By Japhet Alakam

One of the latest contributors to the debate about Biafra and the war is Okereke Paschal Cato with his new book, Biafra: My beloved country home. According to the Mbaise-born actor/writer who believes that the Biafran story has not been given adequate attention, “The story of Biafra is a painful one. It must be told the way it is.”

Okereke, in this 243-page book published by AuthorHouse, UK, offers powerful insight into the level of suffering and scale of violence that played out against the Igbo during the Civil War and the subsequent intrigues since the war ended.  The author mirrors the trials and travails of his people and their cries for freedom through a gripping and timeless blend of the evocative and the imaginary.

Okereke started with the birth of a torchbearer in the land of the rising sun—one of the promised four who would show the light unto the people for the ultimate march to freedom. Born to light up the path to the unseen future wrapped in the cloak of a terrible past, coated in blood, but lots of uncertainties derailed his mission.

One of the obstacles was the great genocide that was not reported which the author witnessed as a little boy. Here, he gave a vivid account of the step-by-step tales of how the people were killed, maimed, raped, houses and farms burnt; forcing the ones left behind to become refugees in their own land. The genocide left the people with nightmares that never end. At each point, one is forced to remember how they robbed the people of their innocence and turned the truth upside down.

Forced to abandon their homes, persecuted and ostracized, the people spent many years trying to reintegrate themselves of which other races see as domineering. The author highlights the different efforts made by the torchbearer and his people to free themselves which in turn is marred by alliance between the West and Northern oligarchs.

How did the people find themselves in that mess? Have the issues that led to the war been addressed? Since a man’s history is ruled by his actions and inactions, the task ahead calls for thorough and concerted efforts to salvage and advance their collective destiny.