By Igbeaku Orji
Though the Nigerian civil war is now history, it still resonates and reverberates throughout the land 44 years after it ended. The focus of this piece, however, is not the war, but the memorabilia preserved in the War Museum Umuahia, Abia State. Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. The inventions made during the war especially by the Biafran enclave were borne out of man’s natural instinct to survive. Sadly, Nigeria is yet to tap from the inventions to lay the foundation for its breakthrough in science and military technology.
The War Museum
The War Museum is located at the site of former Radio Biafra Bunker, a serene sprawling piece of swaddling grass in Amafor, Isingwu, Ohuhu, on the outskirts of Umuahia. It is the only developed tourist site in Umuahia and the place for endless stream of visitors especially during holidays. Mr. Justin Nwaneri is the Curator of the national War Museum Umuahia. He said the Museum serves as a memorabilia for the Nigerian civil war and all the other wars Nigeria has been involved in the march to nationhood. 
“People come here for sightseeing and they get excited especially when they see some of the ammunitions fabricated by the Biafran engineers. They get excited that we could do these things as far back as forty something years ago, which means we are supposed to be even exporters of ammunitions by now.” Nwaneri said the nation should learn from the Biafran experience – the inventions that helped them to sustain the war for 30 months, noting that some of those who did these things are still alive and around and can be assembled to even do better if they have some patronage and support. The nation too, can use the Complex as a research institute in archeology and military technology.
The military hardware used in the war are displayed outside the building housing the offices and the gallery but still inside the fenced premises of the complex. They are visibly displayed on concrete slabs with roofs, to draw the visitor’s curiosity. The tour of the enclosed area of the War museum actually commences at the gallery, which is a moving history of warfare, from the traditional warfare and technology (the Stone Age) to the modern warfare. The second gallery houses the armed forces, from the colonial army, the origin of the Nigerian army to the present. The tour continues through a complex, long winding structure which terminates at the beginning of a long corridor that leads to the Voice of Biafra bunker. The bunker has two landings before the base. On either side of the corridor hang photographs of the major actors in the civil war on both the Nigerian side led by Yakubu Gowon and the Biafran side led by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. At the base, the remains of the Voice of Biafra transmitter and the announcer’s table/consul are preserved. Then the exit journey begins upward leading to the back of the building. The Nigerian Armed forces have their uniforms and ranks displayed in the second gallery. There also, one could see photographs of the first Nigerian commissioned officer, Lt WU Bassey (N1) and Lt JTU Ironsi as the second ( N2), who later became the first military head of state.
Revenue Potential
As a tourist site the War Museum generates revenue through the gate takings, which Nwaneri described as a token. “Of course, museum is about tokens, we collect N100 from children and N200 from adults. People come here especially during public holidays. During festive periods like Christmas, it’s a beehive of activities. Outside those special holidays you just have a trickle of visitors here and there.” He explained that the Ojukwu Bunker is not as busy in terms of visitors, “This is where we have the military hardware. Those who go to Ojukwu Bunker are those who are singularly interested in the Biafran subterranean office, which is the bunker itself.” According to Nwaneri, the Ojukwu Bunker was the house the former premier of the Eastern Region, Dr M. I. Okpara lived. He donated it to Biafra as his own support during the war and that was where the Biafran head of State, Ojukwu, lived.
Items preserved in the Museum
The Curator identified items preserved in the museum to include, the different types of Ogbunigwe, (mass killer) bomb developed by Biafran scientists, the bucket Ogbunigwe, the flying Ogbunigwe and the land mine Ogbunigwe. Also the armoured cars made by the Biafran Research and Production unit (RAP), called ‘red devils’ which has type 1 to 8. Others are the ferret that was ceased by the Biafran government, the pancardy which was a foreign built amoured car, the ‘Oguta Boy,’ seized from Oguta, the aircrafts that were used, the NNS BONNY, the ship that was used by the federal troops and the minicon airplane that the Biafrans used, which was dubbed the Biafran baby, but the federal troops called it Biafran mosquito. The remains of radio Biafra is also there. What gave rise to this bunker is the Voice of Biafra. There were two radios, the voice of Biafra, hidden in a bunker, for external propaganda purposes and the radio Biafra. The radio Biafra transmitter was carried to Umuahia after the collapse of Enugu as capital of the country. The transmitter itself could be carried around on a Land Rover and it will do its normal transmission without the least suspicion of being mobile. “Umuahia,” according to the Curator, “was the second and last headquarter of Biafra. The first was Enugu. After the collapse of Enugu the Biafran government moved to Umuahia here. This was the major theater of war and that is also where you have the two best preserved bunkers, it gave rise to the choice of this place as the venue for the national war museum.”
Challenges
Mr. Nwaele Charles is the Coordinator of Ojukwu Bunker/ War Museum Annex. He said the major challenge of the annex is the absence of public power supply. This, he explained is the reason they use generator anytime there were visitors because the bunker cannot be entered without light. Again, the concrete roof of the bunker leaks water in several places during the rains and needs urgent attention from the authorities. He corroborated the Curator’s story of the bunker: “This place is called Ojukwu Bunker; it was the residential house of Dr Michael Okpara, the Premier of former Eastern Region. When the war started, Enugu was the capital of Biafra and when Enugu was captured in early 1968, the seat of Biafran government moved down to Umuahia and the man Okpara donated this particular building to the Biafran government. Now the building you are looking at is a monument. You have just gone through the bunkers, the first one, Okpara bunker and the bigger one, the Ojukwu Bunker.”
State of the bunker Nwaele explained that some of the furniture of the bunker was vandalized after the war and in order to preserve the originality of the place as required by museum convention, it was left as it is. For example, the items of furniture nailed to the door of the bunker as present in the bunker especially the parlour are missing except the kitchen furniture, the store racks/counter, the bathtub and the toilet seat. Left in its original design, no one would have suspected that a structure of such marvel is buried underground. In the original state the trees and the grasses were not cut giving the picture of a desolate, unfriendly bush.
Besides the bunker is not attached to the standing house in the compound; it is about 30 meters from the main building. The walls are made of cast concrete without plaster or paint, yet impregnable to potential assailants. The bunker was one of the mysteries of the war that explained the fabled invincibility of Ojukwu. Presently the environment is well kept now as a museum. The large compound has some residential buildings and a guest house. The guest house and the open field/children’s park are used for social events and it is managed by a private concern. The serenity of the environment makes a preferred relaxation point and a rendezvous. One of the amazing and curious discoveries of the Biafran ingenuity was the contraption used for the refining of crude oil which supplied the defunct republic with refined petroleum products and enough to prosecute the 30 month civil war without scarcity. The war extenuated the illegality and of course every other action.
The Ojukwu Bunker
The Ojukwu Bunker is a secure fortress completely buried under the earth surface. It covers an area of about 50 square metres. The complex is lighted through conduit wiring. The facility was completed within three months at the heat of the civil war, when it became obvious that Enugu the capital of the young state could no longer be safe for the Head of State. The Ojukwu bunker, though an annex to the War Museum, are located in different areas of the city of Umuahia. While the War Museum is located at Amafor Isingwu, Ohuhu, off the road that leads to Nkwoegwu and Uzuakoli, the Ojukwu bunker on the other hand is on Okpara Avenue at the government reserved area, Afara, Ibeku both in Umuahia North local government area. The sheer size and importance of the Ojukwu bunker as the subterranean office of the Biafran government have eclipsed the relevance of the other bunkers. Aside the Ojukwu bunker, there are other bunkers found within the War Museum and its annex, the Ojukwu bunker. There is the Okpara bunker and the Voice of Biafra Bunker. Okpara bunker is in the residential house of the former Premier of the Eastern Region, Dr Michael Okpara which he donated to the Biafran government to serve as the government house after the fall of Enugu. Then there is the Ojukwu bunker, though in the premises of the government house is detached from it with all the features buried under the earth surface except the door and the pipes for ventilation. The journey to the bunker begins at the door that opens to a flight of stairs downward. It has two landings before the long walk to the facilities.
The guide’s voice reechoes as though amplified with multiple unseen microphones as he explains some of the features. The bunker is ventilated through T-shaped pipes fixed through the concrete roof and standing outward on the open grass covered field. The inscription at the door of the Ojukwu bunker reads: ‘The Subterranean office of the Biafra government’. After the war it was renamed “Ojukwu’s Bunker” by the members of the public. It was built within 90 days from April to June and is 26.9feet deep. It consists of a parlour, secretary’s room, kitchen, bathroom and store. The bunker is assessed through Dr Michael Okpara’s house. The bunker proper is in Dr Okpara’s compound….there was no bed in the bunker as Ojukwu never slept there….the bunker was used for receiving very important visitors, air shelter, relaxation area and for secret meetings,” and as Nwaele added “as cell for important prisoners of war.
Lessons
World over, modern inventions, scientific and technological breakthroughs, have sprung from the ashes and debris of wars. Lessons from such wars have helped to shape the perceptions and development policies of such countries. The hypocrisy and half-hearted implementation of the post war policy of reconciliation, rehabilitation and reintegration of the federal government, the mutual suspicions that lingered several years after the end of the war all helped to drag Nigeria backward and deny it the benefits of the war.
http://newtelegraphonline.com/preserving-memories-of-civil-war/
