Nigeria’s wartime leader, Gen Yakubu Gowon,
says “Nigeria is better off with Igbos.” He spoke
while delivering an oration at the burial service for
Chief (Mrs.) Chinyere Asika, wife of the former
Sole Administrator of East Central State; just as
the governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie
Obiano, described the deceased as a woman who
exemplified the virtue of patience, charity and
humility. The service took place at the All Saints
Anglican Cathedral, Onitsha, Anambra State.
A March 2, 2012 file photo shown below shows an
Ohafia cultural troupe entertaining bystanders
during the burial of Nigeria’s secessionist leader
Odumegwu Ojukwu at his native Nnewi country
home, in Anambra State eastern Nigeria.
Odumegwu Ojukwu, who championed the
campaign for an independent Republic of Biafra in
eastern Nigeria in the 1960s culminating in a 30-
month civil war which left more than a million
dead was buried at his Nnewi family home in
Anambra State. Its name is synonomous with the
declaration of independence and updates on the
brutal conflict that followed, but nearly 50 years
after Nigeria’s civil war, Radio Biafra is again
making headlines. AFP PHOTO
Gowon’s declaration was borne out of a deep
appreciation of the commitment and sacrifice of
the deceased and her husband, Ajie Ukpabi Asika,
to the survival of Nigeria as one entity. The
former Head of State recalled that when he
proposed the post of Sole Administrator of East
Central State, Asika told me, “I prefer to do this
for the good of Igbo people.”
He went on: “I was struggling to get an
administrator for the newly created East Central
State when the name of the late Ukpabi Asika
came up. He was then a lecturer at Ibadan. When
we met, I did not know which one of us was
younger. But he exuded strength of character and
understanding, and wanted to start work
immediately. I cautioned him to think about it. I
told him, `you must consult your brothers, and
your wife to know if you would accept’. I came
away convinced that this was the man I needed.
“I did not know how to place his wife, Chinyere,
but when she arrived from Kenya, she plunged
head-on into the idea. She was a courageous
woman, caring and humble. I remember her
efforts in “Otu Olu Obodo”- a public service
initiative which she used as a tool of
empowerment for her Igbo kinsmen and women.”
Obiano told the children and the Asika family to
imbibe the virtues of patience, charity and
humility from Mrs Asika, while urging the
congregation and Ndi Anambra to remember “her
good deeds and pray for the repose of her soul.”
The service was attended by many prominent
personalities including a former Minister of
Defence, Gen T.Y. Danjuma, who represented
President Muhammadu Buhari.
Vanguard
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