New Perspectives on the Nigeria-Biafra War: No Victor, No Vanquished

by Chima J. Korieh (Editor), Paul R. Bartrop Florida Gulf Coast University (Contribution by), Anwesha Das (Contribution by), Austine Duru (Contribution by), Bernard Steiner Ifekwe (Contribution by)

Overview

New Perspectives on the Nigeria-Biafra War: No Victor, No Vanquished analyzes the continued impact of the Nigeria-Biafra war on the Igbo, the failure of the reconstruction and reconciliation effort in the post-war period, and the politics of exclusion of the memory of the war in public discourse in Nigeria. Furthermore, New Perspectives on the Nigeria-Biafra War explores the resilience of the Igbo people and the different strategies they have employed to preserve the history and memory of Biafra. The contributors argue that the war had important consequences for the socio-political developments in the post-war period, ushering in two differing ideologies: a paternalistic ideology of “co-option” of the Igbo by the Nigerian state, under the false premise of ‘No Victor, No Vanquished,” and the Igbo commitment to self-preservation on the other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781793631114
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	10/13/2021
Pages:	428
Product dimensions:	6.45(w) x 8.86(h) x 1.14(d)

About the Author

Chima J. Korieh is director of Africana studiesat Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Power of Silence: Reflections on the Politics of Memorializing the Biafra War

Chima J. Korieh

Part 1: War, History, and Memory

Chapter 1: Inhibitions to Speaking Out: Assessing Frederick Forsyth’s Three Categories of Silent Witness in Biafra

Paul R. Bartrop

Chapter 2: The Catholic Church and the Post-War Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Nigeria, 1970-1975

Nicholas Ibeawuchi Omenka

Chapter 3: The Inseparable Ties with the Past: Indirect Colonial Rule in Nigeria and the Biafra War

Anwesha Das

Chapter 4: Biafran Enclaves and the Militia Activities in Mid-Western Nigeria, 1967-1970

Odigwe A. Nwaokocha

Chapter 5: Biafran Radical Groups and the Quest for Biafra Sovereignty in the Nigeria-Biafra War

Bernard Steiner Ifekwe

Chapter 6: Shades of Gray: Nigeria-Biafra War Coverage, American Diplomatic Nightmare, and the Conscience of a Nation.

Austine Duru

Part 2: Wartime Victims, The Igbo, and the Biafran Experience

Chapter 7: Constructing the Impact of the Nigeria-Biafra War on the Anioma People

Odigwe A. Nwaokocha

Chapter 8: The Philosophy of Refugeeism and Returneeism: The Experience of the Igbo in the Nigeria- Biafran War

Francis O. C. Njoku

Chapter 9: Biafra’s Hidden Victims: The Lone Story of a Child Evacuee, 1967-2017

Françoise Ugochukwu

Chapter 10: Children in the Nigeria-Biafra War: A Study on their Evacuation, Rehabilitation and Repatriation

Nicholas Ibeawuchi Omenka

Part 3: Fifty Year After: Biafra, Biafrans, and New Struggles

Chapter 11: RE-Imagining Biafra

Obioma Nnaemeka

Chapter 12: Biafra Aftermath and the Path Forward

G.N. Uzoigwe

Chapter 13: Biafra Then. Biafra Now.

John Sherman

Chapter 14: Pertinent Stakes in the Continuing Conversations on Biafra

Obinna Innocent Ihunna

Part 4: Biafrawar, Arts, and Representations

Chapter 15: War, Memory and the Literary Imagination

Rose A. Sackeyfio

Chapter 16: Of Tragedy and Art: Contemporary Igbo Artists and Critical (dis)Engagement with the Biafran War

John Kelechi Opara

Chapter 17: “Hands off Africa”: An Iconographic Survey of Biafra Self-Determination Posters in the Nigeria Civil War, 1967-1970

Etiido Effiong Inyang

Chapter 18: The Artist and the Nigeria-Biafra War: Memory and Representations

Hyacinth Chidozie Ngumah

Editorial Reviews

Korieh a well-known historian of Biafra and colonial Nigeria, offers a collection of 18 chapters on the history and memory of the war over the Republic of Biafra's secession from Nigeria (1967–70). Sections on war events, including internal tensions, the experience of ordinary Biafrans in wartime (especially children), and the long legacy of the war mix history, memoir, and polemic, producing a book that will interest both historians and casual readers with a stake in Biafra's past and present. Social history is emphasized throughout, with occasional forays into diplomatic history, humanitarianism, and the operational history of the conflict. A section on artistic and literary representations of the war by Biafrans offers particular insight, bringing several little-known artists to the attention of the wider world. Representing many voices and methodological approaches, this collection enriches readers' understanding of this crucial episode in 20th-century African history. Highly recommended. General readers through faculty.

Choice Reviews

While works abound on the Nigerian-Biafra war, this one is unique because of the deep narratives of causation, trauma, memory, betrayal, denials, truth, and the continuing impact. Anyone interested in the true story of the war, the persistent agony, and the neo-Biafra agitations must read this book.

Raphael Chijioke Njoku

Korieh a well-known historian of Biafra and colonial Nigeria, offers a collection of 18 chapters on the history and memory of the war over the Republic of Biafra's secession from Nigeria (1967–70). Sections on war events, including internal tensions, the experience of ordinary Biafrans in wartime (especially children), and the long legacy of the war mix history, memoir, and polemic, producing a book that will interest both historians and casual readers with a stake in Biafra's past and present. Social history is emphasized throughout, with occasional forays into diplomatic history, humanitarianism, and the operational history of the conflict. A section on artistic and literary representations of the war by Biafrans offers particular insight, bringing several little-known artists to the attention of the wider world. Representing many voices and methodological approaches, this collection enriches readers' understanding of this crucial episode in 20th-century African history. Highly recommended. General readers through faculty.

Choice