Why Ojukwu declared the Republic of Biafra in 1967

On May 30, 1967, the military governor of Eastern Nigeria, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu proclaimed that “the territory and Region known as Eastern Nigeria, together with her continental shelves and territorial waters, shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title, The Republic of Biafra."

Ojukwu had four days before, on May 26, 1967, addressed the East’s Consultative Assembly consisting of some 300 delegates from all provinces in the East. He had declared that “there is no power in this country or in all Black Africa that would be able to subdue us by force”. It was left to the Assembly, Ojukwu continued, to choose one of the three alternatives:

• Accepting the terms of the North and Gowon and thereby submitting to the domination of the North,

• Continuing the present stalemate and drift, or

• Ensuring the survival of our people by asserting our autonomy.

The assembly got the message. For whatever it was worth, it gave Ojukwu the powers and urged him to declare at an early practicable date Eastern Nigeria as a free, sovereign, and independent state by the name and title of the Republic of Biafra, which he did on May 30, 1967. #HistoryVille #Biafra

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Video Credits: Reuters News via Adeyinka Makinde