1. What were the causes of the civil war?
2. What role did Britain play in causing this conflict?
3. When Nigeria was granted independence in 1960 how did the boundary agreements affect the three dominant ethnic groups?
4. Describe the 1965 elections and how the outcomes for the 3 main ethnic groups
5. What happened during and after the first military coup?
6. How did the discovery of oil in the South East of Nigeria eventually lead to a civil war?
7. Describe what events took place during the civil war and how it eventually ended in 1970.
8. Explain the aftermath of the war.
9. How could this conflict continue to affect Nigeria today?
1. The Biafran War was a result of the artificial nature of Nigeria as a whole. The ethnic and religious tensions became very significant, especially because the Fulani Hausa and the Ibo (Igbo) controlled the country, excluding the Yoruba from the west and because the Ibo were, being better educated and trained, getting the best end of the bargain. The Yoruba formed an allegiance with the northerners which won in the election of 1965, removing the political power of the Ibo. There was a coup executed by military leaders (Ibo) because they claimed the election was fraudulent and a counter coup from the North and west. The counter coup triggered an attempt to form the new nation of Biafra by the Ibo. The Nigerian government was able to retake the territory but many died in the conflict.
ReplyDelete2. Britain’s role in the conflict came from creating an arbitrary country out of more that 250 ethnic groups, diverse in language, religion and resources. They soon fell into conflict.
3. The three ethnic groups all had a dominant region with other minorities in it, little reason to cooperate, because of the resource differences, and different cultures which caused conflict to erupt.
4. The 1965 elections introduced the coalition of Yoruba and Hausa whose candidate, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa won the election, although fraud was claimed. This was a significant loss of power for the Ibo, who had previously enjoyed a lot of power.
5. The first coup failed because the new leader favored Ibo officers over other groups and failed to get strong enough support. Also, a coalition of the two other powers was enough to defeat the Ibo.
6. Oil provided a reason for the South East to disbelieve in the usefulness of national unity since they would have incentive to separate and keep that money to themselves.
7. Among the other events of the war, mass starvation, both for military and civilians, as well as disease killed more that actual conflict which mostly occurred in the Southern part of the country.
8. After the war, the threat of “another Biafra” was enough to make planning any form of secession movement too dangerous. When the Ogoni rebelled, the fear made the government quickly crush their leadership and put down the rebellion.
9. The conflict continues to effect Nigeria because of the threat of another Biafra and because it caused increased tension in Nigeria and in the Niger Delta, dominated by the Ibo. For example, the Ijaw, a sizeable tribe in the Delta, did not support the Ibo who dominate local politics.
Good Ema! You might also argue that the conflict has disallowed the country to progress to a point where they can deal efficiently with oil extraction, and basically all the ills that are described by Ghazvinian in "Untapped" might be blamed on this civil war.
ReplyDelete1. The Nigerian-Biafran War was caused by ethnic tensions between the three main Nigerian tribes: the Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the west, and the Igbo in the southeast. The post-independence elections that took place in 1963 favored the Hausa; however, non-Northerners deemed the elections corrupt. Following accusations of unfair elections, a coup d'état favoring the Igbo was staged. A great deal of oil was discovered in Igbo lands, adding to the tension and further encouraging a secession of the south-eastern provinces.
ReplyDelete2. Britain’s actions during the era of imperialism played a significant role in causing this conflict. Britain arbitrarily unified a large region of western Africa to create Nigeria. This area is home to a myriad of ethnic and religious groups. Many opposing groups were unwillingly fused together into one nation, creating many tensions.
3. When Nigeria gained independence in 1960, the country was split along ethnic lines. The Hausa and Fulani dominated the north, the Yoruba controlled the southwest, and the Igbo prevailed in the southeast. This separation limited interactions between the regions and instead of unifying the newly independent nation, a strain on the relationships between the groups was created.
4. The 1965 Nigerian elections were controversial because of the change in power and alleged fraud. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa won the election representing the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). This group was a union between the NPC (dominant in the Hausa north) and the Nigerian National Democratic Party (Yoruba supported). This win resulted in the Yoruba and Hausa gaining the power lost by the Igbo. This shift in power led to civil conflict.
5. Provoked by the fraudulent elections, General Aguyi Ironsi led a military coup, benefitting the Igbo. Many Igbos rose up the military ranks because General Ironsi favored Igbos, as he was one. In response to this first coup, Northerners staged a counter-coup, giving Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon control. The ethnic hostility resulted in widespread killing of Christian Igbos in Muslim regions.
6. The discovery of oil in the South East provided many economic opportunities for that region of Nigeria. Financial security was thought to be insured and the South East would be able to be self-reliant. Nevertheless, the Igbos feared that the financial rewards generate from southeastern oil would be allocated towards other regions. This fear led the region to secede.
7. Disease and starvation were rampant throughout Nigeria and Biafra during the conflict. Many Igbo people have made claims of genocide. The Republic of Biafra was eventually crushed with the help of British resources. Britain intervened out of the fear that if Nigeria collapsed, much of Western Africa would also implode. After a lengthy stalemate, Biafra surrendered and its leader, Ojukwu, escaped to Côte d'Ivoire.
8. After the war, the economy was left in tatters, infrastructure was destroyed, and millions were left homeless. There was a deficit of medicine, food, and clothes, as well as an enormous population of Igbo refugees. In addition to humanitarian crisis, Nigeria also faced international shame and still harbors ethnic tensions.
9. The conflict continues to affect Nigeria today in that the same underlying problems still exist. Competition between tribes and oil issues continue to pose the threat of another civil conflict. Unfair oil profit distribution is still an bone of contention. There have been claims that the government has tried to economically inhibit many Igbos, especially in the immediate post-war era.
1) The Biafran War was caused by political, religious, and ethnic tensions between the three main ethnical groups of Nigeria, the Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba. When an alliance between the Hausa and Yoruba was made, the Igbo felt threatened and they planned a military coup. In 1967, the Igbo declared the southeastern area of Nigeria as the independent republic of Biafran. The war broke out when Nigeria tried to use military action to take back the republic of Biafran. The country of Nigeria as a whole was unstable in its government, due to its position as a British protectorate. This did not help matters concerning the Biafran War at all.
ReplyDelete2) The British had a role in causing the Biafran War when they chose the territory for Nigeria. They didn’t consider the tensions between the ethnic groups and how they would react to each other.
3) The boundary agreements of Nigeria when it was granted independence in 1960 caused several clashes between different ethnic groups. Nigerian soldiers were involved in conflicts with Chadians and Cameroonians along their borders over Lake Chad and the Bakassi Peninsula, respectively, that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people. The boundary agreements also created ethnic conflicts within the country lines. The boundaries roped in three large ethnic groups that disagreed with each other and were suspicious of each other. It was really the fault of the British, however the people of Nigeria were the ones that suffered.
4) The 1965 elections were one of the main causes of the Biafran War. The Hausa and the Yoruba aligned and ran against the Igbo. The Hausa and Yoruba won the election, and the Igbo claimed that the election was fraudulent. These claims led to the Igbo-led military coup of the government, and eventually the breakaway republic of Biafran.
5) After the claims that the 1965 elections were fraudulent, the Igbo, led by General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, executed a military coup to take the power away from the Hausa and the Yoruba. Although many Hausa and Yoruba soldiers played a part in the coup, the strings were really pulled by the Igbo, and the Igbo were the ones who benefited. After this initial coup, the Hausa enacted a counter-coup, placing them in power. The result of this second coup was the massacre of hundreds of Igbos living in the north (mostly Hausa territory).
6) The discovery of oil in Igbo territory (southeast) eventually led to war. With the discovery of oil came the hope that they could eventually become self-sufficient and more powerful than the Hausa and Yoruba. However since the Hausa (northerners) were in power and therefore controlled the oil, the Igbo were excluded from all revenue made from the oil. This was yet another cause of the civil war.
7) On May 30, 1967 the predominantly Igbo region of Nigeria was declared the Republic of Biafran. Immediately, the Nigerian government began making military attempts to regain the territory. Since the Biafran army was hesitant to fight, and the Nigerian army became well organized, the Biafrans were eventually surrounded and forced into a stalemate. From 1968 to 1970, Nigerian forces surrounded the Biafran territory. Many Biafran civilians died from starvation since no food could get in or out of the territory. Eventually, in 1970, the Biafran war ended when the Biafran forces finally surrendered.
8) At the end of the 3 year conflict, nearly one million people died from the fighting, starvation, and disease. Nigeria’s economy suffered, although the oil business helped the economic situation improve slightly. (Although not for the common people). Also, the military government was in control in Nigeria for many years following the war.
9) Today, Nigeria’s economy is still struggling. The oil revenues are going to a select few, and the common people are seeing nothing but the evils of oil. The war also did nothing to help the ethnic troubles in Nigeria. There are still ethnic tensions, and as a result, violent conflicts between the groups still break out.
1. What were the causes of the civil war?
ReplyDeleteNigeria is hardly a homogenous country. After its independence in 1960, there was an emergence of political parties on ethnic/religious lines as opposed to national interests. As a result, these parties gradually sought more and more power for themselves in the newly formed republic. Eventually, the drive to consolidate one political group over the rest of the federation led the country into a coup, a counter-coup, and then civil war. The coup and counter-coup destroyed the fragile trust between tribes that had existed after independence. The creation of twelve states, instead of the original four tribes was the last straw for the Biafra republic in the east, which sought independence from the Federation. The government in Lagos at the time saw this as illegal by national law. The only way to subdue the Biafra region was by force. The only way forward could be war.
2. What role did Britain play in causing this conflict?
Nigeria was a British protectorate and part of the commonwealth until its independence in 1960. The British made the mistake however that they combined three unrelated ethnic and religious groups into one territory and called it Nigeria. The tribes had no interest in working with one another and especially in being part of one Federation.
3. When Nigeria was granted independence in 1960 how did the boundary agreements affect the three dominant ethnic groups?
The three dominant ethnic groups were segregated along these lines into three distinct areas. The Housa north were the least exposed to western culture, which was mostly present in the southern delta. The north is mostly arid and the communities rely on sustenance farming of cassava and yams. The Yoruba in the west were a combination of Christian and Muslim. The Southern Delta was populated by Christian Igbos who are the most influential because of their exposure to Western culture and because they have access to the oil reserves.
4. Describe the 1965 elections and how the outcomes for the 3 main ethnic groups.
ReplyDeleteThe 1965 elections were a disaster of corruption and electoral fraud. The Northern NCP entered an alliance with a new Yoruba party. This left the weakened Igbo to unite with AG of the Yoruba territories. The Yoruba heartland AG eventually found out that the elections had been rigged so that there votes went to the Yoruba NNDP, putting the Muslim Northerners in the most power over the Christian Igbo’s. The Yoruba, who are ethnically and religiously split, saw violence and riots as the two opposing parties fought for power. This was another stepping stone to civil war, as the country became even more and more divided between the Muslim North and the Christian South.
5. What happened during and after the first military coup?
Easterners staged the coup itself, with the intention of creating a prosperous nation free of corruption and ethnic turmoil. Unfortunately, the Muslim Northerners, most of who were killed, viewed the staging of the coup by Easterners as a threat. As a result, the North saw attacks against any Easterners, and the Northerners with the intent of purging the Easterners and splitting the country staged a counter-coup. There were uncontrolled killings and molestations in the North that even the ruling party in the North wasn’t aware of.
6. How did the discovery of oil in the South East of Nigeria eventually lead to a civil war?
The Northerner’s saw the oil as a potential of great wealth for the country, and moved to re-annex Biafra to exploit this potential. Easterners however were left out of power, and saw this movement by Northerners as a way of using the South’s resources for themselves. The south would see little benefit from this oil, and thus would essentially be stripped of its most powerful oil source in the hands of the North. This fueled the south’s desire to secede, and at the same time fueled the North’s desire to re-annex the South. Civil war ensued as each faction vied for its goal.
7. Describe what events took place during the civil war and how it eventually ended in 1970.
The civil war began with a Northern attack on the South, which responded with its own attack, ending just short of Lagos, and passing through the Biafra puppet state of Republic of Benin. A stalemate emerged in 1968, with Northerners making slight progress in surrounding Biafra cutting it off from supplies, this lead to a humanitarian crisis in Biafra with many dying of starvation. Eventually, with British help, the Nigerians mounted a final attack on Biafra. The President, Ojukwu fled to the Ivory Coast, leaving his general to surrender to the Nigerians. The process of rebuilding had begun.
8. Explain the aftermath of the war.
ReplyDeleteThe war subdued with the reunification of Nigeria, but each of the three major ethnic groups became wary of the other one. Ethnic tensions still existed, but the Northern Nigerians held more power in the immediate aftermath. Igbo’s were banned from Government participation until many years later, and the currency was changed in order to eliminate the possibility of Easterners using pre-war supplies of currency. A total loss of life was estimated at around 3 million people. Ethnic tensions still plague the country today, and two of the three main groups at any time help to keep the third from becoming too powerful.
9. How could this conflict continue to affect Nigeria today?
War leaves scars that need many years to heal, especially when both sides faced genocide as a means of controlling secessionist movements in their territories, especially the North. Each side also sees itself as righteous and wronged by the other, thus an inability to agree on the true nature of events and horrors committed during such a war. As a result, there could still be animosity between the North and the East, which can especially be even more emphasized due to the fact that they are two different religions. In addition to the animosity between the two factions, there could be hesitance to allow the other to gain too much national power, or even economical power that would give it a foothold over the other side. The two territories then become segregated and see little communal interaction as a result of all of these factors.
1. The three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, the mostly Muslim Fulani-Hausa in the north, the mostly Christian Igbo in the south-east, and the half-Christian half-Muslim Yoruba in the south-west, have long played a balancing act for power in Nigeria. In 1960, when Nigeria was granted autonomy, a political alliance was forged between the dominant political parties of the Fulani-Hausa and the Igbo, who with this alliance ruled Nigeria. The alliance was generally seen by most to be in favor the Igbo, who were comparatively well-educated in a western manner and had many of the top jobs in the country. The Yoruba were left out of the alliance. Where before most western Nigerians had supported a less conservative party that refused to ally itself with the conservative Fulani-Hausa, a new, more conservative group took hold and allied itself with the Fulani-Hausa. Now the Igbo were the ones finding themselves excluded from power. In the 1965 election, the allied north and west won a sweeping victory over the Igbo east. However, claims of large-scale electoral fraud led to a military coup by mostly Igbo officers. This was responded to with a counter coup by the Fulani-Hausa north. Ethnic tensions ran at a frightening high, and many were massacred in the ensuing violence. The Igbo south-west has most of Nigeria’s oil, and as a consequence, they were afraid that all of their promising oil revenue would go to the currently in power Fulani-Hausa and Yoruba. This all added up to strong feelings among the Igbo that secession was necessary and good.
ReplyDelete2. Britain was and still is responsible for the mostly random carving up of the country. The British, who declared Nigeria a protectorate, draw borders as they saw fit, without any consideration to tribal lines or ethic and cultural differences. As a result, when Nigeria finally gained independence in 1960, Nigeria’s 60 or so million people belonged to about 300 distinct tribal and ethnic groups. The tensions created by having such a large, diverse population mostly separated into distinct regions of Nigeria were part of what led to the Biafran War.
3. The majority Muslim Fulani-Hausa ended up the dominant group in northern Nigeria, the predominantly Christian Igbo ended up dominant in the south-east, and the half-Christian half-Muslim Yoruba ended up in the south-west. They had little competition for control of their respective regions because the minority tribes did not have much power or influence. The three groups suddenly found themselves responsible for the self governance of a country they were only a fraction of. The ethnic tensions created by British cartographers have caused and will probably yet cause much violence and unrest.
4. The 1965 elections were a contest between the Nigerian National Alliance party of the Fulani-Hausa and the conservative parties of the Yoruba and the United Progressive Grand Alliance of the Igbo and the progressive parties of the Yoruba. Under Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Nigerian National Alliance crushed the opposition. Claims of large-scale electoral fraud rocked the nation and led to a coup.
5. The first military coup was led by mostly Igbo progressive-leaning Army officers. The coup took place on January 15, 1966. It raised the head of the Nigerian Army, General Aguyi Ironsi, to the head of state of Nigeria. This coup, being mostly organized by Igbo, benefitted mostly the Igbo. Many Igbo officers were promoted while others were passed over. Not long after, July 29 of the same year, a counter-coup took place, this time organized by the Fulani-Hausa north. It was led by Lt. Col. Murtala Muhammed and put Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowan in the highest position of power.
6. The discovery of oil in the Igbo dominated south-east of Nigeria awakened possibilities of a prosperous, developed, and self-sufficient Igbo state. However, the Igbo were excluded from political power. As such, they were afraid that the revenue from the oil would be used by those in power to benefit only those in power and their regions, instead of benefitting the Igbo south-eastern Nigeria that the oil was extracted from. All of these feelings led to contemplations and eventually executions of plans for secession of the Igbo dominant region.
ReplyDelete7. The military leader of the south-east, Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the south-eastern region of Nigeria the Republic of Biafra. The Nigerian government tried to employ some negotiation at the beginning of the conflict, but when it became clear that the Igbo were set on secession, the government began to deploy troops in an effort to force the secessionist state of Biafra into submission. The combination of the large Nigerian army failing to invade the territory successfully and the Biafran troops’ success at the hands of Col. Banjo, an exemplary tactician, led to support for Biafra to blossom world-wide. However, with time, reorganization, and blockades, Nigerian troops gained the upper hand and pushed the Biafran resistance back into core Igbo homelands, which were soon surrounded by Nigerian soldiers. Then the conflict sank into a stalemate. While Nigerian troops continued and failed to break the last pieces of resistance, a humanitarian propaganda disaster began to take hold as pictures of starving children and civilian hunger bought more support for Biafra. However, the Nigerian army managed to take more and more of the land controlled by the Biafran government, until it was forced to surrender.
8. Nigeria was taxed heavily by the civil war. The death toll amounted to perhaps 1 million due to conflict, starvation, and disease. Nigeria’s image to the rest of the world was permanently stained. The monetary cost took its toll, too, but because of the oil money in the region reconstruction was speedy. The real lasting effect of the war was the heightening of already stressed ethnic relations in the diverse country.
9. Nigerians today still feel the ethnic tension that was created by British ignorance and augmented by the Biafran war. Although laws have since been passed that mandate that political parties cannot be tribally or ethnically based, they are difficult to put into practice and are consequently rarely enforced. At least the Biafran movement quelled most other groups’ contemplation of secession from Nigeria, as all wish to avoid another Biafra.
1. The causes of the war were tied in with the ethnic tensions occurring as the country was building up after independence. The Igbo in the Eastern Region of Nigeria split off from the rest of the country and declared itself independent. This was seen a secession by Nigeria, and war broke out in an attempt to reunite.
ReplyDelete2. Britain did not directly cause this war, but through their imperialistic action of creating the area known as Nigeria, set the basis for the war. Britain attempted to unite multiple tribal areas into one large Nigeria. However, the tension between these groups would ultimately lead to the civil war.
3. The boundary agreements caused the different groups to become detached from one another as the country was divided into regions dominated by individual tribes. This lead to limited interactions between the groups, and did not allow relationships to build between these tribes, and caused tensions to rise even higher.
4. The 1965 elections saw a readjustment of power in the country. The north and the Yoruba created the group the NPC-NNDP, which left the Igbo out on its own. However these elections were also thought to be heavily laden with widespread electoral fraud.
5. The first military coup took place on January 15 1966 when a group, prominently southern Igbo assassinated the prime minister and took control of the government. However the new government under Aguiyi-Ironsi was not able to control the country, which would lead to another coup.
6. The Discovery of oil led South East Nigeria to believe that if they separated, they would have the financial stability from the oil to prosper on its own.
7. After this region declared itself an independent country, Biafran, the rest of Nigeria moved to attempt to reunite the country using military force. However, this ended up in a stalemate surrounding the south east, which lead to problems such as starvation, and even claims of genocide. The war would end after the British forces became involved, with the fear that if Nigeria collapsed, so would most of southern Africa, and the Biafrans would surrender.
8. After the war, thousands of Nigerians were left dead, and millions left homeless. There was starvation, and much of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed. Oil provided some help, but only for the privileged few in high power. It also caused an even greater sense of distrust between the tribes.
9. Nigeria still experiences the ethnic tensions between tribes, and oil still plays a huge part in the country’s troubles. It still is just benefitting a select privileged few, and the common people are still resulting in violence to attempt to survive
1. What were the causes of the civil war?
ReplyDeleteLike many other African nations Nigeria, initiated by the British, which had neglected to consider religious, linguistic, and ethnic differences. This neglecting led to tension between the three main Nigerian tribes including the Yoruba in the west, Hausa in the north, and Igbo in the southeast. The Hausa in the north made up nearly fifty percent of the Nigerian population. This cause a great deal of tension because when elections came around the Hausa had a clear advantage. This led to other ethnic groups claiming that the elections were unjust and corrupt. Later, oil was found in different areas of Nigeria which led to jelousy and further more and increase in the tentions. Over the course of many years both political and physical tensions added up leading to the Nigerian-Biafra War.
2. What role did Britain play in causing this conflict?
When forming the nation of Nigeria Britain neglected to consider religious, linguistic, and ethnic differences in Nigeria causing many tensions to build up in Nigeria.
3. When Nigeria was granted independence in 1960 how did the boundary agreements affect the three dominant ethnic groups?
Nigirea was divided into states that reflected ethnicity in 1960. Its intentions were to create a sufficient number of states in each region, so that the major ethnic groups including the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo could dominate a large region. However, the country was divided in such a way that the North had slightly more population than the other two regions combined. On this foundation the Northern Region controlled a majority of the seats in the Federal Legislature.
4. Describe the 1965 elections and the outcomes for the 3 main ethnic groups.
Many of the ethnic groups assumed the elections were fraudulent resulting in stronger tensions that eventually led to many coups. The elections resulted in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa becoming prime minister. As u can imagine there were many other tensions being formed between the three groups as a result of the elections making people think twice about whether or not Nigeria as a whole was ready for a democracy.
5. What happened during and after the first military coup?
On January 15, 1966, Lt Kaduna Nzeogwu and other junior Army officers, consisting of mostly Igbo descent, attempted a coup d'etat. This was the first coup in the short life of Nigeria's nascent democracy. Claims of electoral fraud were the justification given by the coup plotters for their actions. This coup resulted in General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo and head of the Nigerian Army, taking power as President, becoming the first military head of state in Nigeria.
6. How did the discovery of oil in the South East of Nigeria eventually lead to a civil war?
ReplyDeleteThe discovery of oil in Igbo territory brought hope that they could eventually become more prominent then there coexisting groups. However, the Hausa were more powerful therefore had the option of forcefully taking control of the oil industry. This was yet another cause of the civil war.
7. Describe what events took place during the civil war and how it eventually ended in 1970.
Starvation do to famine eventually killed more people than the civil war itself did leading to the Biafra eventually surrendering.
8. Explain the aftermath of the war.
It is estimated that up to three million people died during the civil war, mostly from hunger and disease. Reconstruction, helped by the oil money, was quick. However, even today the old ethnic and religious tensions remain a constant aspect of Nigerian politics. Subsequent to the war, accusations were made of Nigerian government officials diverting resources meant for reconstruction in the former Biafran areas to their ethnic areas showing that the three groups are still very distant from one another.
9. How could this conflict continue to affect Nigeria today?
The separation of the ethnic groups still shows today when politicians still choose to help their own area before helping others. This suggests that tensions between the different ethnic groups may still be resent today. It may also be a contributing reason to Nigeria’s week economy and corrupt government.
John Heenan
ReplyDeleteThe Nigerian-Biafran War, also known as the Nigerian Civil war, was a conflict that arose in 1967 due to the attempted succession of Southeastern Nigeria as the Republic of Biafra. The southern leaders cited the reason for this succession as being caused by the Nigerian government’s failure to prevent loss of life. It was suggested that the government was culpable to genocide. The move was taken following the perceived failure of the government to protect the Igbo people.
Britain contributed to the war with its actions prior to the independence of Nigeria. Nigeria was formed by Britain from a huge variety of ethnic groups and cultures, and the British paid no attention to these cultural subtleties. As such, Nigeria became a nation of many different people, with different views and agendas. This led to the succession that caused the war.
When Nigeria achieved independence in 1960, the country was divided into the North, (south)East, and (south)West, with each of these regions representing a different cultural power player. The Northerners wanted a unified country. They believed that if the country were divided into 3 parts during the process of gaining independence that they would be dominated by the more developed cultures of the south. As such, the country remained as one entity, and the North has a population that outnumbers the combined populations of the East and West. This has led to continued conflict, as the North has a higher number of seats in the country’s congress and the three regions vie for political control of the country as a whole. The situation stalemates because one group must fully control the other two to achieve dominance, and because of the difficulty of doing so, the country remains independent.
The 1965 elections ended with the Nigerian National Democratic Party in charge of the country, among widespread rumors of election tampering. This led to riots, and there were reported to be more than 2,000 deaths in the western region due to violence.
During the first Nigerian military coup following the 1965 elections, the prime minister and other key high-ranking officials were killed by military generals. The coup members could not maintain a stable government, and it quickly fell apart and was turned over to the remaining prime minister.
The discovery of oil in the southern region of the country resulted in a revamping of the economy and levels of corruption never before seen. The Biafra in the country’s southern region felt that they were not being properly compensated, and declared the region an independent state. The Nigerian central government moved troops into the region to maintain control, aided by the oil companies. The area was reclaimed, but the death toll was significant.
The civil war began with a series of military coups that resulted in the eventual succession of the south following the discovery of oil. The Nigerian army managed to retake some of the region, but by 1968 the conflict had reached a stalemate. The Nigerian army managed to encircled the Biafran, and blockaded the region. This is reported to have caused mass starvation. Foreign aid organizations made flights into the region carrying food and medicine. It was alleged that these flights also carried weapons. By the end of 1969.early 1970 the Nigerian army, backed by foreign supporters, had managed to retake the region, but with a significant death toll.
John Heenan
ReplyDeletecontinued
Following the war, many Igbo were displaced from their homes, and those who left their government positions for fear of retribution were listed as having “resigned”. This left the culture with far more limited governmental control. The war also caused widespread death, ad destruction. The nation was rebuilt, largely through oil money. However, the death toll from the conflict remains significant, estimated to be in excess of 3 million.
The conflict over oil continues to affect Nigeria today, with conflict between local populations, oil company security, and Nigerian authorities. The southern oil regions are still highly volatile, and the country struggles to maintain stability. Additionally, the emphasis on oil has the potential to derail the economy.
1. Nigeria was formed out of many differing ethnic, cultural, and religious groups by the British and this created tension within Nigeria prior to its independence and was a main reason for the revolution. The large ethnic groups Hausa and Igbo made an alliance with one another and took control of the nation at first. Though, in the elections of 1965 a candidate from Hausa won the presidential seat and it was largely believed the election was a fraud. A coup was executed by General Ironsi, who was an Igbo. Soon in 1967, the southeastern portion of Nigeria, led by the Igbo, formed the Republic of Biafra. The Nigerian military would use conflict to take the territory back, initiating the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War.
ReplyDelete2. Britain’s role in causing the conflict was its establishing Nigeria under many ethnic groups, causing an artificial nature to Nigeria as a whole. The many differentiating groups would cause tension that would help lead to the war.
3. The boundary agreements enclosed the three main ethnic groups (Hausa and Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo) within the same nation of Nigeria. The Hausa and Fulani were located in the north, the Yoruba to the southwest, and the Igbo in the southeast. The differentiating ethnic groups did not get along and did not trust one another. The groups were also different and had to lead one nation together and therefore tension grew amongst them and conflict erupted.
4. The Hausa and Yoruba worked with one another and chose Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as a candidate for the 1965 elections. Prior to the election, the Igbo were enjoying plenty of power. The election resulted in the Hausa and Yoruba candidate winning it and the election was highly rumored to be a fraud.
5. The first coup led to General Ironsi becoming the military leader of Nigeria. This benefited the Igbo the most since Ironsi was an Igbo himself and he promoted Igbo’s within his military. However, a counter-coup was soon staged placing a new military leader, Yakubu Gowon, in power. The tension caused by the coups led to large-scale massacres of Christian Igbos living in the Muslim north.
6. With the discovery of oil in the southeast, the people in the southeast believed that the revenue would not benefit them but instead the northerners. This is another reason that prompted the southeast to withdraw from Nigeria.
7. At first, Nigerian efforts to take back the southeast territory (Biafra) was slow. They were not making much progress and the Biafra military was actually striking other parts of Nigeria. However, Nigerian forces were soon able to organize and attack Biafra and surround the remaining parts of Biafra, causing a stalemate. During the blockade, starvation and disease spread quickly through Biafra. Soon, Nigeria was able to defeat the remainder of Biafra and end the actual war.
8. Despite what the outside world believed, attempt at reconciliation between Nigeria and previous Biafra immediately began after the war. The war hit Nigeria hard financially, but with the oil money was able to reconstruct swiftly. It is estimated that close to a million people died in the conflict, due to war, starvation, and disease. The military government stayed in power in Nigeria for many more years after the war.
9. The conflict can still affect today in that there is still tension between the three main ethnic groups. In addition, there is competition for oil revenue amongst the groups. The delta area is till filled with poverty stricken and starving people.
1. What were the causes of the civil war?
ReplyDeleteThe Igbo, the Hausa, and the Yoruba emerged as the three dominant tribes in Nigeria upon the country’s independence in 1960, and religious and ethnic tensions (as well as conflict over oil) soon followed. The tenuous balance of control was tilted when the Hausa and Yoruba consolidated their power in the form of an alliance for the election in 1965. The Igbo staged a coup. The counter-coup that followed ultimately shattered the fragile bonds that had united the country post-independence, and the Igbo broke away and declared the southeastern portion of Nigeria an independent republic, Biafran,
2. What role did Britain play in causing this conflict?
Before 1960, Britain was the protectorate of Nigeria. Like so many other imperialist nations, Britain committed the fatal error of packing together a cluster of unrelated and conflicting tribes to make a country. Following independence, the conflicts that were born of such forced contact continued until imploding in the form of civil war.
3. When Nigeria was granted independence in 1960 how did the boundary agreements affect the three dominant ethnic groups?
The borders that were drawn following independence would separate the country into distinct ethnic and religious groups and eventually prove difficult or impossible to bridge: the Muslim Hausa and Fulani to the North, the Christian Igbo to the southeast, and the mixed Yoruba to the west. Kept split apart, the tensions that had brewed between the tribes perpetuated and strengthened over time.
4. Describe the 1965 elections and how the outcomes for the 3 main ethnic groups
The Hausa and Yoruba joined forces and defeated the Igbo in the 1965 elections. The Igbo declared the election a fraud, which led to a military coup, a counter-coup, and eventually, the civil war.
5. What happened during and after the first military coup?
When the 1965 elections were determined fraudulent, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi led the Igbo in a military coup and seized power. The Hausa responded with a counter-coup, placing Yakubu Gowon in power, and hundreds of Igbo residing in the north were massacred.
6. How did the discovery of oil in the South East of Nigeria eventually lead to a civil war?
The discovery of oil in the southeast inspired a hope amongst the Igbo that the wealth that could come of such a finding would enable them to be more powerful than their neighbors, the Hausa and the Yoruba. However, at the time the Hausa were in power and denied the Igbo all profits from the product. This intensified the tensions that would culminate in civil war.
7. Describe what events took place during the civil war and how it eventually ended in 1970.
The Nigerian government immediately responded to the creation of Biafran by assembling its army. The fledgling country’s army was reluctant to fight, which gave the Nigerian army time to organize. They surrounded the territory, and over the next few years many Biafrans would die of starvation (no supplies could get into the country) and violence. They eventually surrendered in 1970.
8. Explain the aftermath of the war.
Though the conflict seemed to have some sort of cathartic affect for those involved, tensions continued and distrust prevailed long after. Beyond the staggering death toll (caused by a combination of fighting, starvation, and disease), the country’s economy suffered a significant wound as well, though the business brought by oil eased this slightly. The military government remained in power for several years after.
9. How could this conflict continue to affect Nigeria today?
With each side feeling wronged by the other, animosity has not disappeared with the end of the war. This, coupled with a stubborn unwillingness to seek peace or understand both sides of the issue, has since created discord over economic and political control of the country.
1. The Eastern Region of Nigeria declared itself an independent state which was regarded as an act of secession by the Federal Military Government of Nigeria. The war was fought to reunify the country. The war was between the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria: The Igbo, the Hausa, and the Yoruba. The thirst for power and the following elections, as well as the discovery of oil became the basis for the problems that would erupt into civil war.
ReplyDelete2. Britain unified a pretty large area of land in Western Nigeria during the age of imperialism. Many different religious and ethnic groups were brought together under British rule and the diversity of these groups gave rise to the mounting tensions that would ensue.
3. The three ethnic groups were separated into three specific areas after Nigeria gained independence in 1960. The Hausa were in the north and predominantly less exposed to Western culture and lived more rural lifestyles that were centered around the growth of crops such as yams and cassava. The Igbo occupied the southern portion of the Delta and possessed adequate oil reserves. The Yoruba resided in the west and their culture was predominantly centered around Christianity and Islam.
4. The elections were controversial because of the dramatic shift in power and suspicion of fraud. Since Balewa won the election, and represented the NNA which served as an alliance between the NPC and NNDP, the Igbo lost much of their power and control shifted to the Hausa and Yoruba. The conflict between the three ethnic groups skyrocketed.
5. The first coup instilled General Ironsi as the military leader in Nigeria. Since Ironsi was an Igbo, this was an important and beneficial outcome for the Igbo people. However, a second coup led to military power resting in the hands of Yakubu Gowon. This created an immense amount of upset and tensions followed with violence.
6. The discovery of oil in the southeast created tensions the helped the coming of the war. However, since the Hausa were in power at the time, the Igbo were denied all profits from this gain and instead the north would benefit from the discovery and possess all revenue.
7. The Nigerian government was not extremely proactive at the onset of problems but was soon able to organize itself and combat the problem head on. The alleged blockade that ensued after the crisis became a stalemate caused many problems for the Biafra area. Disease was rampant but Nigeria was eventually able to achieve victory and the war was ended.
8. The military stayed in control of Nigeria for a large portion of time following the war. Nearly a million people died in the aftermath of the war from hunger, violence, and disease. The economy suffered although the revenue of benefits from the oil boom was able to sustain much of it.
9. Nigeria is still deprived of anything and everything. The ethnic groups have not made amends and have not come to terms with one another. The economy is still only benefitting rich oil installations and oil possessors. Corruption is everywhere and oil is the seed of the nation’s many problems. There are still ethnic and territorial disputes and tensions which lead to violent conflicts throughout the country.
THIS IS TYLER SMITH'S:
ReplyDelete1. There were many factors that lead to the Nigerian Civil War. One of the first events that helped this process along was the fact that Great Britain created Nigeria out of an area of West Africa that contained many different ethnic groups, religious groups, and linguistics. With the uneven groups, there was a result of strengthened regionalism. As a result, eventually the Eastern Region, Biafra, gained its independence. The war broke out to reunify the country.
2. The main role Britain played in causing the conflict was the fact that Britain
created Nigeria by selecting an area that had several different ethnic groups,
causing conflicts in interest. Along with this fault, they decided to run Nigeria
indirectly.
3. The 1960 created boundary agreements based on the three dominant ethnic groups, Igbo, Hausa-Fulani, and Yoruba. Since these three groups were separated by the boundary agreements, they had little room to grow strong relationships, which resulted in tensions between groups. Another problem was the fact that the area was separated in a way that gave the north more power because it was a smaller land with more people. This whole situation caused conflicts within the three ethnic groups.
4. During the 1965 elections, Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba joined forces against the
Igbo. Of course, the Igbo felt this action was deceitful and unfair. As a result of this event, the first military coup was created.
5. After the 1965 elections, the Igbo created a military coup to gain back the power stolen from the Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani. The Igbo were successful in the first military coup.
6. The discovery of oil in the South East of Nigeria gave the Igbo hope that they could become wealthy and more powerful than the Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani. In the end however, they denied the Igbo from all revenue, and as a result the Igbo suffered. As a result, tensions rose even more, eventually leading to a civil war.
7. Since Biafran was created, the Nigerian government acted right away by created an army. The area of Biafran went through a time of disease and starvation, which killed more than the war itself. As a result, the Biafran had to surrender.
8. As a result of the war, millions of Nigerians died, due to the killing and the spread of starvation and disease. Nevertheless, the country was torn apart and the structure was destroyed. Not only was the country itself devastated, but also the ethnic tensions that remained between the ethnic groups were stronger than ever.
9. This conflict could continue to affect Nigeria today because of the continuing ethnic tensions, the oil, and because of the weak government and economy.
1. The causes of the civil war in Nigeria in the 1960's were largely a result of the straining religious tensions between the Muslim Hausa in the north and the mostly Christian Igbo and Yoruba in the south. An alliance between the conservative Yoruba and Hausa during the election of 1965 sparked a counter coup amongst the Igbo who declared themselves a sovereign nation called The Republic of Biafra.
ReplyDelete2. Britain, acting as the protectorate of Nigeria, made the common mistake of trying to lot a bunch of different tribes into one country. They ignored the tribal boundaries and so the three hundred or so tribes of differing agendas and differing political and religious views were forced to try to get along for the sake of a country that they really had no reason to care about. Naturally relations were not altogether friendly.
3. Post-independence, Nigeria was separated by boundary lines into the north, the south east and the south west. The political boundaries merely emphasized the pre existing tensions between the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. The boundaries did noting to encourage cooperation between the three groups.
4. In the election of 1965 the Yoruba and Hausa formed an alliance against the Igbo and managed to overthrow them. The Igbo, who had previously been in an unbalanced alliance with the Hausa which afforded them most of the perks, felt that the election was unfair and it didn't sit well with everybody. As a result of this election, multiple coups followed and whatever fiendky bonds had remained were put on thin ice.
5.On January 15, 1966, General Aguyi Ironsi of the Igbo staged a coup in retaliation of the elections in 1965. A counter coup followed and massive massacres of Christian Igbo living in the northern Muslim Hausa territory ensued.
6. The oil in the south inspired hopefulness in the Igbo that they could regain some of their lost power. However this hope was all in vain because the corruption of the Hausa government kept most of the benefits of the oil discovery from ever reaching the Igbo. As one could imagine, there were no warm fuzzy feelings in the wake of the Hausa's hostile takeover of the industry.
7. The people of Biafra were not leaping at the chance to fight the Nigerian people. Eventually the Nigerian army organized and surrounded Biafra. This caused a humanitarian disaster in Biafra. Starvation and disease plagued the people. Finally the Biafrans surrendered to Nigeria.
8. The civil war, it is estimated, killed up to one million people due to the violence, hunger and disease. It forever marred Nigeria's global image. Fortunately the money reaped from the oil industry expedited the reconstruction process.
9. The civil war continues to effect the country today. Many of the country's people never fully recovered from the hunger and disease; not to mention the political awkwardness of the situation. The tension that existed before persists to this day.
1.The Nigerian Civil War, or Nigerian-Biafran War, began in 1967 and can be considered “the world’s first televised African tragedy and the beginning of the end for the euphoric Afro-optimism of the 1960s” (Ghazvinian 24). Conflict and tensions between the three main ethnic groups in Nigeria (the Hausa, the Igbo, and the Yoruba) reached a breaking point when the Hausa and Yoruba factions forged an uneasy alliance for the election of 1965, threatening the Igbo’s power. The Igbo responded by declaring the entire southeastern region of Nigeria as the independent Republic of Biafra, and soon the “troubles” of the region exploded into all out warfare and supposed genocide.
ReplyDelete2.Britain created arbitrary boundaries around Nigeria when establishing their territory decades earlier, and as European leaders have been bound to do the British did not consider cultural differences when drawing up the lines of the country. Because of this, Nigeria contains over 300 different ethnic and cultural groups, which obviously creates an atmosphere ripe for tension.
3.After the boundary agreements were determined in 1960, the three main groups settled in entirely separate pockets of the newly independent Nigeria. The Muslim Hausa congregated in the north, the Christian Igbo clustered in the southeast, and the half-Muslim, half-Christian Yoruba gathered in the southwest. No semblance of unity (excepting Nigerian citizenship) held together these three groups, which were constantly wary of one another and always ready to fight.
4.From 1960 to 1965, an uneasy alliance had persisted between the Igbo and the Hausa tribes. However, the Igbo were always the people who largely benefited from this arrangement, so with the election of 1965 the Yoruba seized their chance for power. The Hausa and the Yoruba banded together to support a new more conservative party, the NNPD. This allied force crushed the Igbo’s favored candidate in the elections, and the Igbo people feared losing all that they had gained in the previous five years.
5.Controversy over possible electoral fraud pushed General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi to take over the government of Nigeria on January 15, 1966 in a military coup. The Igbos, being the main planners of this event, benefitted greatly by this change. Hausa and Yoruba forces were outraged, and performed a counter coup on July 29 of the same year, in the process massacring many Christian Igbos living in the Hausa-dominated north.
6.The discovery of oil only served to make situations worse. The Igbo wanted their newfound riches to themselves, and were prepared to guard the oil zealously. However, the Hausa and Yoruba were in control, and so those groups tried to hoard all of the revenue from oil drilling without distributing enough of the money back to the Igbo. This controversy added yet another reason for the Igbo to break away.
ReplyDelete7.The Igbo declared their southwestern region to be the Republic of Biafra, and the Nigerian government quickly responded with force. While the Biafrans launched more successful initiatives in the early days of the war (even threatening the capital city of Lagos), their reluctance to fight ferociously (and therefore lose their moral edge) and the Nigerian army’s greater resources and organization eventually became the Biafran downfall. Nigerian forces surrounded the capital region by 1968, and for the next two years they used hunger and “genocide” as a means of destroying the hardy Biafran resistance. Shortly after the Biafran capital Enufru was finally captured in 1970, the short-lived republic crumbled.
8.Up to a million people died in this civil war. Nigeria’s reputation around the world suffered severely, and the ethnic tensions remained unusually high. Humanitarian workers (both domestic and foreigners) worked quickly to rebuild the country, but they could not repair trust nor could they restore the suffering economy.
9.While the physical reconstruction phase came and went successfully, the emotional and psychological wounds are much harder to heal. Ethnic tensions persist even until today, as do squabbles over oil revenue distribution. Nigeria is now considered one of the most corrupt countries of the world, and this war is arguably one of the steps the country has taken to reach this distinction.
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