Article Details

The Nigerian Civil War has undoubtedly reshaped the history of the country. The copious narratives about this war depicted the Igbo as the sole victims. Contrary to these pan-Igbo narratives, the non-Igbo ‘minority’ groups along the boundary where the first gunshot was fired were victims at both ends- the Federal and Biafra troops. The scarcity of documented records on the impact of the 30 months war on the Yala-speaking women of Cross River State informed the choice of this study using the minority lenses. The study is a bold attempt at filling this lacuna caused by patriarchy and the double minority status of Yala women. The study adopts the Social Inclusion Theory as a theoretical framework of analysis and the historical approach using documented sources validated with oral sources from women of discernible ages at the time of the war and some veterans. Some of the impact observed were fractured relationships (kinship and spousal), physical and psychological abuse, and death. The study concludes that an improved interest in the reconstruction of the civil war events to capture the minority perspective in the civil war narrative is a necessity in the nation-building discourse.

Civil War, Minority, Veterans, Women, Yala Introduction,