Chapter 5: “I Much Prefer Roasted Rat”

Maurice Nwokeji who arrived, aged nine, from Nigeria, in 1970.

During the civil war in Biafra, when his parents were in London, Maurice watched his grandmother die of hunger and scavenged for food for himself and younger brother. In 1970 he and his brother flew from Lagos to London to join their parents. Ugwumpiti, the children’s term for cornmeal provided by the Red Cross, is the title of the film of Maurice’s life. The soundtrack is music inspired by his experiences of war. Maurice uses his music and the film to highlight the trauma experienced by children in war.