“No One Can Replace My Late Husband, Ojukwu” – Bianca Ojukwu

Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Bianca Ojukwu is still mourning her late husband, the Biafra warlord, Chief Chukwuemeka Odemegwu-Ojukwu as his second year remembrance comes up in a some weeks.

In an interview with City People she was quoted as saying “It will be contradictory to say that one has ‘finished mourning.’ You can never finish mourning such a man because he is irreplaceable. Yes, the external, the mourning attire can go, but it’s still a very raw pain and it’s a wound that will take quite some time to heal.
Because it’s not just a function of missing him, there were so many aspects that he dominated. He was like glue. He was like a stabilising factor. He had an answer to anything. Any challenge that you are faced with, he could almost dissect and give you a sensible way forward and he was very accommodating of other people’s views. He didn’t believe he had a monopoly of wisdom.

These are the qualities that very few people possess. These are the qualities that he will be remembered for a long time.

He was a wonderful father to our children and did most things that a lot of fathers didn’t have time to do. Even days when he didn’t feel too well and I am going to their school to visit them, he would always want to go and personally buy gifts for them on their birthdays.

He would sit with them, tell them stories, teach them songs, he would come down to their level and he was always worried about their welfare. He was a gentle giant. He was good with the kids and they miss him, I’m sure, even more”.

Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu  died on the November 26 2011 after a protracted and brave fight against stroke in  London.