CIVIL WAR IN NIGERIA (BIAFRA), 1967–1970 term paper

When Nigeria gained its independence from Great Britain in 1960, it was a rich country of great promise. It had a population of nearly 50 million people, a workable federal constitution, and an experienced class of civil servants. Beneath the surface, though, Nigeria was a country of regional strife and ethnic tension, particularly among the Hausa, Yoruba, Fulani, and Ibo peoples. Nigeria’s federal government ruled over more than 200 tribes speaking dozens of languages. Tensions came to flashpoint in 1966 when a group of Ibo army officers staged a coup resulting in the death of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the federal prime minister. Although the coup failed, it triggered a year of violence, plunging Nigeria into political chaos.

Two strong military leaders emerged. In July 1966, Colonel Yakubu Gowon, a professional soldier, became Nigeria’s head of state. Gowon, a member of the Angas tribe, had strong support in northern and western Nigeria. He was opposed by Colonel Emeka Ojukwu, an Ibo and military governor of eastern Nigeria. Neither leader was able to stop the violence, especially the political assassinations. Ojukwu repeatedly insisted that Gowon was targeting Ibos for extermination and that only an independent Ibo state in eastern Nigeria—Biafra—could prevent the genocide of his people. Others insisted that the discovery of oil in the Ibo region was the real motivating factor in Biafra’s call to separate. On 30 May 1967, Ojukwu declared the independence of Biafra and its 13 million people. Gowon refused to recognize secessionist Biafra and ordered his federal army to attack the rebels. Both armies were poorly trained and ill equipped. Gradually, however, Gowon’s federal army grew to 100,000 and benefited from weapons and supplies from Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Ojukwu’s Biafran force, made up of very young soldiers, received some clandestine support from France and diplomatic recognition from four African countries, but little else. Both armies welcomed foreign mercenary soldiers, though the more celebrated mercenaries, such as the German ex-Foreign Legionnaire Rolf Steiner, fought with the Biafrans against the British-backed federal troops. Lasting from 1967 to 1970, the Nigerian Civil War was a savage and bloody struggle that quickly turned into a starvation famine. Unable to defeat the ragtag Biafran army, Gowon’s federal army cut off the food supply to Biafra. Thousands of Biafrans, especially children, died from starvation. By 1969 the grim spectacle of a starving Biafra appeared daily in the world press. The international community sent food to Biafra but did nothing to stop the killing. Ojukwu refused to surrender but did agree to a peace on 12 January 1970 before seeking exile in the Ivory Coast. Surprisingly, Gowon granted amnesty to all who had fought for Biafra. This magnanimous gesture, however, could not alter the fact that the Nigerian Civil War killed 600,000 people, cost $2 billion, and has left a legacy of political instability, lawlessness, and corruption that still plagues Nigeria today.
Suggestions for Term Papers
1. Who are the Ibo people? Do a research project on their history and write a paper on their significance for Nigeria.
2. The distinguished Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe worked for the Biafran Ministry of Information and served in the Biafran diplomatic corps. Read his Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems (see Suggested Sources) and write a paper commenting on his poetry.
3. Flora Nwapa, Nigeria’s leading female writer, has written Never Again (see Suggested Sources), a novel about the struggles of Biafran women caught up in the fighting. Use this and other sources for a paper on the role of women in the civil war.
4. Investigate the Biafran army in the civil war and write a paper evaluating its strategy and tactics.
5. Select an American newsmagazine such as Time or Newsweek and write a paper assessing its coverage of Biafra during 1969.
6. How important were the European mercenaries in the civil war? Read Chapter 12, “The Hired Guns,” in The Brothers’ War (see Suggested Sources) and write a paper on the role of mercenaries in the civil war.

Research Suggestions

In addition to the boldfaced items, look under the entries for “Kwame Nkrumah and the Independence of Ghana, 1957” (#54), “Apartheid in South Africa from the 1950s to the 1970s” (#58), and “Genocide in Rwanda, 1994” (#95). Search under genocide and human rights.

SUGGESTED SOURCES

Primary Sources

Kirk-Green, A.H.M. Crisis and Conflict in Nigeria: A Documentary Sourcebook, 1966–1970. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971. A very accessible collection of wide-ranging documents on the war.

Ojukwu, C. Odumegwu. Biafra: Selected Speeches and Random Thoughts. New York: Harper and Row, 1969. A good view of the Biafran leader’s views on the struggle.

Saro-Wiwa, Ken. A Month and a Day: A Detention Diary. New York: Penguin Books, 1995. A poignant reflection on the war and a call for protection of minority rights.

Secondary Sources

Achebe, Chinua. Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973. A poignant evocation of Biafra at war.

Clarke, John Digby. Yakubu Gowon: Faith in a United Nigeria. Totowa, N.J.: F. Cass, 1987. A short biography of the Nigerian leader.

Falola, Toyin. The History of Nigeria. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. Useful for placing the civil war in historical context.

Meredith, Martin. The First Dance of Freedom: Black Africa in the PostwarEra. New York: Harper and Row, 1984. His chapter on Nigeria’s civil war is a good overview of the struggle.

Niven, Rex. The War of Nigerian Unity, 1967–1970. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1971. A short account, with maps, that provides political context to the civil war.

Nwapa, Flora. Never Again. Trenton, NJ.: Africa World Press, 1992. A novel that examines the effects of war on Biafran women.

St. Jorre, John de. The Brothers’ War: Biafra and Nigeria. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972. Despite its age, this is the best starting point for the military history of the war.

Word Wide Web

“Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS) Alerts&Related Material on Ken Saro-Wiwa&Nigeria.” http://www.prairienet.org/acas/siro.html. Good links for all aspects of contemporary Nigeria.



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