The Biafran Armed Forces ( BAF ) were the military of the Republic of Biafra , which existed from 1967 until 1970.
122-536: [REDACTED] Biafran Armed Forces 45,000–100,000 combatants killed The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War , was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra , a secessionist state which had declared its independence from Nigeria in 1967. Nigeria was led by General Yakubu Gowon , and Biafra by Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu . The conflict resulted from political, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded
244-574: A coup d'état . The two major political leaders of the north, the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Premier of the northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello were killed by Major Nzeogwu. Also murdered was Bello's wife and officers of Northern extraction. The President, Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe , an Igbo, was on an extended vacation in the West Indies. He did not return until days after the coup. There
366-559: A "Distributable Pools Account" with the money split between different parts of government (50% to region of origin, 20% to federal government, 30% to other regions). To ensure continuing influence, the British government promoted unity in the Northern bloc and secessionist sentiments among and within the two Southern regions. The Nigerian government, following independence, promoted discord in the West with
488-511: A British colony via the Lagos Treaty of Cession . King Dosunmu 's powers were significantly reduced and consul William McCoskry became acting governor. As a colony, Lagos was now protected and governed directly from Britain. Africans born in the colony were British subjects , with full rights including access to the courts. By contrast, Africans in the later protectorates of southern and northern Nigeria were protected people but remained under
610-415: A British offer of military support but promised to protect British interests. Ironsi fatally did not bring the failed plotters to trial as required by then-military law and as advised by most northern and western officers, rather, coup plotters were maintained in the military on full pay, and some were even promoted while awaiting trial. The coup, despite its failures, was seen by many as primarily benefiting
732-548: A busy, cosmopolitan port, with an architecture that blended Victorian and Brazilian styles. The Brazilian element was imparted by skilled builders and masons who had returned from Brazil. The black elite was composed of English-speaking " Saros " from Sierra Leone and other emancipated slaves who had been repatriated from Brazil and Cuba. By 1872, the population of the colony was over 60,000, of whom less than 100 were of European origin. In 1876, imports were valued at £476,813 and exports at £619,260. On 13 January 1874, leaders of
854-627: A converted DC-3 and one Dove . In 1968, Swedish pilot Carl Gustaf von Rosen suggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. By early 1969, Biafra had assembled five MFI-9Bs in Gabon , calling them "Biafra Babies". They were coloured green, were able to carry six 68 mm anti-armour rockets under each wing using simple sights. The five planes were flown by three Swedish pilots and three Biafran pilots. In September 1969, Biafra acquired four ex-Armee de l'Air North American T-6Gs , which were flown to Biafra
976-483: A counter-coup , which had already been in the planning stages. Ironsi was on a visit to Ibadan during their mutiny and there he was killed (along with his host, Adekunle Fajuyi ). The counter-coup led to the installation of Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon as Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Gowon was chosen as a compromise candidate. He was a Northerner, a Christian, from a minority tribe, and had
1098-595: A course in officer training at Mons Hall or Eaton Hall in England. Despite the reforms, only an average of two Nigerians per year were awarded officers' commissions between 1948–55 and only seven per year from 1955 to 1960. At the time of independence in 1960, of the 257 officers commanding the Nigeria Regiment which became the Nigerian Army, only 57 were Nigerians. Using the " martial races " theory first developed under
1220-604: A decisive role in putting Biafra at a disadvantage from the beginning of the war. Biafran Armed Forces At the beginning of the Nigerian Civil War , Biafra had 3,000 soldiers. This number grew as the war progressed, ultimately reaching 30,000. No official support for the Biafran Army came from any other nation, although arms were clandestinely acquired. Some Europeans served the Biafran cause: German-born Rolf Steiner
1342-710: A federal investigation of the event began. Aguyi-Ironsi suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament. He abolished the regional confederated form of government and pursued unitary policies favoured by the NCNC, having apparently been influenced by NCNC political philosophy. He, however, appointed Colonel Hassan Katsina , son of Katsina emir Usman Nagogo , to govern the Northern Region, indicating some willingness to maintain cooperation with this bloc. He also preferentially released northern politicians from jail (enabling them to plan his forthcoming overthrow). Aguyi-Ironsi rejected
SECTION 10
#17328442049251464-598: A foreign and hierarchical system of governance was imposed on the Igbos. Intellectuals began to agitate for greater rights and independence. The size of this intellectual class increased significantly in the 1950s, with the massive expansion of the national education program. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Igbo and Yoruba parties were in the forefront of the campaign for independence from British rule. Northern leaders, fearful that independence would mean political and economic domination by
1586-562: A full consulate with Benjamin Campbell appointed as Consul. A Yoruba emigrant, the catechist James White, wrote in 1853 "By the taking of Lagos, England has performed an act which the grateful children of Africa shall long remember ... One of the principal roots of the slave trade is torn out of the soil". Tensions between the new ruler, Akitoye, and supporters of the deposed Kosoko led to fighting in August 1853. An attempt by Kosoko himself to take
1708-610: A good reputation within the army. It seems that Gowon immediately faced not only a potential standoff with the East, but secession threats from the Northern and even the Western region. The counter-coup plotters had considered using the opportunity to withdraw from the federation themselves. Ambassadors from the United Kingdom and the United States, however, urged Gowon to maintain control over
1830-699: A highly political issue in Nigeria. On this basis, the Northern Region was allocated a majority of the seats in the Federal Legislature established by the colonial authorities. Within each of the three regions the dominant ethnic groups, the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo, respectively formed political parties that were largely regional and based on ethnic allegiances : the Northern People's Congress (NPC) in
1952-521: A looser Nigerian federation would be implemented. Gowon delayed announcement of the agreement and eventually reneged. On 27 May 1967, Gowon proclaimed the division of Nigeria into twelve states. This decree carved the Eastern Region in three parts: South Eastern State , Rivers State , and East Central State . Now the Igbos, concentrated in the East Central State, would lose control over most of
2074-798: A manner likely to provoke disaffection. From June through October 1966, pogroms in the North killed an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 Igbo, half of them children, and caused more than a million to two million to flee to the Eastern Region. 29 September 1966 became known as 'Black Thursday', as it was considered the worst day of the massacres. Ethnomusicologist Charles Keil, who was visiting Nigeria in 1966, recounted: The pogroms I witnessed in Makurdi , Nigeria (late Sept. 1966) were foreshadowed by months of intensive anti-Igbo and anti-Eastern conversations among Tiv, Idoma, Hausa and other Northerners resident in Makurdi, and, fitting
2196-460: A pattern replicated in city after city, the massacres were led by the Nigerian army. Before, during and after the slaughter, Col. Gowon could be heard over the radio issuing 'guarantees of safety' to all Easterners, all citizens of Nigeria, but the intent of the soldiers, the only power that counts in Nigeria now or then, was painfully clear. After counting the disemboweled bodies along the Makurdi road I
2318-472: A separatist group known as "Biafran National Guard" (BNG) organized the "Biafran Supreme Military Council of Administration". The latter posed as high command of the restored Biafran Armed Forces, including the "Biafran Army, Biafran Navy, Biafran Air-Force and Biafran Detective Force". At the peak of Biafran military power, the Biafran Army was made of 5 divisions; numbered 11th, 12th, 13th (later renumbered 15th), 14th and 101st. It also had 2 separate brigades,
2440-399: A small-scale crushing business had promise, various fibres, camwood, borewood and indigo, also seen as having large potential. The growth of the city of Lagos was largely unplanned, impeded by the complex of swamps, canals and sand spits. William MacGregor , governor from 1898 to 1903, instituted a campaign against the prevalent malaria, draining the swamps and destroying as far as possible
2562-566: A unitary Nigerian state. In the face of sustained opposition by the NCNC delegates, later joined by the NPC and backed by threats to view maintenance of the inclusion of secession by the AG as treasonable by the British, the AG was forced to renounce its position of inclusion of the right of secession a part of the Nigerian constitution. Had such a provision been made in the Nigerian constitution, later events which led to
SECTION 20
#17328442049252684-522: The Berlin Conference the next year. In 1886 Lagos became a separate colony from the Gold Coast under Governor Cornelius Alfred Moloney . The legislative council of the new colony was composed of four official and three unofficial members. Governor Moloney nominated two Africans as unofficial representatives: the clergyman, later bishop James Johnson and the trader Charles Joseph George. At this time
2806-764: The Lagos – Ibadan railway onward to Oshogbo , and the project was approved in November 1904. Construction began in January 1905 and the line reached Oshogbo in April 1907. The colonial office wanted to amalgamate the Lagos Colony with the protectorate of Southern Nigeria, and in August 1904 also appointed Egerton as High Commissioner for the Southern Nigeria Protectorate . He held both offices until 28 February 1906. On that date
2928-484: The Lagos Treaty of Cession . Lagos was declared a colony on 5 March 1862. By 1872, Lagos was a cosmopolitan trading centre with a population over 60,000. In the aftermath of prolonged wars between the mainland Yoruba states, the colony established a protectorate over most of Yorubaland between 1890 and 1897. The protectorate was incorporated into the new Southern Nigeria Protectorate in February 1906, and Lagos became
3050-681: The Methodist community, including Charles Joseph George , met to discuss founding a secondary school for members of their communion as an alternative to the CMS Grammar School. After a fund-raising drive, the Methodist Boys School building was opened in June 1877. On 17 February 1881, George was one of the community leaders who laid the foundation stone for the Wesley Church at Olowogbowo , in
3172-664: The Niger had kept it from returning any significant profit. In 1877, a trade war broke out between Ibadan and both Egba Alake (Abeokuta) and Ijebu . Further to the east, the Ekiti and Ijesa revolted against Ibadan rule in 1878, and sporadic fighting continued for the next sixteen years. Assistance from Saro merchants in Lagos in the form of breech-loading rifles gave the Ekiti the advantage. The Lagos government, at that time subordinate to Accra in
3294-671: The Niger Delta in the southeast lived mostly in autonomous, democratically organised communities, although there were E zes' or monarchs in many of the ancient cities, such as: the Kingdom of Nri . At its zenith, the Kingdom controlled most of Igboland, including influence on the Anioma people , Arochukwu (which controlled slavery in Igbo), and Onitsha territory. Unlike the other two regions, decisions within
3416-705: The Niger River delta . The Lagoon is protected from the ocean by long sand spits that run east and west for up to 100 kilometres (62 mi) in both directions. Lagos has a tropical savanna climate with two rainy seasons. The heaviest rains fall from April to July and there is a weaker rainy season in October and November. Total annual rainfall is 1,900 millimetres (75 in). Average temperatures range from 25 °C (77 °F) in July to 29 °C (84 °F) in March. For many years,
3538-475: The Nigerian federal government would not protect them and that they must protect themselves in an independent Biafra. Within a year, Nigerian government troops surrounded Biafra, and captured coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt . A blockade was imposed as a deliberate policy during the ensuing stalemate which led to the mass starvation of Biafran civilians. During the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years of
3660-580: The Raj in 19th-century India , the colonial government had decided that peoples from northern Nigeria such as the Hausa, Tiv, and Kanuri were the hard " martial races " whose recruitment was encouraged while the peoples from southern Nigeria such as the Igbos and the Yoruba were viewed as too soft to make for good soldiers and hence their recruitment was discouraged. As a result, by 1958, men from northern Nigeria made up 62% of
3782-680: The Royal Niger Company in 1897. In 1887, Captain Maloney, the Governor, gave a report to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in which he outlined plans for a Botanic Station at Lagos with the purpose of developing indigenous trees and plants that had commercial value. By 1889 rubber had been introduced to the colony, and was promising excellent yields and quality. A report that year described other products including gum and coconut oil, for which
Nigerian Civil War - Misplaced Pages Continue
3904-476: The Soviet Union were the main supporters of the Nigerian government, while France , Israel (after 1968), and some other countries supported Biafra . The United States' official position was one of neutrality, considering Nigeria as "a responsibility of Britain", but some interpret the refusal to recognise Biafra as favouring the Nigerian government. The war highlighted challenges within pan-Africanism during
4026-538: The United Kingdom's formal decolonisation of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup , a counter-coup , and anti-Igbo pogroms in the Northern Region . The pogroms and the exodus of surviving Igbos from the Northern Region to the Igbo homelands in the Eastern Region led the leadership of the Eastern Region (whose population was two-thirds Igbo) to conclude that
4148-443: The colonial government in Nigeria . In the north, the colonial government found it convenient to rule indirectly through the emirs, thus perpetuating rather than changing the indigenous authoritarian political system. Christian missionaries were excluded from the north, and the area thus remained virtually closed to European cultural influence. By contrast, the richest of the Igbo often sent their sons to British universities, with
4270-505: The slave trade had been suppressed, and slavery was illegal in British territory, slavery still continued in the region. Lagos was seen as a haven by runaway slaves, who were something of a problem for the administration. McCoskry set up a court to hear cases of abuse against slaves and of runaway slaves from the interior, and established a "Liberated African Yard" to give employment to freed runaways until they were able to look after themselves. He did not consider that abolition of slavery in
4392-510: The 17th century, it became an important port town in the Benin Empire . The monarchs of Lagos since then have claimed descent from the warrior Ashipa who is sometimes said to have been a prince of Benin or, sometimes, an Awori freebooter loyal to the Benin throne. The Idejo aristocracy remained Yoruba. Ashipa's son built his palace on Lagos Island, and his grandson moved the seat of government to
4514-533: The European powers were in intense competition for African colonies while the protagonists in the Yoruba wars were wearying. The Lagos administration, acting through Samuel Johnson and Charles Phillips of the Church Mission Society , arranged a ceasefire and then a treaty that guaranteed the independence of the Ekiti towns. Ilorin refused to cease fighting however, and the war dragged on. Concerned about
4636-606: The Gold Coast, was instructed to stay out of the conflict, despite the damage it was doing to trade, and attempts to mediate by the Saro merchants and by the Fulani emirs were rejected. By 1884, George Goldie 's United African Company had succeeded in absorbing all of his competition and eliminated the French posts from the lower Niger; the situation permitted Britain to claim the entire region at
4758-427: The Igbo communities were made by a general assembly in which men and women participated. Considering this participation by women in this civil war, the study Female fighters and the fates of rebellions: How mobilizing women influences conflict duration by Reed M. Wood observed that there was a longer duration of wars between rebel groups and the number of women that participated within the conflict at hand. In discussing
4880-415: The Igbo homeland, combined with aspirations for monetary wages, drove thousands of Igbos to other parts of Nigeria in search of work. By the 1960s, Igbo political culture was more unified and the region relatively prosperous, with tradesmen and literate elites active not just in the traditionally Igbo east, but throughout Nigeria. By 1966, the traditional ethnic and religious differences between northerners and
5002-494: The Igbo peoples, as the plotters received no repercussions for their actions and no significant Igbo political leaders were affected. While those that executed the coup were mostly Northern, most of the known plotters were Igbo and the military and political leadership of Western and Northern regions had been largely bloodily eliminated while the Eastern military/political leadership was largely untouched. However, Ironsi, himself an Igbo,
Nigerian Civil War - Misplaced Pages Continue
5124-541: The Igbo were exacerbated by new differences in education and economic class. The colonial administration divided Nigeria into three regions—North, West and East—something which exacerbated the already well-developed economic, political, and social differences among Nigeria's different ethnic groups . The country was divided in such a way that the North had a slightly higher population than the other two regions combined. There were also widespread reports of fraud during Nigeria's first census , and even today population remains
5246-407: The Nigeria Regiment while men from the south and the west made up only 36%. In 1958, the policy was changed: henceforward men from the north would make up only 50% of the soldiers while men from the southeast and southwest were each to make up 25%. The new policy was retained after independence. The previously favoured northerners whose egos had been stoked by being told by their officers that they were
5368-430: The Nigerian military retained the role it held under the British in the 1950s. The Nigerian Army did not conduct field training, and notably lacked heavy weapons. Before 1948, Nigerians were not allowed to hold officer's commissions, and only in 1948 were certain promising Nigerian recruits allowed to attend Sandhurst for officer training while at the same time Nigerian NCOs were allowed to become officers if they completed
5490-664: The Nigerian/Biafran civil war may have been avoided. The pre-independence alliance between the NCNC and the NPC against the aspirations of the AG would later set the tone for political governance of independent Nigeria by the NCNC/NPC and lead to disaster in later years in Nigeria. Northern–Southern tension manifested firstly in the 1945 Jos riots and again on 1 May 1953, as fighting in the Northern city of Kano . The political parties tended to focus on building power in their own regions, resulting in an incoherent and disunified dynamic in
5612-439: The North and West, some to Dahomey . The apparent domination of the political system by the North, and the chaos breaking out across the country, motivated elements within the military to consider decisive action. In addition to Shell-BP, the British reaped profits from mining and commerce. The British-owned United Africa Company alone controlled 41.3% of all Nigeria's foreign trade. At 516,000 barrels per day, Nigeria had become
5734-571: The North; the Action Group in the West (AG); and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in the East. Although these parties were not exclusively homogeneous in terms of their ethnic or regional make-up, the disintegration of Nigeria resulted largely from the fact that these parties were primarily based in one region and one tribe. The basis of modern Nigeria formed in 1914 when
5856-685: The S Brigade, a Pretorian guard for General Ojukwu, and the 4th Commando Brigade (trained and commanded by mercenaries). It was commanded by Brigadier Hillary Njoku and later Major General Alexander Madiebo . The Biafrans set up a small, yet effective air force. Biafran Air Force commanders were Chude Sokey and later Godwin Ezeilo Ezeilo, who had trained with the Royal Canadian Air Force . Its early inventory included two B-25 Mitchells , two B-26 Invaders , (one piloted by Polish World War II ace Jan Zumbach , known also as John Brown),
5978-632: The United Kingdom amalgamated the Northern and Southern protectorates. Beginning with the Northern Protectorate, the British implemented a system of indirect rule of which they exerted influence through alliances with local forces. This system worked so well, Colonial Governor Frederick Lugard successfully lobbied to extend it to the Southern Protectorate through amalgamation. In this way,
6100-470: The air force. It was headquartered in Kidney Island, Port Harcourt , and was commanded by Winifred Anuku. The Biafran Navy was made up of captured craft, converted tugs, and armored civilian vessels armed with machine guns, or captured 6-pounder guns . It mainly operated in the Niger Delta and along the Niger River . Lagos Colony Lagos Colony was a British colonial possession centred on
6222-518: The armies to disperse, and opening the way for construction of a railway from Lagos to Ibadan. Thus on 3 February 1893, Carter signed a treaty of protection with the Alafin of Oyo and on 15 August 1893, acting Governor George Chardin Denton signed a protectorate agreement with Ibadan. Colonial control was firmly established throughout the region after the bombardment of Oyo in 1895 and the capture of Ilorin by
SECTION 50
#17328442049256344-427: The capital of Nigeria, if it meant loss of Yoruba sovereignty . The AG insisted that Lagos must be completely recognised as a Yoruba town without any loss of identity, control or autonomy by the Yoruba. Contrary to this position, the NCNC was anxious to declare Lagos, by virtue of it being the "Federal Capital Territory" as "no man's land"—a declaration which as could be expected angered the AG, which offered to help fund
6466-401: The capital of the Protectorate of Nigeria in January 1914. Since then, Lagos has grown to become the largest city in West Africa, with an estimated metropolitan population of over 9,000,000 as of 2011. Lagos was originally a fishing community on the north of Lagos Island , which lies in Lagos Lagoon , a large protected harbour on the Atlantic coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea west of
6588-443: The chiefs of Abeokuta would be answerable to the British government. Acting Governor William Rice Mulliner met the Bashorun of Abeokuta in May 1863, who told him that recent robberies of traders' property were due to the custom of suppressing trading so as to force the men to war. The plunder would cease when the war was over. In the meantime, traders should not travel to Abeokuta since their safety could not be guaranteed. Although
6710-400: The colony of Nigeria was created, its three largest ethnic groups were the Igbo , who formed about 60–70% of the population in the southeast; the Hausa-Fulani of the Sokoto Caliphate , who formed about 67% of the population in the northern part of the territory; and the Yoruba , who formed about 75% of the population in the southwest. Although these groups have their homelands, by the 1960s,
6832-461: The colony would be practical. McCoskry, and other merchants in the colony, opposed the activities of missionaries, which they felt interfered with trade. In 1855, McCoskry had been among signatories of a petition to prevent two missionaries who had gone on leave from returning to Lagos. McCoskry communicated his view to the former explorer Richard Francis Burton , who visited Lagos and Abeokuta in 1861 while acting as consul at Fernando Po , and who
6954-474: The correlation between conflicts of longer duration and a high rate of participation of women, the study suggests that gender norms and the general ways in which "an armed group recruits as well as who it recruits may subsequently influence its behaviors during the conflict and the manner in which the conflict unfolds." The differing political systems and structures reflected and produced divergent customs and values. The Hausa-Fulani commoners, having contact with
7076-434: The country. The Army was repeatedly deployed to Tiv Division , killing hundreds and arresting thousands of Tiv people agitating for self-determination. Widespread reports of fraud tarnished the election's legitimacy. Westerners especially resented the political domination of the Northern People's Congress, many of whose candidates ran unopposed in the election. Violence spread throughout the country, and some began to flee
7198-418: The creation of a new Mid-Western Region in an area with oil potential. The new constitution of 1946 also proclaimed that "The entire property in and control of all mineral oils , in, under, or upon any lands, in Nigeria, and of all rivers, streams, and watercourses throughout Nigeria, is and shall be vested in, the Crown." The United Kingdom profited significantly from a fivefold rise in Nigerian exports amidst
7320-400: The development of another territory in Nigeria as "Federal Capital Territory" and then threatened secession from Nigeria if it didn't get its way. The threat of secession by the AG was tabled, documented and recorded in numerous constitutional conferences, including the constitutional conference held in London in 1954 with the demand that a right of secession be enshrined in the constitution of
7442-478: The early stages of African independence from colonial rule, suggesting that the diverse nature of African people may present obstacles to achieving common unity. Additionally, it shed light on initial shortcomings within the Organization of African Unity . The war also resulted in the political marginalization of the Igbo people, as Nigeria has not had another Igbo president since the end of the war, leading some Igbo people to believe they are being unfairly punished for
SECTION 60
#17328442049257564-413: The emerging Nigerian nation to allow any part of the emergent nation to opt out of Nigeria, should the need arise. This proposal for inclusion of right of secession by the regions in independent Nigeria by the AG was rejected and resisted by NCNC which vehemently argued for a tightly bound united/unitary structured nation because it viewed the provision of a secession clause as detrimental to the formation of
7686-424: The federal government. In 1946, the British divided the Southern Region into the Western Region and the Eastern Region . Each government was entitled to collect royalties from resources extracted within its area. This changed in 1956 when Shell - BP found large petroleum deposits in the Eastern region. A Commission led by Sir Jeremy Raisman and Ronald Tress determined that resource royalties would now enter
7808-441: The first classes of African civil servants, doctors, lawyers, and other technicians and professionals. Missionaries were introduced at a later date in eastern areas because the British experienced difficulty establishing firm control over the highly autonomous communities there. However, the Igbo and other Biafran people actively embraced Western education, and they overwhelmingly came to adopt Christianity. Population pressure in
7930-422: The first issue of the Anglo-African , appeared on 6 June 1863. Earlier, in 1854, there had been a newspaper that can truly be described as the first Nigerian newspaper called Iwe Iroyin Yoruba fun awon Egba ati Yoruba . There was a small legislative council which was established when the colony was founded in 1861, with the priority mandate of assisting and advising the Governor but without formal authority, and
8052-413: The following month, with another T-6 lost on the ferry flight. These aircraft flew missions until January 1970 manned by Portuguese ex-military pilots. During the war, Biafra tried to acquire jets. Two Fouga Magisters and several Gloster Meteors were bought but never arrived in Biafra, being abandoned on foreign African airbases. Biafra had a small improvised navy, but it never gained the success of
8174-405: The form of a protectorate, over the hinterland. The process was driven by the demands of trade and security rather than by any deliberate policy of expansion. The CMS Grammar School was founded in Lagos on 6 June 1859 by the Church Missionary Society , modelled on the CMS Grammar School in Freetown , Sierra Leone . In August 1861, a British naval force entered Lagos and annexed Lagos as
8296-405: The general strike heavily exacerbated tensions between the Army and ordinary civilians and put pressure on the Army to take action against a government which was widely perceived as corrupt. The 1964 elections , which involved heavy campaigning all year, brought ethnic and regional divisions into focus. Resentment of politicians ran high, and many campaigners feared for their safety while touring
8418-406: The grounds that the ordinance would inhibit freedom of the press. George said "any obstacle in the way of publication of newspapers in this colony means throwing Lagos back to its position forty or fifty years ago". Despite these objections, the ordinance was passed into law. Walter Egerton was the last Governor of Lagos Colony, appointed in 1903. Egerton enthusiastically endorsed the extension of
8540-401: The groundwork for the economic blockade of the Eastern Region which went into full effect in 1967. The deluge of refugees in Eastern Nigeria created a difficult situation. Extensive negotiations took place between Ojukwu, representing Eastern Nigeria, and Gowon, representing the Nigerian Federal military government. In the Aburi Accord , finally signed at Aburi, Ghana , the parties agreed that
8662-404: The growing influence of the French in nearby Dahomey , the British established a post at Ilaro in 1890. On 13 August 1891 a treaty was signed placing the kingdom of Ilaro under the protection of the British queen. When Governor Gilbert Thomas Carter arrived in 1891, he followed an aggressive policy. In 1892, he attacked Ijebu, and in 1893 made a tour of Yorubaland signing treaties, forcing
8784-584: The intention of preparing them to work with the British. During the ensuing years, the northern emirs maintained their traditional political and religious institutions, while reinforcing their social structure . At the time of independence in 1960, the north was by far the most underdeveloped area in Nigeria. It had an English literacy rate of 2%, as compared to 19.2% in the east (literacy in Ajami , local languages in Arabic script, learned in connection with religious education,
8906-432: The jurisdiction of their traditional rulers. In the early years, trade with the interior was severely restricted due to a war between Ibadan and Abeokuta . The Ogun River leading to Abeokuta was not safe for canoe traffic, with travellers at risk from Egba robbers. On 14 November 1862, Governor Henry Stanhope Freeman called on all British subjects to return from Abeokuta to Lagos, leaving their property, for which
9028-404: The killing of Igbo soldier Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Unegbe by coup executioners, and Ironsi's termination of an Igbo-led coup, the ease by which Ironsi stopped the coup led to suspicion that the Igbo coup plotters planned all along to pave the way for Ironsi to take the reins of power in Nigeria. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu became military governor of the Eastern Region at this time. On 24 May 1966,
9150-418: The military government issued Unification Decree #34, which would have replaced the federation with a more centralised system. The Northern bloc found this decree intolerable. In the face of provocation from the Eastern media which repeatedly showed humiliating posters and cartoons of the slain northern politicians, on the night of 29 July 1966, northern soldiers at Abeokuta barracks mutinied, thus precipitating
9272-517: The more Westernized elites in the South, preferred the continuation of British rule. As a condition for accepting independence, they demanded that the country continue to be divided into three regions with the North having a clear majority. Igbo and Yoruba leaders, anxious to obtain an independent country at all costs, accepted the Northern demands. However, the two Southern regions had significant cultural and ideological differences, leading to discord between
9394-487: The mosquitoes that were responsible for the spread of the disease. Telephone links with Britain were established by 1886, and electric street lighting in 1898. In August 1896, Charles Joseph George and George William Neville, both merchants and both unofficial members of the Legislative Council, presented a petition urging construction of the railway terminus on Lagos Island rather than at Iddo , and also asking for
9516-550: The new railway from Aro to Abeokuta was opened by the Governor in December 1901, in the presence of the Alake. In 1901, the first qualified African lawyer in the colony, Christopher Sapara Williams , was nominated to the Legislative Council, serving as a member until his death in 1915. In 1903, there was a crisis over the payment of the tolls that were collected from traders by native rulers, although Europeans were exempted. The alternative
9638-503: The north, it failed in the south, especially in the Lagos-Ibadan-Abeokuta military district where loyalist troops led by army commander Johnson Aguyi-Ironsi succeeded in crushing the revolt. Apart from Ifeajuna who fled the country after the collapse of their coup, the other two January Majors, and the rest of the military officers involved in the revolt, later surrendered to the loyalist High Command and were subsequently detained as
9760-508: The northerners. At the same time, as a part of Nigerianisation policy, it was government policy to send home the British officers who had been retained after independence, by promoting as many Nigerians as possible until by 1966 there were no more British officers. As part of the Nigerianisation policy, educational standards for officers were drastically lowered with only a high school diploma being necessary for an officer's commission while at
9882-561: The palace from the Iddo peninsula. In 1730, the Oba of Lagos invited Portuguese slave traders to the island, where soon a flourishing trade developed. 18th century Lagos was still technically a vassal city-state within the Benin Empire, but was increasingly independent and surpassing the latter in power and influence as Benin's power waned. In the first half of the 19th century, the Yoruba hinterland
10004-468: The people were dispersed across Nigeria, with all three ethnic groups represented substantially in major cities. When the war broke out in 1967, there were still 5,000 Igbos in Lagos . The semi- feudal and Muslim Hausa-Fulani in the north were traditionally ruled by a conservative Islamic hierarchy consisting of emirs who in turn owed their ultimate allegiance to the Sultan of Sokoto , whom they regarded as
10126-515: The petroleum, located in the other two areas. The Federal Military Government immediately placed an embargo on all shipping to and from Biafra—but not on oil tankers. Biafra quickly moved to collect oil royalties from oil companies doing business within its borders. When Shell - BP acquiesced to this request at the end of June, the Federal Government extended its blockade to include oil. The blockade, which most foreign actors accepted, played
10248-420: The political system only through a village head designated by the emir or one of his subordinates, did not view political leaders as amenable to influence. Political decisions were to be submitted to. As with many other authoritarian religious and political systems, leadership positions were given to persons willing to be subservient and loyal to superiors. A chief function of this political system in this context
10370-485: The port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria . Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS Prometheus who was accompanied by the Acting British Consul, William McCoskry . Oba Dosunmu of Lagos (spelled "Docemo" in British documents) resisted the cession for 11 days while facing the threat of violence on Lagos and its people, but capitulated and signed
10492-662: The post-war economic boom. Nigeria gained independence on 1 October 1960, and the First Republic came to be on 1 October 1963. The first prime minister of Nigeria, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa , was a northerner and co-founder of the Northern People's Congress. He formed an alliance with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons party, and its popular nationalist leader Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe , who became Governor General and then President. The Yoruba-aligned Action Group,
10614-512: The promulgation of Decree 44 of 1966 banning them by the military government. The first president of Nigeria Nnamdi Azikiwe who was away during the first coup noted: Some Ibo elements, who were domiciled in Northern Nigeria taunted northerners by defaming their leaders through means of records or songs or pictures. They also published pamphlets and postcards, which displayed a peculiar representation of certain northerners, living or dead, in
10736-415: The proximity of these protectorates . However, the change did not take into consideration the differences in the culture and religions of the people in each area. Competition for political and economic power exacerbated tensions. Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, with a population of 45.2 million made up of more than 300 differing ethnic and cultural groups. When
10858-518: The railway to be extended to Abeokuta . George was the leader of the delegation making this request, and described its many commercial advantages. A major strike broke out in the colony in 1897, which has been described as the "first major labour protest" in African history. On 21 February 1899, the Alake of the Egba signed an agreement opening the way for construction of a railway through their territory, and
10980-560: The region known as the Middle Belt had large populations of Christian and Animist populations. Through missionary activities and the 'Northernisation' policy of the Regional Government , the sub-region had a significant Eurocentric-educated population. Several key figures on the Nigerian side of the war came from this sub-region, such as Yakubu Gowon and Theophilus Danjuma, both of whom are Christians. The Yoruba political system in
11102-611: The same time Nigerianisation resulted in an extremely youthful officer corps, full of ambitious men who disliked the Sandhurst graduates who served in the high command as blocking further chances for promotion. A group of Igbo officers formed a conspiracy to overthrow the government, seeing the northern prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa , as allegedly plundering the oil wealth of the southeast. On 15 January 1966, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu , Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna , and other junior Army officers (mostly majors and captains) attempted
11224-520: The slave trade. At the end of 1851 a naval expedition bombarded Lagos into submission , deposed Oba Kosoko , installed the more amenable Oba Akitoye , and signed the Great Britain-Lagos treaty that made slavery illegal in Lagos on January 1, 1852. A few months later Louis Fraser from the Bight of Benin consulate was posted to the island as vice-Consul . The next year Lagos was upgraded to
11346-620: The source of all political power and religious authority. Apart from the Hausa-Fulani, the Kanuri were another dominant majority Muslim ethnic group that had key figures in the war. They made up about 5% of Nigeria's population and were the dominant ethnic group in the North-Eastern state . They historically successfully resisted the Sokoto Caliphate during the 19th-century through their millennium-long Kanem-Bornu empire . The southernmost part of
11468-401: The southwest, like that of the Hausa-Fulani, also consisted of a series of monarchs , the Oba . The Yoruba monarchs, however, were less autocratic than those in the north. The political and social system of the Yoruba accordingly allowed for greater upward mobility , based on acquired rather than inherited wealth and title. In contrast to the two other groups, Igbos and the ethnic groups of
11590-410: The staple products of the region were palm oil and palm kernels. Manufacture of palm oil was mainly considered a job for women. Later exports included copra made from the coconut palm , guinea grains , gum copal , camwood and sesame (benne). The earliest incarnation of Lagos was an Awori Yoruba fishing community located on the islands and peninsula that form the modern state. The area
11712-449: The starving Biafrans became a cause célèbre in foreign countries, enabling a significant rise in the funding and prominence of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Biafra received international humanitarian aid from civilians during the Biafran airlift , an event which inspired the formation of Doctors Without Borders following the end of the war. The United Kingdom and
11834-581: The tenth-biggest oil exporter in the world. Though the Nigeria Regiment had fought for the United Kingdom in both the First and Second World Wars , the army Nigeria inherited upon independence in 1960 was an internal security force designed and trained to assist the police in putting down challenges to authority rather than to fight a war. The Indian historian Pradeep Barua called the Nigerian Army in 1960 "a glorified police force", and even after independence,
11956-655: The third major party, played the opposition role. Workers became increasingly aggrieved by low wages and bad conditions, especially when they compared their lot to the lifestyles of politicians in Lagos. Most wage earners lived in the Lagos area, and many lived in overcrowded dangerous housing. Labour activity including strikes intensified in 1963, culminating in a nationwide general strike in June 1964. Strikers disobeyed an ultimatum to return to work and at one point were dispersed by riot police. Eventually, they did win wage increases. The strike included people from all ethnic groups. Retired Brigadier General H. M. Njoku later wrote that
12078-468: The tough and hardy "martial races" greatly resented the change in recruitment policies, all the more as after independence in 1960 there were opportunities for Nigerian men to serve as officers that had not existed prior to independence. As men from the southeast and southwest were generally much better educated than men from the north, they were much more likely to be promoted to officers in the newly founded Nigerian Army, which provoked further resentment from
12200-411: The town was defeated, but Akitoye died suddenly on 2 September 1853, perhaps by poison. After consulting with the local chiefs, the consul declared Dosunmu (Docemo), the eldest son of Akitoye, the new Oba. With succeeding crises and interventions, the consulate evolved over the following years into a form of protectorate. Lagos became a base from which the British gradually extended their jurisdiction, in
12322-472: The two Southern political parties. Firstly, the AG favoured a loose confederacy of regions in the emergent Nigerian nation whereby each region would be in total control of its own distinct territory. The status of Lagos was a sore point for the AG, which did not want Lagos, a Yoruba town situated in Western Nigeria (which was at that time the federal capital and seat of national government) to be designated as
12444-721: The two territories were amalgamated, with the combined territory called the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. In 1914, the Governor-General Sir Frederick Lugard amalgamated this territory with the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria . Lagos was the capital of Nigeria until 1991, when that role was ceded to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja , and remains
12566-477: The war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation. Alongside the concurrent Vietnam War , the Nigerian Civil War was one of the first wars in human history to be televised to a global audience. In mid-1968, images of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries . The plight of
12688-677: The war. Igbo nationalism has emerged since the end of the war, as well as various neo-Biafran secessionist groups such as the Indigenous People of Biafra and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra . This civil war can be connected to the colonial amalgamation in 1914 of the Northern Protectorate , Lagos Colony , and Southern Nigeria Protectorate , which was intended for better administration due to
12810-478: The west of Lagos Island . The colony had largely succeeded in eliminating slavery and had become a prosperous trading community, but until the start of the European scramble for Africa the British Imperial government considered that the Lagos colony in some respects a failure. The British had refused to intervene in the politics of the hinterland and cut-throat competition among British and French firms along
12932-521: The whole country. Gowon followed this plan, repealing the Unification Decree, announcing a return to the federal system. After the January coup, Igbos in the North were accused of taunting their hosts on the loss of their leaders. A popular example was Celestine Ukwu, a popular Igbo musician, who released a song titled "Ewu Ne Ba Akwa" (Goats Are Crying) apparently mocking the late Ahmadu Bello . These provocations were so pervasive that they warranted
13054-604: Was a lieutenant colonel assigned to the 4th Commando Brigade, and Welshman Taffy Williams served as a major throughout the conflict. A special guerrilla unit, the Biafran Organization of Freedom Fighters, was established: designed to emulate the Viet Cong , they targeted Nigerian supply lines, forcing them to shift resources to internal security efforts. In course of the insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria of 2021,
13176-590: Was acquired through the ability to arbitrate disputes that might arise in the village, and through acquiring rather than inheriting wealth. The Igbo had been substantially victimised in the Atlantic slave trade ; in the year 1790, it was reported that of 20,000 people sold each year from Bonny , 16,000 were Igbo. With their emphasis upon social achievement and political participation, the Igbo adapted to and challenged colonial rule in innovative ways. These tradition-derived differences were perpetuated and perhaps enhanced by
13298-440: Was also opposed to missionary work. Freeman, his successor, agreed with Burton that the blacks were more likely to be converted by Islam than by Christianity. Freeman attempted to prevent Robert Campbell, a Jamaican of part-Scottish, part-African descent, from establishing a newspaper in the colony. He considered it would be "a dangerous instrument in the hands of semi-civilized Negroes". The British government did not agree, and
13420-524: Was escorted back to the city by soldiers who apologised for the stench and explained politely that they were doing me and the world a great favor by eliminating Igbos. Professor of History Murray Last , who was in Zaria city on the day after the first coup, describes his experience on that day: And the day after the coup – January 16th 1966 – there was initially so much open relief on the ABU campus that it shocked me. It
13542-468: Was from the Midwest. Only one was an Igbo. This coup was, however, not seen as a revolutionary coup by other sections of Nigerians, especially in the Northern and Western sections and by later revisionists of Nigerian coups. Some alleged, mostly from Eastern part of Nigeria, that the majors sought to spring Action Group leader Obafemi Awolowo out of jail and make him head of the new government. Their intention
13664-401: Was in a state of near-constant warfare due to internal conflicts and incursions from the northern and western neighbouring states. By then the fortified island of Lagos had become a major centre of the slave trade . The United Kingdom abolished import of slaves to their colonies in 1807 and abolished slavery in all British territories in 1833. The British became increasingly active in suppressing
13786-469: Was inhabited by families who claimed a semi-mythical ancestry from a figure called Olofin . The modern descendants of this figure are the contemporary nobility known as the Idejo or "white cap chiefs" of Lagos. In the 16th century, Lagos island was sacked and colonized by troops of the Oba of Benin during that kingdom's expansionary phase. They established a war camp in the town, and it became known as Eko. In
13908-559: Was maintained until 1922. The majority of members were colonial officials. In 1863, the British established the Lagos Town Improvement Ordinance, with the aim of controlling the physical development of the town and surrounding territory. The administration was merged with that of Sierra Leone in 1866, and was transferred to the Gold Coast in 1874. The Lagos elites lobbied intensively to have autonomy restored, which did not happen until 1886. Colonial Lagos developed into
14030-446: Was much higher). The west also enjoyed a much higher literacy level, as it was the first part of the country to have contact with western education and established a free primary education program under the pre-independence Western Regional Government. In the west, the missionaries rapidly introduced Western forms of education. Consequently, the Yoruba were the first group in Nigeria to adopt Western bureaucratic social norms. They made up
14152-526: Was only later, when I was living within Zaria city (at Babban Dodo), that I encountered the anger at the way Igbo traders (and journalists) were mocking their Hausa fellow traders in Zaria’s Sabon Gari over the death of their ‘father’, and were pushing aside various motorpark workers elsewhere, telling the Hausa that the rules had now all changed and it was the Hausa who were now the underlings in market or motorpark. The Federal Military Government also laid
14274-530: Was the first coup in the short life of Nigeria's nascent second democracy. Claims of electoral fraud were one of the reasons given by the coup plotters. Besides killing much of Nigeria's elite, the Coup also saw much of the leadership of the Nigerian Federal Army killed with seven officers holding the rank above colonel killed. Of the seven officers killed, four were northerners, two were from the southeast and one
14396-570: Was thought to have made numerous attempts to please Northerners. The other events that also fuelled suspicions of a so-called "Igbo conspiracy" were the killing of Northern leaders, and the killing of the Brigadier-General Ademulegun's pregnant wife by the coup executioners. Among the Igbo people, reaction to the coup was mixed. Despite the overwhelming contradictions of the coup being executed by mostly Northern soldiers (such as John Atom Kpera, later military governor of Benue State ),
14518-583: Was to dismantle the Northern-dominated power structure but their efforts to take power were unsuccessful. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi , an Igbo and loyalist head of the Nigerian Army , suppressed coup operations in the South and he was declared head of state on 16 January after the surrender of the majors. In the end though, the majors were not in the position to embark on this political goal. While their 15th January coup succeeded in seizing political control in
14640-402: Was to maintain conservative values, which caused many Hausa-Fulani to view economic and social innovation as subversive or sacrilegious. In contrast to the Hausa-Fulani, the Igbos and other Biafrans often participated directly in the decisions which affected their lives. They had a lively awareness of the political system and regarded it as an instrument for achieving their personal goals. Status
14762-441: Was to replace the tolls by a subsidy. MacGregor requested views from Williams, Charles Joseph George and Obadiah Johnson as indigenous opinion leaders. All were in favour of retaining the tolls to avoid upsetting the rulers. In 1903, Governor MacGregor's administration prepared a Newspaper Ordinance ostensibly designed to prevent libels being published. George, Williams and Johnson, the three Nigerian council members, all objected on
14884-454: Was widespread suspicion that the Igbo coup plotters had tipped him and other Igbo leaders off regarding the pending coup. In addition to the killings of the Northern political leaders, the Premier of the Western region, Ladoke Akintola and Yoruba senior military officers were also killed. This "Coup of the Five Majors" has been described in some quarters as Nigeria's only revolutionary coup. This
#924075