A few days after excerpts from Prof. Chinua Achebe’s
latest memoirs, entitled ‘There Was A Country: A Personal History of
Biafra,’ was published in the Guardian of London, the book is still the
subject of what promises to be a long-drawn debate on the Internet and
social media, particularly on the Facebook.
In the book, which focuses on the Nigerian Civil War,
Achebe claims that former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.) and
the late Yoruba leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, initiated the economic
policies that caused the deaths of over two million Igbo through
starvation during the war.
The controversial paragraph from the book reads, “It
is my impression that Awolowo was driven by an overriding ambition for
power, for himself and for his Yoruba people. There is, on the surface
at least, nothing wrong with those aspirations.
“In the Biafran case, it meant hatching up a
diabolical policy to reduce the numbers of his enemies significantly
through starvation – eliminating over two million people, mainly members
of future generations.”
Many Nigerians who read the excerpts on the Internet appear to be sharply divided over the content of the book.
While some accused Achebe of whipping up ethnic
sentiments and accusing Awolowo falsely, others have expressed the
opinion that the writer has told the truth about the civil war.
No comments:
Post a Comment