Sir: Mr C. C. Wrigley may be forgiven for inferring
that 'only old Nigerian hands' are entitled to comment •on the Nigerian war (Letters, 29 November), but in fact many of the so-called old hands are incapable of comment- ing because they have never concerned them- selves with anything outside the range of their particular business activities. In any case, the longer one lives in Africa the less positive and categorical one tends to become. As I said in my original letter (22 November), that func, tion is left to those who make fleeting visits.
At the same time, to those who have more than an academic interest in the land and its people, the longer the period of residence and living in close harmony, the more it is pos- sible to form some impressions and, above all, to know a little of what is going on—often behind the scenes.
As to history, there is an annoying vague- ness about most African history until very recent times. But this cannot be said of the postwar period of Nigeria where there are many records, personal recollections and the events of the period from which to draw the pattern of development. This is part of the pattern that provided the soil in which the eruptions of 1966 took place.
I note with regret that while most news- papers have given a lot. of space to the horrifying situation that will develop if further relief supplies are stopped by shortage of money, only the barest mention has been made of General Gowon's speech on 30 November at the Ahmadu Bello University, a speech de.
voted almost entirely to development, recon- struction and the reintegration of the Ibo people into one Nigeria. Mr Wrigley is dubious about the accomplishment of this last task. This is not the first time in history that this problem has been faced and successfully accomplished. Who would have thought, even a year ago, that defeated Germany would be the salvation of the franc (and perhaps the £ sterling), and form one of the most vital parts of the Euro- pean complex? In Nigeria no one doubts that the Ibo people are necessary to the overall de- velopment of the whole country, but as co- partners and not as overall rulers.
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