Obie Chinwe
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Obie Chinwe | |
|---|---|
 Chinwe in 1958 | |
| President of Tiwura | |
| In office July 30, 1954 – June 8, 1966 | |
| Preceded by | Derrick Clearmont |
| Succeeded by | Reese Okparro Ndulu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 4, 1917 Mbluna, Royal Coast |
| Died | June 8, 1966 (aged 48) Omamiri, Tiwura |
| Manner of death | Assassination |
| Nationality | Tiwuran |
| Political party | Tiwuran Prosperity Party |
| Spouse | Anamaria Okeke (m. 1949) |
| Children | 4 |
| Profession | Soldier |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Template:Country data Estmere Tiwura |
| Branch/service | Template:Country data Estmere Royal Coast Rifles Tiwuran Army |
| Years of service | 1941–1950 (Estmere) 1950–1966 (Tiwura) |
| Rank | Major (Estmere)
General (Tiwura) |
| Battles/wars | Solarian War Horo Rebellion |
Obie Chinwe (4 October 1917-8 June 1966) was a General in the Tiwuran Armed Forces and served as the second President of Tiwura from 1954 to 1966. Obie Chinwe ruled as Tiwura's first military dictator and his rule began the nation's 50 year-long span of dictatorship. Chinwe would rise to power via a coup in 1954, ousting Derrick Clearmont and establishing a militarist regime. Chinwe would rule for twelve years, with his final years of rule being marked by his attempted invasion of Yemet in the Bulamu War, which ultimately led to defeat and his eventual assassination.
Chinwe was born in 1917 in Mbluna, located today in Nimororu. Chinwe's father was a miner and would work in the mines outside Mbluna. Chinwe's older brother, Amadi, would fight in the Great War during the Gaullican invasion of the Royal Coast. Chinwe would afterwards enlist and serve in the Bahian front of the Solarian War as an officer of the Royal Coast Rifles. After independence, Chinwe would remain in his position and be promoted to general in 1950. During this period Chinwe grew discontent with the leadership of Clearmont after the disaster of the Horo Rebellion, and would launch a coup against him along with several other military officers and politicians.
Chinwe's rise to power came with the support of Estmere, who he would grant access to Tiwura's oil reserves for military and economic support. Chinwe was incredibly popular during his first years as President, constructing new roads and other infrastrucure projects across Tiwura. However, Chinwe would be openly against Pan-Bahianism, believing it would destroy Tiwura's identity and power in the region. This led to the arrests of thousands of suspected pan-bahianists and socialists across the country, as he claimed they were a threat to his power. This period also saw Chinwe's transformation of the National Identity Movement into a Mwo-based program, beginning the rise of Tiwuran Mwo-supremacism, which was clearly detailed in many of his speeches. He also would begin claiming neighboring Obergond territory, seeing the ethnic divide of the Ouloume peoples as a threat to unity in Tiwura. Chinwe would ramp up these actions with the rise of the United Bahian Republic in the early 60s with the new Yemeti nation. The Tiwuran economy also would begin to plunder as foreign suppliers such as Estmere began to look towards other sources for oil and more investors saw Bahia as too dangerous to do business in with the UBR's growth.
After a coup attempt in 1961, Chinwe reorganized the government, beginning "democratization" by dissolving the military council and forming a civilian senate to weaken fellow military leaders. In 1964, Chinwe would build up whatever military forces Tiwura had as more threats arose from with inside with insurgencies arising across the country. He would launch the invasion of Yemet, the Bulamu War, in 1964. The war would be a tragedy and cost Tiwura thousands of lives and saw Chinwe's eventual surrender to Yemet. This failure brought about rising rebellions in remote regions, and the military leaders of Tiwura would see him as too weak to rule and assassinated Chinwe in 1966, leading to a power vacuum that would begin the First Tiwuran Civil War.
Today Obie Chinwe is viewed by most to be a tyrant. His rule saw several human rights abuses, from extrajudicial killings, political repression, ethnic persecution, and persecution. Experts from across the world believe Chinwe would be directly responsible for death of 20,000 Tiwurans, not including those killed during the Yemeti war.
Early Life
Chinwe is a member of the Ochejemi people, a subgroup of the Mwo people, and was born in the small village of Mbluna, located in the modern-day province of Nimororu. Mbluna is located 25 miles north of Haridam, the closest urban center. His father, Ikenna Chinwe, was a miner who worked near Haridam and would often leave Obie with his mother, Oluchi. Chinwe's elder brother, Amadi, would be first of his family to enlish in the Royal Coast Rifles. Here Amadi would take part in the Great War, where he would fight during the Gaullican invasion of the Royal Coast. In 1938, Obie would be employed by his uncle in Ponulo where he would work at a newspaper printing company and work there until 1941.
Military Career
Chinwe would join Royal Coast Rifles in 1941 and join be one of the few Bahians to be able to receive of the position of officer. Chinwe claimed this was due to Amadi's previous service in the RCR. Chinwe would first see action during the Solarian War, being a commander in one of the few RCR units deployed to fight Etrurian forces. Following this service, he would be one of the RCR's most prominent Bahian officers. In 1948, Chinwe would join the Tiwuran Advancement Society, which sought to bring about Tiwuran Independence. However, the group was also infamously Mwo nationalist, and often blamed for Chinwe's political stance as president. In 1949, he would announce his support for NIMORC.
After the independence of Tiwura in 1950, Chinwe would be promoted to general by President Derrick Clearmont due to his service in the Solarian War. In 1950 and 1951, Chinwe would take command of the 1st Army, which was located around Omamiri. During his time in Omamiri, Chinwe would make connections with local soldiers and police. Chinwe is said to have often been seen visiting police stations and conversing with chiefs and officers. Chinwe would also become close with Estmerish business leaders who would often meet with Clearmont and other officials from the southeast regarding security and business prospects. Chinwe would often be directed to protect the oil infrastructure of foreign companies. In late 1950, the 1st Army would begin requesting more funding from the central government. This was temporarily granted, but was ultimately revoked due to the relative stability of the southeast and the need for funding in Clearmont's National Identity Movement and more military resources being sent to the unstable west. Chinwe was reportedly outraged at this, and he went to Clearmont's office to ask for this change to be reversed, although it never was. In mid 1951, Chinwe would begin receiving recruits from the west of Tiwura. This change saw a demographic split in the 1st Army, and the majority Mwo troops would demand that the western soldiers be tranferred into the 3rd Army under the command of Jules Afani. Chinwe would agree with his men, and asked Clearmont to transfer the soldiers west, which Clearmont agreed to do, although the agreement they reached stated that the 1st Army would be roughly 80% soldiers from the southeastern provinces. In October of 1951, Chinwe would join Minister of Defense Dwem Vershima in a visit to Estmere to meet with members of the Estmerish Defense Forces. During this visit, the Tiwuran commanders would ask Estmere for economic support to protect their interests in Tiwura due to a rising resistance to Estmerish involvement in the form of socialist and Pan-Bahianist movements, although it is unknown whether this actually ended up influencing Estmerish government. In early 1952, Chinwe had become TAF's most prominent members. In 1952, when the Horo Rebellion began, Chinwe would be transferred from command of the 1st Army to the 3rd Army by Clearmont, who believed that Afani was not capable of defeating the rebels after 100 soldiers were killed within the first week. Upon his arrival to the west, Chinwe struggled to organize an effective attack against the rebels. Many Irfani soldiers, a significant number of which were Horo, joined the rebels throughout the conflict. In response, Chinwe would primarily deploy Sotirian and Bahian Fetishist to the front. In the weeks the followed, the 3rd Army attempted a scorched-earth campaign to eliminate the rebels, with Chinwe using religion as a motivating factor for the soldiers.