Biafra

Antonella Caducci
Isabela Mascaró

Victoria Lalama

History of the Americas

December 12, 2012.

Nigerian Civil War

African countries are often categorized and well known for the violent encounters between civilians and the government. The Nigerian Civil war or also known as the Biafran war took place in the country of Nigeria during the time period of 1967 till 1970. In orderto understand the conflict of the civil war it is vital to understand how the country was united and the purposes. Before becoming the now a days known territory of the Federation of Nigeria, it was a British colony that which united the Northern and Southern part of Nigeria for logistic purposes in 1914. (Ikelegbe). In the territory existed 20 minorities of ethnic groups that were forced tointeract in order to form a country under the British rule. There was rivalry among tribes and the feeling of hatred and division was noticeable.
Consequently the feeling of nationalism among the population grew with time and aside from that there was still despair development and rivalry among tribes. Political parties were developed based on tribal or ethnic divisions rather than nationalinterests, therefore they had no effect of union among the people. With a noticeable division of ethnics inside the country, political instability and unhealthy rivalry between the Northern Nigeria with the Eastern part, the British granted independence in October 1, 1960. (Ikelgbe). The country was left with lack of political leadership that led to instability in the country and intensified the feelingof internal separation.
In 1962 a census was conducted among the population that reveal discontent from the majority due to the governmental malpractices and astronomic inflation of the country under the rule of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who was elected Prime Minister. The government rejected the results and conducted a second census in 1963 that revealed the same results as the one conductedpreviously. Elections were held in 1964 and the new elected president of the Nigerian First Republic was Dr. Nnamdi Azikine, despite the unjust and unfair electoral process that was followed. (Ikelgbe). His Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was the first and only Prime minister of Nigeria to obtain the support of the army and consolidated a firm government. The former government representedthe power of the northern people and was formed by many representatives of this region.
The government faced strong opposition and a lack of leadership was noticeable. In January 15, 1966 a coup d’état was planned aiming to establish a strong, unified and prosperous nation. The major goals of the coup d’état were to free the country from corruption and relieve the internal strife that wasoccurring among tribes. There results of the coup were the following: General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo and head of the Nigerian Army, took power as President, becoming the first military head of state in Nigeria. The fact that most of the planners were form the east unleash the idea in the north that the coup was a plan to eliminate the political power of the North, leaving the South East ethnicswith full control over politics. The politicians that represented the northern part of the country were sent oversees, leaving no political influence at all. In the North a great resentment was present and culminated in a massacre of Igbos (South Eastern tribes) in May 1966.
The Northern military offices planned a counter coup on 29 July 1966. The purpose of this coup was to have revenge on theSouth East and break up the country. The Head of state, Maj. Gen Aguiyi Ironsi and other Eastern origin officers were killed and the country was left once more in a political turmoil. Lt. Col. Yakubu emerged as the new political leader. On September 29, 1966 the killings of the Igbos in the Northern part spread at an alarming rate. The only measures taken by the government to stop this massacre...