The Eastern Boys

INTRODUCTION

     The Nigerian Civil War had robbed them of their teenage years.  When the war began in 1966 most of the boys were anywhere between the ages of ten and thirteen.  The thirty-month war not only affected their leisure; it equally affected their educational pursuits because for those months the schools were closed. 

     With closure of the schools, the school age children were drafted into the Biafran Armed Forces, and those too young to be enlisted in combat were enlisted in “Boys Company.”  The Biafra Boys Company is equal to any combat troop, for these minors are used to engaging in commando activities such as infiltrating the Nigerian Armed Forces and causing destruction and damage which often paralyzed the ability of the Nigerian troops.  When they were not busy disabling the Nigerian troops equipment, they engaged in seeking out strategic information and carrying it back to the Biafran troops.  The fact that Biafra was able to survive the thirty months and not succumb more quickly than was necessary has been credited to the rascal activities of the Boys Company which the Biafran authority subjected the Boys Company to; yet, the Boys Company received little or no credit for their efforts in the history of the war.

     When Biafra finally surrendered to the Federal troops and a cease fire was declared it brought to an end the thirty month war.  The Federal government, under the direction of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Minister of Finance, decreed the abolition of Biafran currency and allowed each depositor the amount of twenty pounds, irrespective of the amount held in deposit by the depositor.  With such a decree, Biafrans were faced with severe economic adversity During the war, and by the time the war came to an end, most people suffered severe malnutrition.  In fact, up to 45 percent of the war casualties were due to malnutrition.

     At the time a cease fire was declared and an end to the war was announced, many Biafrans were jubilant despite the defeat they had suffered.  They were jubilant because they believed that transition to economic abundance was going to be instantaneous.  Such jubilation fell short of expectations when it was decreed that irrespective of the amount of deposit, that all that would be allowed each depositor would be the amount of twenty pounds.

     Despite the fact that the world community intervened to ease malnutrition and provide the restoration of education to the children of the defeated Biafrans, the efforts of that world community to respond and restore life as quickly as possible was not yielding the anticipated results because most people lacked shelter.  Equally, most who were displaced by the war lacked the means, such as transportation, to return to their homes.  And for those who were able to return from the refugee camps to their home town, upon return they found that most, if not all, of their houses were destroyed in the war.  As a result, most schools that were not destroyed were being used as refugee camps to shelter  returnees. 

     This primary need and requirement further delayed the re-institution of the educational process.  Where available, children were compelled to learn outdoors and in overcrowded classrooms.  These were the foundations the Eastern Boys were generated of and from.