A Summary of Adeyinka Makinde’s Book Review of Chinua Achebe’s THERE WAS A

COUNTRY: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF BIAFRA.

The novel There Was a Country was written by Chinua Achebe, Nigerian poet, and
writer. The book was published forty years after the civil war took place. The reviewer of the
book emphasizes that many writers covered the events that unfolded during the war. These
people wrote in favour of, or against Biafra. People who wrote in that time were John De St.
Jorre and Frederick Forsyth. Indigenous Nigerian scholar and Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka
had tried to reach a compromise between the rival countries by attempting a dialogue. He was
imprisoned for that, during the regime of Yakubu Gowon. Later, contemporary writers like
Chimamanda Adichie would write a related narrative in A half of the yellow sun. The novel is
based on the personal perspective of the author, it relates the different reasons why the war
took place.

Chinua Achebe writes about his experiences during the war, when he was given the
role of being an ambassador of Biafra. He had tried to gain the recognition of Biafra as a
republican State from other countries.

He also speaks about the unresolved issues that caused the war. He argues-and the
reviewer agrees- that the Igbos had willingly imbibed the western culture, and by virtue of
their highly competitive spirit, they adapted to the western way of life quicker than all the
other tribes in the area. This naturally gave rise to uneasiness on the part of the others, most
especially, the northerners. Leading to the removal of the Igbos from seats of high position,
and subsequently, the massacre of the Igbos in the northern region of the country.

It was only natural for a people, as successful and individualistic as the Igbos were,
after so many misfortunes, to agitate for a separate nation of their own. No sovereign state
would accept this so easily. This resulted in what we know today as the Nigerian civil war.

The book There Was a Country is one, specially woven for the reader to see through
the eyes of the author, as he and his fellow patriots witness the “struggles, triumphs and
tragedies” of living in a rapidly changing world.

Victor Nnamdi Ezeh