushing off other competitors among his classmates. While attending school at home in that year, he organised a concert at the village night class, teaching his mates plays and dramas which he had learnt from his previous school in the Cameroon. Arua became very popular among the villagers, who were thrilled with laughter-packed concerts, which for the first time provided them with alternative means of relaxation.

His stay and schooling at home was however cut short when he had to leave home once again to join his brother Ogbonnia, who after the 6-month training at the Police College, Ikeja, had been posted to Warri, a major town in the then Mid-Western Region. Despite having the record of being in a new class and in a new school every year since returning to Nigeria, Arua to the surprise of all who knew him, never missed taking the first position, no matter what time he was registered in the new class. This soon became his hallmark throughout his educational career. On arriving Warri, he was enrolled in Roman Catholic School III. The school was located far from the Police Barracks, where Arua lived with his recruit policeman brother. He had no choice, since all the nearby schools had no vacancy in primary 4, his new class. For the first time, Arua was forced to attend a Catholic school with a different religious orientation. There in the school, it was compulsory for pupils to be baptized at entry class. His efforts to meet up with his baptismal requirements failed because he could not get money from his brother, to procure the necessary things for the baptismal exercise in spite of being the best at reciting the catechism’s booklet, which formed the religious study in Catholic schools. For Arua, it was a harrowing experience as a child, to be denied baptism, simply because one could not afford the money to procure the necessary things prescribed for what was supposed to be a holy exercise, the first sacrament, to prepare one towards meeting with one’s creator.

Not feeling comfortable with the school, in spite of keeping faith with his usual position in class, Arua without the knowledge of his brother, applied for transfer certificate before the commencement of the next class. He lied in the letter, which he personally wrote in the name of his brother, who was said to have been transferred out of Warri. With the transfer certificate, Arua sought admission into St. Andrew’s Anglican Primary school along Okere Road, Warri. Because there was no vacancy in primary 5, the class for which he sought admission, the headmaster in order to find reason for refusing him admission, asked Arua to join other pupils who were seeking admission into primary 6 where there were vacancies, to sit for the admission test meant for those in primary 6. At the end of the test, Arua performed far better that those who were legitimate contenders for primary 6. The headmaster had no choice than to admit him into primary 6, instead of 5. By this default, the prophesy that was made in Cameroon in 1959 by Jonnie Tapper, that Arua would fail class 5 came to pass. He did not fail class 5; he rather skipped it!

While in class 6, Arua again beat his classmate, an Ika Igbo boy from Isselu Uku, by name Benjamin Okeleke. Okeleke was the son of an Education Officer. He had, like Arua, maintained the top of his class up till when Arua joined him by default in primary 6. It was therefore like an earthquake, when at the end of the first term, the first position changed hand in favour of the new comer, Arua. Their class teacher, Mr. Oritsajafor was impressed by Arua’s performance in spite of joining the class late. He personally registered Arua to sit for the common entrance examination into the famous Government College Ughelli, which the boy passed with flying colours. He was however unable to accept the admission due to lack of fund, as Arua’s policeman brother could not afford the admission expenses. For the remaining terms, he maintained the first position; causing Okeleke’s father to invite him to their house just to see who it was that broke his son’s record.

Nearly a year passed since Arua came out from the primary school in 1964, without entering into the secondary school as most of his classmates. As a result of the fear of dropping out of school, he became rebellious to his policeman brother, who claimed he could not afford to send him into secondary school. It was a big relief, when in February 1965; he was taken on a bicycle by his policeman brother to register as a student of Architecture, Surveying and Building (ASB) Technical College, Warri. That marked the beginning of Arua’s post-primary educational pursuit.

At ASB, Arua did what he knew best to do. In spite of resuming late, almost 3 months after the school’s resumption, it was considered a miracle when he still came top of the class. The school authorities had no hesitation than to grant him scholarship for the rest of his study in the school. The school proprietor, Mr. Taiwo Idowu Taylor, the twin brother of Justice Conrad Kehinde Taylor, of Lagos in Western Region, in granting the boy scholarship, told Arua’s policeman brother, It would be sacrilege not to encourage this young man, your younger brother to continue his education to any level. The school has therefore decided to train him up to university level, provided that you enter into a bond with us that he will be willing to work here on completion of his training. With the bond signed, Arua became a school scholar. He justified this gesture by maintaining top of his class till after the January 15, 1966 coup, which toppled the first democratic government in Nigeria, barely 6 years after the country gained independence from Britain.

Following that January coup, largely concluded as having been masterminded by Army officers of Igbo extraction, there were massive reprisal killings of Igbos, especially in the northern parts of the country. The situation was further exacerbated following the counter coup de’ etat by northern officers, resulting in the murder of Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo, who took over power following the foiled first coup. With this, there was general turmoil across the country. People considered being of Igbo origin continued to be massacred in Lagos and parts of Northern Nigeria, sending thousands of Igbo returnees to their place of origin- the Eastern Region. All over the country, there was general trepidation, insecurity to life, especially for those from the East. It was in this atmosphere of uncertainty, that Arua joined millions of other Igbos to return home.

Day after day, the crisis escalated, snowballing into the Eastern Region declaring an independent state of Biafra, thus seceding from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This was followed by frantic efforts by world leaders under the auspices of Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to bring the two waring parties to the peace negotiation table. At one of such peace talks, popularly known as the Aburi Accord, a loose relationship among the federating units was negotiated, only for the Nigerian leader, General Yakubu Gowon to renege on the agreement on the advice of his foreign backers, who saw this arrangement as favouring Biafra which had control of the oil-rich Niger-Delta areas of the country. To break the backbone of the area declared as Biafra, the former Eastern Region was broken into 3 different states namely, East Central, South East and Rivers states, in a 12-state creation, thereby throwing up ethnic cleavages among the minorities in the former Eastern Region. The stage was now set for the Nigeria-Biafra war, which lasted nearly 3 years, with the most agonizing human calamity, ever witnessed in the world. The level of human suffering, due to hunger, starvation and diseases, especially among women, children and the aged, could only be compared with the holocaust directed by Adolf Hitler against the Jews during World War. The rest of the world watched helplessly, as millions of Biafrans were sent to their untimely graves due to the tight embargoes on land, sea and air, mounted by the federal government against defenseless Biafrans, who were strafed mercilessly on a daily basis, while their women and daughters were raped by rampaging federal troops, as they marched into Biafran territories with little, or no resistance, but with such ferocious momentum, all in the name of keeping Nigeria one as their war slogans expressed.

Buoyed by the general suffering of their people, Arua and most of his peers from the age of 17 years, voluntarily enlisted into the Biafran Army, instead of sitting helplessly at home to watch the federal troops desecrate and plunder their land. With little military training that lasted for only 3 months, he was sent to the war front, ill-equipped, without any military gear. For the first few days, he and his colleagues in 23 Battalion were sent to Ezzamgbo, near Abakaliki, straight to the war front close to the Ezilo Bridge, initially without any form of arms, to prepare bulwarks against the invading federal troops. When eventually they were given uniforms, they were barely armed with World War I rifles, with a few rounds of life ammunitions for those who were lucky to be armed. It was under this situation that Arua and his colleagues went on an attack at the Abakaliki-Ogoja sector, crossing the Ebonyi River into the enemy line into Iyala in present Cross River State. Against a better equipped side, it was not surprising, when their 23 Battalion was easily overran and the commander captured alive. Arua was among the few lucky survivors from that offensive. He escaped unhurt from the battle front to trek home to Afikpo to thank his stars, amidst the eventual capitulation of Abakaliki town to the federal troops.

Less than a week of being on absence without official leave (AWOL), Afikpo also fell to the federal troops. There had been shooting all through the previous night, coming from the direction of Ndibe Beach, where the Cross River separates Afikpo town from the people of Igonigoni in present day Cross River state. This was followed by early morning bombing and strafing by low flying Mig jets, flown by Egyptian pilots, killing and maiming thousands of innocent civilians, mostly women and children who had taken cover in nearby bushes and churches, some in open markets in full session.

His being home on that sad day of April 14, 1968 was a blessing in disguise. He managed to salvage some important belongings of his parents and siblings who had gone to farm on that faithful day, and could not dare return home amidst the staccato of bullets whistling past in all direction. Ekuma, as a houseboy to one of the tutors at Government Secondary School, had rushed home to join Arua in the rescue of some of their family belongings. After 3 days of trekking in search, Arua and his elder brother finally reunited with their family members at Ekeje, a small village between Owutu and Nguzu-Edda. For fear of not being dubbed a straggler and handed over to the Military Police by the village vigilante, Arua left his family members and voluntarily reported at the notorious Ihube Garrison, where those who had no unit of theirs, due to one reason, or the other were kept, until they were redeployed.

One evening, as Arua went to have a haircut, he saw some inmates of the garrison struggling to queue up. Oblivious of the purpose, he involuntarily joined in the scramble and managed to find a place in the line, from where some of them were selected for posting. Very early the following morning, 39 of them, comprising a sergeant and 38 other ranks were moved to Umuahia, the new administrative headquarters of Biafra, after the fall of Enugu. At Umuahia, they were deployed to Defence Headquartes, as escorts to the Chief of General Staff, Major General Philip Efiong, who doubled as the second in-command to General Odumegwu Ojukwu, Commander-in-Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces. As luck would have it, Arua was chosen to become one of the General’s orderlies.

In this capacity, he noted at close range, some of the major happenings during the war, the politics among the top echelon of the Biafran officers who came to lobby his ‘Oga’ for one thing or the other, as well as the decisions taken by the Biafran hierarchy in the Exco meetings which were held at different locations, for security reasons, as the war progressed. The last of such venues was the Madonna Secondary School, Ettiti, Mbano, where the decision of Ojukwu’s leave of Biafra in search of peace was rather announced, than taken. Arua remained with General Efiong until the last stronghold of Biafra fell to the federal troops.

Against the varied positions of top Biafran military officers, General Efiong braved all odds to declare an end to the Biafran dream, and pledged the loyalty of the Biafran Amed Forces to the Federal Government of Nigeria. And so on that fateful day of January 12, 1970, when cessation of hostility was announced in a nationwide broadcast over the ubiquitous Radio Biafra, the melodious voice of Okoko Ndem, gave way to the sonorous but authoritative voice of Major General Philip Efiong, the Administrator of the State of Biafra, in what could be described as a clarion call: To your tents O’ Israel.

General Efiong accompanied by some of his orderlies, after making the historic broadcast that announced the surrender of Biafra and loyalty to the Federal Government of Nigeria, was met at Akokwa and escorted first to Owerri and then Port Harcourt, in company of Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo, Commander of the 3rd Marine Commando, en route signing the instrument of surrender of Biafra to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, following the bailing out of General Ojukwu from Biafra in what was diplomatically dubbed in search of peace.

This book captures vividly the absurdity of the unsung victims of the Ahiara Declaration, people like Ezenwata of Mbaise, who was found guilty of what were considered offences against the Republic of Biafra according to the Ahiara Declaration. Ezenwata was found guilty and summarily executed at 14 Division camp on the eve of Christmas day, 1969, barely a month to the end of the war. The execution was in spite of the pleadings of Lady Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi, who was a great beneficiary of Ezenwata during the war.

That historic broadcast of January 12, 1970 by General Efiong heralded the end of Biafra, in geographical context. However, more than 46 years after the end of the civil war, the idea of a nation of the rising sun, lives on, especially in the minds of young Igbos who know nothing much other than what look like fairy tales as captured by some authors like the great novelist, Chinua Achebe in his last book There was once a country. Will Biafra ever rise again? This is a million dollar question, which the concluding part of the book: The General’s Orderly attempts to answer. The writer’s views were formed primarily by the reality of the situation, and the outcome of the socio-political analysis of the forces or classes behind the present Biafran clamour, based on the theory of social change. Truth, they say is bitter, but the reality of the matter is that the situation which gave birth to Biafra nearly 50 years ago, no matter how Ndigbo try to re-construct it, is no longer tenable in contemporary Nigeria. Much water has passed under the bridge. And like Chinua Achebe aptly noted, Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. Things have actually fallen apart, the centre can no longer hold, unfortunately among Ndigbo.

CHAPTER ONE

EARLY CHILDHOOD

GOING TO CAMEROON

I came back from the central refuse dump known in our Ehugbo dialect as ilili, located at the outskirt of our community residential area, to find a middle aged man seated with my mother in her one-bedroom apartment. I could not remember having met him before. He smiled at me as his gaze met my inquisitive look. From the proportion of his legs to his body frame, he was a tall man with an aquiline nose, which came to be attributed in later years to the Fulani ethnic group in the northern part of Nigeria. His oval face was accentuated with a pair of piercing eyes that seemed to penetrate into my racing thoughts. From his receding forehead, indicating early baldness, he could be described as a man of great wisdom even at his middle age.

Are you back? he bellowed with a deep voice that brought me home from my momentary sojourn in oblivion. I did not know what to reply him, since I could not for sure say if the question was meant for me. Sit down, my mum said to my relief. This is your uncle, she continued. "He came home from Kamerun", meaning, Cameroon. Whether Kamerun or Cameroon, it did not make any sense to me, since I had no idea then, where she was referring to. All I could make out was that the man said to be my uncle came from abroad. I arrived at this conclusion from his general appearance, which was quite different from other folks around. At least, his ebony black skin was smooth as if polished. His smiles revealed a set of well-kept teeth, almost whitish, compared to those of our village folks, of the same age bracket. Theirs were brown in colour, attributable to the general use of tobacco, or snuff, as I thought.

He beckoned on me to sit beside him, smiling, as if to allay my fears; making way for me on the mud bed, which also served as the only sitting place in my mother’s one room apartment. I obeyed and sat beside him. My mother was beaming with smiles, which reassured me to relax. He took my hand and held it under his armpit in a suggestive let’s go gesture. For the first time since I entered the room, I felt relaxed, savouring the fine scent from his body. Instantly, I wished I could go with him to wherever place he came from.

My name is Ekuma Uche, he started. I am your mother’s older brother. I reside in Muyuka, Southern Cameroon. I have come to take you along to live with me in Cameroon, he said with all sense of finality. I was so relieved when he stopped his lecture. For me, that was what I had secretly longed for. The lecture on where he came from did not make sense to me at all. I stole a glance at his face when he stopped talking. As if he rightly read my thought, he asked, Will you like to go with me? at which I responded by nodding my head in the affirmative.

I looked at my mother to confirm if she was in agreement with my acceptance. In her taciturn way, she was a woman of few words, but her smiles were enough to convince me she approved of my decision to go with my uncle to wherever he lived. Well, well, well, my uncle said, getting up to go. As he stood up, I could see he was taller than I had imagined him to be while we sat. Compared to my father’s younger brother, he was a ‘giant’. He towered over me, such that I had to incline my neck fully backwards to look at his face. He was dressed in a pair of grey trousers with a white and black striped shirt to match. The trouser linings were crisp, as if they were fresh from the dry cleaner. I wondered how he was able to maintain it without rumpling, even after sitting down. Still holding my hand, he led me to the door, with my mother rising to see him off. I will inform his father when he returns from the farm, my mother said, as she stood beside my uncle by the door. Well, let’s hope, Ikpo will agree, my uncle replied. I knew he was referring to my father. Although my father’s name is Okereke Oko, I had noticed some elderly men calling him ‘Ikpo’. It was quite in later years, that I came to understand that ‘ikpo’ was the nickname for those called Okereke.

As my uncle came out from my mother’s apartment into the open court yard, he let go my hand to bid us farewell. I felt a sense of relief that he was not taking me away immediately. My father’s opinion was still to be sought. While his consent was being awaited, I still had the opportunity to inform my friends like Ewa Idam, that I was travelling abroad. That will make great news for them, I reflected. As my uncle bade us goodbye, I prayed silently that my father would not oppose it. The thought of father’s likely refusal became a source of worry for me, because I knew my father to be a ‘difficult’ man. He may as well see the proposal as an affront to his ego. He may even query my mother for agreeing without first discussing the proposal with him before my acceptance to live with uncle, Ekuma Uche.

It was with trepidation that I greeted my father when he returned from the farm that evening. As I went to take his farm bag from him, a ritual that was more of a way of knowing if he had any gift from the farm, I was engrossed in thought, the thought of the unknown.

Father usually made sure he had some gifts from the farm for us. Sometimes, these could be bush rats, crickets, grasshoppers and at times mushroom in return for our greetings on his return from the farm. The nature of these gifts depended on the farming season and at the particular time of the year’s farming calendar. During the planting season, the gifts comprised more of rats, and crickets, while grasshoppers are usually available during the harvesting period of the year. Mushrooms were rare delicacies during the planting seasons, mostly during the period of the early rains, sometime, around the month of March. Mushrooms were of course meant for our mother, for soup making. As children, we were particularly warned by elders never to collect mushrooms from the farm on our own, as according to them, some mushrooms were considered poisonous, and are known to have wiped off entire families. The fear of mushrooms is the beginning of wisdom, according to an age-long Igbo adage.

Immediately my father sat in his usual ‘lazy’ chair, an inclined wooden arm chair with woven cloth strung at the top and bottom of the wooden framework, I knew it was time to break the news. The ‘easy chair’ was my father’s only seating place. It could be adjusted to suit the user, depending on one’s frame and desired comfort. My father had two of such easy chairs; one was for his exclusive use, while the other was for Chief Ogbeja, his only intimate friend I knew to visit him most times. Once they were seated in their respective easy chairs, they could be heard discussing in low tones far late into the night, or until his friend decided to call it a day. Chief Ogbeja was also of the great Igube age grade of Ukpa. He was therefore Nna’s age mate. These were people who were said to have been born during the period of the great locust invasion of our community. One thing remarkable with this age grade is their near similar physique. They were tall, slim built and most of them were six footers. They were remarkably hard working and competitive among themselves; as a result, all Igubes were considered successful in their various fields of endeavour. Among the Igube age mates was also Chief Okole, who was of the Ibe enyi maternal family, the same ikwu stock, as my mother and by extension, I.

Stories have it that the ikwu or matrilineal system was traced to the period of migration among the ogbo’ mu clans of Ohafia, Abam, Abriba, Nkporo, Edda, Afikpo, Amasiri and Akpoha, who till date exclusively practice this system of heritage in Igboland where inheritance is on the basis of one’s maternal brothers and sisters. According to the story, a man called Oboni Eze went hunting and incidentally committed murder at Ikwuni- a neighbouring clan. Oboni Eze was subsequently taken captive by the Ikwuni people. Being of royal blood, the Ikwuni people feared that it would cause war between them and their neighbours if any harm came to Oboni Eze. They therefore demanded for a free born as ransom in place of Oboni, who was kept in darkness under unfavourable condition. He was allowed to send message across to his sister, Afo Ukwu Eze to appeal to his wives to send any of his sons for the ransom. Seeing that none of his brother’s wives could accede to the passionate appeal of her brother, she offered her only son to Ikwuni people in return for her captive brother. Oboni was eventually released to return to his people. On return, the powerful Oboni immediately assembled all the warriors from the ogbo mu clans to wage against a war against Ikwuni people. The attacking warriors led by Oboni, successfully over ran Ikwuni people and joyously reclaimed his little nephew alive. He saw the actions of his wives and children as a great betrayal and disloyalty in a moment of trouble. He therefore reasoned that those who identified themselves with a man in danger were the true kinsmen and therefore should have the right to inherit the man’s assets. Seeing that what happened to Oboni could also be the lot of any man, the people of ogbo’mu clan decreed that a man’s will to have his assets go to his sister and her children be sacrosant and accepted as a practice to be known as ikwu- a matrilineal, or double descent among the ogbo mu clans of Igbo land.

Chief Okole was from our ancestral Ezi Agbi compound, from where the fore father of Ezi Oti migrated. It is believed that the founder of Ezi Oti, by name Oti, was a brother of Otu Nnam. When Otu Nnam discovered that Oti was too independent minded to be controlled, he ordered him to move out to another area where he would be master of his own. He then moved to the present Ezi Oti, which bears his own name. Later, he was joined by Ugwu Oko Uyor, Ukpai Nnam and others in that order. To retain the bond of relationship with Ezi Agbi, he was not allowed to establish his own obu, the ancestral house of records and covenant among people of the same ancestry.

Other mates of the igube age grade known to me included Sergeant Otunta, Urom Aga Oti, also from Ezi Oti. These men had a common hallmark; they were tall, elegant, and above all every woman’s ideal man. They were then in their late forties, having been born during the year of the great locust invasion said to be between the years 1907-1909. They were great farmers who could boast of tying yams round their yam barns, an eloquent testimony of prosperity. Those who were not farmers, like Sgt. Otunta were accomplished in their chosen professions. In fact, they were typical examples of what Chinua Achebe described as men of valour, who were real men and very deserving of women to marry them. No wonder they were without exemption married to no less than three wives and counting.

On that particular day, I had wanted to finish the matter at hand before Chief Ogbeja, his