The Biafran War (1967-1970) by Michael Gould

Author:Michael Gould [Gould, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780764634
Publisher: I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
Published: 2011-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

BIAFRA’S LONGEVITY

Because they are convinced that ‘no condition is permanent in this world’ {an Igbo motto} they are adaptable to a degree and prepared to learn new ways ….

Ironically it is their hard work and their success that have contributed to make the Biafrans so unpopular in Nigeria, and notably in the North. Other characteristics are adduced to explain the antipathy they manage to generate; they are pushful, uppity and aggressive say the detractors and energetic say the defenders. They are money-loving and mercenary says one school; canny and thrifty says the other. Clannish and unscrupulous in grabbing advantages, say some; united and quick to realise the advantages of education, say others. 297

Nigeria had vast petroleum resources … and was by no means irrelevant to the course of events … and was subject to the influence of external factors directly related to Africa’s recent colonial past and to the present context of contest between imperialist powers and the people of the newly independent countries. 298

How was Biafra able to survive from July 1967 to January 1970, a period of 30 months, in the light of the Federal Government’s claim that it would defeat Biafra within weeks? During that time Biafra suffered extreme privation, leading to mounting malnutrition, disease, illness and death; diminishing land space, which caused severe reductions in food and other resources, and homelessness and increasing numbers of refugees, and mounting military opposition, putting further pressure on Biafra to capitulate. Ongoing attempts at negotiated settlements and peace initiatives, Biafra’s resourcefulness, ranging from extensive innovativeness to brilliant sagacity, the support it received from foreign aid agencies and foreign countries, and the use of propaganda, which helped Biafra to promote and sustain accusations of genocide, all helped to prolong Biafra’s survival, but it was perhaps its military resourcefulness and the innate weakness of the Federal forces, together with Biafra’s terrain and the weather, which determined the length of the war. However, the most significant feature which linked all these factors was the effect that the international press and Biafra’s overt and ongoing use of propaganda had on the longevity of the war. It is likely that without them the war would indeed have been a much shorter affair.

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