THE CASE FOR THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF BIAFRA

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Thomas Jefferson

Humanity has a moral burden to defend freedom and human liberty. Humanity also has the moral right to enjoy the same, whether African, American, Chinese or Indian. The people of Biafra, with the moral weight of history and the hope of the triumph of truth, hereby state their case before the conscience of humanity and light of the living God.

It is unbelievable that humanity can remain seemingly indifferent to the plight of the Biafran Nation, when Biafra holds so much promise and benefit to the entire world. Locked in Biafran soils and Biafran minds are the potentials of a great civilization and advancement. It is equally shocking that Biafrans have had to endure years of dehumanizing atrocities and destructions of millions of innocent lives simply or asking for what every nation on earth aspires for – the enjoyment of freedom and liberty and the pursuit happiness.

The Biafran tragedy begins with the actions of a British and other governments who, determined to harvest the potentials of Africa, embarked on what was largely a freebooting adventure into a vast, virgin territory, home to some of the earth’s ancient civilizations, cultures and kingdoms. These people lived quietly, shut of from Europe. The part of Africa that fell into the hands of the British contained the Benin and Yoruba monarchies to the west, the Hausa emirates and caliphates to the north and the egalitarian societies of Biafra to the east. These societies existed largely separately and had distinct common norms and can rightly be called nations in their own right having painstakingly developed separate societies according to shared values and common cultures.

It is these independent societies who never asked for nor desired the interference of the British that Fredrick Lugard attempted to force into a dysfunctional and unjust contraption he called Nigeria. It therefore becomes clear that the actions of the British in attempting to create an artificial nation, trampled on and destroyed in one fell swoop what had taken centuries to develop. Did Britain feel a twinge of conscience in this disastrous endeavor? No, not when vast potentials of oil, fertile land and agricultural produce lay for the taking. And they were prepared to do anything, fair and foul to keep this ill gotten territory.

Therefore, Britain contrived to develop close ties with the largely feudal jihadist Muslim north who, and located in the harsh Sahel regions and being less educated than the other societies mentioned earlier, saw in the British an ally to enable them gain access to the riches of the Biafran lands. The British basically hired the jihadist warrior Hausa Fulani to do their dirty job ruling Nigeria by proxy – a job which has continued till today – in return for joint access of the British and Hausa Fulani to the vast oil wealth of Biafra.

Together, the Hausa-Fulani and the British embarked on a journey that would result in death, misery suffering and hardship for Biafrans. From the pogroms of 1945, 1956, 1960 up till the 1967-1970 war and continuing in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1999 up till the present Boko Haram onslaught, Biafra has endured a bloody siege surpassed only by the Jewish holocaust. What has been their offence? Just being Biafrans. In order to save themselves from total annihilation, Biafrans were forced to invoke the God-given and universally agreed inalienable right to self-determination by declaring to the world that they were just like every other human being with the right to freedom life and liberty. This declaration was the birth of the sovereign state of Biafra in 1967, under the stewardship of Colonel Emeka Ojukwu.

The cry of Biafra to the world went largely unheeded. It was during the Biafra-Nigeria war that the most brutal and heinous examples of bestiality ever known to man were meted out to Biafrans. From bombings of hospitals, schools, churches and market places to  a total air, land  and  sea blockade, Biafrans were slowly decimated. Over a million children starved to death. Over 800,000 of the finest Biafran youth and brilliant minds were extinguished. The following eye witness accounts and quotes cannot in any way fully describe the terrible events of Biafra:

“I saw several hundred of Zombie-like creatures -men, women and children, lying, sitting or squatting in the midst of others who were dead. The living ones were completely reduced to skeletons and could not talk. I was seeing for the first time, kwashiorkor, Frankly, I took fright; I believe that any foreign troops from anywhere in the world occupying  Ikot  Ekpene  or  any  other  town  in  Biafra   would   have   shown   much   more   sympathy,   “ (Gen. Alex Madiebo, Ikot Ekpene, July 1968)

“Bestialities and indignities of all kinds were visited on Biafrans in 1966. In Ikeja Barracks (Western Nigeria) Biafrans were forcibly fed on a mixture of human urine and faeces. In Northern Nigeria numerous Biafran house- wives and nursing mothers were despoiled before their husbands and children. Young girls were abducted from their homes, working places and schools and forced into sexual intercourse with sick, demented and leprous men.                                                                                                                                                                                                   “

Mr. Eric Spiff (German War correspondence Eyewitness, 1967

"Starvation  is  a  legitimate  weapon  of  war,  and  we  have  every  intention  of  using  it  against  the  rebels,  "

Mr. Alison Ayida, Head of Nigerian Delegation, Niamey Peace Talks, Republic of Niger, July 1968)”

“…650 refugee camps, contained about 700,000 haggard bundles of human flotsam waiting hopelessly for a meal, outside the camps, was the reminder of an estimated four and a half to five million displaced persons, the Kwashiorkor scourge, a million and half children, suffer(ed) from it during January; that put the forecast death toll at another 300,000 children, More than the pogroms of 1966, more than the war casualties, more than the terror bombings, it was the experience of watching helplessly their children waste away and die that gave birth to, a deep and    unrelenting    loathing,    It    is    a    feeling    that    will    one    day    reap    a    bitter    harvest    unless…,    "

(Frederick Forsyth, British writer January 21st 1969) ",

"Let us go and crush them. We will pillage their property, despoil their womenfolk, kill off their menfolk and leave them          uselessly          weeping.          We          will          complete          the           pogrom           of           1966" (The theme song of Radio Kaduna, government-controlled, 1967-1970).

I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation.  I want to prevent even one Ibo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the centre of Ibo territory, we shoot at everything even at things that do                                                            not                                                             move,                                                             " ( Benjamin Adekunle. Commander, 3rd Marine Commando Division, Nigerian Army to French radio reporter). ",

"There has been genocide, for example on the occasion of the 1966 massacres; two areas have suffered badly [from the fighting]. Firstly the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, Federal troops having for unknown reasons massacred all the men. According to eyewitnesses of that massacre the Nigerian    commander    ordered    the    execution    of    every    Ibo    male    over    the    age    of    ten    years. " Monsignor Georges (sent down on a fact-finding mission by His holiness the Pope reporting his finding in Vatican Rome - Le Monde (French Evening newspaper) April 5, 1968. ",

If all the horrors of the statements above are not enough, what can be said of the aftermath of the war, where the surviving Biafrans were further subjected to more atrocities. They could not return to houses and properties they lived in before the outbreak of hostilities. Huge funds owned by Biafrans in Nigerian banks were confiscated. Biafrans were forced to accept a measly 20 pounds each only in lieu of these funds. Unbelievably, the world has sat idly by while this has continued till date. No mention is made of the sufferings of Biafrans in United Nation meetings, no president or head of state has included this item in state or international addresses. Worse still, the African Union has remained silent instead of championing the cause of oppressed fellow Africans.

It is from the depths of anguish and human suffering and continual rejection by all that ought to know better that the descendants, children and offspring of Biafrans who died in the pogroms have today risen up with just one word: ENOUGH! We desire our own homeland, a homeland of the free and brave. A homeland where we are free to explore and present God-given talents. We desire to join hands with other nations and build a better world. We desire to be like the independent states of the former Soviet

Union and other similar examples who broke apart peacefully after it became clear that it wasn’t just working.

It is in the interest of the world to allow the State of Biafra to be established. In her is contained the the finest of brains waiting to be expressed. Biafrans have, through their sojourns all over the world, (scattered by the pogroms and genocides), absorbed the finest virtues known to man. The Biafran society of naturally democratic and egalitarian. No Biafran will ever be a terrorist or jihadist. Biafrans have excelled in every field of human endeavor. Biafra is the African miracle.

We call an all lovers of freedom to speak out and act for Biafra. Even nations who may have misunderstood Biafra in the past have a second opportunity. Please join the advocacy for the establishment of the State of Biafra. Speak to congressmen, Prime Ministers, Presidents – everyone. The blood of innocent millions of dead yet living BIAFRANS still speak today and loudly for us to hear:

BIAFRA MUST BE FREE! 

Uzoma ESIWE (a proud Biafran) [email protected]

23rd September 2015 Igwuocha, BIAFRA