Why Biafra can never be defeated – Soyinka

The News Nigeria

According to Soyinka it was because of the hydra-headed nature of Biafra as a collective memory and idea that he said during the Nigerian civil war that  Biafra can never be disputed. But many people misinterpreted his assertion as though he were talking about the battlefield.

“I think by memory you talk about collective memory, not just individual memory. Because collective memory is the key, is that memory which is related to the mechanisms of relating reality to whatever narrative is given to us. Because history is the narrative.

“But the collective memory, the active memory, is for me far more important . It is also the more dangerous.  Because you can get trapped in it as a community.

“And some of that I think is happening to us here here in Nigeria. I am referring of course to the Biafran war. The collective memory there is very strong. And even before the war I warned that this collective memory might remain to plague efforts at nation building.

“And that therefore everything should be done to avoid  that war. When I used expressions like Biafra can never be defeated, people thought I was talking about battlefield.

“No. I was talking about the notion, the passion which enters the collective memory in active life, not just as a past narrative. This is what I warned against. And we see it happening today,” he lamented.