Self determination is as
legitimate as the human rights of an individual. Self determination in my eyes is a way of expressing total freedom and independence,
this to me includes the
freedom of a nation to
express itself through its
indigenous culture, traditions, language, and maybe religious beliefs.

'Biafra' is a name that appears on a number of European maps before the formation of colonial contraptions like Nigeria in the late 19th and
early 20th century. Europeans used this name to identify areas of Africa that produced certain products, and eventually slaves from specific ethnic groups. This is an exonyms meaning 'Bight of Biafra' is not a name used by the indigenous people that it was in reference to. Till today
nobody knows the true
meaning of 'Biafra', it's
possible that it was a
misnomer by the Portuguese who confused the area with the Biafar or Biafada people of
Guinea Bissau.

The question is whether the name of 'Biafra' is relevant to the people who have been described as situated on the Bight of Biafra and does it have meaning to these people? Can it be accurately
explained to someone who may call themselves a 'Biafran'?
Attempts have been made to link 'Biafra' back to the Igbo language, but the fact is even Biafra is pronounced 'Biafura'
in the Igbo language and
other Biafran languages
because the consonants in Igbo do not join, like in the case of the 'fr' in 'Biafra'. The words Biafra is as colonial and foreign to the people as the
word 'Nigeria' or 'Port
Harcourt' or the twisted
spellings of many Biafran
towns such as 'Onitsha'.

We need to evaluate this name, maybe this isn't the most pressing issue now, but the name of a people is very important. Every great nation can trace its name back to a
language and explain its name and why it matches the psyche of the people. The worst thing of Biafra isn't just that it may be a colonial name, but we are unable to further trace back the meaning to a
specific language in verifiable terms.

Please, if anybody sees this, what do you think?

Thank you.