Reviewed by Nowa Omoigui
Samuel Enadeghe Umweni. 888 Days in Biafra. Iuniverse. 2007, 236 pages.$24.95. ISBN: 0-595-42594-1
Life is full of surprises and irony. When one has never been imprisoned, one tends to take freedom for granted. When the lack of freedom is the result of extrajudicial factors over which one has no control, and is combined with an ever present threat of death without notice, in wartime, in an environment of starvation, it takes on a surreal quality that only one who has experienced it can describe.
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The product of forced creation as a former British colony, Nigeria lived through a major series of crises from January 1966 until January 1970 which led to the deaths of perhaps 600,000 to one million of its people.
In January 1966, a group of mostly Igbo young officers opposed to the ruling political party alliance launched a bloody revolt against the government of the day, killing the cream of northern political and military leaders in the process, along with a number of western political and military leaders deemed to be in alliance with the ruling party. The mutiny failed to bring these officers to power, but in the chaos that resulted, the General Officer Commanding the Army, Major General Ironsi, incidentally also Igbo, assumed political power in controversial circumstances.
For a number of reasons, including the failure of the Ironsi regime to bring the mutinous officers of January to trial, the promulgation of the "unification decree", and accusations that Igbo civilians were "celebrating" the deaths of northern leaders, tensions rose gradually in the intervening months and six months later, in July 1966, a bloody counter-coup by officers and soldiers of mainly northern origin toppled the regime of Major General Ironsi, killing him in the process. This action ushered in a new regime led by then Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, a middle belt northerner, but was opposed by the Eastern regional Governor, Lt. Col. CO Ojukwu, an Igbo like Ironsi.
Further, in the period just prior to and after the coup of July 1966, there were orgies of indiscriminate mass reprisal killings of thousands of mainly Igbos mostly in northern Nigeria, but also in parts of Lagos and the West, most of whom then fled to take refuge in their home region in the East. Although there was subsequently a six month lull in the killings, supported by domestic and international efforts to resolve the crisis diplomatically, matters came to a head and the Eastern region, under its Military Governor, then Lt. Col. CO Ojukwu, declared secession on May 30, 1967, calling itself "Biafra".
At that time, Nigeria had four regions - North, West, East and Midwest - which were then further subdivided by Lt. Col. Gowon, into 12 states a few days before the secession of Biafra. One of these 12 States was the Midwestern State (formerly a region). The Eastern region itself was split into three - East Central (core Igbo), South-East and Rivers (which comprised non-Igbo ethnic minorities). Nigeria rejected the Biafran declaration of independence and, on July 6, 1967, following a naval blockade, launched ground operations to bring the Eastern region back under its fold.
On August 9, 1967, Biafran forces, aided by some pro-Biafran Ibo elements in the Midwest, launched a preemptive raid across the River Niger and seized control of the Midwest - a region that had previously declared its neutrality in the conflict and would not allow Federal Troops to attack the East from its soil. Further Biafran advance deep into the West, with Lagos and Ibadan as objectives, in order to overthrow the Gowon government, eventually failed.
In the meantime, on August 12, 1967, four senior officials of the Midwest were 'invited' under armed guard to Biafra under false pretences, where they remained in detention for 888 days. The only surviving member of that quartet, Engineer Samuel Umweni, Head of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in Benin City at the time, has now published his memoirs of the event in the book "888 Days in Biafra".
Most people who have followed the history of coup prone countries look back and see that there are risks in choosing a career in Radio Broadcasting. Broadcasters and their Technical crew have been assaulted, forced into enabling seditious broadcasts, and in some cases ( as happened in March 1976 in Nigeria) executed by the government for enabling such broadcasts. To this list can be added kidnap and extrication to a "foreign" country for detention and imprisonment, which is precisely what happened to Sam Umweni in August 1967 during the Nigerian civil war.
The Book, "888 Days in Biafra", is a memoir of the author's experience from abduction to release. The cover is well designed. A Biafran "rising sun" from the now defunct Biafran flag is depicted with concertina prison wires within which the outlines of the frames of the famous River Niger Bridge linking the Midwest with the Eastern region (Biafra) can be seen. The point is that the author was kidnapped and taken across that bridge to the East, where he was jailed. The writing style is smooth, weaving in deadly serious analyses, along with numerous humorous and witty anecdotes. It is well organized and supplemented with photographs and newspaper clippings.
The forward, written by the late Pius Oleghe, a great writer and educationist in his time, is retained from an earlier attempt to publish the book in 1976. The prologue introduces the author and gives the reader a sense of who he was before the unfortunate events of 1967 - 1970. The main body is organized into 11 chapters which take the reader through a gripping and suspense filled account. The epilogue allows the reader to get a sense of what has happened to the author since his prison ordeal. The appendix contains thumb nail biographical sketches of some of his former prison colleagues. Thus, the author succeeds in placing the 888 days within the overall context of his life before and after the experience, thus allowing readers to come away with an understanding that as long as there is life, there is hope.
As an eye witness non-fictional account, Sam Umweni is fully "qualified" to write on the subject, having gained expertise under the tutelage of "personal experience". What makes his testimony even more profound is his knowledge of the Igbo language - a fact which was unknown to his captors at that time. The author kept his knowledge of Igbo secret throughout detention, listening in on unsuspecting warders, fellow prisoners and ordinary free Biafrans. Indeed the book documents many of the Igbo songs that men, women and children sang for morale in those dark days, gripped as it were, in the pangs of efficient State propaganda.
The author's perspective as a prisoner of Biafra is not neutral (nor can it be expected to be), but that of an innocent technocrat caught in the currents of a war he neither caused nor started, and who suffered indignities under the most harrowing conditions. He makes no bones that he was decidedly pro-federal and anti-secessionist - a point of view that would have been irrelevant had Biafra not chosen to invade his home region. Clearly he saw no salvation for himself or his colleagues in the event of a Biafran victory which may very well have resulted in their execution.
Although caged in brief remarks, it is difficult to miss his deep personal pain such as when he celebrated the birthday of his first son inside a prison cell. He felt so bad, he recollects, that he "prayed for Ojukwu's downfall". But this perhaps paled into insignificance when he confronted the unfortunate disruption of his marriage upon return home after the war. Aside from his own personal example, the author, on more than one occasion, points out the effect of war on the morality of family life across ethnic boundaries - a lesson for all.
There can be no doubt that the account is authentic. This is not a book written today from remote memory. The first draft was originally written immediately after the war ended in 1970, aided by meticulous diary keeping and a fresh recollection. This is obvious to the reader because of the sheer depth and precision of detail. According to the author, he has waxed and waned from publication over the years on the basis of a number of factors, including the need to allow old wounds heal. Now, over 37 years later, he hopes the lessons of his personal experience and observations can be recorded for posterity.
"888 Days in Biafra" is a priceless document because of the intricate details provided about prison life in wartime Nigeria. Needless, to say, its lessons and observations apply to other African countries in conflict. Some of the author's former cell mates mentioned in the book later became very prominent personalities in post-war Nigeria. Dan Ibekwe, for example, became a Federal Attorney General and later, President of the Federal Court of Appeals. Lt. Abdulkareem Adisa, then a prisoner-of-war, retired from the Army as a Major General and was at one point a Federal Minister. Olu Akpata later became a Senator of the Federal republic. Dr. Chike Obi became an even more famous Professor of Mathematics. Len Crickmar went on to have a successful marine career in his home country in the United Kingdom, etc. The list goes on.
Thus, in telling his own story, the book offers a window (through Mr. Umweni's eyes) into an interesting historical segment of the lives of others. The vital role of the International Red Cross, CARITAS, and other charities, behind the front lines of war, is documented from the perspective of a detainee. That food relief was exploited for religious and political purposes will surprise no one who follows human conflict and the cynical exploitation to which it is often subjected. For example, milk provided by the International Red Cross and available overland though the graces of the Nigerian government, was avoided in starvation ridden Biafra on the heels of official rumors that it might have been "poisoned" by Nigerian customs agents. Protestants willfully converted to Catholicism to gain access to Catholic relief supplies. Reverend Fathers and Mothers gave bribes freely to Biafran officials for political ends.
The corruption of the Biafran Police and Prison bureaucracy is well documented in the book - a phenomenon that should not be too surprising in a wartime environment of scarcity. Readers who are familiar with modern Nigeria's corrupt culture, will be tempted, however, to conclude that corruption certainly did not start recently. As recounted by the author, the ingenuity of male, female and child prisoners faced with severe adversity was a testament to Man's instinct for survival against all odds.
The author supplements his personal observations with accounts and reports gleaned from other prisoners at the time. By so doing he provides important insights into how and what people were thinking during the war. How much weight a reader today chooses to place on the "conventional wisdom" in a Biafran Prison of that era (as described) is one of the fascinations (and challenges) of the Book. Importantly, the author did not try to rewrite any sections he originally wrote in 1970, so doing in order to preserve the mood of that era for historical accuracy.
To maintain its laid back narrative essence, Mr. Umweni does not provide a formal list of references - a decision some might interpret as a limitation but others (particularly those who are old enough to recall the events he is describing) might enjoy because of its informality. In any case, the author is the main reference, and there is a rich Nigerian Civil War literature out there for those who want to corroborate events, dates and times. Of particular interest, for example, is a piece written in the Guardian Newspaper on January 25, 2001, by Jacob S. P. Nwokolo titled,
"Igbos in the enterprise called Nigeria: My perspective". [http://www.kwenu.com/biafra/jsp_nwokolo.htm ]
It is apparent that Mr. Nwokolo crossed paths with some of the detainees, like Justice Dan Ibekwe, Mrs. Julie Alale and Mrs. Laura Obienu, all of whom were later to cross paths with Mr. Sam Umweni at Ntueke. In any case, some of the personalities mentioned in the book are still alive and some, like Col. Ademoyega ("Why we Struck"), Major General David Ejoor ("Reminences") and Brigadier Sam Ogbemudia ("Years of Challenge"), have since written their own memoirs. Sadly though, his three colleagues, Mr. Joseph Imokhuede (Secretary to the State Military Government), Mr. Olu Akpata (the most Senior Permanent Secretary) and Mr. Joseph Adeola (the State Commissioner of Police) with whom he was kidnapped on August 12, 1967, are all now deceased. Wherever they are, they must all be grateful that Sam Umweni, the youngest of them, has lived to tell their story.
What makes "888 Days in Biafra" peculiar is that no other book in print beams such a powerful searchlight on the Prison system. Since most Biafran prisons were basically extensions of Nigerian Prisons of that era, Mr. Umweni provides invaluable insight into the evolution of Nigeria's Prison system for those interested in Prison reform - even today. For Nigerians and ex-"Biafrans", it also provides a glimpse into the abuses of Biafra's military dictatorship under emergency conditions in war, stripped of romanticism and revisionism.
In a subject like that of the civil war, ethnicity and ethnic dynamics simply cannot be avoided. But Mr. Umweni handles his discussion of the internal politics of wartime Midwest and the schisms between Edo-speaking peoples, core Biafran Igbo, Onitsha and Midwestern Ibo speaking groups delicately. I was particularly pleased that he avoided the fallacy of over-generalization. At every opportunity he pointed out that while some specific persons from certain ethnic groups could be accused of one thing or another during the crisis (from his point of view at that time), others from the very same groups could not. Clearly we have all moved forward since those unfortunate days.
As has been observed by other authors the list of detainees in Biafra grew to include "Biafrans" who were branded saboteurs by the Ojukwu regime. After the arrest of Mike Ibekwe (older brother of Dan Ibekwe), then a senior Biafran Police officer, the author observed: "As we were to learn from many future detainees whose paths we were to cross, for many in Biafra, no one ever told you what your offence was."
I was struck by the camaderie between Biafran Police Officers and their erstwhile colleague, Mr. Joseph Adeola, who was the Commissioner for Police in the Midwest at the time he was kidnapped. Although a special Nigerian detainee of the Biafran government, Biafran Police officers showed him deference, a testimony to the esprit de Corps of the old Nigeria Police Force (NPF). The NPF was not organizationally tainted by the sort of gruesome murders that occurred in the Army in January and July 1966. Biafran (i.e. former Nigerian) Prison Officers on the other hand, were a mixed bag, some humane and some sadistic. Never too far from the surface, however, the intersection of ethnic undercurrents with officialdom was clear.
"888 Days in Biafra" also makes a contribution to the nomenclature and language of the war. One learns, for example, that rather than being referred to as having been "captured", areas that came under Nigerian control were referred to as "disturbed." Dead prisoners were never said to have died. They only went to "post a letter to Gowon."
This is a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading over and over again. I strongly recommend it to any serious student of the domestic and international undercurrents of the Nigerian civil war, the sociology of Nigerian prison systems and psychology of prisoners in general.
It is a must have for any personal or organizational Library.
Nowa Omoigui
June 2007
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