A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War PDF
Preview A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War
A History of the Republic of Biafra TheRepublicofBiafralastedforlessthanthreeyears,butthewaroverits secessionwouldcontortNigeriafordecadestocome.SamuelFuryChilds DalyexaminesthehistoryoftheNigerianCivilWaranditsaftermathfrom anuncommonvantagepoint–thecourtroom.WartimeBiafrawasglutted withfirearms,wrackedbyfamine,andadministeredbyagovernmentthat buckled under the weight of the conflict. In these dangerous conditions, manypeoplesurvivedbyengaginginfraud,extortion,andarmedviolence. When the fighting ended in 1970, these survival tactics endured, even though Biafra itself disappeared from the map. Based on research using anoriginalarchiveoflegalrecordsandoralhistories,Dalycatalogueshow people navigated conditions of extreme hardship on the war front and showshowtheconditionsoftheNigerianCivilWarpavedthewayforthe longexperienceofcrimethatfollowed. samuel fury childs daly is Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies, History, and International Comparative StudiesatDukeUniversity.Ahistorianoftwentieth-centuryAfrica,heis the author of articles in journals including Journal of Imperial and CommonwealthHistory,AfricanStudiesReview,andAfricanAffairs. A History of the Republic of Biafra Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War samuel fury childs daly DukeUniversity UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia 314 321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi 110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06 04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108840767 DOI:10.1017/9781108887748 ©SamuelFuryChildsDaly2020 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2020 AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Names:Daly,SamuelFuryChilds,1986 author. Title:AhistoryoftheRepublicofBafra:law,crime,andtheNigerianCivilWar/ SamuelFuryChildsDaly,DukeUniversity,NorthCarolina. Description:NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2020.|Includesindex. Identifiers:LCCN2020013563(print)|LCCN2020013564(ebook)|ISBN 9781108840767(hardback)|ISBN9781108887748(ebook) Subjects:LCSH:Nigeria,Eastern History.|Civilwar Nigeria,Eastern.|Nigeria History CivilWar,1967 1970. Classification:LCCDT515.5.D352020(print)|LCCDT515.5(ebook)|DDC 966.905/2 dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020013563 LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020013564 ISBN9781108840767Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthirdpartyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Tomyparents Contents ListofFigures pageviii ListofMaps ix Acknowledgments x Introduction 1 1 Law,Order,andtheBiafranNationalImagination 35 2 SwornontheGun:MartialViolenceandViolentCrime 78 3 CounterfeitCountry:FraudandForgeryinBiafra 111 4 BuryingtheHatchet:TheProblemsofPostwarReintegration 152 5 ALongHeatedMoment:ViolentCrimeinthePostwar EastCentralState 183 6 NoLongeratEase:FraudandDeceptioninPostwarNigeria 218 Epilogue:WarCrimesandCrimesofWar 252 ArchivalCollectionsConsulted 257 Index 260 vii Figures 1.1 Ojukwuinspectingtroops,June1968 page43 1.2 ANigeriansoldierinfrontofapropagandaposter, Nsukka,1967 51 2.1 Youngwomeninparamilitarytraining,1967 92 3.1 Biafransoldiersatacheckpoint,1968 131 3.2 Biafransoldiersandanaidworker,1968 143 3.3 NigeriansoldiersinOwerri,1970 150 4.1 AgroupoflawyersinEnugucelebratingtheendof asession,1971 157 4.2 NigeriansoldiersonpatrolinPortHarcourt,1970 162 4.3 WoodenplanksplacedovertheNigerBridge,1971 173 5.1 AvillagenearAbaposesforagroupphotograph,1971 214 viii Maps 0.1 MapoftheRepublicofBiafra pagexiv ix Acknowledgments ThisincompletelistcannotfullyexpresshowgratefulIamforthetime and energy other people have given this book. Historians are only as good as their sources, and this account would not exist without the work of the librarians, archivists, and registrars who preserve them (sometimes in difficult circumstances). I thank the stewards of collections in Enugu, Umuahia, Lagos, Calabar, Onitsha, Owerri, Kaduna,Ibadan,Nsukka,London,Oxford,Dublin,Nantes,Pretoria, and others listed at the end of this book. I am especially grateful to FlorenceChukwuandthestaffoftheEnuguStateHighCourtlibrary and registry. Valentine N. Alakwe, Georginia Anogbatu, Francisca Morchi, and others at the Nigerian National Archives in Enugu allowed me to work there, as did Salamu Olatunji in Kaduna. Justin NwanerioftheNationalWarMuseuminUmuahianotonlypermitted me to rummage through the cupboards but included me in the museum’s intellectual and social life. Uwem Eteng and Kemi Olowu madetheNigerianInstituteofAdvancedLegalStudiesattheUniversity ofLagosarewardingplacetowork.VictorOsasahwelcomedmeatthe FederalCourtofAppealinEnugu,andDavidChukwuintroducedme to the first tranche of people to interview. I thank the many lawyers whogavemesomuchoftheirvaluabletime–andneverbilledmeforit. ThisbookstartedasadoctoraldissertationatColumbiaUniversity. GregoryMannwasaperfectadvisor,andhehasbeenamodelofhowto beascholarandapersonatseveraldifferentstagesofmylife.Mamadou Diouf was unfailingly supportive and always full of ideas. Abosede GeorgeandBrianLarkingroundedmeinNigeriabutalsoencouraged the agile and creative thinking that they exhibit in their own work. FrederickCooperprovidedideastoworkwith,along,andagainstand read with great depth and generosity. Collectively, they were an extraordinary committee. Luise White’s books made me want to be a historian, and her friendship has proven to be just as rich as her writing. Comments by Egodi Uchendu and Steven Pierce pushed this x
The list of books you might like
