The BBC Is Making A Movie About Biafra – We Can’t Trust Them To Tell The Truth

Umu Igbo, in a recent news report, we gathered that the BBC (British Broadcasting Commission) is working on developing a movie series about Biafra. They are doing this in partnership with Actor David Oyelowo, the movie producer. David Oyelowo is partnering with British TV Fremantle and Richard John’s Argo Films, to develop the movie.

The movie, ‘The story of ‘Biafra’, as was reported, takes place in both the United Kingdom and Nigeria. It will switch between the present day and the 1967-1970 Biafra War.

The movie is said to focus on a young black British woman and will tell a character-driven personal story revolving around her family, identity, and belonging.

Our Concerns At Voice Of The Sun

We at Voice Of The Sun, being a platform that speaks up for Ndi Igbo, especially when they are victims of propaganda and false narratives, are somewhat uncomfortable that the BBC is choosing to play a major role in a story about the Biafran War.

With history as our guide, we do not think that the BBC has any moral right to undertake or supervise such an important aspect of Igbo history. This is because of the role the BBC and the British government played, before, during, and after the Biafran war. The BBC was in charge of the propaganda and lies that the world saw during the Biafran War of 1967-1971, which led to the genocide against Ndi Igbo.

We would recall that it was the BBC who first called the January 15 1966 coup an Igbo coup, even though they knew it was not an Igbo coup, but rather one carried out by military officers from around Nigeria. The BBC, being the propaganda wing of the British government, intentionally set the Igbo up for a large-scale massacre in 1966. And would continue twisting the facts to favor the Nigerian Federal Military Government and the British government which wanted control of the crude oil on the Biafran side.

So going by the aforementioned, the BBC does not have the moral grounds to be the ones to tell the story of Biafra, in any way, shape, or form. For they would likely twist the story in their favor and manufacture more propaganda against the Igbo.

To date, the BBC is actively reporting false news about the neo-Biafran agitation, led by IPOB, among many other organizations and bodies, seeking redress for Igbo marginalization. They make it look as though they are reporting the truth as an independent media house, when in actual fact, they are weaving a dangerous narrative against Ndi Igbo as a race (and not just those who are part of IPOB as an organization).

There is an abundance of evidence in the public domain that proves that the BBC is still neck-deep in spinning lies against Ndi Igbo. So how then can such a biased media organization produce a movie about a people they have despised and distrusted for almost 200 years?

Your guess is as good as mine, nwannem.

Our verdict is that the BBC has its hands soiled in the blood of Ndi Igbo and Biafrans in general, and as such, has no business in telling our story.

The British government on the hand was the chief strategists and weapons supplier to the Nigerian government, in their genocide against Ndi Igbo (Biafrans in general). And since we cannot separate the BBC from the British government, we see no reason why anyone who truly knows the extent of damage the British government has caused the Igbo will want to partner with them to tell the story of a people they tried to wipe away from the surface of the earth.

We have no confidence in the BBC.

On that note, let us look at the actor David Oyelowo, and his collaborators, to understand their motives, and weigh their level of connection to the Biafran story, and if truly they can be unbiassed in telling any story about Biafra.

A Look At The Producer, Director, And Writer Of The Movie

David Oyelowo

The actor David Oyelowo, who is the producer of the movie, is a British citizen of Nigerian descent. He was born in 1976 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, to Nigerian parents. His father is a Yoruba man, while his mother is an Igbo woman. He moved to Nigeria with his parents when he was six years old, and they returned to the UK when he turned fourteen years old.

David Oyelowo is popular for his role in the movie Selma, where he acted as Martin Luther King Jr.

When discussing the Biafran story to be portrayed in the movie, actor David Oyelowo described the story as a treasure to him and that it was a part of history that he has been waiting to see come to life at a high standard of production.

The ‘Selma’ star said: “My Nigerian heritage and desire to see African stories told at the highest level has led to Biafra being one of my most treasured projects. My parents married across the tabooed tribal lines of the Biafran conflict, and it shaped my life, much as it has done to millions of Nigerians. To be able to bring the amazing talents of director Ngozi Onwurah, who I first worked with on Shoot the Messenger, and writer, Bola Agbaje, who I’ve been seeking to work with for quite some time, makes this the definition of a passion project for me.”

Now, from the above analysis of David’s background and his purpose of setting out to make a movie about Biafra, it is very likely that he is sympathetic to the plights of his mother’s people – Ndi Igbo. And for his father to marry an Igbo woman, he too would most likely be sympathetic to the plights of his in-laws during the Biafran war. We can go further to say that David Oyelowo’s heart is in a good place, being that he is Igbo too, and shares in the Biafran heritage of Ndi Igbo.

What we do not know however is if David knows that the BBC is not to be trusted, when it comes to telling the Biafran story, or any story about Ndi Igbo.

Ngozi Onwurah

Ngozi Onwurah, an Igbo woman herself, is reported to be a co-developer of the story and will direct the series.  She was born in 1966, in Nigeria. Her father is an Igbo man, while her mother is a white-British woman. Ngozi Onwurah’s mother fled Nigeria with her and her siblings, in order to escape the Biafran genocide. Growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, Ngozi and her siblings suffered social abuse and racism, because they were biracial, and their father was absent.

Ngozi Onwurah is renowned to have pushed the limits of the “representative black woman”, according to Foster.  She is the first black woman whose feature film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom. Ngozi Onwurah’s type of film-making replaces fiction with facts and criticizes and analysis the negative effects of colonialism on the African diaspora.

From the brief analysis of Ngozi Onwurah, we can say that she has a right to the Biafran heritage and the genocide against the Igbo, in the Biafran war of 1967-1971. She is a nwa ada, being that her father is Igbo. And being that she has dedicated her life and movie career to making movies that correct the lies about colonialism, and imperialism, we can truly hope that she will tell the genuine story of the Biafran experience during the genocide of 1967-1971.

Bola Agbaje

Bola Agbaje is a British-born playwright of Nigerian origin. She is Yoruba. She has spent almost her entire life in England. She lived in Nigeria with her parents, between the ages of six and eight. Bola was an actress before she started to explore the African conditions both in England and abroad, with her writing.  She mainly explores the assimilation and social dynamics in African communities. Some of her works have examined the tensions and conflicts between racial and ethnic identities.

Bola Agbaje, from the above analysis, is a pro-African scriptwriter and might be moved to write and narrate the real story about Biafra, depending on the influence she has had over the years. We can’t say that she will express the Biafran story fully because, in reality, she does not share the Biafran heritage of the Igbo. Her ability not to be influenced by the twisted narrative of the BBC, and Britain, is unlikely. Although she will have to prove that by the facts in the story, she will tell.

Our Suggestion At Voice Of The Sun

It is our honest opinion and suggestion, that the telling of any story concerning Biafra, should have a fair representation of those who share fully in the Biafran story and heritage, and those who have dedicated their lives to speaking, writing, and researching about the ugly events of the genocide. An example of such noble Igbo people, is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author of Half Of a Yellow Sun – a novel that intensely captures what the Igbo faced during the Biafran genocide.

It is our strong opinion that the BBC, being a propaganda machine of the British government (before, during, and after the Biafran war), is not in any way morally sound to take a lead in the telling of this story, especially in this point in time, when there is a strong and organized agitation against marginalization by those who share the Biafran heritage – the Igbo and their kin in the old eastern Nigeria.

We want our brethren David, Ngozi, and Bola, to understand that there are two sides to the Biafran genocide story. The real story as told by the Biafrans, and the propaganda and lies told by the British Government, BBC, and the Nigerian government, to cover up the atrocities and genocide they committed against more than 3 million Biafrans who died in that unholy genocide.

We at Voice Of The Sun are determined to defend the integrity of Ndi Igbo, both at home and abroad. It is our passion and duty to identify the false narratives woven about our people, which will in turn lead to propaganda that will continue to paint the Igbo in a bad light.

We are fervently waiting for the release of the movie, so that we can analyze the story, and make sure that history was not twisted, to favor the British (and their Nigerian allies). \

This Article Was Written By Chuka Nduneseokwu, Editor-In-Chief, Voice Of The Sun

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