Nigeria-Biafra War and the University System: Historicising the No Victor, No Vanquished Concept in the Post-War Years Nigerian Political Development, 1970-2019

Abstract

While the phrase ‘No victor, No vanquished’ remains an influential concept in the post-Nigerian-Biafran war studies, its practicability, if  not rhetoric, in Nigerian politics has been lessening in the recent years. Despite scholars’ best efforts to rethink and redefine the concept,  it has resisted all attempts to transform it into a workable tool. This article explores the propriety of the phrase No victor, No vanquished and suggests that the idea is an impediment to Nigerian unity and the university system, particularly the University of  Nigeria, Nsukka where the Department of Mechanical Engineering was closed down for its engagement in manufacturing ogbunigwe, a  bomb that was used during the war. The Methodology used in this study id the historical method and the data for the study were drawn  from secondary source. The study found that the post-war slogan of No victor, No vanquished was a grand design of the cut-throat  politics that led to the outbreak of the war for reintegrating the secessionist group into the body of Nigerian politics without suggesting  such reintegration processes. Also, it discovered that the Nigerian-Biafran war still retains some of its former influential causes that make  the reality of the concept rhetoric. The article concludes that the concept is an extension of ethnic marginalisation that does not address  the present Nigerian political problems. It recommends a reconsideration of the application of the concept for better inter-group  relationship and coexistence in the country.