This timeline and database of resources is sponsored by the Institute for African Studies at George Washington University. The goal is to provide detailed information for teachers and students who want to learn more about the war and its international impact. For a basic summary of the events of the war, see the Background section. In addition, the Timeline gives many of the basic events of the war, and it links to important sources – photographs, speeches, documents, and scholarly works. In addition, this site includes a searchable database of documents and scholarly resources related to the Nigeria-Biafra war. These include a broad range of memos, documents issued by various parties to the conflict or humanitarian organizations, photographs, videos, and other materials. Working in partnership with a number of organizations that have these materials, we make them available here as a database for scholars and students. You may search the site using keywords, or browse it by type of document.
This site builds upon the conference held at GWU in April 2017, Remembering Biafra: History, Memory, and the Global Impact of the Nigerian Civil War. That conference brought together an international roster of speakers, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as the keynote. Many of their papers or lectures are available as part of the database included on this site. The original timeline and sources were put together by Abigail Pioch, an international affairs student at GW. The Remembering Biafra conference was organized by Michael Barnett, Nemata Blyden, and Melani McAlister. The webpage content is overseen by Melani McAlister, and website design is by Two Penguins Creative. GW students who have contributed to the information on this site include Abigail Pioch, Victoria Avis, and Nana Evison.
