Umuahia is in Southeast Nigeria.
. . . Umuahia . . .
Umuahia is the capital of Abia State and, while definitely not the most developed city around, has its place in history as the second capital of Biafra State after the first, Enugu, was captured by the Nigerian Forces during the Nigerian Civil War. It retained this designation until the Nigerian Forces finally overcame the rebellion, at which point it suffered neglect from the Nigerian government as a form of retaliation, observable to this day. An area made up of the Igbo people by and large, it got its peculiar name from a British misspelling of the Igbo’s original name for their community.
Umuahia is well connected to other regional Nigerian cities such as Enugu and Port Harcourt. It is a good 9 to 10 hour drive from Lagos however.
- 1 National War Museum, Umuahia, ☏+234 8035927567. 0900-1730 weekdays, 1200-1800 weekends. Shows displays of weapons from both sides of the 1967-1971 Nigerian conflict and various exhibits pertaining to the event, including boats, planes, tanks, etc outside. No photography allowed inside. Also has bunker from where Voice of Biafra radio transmissions originated. (updated Aug 2020)
- 1 Ojukwu’s Bunker, ☏+234 7017895370. where the late Biafran general hid while commanding the desperate attempts to secede from the country. Tunnel said to connect from here to the site where the National War Museum is today. (updated Aug 2020)
. . . Umuahia . . .