The Nigerian civil war

The Nigerian civil war. One dispute that has been talked about for decades and is still on the tongues of many. The war between Biafra and Nigeria was a brutal war that left its mark on its citizens.

The Igbos felt like they were been exploited, which in reality they were, and decided that they wanted their lives back…and under the command of Ojukwu, war was declared. 

Now, I wasn’t there during the war, my mother wasn’t even born yet, but my father was. He gave me his account of the story and how it affected his life. He lost his sister due to hunger and starvation, his mother [my grandma] had to trek from Mbano to Owerri every day to obtain foodstuffs from where my grandfather was working. All in all, it was an experience that everyone wished had never happened, because it brought untold hardships and bitter memory. 

 Why exactly am I writing this? 

 Because these days, all I see about Biafra is “We need to go to war again” and “We are not afraid to fight”, I write this so those people can go drill their parents or older relatives about the war. If Biafra must happen, there are more diplomatic ways to make it happen. For goodness sake, it’s 2021, you don’t just go around threatening bloody murder!!! 

There’s also the fact that Nigeria [Biafra included] cannot survive a war, it’s impact would be even deadlier than the previous civil war. We are currently in the middle of the mother of all economic crisis and a pandemic, the world human rights and aid groups are stretched thin so one thing is for sure…We won’t be getting any help!!! And please, just imagine a war with all the sophisticated weapons been made now. 

Like I said earlier, if Biafra must happen, it has to be through more diplomatic means. I like to think that the second name of Diplomacy is Baby steps because everything is done at a slow pace but it is long lasting and effective. One thing that is as certain as the fact that Buhari will still unfortunately be our President tomorrow, is the fact that Biafra would not be given leave so easily. Why? Because the region holds most of Nigeria’s resources. Biafra should be pushing for more realistic goals this time…like I said Baby steps. They could be like the opposition that the country is lacking. 

Biafra should push to be an autonomous state, under the watch of the Federal government of Nigeria, like Catalonia and Spain and then slowly work towards been an independent state. There is another way that I’d rather not say so they should figure that out. And for those thinking all your problems will magically disappear when Biafra happens, let me be quick to remind you. 

Just like every other separated state, Biafra will be unstable and due to the dominant and greedy nature of an average Igbo man [which is what makes up most parts of Biafra], development will not come as quick as you want it to. But I guess you can take consolation in the fact that at least you’ll be conned by your own people. Also I want to know what you think in the comment section. don't be shy!!!