Abstract
It is no news that many African Nations actively participated in World War II that started in 1939 and ended in 1945. Military contingents were drawn from many African Nations and were used to fight on the side of the allied forces. Nigerians fought in a war that they knew little or nothing about. In this important, revisionist history, Chima J. Korieh examines how the lives of Nigerian producers, workers, merchants, men, women, and children from across society were affected. By placing the role that Nigeria played in the war within the contextual and theoretical frameworks of colonialism, race, gender, identity, labour, intellectual, and social history, Korieh challenges the dominant perception that World War II was primarily a European conflict and reveals the global impact of ordinary Nigerians on the war effort.
Chima's book, Nigeria and World War II. Colonialism, Empire, and Global Conflict, is divided into five chapters: list of figures, list of maps, list of tables, acknowledgments, list of abbreviations, an introduction, conclusion, bibliography and index. The thematic chapters examine important areas of the analysed issues in a chronological perspective. The author, in the introductory part of the book, explained the solidarity, efforts and involvement of Nigeria in the war. He stated that “On September 3, 1939, the day the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, declared war on Germany during the Second World War, members of the Ututu Clan Executive Committee in South Eastern Nigeria wrote a letter pledging loyalty and support to United Kingdom and the British Empire.” The committee wrote: “Though we are but poor farmers by trade, we are quite prepared to render any assistance which may come to our reach to our British Government who is fighting for world peace.” (1) Local regional leaders called for national unity (of all ethnic groups) and a common goal to defeat Hitler. A week after the British declared war on Germany, the Oba of Benin, Omonoba Akenzua II, called on Nigerians to “bury all our differences and use our strength, our money and everything in defence of our country and Britain (1).” It must be stated at this juncture that despite Nigeria's active participation in World War II, all the major actions and gunfire were in Europe and Asia, all the diplomatic meetings, peace talks and cease-fire moves all took place outside Africa. Nigeria only sent military contingents, food supplies, solidarity messages and moral support etc. And of all major activities that brought the war to an end in 1945, no Nigerian was involved. Basically, twentieth African empires were based on economic exploitation and racial dominance.
In the second chapter, Chima explained that both the Germans and British used propaganda as a means of conducting war on an extensive scale (73). With propaganda, Britain was able to attract the sympathy of her colonies in Africa. This enabled her to gain the support of Nigeria, morally and otherwise. Hitler's invasion of Poland and his actions against other European nations led Nigerians to embrace the British policy of “all hands-on deck.” Nigerians perceived the war as something that had been thrusted on the British Empire by Hitler and German aggression. Local newspapers captured the sentiment of the Nigerian population as a result of the propaganda. From above, one could tell that Nigeria were drawn into the war as a result of the robust propaganda agenda of the British and they got involved in a war that did not concern them.
The third chapter gives a vivid account of the participation of Nigerian men and women in World War II. The chapter explains how some Nigerians enlisted in the Nigeria Regiment in the Signal Corps due to the fact that they could not find better jobs. They enlisted because it provided employment opportunities (111). They also saw it as a veritable safety net, which provided provincial youths with the opportunity to improve their human capital and for adventure. If there were better job opportunities, it is possible that these people wouldn't have enlisted in the army. Many Nigerians were also forced into joining the army against their will.
In the fourth chapter, the author exposed how the Nigerian Press criticised colonial policies for their failure to curb inflation and their emphasis on export agricultural policy. The war exposed the structural weakness of colonial agricultural planning and the lack of direct incentives for peasants in the area of food production (166). The critical elements in British colonial agricultural policy before the war was basically British economic interests and demands by the metropole. It must be said that the British were more interested in their national interest above any other issue. Despite the rhetoric of freedom, equality, and human rights that was key to Allied propaganda against Germany and its allies, the British colonial authority maintained its stronghold on colonial societies.
The last chapter, which is the conclusion of the book, describes the end of the second world war and the aftermath. Significant socio-cultural and political changes occurred at the end of the war across various fronts. Chima explains how the wartime experiences of Nigerian soldiers helped in transforming the social and political landscape of Nigeria and how the end of the war become the impetus for the restricting of colonial relations and a redefinition of the relationship between the metropole and Nigeria (207). The author did not mention some bad social vices like prostitution that was accelerated during the second world war and became more wide spread after the war. World War II accelerated the sale of sex, particularly among young women in Lagos. The influx of soldiers and European sailors into Lagos during this period sexualised the city, creating a demand for sex.
The book brings to light Nigerians’ involvement in World War II and indisputably demonstrates that the war played an important part in Nigerian history, but also that Nigeria played an important part in the history of the war. It also recounts the extraordinary and often neglected story of the Nigerian people who were drawn into a global war, the enormous demands it made on their resources, and the way it changed both their lives and the societies they lived in. It combines innovative concepts with fresh theoretical insights to present new data capable of reshaping how the World War II is studied in Africa and across other colonial sites. It also sheds more light on Nigeria's “home front”; drawing together a diverse range of source materials to show how the global conflict became interwoven with daily economic, political, and social life of Nigerians. The book is a major contribution to the history of wartime Nigeria and to the re-centring of World War II history away from Eurocentric accounts and views.
One of the strengths of the book is its focus on under-explored aspects of Nigeria's wartime experience. The book also contributes significantly to the understanding of the late colonial period in Nigeria and how nationalists’ movements were triggered. It is also a sophisticated history of colonial interactions in Nigeria during World War II drawing on hitherto unexplored archival resources but still under explored. Though, one of weaknesses of the book is that only archives in the United Kingdom and Nigeria were visited by the author. Archives in other European nations (that were active in the war) such as Germany, France, Belgium, Poland etc. were not visited. Again, four oral interviews were conducted and the age of only one participant reflexed in the bibliography of the book. Also, the correct title of the Oba of Benin is “Omonoba Akenzua II” not Omonoba Akinzua II (1).
The book is a remarkable research based on primary and secondary sources conducted in both Europe and Nigeria. This criticism is superficial and does not affect the exceptional quality of the research work. Every writer or author has his or her own style of writing and objectives to achieve. The book draws attention to the interesting and important facts of the role of Nigeria in World War II. This positive impression is further enhanced by two rich pictorial supplements. Nonetheless, it did not get overburdened in facts or details. On the contrary, the book was written in a simple and straight forward manner making it easy for any reader to understand. This monograph addresses a major gap in the historical literature, including the dearth of information on the historical contributions of Africans in the Nigerian colony as participants and victims of World War II. This is a significant contribution to knowledge, even in an international context and is undoubtedly a useful addition to the expanding historiography of World War II, colonialism, and empires in Nigeria.
