By Aiyeku Timothy
A Biafra war veteran, late Col Emmanuel Nworah Nwobosi, was laid to rest in his country home, Ugamuma village Obosi, Idemili North Council area on Friday, January 15.
Late Col Nwobosi was a Major in the Nigeria Army detachment, who played active role in the January 15 1966 military coup.
Before his death on Tuesday, Nov. 24, aged 82, 2020, he held the Ogene title as a cabinet member of Obosi traditional institution and Ogbueshi in the community.
Speaking on behalf of the family, the first son, Honourable Emma Nwobosi, said his father was a nationalist, who fought the noble course of his belief.
Honourable Nwobosi, who is the Special Assistant to Governor on Internally Generated Revenue, promised to uphold the doctrine and legacies of his late father.
Born on January 21, 1939, Col Nwobosi attended St John’s College Kaduna in 1954. He joined the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in 1960 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant where he rose to the rank of a Captain in the Nigerian Army before the civil war in 1967.
As a colonel in the Biafran Army, he played prominent roles being a Field Commander and very close to the Biafran Leader, Late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, and later served Ojukwu as his Chief of Staff and close confidante.
Also, Col Nwobosi was among the officers led by Major Nzeogwu that plotted and executed the January 15, 1966, military coup in Nigeria. He was also one of the pioneers that set up the first field battery of the Nigerian Army Artillery.
Before his death, he had granted an interview where he spoke about 1966, where he said he did not discuss the plot with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, despite being his flatmate and enjoying the military camaraderie.
He also spoke about the Civil war where he mentioned that Biafra did not start the war. His words “Biafra never for once attacked Nigeria; when I say never I mean we did not start the war, they brought the war to us starting with Hassan Katsina, the then Army Chief of Staff. He said it was a two-week police action that will liquidate Biafra, which went on and later transformed into all sorts of names.
Of course, when the war started, at a stage when Biafra had to take a counter offensive and move through the Midwest heading for Lagos and it was sabotaged at Benin by Victor Banjo aided by Ifeajuna, otherwise we wanted to carry the war to them and you know the effect it had at the time.”
He also noted that “Biafra can still happen but how it will happen I cannot tell you; I am not a soothsayer. If you tell me that Biafra is going to happen by force of arms I will say forget it. “
