Biafra – A Place in Time

On January 15, 1966, we woke up to martial music having left school the previous day hoping to enjoy the weekend. This was based on the fact that the then Race Course (now Tafawa Balewa Square) was down the road where we usually hang out along with Campus Square on the other side of the street (Igbosere area). We lived on Prison Street (now Hospital Road) after moving there from Oshodi Street.

My family gathered around the radio to listen to the military music and coup d’état broadcasts throughout the day. A couple of days later the whole country found out the names of the new Head of State (Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi), his governors (Lt.-Col Hassan Katsina – North; Lt.-Col Adekunle Fajuyi – West; Lt.-Col Odumegwu Ojukwu – East; Lt.-Col. David Ejoor – Midwest), and the coup plotters (the five majors and the collaborators). We were to learn of the deaths of the Prime Minister (Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa), Premiere of the Western Region (Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola), and some senior military officers (most of whom were from the Northern and Western Regions) days later.

The coup d’état left a bad taste in the mouths of some sections of the country due to the lopsidedness of the ethnicities of the dead. You could sense trouble brewing and lots of military movement at night. Our school was right in the center of the island so we got front row seats to the unfolding events.

Just as we were trying to figure out the new government, and its’ style of doing things, here comes another coup d’etat on July 29, 1966. This was seen as a revenge coup and for some days the country was without anybody in charge and no one knew what was happening. Eventually we found out the new regime members. Only the Head of State (Lt.-Col Yakubu Gowon) and the Governor of the Western Region (Col Adeyinka Adebayo) and the Chief of Army Staff (Lt.-Col Joseph Akahan) were new. The rest of the governors and military brass retained their positions.

Days later rumours started to fly about the killing of people from the Eastern Region in some parts of the country, especially in the North. The rumours proved to be true, with a few killings in Lagos as well. This prompted the exodus of the Eastern Region people (majority who are Igbo) from different parts of the country back to the East. Even though the government of the day tried to assure us of our safety, it was not believable with more killings happening. It was as if the coup d’état extended from the military barracks to the civilian population. The lives of the citizens of Nigeria from the Eastern Region seemed to be of no value to the rest of the country.

Some members of my family (I was amongst them) left in the last week of October 1966 while the second batch left in November 1966. The last group (my father and my two older sisters who were students at Queen’s College, Yaba) left Lagos in 1967 for the East. They were amongst the last batch to cross the River Niger before the bridge was closed for passage between Asaba and Onitsha.

While watching events, listening to the news, and trying to figure out how to survive in this new permanent abode that I only used to visit, we heard of the conferences to bring peace to the country. None of them worked and the country kept moving towards war with each passing day even though young ones like me were hoping to go back to Lagos soon. That dream was dashed when it came through the newswire that Nigeria had rejected the Aburi Accord (signed in Ghana) that guaranteed true federalism. To add insult to the injury, on May 27, 1967, the Military Government of Nigeria decided to divide the country into twelve (12) states with the Eastern Region split into three states – East Central, Rivers, and South-Eastern.

On May 30, 2017, the then Eastern Region of Nigeria declared itself the Republic of Biafra with its former Military Governor, Lt.-Col Odumegwu Ojukwu as its Head of State. For the next thirty (30) months the two nations went to war, which caused the death of an estimated two (2) million lives on both sides, the vast majority of them though, on the Biafran side.

I do remember practically every day of my life during the Nigerian-Biafran War sometimes called The Nigerian Civil War. We, in Biafra, did all we could to survive including seeking international recognition, food, shelter, guns, ammunition, clothing, medicine, etc. I often tell my wife that if I was to tell her all that I ate (except for human being) in order to survive she would never kiss me again.

Today, fifty (50) years later we are still suffering the effects of war one way or the other. There are those of us who went through it trying to figure out our place in the society, remembering what happened during and after the war, and how to assimilate back into Nigeria. There are those who fought on the Nigerian side who now resent participating after seeing how they have been short-changed. There are those who feel that the survivors of Biafra should be grateful while some want to continue “punishing” them for the war. There are those who were either born at the end of the war or after who want to romanticize. They call  for the re-birth of Biafra without realizing why it should be. There are those who feel that it was a stupid war and should never have happened. There are those who feel that the Easterners, especially the Igbo, should know their place and stop complaining about marginalization and the like. There are those who want to re-write history based on stories that they have heard or read – true or false. Finally, there are those who truly would like to know what led to the war and how we can prevent it from happening again.

All in all, it is good to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the formation of the Republic of Biafra. Not because we want to call for its resurrection but to honour the memories of those that we lost, those who are still lost, those geniuses who were innovative and creative in advancing African technology that we hope to see the like someday down the road, and also as a reminder that we need to talk to each other and not at each other and listen more rather than arguing unnecessarily. We should stop denying or subverting the truth – face it, acknowledge it, and embrace it, and learn from it. 

You cannot deny that There Was A Country called BIAFRA. It is a fact…

The question now is: Where do we go from here?

For Nigeria to move forward everyone has to take the blame for the past.

First, the Igbo (who made up the majority of the Biafran population) need to understand the frustrations and anger that the rest of the country have after witnessing the killing of their civilian and military leaders during the first coup d’etat. They felt betrayed and saw the Igbo as trying to take over the country for themselves. That feeling was exploited by the Northern military officers of the day and is still being used till today by their civilian leaders.

Second, the rest of Nigeria has to understand the frustrations and anger that the Igbo have considering the butchering of their people in the North through no fault of theirs – they did not participate in the military coup d’etat. We had to go to the railway stations at Enugu and Port Harcourt to pick up the bodies of our relatives – parents, spouses, children, etc. – thrown into the trains bound for the East. Moreover, the no victor no vanquished was never realized with the Igbo relegated to second class citizens – forget about a few crumbs made ministers.

Lastly, our military deserve the biggest blame for their incursion into our polity and destruction of esprit de corps in the military. Their actions, or lack thereof, pushed the country back decades. Had they left the civilian government alone, the country would have muddled through and found itself just as India has done. The first two coups left the country in a bad state that it has yet to recover. Never again should our military take over the governance of our country.

I believe that when we sit down and talk about our differences, our similarities, and reasons why we went to war, we will come to the realization that we actually want the same things but have been victims of our so called leaders using our differences to divide us. Personally I believe that everyone lost and no one gained because we are stuck at the same place with no one ethnic group ahead of the other in terms of development. All we do us bicker like little kids at a playground. Every participant should accept their role in the war and the events that led to it – the genocide, the pogrom, the trumped up charges that led to the execution of some Biafran officers, the blockade, the after the war effects such as the Indigenization Decree, the twenty (20) pounds policy, re-absorption of the Easterners and their military officers (even though most of them lost their ranks), abandoned property (how someone’s property can be considered abandoned in his own country beats me), etc. I do believe that we will get there but it will take some work.

As per my personal day-to-day experiences in Biafra…….TO BE CONTINUED

HAPPY BIRTHDAY THE PEOPPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BIAFRA!

© Uzo Onyemaechi, May 30, 2017