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Travelogue: Owerri, Umuahia and Ojukwu's Bunker
The Air Peace flight was very punctual. In fact, I almost missed the flight because I went to MMA2 initially instead of the 'Old Local' airport.
The Air Peace flight was very punctual. In fact, I almost missed the flight because I went to MMA2 initially instead of the 'Old Local' airport.
I had to beg the Air Peace staff at the counter before I was issued my boarding pass and I had to run before I eventually got on the flight that was so full without any empty seat. How I wish all airlines in Nigeria are like Air Peace!
The drive from Sam Mbakwe Airport at Owerri to Umuahia took a little over one hour. It was my first time in Owerri and though I didn't go through Owerri township, the environment looked a bit rustic much unlike Enugu and Awka that I've also been to recently.
We went through Aboh Mbaise Local Government and we dodged and navigated several potholes on the road which was narrow and very winding. There were several Catholic Churches on the road and many posters and banners announcing the burial of people- both old and relatively young.
At a particular junction, I saw huge billboards with the picture of the late Prof Onwuliri dressed as a knight.
Eventually, we arrived at Umuahia which also looks so much like Aboh Mbaise where we came from. We got to Michael Okpara Square and went through the Bank Road. All the roads are still narrow to my chagrin.
I saw the Government House at the GRA and I was shown the house of the Commissioner of Police and the Assistant Inspector General of Police for that zone which were very close to Ojukwu's Bunker.
Ojukwu's Bunker is an extension of the National War Museum based on an extensive piece of land. Right outside the main building were two busts that need a touch of paint and rehabilitation urgently- that of Chief Michael Okpara and Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu.
It is a disservice to the memories of these people and the millions who died during the Nigerian Civil War that the place is not in a pristine state.
By late afternoon, the expansive grounds of Ojukwu's Bunker now designated as a park is usually converted to an open-air beer parlour. Is this the best use for such a national monument?
When I met the curator who is an elderly man, he asked whether I wanted to go through the bunker with the aid of electricity powered by a generator or by using a torch light.
If he puts on the generator, I have to pay N1,000. If I choose to navigate by the light of a torch, then I only have to pay N200. I chose the generator. As he struggled to put on the generator, I took my time to look at the civil war pictures on the wall at the main building.
I saw pictures of malnourished children with their skin hanging very loosely over their frames. I saw the picture of a woman who was almost a skeleton with her baby tugging at her deflated breast. I saw the pictures of soldiers who surrendered to the Nigerian Army.
I saw one picture of a soldier who was about to be executed. My heart sank within me as I took in the pictures of our ignoble past. Do we ever learn at all?
However, after spending close to 20 minutes trying to put on the generator to no avail, the curator handed me a torch and we decided to get it over with.
I could only shake my head that such a repertoire of our national history has been so neglected that visitors have to use a torch to access it.
The curator explained to me that the property used to belong to Sir Michael Okpara who donated the building to the Biafra war effort when Enugu fell to the Nigeria Army.
The curator further explained that the bunker was built within 90 days. "Ninety days?", I exclaimed. With my engineering background, I know executing this kind of project within 90 days and still having it standing in such pristine shape after close to 50 years is no mean feat.
I paused at the entrance of the bunker and read the credits given to the architect and builders.
As I descended the stairs of the bunker, it felt a bit eerie were it not for the curator and the driver who were with me. Each step we took echoed as we further descended downwards into the belly of the earth. The bunker is 26.9 feet deep.
As I asked questions, our voices echoed several times along that bunker. We could only walk after each other and not side by side as the bunker was very narrow. The curator showed me what used to be the conference room where meetings held.
On the walls of the room, I saw pictures of Cyprian Ekwensi, Chinua Achebe, Kenneth Dike, Michael Okpara and a few others who were advisers to the late Biafran Warlord, Sir Odimegwu Ojukwu.
I didn't even know late Professor Kenneth Dike supported the war effort until I saw his picture in the bunker. There was also a picture of a young Ojukwu dressed in Biafran military uniform placed on the floor.
I visited the store where food supplies were kept. I also entered Ojukwu's bedroom which was rather small for a man of his physical stature. I was taken to the narrow cell where prisoners or rebel soldiers were kept.
The cell was so narrow I wondered how many people could be kept in such an underground cell. The other end of the cell led to one of the exit from the bunker. There are actually two exits which also serve as escape routes.
Both escape routes had metal rungs on the side which one can climb upwards to escape from an intruder. The curator asked if I wanted to climb the metal rungs but I declined because I was dressed in a native attire.
Right beside one of the exit man hole were four pipes which ran downwards from the top of the manhole to the bottom of the bunker. I was informed the pipes were for ventilation and they are the reason we were not choking, sweating or gasping for air in the bunker.
I also noticed several air ducts that ran along the length of the bunker as we traversed various sections of the bunker. I was very impressed that Africans could embark on such a wonderful project in 1968- with no foreign contribution of any kind!
As we came out through the major entrance to the bunker after the tour, the curator told me there is another section of the bunker that has been shut down for years.
This section led to the other National War Museum in Umuahia but in this instance, one has to crawl within the bunker as there is no standing room. When I asked why it was shut down, he said it is full of reptiles now and other dangerous animals.
How this part of our history has gone to ruins beats me. In my opinion, everyone needs to visit Ojukwu's bunker to take in a piece of our national history- and just maybe, we'll appreciate our unity a bit more.
As I took the Air Peace flight back to Lagos, I promised myself to bring my daughter to Ojukwu's Bunker so she can understand a part of our national history. Maybe her generation will be able to fathom how to work together better.
