BIANCA |
Family members of the late Igbo
leader and Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, are at war over his vast
estate scattered all over south east.
Sources revealed that Ojukwu's
house situated at Forest Crescent,
GRA Enugu named CASSABIANCA, which he reportedly built for his last wife,
Bianca, was almost taken over by Ojukwu's first son, Emeka Ojukwu (Ikemba Jnr),
when it was assumed that Ojukwu had died only for the leader of MASSOB, Chief
Uwazuruike to reveal then that Ojukwu was still alive. Bianca was still in London then attending to
her husband before he eventually died late last year. Those in the know
disclosed a war has broken out amongst Ojukwu's family members over his
property, adding that many of his kinsmen are fighting over who gets what from
the multi-billion naira property left behind by the late Igbo leader.
It was exclusively learnt that
Ojukwu's children from his first and second wives and those of Bianca are
battling over his property scattered across the length and breath of the
country and abroad.
However, the remains of the late
Ojukwu a.k.a Ezeigbo Gburugburu, which arrived the country from London last
week, is now in Enugu from where it will be taken to Umuahia en-route Nnewi in
Anambra State on Friday March 2 for burial.
Most towns in Anambra State,
including the final resting place of the ex-Biafran warlord, are wearing new
looks and most of the roads leading to Nnewi have been given a facelift by
Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi.
The superlative burial of the
late Ikemba Nnewi, which is expected to be attended by President Goodluck
Jonathan, will be graced by eminent personalities.
It is interesting to know that
the late Ikemba of Nnewi was born into a wealthy Igbo family of Sir Louis
Philipe Odumegwu Ojukwu, a billionaire by every standard, with corporate
interests and choice properties and acreage strewn over Lagos; Apapa, Ikoyi,
Victoria Island, Mushin, Oshodi-Apapa Express Way, Enugu and several states of
the nation, most of which are now generating legal contentions and scuffles
among the many children from different wives. Ojukwu is also a proud owner of a
magnificent mansion on Isi-Uzo
Street off Hill View Street, Independence
Layout, Enugu;
it was from this house he moved to CASSABIANCA. That is not all, he also owns
the multi million naira Nnewi houses on Wharf Road, Apapa and the controversial
Vilaska Lodge on Queens Drive,
Ikoyi, Lagos.
Ojukwu, a celebrity polygamist, was married to as many as three wives. In 1964, he got married to
Njideka Onyekwelu, a native of Awka, Anambra state, and later married a second
wife, and lastly got married to Bianca Odinaka Onoh, after a divorce
Ojukwu actually lost his second
wife, Stella Onyeador, who died in her sleep with no traces of any major
illness last year. Ojukwu who could not attend the burial ceremony which took
place at the deceased’s Banana Island,
Ikoyi, Lagos. Due
to ill health but sent his brother to represent him. He was said to have been
devastated about the loss of his wife Stella which reflected in the speech
given by the brother on his behalf.
And just a year after her death,
Ojukwu was hit by another blow as his
first wife, Mrs. Njideka Ojukwu, died in
April last year after a brief illness at her residence in Onitsha, Anambra
State at the age of 77.
Before now, the roles of some of
his women during and after the Biafra war have
not been showcased or documented. But the death of the ex Biafran Leader Emeka
Odumegwu Ojukwu has thrown up gossips
about the existence of other women which
included Mrs Akanu Ibiam and Prof.
Chukwuemeka Ike’s daughter not forgetting the pretty daughter of the
late Sam Mbakwe
She{Njedika] got married to her
first husband Brodie Mends, in 1955 and gave birth to her first and only
daughter, Iruaku, in 1956. At 19, she met and got married to Ojukwu in 1962 and
had to move from Lagos to Kano in 1965 where her husband was staying.
The marriage was celebrated at Apapa, Lagos
with reception at Sir Odumegwu’s Ikoyi residence. However, Bianca Ojukwu, the
last wife, is the one known as the last woman standing and can never be
forgotten because she stood by her husband till death eventually took him away.
The late former Biafran leader became romantically linked in 1989 with Bianca
Ojukwu, a former beauty queen when the media became awash with the story
that Bianca was dating a childhood
friend of her father who is said to have been her godfather at her christening
and was over thirty years older. Their controversial romance was a topical
point in the early nineties, which led to her been dethroned as the most
beautiful girl in Nigeria.
She was also disowned by her late father, although the father was said to have
forgiven her before his death in 2009.After graduating from Law school Bianca
briefly practiced the profession before quitting the silk job in order to have
more time for her home and her cosmetics business, Bianca
Blend in Enugu
and interior decorating outfit Nourbella. .Bianca with the support of the Ikemba also floated
an advertising campaign for her products
.In 2011,she was appointed Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs by president
Goodluck Jonathan. A Law graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Bianca
Ojukwu had time and again admitted that
was happy to have found her late husband, but she would never encourage her daughter to toe her line
and marry the same way.
HOW OJUKWU RECLAIMED HIS
CONFISCATED PROPERTY
When the ex Biafra warlord, chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, returned
to the country from exile in ivory coast in 1982,he settled down in his
father’s Ikoyi home. But three years after, the military administration in what
could be said to be smacked an abuse of
military might, forcibly evicted the Ikemba of Nnewi from his house prompting
him to challenge the legality of the executive act in the law court. At a point
he moved to his seized property and started sleeping in front of the Ikoyi
mansion in the full glare of the camera and this created so much scene and
sympathy for him until he won his case and took possession of what was
rightfully his. The Oxford-trained ex-military leader came back to Nigeria
in 1982,after he had been granted a full pardon by the federal government under
president Shehu Shagari in the second republic. Hardly had he settled down in
the Ikoyi residence of his late father .Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu. When the Lagos state government
forcibly evicted him from the premises. The late Sir Ojukwu was a millionaire
business mogul, whose 29 Queens’ Drive, Ikoyi residence is known as Vilaska Lodge
.The building also had the inscription’ Beware Of Snakes’ at the entrance. The
businessman resided in his Ikoyi home till his demise in 1966 and the property
was bequeathed to Emeka Ojukwu .But due to the latter’s revolutionary role during the civil war, the military
government used the excuse of his
rebellion against the Nigerian state to confiscate the building
described later as abandoned property. The controversy started on August 12,1985
when a permanent secretary in the Lagos
state wrote Ojukwu a letter asking him to vacate the premises or face ejection.
But after a prolong court case, Ojukwu became the owner of the property. The
late Ikemba said he paid the sum of 90.000 to Lagos state for expenses incurred by the
state government in keeping the house in his absence.
HIS OTHER CONTROVERSIES
His whole life could be said to
be enmeshed in controversy .His adopted paternal –Odumegwu, the lion that
brings the dreads and fear to hearts had a lot of influence over him ,as he was
to be a lion until his death. there have been controversies over his state of
health .He had been rumoured dead several times until he finally gave up on
Saturday, 26, November 2011.His first battle was at the tender age of 11, when
he could not bear the sight of
oppression from one of his teachers, a
white man dehumanizing a Nigerian woman working in his school ,Kings College,
Lagos. He attacked the white man and was subsequently arrested .On his home front,
his enormously wealthy father wanted him to study law on his admission to Oxford University
but he was fascinated with modern history. He studied law for one year and
followed his heart .After obtaining his masters at barely 22,he disappointed
his father’s father expectation to join his sprawling business empire as he
opted for the civil service from where he veered into the military .Shunning
comfort and riches for services and when he informed his father of his desire
to join the army in 1957,the man would hear none of it and pulled a lot of
strings to get his son frustrated and abort
the brass desire. He held on and
started as a recruit; the first ever
graduate to join the Nigeria army ,an indefatigable fighter who knew what he
wanted and ready to give it whatever it takes. .His declaration of his Biafra
war was as controversial as the remote causes of the war, while some see it as
a needless strife others see it as a foundation upon which a new Nigeria
was born. His voyage into ;politics
after his presidential pardon was another issue ,his choice of national party
of Nigeria( NPN) which a lot of people believed to he ought not to have touched
not to talk of joining because of it origination and make up.
1 comments:
Why would a young lady marry a man old enough to be her grandfather? Money and power. I am sure she wasn't in love with his gray hairs, bald head and pot belly. Is anyone surprised that she is now fighting for property? Very shameful.
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