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 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.