Diplomacy and Afterlife of Biafra in Nigeria

What is it about?

In the aftermath of the Nigerian civil war of 1967–1970 south-east Nigeria moved from scheming for global recognition of Biafra to agitating for a plebiscite that would determine whether the Igbos wish to remain a part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They have received varied degrees of international support in that regard. Using group theory to explain the diverse sectarian grievances within Nigeria the paper locates the roles of international recognition and extra-Nigerian supports in the prodding and sustenance of the tempos of the agitations for a separate sovereign state of the Igbos out of Nigeria. The paper submits that with the covert and overt supports the separatists received from a cross-section of the global community they achieved the weakening of the ex-British colony, test the strengths and expose the inadequacies of Africa’s most populous country in remaining true to the sanctity of its inherited boundaries. The paper concludes that given the impacts of the struggles on the affected area the southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria needs to be made into a land of peace.

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