Word: africa
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...return to Lagos was scarcely less carefree, judging by the swath he cut through capital society while an administrator in the government. Then, in anticipation of the role of the military in post-independence Africa, Ojukwu joined the Nigerian army as an officer trainee. He felt little attachment to the army as such, but realized that it was "the only truly federal organization in Nigeria that appeared likely to remain intact." Until the very end, Ojukwu tried to use his influence to bridge the gap between Nigeria's cultures...
Airlift as Symbol. Ojukwu's fear of mass poisoning is not so ridiculous as it seems to the Western mind: the traditional way of doing in an enemy in Africa is to poison him, and Ibo lore abounds with such tales...
...long time, but concluded that nothing short of military muscle would get supplies through, and it is certainly unwilling to risk that. An unauthorized airlift might endanger the lives of 5,000 Americans now living in federal Nigeria, and it would bring howls of outrage from most governments in Africa, which have served notice that they want to handle the Nigerian civil war in their...
African Product. On the larger issue of the war, both sides have a case?as in most serious conflicts. For ordinary Africans, the fate of Biafra evokes all their own fears about tribal survival, and from the beginning they and much of Africa's press have shown concern for Biafra's cause. Moreover, Biafra is an African product, and that arouses admiration. "We are Africa's first real nationalist state," says Ojukwu. "We constitute a warning to other states that oppression of minorities cannot go unpunished." This argument has had considerable effect on the four African heads of state...
...other hand, the Organization of African Unity, which can agree on few things, has gone on record as supporting Nigerian sovereignty over Biafra. Its members, the national leaders of Black Africa, can only view the precedent of tribal breakaway with profound dismay, for each must cope with tribal divisions in his own country. "It was the Congo and Tshombe yesterday, and it is Nigeria and Ojukwu today," warns Gowon. "Who knows what African country will be the next victim...