Biafra (officially the Republic of Biafra) was a secessionistunrecognized state in West Africa which existed from 30 May 1967 to January 1970; it was made up of the states in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. The country took its name from the Bight of Biafra, the stretch of water to its south at the east end of the Gulf of Guinea. Its inhabitants were mostly Igbo,
who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious
tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria. Other ethnic groups that
were present were the Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Ejagham, Eket, Ibeno and the Ijaw among others.
In 1960, Nigeria became independent of the United Kingdom.
As with many other new African states, the borders of the country did
not reflect earlier ethnic, cultural or religious boundaries. Thus, the
northern region of the country has a Muslim majority, while the southern population is predominantly Christian. Following independence, Nigeria was divided primarily along ethnic lines with a Hausa and Fulani majority in the north, and Yoruba and Igbo majorities in the south-west and south-east respectively.[5]
In January 1966, a military coup occurred
during which a group of predominantly Igbo junior army officers
assassinated 30 political leaders including Nigeria's Prime Minister,
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and the Northern premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello. The four most senior officers of Northern origin were also killed. It was alleged to be an Igbo coup because Nnamdi Azikiwe,
the President, of Igbo extraction, and the premier of the southeastern
part of the country were not killed and the commander of the army,
General Aguiyi Ironsi seized power to maintain order.[6][7][8]
In July 1966 northern officers and army units staged a
counter-coup. Muslim officers named a General from a small ethnic group
(the Angas) in central Nigeria, General Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, as the head of the Federal Military Government (FMG). The two coups deepened Nigeria's ethnic tensions. In September 1966, approximately 30,000 Igbo were killed in the north, and some Northerners were killed in backlashes in eastern cities.[9]
Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,
Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and
pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim
that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria
together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall
henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of
"The Republic of Biafra".
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
in pursuit of a more agreeable arrangement for peaceful co-existence of
all regions in Nigeria proposed for a confederated Nigeria.
In January 1967, the military leaders and senior police officials of each region met in Aburi, Ghana and agreed on a loose confederation of regions. The Northerners were at odds with the Aburi Accord; Obafemi Awolowo,
the leader of the Western Region warned that if the Eastern Region
seceded, the Western Region would also, which persuaded the northerners.[9]
After the federal and eastern governments failed to
reconcile, on 26 May the Eastern region voted to secede from Nigeria. On
30 May, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,
the South Eastern Region's military governor, announced the Republic of
Biafra, citing the Easterners killed in the post-coup violence.[5][9][11] The large amount of oil in the region created conflict, as oil was already becoming a major component of the Nigerian economy.[12]
The Eastern region was very ill-equipped for war, out-manned and
out-gunned by the military of the remainder of Nigeria. Their advantages
included fighting in their homeland and support of most South
Easterners.[13]
The FMG launched "police measures" to annex the Eastern
Region on 6 July 1967. The FMG's initial efforts were unsuccessful; the
Biafrans successfully launched their own offensive, occupying areas in
the mid-Western Region in August 1967. By October 1967, the FMG had regained the land after intense fighting.[9][14]
In September 1968, the federal army planned what Gowon described as the
"final offensive". Initially the final offensive was neutralised by
Biafran troops. In the latter stages, a Southern FMG offensive managed
to break through the fierce resistance.[9]
An ex Biafran officer, Sunday Onwuzor Nwiwe, Alias Bazoka,
epitomized that Biafrans lost the war as a result of occidental
conspiracy and hunger.
It is believed that one of the major factors that sparked
the war was the declaration of independence for Biafra made by Col.
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in 1967. He eventually died on the 26th of
November, 2011 (aged 78) after a brief illness, many years after the
war.[15][16]
Biafra comprised over 29,848 square miles (77,310 km2) of land,[17] with terrestrial borders shared with Nigeria to the north and west, and with Cameroon to the east. Its coast was on the Gulf of Guinea in the south.
The former country's northeast bordered the Benue Hills and mountains that lead to Cameroon. Three major rivers flow from Biafra into the Gulf of Guinea: the Imo River, the Cross River and the Niger River.[18]
The territory of Biafra is covered nowadays by the Nigerian states of Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Abia, and Akwa Ibom.
While the Igbo people of the current Nigerian state of Delta were not
included in Biafra as per Ojukwu's decree founding Biafra, some Delta
Igbo did fight on the Biafran side.
An early institution created by the Biafran government was the Bank of Biafra, accomplished under "Decree No. 3 of 1967".[20]
The bank carried out all central banking functions including the
administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt
of the Republic.[20] The bank was administered by a governor and four directors; the first governor, who signed on bank notes, was Sylvester Ugoh.[21]
A second decree, "Decree No. 4 of 1967", modified the Banking Act of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Republic of Biafra.[20]
The bank was first located in Enugu, but due to the ongoing war, the bank was relocated several times.[20]
Biafra attempted to finance the war through foreign exchange. After
Nigeria announced their currency would no longer be legal tender (to
make way for a new currency), this effort increased. After the
announcement, tons of Nigerian bank notes were transported in an effort
to acquire foreign exchange. The currency of Biafra had been the
Nigerian pound, until the Bank of Biafra started printing out its own
notes, the Biafran pound.[20] The new currency went public on 28 January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an exchange unit.[20]
The first issue of the bank notes included only 5 shillings notes and 1
pound notes. The Bank of Nigeria exchanged only 30 pounds for an
individual and 300 pounds for enterprises in the second half of 1968.[20]
In 1969 new notes were introduced: £10, £5, £1, 10/- and 5/-.[20]
It is estimated that a total of £115–140 million Biafran
pounds were in circulation by the end of the conflict, with a population
of about 14 million, approximately £10 per person.[20] In uncirculated condition these are very inexpensive and readily available for collectors.
At the beginning of the war Biafra had 3,000 soldiers, but at the end of the war the soldiers totalled 30,000.[22]
There was no official support for the Biafran Army by any other nation
throughout the war, although arms were clandestinely acquired. Because
of the lack of official support, the Biafrans manufactured many of their
weapons locally. Europeans served in the Biafran cause; German born Rolf Steiner was a lieutenant colonel assigned to the 4th Commando Brigade and Welshman Taffy Williams served as a Major until the very end of the conflict.[23] A special guerrilla unit, the Biafran Organization of Freedom Fighters, was established, designed to emulate the Viet Cong, targeting Nigerian supply lines and forcing them to shift forces to internal security efforts.[24]
The Biafrans managed to set up a small yet effective air
force. The BAF commanders were Chude Sokey and later Godwin Ezeilo, who
had trained with the Royal Canadian Air Force.[25] Early inventory included two B-25 Mitchells, two B-26 Invaders, (one piloted by Polish World War II ace Jan Zumbach, known also as John Brown), a converted DC-3 and one Dove. In 1968 the Swedish pilot Carl Gustaf von Rosen suggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. By early 1969, Biafra had assembled five MFI-9Bs in Gabon,
calling them "Biafra Babies". They were coloured green, were able to
carry six 68 mm anti-armour rockets under each wing and had simple
sights. The six aeroplanes were flown by three Swedish pilots and three
Biafran pilots. In September 1969, Biafra acquired four ex-Armee de
l'Air North American T-6Gs,
which were flown to Biafra the following month, with another aircraft
lost on the ferry flight. These aircraft flew missions until January
1970 and were flown by Portuguese ex-military pilots.[25]
Biafra also had a small improvised navy, but it never gained
the success their air force did. It was headquartered in Kidney Island,
Port Harcourt,
and commanded by Winifred Anuku. The Biafran Navy was made up of
captured craft, converted tugs, and armor-reinforced civilian vessels
armed with machine guns or captured 6-pounder guns. It mainly operated in the Niger Delta and along the Niger River.[24]
A child suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition during the Nigerian blockade
The international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières originated in response to the suffering in Biafra.[26]
During the crisis, French medical volunteers, in addition to Biafran
health workers and hospitals, were subjected to attacks by the Nigerian
army and witnessed civilians being murdered and starved by the
blockading forces. French doctor Bernard Kouchner
also witnessed these events, particularly the huge number of starving
children, and, when he returned to France, he publicly criticised the
Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their seemingly complicit
behaviour. With the help of other French doctors, Kouchner put Biafra in
the media spotlight and called for an international response to the
situation. These doctors, led by Kouchner, concluded that a new aid
organisation was needed that would ignore political/religious boundaries
and prioritise the welfare of victims.[27]
In their study, Smallpox and its Eradication, Fenner
and colleagues describe how vaccine supply shortages during the Biafra
smallpox campaign led to the development of the focal vaccination
technique, later adopted worldwide by the World Health Organization, which led to the early and cost effective interruption of smallpox transmission in west Africa and elsewhere.[28]
On 29 May 2000, the Lagos Guardian newspaper reported that the now ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo
commuted to retirement the dismissal of all military persons who fought
for the breakaway state of Biafra during Nigeria's 1967–1970 civil war.
In a national broadcast, he said the decision was based on the belief
that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy".[29]
In July 2006 the Center for World Indigenous Studies reported that government sanctioned killings were taking place in the southeastern city of Onitsha, because of a shoot-to-kill policy directed toward Biafran loyalists, particularly members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).[30][31]
In 2010, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and University of Nigeria, Nsukka,
showed that Igbos born in Biafra during the years of the famine were of
higher risk of suffering from obesity, hypertension and impaired
glucose metabolism compared to controls born a short period after the
famine had ended. The findings are in line with the developmental origin
of health and disease hypothesis suggesting that malnutrition in early
life is a predisposing factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes
later in life.[32][33]
A 2017 National Bureau of Economic Research paper found that
Biafran "women exposed to the war in their growing years exhibit
reduced adult stature, increased likelihood of being overweight, earlier
age at first birth, and lower educational attainment. Exposure to a
primary education program mitigates impacts of war exposure on
education. War exposed men marry later and have fewer children. War
exposure of mothers (but not fathers) has adverse impacts on child
growth, survival, and education. Impacts vary with age of exposure. For
mother and child health, the largest impacts stem from adolescent
exposure."[34]
There is no central authority coordinating the Biafran re-secession campaign. The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) is one of the numerous groups advocating for a separate country for the people of south-eastern Nigeria.[35]
They accuse the state of marginalising the Igbo people. MASSOB says it
is a peaceful group and advertises a 25-stage plan to achieve its goal
peacefully.[36] It has two arms of government, the Biafra Government in Exile and Biafra Shadow Government.[37]
The Nigerian government accuses MASSOB of violence; MASSOB's
leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, was arrested in 2005 and was detained on
treason charges. He has since been released. In 2009, MASSOB launched an
unrecognized "Biafran International Passport" in response to persistent
demand by some Biafran sympathizers in the diaspora.[38]
On 16 June 2015, the Supreme Council of Elders of the Indigenous People
of Biafra, another pro-Biafra organization, sued the Federal Republic
of Nigeria for the right to self-determination within their region as a
sovereign state.[39]
Another group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by a United Kingdom-based Biafran, Nnamdi Kanu, reinvigorated the quest for Biafran realisation in 2012. He established a pirate radio
station to champion the Biafran cause, Radio Biafra, which has been
broadcasting at various frequencies around the world. The Nigerian
Government, through its broadcasting regulators, the Broadcasting
Organisation of Nigerian (BON) and Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC), has sought to clamp down on the UK-based station with limited
success. On 17 November 2015, the Abia state police command seized an
IPOB radio transmitter in Umuahia.[40][41]
Kanu was detained by the federal government and released on 24 April
2017. Meanwhile, the group, Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL)
comprising mainly members from the present Southsouth Nigeria especially
the Old Cross River region (Now Bakassi, Cross River State, and Akwa Ibom State, (including Igbo
members]] have organised series of grassroots congress especially in
towns such as Ikom, Eket, Bakassi, Itu, Ikwerre, Obudu, Ahoada and other
areas of their influence, one of their Leader, Ebuta Ogar Takon, from
the Ekoi
(also known as Ejagham) ethnic group in Cross River State (also a tribe
in Cameroon) disclosed to Nigeria Sun Newspaper that the BNYL struggle
for Biafra independence is not limited to the Igbo People cluster of South East Nigeria alone but all inhabitants of the Bight of Biafra in Nigeria. BNYL Leadership said that the neglect of Bakassi refugees and marginalization of the Igbo, Ekoi, Ibibio and other ethnic groups of South Eastern Nigeria are among reasons for Biafra agitation.
The various groups clamouring for the restoration of the
independence of Biafra have often been beset with internal wranglings
that have impeded its secessionist efforts. On 19 October 2015, Chief
Ralph Uwazuruike of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) disclosed that the director of Radio Biafra and leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, does not belong to the
movement and was sacked for indiscipline and for inciting violence among
members. Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL) have continued to distance
itself from the internal wranglings between MASSOB and IPOB, although,
Princewill Obuka of BNYL, as reported by the New Telegraph Nigeria
announced the group withdrawal from a Coalition of Pro Biafra Groups,
following the union announcement declaring the IPOB Leader Nnamdi Kanu
overall Leader of the Biafran struggle, this he said was done without
due consultations and consideration of other people's opinions. [42][43]
There has been a renewed, intense agitation for Biafran
secession. Since August 2015, protests have erupted in cities across
Nigeria's south-east. Though peaceful, the protesters have been
routinely attacked by the Nigerian police and army, with scores of
people reportedly killed. Many others have been injured and/or arrested.[44] On 23 December 2015, the federal government charged Nnamdi Kanu with treasonable felony in the Federal High Court in Abuja.[45]
According to the South-East Based Coalition of Human Rights
Organizations (SBCHROs), security forces under the directive of the
federal government has killed 80 members of the Indigenous People of
Biafra (IPOB) and their supporters between 30 August 2015 and 9 February
2016 in a renewed clampdown on the movement .[46]
A report by Amnesty International also accuses the Nigerian military of killing at least 17 unarmed Biafran separatists in the city of Onitsha prior to a march on 30 May 2016 commemorating the 49th anniversary of the initial secession of Biafra.[47]
Little is known about the literal meaning of the word
Biafra. The word Biafra most likely derives from the subgroup Biafar or
Biafada[48] of the Tenda ethnic group who reside primarily in Guinea-Bissau.[49]Manuel Álvares (1526–1583), a Portuguese Jesuit educator, in his work Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone,[50] writes about the "Biafar heathen" in chapter 13 of the same book.[51] The word Biafar thus appears to have been a common word in the Portuguese language back in the 16th century.
Early modern maps of Africa from the 15th–19th centuries, drawn by European cartographers from accounts written by explorers and travellers, reveal some information about Biafra:
The original word used by the European travellers was not Biafra but Biafara,[52][53]Biafar[54] and sometimes also Biafares.[55]
Senegambia 1707
According to the maps, the European travellers used the word Biafara to describe the region of today's West Cameroon including an area around Equatorial Guinea. The German publisher Johann Heinrich Zedler, in his encyclopedia of 1731, published the exact geographical location of the capital of Biafara, namely alongside the river Rio dos Camaroes underneath 6 degrees 10 min. latitude.[56] The words Biafara and Biafares also appear on maps from the 18th century in the area around Senegal and Gambia.[57]
French map of the Gulf of Guinea from 1849
Maps indicating the word Biafara (sometimes also Biafares or Biafar) with corresponding year:
Symes, Peter (1997). "The Bank Notes of Biafra". International Bank Note Society Journal. 36 (4). Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
We have only one agenda and that is to restore Biafra, we only have one
enemy and he/she is that person trying to destroy that name and struggle
which many have sacrificed their lives for, we only have one weapon 🔫
and that is truth,we only have one adviser and that is radio Biafra
london we only have one duty and that is to protect our brothers and not
to destroy them, we only have one rule and that is command and control,
we are only proud of one thing and that is our stainless integrity, we
only have one Supreme leader and he is MAZI NNAMDI KANU. When you are
chasing that which is dear to you, you neither look back no notice any
distraction, we have gone too far to begin to look back all these
present happenings have long been predicted, it is true that the going
is tough but that should be a sign of encouragement to us that our
victory is near, a pregnant woman feels the biggest pain of her life
during childbirth, that is when the battle between the physical and
spiritual forces gets tough but immediately the child is born all the
pains begging to fade away slowly Biafrans be faithful for that which we
have been asking chiukwu Abiama to do for us is about to happen. All
hail Biafra
OPINION – Yesterday, yet another group emerged to rescue Nigeria
from the abyss. It is called the “Revive Nigeria Group” and is led by
Aisha Waziri Umar. It followed the launching of the “National
Intervention Movement” led by Olisa Agbakoba on 29th November.
Previously, the “Emerging Political Leaders Group” had launched a Summit
also in Abuja on 22nd November led by Datti Baba Ahmed and Frank Nweke.
I am told that many more are enroute. I lot of these groups have
emerged from intense WhatsApp discussions on the national drift and the
imperative of reinventing another type of leadership for the country. I
guess the real issue is that as political preparations for the 2019
elections accelerate and two old politicians in their seventies appear
to be the key candidates on the track, other generations are coming out
to scream, following tutoring from the articulate Samson Otodo and his
YIAGA youth movement that; “We Are Not Too Young
To Run”. For others, it’s not an age issue but one of ideas on how to transform Nigeria’s potential into development reality.
So yesterday, at the Revive Nigeria Launch, Frank Nweke spoke of
the Nigerian paradox on how his friend Osita Chidoka was so impressive
in the debates leading to the Anambra elections and how the people
should have elected him for his excellent programme and commitment to
serve. They chose otherwise and followed the money he complained. It was
in that context that he recounted the story of a taxi driver
complaining bitterly about how his people have been cursed with a
governor who has no brain and is messing up the State. Nweke’s point was
that we must learn to choose leaders who can exercise good governance
and I guess make us happy about our country and ourselves.
Talking about governors, I read yesterday that we finally have
clarity on the Imo State happiness controversy. According to the
spokesman to Governor Rochas Okorocha, the real name of the new ministry
some people are ridiculing is: the “Ministry of Happiness and Purpose
Fulfilment” and not as earlier announced as the “Ministry of Happiness
and Couples Fulfilment”. The word “Couple”, we were told, was
inadvertently written, instead of the word “Purpose.” Now that we are
clear, I guess the next item on the Imo Government agenda, according to
postings in the social media, is the establishment of SAS – the Special
Anti-sadness Squad. Governor Okorocha has used his considerable
brainpower to devise ways of providing democratic dividends to his
people. He has been generous with sharing the exceptional skill sets of
his family members with the masses through appointing them into public
positions. He has invested huge amounts of public funds to build
statutes of world leaders for the civic education of the masses and is
now focused on transforming their sadness into happiness.
A TEAM of officials
from the World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development yesterday began the inspection of projects being executed in
Anambra State under FADAMA 111 Additional Funding.
The team, which was
led by Dr. B.C Agu of the World Bank, would visit the bank's funded
rice and cassava projects in the six select local government areas of
the state to assess the level of implementation and challenges facing
the projects.
Speaking before the
commencement of the inspection, Agu commended Anambra State for
attaching great importance to agriculture, adding that because of the
importance the state government attached to agriculture, it was the only
state in the South East geo political zone that had received full
grants for 2017 because the state met all the requirements, including
being up to date in the payment of counterpart funding.
Agu said: "FADAMA
111Project is a partnership between the state governments, the farmers,
the Federal Government and the World Bank. All these partners are aiming
at one thing and that is to ensure increase in productivity,
processing, as well as enhanced income for the small -scale and the
medium- scale farmers. We are happy that
Nigerians now love locally produced rice and our desire is to meet their
expectations by increasing yield so as to reduce importation.
"During this
mission tour, the team will inspect what had already been done on each
component, including the business plans along the value chain and look
at the programmes and how they have been implemented. We will also find
solutions where the project failed."
Anambra State
project coordinator of FADAMA, Mr. Patrick Egbue said that because of
the support of the World Bank and the Federal Government, most rice
farmers in the state increased their yield from about three metric tons
last year to seven metric tons this year.
According to him,
the assistance also enabled FADAMA to build a modern tractor hiring
centre at Omor in Ayamelum local government area which the farmers
manage themselves.
He said: "Before,
one of the greatest challenges we faced was post harvest losses, but the
farmers have been provided with storage facilities where buyers go and
make their purchases. We have also introduced the farmers into
mechanization and they have been enjoying the benefits. Where we were in
2016 was a far cry from where we are in 2017 and that is due to the
support we get from the mission teams, including the World Bank and the
federal government.
"The relationship
between FADAMA and the farmers has also continued to improve and this
has led to a major leap in the results we get. Though we have
challenges, the successes outweigh the challenges.
"Two years ago, the
farmers lived in huts, but due to improvements in their incomes,
through the efforts of FADAMA, they have built modern houses and their
lifestyles have improved."
The permanent
secretary in the state ministry of agriculture, mechanization and
processing, Mr. Leo Imoka said the state's counterpart fund for 2018
would be paid in the first quarter of next year, expressing delight at
what FADAMA had used the farmers to achieve in the state.
There are those evangelicals who believe in the prophecy of the ‘End of
Days’ foretelling Jewish control of all Jerusalem, a war of
civilisations, and a choice of Jews to either embrace Christianity or
die in the wrath of God
because he feared losing his evangelical voter base
There are those evangelicals who believe in
the prophecy of the ‘End of Days’ foretelling Jewish control of all
Jerusalem, a war of civilisations, and a choice of Jews to either
embrace Christianity or die in the wrath of God
Trump’s Jerusalem declaration has been widely and
enthusiastically welcomed by his religious base – but not by
Palestinians Reuters
I have got my latest Prayergram post. It is, quite aptly, on the topic of the day: the “Jerusalem Prayer”.
One passage reads “God bless Donald J Trump!
He understands the real principles behind success. It is not being good
at what you do or understanding theory and practice. It is being on the
right side of the blessing of God. Whoever blesses Israel shall be
blessed: whoever curses Israel shall be cursed.”
And, lest there be any misunderstanding: “If we bless
Israel, regardless of its faults, lack of faith, both personally and
organisationally, God bless us. While the world cries out, Donald J
Trump who learned about the blessing on his mother’s knee, masters the
simple, plodding art of doing the right thing regardless of
consequences.”
Prayergram send their posts not just to the believers, but
others, like journalists who have written negatively about the Christian
right or Donald Trump. This is intended to show us the error of our
ways and also, if possible, save our souls.
The “Jerusalem Prayer” was, the evangelists stress, of great
importance, something that needed to be widely disseminated after Trump
had announced that the US embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem.
There are no fewer than 50 million evangelicals in America
who, according to research, are convinced of the literal truth of
Biblical prophecy. A recent survey found that 82 per cent of white
evangelicals believe that God gave Israel to the Jewish people; a
conviction shared by just 40 per cent of American Jews. Among these
evangelicals there are those who believe in the prophecy of the “End of
Days” foretelling Jewish control of all Jerusalem, a war of
civilisations, and a choice of Jews to either embrace Christianity or
die in the wrath of God.
The decision to move the embassy does not actually have much
popular support across the US population as a whole. A Brookings
Institution survey found that it has the backing of only 31 per cent.
Polls have also repeatedly found that a large majority of American Jews,
who tend on average to have a better standard of education than the
rest of US population, and are liberal by tradition, oppose the move.
But Trump’s Jerusalem declaration has been widely and
enthusiastically welcomed by his religious base. Johnnie Moore, who acts
as a spokesperson for the Trump’s evangelical advisers stated: “The
issue was second only to concerns about the judiciary among the
evangelical supporters. President Trump has yet again demonstrated to
his evangelical supporters that he will do what he says he will do.”
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far...
There is also the money in this. Trump’s campaign has
received substantial funding from the Christian right and also hardline
American Jewish promoters of Israel. They include Sheldon Adelson, the
casino billionaire and Republican donor, who had given $20m (£14.9m) to a
PAC (political action committee) which supported the Trump campaign and
another $1.5m to the organisers of the Republican convention. Adelson
has been lobbying the President persistently on the embassy transfer.
Trump
is not the only senior member of the administration to cultivate the
Christian right. Vice President Mike Pence, who could be seen on TV
standing behind Trump as the embassy announcement was made, with a
reverent glow to his face, had pressed for a move to Jerusalem. And
backing also came from Nikki Haley, the ambassador to the UN who tries
her best to match Trump on hawkish rhetoric about smiting America’s
enemies. She avidly courted the evangelical vote while Governor of South
Carolina.
There were those in the administration who pointed out that
the Jerusalem move will inflame passions in the Middle East and the
wider Muslim world; make a settlement between the Israelis and the
Palestinians even more difficult; make it harder to maintain coalitions
against Islamist extremists and may put American lives in danger.
They included Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence
Secretary James Mattis. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who is leading
the Israel/Palestine peace initiative had apparently also urged caution
initially. But Tillerson may soon be the latest casualty in the Trump
administration, to be replaced by the recently appointed CIA director,
Mike Pompeo, and Kushner is said to have changed his stance after talks
with Adelson.
The evangelists could always site God on their side. For
Indiana pastor Paul Begley the embassy move is the beginning of “End of
Days”: “The Jewish People – I’ve been there, I’m telling you – they
believe when the Temple’s built, the Messiah will be revealed to them.
Jesus will be revealed to the Jewish people, and they will embrace him.”
Laurie Cardoza-Moore, “founder/president of Proclaiming
Justice to The Nations” wrote in the Israeli newspaper
Haaretz: “Christians recognise the Jews’ biblical connection through
King David’s establishment of Jerusalem as the capital of ancient Israel
and the location
Coat of arms
Green: Republic of Biafra
Republic of Biafra in May 1967
Ex-Biafra leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
Satellite pictures of Biafra
Roundel of the Biafran Air Force.
Senegambia 1707
French map of the Gulf of Guinea from 1849
🔫
and that is truth,we only have one adviser and that is radio Biafra
london we only have one duty and that is to protect our brothers and not
to destroy them, we only have one rule and that is command and control,
we are only proud of one thing and that is our stainless integrity, we
only have one Supreme leader and he is MAZI NNAMDI KANU. When you are
chasing that which is dear to you, you neither look back no notice any
distraction, we have gone too far to begin to look back all these
present happenings have long been predicted, it is true that the going
is tough but that should be a sign of encouragement to us that our
victory is near, a pregnant woman feels the biggest pain of her life
during childbirth, that is when the battle between the physical and
spiritual forces gets tough but immediately the child is born all the
pains begging to fade away slowly Biafrans be faithful for that which we
have been asking chiukwu Abiama to do for us is about to happen. All
hail Biafra
The detained leader of the prosc...
Start connecting with brands. Use your platform to market other people’s product and services… Like a micro influencer thingy. Remeber...
Justice Nyako Is Partisan, Must Step Down From Nnamdi Kanu’s Case – IPOB IPOB, which made the demand in a statement issued by its Media a...
