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The African Country You Probably Didn't Know Existed (Biafra)
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Mar 31, 2025
Support me on Patreon & get exclusive / ahead of time content! https://www.patreon.com/generalknowledge Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GKonYoutube In this video I talk about the breakaway & unrecognized state of Biafra, located in East/South Nigeria. Biafra declared its independence in 1967 after a series of persecutions of the Igbo people within Nigeria. It fought in a conflict against Nigeria until 1970 when, despite the support from various African and European nations, it had to surrender to avoid total destruction. The reason why Biafra claims independence, in addition to it being a response to Nigerian persecution, is the fact that they consider themselves a different nation than Nigeria, something that we can understand by viewing the pre-colonial borders of this territory, as well as the early colonial ones. The first British colonies in Nigeria were separated in two, the Northern and Southern Nigerian protectorates. In around 1900, simply for administrative convenience, they decided to join the two and created a single Nigerian colony, which was then granted independence as a whole. The amalgamation of Nigeria and the different cultures within it led to various conflicts that last until modern times, the most significant one so far being the one in Biafra. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:22 Quick answer 00:53 What is Biafra? 01:17 Historical context 02:10 Early colonialism 04:17 Differences between North & South Nigeria 05:38 The British 'amalgamation' of Nigeria 07:05 Nigerian independence 07:12 Internal conflicts 07:39 Biafran independence 07:43 The Flag of Biafra 08:20 Protectorate of Benin 09:13 Conflict with Nigeria
View Video Transcript
0:00
Again, Africa
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A few weeks ago I made a video about the unrecognized country of Amazonia in Cameroon
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It did very well so I decided to make another video, this one, where I explore another self-proclaimed
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nation in Africa, one in fact that borders Amazonia itself, the country of Biafra
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If you want the quick answer, Biafra is a partially recognized secessionist state in
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West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970
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Its territory consisted of the predominantly equal-populated territories in the area, but
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what it is, the historical context, and the reasons that led to independence are incredibly
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interesting, so I urge you to stick around and find out. Let's jump into it
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What is Biafra? Let's start with the basics. The word Biafra is derived from two Igbo words, Bia which means come and Fra which means take
1:04
And Biafra the country was named after the Biafra Bay. Its region was home to various ancient kingdoms, mostly dominated by the Igbo people, roughly
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in the area where Nigeria and Cameroon now are. A 1710 map indicates that the region with its name was one of great importance for European colonizers
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And before we get into when Biafra declared independence and why, let's provide some historical context
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Travel via the coast of Biafra is estimated to account for 13% of the total number of enslaved people taken from the western African coast
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Despite some light Portuguese and then Spanish presence, the British were always the main colonial force
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And in 1960, Nigeria became independent from the United Kingdom. Similarly to other new African states, the country's borders weren't exactly accurate when it came to old pre-colonial territories
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The final organization was the one that most resembles the territory of modern Nigeria today, called precisely Colonial Nigeria since 1914
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But before this, the colonial organization was actually more accurate and divided the territory in two, the Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorates
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Northern Nigeria was a colony created from the territories of the old Sokoto Caliphate
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as well as the even older Kanem Borunu Empire. These two were mostly Muslim feudal states living in a semi-desert environment
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which even after British colonialism, maintained some autonomy on the ground. While the Southern Nigeria Protectorate was different
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it was created by the British to join three small colonies they had in that region
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The Niger Coast Protectorate, originally called the Oil Rivers Protectorate. Here we can see a cool stamp from there with the figure of Queen Victoria
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This territory had previously been controlled by numerous local rulers, such as the Aro Confederacy, the Kingdom of Benin, the Oron Nation, the Kingdom of Boni
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as well as Atakpa, which the British renamed to Duketown. The Lagos Colony, centered precisely on the port city of Lagos
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which conquered the territory from the local Yoruba people, and the Royal Niger Company
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a mercantile company charted by the British government for colonial purposes in Africa
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was also key in this territory as it enabled the British Empire to establish control over the lower
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Niger River against German competition. A fun fact, the Royal Niger Company was eventually
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integrated with Unilever, a British-Dutch company that exists up to today and mass-produces
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consumer goods, the role of private companies in the story gets even more
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surprising as we go on. In 1900, the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and
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Northern Nigeria Protectorate passed from company hands to the British Crown at the urging of Governor Frederick Lugard The two territories were amalgamated as the colony and protectorate
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of Nigeria, while maintaining considerable regional autonomy among the three major regions
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the Northern Protectorate, the Southern Protectorate, and the colony of Lagos. So now that we have that historical context, we can understand why the people of Biafra
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are arguably different from the rest of Nigeria. The British amalgamation of different ethnic and
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religious groups into one federation created internal tensions which persist in Nigeria up
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to today. Like I mentioned, the north was mostly Muslim and feudal upon colonization
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while the south was animalistic, more tribal, with many of its people then converting to Christianity
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both due to the British presence, but also in great deal because of Portuguese missionaries
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who accompany traders and officials to the West African coast in order to spread Roman Catholicism
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They had done this in the Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Empire
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even before the British had established full colonial control. Not only was there this key religious difference between people of the South and the North
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but also their culture as African civilizations was different. In the south, there were people of the Igbo culture, as well as the Yoruba, the Edo, the Ibibyo and the Ijau
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In the north, the Yoruba were partially present, but none of the other ones were
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Instead, there were people of Hauza, Arabic, Fula and Kanuri cultures. Save some native empires, these people were always ruled separately, some in the north and some in the south
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And even the British did it at first, but then, for administrative convenience, they joined them up together
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It's even on the record. The so-called amalgamation of Nigeria was planned by the British government at the time
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We can find it in the Report of the Niger Committee from 1898
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This report stated that combining those three jurisdictions would reduce administrative expenses and facilitate deployment of resources and money between the areas
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You can even access the document itself today. I'll leave a link for it in the description
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And they even say themselves, it is worth noting that racial, religious, and cultural differences
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were not the ultimate deciding factor. Oh, and by the way, I also found this super cool annual report
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for the Lagos colony from 1898, where they list out the income, expenses
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and other interesting details about the British colonial activity in that region
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I'll post a link to this in the description as well. And here comes another mistake. Not only did the British ignore regional differences and decide to
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unify the colonies, but they didn't even fully commit to it. Each region had a native administration
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staffed by locals and headed by the traditional rulers, mostly emirs in the north and often
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Obas in the south. But even worse, when the British granted Nigeria its independence
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they ignored the previous mistakes and a whole joint colony was given independence as a single
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state. So now it's 1960, and Nigeria is independent as one country, but within it there is more than
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only one nation. Ethnic tensions had diminished during discussions of independence, they sort of
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had a common goal, get the British out, but after they did, ethnic and religious riots began to take
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place, many of which targeting Igbo people, natives to this Biafra region. These escalated more and
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more, culminating in the 1966 Igbo Massacre. About 300,000 people are estimated to have died
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with 1 million being displaced. So after this, a group of military leaders from Biafra organized
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a coup to separate themselves from Nigeria and establish their own nation. In 1967, they held a
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vote and the local governor declared independence as the Republic of Biafra Their chosen flag consists of a horizontal tricolor of red black and green charged with a golden rising sun over a golden bar The 11 rays of the sun represent the 11 provinces of Biafra
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The colors were taken from the court of arms of the eastern administrative region
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and in turn, that court of arms was based on the colors of the Pan-African flag
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Because of this, it's similar to, for instance, the flags of Kenya and Malawi
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It was also the inspiration for the flag of the short-lived Republic of Benin, consisting of the Biafran-occupied Midwestern region of Nigeria
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This is a little bit of a tangent to the story, but the Republic of Benin, which by the way has little or nothing to do with the actual country of Benin today, was another territory of Nigeria which Biafran separatists occupied
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It wanted to remain neutral in conflict, but Biafra was scared that the non-Ikbo population would side against them
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and so they established a puppet state there, naming it after the region's capital, Benin City
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and using a very similar flag to the one they used in Biafra. The strategy backfired though, and the Biafran occupation of this region turned residents against the secessionist cause
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and was even used by the Nigerian government as supposed justification to escalate the war against Biafra
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But let's get back to the main story. What happened after the declaration of independence
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Nigeria obviously didn't like or accept this, and so they declared war and invaded the separatist region
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The Biafrans weren't alone though. They were formally recognized as a sovereign state by Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Zambia
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This is an odd example. Usually these secessionist states are recognized by no one and many other nations provided military or diplomatic support
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Portugal France Spain Israel Rhodesia Norway South Africa and the Vatican as well as non state actors such as
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Médecins Sans Frontières and some Catholic institutions In fact, it seems the widely useful and well-known Médecins Sans Frontières was actually created because of the conflict in Biafra
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Afra. Some countries were also more active than others in their support. Portugal, for instance
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provided weapons and munitions, as well as medicine and food, which were airlifted from
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Saint-Omer-e-Prince. The new country's currency was even printed in Portugal in their national
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mint. It's odd how the regime supported an independence movement in Africa, but at the
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same time repressed independence movements in their own African colonies. France's role was
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also key. There are some reports of French oil company Elf Equitan taking part in aiding the
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Biafranes. After all, South Nigeria is where the country's valuable oil reserves are. The whole
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South of the country is richer due to its environment and coastline. One of the arguments
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for the British wanting to unify the two colonies was precisely to help financing the North via the
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South's income. The French bet on supporting the Biafranes was to establish a profitable relation
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in the future to exploit those oil resources. The United States were officially neutral
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but there was strong public support for Biafra. The American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive was
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founded by American activists to spread pro-Biafran propaganda. And US President Richard Nixon was
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sympathetic to Biafra, accusing Nigeria of committing a genocide against them and calling
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for the US to intervene in the war to support them, being ultimately unsuccessful in his efforts
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due to the costs of the Vietnam War. Other than oil, one of the reasons why, for instance, France or the US sided with Biafra
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was the fact that Nigeria was supported by the Soviet Union, along with Egypt, in the conflict
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as was the case with many other African nations at this time. The war lasted for three years, and by 1970, the consequences were awful
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100,000 soldiers died between both sides. The Biafran forces, although initially successful in some battles
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were ultimately overwhelmed by the larger and better equipped Nigerian army Over 2 million Biafran civilians died both from the conflict but also due to famine a consequence of Nigeria naval blockade of the region Foreign support was not enough to aid them and so they were forced to surrender to Nigeria in order to stop the complete destruction of
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their people. Not only was the conflict devastating for Biafra and its population, but the aftermath
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was also not good. After the surrender of Biafrans, some Igbos who had fled the conflict
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returned to their properties but were unable to claim them back from new occupants
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In addition, after declaring its independence, Igbo people withdrew their funds from Nigerian banks
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and converted them to the new Biafran currency. But after the war, the same couldn't happen
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and bank accounts owned by Biafranians were seized, with only £20 being attributed to each person
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Federal projects by the Nigerian government in Biafra were also greatly reduced
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compared to other parts of the country, and all of this led to an even lower trust in Nigerian authorities
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by the Igbo people. The flag of Biafra, for instance, has also been banned. Because of this
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Igbo nationalism emerged immediately after the end of the conflict, and it became more militant
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since the 1990s, calling for the revival of Biafra. Various Biafran secessionist groups have
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emerged, such as the indigenous people of Biafra, the movement for the actualization of the sovereign
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state of Biafra and the Biafra Zionist Front. The point is that the people still feel discriminated
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against there and believe the issues that led to the conflict have not been adequately addressed
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both the discrimination but also the unequal distribution of resources, many of which come
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from their region itself. If they were to become a country today, they would face innumerous
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challenges. They would have to recover their currency, established government institutions, and military forces, but with some foreign aid and Nigeria not being against it, it could work
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and the Igbo people could finally regain a country of their own. It would be decently sized
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at 77,000 square kilometers, with a rich coast and many natural resources that, if adequately
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explored by themselves, could finance the country's development and recovery after the conflict
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However, the reality is, if the Afrans were unable to win a war against Nigeria in the past
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it's unlikely that they would now or in the near future. It sadly seems that the position of Igbo
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people is more precarious than ever. If independence is out of the question, then another solution must
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be found. So the key to resolving this issue would likely be addressing the underlying grievances of
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the people in what is now known, not as Biafra anymore, but Southeastern Nigeria, and finding a
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way to create a more equitable and just society. This will require a commitment from both the
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the Nigerian government and the secessionist groups to engage in meaningful dialogue and find
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a peaceful and sustainable solution. So, that is a brief overview of another temporary country in
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Africa that a lot of people don't know about, Biafra, how the region was initially ruled by
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the natives through various kingdoms and empires, then being captured by the British and one of its
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chartered colonial companies, being part of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and eventually
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being unified with Northern Nigeria by the British due to administrative convenience
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but ignoring the key differences between the two regions, most of all, religion. Upon independence
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the mistake in these artificial, European-made borders was kept, and Nigeria as a whole was
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granted independence, ignoring the different people of these nations. The persecution of the
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equal people led to their declaration of independence, sparking a terrible internal
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conflict with Nigeria that lead to even more destruction for them and their eventual surrender
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What do you think about this? Should Biafra be able to become its own country? Let me know in
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the comments along with your opinions and thoughts as well as any other cases of attempted countries
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throughout the world. Thanks so much for watching this video, subscribe if you want
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and I will see you next time for more general knowledge
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