Biafra: The War That Never Ended

Chapter 2

I sat down facing my grandpa as he brought out the chess board for us to play.

"This will be a lengthy conversation before you ask any questions. Please wait, let me finish what I have to say first ?" He said with a smile on his face.

"And this would be the last time we had a chat like this ?".

"Okay grandpa, I am listening" I nodded looking at him

"Okay, so before we discuss let's play some chess. It's been a long time since we last played one together ??." He looked at me with a smile on his face.

"Yes, you are right, let's play like legends".

My grandpa played his pieces and began with the discussion.

"There is something that is bordering on me, that I want to tell you ?."

"What is that grandpa ?". I replied

"About some personal issues." He said

"Since I sent you to boarding school, I have been preparing a lot of plans for you but I don't know how to explain it ". He was speaking in a low tone

I was curious and then I asked "What is the plan?"

"Forget about it for now, maybe I will tell you later ?". He said

"Okay grandpa it's okay then." I responded

"I want to tell you about the Igbo people and the Biafra history but I know you might have forgotten?."

"Yes, I have forgotten some." I said looking at the chessboard and maduka continues

"The Igbo decentralized system was witnessed by the Portuguese who first arrived and met with the Igbo people in the 15th century where he visited few Igbo town such as Onitsha, which had king's called Obi and places like the Nri Kingdom And Arochukwu which had priests kings".

"The Igbo communities and areas were ruled by a republican consultative assembly of the common people, the communities were governed and administered by a council of elders".

"The Igbo law starts with umunna' which is a male line of the descendants from a founding ancestors whose compounds are headed by eldest male, ụmụnna the elder's son is the most important pillar of Igbo society".

"In the ìgbo calendar a week has four days a month consisting of seven weeks. An extra day was added; the calendar is used in towns and villages to determine market days". He said

"The igbo new year, starting  with the month ọnwa mbụ (igbo: first moon) occurs on the third week of February".

"The traditional start of the year for many igbo communities is around the springtime in ọnwa Agwụ (June)".

"The Ìgbo Culture such as construction of houses, education and religion changed following the British colonialism, the tradition of building houses out of mud walls and thatched such as concrete blocks for houses and also building such as hospitals, schools,electricity and running water were installed in the early 20th century with electricity and new technology such as radios and televisions were adopted in most households". I played my pieces on the chess board as he continue

"Ìgbo is a tonal language and there are hundreds of different Ìgbo dialects but the dialects of owerri and ụmụahia groups including ohuhu dialects were the standards Ìgbo dialects known as the central Ìgbo, this dialects was accepted by missionaries and writers".

"Let me talk about the British colonial rule and Nigeria Civil war and how it influence Ìgbo lives and our government system during the colonial and after".