All wars are bad for people who live through them, especially children, the Nigerian civil war was no exception. John Mozie, Charles Spiropoulos, and Edozie Ezeife have put together a remarkable anthology that is pivotal to conversations about the children of war.
This anthology holds the experiences of twenty-five children who lived in the Biafran enclave during that war and their stories are unique because they captured what they remembered of the war, and the effect it had on them. These children have all grown into adults, with families of their own, but the experiences of that event have stayed with them.
Published by Scribblecity Publications in May 2021, the book is a must-read for people concerned about the devastating impact of wars on children in general or with a particular interest in Nigerian history. The travails and privations of the war left a mark on the children who lived it and this book tells their story.
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As wars spread across the world and the actors pursue the vigorous decimation of their enemies, it is important to remember the most vulnerable victims of any war, the ones who pay the long and painful price of war, are the same people whose opinions are never sought when declarations of war are made: The children.
In Remembering Biafra, Nnaemeka Nnoli, remembers the severe scarcity of salt and how they gradually ran out of food, hunting bush rats and lizards out of hunger. Even these creatures became scarce as the war progressed.
Arthur Harris-Eze in his piece, surviving the Civil War recounts how after a bout of measles his aunt lost her sight because she could not get the medical help she needed, nor could they get papers to get medical help abroad. He was fortunately spared the same fate.
The authors hope to raise awareness of the effects of war on children and young people who have no vote, and no voice. The 452-page book gives the civil war survivors a platform for them to share their experiences and pain. As wars both at home and across the globe continue to claim the lives of children, the conversation now should be around sustainable peace and conflict resolution.
The book is a must-read for people concerned about the devastating impact of wars on children in general or with a particular interest in Nigerian history. The travails and privations of the war left a mark on the children who lived it and this book tells their story.
There is a certain uniqueness to this project because it is one of the few books written about the Nigerian civil war that is not coloured by political or tribal prejudice. It does not seek to unravel the causes of the civil war, nor does it seek to offer a panacea for resolving the issues that led to war. All it does is follow each child, capture their perceptions of life in Biafra, and how they survived the event.
