Stella Dimoko Korkus.com: The Nigerian Civil War And Why It Happened...

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Wednesday, June 09, 2021

The Nigerian Civil War And Why It Happened...

The Nigerian Civil War which can also be called the Biafran war was fought between General Yakubu Gowon who was the head of government of Nigeria and Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu and it started on July 6 1967 and ended on January 15, 1970. 
Ojukwu who became very popular and seen as leader of the Igbo people is dead.....








The Biafra represented what the Igbo people of Nigeria wanted.

The war was as a result of plenty problems between the East and other parts of Nigeria

Wikipedia says ''The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britain's formal decolonization of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included ethno-religious violence and anti-Igbo pogroms in Northern Nigeria, a military coup, a counter-coup and persecution of Igbo living in Northern Nigeria. Control over the lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta also played a vital strategic role. Within a year, the Federal Government troops surrounded Biafra, capturing coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt. 


The blockade imposed as a deliberate policy during the ensuing stalemate led to mass starvation. During the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation. In mid-1968, images of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries. 


The plight of 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). The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were the main supporters of the Nigerian government, while France, Israel and some other countries supported Biafra. 

On 25 November 1969, John Lennon sent back his MBE medal to the Queen in protest of Britain's involvement with the war in Biafra''.


Its 2021 and there are still cries for the state of the Biafra to be actualized. The Igbo people still want to be cut off from Nigeria despite the hardship people are facing all over the country. The problem is bigger in Nigeria and looks like there is no solution for now.

The new leader who took over from Ojukwu is a man named Mr Kanu and he lives outside of Nigeria but mobilizes the people via the phone.

The Igbo people say they want to go but the Nigerian govt says No.
I wish the Nigerian govt and people luck as they try to sort out all their problems.


*Written by Marc and Partly culled from Wikipedia

74 comments:

  1. "...but mobilizes the people via his phone" 😄

    Awwww look at ojukwu.

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    1. That part cracked me too..The last sentence too nice job you did dear Bambino

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    2. Jeweluchi is damn funny. Control people from abroad via phone...

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    3. Oh!, this is written by Bambino... Well done Marc.

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    4. That part alone is enough to change the mind of those shouting war up and down.
      War comes with plenty things_ death, rape, hunger,mental health challenges.
      I just wish we will look for another way around the situation in the country.

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  2. Awwwn, he captured it all. I started laughing where he said he wish the Nigerian government and the people luck as they try to sort out their problems.
    Good one Marc, you did well

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  3. He tried. He even referenced the source he got the information from.. Good! marc may you grow in Knowledge and wisdom. Keep it up.

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  4. Nice write up. I didn't know much about the Biafra war before now.

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  5. You captured it all. Welldon Marc

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  6. I first got to know about Biafra when I read Chimamanda Adichie's book - Half of a yellow sun. I really think it should be taught in history in schools.

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    1. This here has always been my peoblem with Nigeria. Why scrape History feom thw school curriculum so that you wont teach our children about Nigerian Biafran war. It was no civil war, it was actually a war between 2 sovereign entity.

      I am an Igbo woman, who witnessed the war, it was no joke. We escaped from Kano back to east, we saw wickedness and injustice. I lost 4 siblings to the war. My day is blind in one eye cos of the war. We lost our houses and business to the war. I watched my mother and sister being raped by Nigerian soldiers
      I am angry. I was raped thrice, i was just 12. But they raped me 3 times.
      When an igbo man or woman rant, most times it is coming from a place of deep pain
      The Nigerian state failed her people and is still doing it. Imagine being given 20 freaking pounds out of all that tou had in the bank. What of those that didnt bank theirs.
      Listen up, if you can leave this country. We have sent our kids out and we will stay. But we pray ka Ozoemena.

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    2. Thank you anonymous 11:52 for this comment....

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    3. 11:52 I'm so so sorry to hear your experiences. So sorry. Hugs.

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    4. Anon 11:12.. Your story breaks my heart. This was no fault of yours but you and others were made to suffer the consequences. I pray you find total healing. Our government have no shame, the world have no shame. May we never be a victim of another war.

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    5. through. The Midwestern region declared neutrality before and during the war. Yet Biafra invaded Midwest. Our women were raped by biafran troops and they dehumanize our men. My dad trekked from Agbor to Uromi. So please know that there is nothing federal troops did that biafran troops did not do. Like your family, we were in the North and left just before the war. My father would have been killed if not for the the intervention of an Hausa truck pusher. The guy did something for my dad days after we got to the north and my father paid him double what he asked for and gave him clothes

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    6. Anon 11:52 sorry for your loss. Biafran launched the first salvo by invading the Midwest. The Invasion was led by yoruba soldiers “Victor Banjo and Adewale Ademoyega” they were forging ahead to capture Lagos and Ibadan when the Nigerian army repelled them. While retreating they killed lots of people in the Edo/Delta axis, they also raped women and burnt down properties. Ojukwu later executed Victor Banjo for failing to capture Lagos and sentenced Adewale Ademoyega to life imprisonment. It was the Federal troops that later freed Ademoyega. There are no saints on both sides!

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    7. Augustus Caesar why repeating yourself with different ids? We’ve heard you. The names you are mentioning don’t sound like Biafra!

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    8. Anon 16:23 Its people like you that peddle conspiracy theories because you don’t know and you not ready to learn. How did you come to the conclusion that I’m Augustus? Yes, the names I mentioned are not Biafran names, ignorant people like you think it’s only igbo people that fought on the side of Biafra during the war. Lots of brainwashed Yoruba officers fought on the side of Ojukwu and they were later executed and imprisoned by him.

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    9. E hugs annonymous11:52.

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    10. 15:09, how can u say Biafra fired the first salvo. Did the war start in the Midwest? Anybody who wants details of the war should read accounts from both sides and use common sense to make judgement. I personally have read Alexander Madiebo's book on the civil war (I love that work) and a few other official commentaries on the subject, to understand that innocent civilians (moreso on the Biafran side) suffered terribly for what need not have occurred in the first place. Kaduna Nzeogwu's coup was just not neccesary. Chimamanda's 'Half of a Yellow Sun' captures the various incidents that went down at the time, in an interesting read. Initially, the book reads like a romance novel. It got captivating for me, from the point the civil war broke out. For someone, probably not born at the time, she did quite a remarkable job.

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  7. Bravo Marc, you did well. I have never read up the Biafra story, but your write up is very close to what my mother in-law told me about the 1967 Nigeria civil war. More knowledge to you.

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  8. He even knows more already than many that only read and watch one sided news bashing a particular region.

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  9. Awww! Bravo darling 🥳 you did well! Keep it up!

    History is no longer in our educational curriculum sef! What a shame

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  10. Marc, you follow me see am? Mobilising people over the phone.....😁

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    1. Marc tried. Mobilisation via phone and SM all join. Thanks for wishing Naija well.

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  11. Well done Marc!

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  12. Well done Marc👍👍👍

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  13. Beautiful write up. Please is there any book, that give full details about this biafra war?

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    1. There are a lot of them like There was a country by Chinua Achebe, The Biafran story by Frederick Forsyth, Because I am involved by Late Ojukwu himself, The Tragedy of Victory by Godwin Alaba-Isima e.t.c

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    2. Thanks phoenix. I will check them out

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  14. This is the most popular account of the war... It is possible you ask someone from the North, and they will give a different account, thats Why they won't teach this in schools...

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  15. Good research work.
    Even as a Nigerian,I don't know much about our history0.
    Kudos marc

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  16. Thumbs up Marc, Well done.

    We need all the luck there is to sort out the issues plaguing the country

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  17. Nice one Marc!! Kudos to you.

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  18. Well done Marc. God bless you

    I laughed at "mobilizes pepole over the phone". Na that part dey tire me. Why not come and make the move with them physically.

    Mum Glow

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  19. He ended up saying nothing, absolutely nothing. There was no effort to research what led to the war. Nothing that happened between 1960-63 that played a role in the war. Everything that led to the war happened between January 15 1966 - mid 1967 '

    The starvation of Biafrans , it was a war , it was the responsibility of Ojukwu to feed his people but he couldn't. The federal government offered to be dropping food by air to feed the people. But Ojukwu wanted the federal government to be supplying the food through the government of Biafra. The federal government believed Ojukwu will not deliver the food to the mass of the Biafran people and he would use the food to feed his troops at the expense of the people. I find it very funny when our eastern brothers and sisters sing with starvation and blame chief Obafemi Awolowo and General Gowon. Ojukwu and only Ojukwu was responsible for the starvation of his people. Blaming others is silly. Ojukwu knew Biafra was not ready for war economically and militarily, yet he led his people into a war claiming the grass in Biafra will rise up and fight. Then he ran away after the death of 2 million people in search peace in the presidential palaces of Ivory Coast and Zaire (as they were then called)

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    1. @Augustus I was laughing the way they salivating over the post. It’s sad that a lot of people don’t know the history of their country, they just go with narrative they fed on social media.

      You can talk about the war without talking about what led to the war. The political and military leadership of the North and Southwest were assassinated by young officers from the SE. They also assassinated some of their wives in the presence of their young kids. Most of those kids became orphans at a very young age.

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    2. Augustus thanks for this narrative the likes Kanu, Teejay, Queen, Eka and the like needs the real truth and not their own lies they keep hating on.

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    3. Alexander, which Nigerian government was dropping food for ppl? Thankfully, records are there to show that food was coming in from international organizations like the Red Cross and being distributed by Caritas, only to be blocked by the government in its bid to use starvation as a weapon of war. If the government is so innocent in the matter, then WHY ARE THEY SO AFRAID TO TEACH HISTORY IN SCHOOLS? Let ppl use their common sense and judge.

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  20. I was just smiling..
    Well written Marc
    👍👍.

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  21. Welldone big guy. More knowledge and understanding marc

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  22. Nigeria is really a mess now. d system has been altered and scattered because of nepotism. Since Buhari came in, there has not been commissioners in Federal Character Commission. The system of Federal Character that ensures equality has disappeared because Buhari feels some place gave him 95%, and d other place gave him 5%. Almost every top position is headed by a northern/fulani. Registrar of MDCN, NMCN, immigration, customs, police, army, etc. Let me not even start!

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    1. The way people lie blatantly is scary. There are FCC Commissioners, in fact the Chairman of the Commission is a Yoruba woman from Kwara State. While Buhari has appointed more Northerners into key positions, most appointees under his administration are from a particular State in the SW. If you put all the names of his appointees with their State of origin on a spreadsheet you will see that Ogun State has the highest number of appointees than any other State in the Federation, and Imo State is even in the top three.

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    2. What I this one talking about? Whobis talking about d chairman? Go and ask how federal character commission works beforeBuhari regime.

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    3. You said “Since there has not been Commissioners in the Federal Character Commission” and I’m stating it to you that you lying. Here’s a list of all the FCC Commissioners:

      Muheeba Dankaka, chairperson
      Henry Ogbulogo
      Salihu Bella
      Obonganwan Dorah Ebong
      lbeabuchi Uche
      Mohammad Tijjani
      Tonya G. Okio
      Silas Mfa Madkpah
      Abba Ali Monguno
      Nsor Atamgba
      Alims Agoda
      Tobias Chukwuemeka
      lmuetinyan Festus,
      Sesan Fatoba
      Ginika Florence Tor
      Hamza Mohammad
      Diogu Uche
      Lawan Ya’u Roni
      Hadlza Usman Muazu
      Muhammad Awwal Na’lya
      Lawal Garba
      Abubakar Atiku Bunu
      Idris Bello
      Daniel James Kola
      Are Bolaji
      Nasir Kwarra
      Suleiman Barau Said
      Abiodun Akinlade
      Olufemi Lawrence Omosanya
      Adeoye Abdulrazak Olalekan
      Adeniyi Olowofela
      Stephen A Jings
      Wokocha Augustine
      Abdullahi Aminu Tafida
      Armaya’u Dauda Abubakar
      Jibril Maigari
      Saul Garba
      Adamu Muhammad Sidi-Ali

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  23. BITCHandSLUT.com9 June 2021 at 12:46

    Kudos to you marc👍

    My only problem with Biafrans is that they are trying to force other regions to join them.

    In this case, truthfully, they cannot actualize their aim bcos those they are saying must follow them are not willing to.

    If only they will go with their Eastern states then I think that would have been easier for them.

    I wish Nigerian government and Biafrans can come to a compromise for the sake of peace.

    Marriage no dey work, na to sail.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. There is no compromise. The principle of indivicibility is very clear in the Constitution. They want a referendum, but there is no referendum in the Constitution. The president cannot and should not do anything that is not in the Constitution to please anybody.

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    3. They want a referendum because they never believe Jonathan will loose in 2015 since then it has been a non stop cry.

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  24. Thumbs up to you Marc you did a great job analysing the civil war
    Mobilizing people through the phone is really funny but true. Keep it up Marc 👍👍

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  25. I laughed hard @ "no solution" & "good luck" parts. Well done Marc, continue to grow in wisdom and knowledge.

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  26. Even in Muslim, when a wife says, she wants a divorce/sekina, the man obeys.

    I don't see any reason why FG can't divorce the Igbos since they want "sekina"/divorce.

    They should divorce them abeg.

    Nice write up tho.

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    1. Listen to yourself please. It took 30 years of war for Eritrea to get their own country. The leaders of South Sudan spent close to 25 years fighting Sudan before they got independence. The people of Catalonia have been struggling to gain independence in the last 200 years. Scotland is not different, but when they were finally given a referendum, the Scottish people voted to remain in the UK.

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  27. May we not expirience this again

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  28. I wrote a song for Nigeria, it is titled, Nigerian Dream. Dear Stella, I beg you post when the song is out. It is just a message to my fellow Nigerians

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  29. This writeup is amazing and informative.. Kudos Marc. This is the fist thing i have read about biafra and this brings me to ask what is the aim and vision of the biafra move?

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  30. What pisses me off about those agitating for Biafra is the fact that they not serious. It is just noise and cruise. The minorities of the then eastern Region always wanted to have their own region and in 1967 Gowon gave them Rivers State. 54 years after some people led by a coward wants Rivers, Balyesa, Cross rivers, Akwa Ibom, parts of Delta State and parts of Benue in his Biafra. This guy have mental health issues

    Commenting as isidominic8@gmail.com
    Comment as:
    Augustus Caesar (Google)

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  31. People after reading this are still asking for the aim and vision of biafra, I guess reading comprehension is a problem for some people. BTW, it seems people are more interested in the line, ' ... from the phone" is that even the important part of the piece? Chai, my people sha, e go tay before naija go see better days nor be curse, if people reason this way, no wonder we are the way we are.

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  32. Stella is this the write up about Nigeria's history by your bambino?
    Nice one Marc👍

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  33. Good job Marc. My grand parents did justice in telling the biafra story. It was horrible. We won't experience war in this country, let their be a peaceful resolution.

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  34. Nice one Marc, I enjoyed reading it. You truly captured the essence of the Nigerian civil war! I also heard from my mother who was a little girl during the war how they ate lizards because of starvation and recieved food drops from aeroplanes from Gabon and other countries that supported Ojukwu. My mother's eldest sister was made to hide in the ceiling of their house when soldiers came because of rape because she was so beautiful and fair then. The really suffered then. WAR is never a good thing see how the people of SYRIA are suffering now. SAY NO TO WAR!

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  35. Great job Marc!

    You summarised it so well. A lot of adults are still suffering from the aftermath of the war.

    God will indeed help us sort out all these issues.

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  36. Good job Marc! You even know more about the Biafran issue than most of our home grown.
    This issue is something that shouldn't even be considered at all, I mean the igbos themselves are not united they never work as one, even to cooperate and choose one person to be the next presidential candidate from their region, who sai. You now want to secede thinking that's the best option. I tell you even if the secession comes to pass there will be internal squabbles because they won't even be able to agree on matters that affect them as a people. The so-called Kanu like Marc said is mobilising people via the phone why can't he come down if he is that confident and has as much firepower as he claims.
    Then the one that got me laughing was the fact that they purposely cut out states that have oil as in crude oil into their biafra Republic and had to make sure that they have two ports, having only the port in Onne won't make sense so they had to add cross River to it so they can have the Calabar port too. Yes you might say some parts of Benue are close to Enugu and Ebonyi but we know the real reason Benue is included, are they not the food basket of the nation.
    What has the Igbo nation got to show for themselves exactly? If they were to secede, they would depend on a lot of hand outs from other countries with all their pity party stories and when those stop coming in, what will they do? They haven't even thought on how they are going to survive as a people. What i would have expected them to do was to bounce back hard and strong after the whole war thing, make themselves giants that can't be contended with, advance in all spheres. Umu Igbo we need to use our heads, secession isn't the way forward now.
    I'm just shaking my head for people who have allowed themselves to be used by blood thirsty hediots.

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  37. Marc, das hast du gut gemacht!
    Marc, well done
    👍

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  38. If you have heard of the Non Governmental Organisation - Medecins Sans Frontiers(MSF) or Doctors without Borders, it came about as a result of the Nigerian-Biafra Civil war.
    The account I got was that the powers that be tried to stop medical aid and didnt want journalists reporting the true state of events - starvation and death by malnutrition and the role of the government. Certain French doctors and Journalists opposed this, as they felt they had come to offer humanitarian service and would not chose sides;as long as anyone was in need, they would offer care. These doctors broke away from their parent body, set up aid with their personal funds and continued to offer care.
    This is the reason MSF does not accept donations from governments, the founding principle stands to keep them unbiased and neutral.

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  39. Interesting write ✍ up
    Well written.

    Weldone Marc.

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  40. Well done Marc, nice write up. 🦋

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