Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was one of the most forthright personalities Nigeria has ever had. He believed in a Nigeria where justice and equity reign, and as a result, he devoted his life to the pursuit of that ideal. On Wednesday, February, 8, 2012 Commissioner Rose Tydus along with Mayor Myra L. Taylor, Vice Mayor Dorothy Johnson, Commissioners Gail Miller and Timothy Holmes and the citizens of “The Great” City of Opa-locka, acknowledged the efforts, the dedication and the work of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu by proclaiming the month of February 2012 as Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Month.
Ojukwu, born November 4, 1933 in Zungeru, Niger state, in northern Nigeria, came from modest beginnings. His father, Sir Louis Phillipe Odumegwu Ojukwu, made fortunes in transportation and real estate and was one of Nigeria’s wealthiest entrepreneurs when he died in 1966.
Nicknamed “Emeka,” Ojukwu attended Kings College in Lagos, Nigeria’s most prestigious secondary school; Epson College, a boys’ preparatory school in Surrey; and Lincoln College, Oxford, where he graduated with honors in history, in 1955. Ojukwu came, saw and conquered, leaving vital lessons in patriotism and nationalism.
