Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (4 November 1933[1] - 25 November 2011[2]) was a Nigerian colonel and politician. Ojukwu served as the military governor of the Eastern region of Nigeria in 1966, the leader of the breakaway Biafra republic from 1967 to 1970 and a leading Nigerian politician from 1983 to 2011 upon his death.

Ojukwu came into national prominence following his appointment as military governor in 1966 and his actions thereafter. Following a coup in January 1966 and a counter coup in July 1966 by different military factions leading to a pogrom in Northern Nigeria in which Igbos were predominantly killed. Ojukwu led talks and sought an end to the pogrom and hostilities by seeking peace with the then Nigerian military leadership, headed by General Yakubu Gowon. The military leadership met in Aburi Ghana (the Aburi Accord), but the agreement reached there was not implemented to all parties satisfaction upon their return to Nigeria. The failure to reach a suitable agreement, the decision of the Nigerian military leadership to establish new states in the Eastern Region and the continued pogrom in Northern Nigeria led Ojukwu to announce a breakaway of the Eastern Region under the new name Biafra republic in 1967. These sequence of events sparked the Nigerian Civil War. Ojukwu led the Biafran forces and following the defeat of Biafra in January 1970, he went into exile for 13 years, whereupon he returned to Nigeria following a pardon.

Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu died on 25 November 2011.