Read Online There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra by Chinua Achebe - Free Book Online

the three main ethnic groups. By 1951 they had divided the country into the Northern,
     Eastern, and Western Regions, with their own respective houses of assembly, to contain
     this rising threat. 10 There was also what many thought was an inane house of chiefs—a poor copy of the
     House of Lords of the British Parliament. Clear-eyed pundits saw this mainly as a
     political ploy to appease the Northerners and Westerners who wanted their traditional
     rulers to play a greater role in Nigerian affairs.
    Initially the British resisted any agitations for independence, often by handing out
     stiff jail terms for “sedition” to the “disturbers of the peace.” They knew the value
     of their colonies, and the natural resources they possessed—in Nigeria’s case oil,
     coal, gold, tin, columbite, cocoa, palm oil, groundnuts, and rubber, as well as the
     immense human resources and intellectual capital. Surely Great Britain had no plans
     to hand all these riches over without a fight.
    Over time, however, it became clear to the colonizers that they were engaged in a
     losing battle. By the end of World War II Great Britain was financially and politically
     exhausted. This weakness was exploited by Mohandas Gandhi and his cohorts in India
     during their own struggle against British rule. Nigerian veterans from different theaters
     of the war had acquired certain skills—important military expertise in organization,
     movement, strategy, and combat—during their service to the king. Another proficiency
     that came naturally to this group was the skill of protest, which was quickly absorbed
     by the Nigerian nationalists.

Post-Independence Nigeria
    By the late 1950s the British were rapidly accepting the inevitability of independence
     coming to one of their major colonies, Nigeria. Officers began to retire and return
     home to England, vacating their positions in Nigeria’s colonial government. They left
     in droves, quietly, amiably, often at night, mainly on ships, but also, particularly
     the wealthier ones, on planes. The British clearly had a well-thought-out exit strategy,
     with handover plans in place long before we noticed.
    Literally all government ministries, public and privately held firms, corporations,
     organizations, and schools saw the majority of their expatriate staff leave. Not everyone
     left, however; some, particularly in the commercial sector and the oil businesses,
     stayed. The civilized behavior of their brethren made this an acceptable development.
    While this quiet transition was happening a number of internal jobs, especially the
     senior management positions, began to open up for Nigerians, particularly for those
     with a university education. It was into these positions vacated by the British that
     a number of people like myself were placed—a daunting, exhilarating inheritance that
     was not without its anxieties. Most of us felt well prepared, because we had received
     an outstanding education. This is not to say that there were not those racked with
     doubt, and sometimes outright dread. There were. But most of us were ready to take
     destiny in our own hands, and for a while at least, it worked quite well.
    This “bequest” was much greater than just stepping into jobs left behind by the British.
     Members of my generation also moved into homes in the former British quarters previously
     occupied by members of the European senior civil service. These homes often came with
     servants—chauffeurs, maids, cooks, gardeners, stewards—whom the British had organized
     meticulously to “ease their colonial sojourn.” Now following the departure of the
     Europeans, many domestic staff stayed in the same positions and were only too grateful
     to continue their designated salaried roles in post-independence Nigeria. Their masters
     were no longer European but their own brothers and sisters. This bequest continued
     in the form of new club memberships and access to previously all-white areas