The man attracts extreme, fanatical devotion as well virulent dislike across Nigeria 's political spectrum.

He led Igbos, Ibibios, Annangs, and millions of other citizens of the then Eastern Nigeria in the bloody but failed quest to establish the Federal Republic of Biafra, away from Nigeria . At the time, especially beginning in 1966 until the declaration of Biafra in May 1967, the man whose name and presence exudes charisma and catalytic influences, Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (former Head of State of Biafra, 1967-1970) told me during an exclusive interview that "we, the leaders of the Eastern Region, acted based on the decision expressed by millions of our people through their elected representatives in Enugu, capital of our region (at the time)." Their message? The lives of Christian Igbo and other Easterners were no longer safe inside Nigeria , especially in the Islamic North, in face of waves of pogrom unleashed against Igbos and other Easterners since 1966; which got worse in 1967. Despite the torrent of lies and distortions of Nigeria's recent history, I believe, as do a majority of other informed Nigerians and international observers, that an incontrovertible fact of the 1967-1970 war remains that Biafra was not declared to fulfil the foolish talk about an alleged manaical ambition of Ojukwu to become head of state . Instead, Biafra as a geo-political quest, although unfulfilled at the time, reflected, in my opinion, the will and natural inclination of any people, a traumatized group, courageous folks, proud and determined people to fight for self-defense against a zealotry of religion, ethnocentric prejudices, and a militarized expression of anti-Igbo pathologies. The man still argues that many lessons of Biafra seem to have been forgotten, reiterating that his people will never chose "slavery" over their natural tendency for freedom. Accordingly, USAfrica The Newspaper and USAfricaonline.com sought and got an exclusive July, 1999 interview with Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, former General and President of the defunct Republic of Biafra . It was my third major interview with Ojukwu; the first being in his house in 1988 when I was assistant editor of Platform magazine and Lagos and London-based journal, Africa and The World Journal. In our team (and our publisher at the time) was one of Nigeria 's scholar-politicians, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, and the effortlessly lucid literature and English scholar Dr. Chidi Amuta (currently, chief editorial and managing executive of the Post Express newspapers in Lagos . Interviewing Ojukwu reveals the man's oratorical flourish as well as some ill logic on certain issues. His knowledge of history as well as his irreverence is evident. He dismissed my question about U.S President Bill Clinton's policy toward Africa by stating, with a deafening clarity "he has none!" Republicans will be thrilled. But I disagree with Ojukwu's view on this point. I traveled with Clinton's delegation to parts of Africa, March-April 2, 1998, and have read and following definable, even if

sometimes muddled efforts in Africa, Clinton has a policy on Africa. May be Clintonesque, in its execution. In 1988, I once identified Ojukwu as the Lion of Biafra. Some disagree(d); millions concur with my description and adjectival flourish on the man. It's understandable. Why? There may never, essentially, be the Ojukwu without the vigor of contentions and passion of intense admiration. He's always, and all ways the subject of oppositional and fanatical pulls. There exist, rarely, gray areas about this man. For example, reminds us that those who think he's "stubborn" should know it's part of the mark of great leaders. Go figure. For those who wonder why he offers an Igbo-first perspective, he appeals to them to "get your own Ojukwu." Some of his fellow Igbos criticize the "quality and direction" of Ojukwu's leadership of Biafra . Others applaud him for "drawing a line in the sand" -a zone of safety for Biafrans, Ibibios, Ikwerres and such other Eastern Nigerians, who at the time, championed and sacrificed for Biafra . Part of the realities of war is that many deny their roles in it. Ojukwu embodies the failures and success (survival) of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war. Since the end of the war in 1970, there has been a retinue of paper tigers and phantom commanders of the war, fantastic claims about military feats during the war. There are over a dozen books on the war. Also, I have personally encountered postBiafra war weasels, malice-filled hagiographers and cowards who even deny their roles in defending their children in Biafra from an advancing, and certain killing machine of the "federal troops" of Nigeria . To be sure, War is not pretty. It's lessons must be learned for posterity. Hence, my yet-to-be-published book, BIAFRA : History Without Mercy, will deal, without equivocation on such issues and personalities such as the subject of our interview, Ojukwu. Ojukwu who was in the U.S regarding the birth of his son, Nwachukwu, by his wife, former Miss Nigeria , Bianca, does not look his 65 years of tempest and struggle in this life. From wealth and privilege to the combustion of war and wasted partisan political battles in different areas of Igboland (1982-1983), from His Excellency to a jailed political prisoner in Nigeria's atrocious Kirikiri. he said Kirikiri had its "own unique lessons." We talked with the Ikemba on a wide-range of issues covering Kosovo, Biafra, AIDS scourge in Africa, Nigeria 's politics Nigeria 's President Obasanjo, Prof. Wole Soyinka comments about his "direction", Nelson Mandela, AfricanAmericans and their heritage, international business, President Bill Clinton's "policy towards Africa " and other issues. In this First part of the interview, the Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu reveals he wants to

"hand the baton over" to a new crop of leader(s). I had the following interview with him in the company of the Executive Editor of USAfrica The Newspaper, Chris Ulasi. On balance, Ojukwu, however imperfect, remains hero for millions and a reckless villain for others. Love or hate him , no one ignores the active and properly focused Ikemba Nnewi Odumegwu Ojukwu. Prologue by Chido Nwangwu