About 65km east of Owerri is Umuahia, the capital of Abia state in Nigeria. This is my third day in Eastern Nigeria and a good time to delve into the civil war that happened here over four decades ago. While the various literature I have read about Nigeria has given me diverse perspectives about the Nigerian Civil war, today, I am walking on the ground where the battles were fought, and mirroring the feelings of Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu at the theatre of war.
Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and his Biafran Soldiers
Umuahia, Republic of Biafra’s second capital after the fall of Enugu, is an administrative centre with government buildings, good road network and nice ambience. Its residents are very peaceful and hospitable, and the state is safe! In fact, I was told that Abia state is rated as Nigeria’s second safest state by the Bureau of Statistics and Abians (as the people are called) are calm and industrious people—that’s why Abia is an industrial hub, with Aba—a major town in the state, renowned for local manufacturing, a feat acknowledged with the expression, ‘Aba made’ or ‘Made in Aba’.
Thanks to my host, Mrs Ngozi Ngoka–the vice president of Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria South East Chapter, I had the chance to meet the State commissioner for information, Mr John Okiyi Kalu, who was happy to share the developments in the state with me
Abia is opening up for tourism, though a lot is still in the infancy stage the commissioner told me. The interesting thing, he added, is that the raw beauty is still there, as well as the interesting folklore.
He told me the story of the AroChukwu, and how the Aros were able to manipulate their central oracle, Ibn Ukpabi (Long – Juju) such that it became the judicial machinery in every Igbo community.
He said because the people trusted the efficacy of the oracle, they often go to it to settle their scores. The guilty victims became a property of the gods. They were eventually sold as slaves or retained as domestic property of the Priest in years past.
Mr Kalu suggested that I consider having my prenuptial (pre-wedding) pictures around the Azumini blue river because of its mesmerizing view, abundant sandy beaches, opportunities for canoe rides and its calmness. Here is the caveat he gave me; be prepared for untapped tourism as most of the state’s touristy sites are located in rural Abia.
I enjoyed every moment spent with the Commissioner and looked forward to those experience. But my trip today is about history, politics, and war. So I left the commissioner’s office and began my Nigerian Civil War trail.
From the state secretariat, my driver–Mr Goodnews of ABC Transport, gently manoeuvred the busy axis of Umuahia until we got to a cool and quiet neighbourhood off Umuahia-Uzuakoli Road in Ebite Amafor, Isingwu Autonomous Community. I needed no introduction as the car gradually coasted towards the entrance of my next stop… the War Museum!
The museum has three galleries that cover traditional warfare, the armed forces and the Nigerian Civil War weapon galleries. Relics of the war, pictures of soldiers who fought the war, military leaders, victims of the war, structure and some facilities used during the war are what to look forward to when you visit.
To really enjoy the museum, you need a guide who is versed in Nigerian History, especially the part that includes the civil war, though an in-house tour guide is there if you don’t mind. I didn’t need the in-house tour guide as each step I took inside the museum seemed like a walk into pages of Max Siollun’s “Oil, Politics and Violence” or Chinua Achebe’s “There was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra”.
I was particularly captivated by the gallery of the armed forces as it was an opportunity to put faces behind names like Major General Sir Christopher Welby-Everard the last British General Officer Commanding of the Nigerian Army Forces, David Ejoor who commanded the army guard at the midnight flag raising ceremony on Nigeria’s independence day, Louis Victor Ugboma, the first Nigerian to be a commissioned officer (he was originally from Ghana), Samuel Ademulegun, Zakariya Maimalari, Babafemi Ogundipe and others.
Siollum had suggested in his book that Welby doubted whether Ironsi would make a good GOC and recommended Ogundipe instead because the later would command the loyalty of the whole army with less likelihood of opposing factions springing up within the officer corps. The Federal Government at the time didn’t take the recommendation and…well, the rest is history.
Within the museum, I found the original walls of the famous Ojukwu bunker and the announcer’s room of the Voice of Biafra.
While starring at the small broadcasting space from which defining issues were aired during the war, I could hear Ojukwu’s voice re-echoed in my mind as he read his famous Proclamation of Republic of Biafra speech:
“Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of “The Republic of Biafra”.
Just outside the buildings housing the galleries, but within the Museum’s premises are different military artilleries, aircraft and boat used during the war by the Nigerian army and their Biafran counterpart. In this open-air gallery are anti-aircraft guns and Squid Mortar MK4 anti-submarine gun, an ‘ahead throwing weapon that was used to destroy enemy submarine. It was mostly deployed for the demolition of suspected minefields along the channel for the safe passage of Nigerian Navy ships during the civil war’.
Others are the Biafran red devil armoured personnel carrier; the famous Ogbunigwe (Ojukwu bucket) launcher; artillery gun 105mm Howitzer, and NAF 102 Donier 27 aircraft, among others. I took time to appreciate the ingenuity of the Biafran army, especially, for fabricating some of these weapons and wondered whether the Nigerian Army is still interested in such creativity today.
It is consoling that the museum is not just about the war, as it also educates visitors about the reconciliation efforts after the war. Despite its challenges, there is no doubt that the museum promises any visitor a lot of lessons in Nigeria’s unity.
You can’t trail the Nigeria Civil war in Umuahia without touring the famous Ojukwu Bunker. After the War Museum, I headed to the Bunker which is just a few minutes’ drive away.
The bunker is an underground apartment located in the old apartment of Sir Michael Iheonukara Okpara at Okpara Avenue Ubakala, Umuahia. The entrance to the premises is guarded by friendly, though armed security men. When I got into the premises, the first thing I noticed was the statue of Ojukwu and Okpara. While I didn’t take long to identify Ojukwu’s statue, I had to read the inscription at the foot of Okpara’s status to identify him.
My guide told me that the bunker was built within 90 days by Nigerian engineers as a subterranean office of the Biafran government. I later found more interesting details about the bunker at the entrance of the Bunker where it is inscribed. The Bunker is 26.9 feet deep and about 8 meters long bunker has a conference room—with a picture of Ojukwu and key figures like Pius Okigbo and Chinua Achebe, a parlour, a bedroom, kitchen, store, bathroom and toilet.
There is also an escape route in case of an attack. Your guess is as good as it is, that escape route was my exit path after the tour.
© Afro Tourism
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