Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to January 1970. It took its name from the Bight of Biafra, the Atlantic bay to its south. The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria. Other ethnic groups that constituted the republic were the Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Ejagham, Eket, Ibeno and the Ijaw among others.
The secession of the Biafran region was the primary cause of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War. The state was formally recognised by Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Zambia.[2] Other nations which did not give official recognition, but provided support and assistance to Biafra included Israel, France, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Rhodesia, South Africa and the Vatican City.[3][4][unreliable source?] Biafra also received aid from non-state actors, including Joint Church Aid, Holy Ghost Fathers of Ireland, Caritas International, MarkPress and U.S. Catholic Relief Services.[4][unreliable source?]
After two-and-a-half years of war, during which over three million Biafran civilians died from starvation caused by the total blockade of the region by the Nigerian government, Biafran forces under the motto of "No-victor, No-vanquished" surrendered to the Nigerian Federal Military Government (FMG), and Biafra was reintegrated into Nigeria.[5]
History Edit
Secession Edit
Main article: Nigerian Civil War
In 1960, Nigeria became independent of the United Kingdom. As with many other new African states, the borders of the country did not reflect earlier ethnic boundaries. Thus the northern Sudan and Sahelian Savannah region of the country is made up of Muslim majority, while the southern population is predominantly Christian. Furthermore, Nigeria's oil, its primary source of income, was located in the south of the country. Following independence, Nigeria was divided primarily along ethnic lines with Hausa and Fulani in the north, Yoruba in the south-west, and Igbo and Ijaw in the south-east.[6]
In January 1966, a military coup occurred during which 30 political leaders including Nigeria's Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and the Northern premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, were killed. It was alleged to be an Igbo coup because Nnamdi Azikiwe, the President, of Igbo extraction, and the premier of the southeastern part of the country were not killed.[7][8][9] Many others who held the 1966 coup in mind as being master-minded by the "Igbo" ethnic group of Nigeria did so because Major Kaduna Nzeogu was perceived to be an "Igbo soldier" and he led the coup.
In July 1966 northern officers and army units staged a counter-coup. Muslim officers named a General from a small ethnic group (the Angas) in central Nigeria, General Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, as the head of the Federal Military Government (FMG). The two coups deepened Nigeria's ethnic tensions. In September 1966, approximately 30,000 Igbo were killed in the north, and some Northerners were killed in backlashes in eastern cities.[10]
Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of "The Republic of Biafra".
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu[11]
Biafra as a territory existed long before the amalgamation and independence of Nigeria as a republic. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in pursuit of a more agreeable arrangement for peaceful co-existence of all regions in Nigeria proposed for a confederated Nigeria.
In January 1967, the military leaders and senior police officials of each region met in Aburi, Ghana and agreed on a loose confederation of regions. The Northerners were at odds with the Aburi Accord; Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the Western Region warned that if the Eastern Region seceded, the Western Region would also, which persuaded the northerners.[10]
After the federal and eastern governments failed to reconcile, on 26 May the Eastern region voted to secede from Nigeria. On 30 May, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the South Eastern Region's military governor, announced the Republic of Biafra, citing the Easterners killed in the post-coup violence.[6][10][12] The large amount of oil in the region created conflict, as oil is a major component of the Nigerian economy.[13] The Eastern region was very ill-equipped for war, out-manned and out-gunned by the military of the remainder of Nigeria. Their advantages included fighting in their homeland and support of most South Easterners.[14]
War Edit
The FMG launched "police measures" to annex the Eastern Region on 6 July 1967. The FMG's initial efforts were unsuccessful; the Biafrans successfully launched their own offensive, occupying areas in the mid-Western Region in August 1967. By October 1967, the FMG had regained the land after intense fighting.[10][15] In September 1968, the federal army planned what Gowon described as the "final offensive". Initially the final offensive was neutralised by Biafran troops. In the latter stages, a Southern FMG offensive managed to break through the fierce resistance.[10]
During the war there were great shortages of food and medicine throughout Biafra, due largely to the Nigerian government's blockade of the region as suggested in a number of arguments by leaders of the Nigerian Government.
Anthony Enahoro stated that "there are various ways of fighting a war. You might starve your enemy into submission, or you might kill him on the battlefield." Obafemi Awolowo said, "All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war and I don't see why we should feed our enemies in order for them to fight harder."
Many volunteer bodies organised the Biafran airlift which provided blockade-breaking relief flights into Biafra, carrying food and medicines in, and later provided means of evacuation for refugee children. On 30 June 1969, the Nigerian government banned all Red Cross aid to Biafra; two weeks later it allowed medical supplies through the front lines, but restricted food supplies.[15] Later in October 1969, Ojukwu appealed to the United Nations to mediate a cease-fire.
The federal government called for Biafra's surrender. In December, the FMG managed to cut Biafra in half, primarily by the efforts of 3 Marine Commando Division of the Nigerian Army, led by then-Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, popularly called "The Black Scorpion", and later by Olusegun Obasanjo. Ojukwu fled to Ivory Coast, leaving his chief of staff, Philip Effiong, to act as the "officer administering the government". Effiong called for a ceasefire on 12 January and submitted to the FMG.[10] By then, more than one million people had died in battle or from starvation.[16][17] Biafra was reabsorbed into Nigeria on 15 January.
Geography Edit
Satellite pictures of Biafra
Biafra comprised over 29,848 square miles (77,310 km2) of land,[18] with terrestrial borders shared with Nigeria to the north and west, and with Cameroon to the east. Its coast was on the Gulf of Guinea in the south.
The former country's northeast bordered the Benue Hills and mountains that lead to Cameroon. Three major rivers flow from Biafra into the Gulf of Guinea: the Imo River, the Cross River and the Niger River.[19]
The territory of Biafra is covered nowadays by the Nigerian states of Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Abia, Delta and Akwa Ibom.
Language Edit
Whilst it existed, the predominant language of Biafra was Igbo.[20] Along with Igbo, there were a variety of other languages, including Efik, Ijaw, Annang and Ibibio. English was the official language.
Economy Edit
An early institution created by the Biafran government was the Bank of Biafra, accomplished under "Decree No. 3 of 1967".[21] The bank carried out all central banking functions including the administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt of the Republic.[21] The bank was administered by a governor and four directors; the first governor, who signed on bank notes, was Sylvester Ugoh.[22] A second decree, "Decree No. 4 of 1967", modified the Banking Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Republic of Biafra.[21]
The bank was first located in Enugu, but due to the ongoing war, the bank was relocated several times.[21] Biafra attempted to finance the war through foreign exchange. After Nigeria announced their currency would no longer be legal tender (to make way for a new currency), this effort increased. After the announcement, tons of Nigerian bank notes were transported in an effort to acquire foreign exchange. The currency of Biafra had been the Nigerian pound, until the Bank of Biafra started printing out its own notes, the Biafran pound.[21] The new currency went public on 28 January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an exchange unit.[21] The first issue of the bank notes included only 5 shillings notes and 1 pound notes. The Bank of Nigeria exchanged only 30 pounds for an individual and 300 pounds for enterprises in the second half of 1968.[21]
In 1969 new notes were introduced: £10, £5, £1, 10/- and 5/-.[21]
It is estimated that a total of £115–140 million Biafran pounds were in circulation by the end of the conflict, with a population of about 14 million, approximately £10 per person.[21] In uncirculated condition these are very inexpensive and readily available for collectors.
Military Edit
Roundel of the Biafran Air Force.
At the beginning of the war Biafra had 3,000 soldiers, but at the end of the war the soldiers totalled 30,000.[23] There was no official support for the Biafran army by any other nation throughout the war, although arms were clandestinely acquired. Because of the lack of official support, the Biafrans manufactured many of their weapons locally. Europeans served in the Biafran cause; German born Rolf Steiner was a lieutenant colonel assigned to the 4th Commando Brigade and Welshman Taffy Williams served as a Major until the very end of the conflict.[24]
The Biafrans managed to set up a small yet effective air force. The BAF commanders were Chude Sokey and later Godwin Ezeilo, who had trained with the Royal Canadian Air Force.[25] Early inventory included two B-25 Mitchells, two B-26 Invaders, (one piloted by Polish WWII ace Jan Zumbach, known also as John Brown), a converted DC-3 and one Dove. In 1968 the Swedish pilot Carl Gustaf von Rosen suggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. By early 1969, Biafra had assembled five MFI-9Bs in Gabon, calling them "Biafra Babies". They were coloured green, were able to carry six 68 mm anti-armour rockets under each wing and had simple sights. The six aeroplanes were flown by three Swedish pilots and three Biafran pilots. In September 1969, Biafra acquired four ex-Armee de l'Air North American T-6Gs, which were flown to Biafra the following month, with another aircraft lost on the ferry flight. These aircraft flew missions until January 1970 and were flown by Portuguese ex-military pilots.[25]
Legacy Edit
A child suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition during the Nigerian blockade
The international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières originated in response to the suffering in Biafra.[26] During the crisis, French medical volunteers, in addition to Biafran health workers and hospitals, were subjected to attacks by the Nigerian army and witnessed civilians being murdered and starved by the blockading forces. French doctor Bernard Kouchner also witnessed these events, particularly the huge number of starving children, and, when he returned to France, he publicly criticised the Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their seemingly complicit behaviour. With the help of other French doctors, Kouchner put Biafra in the media spotlight and called for an international response to the situation. These doctors, led by Kouchner, concluded that a new aid organisation was needed that would ignore political/religious boundaries and prioritise the welfare of victims.[27]
In their study, Smallpox and its Eradication, Fenner and colleagues describe how vaccine supply shortages during the Biafra smallpox campaign led to the development of the focal vaccination technique, later adopted worldwide by the World Health Organization, which led to the early and cost effective interruption of smallpox transmission in west Africa and elsewhere.[28]
On 29 May 2000, the Lagos Guardian newspaper reported that the now ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo commuted to retirement the dismissal of all military persons who fought for the breakaway state of Biafra during Nigeria's 1967–1970 civil war. In a national broadcast, he said the decision was based on the belief that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy".[29]
In July 2006 the Center for World Indigenous Studies reported that government sanctioned killings were taking place in the southeastern city of Onitsha, because of a shoot-to-kill policy directed toward Biafran loyalists, particularly members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).[30][31]
In 2010, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and University of Nigeria, Nsukka, showed that Igbos born in Biafra during the years of the famine were of higher risk of suffering from obesity, hypertension and impaired glucose metabolism compared to controls born a short period after the famine had ended. The findings are in line with the developmental origin of health and disease hypothesis suggesting that malnutrition in early life is a predisposing factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes later in life.[32][33]
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