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oadigwe@yahoo.com Massachusetts, USA

SURVIVING IN BIAFRA: MY OWN EXPERIENCE

nce in a while, one comes across a book that could have been authored by oneself because of shared experience of the time. Alfred Obiora Uzokwe's recent book - Surviving in Biafra - published this year, is one such book for me. It is a riveting tale of some aspects of the Nigerian civil war where about two million souls perished. It is a tale of tragedy, cataclysm, mayhem, disease, hunger, gory images of war, air raid and survival. Alfred told the story from the perspective of a child in a loving family during a time of great uncertainty and war. It is a story told in such a beautiful prose and simple narratives for all readers, old and young, to be able to read and comprehend the important messages of the book.

First, pogrom is wrong. Killing any people because of their group identity is wrong and need to be condemned by every normal member of this human family. It was wrong when it happened to the Jewish people in the hands of the Nazi in Europe, it was wrong when it happened to the Igbo in Nigeria and recently it was wrong when it happened to the Tutis in Rwanda.

Nigerian civil war occurred from 1967 to 1970 following the declaration of the state of Biafra. But, before the declaration of Biafra, by the then Lt. Col. Ojukwu, the people of the Eastern region were mercilessly massacred by their follow compatriots particularly in the Northern region. There were also some killings of Igbo people in Western region and Midwestern regions of the country. Yes, Sapele and Warri in Midwestern region were not safe places for Igbo at that time. Some of my relatives used to live in those places at the time and we were happy that they returned to the East alive while some of their friends were not so lucky. I don't want Nigerians to forget that Igbo were killed all over the country not just in the Northern region. What started in the Northern region became an orgy and it quickly spread to other parts of the nation. The people of Eastern region were hounded and some people who had had any disagreements with any Easterner utilized the opportunity to eliminate them without the full weight of the law descending on the villains. This goes to demonstrate the hideous possibilities of human behavior. Biafra thus became a response to the insecurity of life and property the people of Eastern region found themselves in Nigeria at that time. Nigeria waged war on the new nation and refused to accept her sovereignty. To Biafra, it became a war of survival, to fight or be exterminated by the marching, ruthless Nigerian soldiers.

Alfred did a good job to capture the initial ambivalence of his father to leave his well paying job in Lagos for an uncertain future in the East. But as the crisis deepened and he was confronted with possible death at the hand of his former friend Sagin Major he managed to make his way back to the East. Many Easterners lost their lives because of their reluctance to leave their place of employment at the time. Some thought erroneously that the crises like wind will just blow by in time and as such were not immediately compelled to leave their hostile environment and some of them never again made it to the East.

The book brought back memory of those days not that I have forgotten that tragic episode in my formative years. Like Alfred, I was seven when the war started, like Alfred I was forced to mature quicker than would have been the case in serene milieu. War and traumatic episodes have a way of compelling kids to grow up and be more alert and responsible. I still can remember most of the events of that war as if it was yesterday. When I talk about the war with some of my friends from other parts of the country they often seem incredulous on how I can remember all those details at a young age. The fact of the matter is that they are facts and not fantasy. In describing Alfred's book, during the book signing events in Pennsylvania, Dr. M. O. Ene said that the contents of the book are 100% fact and 0% fiction. I cannot agree more, for I, an eye-witness, to that civil war was involved.

Songs were very important in Biafra. They became sort of soul food to besieged Biafra populace. Composers of all hue emerged overnight and many songs were composed. Some of those songs would soothe your soul each time you sang them, some would reduce you to tears and some would give you hope and fill you with zeal for the Biafran cause. Some would prepare you for a possible ultimate price in the battlefield like this one:

My mother don't you worry
My father don't you worry
If I happen to die in the battlefield
Never mind we shall meet again

When I first heard this song it was at the initial stage of the war. Nsukka was the battlefield at the time. The new Biafran recruits were being sent to the battlefield for the very first time. They were traveling through my town on their way to Nsukka sector singing the above song. As young as I was I could not understand why anybody should be singing about dying and then asking his mother and father to fret not because they would meet again. Overcoming my initial confusion, that song became one of the staple songs I would be singing while doing my assigned house chores.

When the war finally got to Awka and we were forced to flee, we became refuges at a small community in Aguata. Aguata, ironically, was the place Alfred's father found employment immediately after the war. On the evacuation day we packed some of our belongings; heavy artillery was raining down on the town with reckless abandon. At that time Nigeria has not yet perfected the act of air raid on civilians otherwise they could have used them with devastating effect. Nonetheless the shelling (artillery) and mortar, sounds of machine guns and bombs were being very effective and they were exploding with increasing frequency. In an effort to help Biafra soldiers, my father and other men who believed that Awka must not fall, organized themselves and jumped into battle. They armed themselves; some with locally made guns, some with double barrels, matchetes, spears and arrows and any other weapons they have. Their aim was not to fight for Biafra soldiers but to help them by conducting what they called 'combing'. Combing was a method of rounding up stranded Nigerian soldiers (who may have wandered into the Biafra side of the battle zone) and handing them over to Biafran commanders. In spite of their efforts the exploding bombs and mortars were getting too close for comfort for my family and all the other families.

We had to leave Awka in a hurry. My mother packed whatever she could and gave each of my siblings to carry. Because of my age she didn't border giving me anything to carry. And we trekked for about ten miles before settling in an open elementary school as refuges. Some of the unsung heroes of that episode were villagers, sensing that we were tired and exhausted brought us water, various fruits and food. They were truly wonderful. We didn't stay too long at the camp because my mother was introduced to a family that decided to take us into their house. And that was where we lived till the end of the war.

The mayhem perpetrated by Nigerian soldiers in Asaba was well recounted in the book. Not only because some of those killed in the carnage were Alfred's relatives but the brutality of Nigerian soldiers was simply unimaginable. Nigerians need to understand this. Even in war there are rules. So those who are now trying to justify this terrible episode, I question their conscious. Even Gowon eventually had to apologize for it. It was so egregious and should never be justified by any normal member of a civilized society.

The story of the Nigerian civil war cannot be complete without mention of the Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle's, former commander of 3rd Marine Brigade, murderous rampage in Biafra. Dr. Luke Aneke writing in Nigeriaworld.com recently reminded us of what was Adekunle's guiding principle: to shoot everything that moves in Biafra. In Surviving in Biafra, Alfred described a chance meeting with Adekunle in Lagos. I had a mental picture of Adekunle, given his war reputation, as somebody who is very tall and stout. So like Alfred, I was taken aback that he was only about 5 feet 6 inches in height. But it was very interesting that a man who had meted out unbridled brutality to both Biafran soldiers and civilians has now grown touchy to any mention of his jarring war antics.

The highlight of the book to me was the surrender of Biafra. General Effiong was a true Biafran. Biafra fought a war that was imposed on them and they fought to defend themselves. They fought long and hard and the fact that Biafra lost did not vitiate the reasons for the Biafran revolution. It was a fight against injustice and oppression, it was a fight against pogrom. And General Effiong, while surrendering, restated those noble reasons why Biafra had to fight that war. General Effiong said then " Throughout history, injured people had to resort to arms in their self-defense where peaceful negotiations fail. We are no exception. We took up arms because of the sense of insecurity generated in our people by the events of 1966. We fought in defense of that cause." The surrender speech was truly wonderful. There was no pleading, no bootlicking. There was no attempt to obfuscate the truth. He restated the true reasons for the cause of the war and offered words of encouragement for Biafrans.

That war was a long drawn out war fought 2 ½ years, 365 days a year, night and day, rain or in sunlight. Some of the fiercest battles took place at night. Can you imagine that? At the end Biafrans were tired and demoralized not only of the military weapons arrayed against them but also of hunger. That war witnessed a great disparity of manpower and armaments all in favor of the federal side. The recent Iraq war has shown us that when there's such a huge difference the disadvantaged side folds up quickly. Not in Biafra case. Sometimes I wonder how Biafra was able to stay engaged for the duration of the war.

By writing this book Alfred has once again opened up discussions on the Nigeria civil war and its causes. Sometimes, some people amuse me when they try to sweep the Biafran issues under the rug. Some would get easily irked by mere mention of Biafra. While all these might be an attempt to forget that tragic episode, they are wrong. Biafra is now part of the history of the Igbo, part of the history of Eastern region and part of the history of Nigeria. And we need to confront it truthfully and honestly.

There are many other works in progress about Nigerian civil war and the Biafra issue by those who like Alfred were kids and noncombatants during that war. The war kids have now grown up and we must hear from them.

Currently there is a debate on various aspects of the Nigerian civil war. But there's one issue commentators mainly from Southwest are pushing that is not true. That is at what point did the Yoruba decide to give their unalloyed support to the federal side. Southwest commentators seem to believe that as soon as the Biafra moved into Ore and seem to be pushing towards Lagos, at that point all bets were off on which side they will choose. That is not true. They should remember that as soon as Chief Awolowo was released from jail and made finance minister in Gowon's cabinet, Yoruba have no other choice. I respect the intelligence and the sense of justice of Yoruba that made some of them sympathetic to Biafran cause. But we should all agree they were few and most spoke in hushed tongues only people like Professor Wole Soyinka and perhaps few others were courageous enough to speak when it mattered. The Igbo are grateful to them.

All the issues relating to the Nigerian civil war even thirty-three years after it had ended need to engage the attention of Nigeria's current leaders and those who believe in progress of the nation. Attention must be paid to them truthfully without condescension.

Alfred has written a beautiful first book, deeply reflective, heartrending, occasional tearful and made an important contribution to Nigeria's history. We thank Alfred for his efforts because it is never an easy thing to write a credible book that Surviving in Biafra definitely is.

This is my thrust.