SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: History & International Studies

CONTRIBUTORS:

Ugwuja, A.A;
Ojiakor, N;

ABSTRACT:

The Nigeria-Biafra war, a protracted war which raged between July 1967 and January 1970 was fought, lost and won. Ostensibly, a “domestic” conflict, in a strictly narrow sense, the war has been described as ‘an intensely international’ conflict, engaging both world opinion and world powers. As with all major historical occurrences, the war has generated a lot of scholarly interest and has engaged the attention of not only historians – professional and amateur – but also scholars of other cognate as well as some seemingly disparate disciplines, who have written copiously on the subject-matter. Furthermore, like all significant historical realities, the consequences of the Nigeria-Biafra war continuously reveal themselves in hitherto unconsidered perspectives. Thus, newer studies are often seen updating the extant knowledge on some areas of the war and or broaching new and fresh themes altogether. One of the areas in which the effects of the war appears not to have received significant historical attention is the nexus between that war and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country, especially in the Southeast Region of the country. Given the naval and aerial blockade of Biafra by Nigeria as well as the international diplomatic odds against the secessionist enclave, the people resorted to local production of arms and weapons to supplement the meagre external supplies. In view of the fact that there was no serious arms mop-up/disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) after the war, these civil war arms quickly found their ways into the civil society, thereby creating the basis for unprecedented small arms and light weapons proliferation in the country, especially in the Southeast Region. This thesis, therefore, examines how the war and its aftermaths conduced to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Southeast Nigeria. The study employs the historical method which emphasises description, thematic presentation, interpretation and analyses of facts. It also engages the use of the quantitative method. Information for the study has been generated from both the primary and secondary sources. The primary sources derived from oral interviews conducted primarily in the Southeast Region of Nigeria, especially among the veterans of the Nigeria-Biafra war and importantly, scholars who have carried out researches in the area of study under investigation. Additionally, information was sourced from the National Defence College, Abuja, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru – Jos, National (War) Museums both at Umuahia and Benin as well as the National Archives in Enugu. Furthermore, information was quarried from the Nigerian Army Public Relations Unit as well as the Ministry of Interior in Abuja. Other primary sources that are used in this study include public reports, and government publications among others. Secondary sources includedtextbooks, magazines, academic journals and internet material, among others.