Abstract

The study examined the Nigeria-Biafra war vis-à-vis indigenous weapon development in Nigeria in order to ascertain whether the abandonment of Biafran military initiative undermines indigenous weapons development in Nigeria. The study leveraged the proposition of the Marxian theory of the post-colonial state propounded by Hamza Alavi in 1972 to bear witness with the argument in discourse that the abandonment of Biafran military initiatives undermined indigenous weapons development in Nigeria. The study also adopted the documentary method of data collection and content analysis with the purpose of analyzing data generated through secondary sources. It also revealed that the abandonment of Biafra military initiatives, such as Ogbunigwe, Biafra-made arms and ammunition, amongst others, undermined indigenous weapons development in Nigeria, consequently leading to high dependence on weapon purchases and huge military expenditure in the country. Finally, it is recommended, amongst other things, that the Federal Government of Nigeria should revisit the Biafran War Museum in Umuahia, Abia State, and set up a special committee of inquiry in order to revamp it for technical military training/studies.

Keywords

coups, genocide, killings, marginalization, Ogbunigwe, Ojukwu buckets