Nigerian Civil War
The Biafran War (1967–1970), including causes, battles, leaders, international involvement, and post-war reconstruction in Nigeria.
Lieutenant Macaulay Lamurde: 7 Fateful Days from a Filmed Killing to Execution in 1968
Lieutenant Macaulay Lamurde was a 23-year-old Nigerian federal officer whose actions during the Nigerian Civil War became the subject of an extraordinary wartime record....
Stephen Odike Photograph: 5 Crucial Clues from Nigeria’s Civil War Years
The Stephen Odike photograph, dating from around 1969–1970, shows a uniformed policeman identified as Stephen Odike and described as being from “the Igbo country”....
Ndubuisi Kanu: The Igbo Naval Officer Who Fought for Biafra and Later Governed Lagos State
Ndubuisi Kanu occupies a distinctive place in Nigerian history as a naval officer who served with the Biafran forces during the Nigerian Civil War...
Obasanjo’s Letters to Gowon: 4 Revealing Wartime Dispatches from Nigeria’s Civil War
Obasanjo’s letters to Gowon in 1969 provide a revealing account of the difficulties confronting the Nigerian Army during the final year of the Civil...
4 Major Political Crises of the Nigeria’s First Republic
On 1 October 1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain and began a new chapter of self-government under a parliamentary constitution. Yet, within six years,...
Joseph Hannibal Achuzia: 3 Decisive Phases of the Battle for Onitsha, 1967–1968
Joseph Hannibal Achuzia became one of the most recognisable Biafran commanders of the Nigerian Civil War, but no battlefield was more closely associated with...
Lagos Billion Naira Budget: 3 Powerful Headlines That Captured Nigeria Before the 1983 Coup
The Lagos Billion Naira Budget announced at the end of 1983 represented one of the most striking financial ambitions of Lateef Jakande’s government. A...
Awolowo and Biafra: The £20 Policy, Starvation and Currency War That Shaped Nigeria’s Civil War
Awolowo and Biafra remain inseparable in Nigeria’s public memory of the Civil War. More than half a century after the conflict, the name of...
Ogbugo Kalu: The Remarkable Commander Behind Biafra’s 1969 Recapture of Owerri
Ogbugo Kalu was one of the Nigerian Army officers whose careers were transformed by the political and military upheavals of 1966. A professionally trained...
Mohammed Shuwa: The Civil War General Whose Death Exposed Nigeria’s New Security Crisis
Major General Mohammed Shuwa, also widely referred to as Mamman or Muhammadu Shuwa, remains one of the important military figures of Nigeria’s post-independence history....