The Nigerian civil war and the aftereffects.
Hello, everyone
Welcome to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learner's featured post. One thing about a country in chaos that is inevitable is how much suffering the people are exposed to. When a country is in chaos, lives are lost, properties are lost, people are displaced, and many loved ones are lost with no track. No one knows if they really died or lost their way home. The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, did more harm than good both to the people and the country's economy. One thing with a country at war is how the country's economy comes crashing down and how international businesses close up and leave for their own safety.
During my high school days, I was never a fan of history; I never liked it, but I was still forced to do it for a whole year. That should be in my senior secondary school 1 (SS1) when students were forced to offer over 17 subjects before choosing if they wanted to go for arts or science, and that is how I got to learn a few things about the history of my country, and with the help of my grandparents, it was like I was there. War is bad; until the day my grandfather died, he kept lamenting about how he had to leave his flourishing business in Umuahia and returned back to the village and became jobless for a while. Then my grandmother would always say, Even during the war, food was not this bad whenever someone else, especially the grandchildren, cooked.
They will never let us hear anything else except stories about the war and how they managed to survive. The Nigerian Civil War (the Biafran War) started around 1967 and lasted until around 1970. It was a war between the Nigerian government and the people of Biafra (mainly Igbos). Since time immemorial the Igbos have always felt oppressed and maltreated by the Nigerian government and decided to break free and be a country of their own, but instead of freedom, the Nigerian government imposed an economic sanction on the Igbo-dominated area, causing the people to suffer more.
On the 30th of May, 1967, the Igbo-dominated area (the eastern part of the country) declared itself a republic and called the country the Republic of Biafra, and the Nigerian government frowned upon such an act and reacted immediately to put an end to the rebellion and return to the unity of the country. Major general Yakubu Gowon was head of state (Federal republic of Nigeria), and did everything within his power to ensure that the rebellion was put to an end and the country united again.
On the other hand, Odumegwu Ojukwu Chukwuemeka, the leader of the Biafran army, was not willing to lay down his arms and wanted to give his people the freedom he felt they deserved, and this led to the death of many, both civilians (women and children) and soldiers. The war lasted for about 3 years, and on the 15th of January 1970, Odumegwu Ojukwu Chukwuemeka fled the country, and the Nigerian government declared victory. This was a war that made many homeless, took many lives, and turned many into handicaps; such a thing should not happen again, as we are now more civilized and should follow things legally and avoid seeking freedom in any way that results in war or loss of life and properties that took people many years to get.
Fifty-five years after the war was declared over and we are still suffering the lingering consequences. Till this day, enemies made back then continues to remain enemies. Wounds are yet to heal; the ones that healed left visible scars.
You have said it all, the after effects of war is long time and does not go away even after decades.
I loved history sha back in secondary school. The Civil War was a terrible one in the history of Nigeria especially the second one.
The aftereffects is still affecting us till this moment.
I never loved history oo, the story is too much and their exam questions will always require you to do a lot of writing.
I have been looking for you my helper.
The ramifications of the war might still be felt. Isn’t this?
Wars,conflicts and fights just do one thing i.e loss of lives and resources.
The more we study about wars,more we know that every war was fought due to elitists and sufferings went to common man only
Wars and conflicts only come with negative effects and adds no benefits at all.
Its been a very long time after the war, but its effects remain with us. The Biafra war left a lot of scars that can't even heal up till date. Nnamdi Kalu is just going from one court room to the other, just to get Biafra.
The government just wants to keep that man behind bars until whenever they feel he will not have the energy to press on.
True. But one thing they forget is that, his people share the same energy with him.
There will always be a renegade
Despite the fact that the war took place many years ago we are still suffering form it. Nigeria is full of war
The after effects of war is always felt for a very long time if not forever.