After 13 years in exile, the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari granted an official pardon to Ojukwu and opened the road for a triumphant return in 1982.
Ojukwu could speak Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, English, French, and Latin fluently. Interestingly, during the civil war, he always slept with his boots on.