Emeka Ojukwu
| C. Odumegwu Ojukwu | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of Biafra | |
|
In office 30 May 1967 – 8 January 1970 |
|
| Vice President | Philip Effiong |
| Preceded by | Position created |
| Succeeded by | Philip Effiong |
| Governor of Eastern Region, Nigeria | |
|
In office 19 January 1966 – 27 May 1967 |
|
| Preceded by | Francis Akanu Ibiam |
| Succeeded by |
Ukpabi Asika (East Central State) Alfred Diete-Spiff (Rivers State) Uduokaha Esuene (South-Eastern State) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu 4 November 1933 Zungeru, Niger, Nigeria |
| Died |
26 November 2011 (aged 78) United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Political party | Nigerian Military, Biafra military, later National Party of Nigeria, APGA |
| Spouse(s) | Bianca Ojukwu |
| Children | Afamefuna, Chineme and Nwachukwu |
| Alma mater |
CMS Grammar School, Lagos King's College, Lagos Epsom College Lincoln College, Oxford University Eaton Hall |
| Profession | Soldier, politician |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Service/branch |
 Nigerian Army
|
| Years of service | 1957–1967 |
| Rank |
|
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966 and the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra from 1967 to 1970. He was active as a politician from 1983 to 2011, when he died aged 78.
Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu-Ojukwu was born on 4 November 1933 at Zungeru in northern Nigeria to Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, an Igbo businessman from Nnewi, Anambra State in south-eastern Nigeria. Sir Louis was in the transport business; he took advantage of the business boom during World War II to become one of the richest men in Nigeria. He began his educational career in Lagos, southwestern Nigeria.
Emeka Ojukwu started his secondary school education at CMS Grammar School, Lagos aged 10 in 1943. He later transferred to King's College, Lagos in 1944 where he was involved in a controversy leading to his brief imprisonment for assaulting a white British colonial teacher who humiliated a black woman. This event generated widespread coverage in local newspapers. At 13, his father sent him overseas to study in the United Kingdom, first at Epsom College and later at Lincoln College, Oxford University, where he earned a master's degree in History. He returned to colonial Nigeria in 1956.
Ojukwu joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer at Udi, in present-day Enugu State. In 1957, after two years of working with the colonial civil service and seeking to break away from his father's influence over his civil service career, he left and joined the military initially enlisting as a non commissioned officer (NCO) in Zaria.
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