03/12/2025
THE SECRETS OF OGBUNIGWE AND OTHER BIAFRAN WEAPONS AND PRODUCTS REVEALED FOR POSTERITY
As soon as the war started, the Government of Biafra collected a group of her scientists to form a RAP Unit, with a mandate to brainstorm about how to produce whatever that can help Biafra to survive despite being cut off from the rest of the world. The RAP was headed by Late Dr. B.C. Nwosu (my lecturer and a Nuclear Physicst from UNN).
Some of the following groups of instruments were devised in the shortest possible time. One group was for defence, namely, rockets, ogbunigwe amongst others. The second group was for survival, namely, fuel, diesel, kerosene, wine, soap amongst others.
The Manufacture of Biafran Rockets:
Key players: Prof. G.O. Ezekwe (Co-ordinator); P.N.Okeke (Supervisor – Production); Mr. Uche was in charge of: Alminium/rubber processing; Messrs Nnadi and Chime were in charge of producing rocket bodies, nozzles and war heads; and Mr. Issac was in charge of production of fuses for the loading of the rockets as well as producing the war heads.
Drums of aluminium paste were taken to Elele near Port-Harcourt rubber plantation where aluminium/rubber processing was carried out and brought back to our laboratory in Owerri for use as part of the ingredients.
Being in charge of rocket fuel processing, I would combine seven ingredients including the aluminium/rubber mixture in a special way to form the rocket fuel. The most difficult task was the method of combination and, in particular, the proportion by weight in which these ingredients were mixed. It is one of the greatest secret for solid rocket fuel preparation. We discovered that for every one kilogram of the mixture, there was a definite proportion a, b, c, d, e, f, g for the seven ingredients required for the rocket to take off properly. If there was any deviation from these rations, the rocket would either not have enough thrust to take off or the mixture in it would develop an excessive pressure which would explode the rocket like a bomb and kill the people working it. There is an exclusively known specified formula for this....
I was also in charge of further processing of the mixture which involved drying it and compressing it into pellets that could slide easily into the chosen rocket-body-pipe. Again, the appropriate pressure to be given to the mixture to form solid pellet required for the rocket to take off properly was not easy to determine.
The choice of pipe materials and thickness that can work, the diameters of the nozzles commensurate with the fuel pressure are all the challenges in rocket research.
It took us six months of continuous experimentation and trials before we discovered the secret of our own indigenous-designed solid fuel rocket. We never copied from any literature, narrative or other people’s ideas. It was very innovative.
Several designs of rockets were produced by my group (including Late Prof. Ezekwe, late Dr. Agbasiere, late Prof. Ezeilo, myself etc.). We had one design that travelled about 5 kilometres and landed with a warhead which exploded on impact with the ground. The second design was provided with a time fuse which was calculated to explode when the rocket is just one metre above the ground, and therefore, the target would have nowhere to take cover. The third type, which we called ‘Utaoku’, was a rocket made with small portable pipes with warhead equipped with time fuse. The vertical range iof the rocket was the same height as that of flying aircrafts. Thus, when the war head exploded, it posed a great danger to flying aircrafts.
One outstanding thing was that though I was a final-year student at the time, I was rubbing shoulders with doctors and professors. I contributed immensely in the development of these Biafran indigenous rockets.
The Biafran Ogbunigwe
I was not initially in the Ogbunigwe group. I became a consultant when the group ran out of imported materials used for making Ogbunigwe. Therefore, i decided to try to use rocket fuel as a propellant for ogbunigwe and it worked perfectly well. In addition, i introduced a certain substance to prime the explosion, which was not known to any one else....
The Ogbunigwe design produced by my group was called Samba Ogbunigwe because it looked like a samba drum.
Ogbunigwe was a very devastating weapon that could kill dozens of people at a time by showering thousands of bullets in a conical form which spread with an increase in distance. It has never been produced by any other country except Biafra.
Fuel, Kerosine and Diesel Production by Biafra
Prof. Ezekwe was a great practical mechanical engineer. He built a refinery for producing fuel, kerosene and diesel under one week. To do so, he simply converted a petrol tanker into a distillation chamber. He loaded the tanker with crude oil collected from Egbema and carried out fractional distillation using fire wood. Our Research and Production Unit thus became a source of fuel supply to Biafra during the war. We were producing thousands of litres of fuel, kerosene and diesel every day.
Soap Production in Biafra
I participated briefly in soap production. All that was required was simple chemistry. A mixture of burnt palm product and oil was continuously heated until soap was formed. Bleach and colouring would then be applied to get the required quality.
Production of Biafran assorted Wines
Wine production by Biafran scientists followed the same partern for fuel production. The process was fractional distillation. The quality of the product depended on the type of fermented wine used for distillation. I was not involved in this endeavour, but i really enjoyed the great innovation and quality of the products.
As I mentioned during my lecture at the war college in 2001 titled ‘Inprovisation during the Nigerian Biafra War’, Government should encourage me and other living scientists and engineers who were very innovative during the war to sell these indigenous technology to our young ones. ..This has to be done quickly before the mortal exit of these talented people without their handing over to younger minds....
Excerpts from pages 521-523 of the Book, "Braving the Stars: The Biography of P.N. Okeke: Famous Nigerian Space Scientist and Professor of Physics" (October 2013) by Sam Chukwu and Jeff Unaegbu
