By Tony Adibe
An Enugu-based nongovernmental organisation, NGO, South East Social Accountability Network (SESAN), has protested against the proposed release of a documentary titled: “Surviving Biafra,” by the management of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC.
SESAN’s Leader, Comrade Emmanuel Acha, in the protest letter to BBC, insisted that such a documentary would be laced with half-truths because Britain was part of the war and therefore cannot give an unbiased account of the civil war, which is more of a pogrom.
NewsBits reports that the development has also raised concerns about the said unprofessional and unethical role played by the BBC while covering the Nigeria/Biafra War, a hypocritical role that forced the then BBC war correspondent, Fredrick Forsight, to resign from the Radio Station, and take up arms with Biafra. Fredrick Forsight realized to his chagrin that the BBC was killing the true stories he wrote detailing the cruelty of the Nigerian military on the Biafran civilians. The atrocities were mind-boggling, and Fredrick Foresight was chronicling them in his reports.
However, BBC, being an interested party in the war, was not ready to let the world know the truth. Fredrick resigned and became a private Journalist covering the war. He ended up authoring several books on the war. There are also concerns being expressed about the timing of the proposed release of “Surviving Biafra”, whether it is politically motivated, coming almost shortly after former Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon, just published his Autobiography that has attracted too many criticisms due to alleged falsehood and deliberate half-truths contained in the book.
Acha pointed out that not only did Britain participate in the war, but supplied arms and ammunition, coupled with propaganda to justify the carnage carried out on the Eastern Nigerian people.
The protest letter signed by Acha reads:
OPEN PROTEST LETTER TO BBC NIGERIA OVER THE PROPOSED “SURVIVING BIAFRA” DOCUMENTARY
To: The Management of BBC Nigeria
and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Nigeria
Subject: Strong Objection to the Proposed “Surviving Biafra” Documentary Without Genuine Biafran Ownership, Validation, Historical Accountability, and Restitution.
The South East Social Accountability Network (SESAN), led by Comrade Emmanuel Acha, writes to strongly condemn and protest the planned release of the documentary titled “Surviving Biafra” by BBC Nigeria.
For millions of Biafrans and descendants of the victims of the Nigeria-Biafra War, this proposed documentary raises painful concerns about historical distortion, selective storytelling, propaganda recycling, and the continued refusal of Britain and its institutional allies to accept responsibility for their role in one of Africa’s gravest humanitarian catastrophes.
The Nigeria-Biafra War was not merely a “civil war.” It was preceded by mass killings, ethnic persecution, organized pogroms against Easterners—particularly Igbos—in Northern Nigeria, and the political betrayal surrounding the Aburi Accord. These events cannot honestly be separated from the conflict itself.
Britain was not a neutral observer during the war.
Britain openly supported the Nigerian Government militarily, diplomatically, politically, and through international propaganda machinery. Alongside countries such as the former Soviet Union and Egypt, Britain provided strategic support that strengthened the Nigerian military campaign against Biafra. The blockade imposed on Biafra led to mass starvation, widespread kwashiorkor among children, and the deaths of over three million Biafrans, many of them women and children.
The world saw the images. The world saw starving children with swollen stomachs. The world saw humanitarian supplies blocked from entering Biafra. Yet the same British establishment that supported the war machinery now seeks to tell the story of “Surviving Biafra” without first acknowledging its own role in the suffering.
This is morally troubling.
It is even more disturbing that the documentary is reportedly being narrated or driven by voices outside the core victim population, including individuals from ethnic groups aligned with the Nigerian wartime side against Biafra. A people’s tragedy should not be interpreted primarily through the lenses of those historically aligned against them while survivors themselves remain sidelined.
The BBC must understand that many Biafrans do not see the British media establishment as an impartial institution on this matter. Historically, the BBC was widely perceived as part of the propaganda framework that promoted the narrative of an “Igbo Coup” following the January 1966 coup led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu. That narrative contributed significantly to anti-Igbo sentiment, retaliatory massacres, and eventually the genocidal violence and war that followed. To this day, Britain has neither meaningfully apologized nor pursued restitution for its role in supporting a war strategy that weaponized starvation against civilians.
A documentary about Biafra that lacks genuine validation, participation, editorial authority, and historical framing by actual Biafran survivors, scholars, historians, and affected communities’ risks becoming another episode of institutionalized historical manipulation. No one tells the story of a people’s pain better than the people who lived through it. The memories of Biafra are not entertainment content for geopolitical institutions seeking retrospective moral positioning without accountability.
SESAN therefore demands the following: Immediate suspension of the planned documentary pending broad consultations with credible Biafran stakeholders, historians, survivors, civil society groups, and affected communities. Full transparency regarding the documentary’s producers, researchers, editorial decision-makers, funding sources, and narrative framework.
Inclusion of authentic Biafran voices with substantial editorial influence over the historical representation of the war and its causes. A balanced examination of Britain’s direct and indirect role in the war, including military support, diplomatic actions, and the humanitarian consequences of the blockade on Biafra. Formal acknowledgement by British institutions of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war and the suffering inflicted on millions of Biafrans.
The story of Biafra is not merely about “survival.” It is about injustice, mass suffering, political betrayal, international complicity, and unresolved historical trauma that continues to affect generations. Any attempt to sanitize, dilute, selectively frame, or externally control that narrative will be resisted by conscientious people across the world who believe in truth, justice, memory, and historical accountability.
The BBC must decide whether it seeks historical truth or another chapter of imperial narrative management.
- Signed, Comrade Emmanuel Acha, Lead Coordinator, South East Social Accountability Network (SESAN)
