Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part 1
Pioneers of a New Frontier 7
The Magical Years 8
Primary Exposure 15
Leaving Home 17
The Formative Years at Umuahia and Ibadan 19
The Umuahia Experience 21
The Ibadan Experience 28
Meeting Christie and Her Family 30
Discovering Things Fall Apart 33
A Lucky Generation 39
The March to Independence 40
The Cradle of Nigerian Nationalism 43
Post-Independence Nigeria 48
The Decline 51
The Role of the Writer in Africa 52
1966 (poem) 62
January 15, 1966, Coup 63
The Dark Days 65
Benin Road (poem) 73
A History of Ethnic Tension and Resentment 74
The Army 78
Countercoup and Assassination 80
The Pogroms 82
Penalty of Godhead (poem) 84
The Aburi Accord 85
Generation Gap (poem) 90
The Nightmare Begins 91
Part 2
The Nigeria-Biafra War 95
The Biafran Position 95
The Nigerian Argument 96
The Role of the Organization of African Unity 96
The Triangle Game: The UK, France, and the United States 99
The Writers and Intellectuals 105
The War and the Nigerian Intellectual 108
The Life and Work of Christopher Okigbo 114
The Major Nigerian Actors in the Conflict: Ojukwu and Gowon 118
The Aristocrat 118
The Gentleman General 120
The First Shot (poem) 127
The Biafran Invasion of the Mid-West 128
Gowon Regroups 132
The Asaba Massacre 133
Biafran Repercussions 135
Blood, Blood, Everywhere 136
The Calabar Massacre 137
Biafra, 1969 (poem) 141
The Republic of Biafra 143
The Intellectual Foundation of a New Nation 143
The Biafran State 149
The Biafran Flag 151
The Biafran National Anthem 151
The Military 153
Ogbunigwe 156
Biafran Tanks 157
A Tiger Joins the Army 158
Freedom Fighters 159
Traveling on Behalf of Biafra 160
Refugee Mother and Child (A Mother in a Refugee Camp) (poem) 168
Life in Biafra 169
The Abagana Ambush 173
Air Raid (poem) 175
The Citadel Press 176
The Ifeajuna Manuscript 178
Staying Alive 179
Death of the Poet: "Daddy, Don't Let Him Die!" 183
Mango Seedling (poem) 186
Refugees 188
We Laughed at Him (poem) 196
The Media War 199
Narrow Escapes 200
Vultures (poem) 204
Part 3
The Fight to the Finish 209
The Economic Blockade and Starvation 209
The Silence of the United Nations 211
Azikiwe Withdraws Support for Biafra 215
The Recapture of Owerri 217
Biafra Takes an Oil Rig: "The Kwale Incident" 218
1970 and The Fall 222
The Question of Genocide 228
The Arguments 229
The Case Against the Nigerian Government 233
Gowon Responds 236
Part 4
Nigeria's Painful Transitions: A Reappraisal 243
Corruption and Indiscipline 249
State Failure and the Rise of Terrorism 250
State Resuscitation and Recovery 251
After a War (poem) 254
Postscript: The Example of Nelson Mandela 257
Appendix: Brigadier Banjo's Broadcast to Mid-West 259
Notes 267
Index 321