Meji Alabi is directing a new BBC World Service documentary on the Nigerian Civil War titled Surviving Biafra, a 75-minute film built around eyewitness testimonies and previously unseen archival material from the frontline, set to premiere on June 1 on BBC iPlayer and YouTube.
The documentary will feature accounts from people on both sides of the conflict, including soldiers and civilians who lived through the war between 1967 and 1970. Alabi also interviews his grandfather, a former army commando who fought in the war, as well as people who served with and against him.
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According to the BBC, the film arrives as many surviving witnesses are now in their 70s and 80s, creating urgency around preserving their memories before they are lost.
Speaking about the project, Alabi, who made his feature film debut in 2024 with Tiwa Savage-led Water and Garri, said the war shaped the lives of many Nigerian families, including his own. “Like so many Nigerians, my grandfather’s life was forever shaped by the Biafran War. With each passing year, fewer survivors remain — but the memories of what they witnessed have never left them,” he said.
Liz Gibbons, Director of BBC Global Journalism, said the documentary gives audiences a chance to hear personal reflections from those who witnessed the war while also documenting the events that led to the conflict and its lasting effects on Nigeria.
The BBC describes Surviving Biafra as an important historical record arriving ahead of the 60th anniversary of the war. The conflict is estimated to have claimed between 600,000 and three million lives.
Surviving Biafra is produced by the BBC Africa Eye team, the investigative documentary unit behind projects including Sex for Grades, and Peabody-winning Anatomy of a Killing.
More recent projects that have shed light on the Biafran Civil War are the 2018 Irish documentary Biafra: Forgotten Mission and The Encounter, a 2020 Trino Motion short film based on a short story by historian Henry Onyema and directed by Tolu Ajayi.
Another Nigerian-linked BBC project announced earlier this month is Wahala, a six-part thriller adapted from Nikki May’s bestselling novel by BAFTA-nominated writer Theresa Ikoko. Starring Genevieve Nnaji in her TV comeback, the series, currently in production, follows four Nigerian-British women in London whose friendships begin to unravel after the arrival of a wealthy new acquaintance.
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