For many indigenous African cultures, music serves more as a verb than a noun. Music has been used in various forms for spiritual ceremonies, political information dissemination and entertainment for many social celebrations. It is with awareness of the potency of music that this research proposes to document and analyze the war songs of Biafra. As one of the first liberation struggles in the period following independence from European colonial rule, the tensions caused by Biafra's secession from the Federal Republic of Nigeria (a land mass previously designated as a British colonial protectorate) challenged accepted ideas of nation-states in Africa. This thesis addresses the following questions: What were the specific songs used during the Biafran War era? What role did music (particularly song) play in the Biafran War? Specific to inspiration and sustaining morale, how did these creative works influence Biafran soldiers and civilians? How did these songs reflect culture?
