Scattered limbs, scattered stories: the silence of Biafra

This essay examines the relationship between trauma, memory and the body in the Nigerian Civil War. It notes the absence of first-hand narratives of the experience of living through Biafra and, drawing on the work of Scarry, suggests that the silence in the archive indicates a trauma that has yet to be worked through and resolved. This unresolved trauma creates a perpetual unease, distrust and lack of belief in the Nigerian project amongst Igbos. Research to record the experience must commence, just as the challenge to ensure the Nigerian Civil War becomes part of the school curriculum must be taken up.