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Zik’s secret letters …
As war rages over the estate of Nigeria’s first president

By ABDULFATAH OLADEINDE

Indications have emerged that the battle now raging over the estate of the Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe began several years before the death of the elder statesman and first President of Nigeria.

And more than seven years after the departure of the man popularly called Zik of Africa, there seems to be no truce, with the widow, Dr Uche Azikiwe having dragged her step-sons to court in the bid for a legal resolution of the intractable dispute.

Evidence of schism in the Azikiwe family surfaced as early as November 23, 1982 through a letter, in which Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe levelled serious allegations against his eldest son and now successor to the Owelle of Onitsha stool, Chukwuma Bamidele Azikiwe. "I have not seen you or heard from you for three years plus. You and you alone should know the reason why you should develop aversion to your own natural father," Dr Azikiwe wrote.

The first president noted that while the nation rejoiced with him on his 78th birthday anniversary, it meant nothing to his son, who allegedly could not even offer to say "happy birthday." Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe recalled that he never wronged his own father or retaliated against any of his acts, real or imaginary when he (his father) was alive. He continued: "Because you have declared antagonism against me, I hereby admonish you not to dare to enter into any of my houses or premises at Onitsha (Inosi Onira Retreat) or at Nsukka (Onuiyi Haven, Nwawularu House, Ozi Cottage, Akalem House, Mozenye Quarters, Nwabunie Quarters, Nwosisi Flats) and at Opanda (Orkunwa Manor). "Henceforth, put this in your pipe and smoke it: should I go to the way of all flesh, don't bother to attend my funeral. Thank you for your filial reaction to a beloved father. I have no regrets. Goodbye," Zik concluded.

In the same vein, he sent a separate letter of same date to his first wife and mother of four children, Mrs Flora Azikiwe, complaining about the behaviour of the children, described as "wayward offspring," and the steps he had taken against them.

The feud between the father and children persisted and Dr Azikiwe had the cause to vent his disgust over alleged defiant way and manner in which Chukwuma and his siblings allegedly arranged their mother's funeral service in September 1983 without his "knowledge and consent." The simmering misunderstanding between father and children boiled over again on January 25, 1985 when Zik ordered his third son, Dr Nwachukwu Abiodun Azikiwe to vacate the building in the Inosi Onira Retreat, which was his late mother's residence.

In his letter to Nwachukwu, the elder statesman stated that since his wife's burial, neither Nwachukwu nor his brothers and sister had obtained his permission or authority to reside in the building temporarily or permanently.
The battle would appear as one-sided with the embattled children not having an opportunity of reply. But Zik made reference to a letter, which Nwachukwu allegedly wrote to Mrs Elizabeth Ozoemena Obiesie, the former president's niece on December 4, 1983.

Nwachukwu was quoted as having allegedly written thus: "D-Day is fast approaching and when the show-down comes, we shall be ready for you people "Onye ma oso, nya kwade mgba."(meaning if you hiss, prepare also for wrestling).
"Nobody is going to live for ever.
"Nobody is going to push any of us around any more and get away with it.
"I mean nobody.
"Are you people so naïve that you do not know that we, the three sons of the Owelle are men of great stature in our own right and wield our own influence independently of the Owelle with the governments of the day and the powers that be?"

In reaction to the letter, Dr Azikiwe wrote informing Nwachukwu that: "This being the case, and since you, particularly, had been qualified as a medical practitioner since 1972, you should be able to fend for yourself in so far as shelter is concerned."Besides his directive to the son, the elder statesman wrote the Anambra State Commissioner of Police to instruct the Divisional Police Officer, Onitsha to eject his children and Nwachukwu's steward from Inosi Onira Retreat.

Among explanations made to the police boss, Dr Azikiwe stated that "because of the impertinence of Nwachukwu, together with the insults and insinuations in his letter to my niece; because of the veiled threat in this foolish letter, which apparently anticipated my death (as the "D-Day" mentioned in the said letter); because of the violation of my legal and customary rights to the property of my late wife, which Nwachukwu, a third son and his collaborators, had outraged; because of his obstinacy in assuming tenancy (if not ownership) of the annex to Inosi Onira Retreat, not to think of his recalcitrant poise, I am of the considered opinion that having trespassed on my property, he and his two brothers and sister and steward are squatters, whenever they reside there."

Zik expressed regret about the inaction of two Onitsha-based lawyers whose services he had retained to eject the "squatters" and on February 8, 1985, he sought to engage another legal practitioner, C. A. Modebe on the matter. In his brief to Modebe, Dr Azikiwe directed among others that his three sons and daughter be restrained from entering the precincts and premises of Inosi Onira Retreat except with his authority.

He also sought to restrict the children from converting the property of his late wife, their mother, into their own use in the absence of a valid Will and/or letters of Administration granted to him as husband and Chukwuma as eldest son.
"Should these obdurate children of mine express a desire for rapprochement, that is, if they show remorse and are penitent, and disgorge their loot, my condition is that after having been ejected from Inosi Onira Retreat and after disgorging their loot, then they should sign an unreserved apology, individually, and I will then convene a meeting of descendants (i.e sons and daughters) of MOLOKWU to be held in IBA AZIKIWE at Ogbeabu, with me sitting on the family DAIS (Ukpo). There and then I will consult my kinsfolk and spell out to the rebels conditions for a peaceful settlement. Otherwise, I could not care less.

"I am really sorry for the length of this letter; but I know that you will appreciate the plight of a loving father, who did all that was humanly possible to give his children not only a sound education but a great opportunity in life – only to be spited and rebuffed by them in his old age. It is saddening for me to ruminate that not one of these four children care to find out about my state of health or even present condition at the age of 80 years three months. What a paradoxical life!" Zik wrote, concluding his letter to Modebe.

Apparently, the dispute between the father and children was unsettled until the revered politician passed away on May 11, 1996.

On May 5 last year, Zik’s widow, Dr Uche Azikiwe filed suit No. O/625/2000 in an Onitsha High Court seeking for the resolution of the dispute of right of access to the Inosi Onira Retreat. The legal tussle involved Owelle Chukwuma Azikiwe and his younger sibling Chukwuemeka Azikiwe as defendants.

Dr Uche Azikiwe, a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, wants the court to declare that she had an unrestrained right of access to Inosi Onira Retreat, her matrimonial home and the right to keep the premises tidy and to live therein whenever she was in Onitsha. She also sought an order from the court restraining the defendants, described as squatters on the property, from obstructing her from having free access into or out of the Inosi Onira Retreat.

Mrs Azikiwe stated further that since Owelle Azikiwe, the first defendant sent away the caretaker and gardener she employed to keep the compound clean and changed the locks, she had been unable to stay in the Retreat.
According to her, series of efforts to involve the police and elders of Onitsha to persuade the defendants to give her free access to her matrimonial home peacefully had been rebuffed.

She contended that even the elders had stated that under native law and custom of Onitsha she was entitled to the use of the matrimonial home for life.

Zik's widow in her particulars of claim argued that the Azikiwes had their "Iba" (homestead) in Ogbeabu quarters of Onitsha. She also claimed that the defendants had seized their father's Will and had refused to produce same allegedly to forestall the grant of probate of the Will.

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