Grammy-winning filmmaker confronts family legacy in new BBC documentary on Nigeria’s forgotten civil war
Meji Alabi has shot some of the biggest music stars on the planet — Beyoncé, Burna Boy, Davido, Stormzy. But nothing prepared the Grammy Award-winning director for his latest project: a deep, personal dive into Nigeria’s civil war.
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find disturbing.
Surviving Biafra: Voices from the Nigerian Civil War, produced by BBC Africa Eye, draws on never-before-seen frontline footage from the devastating 1967–1970 conflict, when ethnic tensions threatened to tear apart the young West African nation. An estimated 500,000 to 3 million people died, many of them children, in what became the world’s first televised humanitarian catastrophe.
“It was very much an eye opener for me. I just grew up not knowing much about the war at all, or who was fighting who,” said the 37-year-old, who was born in London to Nigerian parents and later moved to Texas for school.
Five years ago, Alabi won a Grammy for co-directing the music video for Beyoncé’s hit Brown Skin Girl. But his latest work is a far cry from the polished world of pop videos. It was only when he teamed up with his uncle Leke Alabi-Isama — also a filmmaker and co-founder of their Lagos-based production company PriorGold Pictures — that both men began to grasp the depth of Nigeria’s traumatic history.
Their knowledge came largely from Leke’s father and Meji’s grandfather, Godwin Alabi-Isama, a former army commando who fought on the side of the federal army against ethnic Igbo separatists seeking a breakaway state called Biafra in the southeast.
“I only just saw it from a Nigerian [federal army] perspective,” said Leke. “I never knew of the horrors. I never knew of the suffering and the pain of the other side.”
For decades, the Biafran war was a taboo subject in Nigeria. Most Nigerians learn about the conflict through oral traditions passed down in families. From 2015 until September 2025, history was not even part of the national school curriculum — a gap that has allowed myths and silences to fester.
The documentary features survivors now in their 70s and 80s recounting their experiences of living and fighting during a period that shaped millions of lives and still resonates today. Two of the central characters are former female soldiers who fought on opposite sides. The film also includes interviews with aid workers and former BBC correspondent Martin Bell, who criticize the international community’s response to the crisis.
Leke and Meji said they could not understand why so few films about the civil war had been made by Nigerians. “It’s a topic that, you know, is whispered,” said Meji, whose music video productions — known for complex choreography and vivid color — have helped bring Nigeria’s music scene to global attention.
“It hasn’t been attacked head on and, you know, presented from an inquisitive younger generation like this before,” he added.
The documentary pulls together regional talent: Meji convinced Ghanaian composer Ray Michael Djan Jr, who worked on the soundtrack for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, to create the score. It also relied on the expertise of the BBC’s Igbo service and Igbo historians, and features first-hand accounts from survivors who had never spoken publicly about their trauma before.
“This generation is slowly fading, and if we do not preserve their testimonies now, we risk losing not only their memories, but the chance to fully document this history in a way that can contribute to understanding and healing,” said Leke.
Perhaps the most powerful moment in the film involves Leke’s father, Godwin Alabi-Isama. Now in his 90s, the former commando served as chief of staff to Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle of the 3 Marine Commando — a unit that has faced allegations of war crimes, including executing civilians.
During the conflict, the Nigerian government also imposed a blockade on Biafra, cutting off access to seaports, airfields and foreign supplies. The ensuing famine is believed to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Leke described showing his father the black-and-white footage of emaciated children. “In my 43 years of existence, I had never heard my father’s voice shake,” he said.
During the interview, Godwin Alabi-Isama also recounted an episode of cannibalism — unwittingly eating human flesh when his unit was served food by villagers in occupied Biafran territory. The moment is handled with care in the documentary but underscores the brutal reality of the war.
Responding to the forthcoming documentary, Nigeria’s government said it hoped the film would serve as a reminder of how far the country has come in the last 59 years “and of the enduring importance of dialogue, reconciliation and shared purpose in building a stronger nation for generations to come.”
Both Leke and Meji hope for that — and more. “My hope is that this film encourages Nigerians to confront the darker parts of our shared history with honesty, reflection, and empathy,” said Leke.
Meji agrees: “We really hope this documentary encourages more survivors to tell their stories and document our history further. It’s up to us to do it.”
Additional reporting by Charlie Northcott, Izzy Fleming and Adline Okere
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