Word: ojukwu
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...peace talks scheduled for Addis Ababa this week, Nigerian federal forces launched a fresh drive against secessionist Biafra. From north and south, the federals were last week pushing toward the center of the breakaway state, determined either to finish off Lieut. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu's regime or at least improve their bargaining position for the talks...
...talks last week. Meeting in Niamey, capital of Niger, under the aegis of the Organization for African Unity, the warring parties promised to undertake a second try at a full-scale peace conference in Addis Ababa on Aug. 5. At the very least the Biafran leader, Lieut. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, hopes to achieve a temporary ceasefire. For Biafra desperately needs a respite in the bitter...
...real enemy, however, is the protein shortage that afflicts blockaded Biafra, and grows worse with each day. Attempts to alleviate it through large-scale relief measures have so far foundered on either Nigerian or Biafran intransigence. Kwashiorkor, a deadly protein deficiency, is killing scores of Ojukwu's people daily. Estimates of the extent of the suffering are at best approximate, but from 1,500 to 40,000 Biafrans are dying of starvation each week. The grisly figures are expected to mount dramatically if the war does not end soon. "There is so little food that one feels guilty every...
...despite the perilous squeeze, despite the widespread fear that if Nigeria takes over all Biafrans will be killed, Ojukwu's people have somehow managed to retain surprising morale. Visitors receive friendly greetings in the street and hear the plea "Help us win the war." In the villages, shouts of "Nno!" (Welcome) are accompanied by the traditional offer of a cup of palm wine, still in plentiful supply. With that, the host will usually break open a kola nut-a mild stimulant that helps stifle hunger...
...citizens of one country-Nigeria-before any serious bargaining can begin. On the other hand, the Biafrans, who walked out of the Kampala conference, insist on a cease-fire before talking further, since such an agreement would give them the status of a sovereign equal in any negotiations. Ojukwu himself admits that if the war turns into a guerrilla fight in the bush many of his army officers "are not tough enough for that." But the Biafrans apparently choose to die from starvation rather than reach an agreement with the federal government that might expose them to another slaughter...