WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM AS A TOOL FOR FOSTERING PEACE AND RECONCILIATION IN NIGERIA.
Ogonda Justice Nyema, Owajionyi L. Frank
Department of Architecture,
Rivers State University,Nkpolu-Oroworukwo,Port Harcourt
Email: wonderlandconcept@yahoo.com, owajifrank@yahoo.com
Abstract: War Memorial Museums conceptually are public memory sites meant to display military history, war artefacts, and showcase real war efforts and experiences as well as commemorate sacrifices made by fallen heroes. The idea behind this scheme transcends a mere reasoning of conservation but a conscious attempt towards answering questions of how the War Memorial Museum should subconsciously solve conflict-based complex social problems. There is a growing trend from the 20th century which saw the development of commemorative traditions around Europe, America and Asia by which social groups and nations remember, commemorate and attempt to resolve memories of horrific experience of war. (Whitmarsh, 2001). In theory and practice, the design of war memorial museum, the functional layout of spaces and how they interact with exhibit displays will express the intended message to visitors. The purpose of this paper is to commemorate the sacrifices of martyrs of the Nigerian-Biafran civil war as well as use the Civil War Memorial Museum as a tool for fostering peace and stability among warring factions, ethnic or religious groups. The civil war which broke out on June1967 spanning through to January 1970 which saw the massacre of over 500,000 to 6,000,000 people within a 3year interval. The true estimate may not be known since there is no accurate baseline for comparison with both the pre-and-post conflict figures does not follow sound statistical data. (World peace Foundation, August 7, 2015). Case studies both physical and online reveals that War Memorial Museums by design should be designed with the symbolic character in mind, light and openness of spaces will provide visitors ample space and time to observe and subconsciously partake in the war by visual experience and relate with the struggles as it were. War Memorial Museums are places of honour, homage and remembrance. An allusion in support of this finding is a bold inscription on The Museum of Pacific War in America which reads ‘We inspire our youths by honouring our heroes’. (Richard Zelade, 2011) Such views are in consonant with many museums of war, in many Nations. Honouring heroes is the beauty of history and memory, and of not repeating the same ‘mistakes’ (Matthew Allen and Rumi Sakamoto—War and Peace; War memories and Museums in Japan)
Keywords: Museums, memorials, military, artefacts, social problems, commemorate, symbolic character, heroes, martyrs, sacrifices, war, functional layout.