Pleasant greetings friends, welcome to my blog. Hope you are doing well?
It's another #tbt and I'm excited to share a memorable visit to the National War Museum in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
The National War Museum showcases the military history of Nigeria, specifically the Biafra-Nigerian Civil War which lasted from 1967 to 1970. It was established in 1985 and holds a collection of armored vehicles, tanks, ships, aircraft, and various weapons used during the said war.
The museum is located at the same site of the Voice of Biafra radio station during the war. It is also known as "Ojukwu Bunker," with Ojukwu being the the Governor of the defunct Republic of Biafra.
Having heard a lot about the museum, I decided to take a tour with a friend during my vacation at the city.
On getting there, we paid the tourist fee and proceeded to the reception, where we were asked to drop off our bags and phones as it was the protocol there. Although I didn't like the idea since it was going to defeat the main purpose of the tour - which was to take pictures, but we complied.
Then our guide took us through the exhibits. I was able to see the different galleries - traditional warfare gallery, Armed forces, Civil War and Peacekeeping galleries, all of which provided insight into the nation's past history.
It was intriguing to see a display of various artifacts and relics -uniforms, documents, photographs and weapons from the Nigerian Civil War at the Civil War gallery - It was at this point that I wished I had my phone with me.
Just as we were descending the staircase to see more displays, the power went out. Although they switched to a generator, we decided to cut the tour short, since we couldn't take photos inside.
However, we were able to capture some amazing photos outside, where various war artifacts like ships, tanks, armored vehicles, aircrafts and other military equipment were on display.
Photo Speaks
Armored War tanks
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Aircrafts
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War ship
Flying Ogbunigwe which were used to by the Biafran soldiers to throw bombs during the war
I was actually looking forward to seeing these particular ammunitions because my dad talked so much about how deadly and catastrophic they were.
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Locally fabricated guns which were used by the Biafran soldiers.
It was a great experience, and I'm glad I got to tour the museum to see things for myself and no longer depend on stories. Lol. Moreover, from the visit, I was led to appreciate the ingenuity, camaraderie and resilience of the Biafran soldiers, during the civil war. Unfortunately, an uncle, my dad's immediate younger brother who was also a priest, was amongst the fallen heroes.
The National War Museum is indeed a place worth visiting, and I appreciate the opportunity to have gone there.
Thanks for reading.
Author's Photos
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