| Chapter : | Introduction |
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on the one hand, and healing in postconflict situations, on the other, is ignored.
On another level, the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the Igbo and other groups in the East for systematically pursuing reconstruction of historical memory of the war can be attributed to the gap between the war generation and the postwar generation. Emeka Xris Obiezu links the absence of memorialization to the rapid replacement of those with firsthand experience of the war by a younger generation with few realistic images either of the war or of the pain and destruction it caused. For the younger generation the war was something that happened in the distant past; it has not been deeply embedded in their collective conscience in any meaningful way. Although the memories of the war consist of “fragments or faint recollections from childhood stories,” as Obiezu writes, the apparent indifference of the younger generation ignores the paralyzing effects of the injustices to humanity that resulted from the Nigeria-Biafra War. The combination of complete amnesia, selective memory, and the exploitation of memory threatens the responsibility owed to history and the process of healing. Thus memorialization is an opportunity to heal past injustices, whereas a conscious desire to forget is both “morally outrageous and politically dangerous.”66 Such memorialization, however, requires a well-articulated agenda that achieves the triple objective of accepting past wrongs, turning toward forgiveness and healing, and determining that such atrocity will never again mar the nation’s history.
Memorialization of the war may take place not only on the national level but also on the individual level. This is an important element in healing those who have experienced war, genocide, and other traumatic events. For example, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Committee has revealed that those who have faced adversity can overcome it and its consequences. In chapter 8 of this work, Ada Uzoamaka Azodo chronicles the saga of an internally displaced Biafran refugee. Her personal and intimate narrative of war memories adds an important dimension to narratives that recall the heroism of ordinary Biafrans. Her story underlines the