Federick Forsyth, the British-born master hagiographer, chronicled Ojukwu's Biafran exploits in an autobiographical masterpiece. In the book, one I read in college, Forsyth paid glowing tribute to Emeka, likening him to a fearless hero of the east, whose courage in the face of monumental challenges was more than praiseworthy. He concluded that few rebels in the world could ever rival Emeka's credentials and convictions.

We have had other rebels across the African continent. Jonas Savimbi, who waged perhaps the longest and best rebellion in Angola against Dos Santos and his national Army, lasted decades until he was killed (with foreign help) years ago. Savimbi was the quintessential rebel leader who used his private jet for foreign trips to villas here in Cote D'Ivoire, where he often visited for the holidays. His huge physical frame, combined with guerilla war strategies, undoubtably rattled Dos Santos.

Then there's Charles Taylor, presently standing trial for atrocities in Liberia for waging a decade-long rebellion against the government of the late Samuel Doe. Taylor's NPFL was made up of trigger-happy soldiers who killed and maimed at will, ransacking towns and villages as Doe himself ate rice and frolicked with women in the presidential mansion in Monrovia. Charles Taylor was a ruthless rebel leader with a cause, and his strong leadership style led to splits in his Front, producing rival rebels like the sadistic Prince Yormie Johnson, and the smarter Roosevelt Johnson.

The Taylor war turned Liberia into an animal kingdom, and sent millions of Liberians away into prostitution and into the huge Diasporan markets of Europe and America. Though Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has returned hope and decency into governance, the horrible manner in which Samuel Doe was butchered still remains a stark example of the black man's barbaric power mongering and sadism.

Consider Joseph Koin of Uganda, and his self-styled Lords Resistance Army, the LRA. Yoweri Museveni, a veteran of bush wars, has refused to be intimidated by Koin's hide and seek game of rural, low-intensity rebellion, which succeeded in taking whole villages hostage, as well as raping young girls and enlisting child soldiers. Koin is a she-rebel!

Late, bearded Foday Sankoh began a rebellion in Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa where instability had been a national diet, and where disco dancers like Valentine Strasser shot their way to power(!) by abusing the poor. In the end, before the late General Abacha decisively subdued the rebellion (with British support), many Sierra Leoneans had already had their limbs and legs amputated. The Sankoh rebellion manifested the worst possible human cruelty to fellow countrymen, and women. Today, thousands of Sierra Leoneans are left without hands, legs, or even ears! Siaka Stevens must be twisting in his grave!

Soro Kigbafori Guillaume is a young Ivorian rebel who in his book Pourqoui Je Suis Devenu Rebel (Why I became A Rebel) chronicled events that led to his taking up arms against the Gbagbo government, in September of 2002. In the book, Soro said the problems of xenophobia, arbitrariness of the Gbagbo government, politics of exclusion, tribal divisions, and the need to re-establish Cote D'Ivoire on the path the late Houphouet-Boigny had wished--provoked him to betray his nation's constitution. He reasoned that dialogue would not have achieved what the rebellion sought to correct.

When the young Soro was doing his higher studies in the Universite de Cocody here in Abidjan, the radicalism in him was never hidden. He was elected as the student union leader under whose platform he railed at late President Boigny's one-party state structure. With the backing of opposition figures like the current president -- whom he acknowledged as his spiritual father -- Soro Kigbafori Guillaume cut his teeth for political battles and got many military baptisms by fire.

Today, he is the second citizen of Cote D'Ivoire as the Prime Minister. Most of the ministers under him are his elders, with some old enough to be his father, like the army staff chief in his rebel movement.

At 35 Soro is still single, though he has sired three children out of wedlock. Following Soro's metamorphosis from rebel leader to the plum position of prime minister, recent events have revealed a child of destiny who carved for himself a niche early in life. When late General Robert Guei took over power on Christmas eve in 1999, overthrowing President Konan Bedie, Soro Guillaume left Abidjan for France, where he stayed until the simultaneous attacks on Abidjan, Bouake, and other northern cities in September of 2002.

After the rebellion took shape, and with half of the country in conquest, the Gbagbo government was painted into a corner, having been caught napping by the sheer audacity of the attacks, which employed sophisticated weaponry. The first meeting between his government and the rebels was held in Lome Togo. Gbagbo was represented in that meeting by one Laurent Dona Fologo, former turn-coat secretary of Bedie's ruling party--PDCI. In Lome, reports had it that Soro, after a handshake with late General Eyadema, fell sick and was rushed to a hospital. He bounced back few days later.

The late Gnassingbe Eyadema, a demon whose voodoo prowess was legendary, was known to have survived (like late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat) numerous attempts on his life. In one of those failed attempts, one of his trusted aides had met with him in the presidential palace, and in the middle of a conversation drew out a pistol and shot him at close range; but Eyadema shrugged off that attack with bullets literally bouncing off his body! Talk about African voodoo magic! You can just imagine what happened next to the trusted attacker: his family and village were wiped out! Yes, Eyadema was a savage.

Late Laurent Kabila, who defeated the late imperial Mobutu in a guerrila war, was killed by one Rashidi who shot him at the state house at close range, then killing Kabila moments later aboard a flight that was rushing him to South Africa for an emergency operation. Rashidi himself was shot dead mere seconds later as he tried to flee the presidential palace.

Having assumed duty as consensus Prime Minister, Soro has been learning the art of statesmanship and stewardship. His comments thus far have shown how prepared he is for peace and reconciliation. In one of his declarations, he said Ivorians has had enough bad news. He said the Ouaga Accord is the best way to achieve peace among war-weary Ivorians, enjoining all and sundry to come on board.

He once told a gathering in the predidential palace, which included President Gbagbo, as well as all the Ministers and the two opposing Armed Forces: "We have all lost the war, so let's begin a new war of peace construction and reconstruction in our dear nation." He also said in an interview that he never wanted to go the way Savimbi went, arguing emotionally that Gbagbo has no interest in killing him, as they both needed one another to make the peace initiative work.

Soro Kigbafori Guillaume is an enigma. That he survived a 5-year rebellion by matching the intrigues and rethorics of master politicians is a positive tribute to his understanding of his new environment and ambitions in life. As he presides over the Ivorian government in accord with the Accord of Ouagadougou, here's wishing him resounding success as they (the Force Nouvelle) join forces with their 'enemies' of yesterday to pull Cote D'Ivoire from the brink.

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About the author: Sunny Chris Okenwa is a U-K contributor based in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire.

Email: soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr

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