Group Commemorates 53rd Anniversary Of Nigeria-Biafra War

All is set for the commemoration by the Centre for Memories (CFM) of the 53rd anniversary of the start of the Nigeria-Biafra War. The one-day online event themed: ”Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya: Winning the Pandemic War by Leveraging Biafra Experiences”, will hold on Saturday, May 30, 2020, from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm on social media platforms.

The Nigeria-Biafra War is a significant memory in Nigeria. In recognition of this fact, CFM commemorates the start of the war on May 30 every year. The purpose of the anniversary celebrations is to honour the memory of the many men and women who played various roles before, during and after the war.

In a statement made available to NewsProbe, the Director of CFM, Uchenna Achunine, said this year’s celebration comes at a time when the world is in a different kind of war against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He asked, “Are there lessons the world can learn from how Biafrans were able to mobilise and defy all odds for 30 months? The conversations at this year’s event will explore the Igbo philosophy of ‘Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya’ which drives the Igbo spirit of community, collaboration, unity, and resilience.

“There are six activities for this year’s event. The activities will start at 8:00 am with POETRY PERFORMANCES.  At 10:00 am, CFM will unveil the BIAFRA MEMORIES PROJECT, which is a portal for collecting personal stories, photos, music, artefacts, etc. from that war period. At 12:00 noon, CFM will host online a slide show of OZOEMENA: A BIAFRA WAR PHOTO EXHIBITION. At 1:30 pm, CFM will host a video, GRATITUDE, that recognises and thanks, on behalf of Ndigbo, all the people and organisations that provided non-military direct and indirect aid to support the people of Biafra.  At 3:00 pm, CFM will present an online viewing of the compressed version of the CFM documentary: JANUARY 15, 1970: UNTOLD MEMORIES OF THE NIGERIA-BIAFRA WAR.

“The highpoint of the 2020 event is a webinar on the theme: ‘Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya: Winning the Pandemic War by Leveraging Biafra Experiences’. The webinar, which will start at 5:00 pm, has assembled a panel of eminent scholars to lead the discussion: Prof Chidi Odinkalu, Head, Africa Programme, Open Society Foundations; Rev. Fr. Prof. Nicholas Omenka, Visiting Professor of History, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu; Dr Ifeoma Ezedinachi, Lecturer, Department of History and International Studies, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu. Nana Nwachukwu, Knowledge Management Advisor, DFID will moderate the session. Mr Patrick O. Okigbo III, Chairman, CFM Board of Directors, will deliver the closing remarks.

“For more details on participating in the event, kindly visit the CFM website: www.centreformemories.org. You can also join by following the hashtag #CFMBiafra53.”