Jonathan, Mark, Army Chief, others pay tribute as Ojukwu’s body arrives

EXACTLY 430 days after he was flown  out in coma to a London Hospital for  intensive medication and 91 days after his demise, the remains of late elder statesman and defunct Biafra Republic Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, was flown back to Nigeria, yesterday, to a rousing reception and ocean of tributes.
Given a full military funeral parade, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika and Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, were among eminent Nigerians, who showered tributes on the revered Igbo leader, yesterday.
Economic activities came to a halt in Owerri, Imo State capital, which stood still as the corpse of Ikemba Nnewi arrived the state.
Ojukwu was flown out of the country in a military ambulance on December 23, 2010. He battled for life for almost a year and died on November 26, 2011.
While Jonathan described Ojukwu as an advocate of a united Nigeria, Ihejirika said he was one of the architects of modern Nigerian Army and Aliyu said Ojukwu could have been made the Nigerian Head of State in 1966 after the second military coup, if intellect, qualification and finesse were the yardsticks.
Triumphantly, Ojukwu’s corpse arrived aboard a British Airways plane at exactly 5.09am accompanied by members of his family, including his wife Mrs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and some of his children. It was taken to the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja where a colourful military parade, the type reserved for heads of state, was held in his honour.
The casket was draped in the Nigerian flag complete with a green army cap. The ceremony was nearly turned into a political event as politicians from across the political divide thronged the arena to pay their last respects.
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