Word: ibos
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...from a Biafran hospital hobbling down a road with intravenous needles still stuck in their arms and glucose bottles held aloft so the fluid could drip down. "The roads were choked with people," another priest recalled. "I could see terror in their faces." The exodus reminded him of an Ibo proverb: "A man who is running for his life never gets tired." But some did; they sat down along the road and never rose. Then the vultures swooped in, swiftly and silently...
...Biafra's breakaway as an unexceptionable attempt to achieve self-determination found it difficult to explain why the Ijaws, Efiks, Ibibios and other minorities under Ojukwu's rule seemed so unhappy -or why Ojukwu, in the early days of the war, tried to seize territory with non-Ibo majorities. In the long months of bickering over how relief supplies should be distributed to the starving women and children of Biafra, neither Gowon nor Ojukwu looked good. Gowon was accused of using starvation as a weapon to force Biafra into submission, Ojukwu of using it as a public-relations...
Despite what appears to be misguided chauvinism on the relief issue, Gowon seemed prepared to behave as a generous victor in other respects. To the Ibos in general, he said: "We know that most of you were dragged into this. May I welcome you back into the fold?" The general called for three days of prayer and pleaded with the remainder of Nigeria's 53 million people not to reject the Ibo rebels. "Let us join hands to build a truly united and great nation," he said...
Though the countercoup restored power to the Hausas, their choice to lead the government was Yakubu Gowon, who is both a Christian and a member of a minority tribe (see box following page). Gowon tried to stop the pogroms. At the same time, he firmly limited Ibo power by regrouping Nigeria's four regions (North, East, West and Midwest) into twelve smaller units. The Ibo East was gerrymandered into three states, two of which had non-Ibo majorities. The move also deprived the Ibos of control over much of the oil that was making Nigeria rich. Ojukwu...
...present stage of development, Black Africa is gripped by primeval tribal loyalties that stand in the way of nation building. Had the Ibo secession worked, some of Africa's 6,000 other tribal groups would undoubtedly have been encouraged to seek independence, setting back the process of political modernization indefinitely. Conversely, the victory of the central government may strengthen the forces that hope to create strong federal systems in Africa...