Bianca Ojukwu, Nigerian former Ambassador to Spain and wife of Biafra warlord, Ikemba Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu, has lamented how some Igbo leaders abandoned her husband and his legacies after using him as a launch pad to attain political relevance.
Bianca said such leaders had not only become critics of her late husband, but also disconnected themselves from the masses after using Dim Ojukwu’s name to climb the ladder of success.
Mrs Ojukwu spoke on Sunday, November 26 at the 2023 Ojukwu Memorial Day held at Ojukwu Memorial Library, Ralph Uwazuruike Estate, Area G, New Owerri, Imo State.
She however, thanked the masses for standing by her to ensure that Memorial Day is constantly marked with pomp and ceremony.
She said: “There is nothing that has been sustained as the celebration of Ojukwu Memorial Day. I am thankful for all because you are the constituency of Dim Ojukwu, he will be very proud today to see the masses for whom he had sacrificed all.”
She however regretted that the so-called Igbo leaders had abandoned the masses after using her husband’s legacy to achieve success.
Bianca added: “The so-called Igbo leaders who have disconnected themselves from the masses after achieving success with the name of Ojukwu. They now castigate Ojukwu after transcending. They are on the run now because their sins have come to hunt them.
“The statistics of the Igbo leaders who have run away from their responsibilities in Igboland after achieving their aims are now frightening.”
She thanked former President Goodluck Ebere Jonathan for standing by her husband during his stay in the hospital both in Nigeria and London and after his death.
She stated: “The former president ensured that Dim Ojukwu was given all necessary attention when he was down with stroke in Nigeria and London hospitals, he also ensured that Ojukwu was given a state burial and until today the president and his wife have always been with us. This year’s edition is a special edition because Ojukwu will be 90 years old this November. It is dedicated to the former President Dr Goodluck Ebere Jonathan.”
The chairman of the occasion and founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in London, Chief Owelle Onyeka Mbaso said he was with Ojukwu in the hospital and celebrated in London after his death.
In their goodwill messages, Prof. Protus Uzoma and former president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Imo, Dr. Ezichi Chukwu called on the Ndigbo to learn to live in peace, unity, and love and not to abandon the legacy of the late Ojukwu.
He said: “The Legacy Ojukwu left transcends time, every Igbo person must learn the language of peace, unity, and love.”
