An Open Letter To Bianca Ojukwu

This letter may come to you as a great surprise as the art of letter-writing is dying fast in Nigeria owing to our poor culture of reading and the advent of cellphone and other modes of fast communication like whatsapp, instagram, twitter, and facebook.

More so, I have chosen to write a letter to you because I hold you dearly in my heart. A letter can adequately convey my feelings and thoughts to you. And, the criticisms by some members of your late husband’s family, which trailed your declaration of interest to contest for the Anambra South Senatorial seat, necessitated my writing this letter.

Dear Bianca Ojukwu (nee Onoh), I have always held you dear in my heart since my childhood day(s) when you came to national limelight and prominence following your emergence as the winner of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) pageant. You went ahead to win the Miss Africa and Miss Intercontinental beauty competitions, too. I remember pasting your lovely pictures and those of Mary Onyali-Omagbemi on the wall near my bed. And I would look at them lovingly and admiringly, daily. To say that you are a beautiful lady is an understatement. In fact, you are still a model of an unparalleled beauty.

And, when Bianca Onoh, as she was known then, chose the former leader of the Biafra secessionist group and one-time sole administrator of the defunct Eastern region, the late Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, above other suitors, amidst criticisms, as her husband , it’s a proof of her possession of a strong will and a mind of her own.

In addition to this, her marriage was fruitful and blissful, unlike some marriages of former beauty queens and iconic actresses, which would collapse soon after they’re consummated owing to their peccadilloes, vanities, promiscuity, and hubris. She stood steadfastly by her husband through thick and thin and lent him her total and unalloyed support in his political endeavours and enterprise. And, Chief Bianca Ojukwu is not proud or supercilious, not minding the fact that she’s a remarkably beautiful silver-spoon girl, who received qualitative education both in Nigeria and overseas. And, those sterling and endearing attributes, which she possesses accounted for the longevity and success of her marriage.

When Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu bowed to death, she was disconsolate. And she mourned his demise sincerely. Soon after, she was drafted into Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s political administration, where she served diligently and conscientiously as the political adviser to the President on Diaspora affairs. Bianca Ojukwu discharged her ambassadorial duties with suavity, finesse, patriotic fervour, and gracefulness when she was Nigeria’s ambassador to Spain. Now, owing to her sojourn in the corridors of power and experience as Nigeria’s former ambassador to Spain and Ghana, she has garnered leadership qualities.

More than her possession of comeliness, loveliness, humility, integrity, and leadership qualities, Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu is immensely blessed with grey matters. She has a good head on her shoulders. The drop-dead gorgeous lady is not all about beauty. Her friends on facebook would attest to the fact that not only is she well-educated but also she is quick on the uptake as well as extremely brilliant.

That’s why her declaration of interest to contest the 2019 Anambra South Senatorial Zone election for the National Assembly has excited my interest and gladdened my heart. And we know that Bianca is a long-standing and devoted member of APGA, the ruling political party in Anambra State. She has contributed her quota towards entrenching the political party in Anambra State.

However, to our utter surprise and dismay, some members of the Ojukwu family in Nnewi, Anambra State have taken Chief Bianca Ojukwu to the obloquy owing to her political candidature and aspiration. They opined that she is likely to re-marry since she is beautiful and relatively young. So, based on that postulation and conjecture, and their weird imaginings, they deemed her unfit to contest for that elective political post.

But has Chief Mrs. Bianca Odinakachukwu Ojukwu betrayed tendencies and sentiments that show that she is nursing the intention of re-marrying? The answer to that question is a categorical no. Rather, she is keen on keeping the memory of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu alive and green in our collective psyche, forever.

Again, her traducers and political rivals posited that she hails from Ngwo, Enugu State, and not Anambra State, which renders her ineligible to vie to represent Anambra South in the Senate. The purveyors of this despicable and divisive narrative want to whip up clannish sentiments in order to tilt the balance in favour of their preferred candidate during the APGA primary elections for tickets. Who doesn’t know that Bianca Ojukwu is eligible to contest the election as she’s legally married to Emeka Ojukwu? Now, she is the late Emeka Ojukwu’s widow. Are some ladies who were born in the United States of America by American parents not Nigerian citizens by their marriages to Nigerian men and registration? It is laughable and pitiable that in the 21st century, some people with seemingly good education are still trapped in the morass of primordial sentiments and clannishness.

I urge Chief Bianca Ojukwu not to relent in her efforts to win the APGA ticket to contest for the Anambra South senatorial post. If she wins the election to represent her people in the senate, they will be assured of quality representation.

–– Chiedu Uche Okoye, Uruowulu Obosi, Anambra State.