Nigerian−Biafra War: Re-interrogating Indiscipline and Sabotage among the Biafran Soldiers (original) (raw)
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A review of There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra
The Nigerian Civil War remains one of the most important political incidents in the history of the country. The Civil War covers the period of 30 months (1967-1970) of confrontation between the secessionist eastern region, Republic of Biafra and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The significant of this event for Nigerian political development cannot be overemphasised. Forty-four years after the war, its legacies have endured against the stability of the nation. Among the legacies of the Civil War and notable reasons for the book are: 1) despite the policy of reintegration pursued by the post-civil war governments, the Igbos (members of the ethnic group that dominated the secession) still continued to feel less secure outside their 'state of origin', and most particularly in the northern region; 2) the Igbo people have remained politically marginalised in the national politics; and 3) Biafra and neo-Biafra ideas have continued to serve as popular points of rally and advocacy. The relevance of violent advocacy groups like Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) is an instance. Appreciable number of books has appeared on the subject of Nigerian Civil War. Some of the existing accounts have engaged the Civil War broadly, while others focused on aspects of the event, including antecedents of the war, battle experiences, the cost, international dimension, the consequences et-central. It is within the context of antecedents of the war and overall cost incurred by the Igbo nation before and during the war that one could find this book worthwhile. The book contribute to knowledge on civil war, ethno-regional politics, insurgency and terrorism, state viability, regime security, leadership crisis, art, education and diplomacy. The book benefited from the reputation of the author in the world of literature, in terms of attention. This account explains the Biafra secessionist struggle within the framework of leadership crisis in Nigeria. This factor is identified to have interplay the phenomenon of ethnicity, democratic reversal and state failure in Nigerian history. The book explains the trend that accounted for the personality clash between General Yakubu Gowon, the military head of state of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the military governor of the eastern region and the head of (defunct) Biafran state, Lt-Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. This personality clash plays out well within the framework of ethnic, regional and even religious cleavages. To this understanding, the civil war was identified as ethno-regional struggle within the country, but Ojukwu was successful with propaganda in depicting it as religious war for the Western world.
Footprints of Global Impact of the Nigerian Civil / Biafra War and the way forward. This work borders on the Nigeria Civil / Biafra war, and how it has impacted the world and its various institutions. It shows that it is a war that has not only local impact, but has influenced researchers and strengthened their work in diverse areas, and taught the world numerous lessons. Mention is made of 'Institutional Kwashiorkor', as a sickness of a people in a so called one-Nigeria. We also look at the way forward and what it means - if anything - to be Biafran today.
Public Policy and International Affair Academic Journal, 2022
Prior to January 15, 1966, the Nigerian military would appear to have been a truly pan-Nigeria institution. It remained largely apolitical and confined to the barracks. But a combination of factors compelled the military to intervene in national politics, first in 1966 and subsequently, in 1975-1979, 1985-1993, and 1993-1999. Of all these, however, it was the coup d’état of January 1966 and what followed, namely, the Nigeria-Biafra war of 1967-1970, that have had the most profound impact on contemporary Nigerian politics. Adopting basically the historical-descriptive approach of content analysis, this essay observed that the military’s intervention in Nigerian politics consequent upon the event of January 15, 1966 was as a result of the need to stem the pervasive corruption and leadership ineptitude of the political elite. These had created tensions and heated up the polity. However, the aims of the coupists and their intensions have elicited a variety of interpretations which have further complicated efforts to objectively and dispassionately assess the issues involved in both the January coup and the Nigeria-Biafra war. The findings and conclusion of this paper is that they were both remote and immediate causes of the coup d’état and the war.
OUT OF NIGERIA: A CASE FOR BIAFRAN INDEPENDENCE
Besieged every day by the news of Biafra – the increasing agitation by the youths, the tacit support of wary and pragmatic elders, the incessant clashes resulting in carnages imaginable only to one used to a blood-obsessed country like Nigeria etc. these contradictions of co-existence disturbs the peace of even the most insouciant. These evil tidings have become more unavoidable now that the situation has been compounded by economic meltdown and abject lack of security for the life and property of the citizenry, so much so that each everyone has become his own police and well-meaning citizens now hail the activities of those disrupting the peace of the Nigerian polity. It is against this background that the Igbo’s cry for Biafra does not seem as preposterous as it would have seemed some years ago.