“Civil Peace” takes place in southern Nigeria, shortly after the end of the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), in which the state of Biafra failed in its attempt to secede and which has devastated the country. A man named Jonathan Iwegbu has survived the war along with his wife, Maria and three of his four children. He counts himself extremely lucky for this, as well as the fact that he was able to save his bicycle. Jonathan recalls a soldier attempting to requisition the bicycle during the war, but Jonathan was able to bribe the man instead and then hide the bicycle for the duration of the war. He now uses the bicycle to ferry passengers and earn some money in the refugee camp in which he and his family are living.
Eventually, Jonathan returns to the city of Enugu, where he and his family had lived before the war and is surprised and delighted to find that their small house is still intact, despite the destruction throughout the city. They move back in, and Jonathan soon opens a bar for soldiers using palm wine that he gets by biking to neighboring villages. Meanwhile, he tries to return to his job as a miner, but the mining company offers neither work nor any information about when there might be work, and he focuses instead on his own entrepreneurial efforts.
Later, Jonathan receives twenty Nigerian pounds in ex-gratia (or as he and others pronounce it “egg-rasher”), for turning in any Biafran money they hold to the Nigerian Treasury. The atmosphere is dangerous around the Treasury, and Jonathan must be very careful in order to keep his money safe from thieves. He goes home as quickly as possible, careful to interact with no one.
That night, a group of thieves surround Jonathan’s house. Jonathan and his family cry out and attempt to get the attention of their neighbors or the police, but nobody comes. The thieves mock Jonathan’s family, imitating their calls for help to make clear that none is coming. The leader of the thieves tells Jonathan that no one needs to get hurt, as the war is over and this is now the “civil peace.” Jonathan says that he doesn’t have much money, but the leader responds that he and the other thieves don’t have any money at all. Jonathan offers to give the thieves his egg-rasher, and the leader accepts.
The next morning, Jonathan’s neighbors come to offer their condolences about the robbery, but Jonathan and his family seem unaffected. They are all back to work, and Jonathan tells his neighbors that he wasn’t reliant on the money the thieves stole. He repeats his favorite proverb: “Nothing puzzles God.”
