₦airaland Forum

Bravery plays a strong part in Igbo folklore. Pre-colonial Igboland was a gathering of fiercely independent city-states, many of which fought wars to preserve their independence. Each able-bodied young man was expected to do his duty in the defence of his homeland from attack. Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” highlighted how the main character Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was reviled in their hometown for not being a warrior, as he hated the sight of blood.

The Nigerian civil war further engraved bravery in the Igbo psyche as the breakaway Republic of Biafra extended the war for three years, against a better-equipped and better-fed Nigerian army. One commentator famously said: “Biafrans didn’t fight like brave men. Brave men fought like Biafrans”.

This bravery or lack of it has reared its head once again in the current agitation for Biafran secession from Nigeria.

Read on: https://www.naijiant.com/articles/biafran-separatists-yet-learn-difference-bravery-foolhardiness/