By Sunday Ani

More than 47 years since the Nigerian civil war ended, Mr. F. N. C Oragwu, one of the Biafran scientists has disclosed how he and others fabricated weapons and built airports and refineries for the defunct republic.

A 1960 graduate of Physics from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, Oragwu said he was a key figure in the Research and Production section of Biafra.

“I will give you the true story about the civil war because I was involved very actively. Not only was I active, I was also one of the key figures in Research and Production (RAP), which was a body of scientists, engineers and technicians that produced all the weapons used to fight the war,” he gan in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun.

He continued: “Before the war, the whole eastern Nigeria had no factory that produced weapons and they could not import weapons from anywhere during the war because they were blockaded. So, I can tell you because I am one of the surviving people in the team; I am almost 82 years old now.”

Oragwu also revealed how, prior to independence in 1960, the eastern and northern Nigeria formed a political alliance. According to him, the North had a political party called the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) led by Ahmadu Bello.

“The party controlled the 19 states we have today in the north. Dr. Namdii Azikiwe led the National Council of Nigerian and Cameroun (NCNC). Cameroun, before the 1914/1918 World War, was a German colony. When France and Britain defeated Germany in the war, they took over Cameroun from Germany and shared it between themselves.”

Full interview on pages 38 and 39