On 1st October 1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain. The nation was made up of 3 major regions and over 250 ethnic groups. The three dominant groups were the Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba.On paper, Nigeria was one. In reality, the regions were already locked in conflict over power, resources, and control. And the Eastern region had oil. January 1966 brought the first crack. A group of young army officers assassinated the Prime Minister and several other leaders. July 1966 brought the shattering. A counter-coup led by Northern soldiers followed.They executed many Igbo officers. But the violence did not stop there. They turned on Igbo civilians — men, women, and children.Thousands of Igbos living in Northern Nigeria, including in Jos, Plateau, were attacked and murdered in the streets. They were driven from their homes. Their houses and shops were set ablaze. Families fled back to the East with nothing but the clothes on their backs.On 4th January 1967, five months before the war, Ojukwu and the other regional leaders met in Aburi, Ghana. After the July 1966 killings, Nigeria was collapsing. To prevent war, Head of State General Yakubu Gowon called a peace meeting. Lt. General Ankrah of Ghana offered to host it in Aburi because Ghana was neutral.They signed the Aburi Accord:
1. Nigeria would remain one country, but operate as a confederation
2. Each region would control its own police and finances
3. No troops would move without approval from the Supreme Military Council
4. The East would have greater control over its oil revenue.
Ojukwu returned to Enugu and told the Igbos: “We have peace. We are safe.” He believed Aburi would protect the East. It failed. When Gowon returned to Lagos, he did not implement Aburi as Ojukwu understood it. Gowon interpreted Aburi as “decentralization,” not “confederation.”By 1967, the Eastern region was overwhelmed with refugees people carrying stories of blood and fear. On 27th May 1967, General Yakubu Gowon dissolved the 4 regions and created 12 states. This broke the Aburi agreement. The aim was to weaken the East and seize control of the oil. The new “South-Eastern State” and “Rivers State” were formed. On 30th May 1967, the leader of the Eastern region, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, made the declaration everyone anticipated: “We can no longer remain in Nigeria safely. From today, we are the Republic of Biafra.” Gowon rejected it. He insisted Nigeria must remain united. Once war began, the federal government declared that any Igbo who fled and left property behind had “abandoned” it. Those properties were confiscated by the state. Negotiations collapsed. On 6th July 1967, the first shot was fired. For 30 months, the war raged. Nigeria imposed a blockade. No food. No medicine. No essential supplies entered Biafra. The blockade caused widespread kwashiorkor. Families survived on a single cup of garri. People ate whatever they could find even raw food just to stay alive.The skies were not safe. Nigerian fighter jets bombed markets, schools, and hospitals. Whenever sirens wailed, mothers fled with babies strapped to their backs.Biafra had no air force. So they built one. Small aircraft, nicknamed “BIAFRAN BABIES”, were used to drop bombs at night.The world eventually responded. Because of the mass deaths from starvation, the Red Cross, Caritas, and various churches began night flights into Uli airstrip to deliver relief. It was perilous. Many aircraft were shot down. But they kept coming, because children were dying.Ojukwu’s soldiers fought with outdated weapons. Many were students and market traders who had taken up arms. Gowon’s forces had superior weapons and manpower. They launched OPERATION OAU to capture Biafran towns one after the other. Enugu fell in 1967. Port Harcourt in 1968. Owerri in 1969. With every fallen town, the people ran again. As my grandmother told me: her husband locked her and the children inside the house and ran out to see what was happening. He ran to survive, forgetting his family was trapped inside. Mothers ran and left their children. Fathers ran and abandoned their families. 15th January 1970 the war ended on 15th January 1970. General Gowon declared “No victor, no vanquished.” But for people like my grandmother, there were only survivors.Some men returned. Some never did. My grandmother and her children walked for days to a refugee camp. They lived on garri and hope.When the war ended, they returned home. The house was still standing. The door was still there. But nothing else was the same.Biafra was gone. Nigeria was one again. Properties across Nigeria were gone. But the people remained.My grandmother never told the story with anger. She told it with weary eyes. “Na so we run. Na so we survive.” That is what war does. It does not only take lives. It locks doors. It makes fathers forget. It makes mothers run. It forces children to grow up too soon. When I see families together, I remember. Because someone once ran… and someone was left behind a locked door. And we must never forget.No more bombings. No more running. No more Red Cross planes in the night.This is a story about Nigeria. This is a story about Biafra. This is a story about my grandmother. And this is why I am writing it down.
