Serena aezeegboh ohbee nm nnkeh nnookwoo, as you are a career athlete who was won medals in highly competitive international competitions, it would be nice ( and probably instructive ) to know your view on this one even if you are a national / citizen of the United States of America, North America, The Americas and not a national / citizen of Nigeria, Western Africa, Africa.
i guess i am going to run this one by you along the lines of :
● first, taking a look at his background and circumstance. at least , at what i can glean of it from all the writings about him in the Nigeria Space that i have come across and from all the rumours regarding him in the Nigeria Space that I have come across.
● Second, by taking a look at his life in the Nigeria Army. this will probably involve looking at his involvement in the first Nigeria military coup ( in 1966), his imprisonment and not being court-martialed according to Military Law by Nigeria Army General J.T. Aguiyi-Ironsi then Military Ruler and Supreme Military Commander of Nigeria and his administration.
it will probably involve looking at his being released from prison ALIVE and NOT BEING KILLED or HARMED PHYSICALLY OR OTHERWISE IN ANY WAY AT ALL by Nigeria Northerners .. in particular the Northern Nigeria soldiers who enacted the second Nigeria military coup ( also in the same 1966 ) ..and his being allowed by Northern Nigerians to go to Igbo-land/Ibo-land which had become a core component of the emergent Biafra.
here, as the history of Nigeria taught in Primary and Secondary Schools ( at least during my own period in primary and secondary school ) does not mention his name at all nor indicate when exactly he left Northern Nigeria after the death of Ironsi, we may need to use Google to search and see if he was released and got to Igbo-land / Ibo-land BEFORE or AFTER it had become part of Biafra.
● Third, by taking a look at his life in Biafra. according to rumours, he was killed/shot dead in Biafra on the instructions of Biafra Military Ruler and Military Head of State, Biafra Army General Emeka Ojukwu.
● Fourth, by taking a look at his outstanding sports record. which still stands today after over 60 years as at January 2021 ( 2021 – 1954 = 67 years ) as the first and only Nigerian to win a GOLD MEDAL at the COMMONWEALTH GAMES in the HIGH JUMP EVENT and indeed also in any known INDIVIDUAL EVENT. this record is only partially matched to some extent by the 1996 GOLD MEDAL of the beautiful lady CHIOMA AJUNWA ( also an Igbo/Ibo tribe Nigerian ) at the OLYMPIC GAMES in ATLANTA, U.S.A which today 2021 stands un-equalled and un-matched for ( 2021 – 1996 = ) 25 years
● Fifth, by taking a look at the non-inclusion of his name in the NIGERIA NATIONAL SPORTS HALL OF FAME. This will probably involve looking at the reasons advanced for this decision as well as the counter-arguments which although they were un-able to sway the decision not to include his name in the NIGERIA NATIONAL SPORTS HALL OF FAME were proferred by those rooting for the inclusion of his name in the list on the basis of the pure merit of his outstanding sports performance.
● Sixth, having done 1 to 5 above, Serena ormaahleechar nm, i guess I will leave all the stuff before you to see what you make of it and what your take on it is.
OK, so let’s start.
we roll off by taking a look at HIS BACKGROUND.
as far as I know, Serena nm, EMMANUEL IFEAJUNA was from ONITSHA in the then EASTERN REGION of Nigeria.
at that time period of his life, NIGERIA was divided and administered in 3 regions, viz :
[1] the Eastern Region also called Eastern Nigeria
[2] the Western Region also called Western Nigeria
[3] the Northern Region also called Northern Nigeria
Serena ormaahleechar nm, with the benefit of hind-sight and the inherent advantage of retrospective analysis and retrospection itself generally, i guess that since both the Eastern Region / Eastern Nigeria and the Western Region / Western Region were in Southern Nigeria perhaps a more accurate and better descriptive nomenclature should been
[1] South-Eastern Region / South-Eastern Nigeria for the Eastern Region / Eastern Nigeria
[2] South-Western Region / South-Western Nigeria for the Western Region / Western Nigeria
in any case,
the Eastern Region / Eastern Nigeria at the time comprised of the igbo / ibo tribe who formed the majority population in terms of numbers and their riverine neighbours closer to the tributaries of the River Niger and accessing the Atlantic Ocean more directly e.g the efik, Ibibio, obubra, kalabari, ijaw (izon ), etc
Onitsha at that time was a major town and city both in Igbo-land and in the whole of the Eastern Region although it was not the capital as Enugu was the capital of the Eastern Region.
it is this town : Onitsha that EMMANUEL IFEAJUNA hailed from.
so, in effect, EMMA IFEAJUNA was a native of Onitsha just like :
[1] BISHOP ALPHONSUS C. ONYEABO.
Arch-Bishop A.C. Onyeabo, Bishop on the Niger, ( Anglican Communion / Anglican Church / Church of England, United Kingdom ) was
►the first ibo/igbo tribe person to be elevated to the position of Bishop in the white man’s Anglican Church.
►he is widely accredited as also being the second? black African and the second? black man from any part of the world to be so elevated, the first black African and the black man from any part of the world to be so elevated being the Yoruba tribe Bishop Ajayi Crowther who worked for a time as a Bishop at Onitsha, Igbo-land / Ibo-land Nigeria
[2] DR. NNAMDI B. AZIKIWE.
►prolific author,
►journalist par excellence,
►publisher of newspapers ( including among the still in 2021 A.D highly famed West African Pilot ),
►educationist,
►founder and builder of secondary schools in yoruba-land Nigeria ( e.g the famous Lagos City College, Sabo Yaba ) and Igbo-land ( e.g Metropolitian College, Onitsha and George Washington Memorial Secondary School, Onitsha ),
►founder of a University, viz : the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Igbo-land, Nigeria and often accredited as a leading protagonist for the creation and building of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Yoruba-land, Nigeria
►in his student days at University in the United States of America an accomplished sportsman – boxer, long distance runner ( quarter mile ), etc
►holder of a fair bundle of degrees from Universities in the U.S.A
►entrepreneur
►businessman
►philanthropist
►politician
►a leading fighter for the independence / self-rule of Nigeria
►first african and first black Governor General of Nigeria
►first president of Nigeria ( in a Government of Nigeria headed by the fulani tribe Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafewa Balewa as first prime minister of Nigeria and de-facto Head of the Government of Nigeria )
►pan-africanist
►often accredited as the originator, author and founder of the philosophy, principles and practice of Pan-Africanism
►nationalist nigerian ( as distinct from persons propagating an essentially sectarian, sectional or tribal/ethnic agenda either in politics or in government administration or both )
►gifted multi-linguist who spoke the hausa language, the yoruba language, the igbo/ibo language and the english language with fluency
►statesman
►arguably the greatest black African statesman of all time
popularly known as ZIK OF AFRICA
and much later on in his life as the OWELLE OF ONITSHA
[3] PROF. CHIKE OBI.
►often accredited as being the first Nigerian and first black African to obtain a Ph.D in Mathematics.
►widely acknowledged as a leading global authority in the field of mathematics.
[4] PROF. BEN ENWONWU.
►artist par excellence,
►painter par excellence,
►sculptor par excellence.
►widely regarded as one of the greatest black African artists of all time.
[5] CARDINAL FRANCIS ARINZE.
►the first Nigerian to be ordained a Cardinal in the white man’s Roman Catholic Church.
►thus far 2021 The only black African and only black man in the whole world to be considered as a candidate for the position of the Pope of the Catholic Church in Rome,( the Vatican) , Italy.
[6] ETC, ETC, ETC
amidst a galaxy of stars ( historically and currently ) ( internationally and nationally within Nigeria ) in various fields of endeavour in life ranging from law, medicine and surgery, engineering, enterprise, education to sports e.g
[7] PHILLIP EMEAGWALI.
►mathematician.
►computer scientist ( super-computing )
who is believed to be based in U.S.A as at today 2021
so, Serena nnkeh nm, EMMA IFEAJUNA came from an enlightened community and not just from any primitive, backward, bush, extremely under-developed, rusting, rustic, tunnel-visioned, narrow-minded oriented Negro-land Africa village.
EMMA IFEAJUNA was also a University Graduate.
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