Literary Analysis of Selected Nigeria-Biafra War Songs (1967 - 1970)

Abstract

War songs played a pivotal role during the Nigerian-Biafra war fought from 1967to 1970. The songs provide warrior’s thoughts, feelings, and mood to fight for the liberation of the Igbo people. Thus, study is focused in literary analysis of selected Nigerian-Biafra war songs, identify the theme embedded in the war songs and examine the literary devices used in the selected war songs. Fifteen Nigerian-Biafra war songs were selected for the study. Both primary and secondary data were sourced for the analysis. The primary data collection was obtained through recording, face-to-face interview and observations. The secondary data were sourced from documents which have some war songs in print. The study is premised on speech accommodation theory. The findings of the study revealed that there are various themes embedded in Nigerian-Biafra war songs that make reference to the history and culture of the Igbo people and the tensions and harmonies – within the Nigeria society from which these songs were drawn. Furthermore, the study revealed that most Nigerian-Biafra war songs are structurally composed in single stanzas. The study also revealed that the Nigerian-Biafra war songs are rendered in simple and compound sentences and full of repetitions, metaphorical expressions, parallelisms, symbolisms that help to communicate clear messages and intents of warriors.