Did you know that Uzuakoli, Bende LGA in Abia state was once designated by the British as the safest place on Earth to provide a hiding place for the King of England in the heat of World War 11 and so the King lived there at what is known now as the King’s Bunker at the Methodist College Uzuakoli.
It was of course a top secret.
Ojukwu merely converted the same bunker for his use during the civil war.
Also unknown to many, in the heat of Azikiwe’s media battle with the British over the soul of Nigeria, Zik announced that his life was threatened and went underground.
He chose Uzuakoli and James Okeke, a settler who was the only one to volunteer his home, a thatched house at today’s strangers’ quarters for Zik to live.
Furthermore not many know that Nigeria’s first Military Head Of State Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi hails from Amankwo Uzuakoli.
His father Ironsi was ostracized from the village for seven years for a traditional offense but was expected to offer a sacrifice after serving this sentence but did not do so.
He passed on leaving his children behind one of which happens to be the General.
When he became Head Of State, he organized elders and his kits and kin to fulfill this traditional obligation and he was duly decorated at State House to pave way for his return to his ancestral home.
When he was killed, the Uzuakoli people played a prominent role in his burial.
When then-President Ibrahim Babangida came to Commission the Uzuakoli Electricity project in the 80s he shocked many observers when he removed his socks and stepped on the bare sand at the Methodist Practicing School Uzuakoli.
He wanted a feel of this sacred soil that saved his life when he was wounded during the civil war.
It was an Uzuakoli woman who nursed him back to life risking her own life and allegiance in the process.
By 1993 IBB had stepped aside but was not safe. He found Uzuakoli again a safe haven while the June 12 fire burned itself out.
When the Civil war ended in 1970 it happened under the Crest of Methodist College because both combatants found it a common ground to lay down their arms in trust since both sides had students of the great College. Uzuakoli also boosts of three great actors in the movie industry. Mike Ezuronye who is from Amamba, Uzuakoli, Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki) from Eluoma too and Nnenna Nwabueze (Merit of Living in Bondage) who is from Ngwu part of Uzuakoli.