OMG! Genevieve Nnaji Fumbles On Biafra History During Interview On Canadian TV Show [Video]

Last September Genevieve Nnaji attended the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the premiere of Half of A Yellow Sun (The screenplay adaptation of Chimamanda Adichie’s novel of the same name). Half of a Yellow Sun is set in 1960s eastern Nigeria during the Biafran war and stars Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor.

You can read details of the fuckup plus the video after the page jump:

While at the TIFF, Genevieve made an appearance on “George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight” which airs on Canadian network – CBC.

During the interview she was asked whether Nigeria went through a tumultuous time during the Biafra war in the 1960s and if it was reflected in the film, to which Genevieve answered “I’m young I don’t remember”, this elicited laughter from the show’s host, as he said to her “You must have read the book?”

Given that Genevieve was one of the stars of a movie based on the Biafran war & that she is Igbo, one would expect her to to be more aware of the struggles of Igbos during & after the Biafran war…perhaps it was the nerves or lack of preparation, she attempted to bounce back from her initial answer by saying,

Quote

“I learned a lot about the past from this present movie that I did… I learned a lot about our struggles, especially as easterners. I’m from the east, we’re called the Igbo tribe and we were greatly involved in the war.

“You do realize there were a lot of restrictions that aren’t there now. And as children we weren’t told — and I think people, our parents, tried to shield us from the truth that they faced.

“But I think it’s a good thing if we knew a bit of our history. Hopefully that’ll be cultivated into the schools.”