Ugo Pascal Onumonu

The Nigerian civil war of 1967 to 1970 came with severe challenges that attracted the attention of the global community. As a result of the humanitarian crisis during the war, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across Biafra migrated to Oru-Igbo via her borders in search of sanctuary. Due to the nature of Oru-Igbo's topography, coupled with its assorted water bodies, which supported food supply and security, the area became a haven for the Biafran IDPs. The historical approach was adopted in this study. Primary and secondary sources were utilized. Data were subjected to historical analysis. The IDPs were absorbed and integrated into the existing households of Oru-Igbo which automatically prevented social discriminations, crisis of identity and destitution. The work examined mechanism used in handling the IDPs. The IDPs in Oru-Igbo were productive and did not constituent nuisance to their host community during the war.

This project, a revised version of my doctoral thesis, places women at the centre of the humanitarian crisis of the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). Existing scholarships on African studies have paid limited attention to the transformation of women's role during post-colonial crisis of nation-building. Decades after decades of scholarship, history has continued to favour men's voice and perspective as the primary shaper of historical narratives, not because women did not perform significant task, but because of male-centredness of African studies. Using the example of internally displaced community in Oru-Igbo, a major polity in southern Nigeria, this project uncovers the heroic exploits of local women who operated outside state institution to address the multifarious implication of violent conflict. It argues that the scholarship on the transformation of gender roles in the era of violent is capable of shedding new insights on political economy of post-colonial narratives of nation-building.