BEFORE BIAFRA, MANY LEADING IGBO POLITICIANS WERE AMONG NIGERIA’S STRONGEST SUPPORTERS OF UNITY

BEFORE BIAFRA, MANY LEADING IGBO POLITICIANS WERE AMONG NIGERIA’S STRONGEST SUPPORTERS OF UNITY

BEFORE BIAFRA, MANY LEADING IGBO POLITICIANS WERE AMONG NIGERIA’S STRONGEST SUPPORTERS OF UNITY.

Just read👇

Long before the Nigerian — Biafra War, many prominent Igbo leaders believed Nigeria should remain one country. Here are a few historical examples:

📌 1. Nnamdi Azikiwe opposed the breakup of Nigeria.

During the constitutional debates of the 1950s, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe consistently argued for a united Nigeria. He rejected proposals that would make it easy for regions to secede and spoke in support of the permanence of the Nigerian federation.

📌 2. The 1959 NCNC–NPC coalition.

After the 1959 federal elections, the NCNC, led by Azikiwe, chose to form a coalition government with the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) instead of the Action Group (AG). Historians generally agree that one reason was to promote national stability and keep the federation together, although political strategy also played an important role.

📌 3. The Adaka Boro rebellion in 1966.

When Isaac Adaka Boro declared the Niger Delta Republic in 1966, the rebellion was suppressed by the Federal Nigerian Government under Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. This was a federal military action and should not be described as an action by “the Igbos” as a whole.

Then history changed.

The military coups of 1966, the anti-Igbo mass@cres in Northern Nigeria, failed peace efforts, and the events leading to the W@r dramatically altered political opinions.

Many people who had once believed in one Nigeria later supported Biafra including Azikiwe because they believed circumstances had fundamentally changed, though zik later turned and kept supporting Nigeria after the w@r.

In the picture is Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa balewa, Ahmadu bello, I can’t recognise the man on suit 😎