BIAFRA NEWS : I fought in Biafran army during civil war, says Nwodo

A former minister of Aviation and one-time Information and Culture minister, Chief John Nwodo, said he fought as a lieutenant in the Biafran Army during Nigeria’s civil war of 1967-1970.

He also said when the war ended, it was a tough task for his parents to accept to send him to school at the University College, London (now University of Ibadan), present-day Oyo State, to further his studies because, according to him, it had some history with a premier of the Western region, who was Minister of Finance during the war.

The immediate past President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, made this known during his opening remark at the 70th anniversary of the SIGMA Club, University of Ibadan, dinner held in Eko Convention Centre, Lagos.

Nwodo said, “I went to University of Ibadan at the end of the civil war.  Going to UI at the end of the war was a difficult decision for my parents to support.

“We were so fresh from the police action turned into a war against the southeast. I was a lieutenant in the Biafran Army and I was going to study in a university which is ‘home’ to the former premier of the western region, who was the Minister of Finance during the war.

“My mother went to perform masses on my behalf. I came to Ibadan and a few of my seniors who were in the faculty said to me that there was one club I would join which would make me feel at home.

“That was how I became a member of the SIGMA club. I learnt decency and punctuality from the club, which have helped me in my life’s endeavours.”