What is in a date? To some, it is a number marking just another day, while to others it signifies a remarkable event that may have left an indelible mark.

For the people of Eastern Nigeria, May 30th is not just a day as it may be to their counterparts in other parts of the country. It is a remarkable day many Ndigbos remember and cherish as it brings back painful memories.

It marks the remembrance of the day Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu (now late), the then Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria declared the sovereign state of Biafra.

Many Nigerian millennials may have heard about Biafra, but not many know what Biafra is all about, you may want to pardon them since history as a subject has been yanked off the Nigerian primary and secondary school curriculum.

Ojukwu’s declaration and call for secession from Nigeria on May 30, 1967, would later turn the Igbo people against the Nigerian military government under the leadership of General Yakubu Gowon who was the then military head of state.

The aftermath of Ojukwu’s declaration was a civil war that lasted for three years from July 6, 1967, to January 15, 1970. The war ended after the popular ‘Aburi Accord’, a peace meeting brokered in Ghana where the two warring parties, the Nigerian government and the Biafran forces, resolved to sheath their swords and embrace peace.

The peace talks came after millions of lives had been lost to the civil war.

The war may have ended, but the indelible marks and pains it left on the survivors passed on to generations remains in the heart of many.

Just as Nigerian poet John Pepper (JP) Clark wrote in his famous poem “The Casualties”,

“The casualties are many, and a good member as well. Outside the scenes of ravage and wreck; They are the emissaries of rift.”

In commemoration of the 52nd remembrance of Biafra declaration day, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ordered a sit-at-home for its members to mark the day.

While the sit-at-home order was being observed across Igbo states, social media savvy Nigerians also took to Twitter to remember May 30, 1967, declaration.

Tweeting with a dedicated hashtag #Ozoemena which means “may it not happen again” in Igbo language, many shared tales of the traumatic experience from the civil war as narrated to them by their parents and others who experienced the war.

Prominent among those who shared experiences of the Civil War were a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu.

Ezekwesili tweeted,

A country of leaders & people who quickly move on from every Horror it suffers and never learned how to properly grieve and empathize with victims. Just look at us…. forever repeating tragedies because we have refused to learn. May our children end the horrors. #OZOEMENA

— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) May 30, 2019

Odinkalu also tweeted,

There’s a good opportunity for #Nigeria to mine memory in order to build a different, more inclusive kind of country. We stumble from one avoidable tragedy to the next, never learning anything & always repeating the same errors. So, we democratize alienation#OZOEMENA https://t.co/VdMyfF0DKB

— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) May 30, 2019

See other reactions:

We need all stories on #Biafra. We need to also have deeper conversations on our history. Biafra was not a sudden event, it was a culmination of events poorly handled by different actors. I doubt we would have avoided it with the patchwork of big egos. #Ozoemena #Ozoemezina

— Olúseun Onígbińdé (@seunonigbinde) May 30, 2019

 

This year’s #BiafraRemberanceDay , we not only remember and pray for all families among us who lost sons, daughters, dads, moms, siblings and relatives in the war but specially thank the @cfmemories for starting the great work of documentation. People are not Statistics #Ozoemena pic.twitter.com/IhG9u1dHVx

— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) May 30, 2019

 

During Biafran War
No IDP camps anywhere
Today, elsewhere
Though no war
But they have IDP camps everywhere
We’re Ndigbo
We cannot be conquered
Not yesterday, not today,not tomorrow
Just say “sorry” & Nigeria will breathe again#Ozoemena #BiafraHeroesDay2019 #BIAFRARemembranceDay

— Jude C. Ndukwe (@stjudendukwe) May 30, 2019

 

Biafrans built bombs, fitted aircraft, tech and research was top notch.

Guess what Nigeria did after the war?

Burn all the papers and labs,

Imagine if those were improved upon from 1970 till now?#BiafraHeroesDay2019 #BiafraRemembranceDay #Ozoemena

— Ikenna Ronald Nzimora (@ronaldnzimora) May 30, 2019

My mom was a teacher during the war. She hardly talks about Biafra. But when she does, it is in vague snippets & you can tell that she doesn’t really want to talk about it. So many people haven’t been given the chance to mourn their grief. #Ozoemena

— Moe (@Mochievous) May 30, 2019

The igbos must forgive their oppressors and themselves. This is hurt carried on too long… it is painful but they must forgive so they can finally heal. The hurt is instead passed down from generation to generation. Ndigbo, forgive for your sake biko… #OZOEMENA

— ♛Joshua Mimam Sampson♛ (@MrJoshuaSampson) May 31, 2019

Mr Abayomi, you can’t just jump into conclusion like that…Be remorseful at least for the lives lost. As far as am concerned here, Ojukwu did the right thing….Blame Gowon and all the Northerners for the war! Did u remember Aburi accord?#BiafraRemembranceDay #Ozoemena

— Peewitpro Photography⚪️?? (@PeewitPro) May 31, 2019

In my village, there’s a meeting of women who survived the Biafran war. That gathering is called “Otu Chidiebere”. The members give tales of the trauma they passed through in the course of that war.#Ozoemena

— Nedu Ekeke #BBOG (@Nedunaija) May 30, 2019

Ghana/Nigeria really do share much more than the #jollofrice bantering! Ever wonder what is the #AburiAccord? Well Africans especially from the ECOWAS sub region have long been watching out for each other, see? @theartsmusefair @gentlealameen#BiafraRemembranceDay #Ozoemena pic.twitter.com/BTzSWJ8l10

— Binta Moustapha (@BintaMoustapha) May 31, 2019

My mother told me that she had to leave her hair uncombed for 3 months and wear the same clothing for 2 months so she could look like a mad woman to take me to relief hospital. She did all that to avoid sexual abuse from Nigeria army.#Ozoemena

— Gloria Chuba (@CGlowyng) May 31, 2019

The pictures from that war bring me to tears every single time. This picture in particular, haunts me. I can only imagine the hunger, pain and sadness these children felt. May all families who lost loved ones be consoled!#OZOEMENA #BiafraHeroesDay2019 #BiafraRemembranceDay pic.twitter.com/8FYBsc3Kua

— Changing Faces (@nornnie) May 30, 2019

 

There’s a good opportunity for #Nigeria to mine memory in order to build a different, more inclusive kind of country. We stumble from one avoidable tragedy to the next, never learning anything & always repeating the same errors. So, we democratize alienation#OZOEMENA https://t.co/VdMyfF0DKB

— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) May 30, 2019