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| The rarely discussed General Philip Efiong: Biafra’s second Head of State |
Such is the case of General Philip Asuquo Efiong. U.J. Esuene, the Ukpabia-Asika version of Cross River is today immortalised whereas General Effiong is almost obliterated from history.
Udoakaha Jacob Esuene, a Nigerian air force officer was one of the few Biafrans that were used to break the ranks of Biafran military. In an effort to derail the newly declared Republic of Biafra, Yakubu Gowon hastily created three states out of Biafra in May 1967. Ukpabia Asika was appointed the governor of the East Central State, U.J. Esuene, governor of the South Eastern State (now Cross River &Akwa Ibom) and Alfred Papapreye Diette Spiff governor of Rivers State.
Esuene, a fighter pilot was the Military Governor of South Eastern State between May 1967 and July 1975 during the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon. While his brothers fought to defend Biafra, their fatherland, Esuene, an Ibibio like General Effiong served the Northern Oligarchy. For his role he was 'immensely rewarded' by Gowon.
In a characteristic manner that such people are usually discarded after use, Esuene was dismissed by General Murtala Muhammed when he seized power in July 1975, was charged and found guilt of illegally enriching himself while in office, and was dismissed from the military.
However, General Ibrahim Babaginda-led Armed Forces Ruling Council , perhaps in an effort to groom and encourage more people like Esuene in Biafra, reversed Esuene's dismissal. Subsequently, Esuene's rank and benefits were restored and backdated to 1975.
His family has continued to benefit from handouts from the Northern Oligarchy and their stooges in government. After his death, his wife Helen Esuene was appointed Minister of State for Health, and later Minister of Environment and Housing between 2005 and 2007, under Olusegun Obasanjo. A stadium in Cross RIver State is also named after him.
Flipping back to Effiong, he is hardly mentioned. Not many know that he was Ojukwu's deputy and rose to become Biafra's second Head of State after General Odimegwu Ojukwu left Biafra. Born in Ibiono Ibom Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, on 18 November 1925, Philip Effiong joined the Nigerian Armed Forces on 28 July 1945. He quickly rose through the ranks until on 11 January 1956 he received the Queen's Commission following his officer cadet training at Eaton Hall in Chester. England He was later commissioned for duty in the Rhine, then West Germany. He was subsequently transferred to the Nigeria Army Ordnance Corps. Effiong returned to England for further training after a peace-keeping stint in the Republic of Congo in 1961. General Effiong rose through the ranks to become a Lt-Colonel in the Nigerian Army and was Nigeria's first Director of Ordnance, before the coup of 15 January 1966. Following the coup, he was posted to the Supreme Headquarters as Principal Staff Officer to Major-Gen J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi. He was Acting Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters in May 1966. His position as Ironsi's Chief of Staff troubled elements of the Northern Oligarchy who were plotting to assassinate Ironsi. In July 1966, the coupists were able to persuade Ironsi to transfer Effiong to Kaduna as Deputy Brigade Commander, at the peak of massacre of Biafran civilians and soldiers in the North. The North was hardly the safest place for a Southern officer then. His tenure in Kaduna was made even more precarious due to his various frantic attempt to alert Ironsi and the higher military authorities about an impending mutiny [coup], which eventually occurred in July 1966. Needless to say that following the coup of July 1966, Effiong who was a target of the northern criminals (coupists), managed to escape to Lagos.
In compliance with orders for all officers to return to their region of origin, he returned to the then Eastern Region before the civil war broke out in 1967. In Biafra, a committed Biafran held various commands as Chief of Logistics, Chief of Staff, Commandant of the Militia and the Chief of General Staff. According to ace journalist Pini Jason, what put Efiong in a position of historical significance is that he was the last [for now] Head of State of Biafra and the man who eventually brought the war to an end, when he surrendered to Gowon.
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General Effiong was also forever grateful to his Igbo cousins. In his words, “Let me emphasise here that for one extraordinary moment in our history as a nation the Igbo, one of the three major ethnic groups that make up this country, accepted without question and with complete loyalty and affection, the authority and leadership of a man from a so-called minority area and accepted without question his call to them (and all others who fought along with them). This supreme trust was based on my proven commitment to justice and fair play, honesty of purpose to the people concerned, rather than on my ability to mislead and deceive them. It is a point that perhaps some of our leaders should bear in mind when dealing with the masses and nationals of this country.”
As The Biafran remember General Effiong, it also remembers other Biafrian soldiers who played heroic roles during the war of freedom. The Biafran remembers the great Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, who carried out the first Nigerian Revolution to rid it of corruption and nepotism. Nzeogwu was killed while fighting for Biafra during a tactical Nsukka operations. The heroics of fearless fighter Major Archibong who fought relentlessly and was killed in a bid to defend his homestead, Ikot Ekpene, Captain Nwadiegwu who started the powerful Ranger Regiment from where Major Ignatius Ebbe emerged as a hero, the handsome Colonel Chude Sokei from Onitsha, whose deaths drew wailings from Ojukwu and Biafrans, Captain Dokubo from old Rivers State now Bayelsa State, and of course, Captain Anthony Asoluka, killed by a sniper at the Owerri sector also defending his homestead. will forever be remembered.
The greatest of them all was perhaps Brigadier Tim Onwuatuegwu (A.K.A Col Onwiatuegwu), fighter extraordinaire, who survived the war but tricked by one of his batmen to escape through Ikom into Cameroun - only to betray him to Nigerian troops stationed in that area in 1970, who extra-judiciously assassinated him well after the war had ended is eternally ingrained in the memories of true Biafrans. A testimony of a soldier who served under his command reads thus: "If there was a top Biafran soldier, who saw the fight for our survival up close and personal, Col. Tim Onwuatuegwu was one. Col. Onwuatuegwu was S. Brigagde Commander and later S. Div. Commander. In each of these commands, under which yours truly served, there were times this whole Div Commander, was less than a mile away from the trenches. He personally came to battalion tactical headquarters to deliver goods to the troops. Yours truly was a recipient of some of the goods he delivered once to us, at Eberi Omuma, in Etche. "Tell the boys I'd bring more things for them". When we were at Ogwu, and he was the Brigade Commander, Col. Onwuatuegwu was the most restless in the heat of battle. I recall seeing him once with tears in his eyes, and it was a day we had many casualties."
General Effiong remained true to cause. General Ojukwu who led Biafra into the war received 'pardon' from Nigeria, allowing him to return from exile. However, Efiong who brought the war to an end never went back to Nigeria. He died a Biafran General.
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