Sparked by the recent protest of pro Biafra youths, who took to the streets in their thousands in the Eastern parts of the country days ago, it appears like the re-emergence of Biafra is on the horizon. However, the agitation for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra has been on for quite some time.

After the arrest of Radio Biafra’s Director, Nnamdi Kanu in the UK for allegedly "inciting war" and "preaching hate messages" against Nigeria which he refers to as a “zoo”, the movement only recently gained mass, snow-balling into an open protest in several regions of the country.

Amidst an armed insurgency in the North-East, increasing ethnic skirmishes in the Middle Belt and the potential renewal of militancy in the Niger Delta not to mention the economic hardship being suffered by many Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic groups, it’s surprising that the full swing of such a movement chooses such a time for its resurgence.

We could call it a misguided thought or insensitivity on the part of those clamoring for state of Biafra, despite being fully aware of the current situation of the country. However, the agitators claim that Biafra is a just cause.

Let’s dig deep to the annals of history and see how the state of it all began.

The Republic of Biafra was a secessionist state in south eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970 which borrowed its name from the Bight of Biafra (the Atlantic bay to its south). In its two and half years of existence, its inhabitants were mostly Igbo’s from south eastern parts of country. Biafra was formally recognized by Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Zambia, and it received assistance from Israel, France, Spain, Portugal, Rhodesia, South Africa and the Vatican City.

From birth, its existence was already doomed as the situations that led to its creation was marked with spillage of blood that will forever hunt the Igbo’s chances to have a taste of power at the helm again.

In January 1966, a military coup occurred during which 30 political leaders including Nigeria's Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and the Northern premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, were killed. Six months later, In July 1966, northern officers and army units staged a counter-coup, afterwards a group of Muslim officers named a Christian, General Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, as the head of the Federal Military Government.

The naming came against the wish of Odumegwu Ojukwu, who was a military governor of the Eastern region at that time as he insisted on Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe taking the senior command. On May 26, the Eastern region voted to secede from Nigeria and four days later, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the South Eastern Region's military governor, announced the Republic of Biafra and subsequently became its president. Gowon convinced the northern side that the west would also opt out of being Nigeria if the east was allowed to do so and with the backing of the Northern leaders, on July 6, 1967, he declared war and attacked Biafra.

Despite superior artillery and tactics from the Nigerian army, the war’s most lethal weapon was starvation and Chief Obafemi Awolowo gave his full support in its use.

"ALL is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war and I don’t see why we should feed our enemies in order for them to fight harder" - Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Colonel Benjamin Adekunle a.k.a The Black Scorpion expertly carried out the strategy while he led his 3 Marine Commando and laid waste to the Biafran army, successfully capturing Escravos, Burutu, Urhonigbe, Owa and Aladima, Bomadi and Patani, Youngtown, Koko, Sapele, Ajagbodudu, Warri, Ughelli, Orerokpe, Umutu and Itagba and other major town of Biafra.

Despite having a number of mercenaries (Europeans & South Africans) fighting for them, the Biafra army were only able to effectively fight at home and their efforts where hindered by shortage of food and ammunition. With defeat certain, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu escaped to Ivory Coast, where President Félix Houphouët-Boign whose country recognised Biafra granted him political asylum. The two and half years of war ended and left more than 2 million people dead and Biafra was absorbed back into Nigeria on January 15, 1970. All of this happened 45 years ago and since then, its resurgence has been relatively peaceful until recently.

Now, several questions come to mind, what will happen if the struggle is hijacked by the violent members of the group? How about breakaway factions that may turn to armed struggle to accelerate the dream of the sovereign state of Biafra?

Politically, there’s a divide among the eastern powers. Some who hold power in the so called ‘Biafran States’ have called for calm while others have remained relatively silent, or perhaps are waiting for the right time to jump ship. As you might have guessed taking a tough stance on the movement may harm whatever political ambitions they may nurse in the near future should the pro Biafrans have their way.

With the clamor for the sovereignty of Biafra, it’s note worthy to understand what it takes to establish an independent state. With several grey areas to thread over, more often than not the scales weigh more to the side that see secession as not permitted by the constitution of a country- what else would you expect, else every region, state or neighborhood would call for its own independence.

However there have been successful cases of secession, for example, the Republic of Texas successfully seceded from Mexico in 1836, although it took the form of outright rebellion against Mexico. In 1845, the US Congress admitted Texas as a state prompting Mexico to warn the US that annexation would be an act of war which wasn’t heeded as a result the Mexican–American War followed in 1846.

The Confederates – a group of secessionist American states which refused to put a stop to the use of slaves and as a result filled for secession from the Union in 1861 led to the American Civil War.
Secession is supported by international law under two cases .... more here: http://www.hfmagazineonline.com/biafra-rekindling-bloody-lost-cause/