OKIA - S.E. Onukogu: Biography of a Founding Father

Nigeria. It is often in the news, and more often than not, negatively. It wasn't always like that. Africa's most populace giant started off with hope and a promise of all that it could be for its people and the continent. Many men were on the ground in its turbulent '50s and '60s, working hard to make it so. One such man was S.E. "Okia" Onukogu, a native son - specifically of Igboland, in the southeast corner.

Born at the turn of the 20th Century, at a time when Nigeria was under British Colonial Rule, Okia epitomized everything about a man who made the changes he wished to see. Armed with only a 6th-grade education, he climbed into the halls of Nigerian politics where he fought to bring development to his people. He was among the Zikist Nationalists whose persistent agitation for independence eventually forced the British to surrender. Of his beloved Imo State, he was Chairman of the Creation Movement that successfully carved the state within Nigeria, thus cementing him as one of its Founding Fathers.

His professional and personal lives are here chronicled against the backdrop of the rich and complex history of Nigeria - from the moment the British arrived due to the Atlantic Slave Trade, to Nigeria's Constitutional Development which eventually achieved independence in 1960, to the devastating ravages of the Biafran War and its aftermath. Through it all, Okia stood steadfast as a beacon of truth and selflessness, an inspirational force whose message of tireless service to his community and his nation shines throughout the ages.