INDEED, THERE WAS A COUNTRY! There wouldnt be all this fuss, you know, if it werent for the petroleum. He was speaking of the vast oil field beneath our feet. We asked him who owned the oil, and I expected him to say ringingly that it was the property of the Biafran people now. But he didnt. We never nationalized it, he said. It still belongs to British Petroleum and Shell. He wasnt bitter. I never met a bitter Biafran. General Ojukwu gave us a clue, I think, as to why the Biafrans were able to endure so much so long without bitterness: They all had the emotional and spiritual strength that an enormous family can give. We asked the general to tell us about his family, and he answered that it was three thousand members strong. He knew every member of it by face, by name, and by reputation. A more typical Biafran family might consist of a few hundred souls. And there were no orphanages, no old peoples homes, no public charities and, early in the war, there werent even schemes for taking care of refugees. The families took care of their own, perfectly naturally. The families were rooted in land. There was no Biafran so poor that he did not own a garden. journeytoforever.org/rrlib/biafra.html
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 23:57:30 +0000
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