History of Biafra (Concluding Part)

Conclusion

Enough, it is hoped, has been said above to introduce the reader to Biafra and its people. It is a country inhabited from very early times by much the same people as live there today. The people evolved a political system which for hundreds of years allowed each of the small component groups to

manage its own affairs but at the same time to regain certain cultural and economic links that bound the country into a relatively peaceful and homogeneous unit. With the advent of Europeans and the imposition of colonial rule those links were ignored in the search for labels so that Biafrans seen began to be regarded is members of four main "tribes" called "Ibo", "Ibibio-Efik", "Ogoja", and "Ijo". Subsequently, the formation of political parties and the exploitation of these labels by unscrupulous politicians led to popularisation of the tribal label. But, on the whole, something of the old spirit of common identity remained and was reinforced by the fact that the whole country was administered throughout the period of colonial rule and after as single political unit.

Earlier, the creation of an artificial geographical unit called Nigeria by the colonial power induced Biafrans to settle in large numbers outside their home. The pogrom planned against them by the Fulani-Hausa of the North in 1966 has forced the survivors to seek refuge in their original homeland. Consequently, an irreversible movement of population has taken place which has revived the spirit of nationalism in Biafra and raised it higher than ever before. There is everywhere a feeling of common purpose and common destiny comparable to the anti-colonial movement of the past. Biafra has now resolutely joined in the committee of nations as a sovereign country which Biafrans see as their only salvation if they are to survive as a people. Having lost ever 30,000 of their nationals and seen the dispossessed survivors hounded out of the rest of Nigeria they have been left with no alternative but either to succumb to the domination of the Fulani-Hausa or to stand on their own. They intensely feel that the path of survival and the path of honour lie in the latter alternative.

Biafrans have all the attributes of a nation. With a population of over 14 million living in contiguous and compact territory, they have an undisputed homeland of their own. They possess a well-trained man-power reserve second to none in Black Africa. Their country is rich in agricultural and mineral resources which are capable of sustaining them and enabling there to stand on their own. They already have well-developed industries producing a wide range of manufactures, and many more are either under construction or at the planning stage. They are capable of defending the integrity of their country and playing an effective role in the counsels of Africa and the world. Above all they possess an abundance of energy and an indomitable will to succeed.