All over the world, the period of war is a time when a nation discovers itself and engages in technological development. For instance, the internet the world is enjoying presently was invented by the American Army during World War
II. It was invented to enable the American Army communicate among themselves with ease. Today, the internet is the greatest tool for communication and doing businesses. The Asian Tigers, especially Japan also discovered its technological prowess
immediately after World War II. During World War II, the city of Hiroshima was devastated by an atomic bomb that was detonated by the American Army. Thereafter, the Japanese went into in-depth researches in technological development. Japan got amazing results from her researches and at the moment, Japan is the largest manufacturer of
electronic products, cars, mobile phones, satellites, guns, nuclear plants, etc. As this article is being written, Japan is the third largest economic after America and China due to its technological
advancement.

The Nigerian Civil War was a golden opportunity for the country to have developed technologically if the opportunities it provided were harnessed. During the three years war, the Igbo scientists and engineers gave good account of themselves in terms of technological inventions. In the heat of the civil war, the leader of the young Biafra Republic, Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Ojukwu called a meeting of engineers and scientists, and challenged them to produce a counter weapon to all that Britain and Russia were providing to the Nigerian Government. According to the Biafran leader:

“The answer I got within a space of six weeks were shore batteries, unbelievable anti-aircraft weapons to checkmate the excesses of those cowardly Egyptain pilots who bombed hospitals, farmlands and markets and, a little later, the father of them all, Ogbunigwe (mass destroyer) made from dust. And they began manufacturing them in large quantities to assist the war efforts. That indomitable spirit is now caged by the bad government in Lagos”.

It is true that necessity is the mother of invention. The dare necessity to survive the civil war compelled the Igbos to discover their technological prowess. The Biafran inventors were led by Ugah Aguata, a science genius, Engineer Roy Umenyi, Ben Nwosu, Godian Ezekwe, Emma Osolu, Sam Orji, Njoku Obi etc manufactured unfathomable weapons not expected of young nation like Nigeria that got independence only six years back.

Thus, the Igbo engineers first invented shore batteries with which they devastated marine craft. They also invented anti-aircraft weapons which they used to control the excesses of the federal fighting jets. The Biafran Army made a bomb they called “Ojukwu Bucket” or “Ogbunigwe,” which means the mass killer. Ojukwu called the invention of Ogbunigwe “the father of them all”. This bomb was used by the Biafran Army to execute havoc on the
federal army. Dr. Sam Orji, a world-renowned nuclear physicist and bomb expert and Dr. Felix Oragwu, also a nuclear physicist played a crucial
role in sustaining the Biafran war effort by inventing bombs for the secessionist Briafra. Engineer William Achukwu, an Agricultural Engineer actually fabricated the metallic bucket that was used for
making the Ogbunigwe bomb. The Biafran Armed Forces engineers also manufactured armoured cars which were very effective and comparable to those
made by advanced nations. They invented ground to air missiles, assault rifles, gun boats for amphibious attacks, rocket launchers, rocket propelled grenades, etc. They built refineries with which they refined their crude oil; ambulances were manufactured; bunkers and other war armaments.

Nonetheless, Nigeria lost the opportunities provided by the civil war to develop technologically and become "Japan of Africa" because the Nigerian Government did not assemble the scientists and engineers that invented these weapons! The Igbo engineers and scientists that manufactured these war armaments should have been assembled together in a technology village where their knowledge should have been harnessed for the growth of the country and africa at large, but rather they were allowed to disperse. The reason why the Igbo scientists and engineers were not assembled for positive encouragement might not be unconnected with tribalism, ethnicity, sectionalism, regionalism, and above all, the fear of domination by the Igbos. Undoubtedly, other tribes felt that if the Igbos were encouraged, they would use their inventions against other tribes in case of another outbreak of war. Though, after the civil war, the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon introduced a three point agenda of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reintegration which was aimed at fostering unity and national integration among the various nationalities in the country, the programme was not executed with honesty as the Igbos were not truly
reintegrated into the Nigerian society. The Head of State also said that there was no “No victor, no vanquished” yet the Igbos are seen immediately after the civil war and even today as the vanquished.

So, Nigeria lost a great opportunity to have developed technologically because the leaders had a myopic view about the country. From all indications, the civil war was fought to control the oil-rich Niger Delta area and not for unity. If the north had oil like the Niger Delta area, there would not have been a civil war in Nigeria. If the war was prosecuted for the purpose of unity as the leaders claimed, they would have assembled the Igbo geniuses that carried out these awe-inspiring inventions.

Thus, the armoured cars, shore batteries, anti-aircraft weapons, bombs, guns, ambulances, trucks, rocket propelled grandees, assault rifles, gun boats
for amphibious attacks, rocket launchers, etc which the country is importing presently were to be made locally if the aftermath of the civil war was effectively managed. Many factories would have
been built where these weapons would have been manufactured in large quantities. This would have been a good source of revenue generation for the
country instead of depending only on oil money. Thus, the huge amount of money being spent on the importation of these things would have been diverted to other relevant uses. Apart from the huge
foreign exchange that would have been earned from the export of these manufactured products, it would have also provided employment opportunities for the teaming population of unemployed youths across the country. This would have reduced the current high crime rate in the country.

It is a fact that the civil war provided a golden opportunity for the country to have developed technologically but the opportunity was lost due to tribalism, sectionalism, regionalism, disunity and
fear of domination by the Igbos. The country can still assemble the Igbo scientists and engineers that are still living so as to continue from where they
stopped at the end of the civil war. This is so because it is better late than never.


http://dailyindependentnig.com/2012/06/the-nigerian-civil-war-and-the-lost-opportunities/

www.nairaland.com/1308475/untold-stories-biafran-inventions

Below are photos some of the abandoned inventions:

Ok

1

2

3

4

The red devil

The notorious Ogbunigwu (mass destroyer)

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The Igbo engineers and scientists that manufactured these war armaments should have been assembled together in a technology village where their knowledge should have been harnessed for the growth of the country and africa at large, but rather they were allowed to disperse.

The author of this piece doesn't have an idea about what happened after the civil war. Nigeria did not allow those engineers to disperse, some were killed while others absconded when they were being hunted. After the civil war, Nigerian forces were going from house to house searching for the educated class in Igbo land. God help you if you have any reading material in your house. They executed anyone who has as much as a novel in his house, if you use a reading glass, you'll be executed. They go as far as asking anyone they find suspicious if he/she can read and if you say Yes, you'll be shot. Nigeria was afraid of Igbo educated class.

People like my grandpa who were working at the Red Cross in Lagos back in the days, who later served in the Biafran war as a paramedic burnt their reading and writing materials including reading glasses. So you can imagine how bad it was. All those engineers ran underground and never spoke out or showed their talent for fear of being executed.

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Brb

Chai! Too long...no time to check time. Will reserve it for later.



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I have said diz many times but people don't Alwayz agree wit me

D greatest problem of Nigeria is not Corruption but Sentiment

How can u justify dredging d whole of River Niger with billions just to decongest d Lagos port

When u can Tansform PH and CALABAR port to major commodity port wit just a fraction of dat cost.

How on earth did Niger River bridge end up with one lane, while dre about 4 different lanes in same river cross in lokoja

What is economic benefit of locating a refinery in Kaduna.

All dis to just tame a Resilience Igbo Man

freez2ryme:
I have said diz many times but people don't Alwayz agree wit me

D greatest problem of Nigeria is not Corruption but Sentiment

How can u justify dredging d whole of River Niger with billions just to decongest d Lagos port

When u can Tansform PH and CALABAR port to major commodity port wit just a fraction of dat cost.

How on earth did Niger River bridge end up with one lane, while dre about 4 different lanes in same river cross in lokoja

What is economic benefit of locating a refinery in Kaduna.

All dis to just tame a Resilience Igbo Man

The point on ports in Lagos is what I raised on the Biafran thread about how different it would be from Nigeria and some other poster kept raising funny issues. Even went as far as saying that there were other ports in other parts of d country but we refused to use them! Such a shame.

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I pity this country.

Nothing was done to harness the power of these talents.. Everyone was focused on OYEL...

we fought with word powers, not the clueless Nigerians

[b]After the war, the priority of the Gowon Government was how to get oil flowing. No one was really interested in technology. To this day, the priority of Government is oil flow and not human development. My father, an ex Biafran Soldier, told me the story of the Ogbunigwe. It actually looked like a metal bucket with wires coming out of it. All they had to do was bury it or keep it somewhere then retreat leaving the Nigerian Soldiers to come ion it then it would explode and kill everybody insight. My father said he lost count how many Nigerian Soldiers he winessed die from Ogbunigwe. Later, Biafrans developed the flying Ogbunigwe. While Nigeria was enjoying a blockade enforced by British Warships and air superiority by Russian Jetfighters, Biafra was manufacturing it's own guns,bombs and tanks. Biafrans fought with nothing for 3 years against a much larger, better equiped and better funded side and gave a good account of themselves. I'm proud of all of them [/b]

we are the future... we shall fight for our freedom...
we are not afraid of death because we are already dead...

zendy:
After the war, the priority of the Gowon Governmebt was how to get oil flowing. No one was really interested in technology. To this day, the priority of Government is oil flow and not human development. My father, an ex Biafran Soldier, told me the story of the Ogbunigwe. It actually looked like a metal bucket with wires coming out of it. All they had to do was bury it or keep it somewhere then retreat leaving the Nigerian Soldiers then it would explode and kill everybody insight. My father said he lost count how many Nigerian Soldiers he winessed die from Ogbunigwe. Later, Biafrana developed the flying Ogbunigwe. While Nigeria was enjoying a blockade enforced by British Warships and air superiority by Russian Jetfighters, Biafra was manufacturing it's own guns,bombs and tanks. Biafrans fought with nothing for 3 years against a much larger, better equiped and better funded side and gave a good account of themselves. I'm proud of all of them

thank you nwa chineke.. this is an eye opener...

may Chukwu okike abiama bless us & restore our freedom.

$Iseeee..

#MyGoodnessMe

Well to my view the baifra war was not seen as an opportunity to destroy some set of tribe or people by d then Nigerian government but to win back a territory claimed to be take away by a man destroyed by his greed and his hate for other tribes

There is no country in d world where civil war within itself help technological and economic growth as a result because all those development by those countries are as a result of technological relationship between more than a country of interest

kenny987:


The point on ports in Lagos is what I raised on the Biafran thread about how different it would be from Nigeria and some other poster kept raising funny issues. Even went as far as saying that there were other ports in other parts of d country but we refused to use them! Such a shame.

Don't mind d myopic view of suffersticated westerners

All d port need is to be dredged
So dat it can be safe for commodity Ships

Instead of FG handling this project they decided to give to PPP who only concern is how to make money

Just as they did River Niger bridge.

It all seems like All d major infrastructures has become a business for d FG.

Lies. I have been to dat musuem in umuahia. Some of those weapons were used in world war 2. It was boldy written on picture number 3 u posted dat it was used in d battle of stalingrand. Most were modified and nt manufactured.

And this is why the igbo race is probably africa's most brilliant people.
As far back as 1967!! Very impressive indeed.
Even india and brazil, both recent global powers didn't have this level of home grown tech back then.
I can imagine the level of sophistication those home grown techs would be now if biafra had succeeded.
I can see why Nnamdi is working very hard to get biafra.
The potential is enormous.

Btw, ojukwu would have made a decent president.
The way he was able to harness igbo ingenuity under periods of intense stress is nothing short of brilliant.
This is the kind of progress you can make when you have a true nation, something Nigeria will never be.