Tribute to Professor Austine SO Okwu at 92: A look at how a diplomat who signed up to serve his country ended up serving his own people Ambassador of Biafra.
Part II
The relationship between Ghana and Nigeria had reached a new low point when SO arrived in Ghana in 1961. The foreign ministers of both countries came close to fistfights. Nigerian politicians shouted that Ghanaian-trained dissidents were planning to remove them from power.
Kwame Nkrumah, the then Prime Minister of Ghana, was at the height of his power. Four years earlier, in 1957, before any other African colony, Kwame and the Ghanaians had dethroned Britain. Now anyone who wanted to shake off British rulers or native despots came to Ghana to learn from the masters.
If ten days of Man-of-War Bay training in Cameroon (prior to his two-year service as assistant divisional officer in Ahaoda, Nigeria) had instilled mental strength in Austine SO, it was his ten-month stay in Ghana. which honed his diplomatic skills.
For men like SO, each day presented an opportunity to showcase Nigeria, not just to the host country, Ghana, but to the world. Love for their country drove the Nigerian diplomats of the early 1960s. Even when no one was looking, they looked out for the interests of Nigeria.
Patriotism
Although appointed as Chief of Foreign Affairs, Austine wondered why the estimated cost of building an oil refinery at Alesa Elema, near Port Harcourt, Nigeria, was many times higher than a similar project in Tema, Ghana, where he worked. Acting on his hunch, the new diplomat tipped off the Nigerian government, prompting them to renegotiate for a better deal.
Replica with the Prince
When Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip came to congratulate Ghana on its infrastructure, SO was among diplomats from other countries selected to meet the royal couple.
‘People of Nigeria,’ commented Phillip, nodding several times and extending his right hand.
“Yes,” Austine acknowledged, “my apologies; The head of mission, Mr. Leslie Harriman, could not be here today.
“How’s it going, huh, you from eastern Nigeria and Leslie from western Nigeria?” asked Prince Philip.
A gleam appeared on SO’s face, as he shook hands with Prince Philip.
“If the English, the Welsh and the Scots can exist under British rule despite several wars, Nigeria, borrowing from you, can learn to coexist,” Austine replied.
Never before had the Prince been diplomatically challenged in such a manner. Silent for a few seconds, Phillip looked at Elizabeth, before finally crushing Austine with a two-minute handshake.
After SO’s successful conversation with the Prince, he celebrated making a royal impression by attending a semi-diplomatic fanfare that same evening. He was wearing his favorite white caftan and matching pants. On his head was a close-fitting domed hat, decorated with rose petals, which left a shock of three-month-old black hair at both temples.
Kenneth Kaunda, future President of Zambia
The crowd saw Austin. Accra had been talking about the extended moment the new Nigerian diplomat had with the royal couple.
“You spent more time with the Royals than anyone else,” said a short, paunchy, inquisitive guy. His Senegalese accent stands out as he speaks.
“I had to defend Nigeria,” said Austine, as she continued to follow the guest train. Nearby, beer bottles, cooked meats, jollof rice, and sweetbreads skewered on sticks lay on a wooden table covered with a brown cloth.
‘Nice. I wish I were a fly hiding behind your hat and listening to your conversation with… -the Senegalese began to say. Before he could finish, someone touched his left shoulder and he turned.
“You know a friend, Kenneth,” the paunchy envoy said.
“Kenneth Kaunda, from Zambia,” said a young man covered in coal tar, blinking rapidly.
‘Austine Okwu, Nigeria, Chief of Chancery of the High Commission.’
The two men examined each other. They were like brothers of the same age, raised in different parts of Africa.
‘I know, I know who you are,’ replied the Zambian; ‘How can I contact Nnamdi Azikiwe or Tafawa Balewa?’ A sense of urgency betrayed his youthful age.
Everyone wanted a piece of Nnamdi Azikiwe and Tafawa Belewa. The British had appointed these men to be the first president and the first prime minister of Nigeria.
‘Find a chicken,’ Austine told her brother, ‘and tomorrow at 6 pm come to the house. Don’t fail.
Kenneth selected a crop of sweetbreads skewered on an oiled stick. He bit into the first gizzard and ground it between his right molars. After giving him time to swallow, Austine continued: ‘I have been reassigned to Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika. They want me to open a new mission in Nigeria.
“But Ghana is the center of the African revolution,” Kaunda argued.
“My country believes in me, and this will be Nigeria’s first diplomatic mission in East Africa.”
Kenneth Kaunda nodded silently. ‘I wish I could do something for my country to help them drive out the British colonialists. You have to put me in touch with Azikiwe or Belewa.
End of Part II