Women of the Civil War: A Review of Afia
The documentary Afia Attack shows the efforts of women during the Nigerian Civil War. The narratives so far are centred around men, ignoring those who had to tend children and homes left behind by men.
While this is admirable in intent, the final film doesn’t quite get up to those of those lofty ideals.
For a film purporting to show women’s place in the war, women don’t exactly show up till later, even if Afia Attack–essentially, a rummaging behind enemy lines for commodities like salt and stockfish–was run by women from different homes. It is the peculiar nature of Nigerian that no figures are given about the number of women who crossed over to Nigeria to trade so they could take care of the families.