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Wumione@AOL.com New York, NY, USA

BIAFRA - ALFRED UZOKWE'S EXPERIENCE REVISITED

The book, Surviving in Biafra ALSO SEE: SurvivinginBiafra.COM REVIEWS ...will go down in history as one of the purest, most refreshing records of life inside Biafra! -- John Igbokwe ...stirring tale of mammoth proportions; a wholesome, unpretentious, yet candid account of wartime survival.... -- Segun Fajemisin

ll roads lead to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, next Saturday. To do what? To formally launch "Surviving in Biafra," the story of the Nigerian Civil War, based on the recollections of a six to nine year old middle class noncombatant who has wisely allowed himself no less than 36 years to reflect on the sobering experience that Biafra had become, and should be, to a good many of us, as we ponder the way forward for our country.

That the majority of our people still think that a National Conference, whether sovereign or not, is still badly needed, to reexamine all over again the fundamentals of our union, 36 years later, only goes to validate the fact that the Biafran War was probably more legit than a good number of us are willing to admit in public. "Surviving in Biafra" written in lucid and readable prose by someone who has actually lived through the experience, is therefore particularly engaging and beautiful. Alfred's account may have been tempered, however, in some way, by his middle class background. His mother was probably the only nurse or "medical Doctor" in Nnewi at the time, while his father who could still afford to own and drive a car for much of the war could not be compared to the average Biafran guy. Alfred and his siblings could still talk of having a balanced diet of sorts, in their household, while the great majority of the poor people in Biafra would eat just anything to survive. An account of the same war written by such people may be slightly different from Alfred's.

To many in our country, talking about Biafra, not to talk of writing a Book on it, is tantamount to treason. They think Biafra was a dark chapter in our History that none of us needs to recall or relive all over again. I beg to disagree. Much as I regret the over two million people that lost their lives in the War, as hinted by Alfred, I still see Biafra as an important milestone in our History from which we all should have learnt a lot, as a Nation in evolution. Sweeping something that big under the rug, doesn't make it go away. It trips you up and sends you sprawling when you venture across the room. The Biafran tragedy ought to have been seen as an eye opener to all of us that a Federation like ours can only endure and survive on justice and equity, and not on a winner take all mentality where a cross section of our country still see themselves as born to rule, while the rest of the country are now forced to view ourselves as born to be ruled.

My good friend, Alfred Obiora Uzokwe, an architect by profession, but a prolific columnist and patriot has done all of us a lot of good, by doing this book, and telling us the story of the Nigerian Civil War from his own perspective as a young boy who was only six years old when the Police action first began in 1967, and was nine when the full fledged War ended in 1970. I am fascinated by the fact that Alfred at that age, was resourceful enough to pay attention to some of the observations he has revealed in that beautiful book. His curiosity as a young boy was refreshingly stunning and endearing.

I could relate to many of the things Alfred had said in that book, because his family and mine had lived in the same Yaba College of Technology Campus, even though our paths never crossed until recently. I initially lived in Quarter one of the Yaba College of Technology popularly called Hagley Castle which I shared at the time with late Modupe Akintola from Gbongan. The late Akintola was the pioneer Executive Secretary of the National Education Research Council of Nigeria. I later moved to quarter 28 at the Yaba College of Technology, and lived there with my family till I retired from the Federal Service in 1986, when I had the quarter transferred to my wife, another senior officer in Government. In short my family had continued to live in the premises till 1998. So I knew the situation on the campus before and after the War as an adult, and I am surprised and delighted that a little boy of six would have remembered much of what Alfred has narrated in that book. I couldn't help but go back to Alfred's family album as I read the book, to go see how little Alfred looked as a toddler, compared to how he looks today, and all the mountains he has climbed to get this far. Whao!

Everything Alfred had said in describing his Family's decision to reluctantly leave Lagos and to return to Nnewi, because Lagos was no longer considered a safe haven for the Ibo man, was absolutely correct. I was myself an eye witness to the persecution syndrome the Igbos were subjected to in much of the North, and some parts of the South. As a matter of fact, I went through the same emotional stress trying to persuade my Gardener, one Cyrus, a Calabar man who had lived in my Boys Quarter for years, and had become a part of my family, from desperately wanting to leave Lagos, because he too had believed his life was in danger. Part of his problem was because he could not pronounce the word "Toro" For some inexplicable reason, I could not understand at the time, Cyrus always pronounced the word "tolo." I had a lot of problem teaching and coaching him about the correct pronunciation. I actually had to hide him in my house, so to speak, because I feared for his life, and I did not want him becoming a victim on the streets of Lagos.

The moment Alfred was kind enough to send me a copy of his Book, it dawned on me from seeing his Family pictures in the Book that I actually knew his father, because the Yaba College of Technology was, at the material time, administered by the Federal Ministry of Education where I had worked as an administrative officer, and later as the Secretary to the National Council on Education. I thought I had met or spoken to him once in the office of Andrew Ainabe a good friend of mine from Bendel who later became the Head of the Horological Department of the College.

"Surviving in Biafra" is really a thriller for me based on facts rather than fiction. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down until I finish it. I felt exactly the same way I felt, the first time I read "Things Fall Apart" by the great Chinua Achebe more than forty years ago. It is a great book by any standard, and therefore a "must read" for anyone interested in knowing the story behind the story of Biafra, told from the prism of a noncombatant. I can bet my life that little Alfred was as emotionally involved in the War as Emmanuel or Fidelis two of his older siblings who had actually taken part in the War as foot soldiers. Surviving in Biafra is uniquely appealing because it is authentic and original. Alfred, even though a mere toddler when the War first began, knew more about the remote and the immediate causes of the War than I could ever have imagined. He has narrated the story with clarity and some measure of objectivity that is rare to find in this kind of work. If there was any bias in that book, I think Alfred has tried, as much as humanly possible, to keep it within reason. Every writer is shaped by innumerable influences such as ethnicity, religion, class, race, age, profession, the geographical regions they and their relatives have lived in, and many other group identities-all mingled with individual personality and predilection. All that was in play in this book, but Alfred created a good balance in putting this book together.

At a time we hear and read stories of Nigerians engaged in all sorts of criminal activities like Drug and Credit card frauds that have given Nigerians a bad name in this country, and probably all over the world, inspiring efforts like that of Alfred Obiora Uzokwe, and people like him make me proud. in ways I cannot even begin to describe. Just like Alfred is getting ready to launch "Surviving in Biafra" on April 12th, 2003, another worthy Nigerian Dr J F. Fakinlede, a Biochemist by profession, is also getting ready to launch, in May 2003 or thereabout in New Jersey, his "Modern Practical Dictionary in Yoruba and English, that helps Nigerians who are born here to learn Yoruba language and culture, without having to travel home, and with effortless ease. Alfred Uzokwe is a talented and brilliant architect, and Kayode Fakinlede holds a Ph.D. in the Sciences. Both of them are making efforts to go beyond the call of duty to really do something creative to help our people know more about themselves and their history. I sometimes wonder why so many of us who come to this country to live and study, hardly, ever find anything good and enduring in this society that we can emulate to make our own country better. I see Alfred's and Fakinlede's efforts in writing these books in that light, and I commend their hard work and determination. The least the rest of us can do is to give them all the moral and financial support we can afford to spare. They are both creating a new generation of Nigerians in America that lead the ways for others to follow in all that is good and worthy.

The great country called America thrives on knowledge using Book Publication and Research as a launching pad. The last time I checked, and that was more than three years ago, as many as 150,000 publications are published in the United States alone per day. If you multiply that by 365, you will be amazed by how much the US economy is anchored, not just on Technological creativity, but on Education and Book publication, to mention a few. This is probably the only country on Earth where octogenarians and older people never give up on seeking knowledge. Go to any public Library around the country or to Barnes and Noble or to Borders Bookshops not to talk of University Libraries across the country. You will be amazed to see how people young and old throng the Libraries looking to broaden the frontiers of knowledge in all its ramifications. My point here is that Alfred by choosing to remind and educate us about how the Biafran War had come about, and the lessons to learn from it. In that sense Alfred has done our country and all of us, and especially the young ones, a lot of good.

I thought Segun Fajemisin had said it best in his Nigeriaworld review of this Book when he opined that Alfred was actually forced into maturity by the Biafran War much too soon. The Biafran War and the discipline, the resourcefulness, and the instinct for survival it has engendered in all the people that were forced to endure it, were very profound. Those are the things that the Nigerian Government, after the War, should have fully exploited than seeking to punish or victimize the Igbos as a group for dragging Nigeria into the War, like some have argued. If the truth must be told, there is enough blame to go around on both sides of the isle. Therefore blaming the victim will not cut it. The Nigerian Government of the time and its successors bear more than a vicarious responsibility for all that had happened during the War. We should have realized that any War is really an admission of failure on the part of the warring factions to find a common ground. War does no good to either side. The American/Iraq War is a good example to illustrate this point. But where a war becomes totally unavoidable, people and wise Governments could minimize the trauma of it by learning the right lessons from it. That is something we are yet to do in Nigeria.

In a country where fuel shortage has become a cancer and an embarrassing development, a resourceful Government of Nigeria should have seen something positive about how the Biafrans were able to refine crude oil to run their vehicles and to lubricate their war machines during the War. If the Government had invested on that goal after the War, perhaps Nigeria should have been able to refine our crude oil by ourselves today, rather than relying on Foreign import for much of our oil and lubricant needs in Nigeria. We sure lost a great window of opportunity when we fail to pursue further research on the improvised "Ugbunigwe" Bomb or Land Mine which had proved so effective for the Biafrans in stopping the advance of Federal troops at the famous Abagana Battle where the Nigerian side had sustained it greatest casualty in the entire War.

How the Nigerian Government had responded to the resourcefulness shown by Biafra, was like throwing away the baby with the Bath water. It makes no sense at all. Even though 36 years have elapsed since the war ended, some of those scientists in Biafra that had invented the Ugbunigwe should not have been retired or sent packing after the war. All of those creative scientists should have been encouraged to stay on, so they could continue to do for Nigeria, what they were doing for Biafra, if at all possible. The golden opportunity we have lost can still be redeemed. All we need is awareness and the will to make the best use of the talents we already have. We have a President today who, in fact had been privileged by destiny to end the War as the Commanding Officer of the Third Marine Commando. President Obasanjo should really be more sensitive to the point I am making here, because he saw, up close and personal, the resourcefulness of the Biafran Soldiers. If they had had access to all those weapons the Federal troops had, the outcome of the War would have been different. Trust me. That the war had lingered on for three years was an eloquent testimony to the staying power of the Biafran Army.

I know there has been many reviews of this book by people more qualified than me. I am, however, looking at the Book from a slightly different perspective. I am very grateful to Alfred for finally helping to break some of the myths of the war that some of us have long held under the cloak of the grapevine. I was hoping, however, that Alfred was going to shed more light, at some point, on Ulli Ihiala the improvised airport that we heard so much about once the Federal troops had taken over the few airports the Biafrans could have used in flying out or flying in their few planes of War. The account of Ojukwu's plane taking off for Ivory Coast in total darkness was fascinating. We had read that Ojukwu took away with him into exile, a brand new Mercedes Benz car and other items for his creature comforts in exile. It is clear from Alfred's account, that story was fabricated just to discredit or blackmail the Biafran leader.

I am glad that Alfred did talk about the B-26 and his mythical pilot Johnny who was rumored to be a Jewish kamikaze pilot but has turned out to be a German or Swedish guy named Carl Von Rosen. In Wars you hear all kinds of stories and when those wars occur in Africa, it is even worse, because of our folklore mentality. Many people are good at telling stories they hear through the grapevine and making it sound like they are giving an eye witness account. Auntie Mamaocha was very good at that, and I can relate to that, because I also have a cousin at Akure who will tell you any story he has heard from another person, and make it appear to you, it was an eyewitness account. He was so good at it. You have to double-check everything he tells you because much of them is based on fabrication and wishful thinking like auntie Mamaocha.

I love those tales told by the Nnewi native doctors that they had used their juju to cast a spell on the bomber pilots on the Federal side to mistake Nnewi area for a huge expanse of water from the air, and therefore saw no need to bomb the place. The native doctors had therefore cashed in on that, making people believe their magic or voodoo was the reason Nnewi was not bombarded sooner. That happens all the time in Nigeria. People taking credit for what they knew nothing about like a barking dog taking credit for the moon. Aguiyi Ironsi whose name means crocodile had simply cashed in on that, carrying a carved crocodile every where he went. In due course, the people saw in that wooden or ivory crocodile the symbol of Ironsi's invincibility as a General in the Nigerian Army. The crocodile could not save him, however, at Ibadan when the coup plotters led by Theophilus Danjumah took him away from Agodi residence of Adekunle Fajuyi, who had preferred to die with his guest, rather than let himself and his Yoruba tribe be implicated in the plan to kill the first Igbo leader to actually rule Nigeria, albeit, for six months or less.

I enjoyed "Surviving in Biafra" so much that I have read it twice, and could read it a third time because Alfred was down to earth in that book. I now understand, like him, why the white people always walk so fast. I once had a Secondary School teacher named Reverend Childerstone. He used to walk very fast. I used to imitate his style of walking as a teenager growing up at Oyemekun because I thought it was cool and kosher to walk like a white man. I did not realize it had anything to do with the cold weather. So the python was to Nnewi people what the cow is to the Hindus The only problem for Nnewi today is the fact that python has become a rare specie with the total destruction of our forest in Nigeria by timber magnates all over the place... The story told by Alfred about the poor man who had called himself Mpotimpo to mitigate the instant justice, he would have received, for going to steal from another man's farm in Nnewi was not only funny, but fascinating. Mpotimpo had to steal because he was just too hungry. There is no telling what any of us can do, if we find oor backs against the wall.

I am also intrigued by young Alfred's chance meeting or encounter with the Black Scorpion himself in Lagos, His recollections of the stories told about Adekunle during the War had some resonance with me because I also heard and read about those stories and how Adekunle was believed to have nine lives like the cat. We were told he had such supernatural powers that make the Biafran soldiers shiver in their pants But I never knew that Biafra also had a carbon copy of Adekunle in Col J.O.G. Achuzia who by the way, I am glad to know is still alive. I was happy to hear one more time of that famous war time reporter from the Voice of Biafran Revolution `the one and only Okoko Ndem. Those statements had brought back to me memories of the war in a way I can hardly describe. Okoko Ndem was like Ishola Folorunsho, the ace Soccer commentator running commentaries on Radio any time the Nigerian National Football Team used to lock horns with Ghanaian Soccer team in the late 50s and 60s. Okoko Ndem was even more graphic and spectacular in the way and manner he describes encounters between the Federal and Biafran Troops in those days. Amazing!

The most touching aspect of this book I still cannot get over, is Alfred's description of his feelings as a boy, when he heard that the great Nnamdi Azikiwe had abandoned Biafra and had safely crossed over to the Federal Side or the decision of the Ikemba to go into exile on the presumption he was going to continue the struggle from there, while leaving General Philip Effiong to conclude the Surrender formalities with Nigeria. It was an incredible narrative, beautiful inside out and factual. I think Alfred did a wonderful job, after all is said and done. The only area I would have been happier if he had shed more light on, was his narrative on how the three Biafran Commanders namely Col Victor Banjo, Major Philip Alale and Lt. Col . Emmanuel Ifeajuna had gone from being Biafran heroes to being labeled saboteurs and then executed in cold blood.

As an "ngbati ngbati" man, I have always been curious to know the motivation of Philip Alale and Victor Banjo , both Yoruba, and even Ifeajuna an Edo man, in wanting to fight and die for Biafra. Some might immediately label me a tribalist now for raising this point. I really can't be bothered about that blackmail. If there are a few Yorubas willing to take up arms for Biafra, it will be making a sweeping statement to call all Yorubas tribalists as many have done with criminal levity. This book did not shed more light on that or the circumstance that had led to the death of Chukwuma Nzeogwu who was believed to have been killed in one of the battles in the Biafran War. I don't know about you, I think a whole world of Chukwuma Nzeogwu, the man who was believed to have led the very first coup in Nigeria. The man was said to have told his fellow coup plotters in Kaduna to bomb the Premier's lodge with him inside, if he did not accomplish his mission within a specified time. I believe that if that man had been allowed to rule Nigeria with that puritanical sense of mission and conviction at the time, Nigeria would not have been the same as we know it today. I could be wrong, though.

The Majors who had led that uprising actually meant well for Nigeria. Their greatest problem was that their mission had appeared one-sided to many in the North, in the way the coup was executed, thus leading to suspicion by a cross section of Nigeria who reacted violently six months later. I still believed the nation would have gotten a sense of direction, for better or for worse, if the coup had not been taken away from the few Majors by a crop of leaders that were part of the establishment, and therefore could not have done a lot better than they actually did.

Aguiyi Ironsi who took over did not have any fire in his belly to want to chart a new direction for the country. All he wanted to do was to appease the North, but he failed woefully to do that, and got his payback time on July 29th. It was partly his failing and the vendetta of his successors that eventually paved the way for the pogrom that led to the Biafran War less than one year later. Chukwuma Nzeogwu is one individual that cannot be wished away in writing the history of Nigeria. I am surprised he was allowed to just waste away like that in Biafra.

The last and final comment I wish to make in this review is the point I have hinted a little while ago in this article when I mentioned Major Philip Alale and Col Victor Banjo who were so principled, and had the courage of their conviction to want to fight and die for Biafra. Help me somebody. I just did not understand while those guys including Emmanuel Ifeajuna would have preferred to stay put in Biafra, even when it had become clear there was going to be a bloody war with Nigeria. I am sure they were not hypnotized or forced to stay and fight for Biafra. They probably believed they were fighting for principle.

You know I myself had more sympathy for Biafra when the War first started. I know a lot of people in Akure and other Yoruba enclave who would have taken up arms on the side of Biafra when it first started. At least I know Wole Soyinka, the current Nobel Peace Laureate, another Yoruba man who had eloquently and forcefully sided with Biafra. A lot of people from Akure my home town who had always voted for Zik and the NCNC, would also have sided with Biafra. But all of that changed the moment Biafra had decided to overrun the West, and to go conquer Lagos the seat of the then Federal Government. All bets were off at that point, that Biafra was not only seeking to liberate herself, but to enlarge her coast. That was the breaking point for many of us, and that was why "Ija Ore" became an epic battle in the Biafran War. I can understand a nine year old boy not showing too much interest in that observation, so I am not holding it against Alfred whose main theme was probably survival in Biafra above anything else.

My point is that the Yorubas as a group need not be seen as the sworn enemies of the Igbos, as some have been suggesting or insinuating. I don't share the view that the Yorubas are the enemies of the Igbos. Not for one minute, and I have my reasons. The Great Nnamdi Azikiwe who was born in Zungeru could never have won, and have never, in his political life, won an election in any part of the North. It is true that NEPU under Aminu Kano who had formed an alliance with the NCNC did win Elections in Kano and a few places in the North, But Zik or any Igbo man could not and has never recorded a personal victory in any part of the North. If you know of any, please feel free to educate me. You cannot say the same thing of the old West. Nnamdi Azikiwe had not only won elections at Ibadan, the nerve center of Yoruba Politics, the Zik that I know, was on his way to becoming the first Premier of the old Western Nigeria, meaning that the NCNC led by Zik would have ruled the East and the West as far back as the early 50s. The NCNC had always won elections in Ilesha, and Akure Urban has always voted for Zik and the NCNC therefore rejecting Awo. That much I know. It is hard to find a Yoruba man winning even a Local Government election in any part of Igbo Land. If you know of one, tell me. His name would go into the Guinness Book of Records. That has never happened. and probably never will in our lifetime.

Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, may his soul rest in perfect peace, had voluntarily chosen to die with Aguiyi Ironsi, even when his life would have been spared because he would not allow the blood of an Igbo man who was visiting him as a guest, to be shed and the blame put on the Yorubas who were no party to the conspiracy to eliminate Aguiyi Ironsi at Ibadan, to begin with. Adekunle Fajuyi has remained my hero for that single act of courage. Philip Alale and Victor Banjo all fought for, and laid down their lives for Biafra, regardless of how you want to cut it. Those are all Yoruba people. So when some of our Igbo brothers and sisters talk of Awolowo robbing Zik of his opportunity to become the first Premier of the old West or helping the Federal side to defeat Biafra, by using the stroke of his pen to change the Nigerian currency, it is also fair to always acknowledge the role and contributions of other worthy sons of Oduduwa in siding with the Igbos on many instances. You will never have a more loyal NCNC juggernauts than the late Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, T.O.S Benson, the late J.M.Johnson, to mention just a few.

I do not blame my good friend, Alfred for not going that far in his beautiful narrative on the Biafran War. That he did not do so does take anything away from the merit of this book. That he took pains to even write the book at all, thirty-six years later, is something to write home about, and I applaud his effort and praise his vision. Surviving in Biafra has added a new and refreshing dimension to Biafra and all it stands for. Commentaries on it, like the one I am attempting to do here can only enrich the concept and the goal of writing this book in the fullness of time. I throw my salute, Great Alfred, and wish you more grease to your elbows for a job well done.

I rest my case.