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Reclaiming Asaba: Old Media, New Media, and the Construction of Memory

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On Media Memory

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies ((PMMS))

Abstract

On October 5, 1967, Nigerian federal troops entered Asaba, a town in south-east Nigeria on the west bank of the Niger. The war over the secession of the predominantly Igbo2 area known as Biafra had broken out in July; by August, the Biafran army had advanced across the Niger, through Asaba and about 120 km beyond. Federal troops mounted a counter-attack, pushing the Biafrans back across the Asaba Bridge, which they blew up behind them.

1. I would like to thank my research partner, Fraser M. Ottanelli, for his advice and continued collaboration on this project. Thanks also to graduate student Nolan Kline for his assistance in locating and searching relevant newspaper stories. This research was supported by grants from the Humanities Institute and Office of Research, both University of South Florida.

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© 2011 S. Elizabeth Bird

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Bird, S.E. (2011). Reclaiming Asaba: Old Media, New Media, and the Construction of Memory. In: Neiger, M., Meyers, O., Zandberg, E. (eds) On Media Memory. Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230307070_7

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