Introduction
In almost all of history, the opportunity to serve in a country’s armed forces is considered the height of unmatched noblesse, valour and glory. However, people are attracted to the armed forces for different reasons. For most, it is the pledge and avowal to place one’s life at the altitude of protecting the safety and peace of the real. In a few cases, even in peacetime, as was the case with some great Nigerians in the late 1950s and 60s, it was a matter of altruistic mobilisation and enlistment at the hands of the great Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. Ironically, a lot of these people later became some of the most outstanding personnel of the country’s military service.
How life started for the Isoko boy
For Major General Paul Ufuoma Omu, entry into the armed forces was simply a calling to put one’s life on the line for his country, realising that its end result could as well be a close shave with death or an actual incidence of paying the supreme price. He praised those famed words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” It was on July 1st, 1940, that Omu was born in the town of Igbide in the Isoko area of what used to be Mid-West Province but is today in Delta State of Nigeria. Geographically, the Isoko nation, which is located in the northwest of the Niger Delta region, is one of the main ethnic groups in the area. Isoko communities’ shares populations present in Delta and Bayelsa States and are known to be amongst the most peaceful groups in the Niger Delta.
With most of its communities lying on the banks of the tributaries of the Forcados River, Omu started life like any other Isoko boy, fishing and farming. But his parents were determined for him to acquire the best of Western education and become part of the new modernism that was creeping all over. In his infant years, he had his basic education at St Phillip’s Anglican School in his village from 1947 to 1954 and later continued secondary education at ZIKS Academy in Sapele Town. For Omu, going out of a small traditional town setting such as Igbide to Sapele town, which at the time was the big metropolis in the area, was a turning point. This was due to the fact that he was able to see the kaleidoscope of inter-ethnic mix, commercial enterprise and civic-political activities around him and the area. Apart from his own Isoko people, he then had to intermingle and work hard to the top with young people from other groups, Ijaws, Urhobos, Ndokwas, Oshimili (Ibos), Abohs, Itsekiris, etc.
Born during the Second World War and entering a town where news and all manner of myths abounded, he became fascinated with the stories of men who came back alive after their participation in fighting for the British Empire in such places as Burma, Palestine, etc. In retrospect, 45,000 men from the Nigerian Army had fought in North Africa, Palestine and Southeast Asia. Despite the fact that these stories included accounts that World War II took 72 million to 85 million lives and could have naturally scared away any young man, for the young Omu, it enamoured him all the more to present himself for service. As such, after a brief stint as an amateur teacher, upon the completion of his secondary education, he offered himself for military service on December 10, 1962, and thereon continued to ascend the honours roll of distinction.
Preparation for service
General Omu’s entry to military service saw him go through, along with his peers, normal training at the Nigerian Military Training, Kaduna, and later on, at the MONS Officers Cadets School in Aldershot, United Kingdom. MONS was originally the elite school for Royal Signals Training, built as far back as 1927 as a special-purpose institution that served the entire Commonwealth of Nations. However, the status of MONS became elevated in 1939 when the 161 Infantry Officers Cadet Training Unit (RMC) that was hitherto located at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, was moved to MONS. Indeed, by the time Omu arrived at MONS, the Royal Artillery and Royal Armoured Corps had also been added to the portfolio of the institution, making it the selected military school in the United Kingdom. To this extent, MONS shared the same ideals as its American counterpart at West Point, being “to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honour, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Arm”y.
Omu, a prominent military officer in Nigeria, received intensive military training from MONS, which was designed for service. Other top military officers, including General Hassan Katsina, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, General Sanni Abacha, and Ghanaian Head of State General Akwasi Afrifa, were also MONS graduates. Omu joined the army on the same day as several top Nigerian military leaders, including General Ibrahim Babangida, Col. Sanni Bello, and General Garba Duba. Bello was also an aide-de-camp to Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who was eliminated in a counter-coup. Omu was at the core of the military elite, which dominated politics and governance for a significant part of Nigeria’s history.
Later in life, he did additional military training courses at the School of Infantry Warminster in the United Kingdom, as well as at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London, alongside the prestigious Command and Staff College, Jaji, as one of the pioneer participants.
Professional soldier par excellence
For much of his career, Omu was a military officer through and through. From July 25 1963, when he was commissioned, he resigned himself to military duties in the barracks. He is also known to have fought with gallantry during the Nigerian civil war. When the war started in 1967, perhaps because of his origins and bravery, he was assigned as Platoon Commander to dislodge the rebel Biafran troops which had entered Benin, the capital of his own Mid-West region. It turned out sweet and bitter. Although he achieved his objective well enough, he was shot in the arm and still bears the scars of a weather-beaten general, just like his coursemate, Gen Babangida. Down the line, he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster General of the Second Infantry Division. He is easy to attribute his emerging from the rest of the war unscathed, not to personal valour, tact or other personal qualities, but to the grace of God and the continued intercessions and tireless work of his parents in the Anglican church in what is today known as Oleh Diocese. Although they never knew or initially approved of his entry into military service, like most parents, Pa Samuel Omu and Ma Oghogho became their shining cavaliers and never relented in their own self-imposed responsibilities of intercession; a duty to which the entire Igbide town bound itself.
After the Civil War ended in January 1970, he had his first major international military assignment by becoming a member of the Commonwealth Composed Military Tribunal in Trinidad and Tobago, whose work was completed in 1971. On return to Nigeria, Omu was appointed Commanding officer Third Division Training School, Port Harcourt, a duty which he combined with being the Assistant Adjutant General of the entire Third Division. By 1973, when he was already a lieutenant colonel, he was appointed commanding officer of the 36th Infantry Battalion, Uyo, and later the 18th Infantry Battalion, Ikot-Ekpene. Thereafter, he rose to become Commander of the 13th Infantry Brigade Calabar.
Infusion into civil governance
Having carved out a niche for himself as an “adjutant”, that is, a staff officer with broad administrative duties, both within the Nigerian Army and with military assignments in the Caribbean, Omu was appointed to perform military juristic duties during his period between Port Harcourt and Uyo. He therefore also served in armed robbery tribunals located in Uyo at the time. With such a top military appointment, his visibility could not be obscured at a time when the military were still holding onto power in Nigeria. So, it was not surprising when in July 1975 he was announced as the new governor of the then-Southeastern State, which was later renamed Cross River State, of which Akwa Ibom State was created much later. It was actually General Murtala Mohammed who had joined the army four years earlier than him and later became the fourth head of state in Nigeria who announced him to lead one of Nigeria’s most important states. Although he had been a thoroughbred military officer, his path and that of Gen. Mohammed had previously not crossed. However, it is believed by some colleagues that Gen Mohammed, who had come with a puritan and activist government, had wanted officers of impeccable character and disposition; hence, the choice of Omu.
Gen. Omu’s South-Eastern State was unique due to its historical significance, including Calabar as Nigeria’s administrative centre. The Efik people of Calabar were urbane and enlightened, and the state was a microcosm of Nigeria with a crossbreed of ethnic diversity. Professor Emmanuel Ayandele, first Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, referred to the state as “an atomistic society, perpetually at war with itself.” The state was also one of the main oil-producing communities, facing endemic problems like the Niger Delta. Despite these challenges, Omu’s legacy in Cross River State includes his urban renewal efforts, which have continued to attract attractions like Margaret Ekpo International Airport and the University of Calabar.
As it is commonly said in reference to the military, “Soldiers come and go, but the barrack remains.” So in 1978 he finished his service as governor and moved on with promotion as Brigadier-General to command the Third Mechanised Infantry Brigade in Kano. Under a military regime, by that office, he was also a member of the Supreme Military Council – the few members ruling junta of those days. Shortly after that, he was moved to be Commandant of the Staff College Jaji effective 1985 through 1988, during which time he acted as the GOC 1st Mechanised Division, which also qualified him to sit in the Supreme Military Council, later renamed the Armed Forces Ruling Council.
In 1984, however, the then military government headed by President Buhari sought an incorruptible military officer to help try the high and mighty politicians who had been kicked out of power during the Second Republic, a period covering 1979 through 1983. In particular was the work at the Lagos Tribunal where some of the biggest names were going to face justice. Operating under a draconian military decree and out of personal inverness to fleece and malfeasance, some of the sentences passed down by the tribunal are considered excessive by many legal experts. Thereafter, he became Principal Joint Staff Officer, Ministry of Defence. He was later appointed Director General of NIPPS Kuru, from where he voluntarily retired in September 1990, which was, as it were, his last major assignment while still in uniform.
General Omu played a significant role in promoting economic and social development in the Niger Delta. The 1963 constitution’s abrogation and removal of 50 percent derivation to mineral-producing states led to neglect and environmental despoliation, with oil being used for other development. The military government allocated only 1 percent to the Niger Delta, which fuelled agitation. With petitions from Niger Delta leaders, the government of Babangida established a subcommittee of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, chaired by Omu, to make recommendations. This led to the establishment of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1993 and a 1.5 percent derivation to oil-producing areas.
Life since taking off the jackboots
Since after retirement, Omu has continued to keep himself busy, principally with various community-based activities. Principally, he humbled himself to become the President-General of the Isoko Development Union (IDU) and has helped greatly to bring his people together for development. However, as the military government of Babangida planned on transferring power to civilian rule, Omu was again tasked in 1986 by his friend IBB to head a Nine-Man Panel to review the recommendations of a political bureau which had been appointed. It is accepted by political watchers that the submissions by the panel which he chaired on this instance went a long way to fine-tune the brief democratic experience of the Third Republic in 1993. Unfortunately, the refusal of the military to allow the Third Republic to grow and mature, including the annulment of the June 12, 1993, general election, frustrated and obfuscated all his efforts.
About ten years ago, former President Umaru Yar’adua appointed Omu as Chairman of the ten-member Governing Board of the highest-level national think tank, the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). Beyond simply overseeing the management of this important body, he was also requested by the President to study and make recommendations on reviewing the laws establishing NIPSS. Still basking in retirement and enjoying the quiet and peace of his Isoko countryside, he was again summoned by Nigeria’s immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, to join the 492 assembly of wise men in Nigeria’s 2014 National Conference, during which he was renowned to have made some of the most far-reaching contributions. He took an equivocal call for “restructuring” Nigeria, meaning the need to return the country, as much as it took, to its original federative principles, which were conditions precedent by the founding fathers, before the military men of his kind stepped in.
Today, Omu joins the club of the country’s older citizens. He has been honoured severally with professional, traditional and high national honours, not thest of which is Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR). At eighty, General Omu stands tall, basking in his record of unblemished military service. It is often said that a good name is better than silver and gold. No doubt, Omu’s military service was quite rewarding, touching every facet of his chosen path. Wherever he served, both senior and younger officers got inspired by his high level of professionalism, transparency and integrity. He has earned a good standing among his generation of military rulers, some of whom are not so much applauded, and stands out like a lighthouse. It was William Shakespeare who once said that “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” No doubt, Omu saw his path in life far ahead. Like many other great and wise men of history, he worked hard not to be sullied by the attraction of immediate guile associated with political experience. While he belonged to the cabal of military henchmen, the acquisitive acumen of some of whom tends to dwarf their mammoth national service, both in uniform and in the country’s political evolution, Omu was more known for his stainless integrity, for truth and honour, which are the values that attracted him to wear the uniform in the first place. He and his adoring wife, Sen. Stella Omu, and children can recline and serve God, building churches and, when necessary, coming out of his cocoon to add his prized voice to the effusive debate and Nigeria’s countless national palavers.
Felicitaciones, bonne anniversaire, Monsieur Le Generale!
Dr Igali is a former Ambassador and retired Federal Permanent Secretary.
