Dr Andee Iheme is the Director of Information, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi State, and a former head of the National Open University of Nigeria, Calabar Centre, Cross River State in an interview has shared some of the remarkable experiences of his life and what he experienced being a Biafran soldier.
When asked ‘What are some of the toughest moments you have faced in life?’
The reply he gave goes thus; “The civil war is the first. As a 14-year-old, I was a soldier in the Biafran Army. It was tough, some of my colleagues were killed in action while others were maimed. We ate lizards, vultures, and grasses to survive at the time. I drank water from rainwater collected on the ground. I would not bathe for four days.
The second was during the period the date for school certification examination was moved from November to June; that was in 1973. Six months were cut off from our curriculum. The war had just ended, we didn’t have teachers, we were just on our own and that accounted for the weak foundation I had in Mathematics.
After we took the West African Examination Council examination in 1973, all the exams taken in Eastern Nigeria were cancelled, so we had to retake the examination in 1974. That was another sad period. Many people decided not to go back to school anymore.
Then, another sad one was the riot of 1991 in Bauchi State and then the 2008 issue concerning how I couldn’t become the registrar of the university.”
The reply he gave goes thus; “The civil war is the first. As a 14-year-old, I was a soldier in the Biafran Army. It was tough, some of my colleagues were killed in action while others were maimed. We ate lizards, vultures, and grasses to survive at the time. I drank water from rainwater collected on the ground. I would not bathe for four days.
The second was during the period the date for school certification examination was moved from November to June; that was in 1973. Six months were cut off from our curriculum. The war had just ended, we didn’t have teachers, we were just on our own and that accounted for the weak foundation I had in Mathematics.
After we took the West African Examination Council examination in 1973, all the exams taken in Eastern Nigeria were cancelled, so we had to retake the examination in 1974. That was another sad period. Many people decided not to go back to school anymore.
Then, another sad one was the riot of 1991 in Bauchi State and then the 2008 issue concerning how I couldn’t become the registrar of the university.”
