Talk:Biafra/Archives/2016/July

Biafra -The History

Biafra is arguably the most difficult issue in the History of Nigeria. The declaration of Biafra Independence in 1967 following a massacre of people of what was the Kingdom of Biafra and later the Eastern Region of Nigeria triggered a bloody civil war. However, one aspect of the debate that has followed the Biafra question was if its boundaries, origins and whether it existed prior to 1967 or Not. The colonialists mainly the British, who were more interested in the territorial integrity of what was their possession at that time capitalised on the ignorance of the age to suggest that Biafra was only created in 1967 by the Late Odumegwu Ojukwu and that the inclusion of what they described as "minorities" was against their will. The British were subsequently able to incite the Northerners to war first by persuading the Northerners not to leave Nigeria. In his book “The Biafran War” Micheal Gould p.43 stated: “Cumming –Bruce(British High commissioner) was able to persuade the Emirs that secession would be an economic disaster”. As the British high commissioner Sir Cumming Bruce himself testified p.43 “it wasn’t on the face of it easy to get them (the North) to change, but I managed to do it overnight. I drafted letters to the British Prime Minister, to send to Gowon as Nigerian Head of State, and for my Secretary of State (Micheal Stewart) to send letters to each of the Emirs. I wrote an accompanying letter to each of them because I knew them personally. I drafted all these and they all came back to me duly authorised to push at once. The whole thing was done overnight and it did the trick of stopping them (the North) dividing Nigeria up.”(Nwobu, 2013) As to whether or not the Biafra or Biafar kingdom existed prior to 1967, documents and available information from people old enough showed that it existed and provided a large number of slaves during the slave trade from the Bight of BiafraA closer look a historical records from the System of Geography, C O N T A I N I N G What is of moft Ufe in Bleau, Varenius, Cellarius, Cluverius, Baudrand, Brietius, Sanfon, &c. w I T H T H E D 1 s c o v ER I E s and I M P R o v E M E N T s of the beſt Modern Authors to this Time. Illustrated with about 17 new M A PS, CUI TS, Sanfons TA BLES, &c. as may be feen in the Catalogue thereof annex'd to the I N D E x: The Maps done by Herman Moll, Geographer ; in which are all the latest Observations of the ATLAS for the whole World. E v R o P E is Two Volumes, A s 1 A a Third, and this the Fourth.Volume IV shows that the Kingdom of Biafra existed before the British colonial era. This 1714 Atlas shows the Kingdom of Biafra on page 496 and 498Precolonial maps of Africa showed Biafra and the Bight of Biafra also and we can see these at and and 1670 Map of Africa from Stanford University The The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Volume 3 (1867) also provides information about Biafra on page 223 Numerous facts, documentation, maps, books show that Biafra Kingdom existed before the 1967 restoration effort.The most critical part of the Biafra question is the European and American imperialists aspirations. The Kingdom of Biafra saw the worst form of brutality during the slave trade when Northerners conducted numerous slave raids in the Bight of Biafra. Today, the oil in the Niger Delta region of Biafra has made the colonialists to twist the Biafra history and boundaries in way to ensure conflict while exploring the resources in the region. This is why despite the huge information about Biafra, the Nigerian government financed by the International oil companies supplies weapons and intelligence and continues to deny the existence of Biafra even when it conflicts with available information. It is important to note that the Colonialists are feigning ignorance the same way they did during the slave trade and colonialism with the hope to incite another war. Other references 1. The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Volume 3 1867 page 492 2. The New American cyclopaedia: a popular dictionary of general knowledge, Volume 3 1859 Page 219 3. The Modern Part of an Universal History: From the Earliest Account of Time. Compiled from Original Writers. By the Authors of The Ancient Part 1760 Page 351 & 353 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Donacsa (talk • contribs) 20:01, 29 July 2016 (UTC)