Throwback/Historical
Bianca Ojukwu: The True Story Of Her Marriage To Ex-Biafra Leader, Dim Ojukwu
In 1988, Bianca Ojukwu, then known as Bianca Onoh, emerged as the winner of the Most Beautiful Girl In Nigeria (MGBN) peageant.
She later went on to win international pegeants such as Miss Africa and Miss Intercontinental.
The series of successes at these pegeants earned her national attention.
In 1989, in an unprecedented twist of events, Bianca Ojukwu opted to resign as the title-holder of the Most Beautiful Girl In Nigeria peagent.
This happened shortly after information had leaked in the press that she was in a romantic relationship with the ex-Biafran warlord, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
At the time, she was 21 years old, he was 56!.
The controversial romance became a national talking point in the early 1990s. A certain tabloid, back then, falsely reported that she was pregnant.
Throughout the cause celebre, the couple neither confirmed nor denied the affair.
However, pageant organizer, Silverbird Productions, was furious as MBGN title holders are forbidden from engaging in public love affairs during their reign.
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All these led to her relinquishing her crown despite not acknowledging or debunking her affair with Ojuwku at the time.
The first runner-up, Regina Askia, assumed her position and completed Bianca’s tenure as the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria.
The romantic liaison was made more awkward by the fact that Bianca’s father, Christian Chukuwuma Onoh, better known as “CC Onoh”, was a political ally of Dim Ojukwu.
CC Onoh – a former Governor of Anambra State – was greatly opposed to his daughter’s affair with the Ikemba Nnewi.
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However, the main priority at the time for the young beauty queen was completing her education as a Law student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
After finally obtaining a law degree, she married the warlord in a lavish wedding ceremony held in Abuja on 12 November 1994.
It is also important to note that Ojukwu was not married to anybody at that time. This was probably why they were able to go through a strict Roman Catholic wedding.
Since her parents did not approve of the union, they chose to bypass the traditional marriage ceremony, and instead they had a church wedding ceremony.
Years later, the couple eventually received her father’s approval after he came to terms with the realities of their love for each other.
When CC Onoh accepted that the bride price for his daughter be paid, he requested for an almost impossible bride price of 100 pre-independence copper coins.
In 2001, when the traditional marriage ceremony occured, the couple already had three children together.
The couple were married for seventeen years until Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu died in the United Kingdom after a brief illness.
He died on 26 November 2011 at age 78.
