31/08/2026
soldier ‘Ikenna’ hugs his friend turned enemy ‘Sodiq’ after the war and told him “we could be good neighbors but not brothers as we’re already divided into religious and ethnic lines.
The Nigerian sun beat down on the dusty landscape of the Amichi sector. It was January 1970, and a strange, heavy silence had finally replaced the relentless thud of artillery. The air, usually thick with smoke and terror, smelled only of dry grass and dust. Word had spread like wildfire through the trenches.
The war was over.
Sodiq, a sergeant in the Nigerian Federal Army, stood near a makeshift checkpoint, his green uniform stained with sweat and the grit of a dozen campaigns. His heart beat with a frantic mix of exhaustion and disbelief. He was alive. He would see his mother in Kaduna again.
Footsteps approached from the bush. A group of Biafran soldiers emerged, their weapons lowered, their faces gaunt from years of blockade and starvation.
Among them was a man whose posture Sodiq recognized instantly."Ikenna?" Sodiq called out, his voice cracking.
The Biafran soldier stopped. He turned slowly, his eyes widening under his combat cap. It was indeed Ikenna.
Before the coup of 1966, before the world broke apart, they had been inseparable roommates at the university in Ibadan, sharing meals, arguing over football, and dreaming of the future.
Then the country fractured, and they were swept into opposite sides of a brutal, bloody divide.
For a long moment, the two men just stared at each other, looking at the uniforms that had made them mortal enemies for three long years.Then, breaking into wide, tearful smiles, they dropped their guards and rushed forward, locking into a fierce, desperate hug.
They laughed and cried at the same time, holding on tightly—partly in joy, and partly to convince themselves that they were both still breathing. Around them, millions had perished, but by some miracle, they had survived the carnage.
They were going home to their families.As they finally pulled back, Sodiq looked at his old friend, his eyes shining. "We survived, brother," Sodiq said softly, clapping Ikenna on the shoulder. "We can finally rebuild.
We can go back to being brothers in one Nigeria.
"Ikenna smiled gently, but his eyes carried the profound weight of what he had witnessed over the last three years—the starvation, the bombed markets, the loss of his younger sister.
He looked at Sodiq's uniform, then down at the Biafran sun patch on his own sleeve.
"I am happy we are alive, Sodiq. Truly," Ikenna said, his voice calm but resolute. "But things have changed too much.
We must be honest with ourselves now.
We can be good neighbors, Sodiq, but we cannot be brothers."Sodiq’s smile faded slightly, listening intently."
We do not have anything in common anymore," Ikenna continued, looking out over the scarred landscape.
"The blood spilled is too deep, and we are already completely divided along religious and ethnic lines.
Forcing a brotherhood after this will only breed more resentment.
Let us live in peace, side by side, respecting each other's boundaries.
Let us be excellent neighbors."Sodiq looked at his friend and realized the bitter truth in his words.
The innocence of their university days was gone, buried under the casualties of war. He nodded slowly, accepting the reality. "Good neighbors then, Ikenna.
May we live to see our children grow in peace."They shook hands one last time—no longer enemies, no longer pretending the fractures didn't exist, but united in their relief to be alive.
By Akunne Future.
