Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the activities of Richard Churchill, a European character in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun during the Biafran War in Nigeria. The paper did an in-depth study of his character, his zeal towards the Biafran cause and queries his motive.

Paper long abstract:

Africa has always witnessed a surge of migrants well before the era of globalization. First, she was balkanized and her resources scrambled over; colonized, acculturated and even proselytized by the mostly one-directional North-South migration of Europeans. Globalization has ensured that migration takes different dimensions and directions. However, the world remembers the activities of early European migrants to Africa and the Europeans themselves recalls too. Richard Churchill, a prominent character in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun and Kainene’s lover, is an English writer who comes to Nigeria to explore Igbo-Ukwu art. As a researcher, Richard associates only with expatriates and soon sees and identifies himself as a Biafran after meeting Kainene. Richard becomes a staunch supporter of the Biafran cause, throws his entire weight and skills into the war and starts writing a book about Biafra. Relying on sociological theory, this paper closely studies the activities of Richard first, as a researcher of arts, many of which were looted by early explorers and as an avid supporter of the Biafran cause, a budding nation which he closely identifies with. A European who uses his privilege to publish articles about the Biafran war and curries financial support for Biafra. The paper also seeks to answer questions bothering on Richard’s motive for his good spiritedness.

Keywords: Migrants, Restitution, Biafra, War, European, Richard