The Asaba Massacre: Trauma, Memory, and the Nigerian Civil War
Brand: Cambridge University Press
Categories: Books, New, Used & Rental Textbooks, Humanities



Dimensions: 6 x 0.59 x 9 inches
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1316506169
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print length: 258 pages
Publication date: July 31, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1316506165
Edition: Illustrated
subtitle: Illustrated Edition
author: Visit Amazon's S. Elizabeth Bird Page search results S. Elizabeth Bird Visit Amazon's Fraser M. Ottanelli Page search results Fraser M. Ottanelli
review: Editorial Reviews Review Just like another day in Asaba, the people woke up one october to see soldiers on their streets. The 2nd division soldiers under the leadership of Col. Muritala Mohammed were going from house to house picking out able bodied men and shooting them on the premise that were Biafran sympathizers. In a last effort to stop these killings, the leaders of Asaba organized a rally were the people were showing support for the troops and a united Nigeria. The 2nd division soldiers separated Men from women/children, lined them up and fired at will. An estimated 800 people died in a period of 4 says in October, 1967. This book highlights the plite of the Asaba people, pre-war and post-war and their walk towards healing. The book is well written and referenced with excerpts from interviews with survivors. If you are interested in the events of the civil war in Nigeria, the book fill the blanks in some of the books we have out there about the civil war which has always been from the perspective of generals and soldiers of the FMG. This is a book from the perspective of civilian survivors. Absolutely enjoyed it.- Ola Ogunsegha, Goodreads This book is a bold and laudable attempt at several simultaneous tasks; documenting important facts of history- the Asaba massacres, analysing the context of those events, attempting healing through catharsis and acknowledgement of trauma and charting a way forward for reconciliation and healing. The authors have brought an academic approach to these tasks and, in my view, skirted the thin line between necessary objective detachment and the inevitable emotional involvement in the processing of the gory details under consideration. The first chapter explores the history of Nigeria, from a disparate collection of contiguous nationalities welded into a politically convenient structure by a foreign colonial power, itself primarily acting in the interests of commerce and self-interest. The role of an emergent political elite and economic middle class in the evolution of the new country is briefly explored although a more accurate picture would have included the role of the ethnic minorities in these affairs. The role of the Independence-era political arrangements and the political tensions of the First Republic were outlined and a clear path traced between these early tensions and the subsequent military coups of 1966 that led to the pogroms and Nigerian Civil War. The meat of the book is in the next two chapters which outline the events at Asaba from October to November 1967. The 'Asaba massacre' was more than a single orgy of wholesale and premeditated slaughter of civilians but a series of mass killings over several days, preceded by brutality from the invading 101 Division, and separated by a background level of occasional murders, rape, looting and destruction/expropriation of property including houses. Still unresolved is why Asaba was singled out for this particularly brutal treatment- suspected origins of Major Nzeogwu (Okpanam), relatively high numbers of well educated and socially prominent Asaba indigenes, alleged collaboration with Col. Banjo's invading Brigade, ethnic affinity with the Igbos in Biafra- have all been suggested but the book provides evidence that there was a predetermined list of prominent Asaba men marked for death. Why? Was this heavy-handedness and war crimes by unruly and poorly trained soldiers recently haphazardly conscripted or unprofessional behaviour by professional soldiers gone rogue, or both? Very helpful is the attempt to identify officers responsible for these atrocities, and also, at least one, Capt. Matthias Ogbude, for honourable mention for protecting vulnerable civilians. This is achieved by the testimonies of survivors obtained by direct interviews and rendition by relatives. The importance of this is illustrated by the disparity in the account of Major Patrick E. Idahosa in his book and the recollections of the direct victims of his stewardship- without these accounts, history will be falsified and victims and survivors further exposed to the obliteration of their trauma from public consciousness. The role of official propaganda and malevolent foreign actors, especially the British government, in covering up the atrocities, is also noteworthy. The later chapters analyse the theoretical and practical aspects of the processing of these traumatic memories, as individuals and as a community, including the use of stories, literary devices, images, communal bonds and physical memorials as anchors for processing the trauma of such extreme violence. It is difficult to quantify the effect of widespread rape, forced marriages and unwanted births on a closely-knit community and therefore proxies must be adopted to enable traumatized people grieve in their own ways and find opportunity for healing. That is one of the most important calls for action that this wonderful book represents. This book, I hope, will take us forward a few steps in that direction of national reconciliation and healing. It deserves to be widely read and deeply understood.-- Femi Adebajo, Nigerian Nostalgia Project Book Club Oral history has long been a valuable tool to analyze the causes, consequences, and role of public memory in mass violence ... The Asaba Massacre is not only a significant contribution to the scholarship on the short-lived Republic ofBiafra and Nigeria, but also a well written study that lends itself to use in undergraduate and graduate courses on oral history and violence writ large. Nigerian government troops killed at least several hundred civilians in the small town of Asaba, located just outside the border of Biafran rebels' frontline, in October 1967. The local government of Asaba actually was loyal to the Nigeran state. Its population largely identified themselves as Igbo, the dominant ethnic group in Biafra, but many informants interviewed by the authors considered themselves to be a separate community from the rebels and, as such, not part of the Biafran secession. During the civil war, Asaba briefly fell into Biafran hands, but Nigerian government forces soon recaptured it. These government forces,however, mistakenly considered Asaba civilians to be rebel sympathizers. The military organized a rally in Asaba ironically celebrating Nigerian unity, and soldiers then slaughtered civilians unfortunate enough to have agreed to attend. The Nigerian military and its major Western ally, Great Britain, denied a massacre took place. In their book, S. Elizabeth Bird and Fraser Ottanelli convincingly demonstrate how the massacre galvanized Biafran rebels' intransigence. At the same time,they discuss how the Nigerian and United Kingdom's efforts turned foreign attention to the Republic of Biafra itself rather than to the slaughter in Asaba. Effectively drawing insights from broader work on public memory and mass violence, the authors trace how different constituencies represented and recalled the event. These groups include survivors, family members of victims, local educators, and participants in online discussions ... Bird and Ottanelli effectively analyze how the return of democracy to Nigeria opened up new space for commemorating and representing the massacre. The advent of social media and the Internet further widened debates and discussions about Asaba, from denouncing individual military leaders to critiquing the Biafran revolt for setting off the war that led to so many civilian casualties. This book's succinctness should not mislead readers from recognizing its strengths. The authors have a keen grasp of the complexities of oral historical methodology and are explicit about how they conducted their research.... Bird and Ottanelli participated in online forums and set up a Wikipedia page to examine how the Internet provided a space to construct memories about Asaba. They also placed their work within the broader project of reconsiderations of the Biafran revolt in Nigerian popular culture and literature in the early twenty-first century. The Asaba Massacre is written in a refreshingly clear and well-organized way. This is not a coded way of saying the book lacks theoretical rigor; rather, the straightforward prose allows readers not well-versed in either oral history methodology or the Nigerian civil war to grasp the main points of the book easily. In some ways,it is reminiscent of Tom Lodge's study of the pivotal police killings of protestors at Sharpeville in 1960 ... in its commitment to analyzing the context, the violence itself, and memories of its aftermath. It certainly merits being awarded the 2018 Oral History Association's Book Award. The Asaba Massacre would work quite well in the classroom. It requires no previous background in the Nigerian civil war or oral methodology to comprehend the main arguments. In short, The Asaba Massacre is a work that resonates far beyond just the confines of African history. -- JeremyRich, Marywood University, The OralHistory Review, 2018. In reconstructing a piece of history largely lost to all but its victims, Bird and Ottanelli provide a compelling account that illustrates the insights possible by combining rich oral history interviews with available archival materials. Further, the book shows how the massacre and its memories echo in the context of ongoing discontents in contemporary Nigeria." - Daniel Jordan Smith, Professor of Anthropology, Brown University."The magnitude of the tragedy that occurred in the small town of Asaba during the Nigerian civil war calls for more scholarly engagement than has been the case. It is with this understanding that I welcome and highly recommend this very insightful study that has pushed the boundaries of scholarship on the Asaba war-time dilemma." - Egodi Uchendu, Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Professor of History, University of Nigeria; author of "Women and Conflict in the Nigerian Civil War" (2007)."Combining anthropology and history, Liz Bird and Fraser Ottanelli present a little-known micro-history of a massacre in the Nigeria-Biafra conflict that tells a troubling macro-story about enduring trauma. No reader can fail to be at once moved and enlightened by this book's mediation of human experience and explanation."- A. Dirk Moses, University of Sydney, co-editor of "Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967-1970."This book is an excellent and authoritative account of the tragedy and carnage that the Nigerian military brought upon the urbane and peaceful people of Asaba at the start of the Nigerian civil war. It is the product of meticulous research that drew from a variety of sources, especially survivors ad witnesses who told their personal stories. As a survivor I can attest to the accuracy and authenticity of the narrative which brings the mindless massacre in Asaba to the attention of Nigerians and the global community. It is a must-read for individuals and institutions concerned about human rights and justice."- Stanley Okafor, Professor of Geography (retired), University of Ibadan, Nigeria.About Book Description An interdisciplinary study of the Asaba massacre, re-examining Nigerian history and enriching the understanding of post-conflict trauma and memory construction. From the Back Cover In reconstructing a piece of history largely lost to all but its victims, Bird and Ottanelli provide a compelling account that illustrates the insights possible by combining rich oral history interviews with available archival materials. Further, the book shows how the massacre and its memories echo in the context of ongoing discontents in contemporary Nigeria." - Daniel Jordan Smith, Professor of Anthropology, Brown University."The magnitude of the tragedy that occurred in the small town of Asaba during the Nigerian civil war calls for more scholarly engagement than has been the case. It is with this understanding that I welcome and highly recommend this very insightful study that has pushed the boundaries of scholarship on the Asaba war-time dilemma." - Egodi Uchendu, Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Professor of History, University of Nigeria; author of "Women and Conflict in the Nigerian Civil War" (2007)."Combining anthropology and history, Liz Bird and Fraser Ottanelli present a little-known micro-history of a massacre in the Nigeria-Biafra conflict that tells a troubling macro-story about enduring trauma. No reader can fail to be at once moved and enlightened by this book's mediation of human experience and explanation."- A. Dirk Moses, University of Sydney, co-editor of "Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967-1970."This book is an excellent and authoritative account of the tragedy and carnage that the Nigerian military brought upon the urbane and peaceful people of Asaba at the start of the Nigerian civil war. It is the product of meticulous research that drew from a variety of sources, especially survivors ad witnesses who told their personal stories. As a survivor I can attest to the accuracy and authenticity of the narrative which brings the mindless massacre in Asaba to the attention of Nigerians and the global community. It is a must-read for individuals and institutions concerned about human rights and justice."- Stanley Okafor, Professor of Geography (retired), University of Ibadan, Nigeria. About the Author S. Elizabeth Bird is Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. She has published over 80 articles and chapters on popular culture, media, heritage, and memory, as well as five books, one of which won an Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights, while another was awarded the International Communication Association's Outstanding Book Award. Fraser M. Ottanelli is Professor of History at the University of South Florida. He has authored and co-authored four books and several articles and essays on radical movements, ethnic history and comparative migration in the twentieth century. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting social activism and the defense of human rights. Read more