Dams, displacement and the delusion of development: Cahora Bassa and its legacies in Mozambique, 1965–2007

and familiarity with other cultures within Nigeria, and the public launching in 1985 of a conference and museum at Umuahia devoted to the war. More recently, the Justice Charles Oputa’s Panel on Human Rights violations in Nigeria devoted many days to collecting the memories and grievances of war survivors. Those arguing that the government wanted to quickly reintegrate Biafra and the Igbo into Nigeria after the war would point to Igbo elements serving or having served in nearly every elective and nonelective post but the presidency since the end of the war, and that the head of the Science and Technology Ministry often comes from eastern Nigeria, with the goal of further encouraging the entrepreneurship and innovations demonstrated by Biafrans during the war. Maybe the war, like many things Nigerian, has not attracted enough attention – slavery and the discipline of history come to mind – but this is not the same as lack of memory. In all, the book adds to the debate on the Biafran war and Nigeria as an entity. It reveals enduring anguish on the part of those who believed in Biafra as an entity and as an idea. It also shows that more work is required to make Nigeria a nation because there remains a persistent pain and doubt about its existence and worth. Finally, the book displays that no amount of official disinterest will silence those who believe in a renegotiated Nigeria.