I decided to check the meaning of “warlord” in the dictionary and was shocked that it was a word with a negative connotation. Since that day, I stopped using it to refer to him.
I used to add the phrase “Biafran Warlord” to the name of Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, thinking that it was an honorific signifying power, courage, bravery, heroism, etc.
Then many years ago, I read Ikemba himself puncturing that expression, noting that it was denigrating, even though many used it without malice or any attempt to ridicule him. He explained that he led Biafra as a republic, and therefore the term did not apply to him.
I decided to check the meaning of “warlord” in the dictionary and was shocked that it was a word with a negative connotation. Since that day, I stopped using it to refer to him.
The meaning of a word can be different from what people assume it to be.
For example, what “blood money” means in the dictionary is not what we say it is here in Nigeria. What “stature” means is not what many of us assume it to be.
No matter how educated we are, we need to constantly confirm the meaning and usage of the words and expressions we employ in our communication, because nobody ever knows it all.
Azuka Onwuka
