Biafra
Encyclopedia : B : BI : BIA : Biafra
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| National motto: Peace, Unity, Freedom | |||
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| Official language | Igbo, English | ||
| Capital | Enugu | ||
| Largest city | Port Harcourt | ||
| Head of State | Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Chief of General Staff (VP) Philip Effiong | ||
| Area ?- Total ?- % water | |||
| Population;- Total | 13,500,000 (1967) | ||
| Currency | Biafran pound (BIAP) | ||
| Created | May 30, 1967 | ||
| Dissolved | January 15, 1970 | ||
| National anthem | Land of the Rising Sun | ||
| Demonym | Biafran | ||
The Republic of Biafra was a short-lived secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria. It existed from May 30, 1967 to January 15, 1970. The military's Chief of Staff formally announced capitulation on January 12. The country was named after the Bight of Biafra, the bay of the Atlantic to its south.
Biafra was recognized by a small number of countries during its existence: Gabon, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, and Zambia. Despite lack of official recognition, other nations provided assistance to Biafra. France, Rhodesia and South Africa provided covert military assistance. The aid of Portugal proved to be crucial to the republic's survival. Portugal's São Tomé and Príncipe became a centre of humanitarian relief efforts; Biafran currency was printed in Lisbon, which was also the location of Biafra's major overseas office. Israel also gave Biafra the arms that it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, but that same conflict ruled out further assistance.
In January 1966, a coup in the Nigerian government was attempted, which was bloody and short-lived. Since mostly Igbo officers in the Nigerian army survived, it was assumed that they had initiated the coup, and in the months of May and September of 1966, Igbo migrants living in northern Nigeria were the targets of mass killings. Most of Nigeria's Igbo people, who were then estimated at 11 million, lived in what was then the Eastern Region of Nigeria, which had as military governor the Igbo Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. He declared the region an independent state with a capital at Enugu, and his troops began seizing federal resources such as inbound postal vehicles.
Nigeria responded initially with an economic blockade and brought military force to bear starting on July 6, 1967. In the ensuing civil war, raids were made by Biafran troops west into Nigeria in July and August. Nigerian troops soon recovered, however, advancing into Biafra and forcing the repeated transfer of the Biafran capital from Enugu to Aba and then Umuahia by the end of the year, and to Owerri in 1969.
By 1970, Biafra had been ravaged by war and was in great need of food supplies. Amid economic and military collapse, Ojukwu fled the country and the rest of the republic's territory was re-incorporated into Nigeria. Between 2 - 3 million people are thought to have died in the conflict, mostly through starvation and illness.
Biafra's national anthem used the tune to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius.
Nigeria later renamed the Bight of Biafra as the Bight of Bonny.
This conflict inspired musician/artist/activist Jello Biafra in his choice of stage name, contrasting Jell-O, a brand of highly-commercialized gelatin dessert, with mass starvation.
A song was written entitled "Biafra" by Anarcho-Punk band Zounds. Biafra is also mentioned in Warren Zevon's song "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner".
Excerpt from last wartime speech of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Head of Biafran state.
"In the three years of the war necessity gave birth to invention. During those three years of heroic bound, we leapt across the great chasm that separates knowledge from know-how. We built rocket, and we designed and built our own delivery systems. We guided our rockets. We guided them far; we guided them accurately. For three years, blockaded without hope of import, we maintained all our vehicles. The state extracted and refined petrol, individuals refined petrol in their back gardens. We built and maintained our airports, maintained them under heavy bombardment. Despite the heavy bombardment, we recovered so quickly after each raid that we were able to maintain the record for the busiest airport in the continent of Africa. We spoke to the world through telecommunication system engineered by local ingenuity; the world heard us and spoke back to us! We built armored cars and tanks. We modified aircraft from trainer to fighters, from passenger aircraft to bombers. In the three years of freedom we had broken the technological barrier. In the three years we became the most civilized, the most technologically advanced black people on earth."
Reconciliation
On 29 May 2000, the Guardian of Lagos newspaper reported that 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". It is also thought, that during the previous year, there had been a public resurgence of pro-Biafra sentiment among a section of the Igbo, who claimed that in the Nigerian federation, they have been marginalised.[link]
Recommended reading
- Requiem Biafra by Joe O.G. Achuzia, ISBN 9781562560
- Surviving in Biafra: The Story of the Nigerian Civil War by Alfred Obiora Uzokwe, ISBN 0595263666
- The Ship's Cat by Jock Brandis, ISBN 0595129978 - a fictional account of the Oxfam Air Relief flights that penetrated the military blockade around Biafra. As a young man, the author participated in the effort.
- The Last Adventurer by Rolf Steiner - Steiner was a mercenary for the Biafran forces.
- The Biafra Story by Frederick Forsyth, ISBN 0850528542, first published 1969, Forsyth was a journalist before he wrote novels.
- [Gary Brecher's article]
- Biafra: A People Betrayed by Kurt Vonnegut found in Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons, ISBN 0385333811
Literal Meaning of the word Biafra and the exact location of Biafra
Concerning the literal meaning of the word Biafra little is known. It is not part of the Igbo language.Manuel Alvares (1526-1583) in his work [Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone"], writes about the "Biafar heathen" in chapter 13 of the same book. The word Biafar thus appears to have been a common word in the Portuguese language
back in the 16th century.
Ancient maps on Africa from the 15th - 19th centuries reveal some interesting information about Biafra:
- The original word used by the European travellers was not Biafra but Biafara, Biafar and sometimes also Biafares.
- The exact original region of Biafra is not restricted to Eastern Nigeria alone. According to the maps, the european travellers used the word Biafara to describe the entire region east of River Niger going down to Mount Cameroon region (thus comprising Cameroon), and
a large area at SeneGambia.
Maps indicating the word Biafara (sometimes also Biafar) with corresponding year:
Here are several Maps from the 19th century showing Biafra as the region around today's CameroonExternal links
- [Biafraland] - The official site of the Biafra Actualization Forum, which presents a point of view that seems close to that of the MASSOB, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, which is the main group currently still advocating the restoration of Biafra.
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