There Was A Country (A Personal History of Biafra ) - By Chinua Achebe
By Mtutuzeli Nyoka
Chinua Achebe is one of the most celebrated
African writers. The reverence for his books
has been in part due to excellence of his
writings, but mostly for being an excellent
narrator and poet of his beliefs.
Chinua Achebe begins the story with his early
years, and lovingly describes the parents who raised him, and
the society that nurtured him. He describes his schooling, and
the inherent conflicts between his traditions and Christianity .
His views on African education are illustrated by an incident
that occurred at his school where his teacher, with drawings
on the blackboard, was giving a lesson on the geography of
Great Britain.
Then the village ' madman ', from nowhere, snatched the chalk
from the teacher and proceeded to give an extended lesson on
Ogidi, Achebe's hometown. It was the ' madman ', according to
Chinua Achebe , who had the ' clarity of perspective' that Nigerian
children would not only benefit from colonial education but
also from ' instruction in their own history and civilisation' .
However the focus of the book is his first-hand observation of
the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970, otherwise known as the
Biafran War . The prelude to the Civil War was Nigeria's march
to Independence, and the great promise of a young country
recently freed from the yoke of colonial rule. But within six
years of independence, Nigeria had become of a ' cesspool of
corruption and misrule.'
The climax was the coup, led by an Igbo senior army officer,
Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu . This was followed by a counter-
coup staged by Northern Nigerian soldiers, leading to the
brutal slaughter of one hundred and eighty five Igbo army
officers, and in the next four months the massacre of over
thirty thousand Igbos .
The Biafran War had started in earnest, with many Igbos
terrified and fleeing home to Eastern Nigeria, a territory that
would, with secession, be called Biafra.
With failed peace talks between the Biafran and Nigerian
leaders, the civil war that flared left, in the end, over three
million dead Nigerians. The vast majority of these casualties
were sadly children.
The major Nigerian actors in the conflict were British trained
soldiers Odumegwa Ojukwu (an Igbo from a highly priviledged
background), and the head of state of Nigeria, Yakubu Gowon.
The rivalry and the intense hatred between the two were to
become a subplot in the fighting that followed.
With neither side prepared to compromise a Biafran state was
declared with its own capital, government, constitution,
provinces, flag, anthem, national bank and currency. The new
country took its name from the Bight of Biafra, an expanse of
water into which the Niger River empties.
With the Nigerian government intent on restoring its authority
over all of its territory, the army was mobilised and quickly the
capital of Biafra, Enugu , fell. The odds were heavily stacked
against the new state, with only two thousand trained soldiers
arrayed against the overwhelming might of the state army.
This was no just war between two armies. According to some
Biafrans, the Nigerian army wasn't just fighting a war; they
wanted to wipe out all Igbos from the face of the earth. The
Biafrans were soon completely outgunned, and in no time
completely surrounded. The net then slowly closed in on the
infant state.
With humanitarian aid to the civilian victims blocked, death by
hunger and disease quickly became the symbol of the Biafran
War . The brief and courageous resistance of the Biafrans soon
crumbled, and was supplanted by a desperate struggle for
survival.
In 1970 , with Ojukwu having fled the country, the inevitable fall
came, and Biafra was reduced to smouldering rubble. ' The
cost in human lives made it one of the bloodiest wars in human
history .'
Chinua Achebe was no innocent bystander in this conflict but
unashamedly served the Biafran , cause. Throughout the book
are his scattered confessions of missed opportunities for
peace by both sides. The horror and the pain he endured
during the thirty months of bloody conflict were both profound
and personal. He spent the next forty years of his life living
and teaching abroad.
It seems he spent most of those years pondering the dashed
expectations that many had for the new Nigerian state. All the
optimism they once shared, he states, had to be re-thought.
Also, as former Biafrans they had to contend and adjust to
realities of a country that no longer appealed to them.
As with a dying parent talking to his children, THERE WAS A
COUNTRY is Chinua Achebe's last word to his country and
continent. Corruption and the roguery of African leaders,
according to him, have turned Africa into a pit of despair. He
significantly concludes that we can no longer pass of the
continent's ' problems to our complicated past and the cold war,
however significant these factors are' .
THERE WAS A COUNTRY is his swansong, a memoir, and his
disappointment with the political problems of his country.
Perhaps in time, it will be regarded as Chinua Achebe's finest
literary achievement.
For me, it towers even above Things Fall Apart . Far from being
polemical, it is a book written with prudence, skill and dignity.
Chinua Achebe's immense wisdom is stamped on every
sentence and chapter. His style cannot be compared to any of
the past great writers. He always depicts human experience in
simple human language.
The book is an opportunity to conference with a unique writer
of singular skill. If there is any lamentation on his part, it is
from leaving this world without seeing any diminution of
human misery, in a continent where the most abundant riches
and most delirious possibilities still exist.
In all his works, Chinua Achebe's mode of writing was the
same. Though he gladdened and depressed us at same time,
he never failed to instruct and to steer us. Even from his
valedictory words one can still hear hope, despite the mangled
remains of our societies, of a continent not only rising but
soaring from the abyss.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?
expert=Mtutuzeli_Nyoka
0 Comments | Leave a Comment
Submitted On September 25, 2013
Chinua Achebe is one of the most celebrated
African writers. The reverence for his books
has been in part due to excellence of his
writings, but mostly for being an excellent
narrator and poet of his beliefs.
Chinua Achebe begins the story with his early
years, and lovingly describes the parents who raised him, and
the society that nurtured him. He describes his schooling, and
the inherent conflicts between his traditions and Christianity .
His views on African education are illustrated by an incident
that occurred at his school where his teacher, with drawings
on the blackboard, was giving a lesson on the geography of
Great Britain.
Then the village ' madman ', from nowhere, snatched the chalk
from the teacher and proceeded to give an extended lesson on
Ogidi, Achebe's hometown. It was the ' madman ', according to
Chinua Achebe , who had the ' clarity of perspective' that Nigerian
children would not only benefit from colonial education but
also from ' instruction in their own history and civilisation' .
However the focus of the book is his first-hand observation of
the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970, otherwise known as the
Biafran War . The prelude to the Civil War was Nigeria's march
to Independence, and the great promise of a young country
recently freed from the yoke of colonial rule. But within six
years of independence, Nigeria had become of a ' cesspool of
corruption and misrule.'
The climax was the coup, led by an Igbo senior army officer,
Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu . This was followed by a counter-
coup staged by Northern Nigerian soldiers, leading to the
brutal slaughter of one hundred and eighty five Igbo army
officers, and in the next four months the massacre of over
thirty thousand Igbos .
The Biafran War had started in earnest, with many Igbos
terrified and fleeing home to Eastern Nigeria, a territory that
would, with secession, be called Biafra.
With failed peace talks between the Biafran and Nigerian
leaders, the civil war that flared left, in the end, over three
million dead Nigerians. The vast majority of these casualties
were sadly children.
The major Nigerian actors in the conflict were British trained
soldiers Odumegwa Ojukwu (an Igbo from a highly priviledged
background), and the head of state of Nigeria, Yakubu Gowon.
The rivalry and the intense hatred between the two were to
become a subplot in the fighting that followed.
With neither side prepared to compromise a Biafran state was
declared with its own capital, government, constitution,
provinces, flag, anthem, national bank and currency. The new
country took its name from the Bight of Biafra, an expanse of
water into which the Niger River empties.
With the Nigerian government intent on restoring its authority
over all of its territory, the army was mobilised and quickly the
capital of Biafra, Enugu , fell. The odds were heavily stacked
against the new state, with only two thousand trained soldiers
arrayed against the overwhelming might of the state army.
This was no just war between two armies. According to some
Biafrans, the Nigerian army wasn't just fighting a war; they
wanted to wipe out all Igbos from the face of the earth. The
Biafrans were soon completely outgunned, and in no time
completely surrounded. The net then slowly closed in on the
infant state.
With humanitarian aid to the civilian victims blocked, death by
hunger and disease quickly became the symbol of the Biafran
War . The brief and courageous resistance of the Biafrans soon
crumbled, and was supplanted by a desperate struggle for
survival.
In 1970 , with Ojukwu having fled the country, the inevitable fall
came, and Biafra was reduced to smouldering rubble. ' The
cost in human lives made it one of the bloodiest wars in human
history .'
Chinua Achebe was no innocent bystander in this conflict but
unashamedly served the Biafran , cause. Throughout the book
are his scattered confessions of missed opportunities for
peace by both sides. The horror and the pain he endured
during the thirty months of bloody conflict were both profound
and personal. He spent the next forty years of his life living
and teaching abroad.
It seems he spent most of those years pondering the dashed
expectations that many had for the new Nigerian state. All the
optimism they once shared, he states, had to be re-thought.
Also, as former Biafrans they had to contend and adjust to
realities of a country that no longer appealed to them.
As with a dying parent talking to his children, THERE WAS A
COUNTRY is Chinua Achebe's last word to his country and
continent. Corruption and the roguery of African leaders,
according to him, have turned Africa into a pit of despair. He
significantly concludes that we can no longer pass of the
continent's ' problems to our complicated past and the cold war,
however significant these factors are' .
THERE WAS A COUNTRY is his swansong, a memoir, and his
disappointment with the political problems of his country.
Perhaps in time, it will be regarded as Chinua Achebe's finest
literary achievement.
For me, it towers even above Things Fall Apart . Far from being
polemical, it is a book written with prudence, skill and dignity.
Chinua Achebe's immense wisdom is stamped on every
sentence and chapter. His style cannot be compared to any of
the past great writers. He always depicts human experience in
simple human language.
The book is an opportunity to conference with a unique writer
of singular skill. If there is any lamentation on his part, it is
from leaving this world without seeing any diminution of
human misery, in a continent where the most abundant riches
and most delirious possibilities still exist.
In all his works, Chinua Achebe's mode of writing was the
same. Though he gladdened and depressed us at same time,
he never failed to instruct and to steer us. Even from his
valedictory words one can still hear hope, despite the mangled
remains of our societies, of a continent not only rising but
soaring from the abyss.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?
expert=Mtutuzeli_Nyoka
0 Comments | Leave a Comment
Submitted On September 25, 2013
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