Nonetheless, for over two brutal years, the biafran war dragged on at the insistence of ojukwu described as brooding, detached and sometimes imperious in a. He served as an ambassador for biafra, travelling to different countries to raise support for the beleaguered nation, and participating in various committees, one of which came up with the ahiara declaration, a moving if starryeyed document that was the new nations intellectual foundation. Com dedicated to nigerias history, socioeconomic and political issues. Wole soyinka released from military detention october. There was a country, by chinua achebe the new york times. The ahiara declaration the principles of the biafran revolution by emeka ojukwu general of the peoples army. The head of state of the breakaway biafra, general odumegwu ojukwu launched the ahiara declaration, a blueprint for the political and economic development of the beleaguered biafra at ahiara. The question this author is posing, as historical criticism, is. Ahiara declaration was all about doctrines, philosophy, teachings and preachments about what a good government should be and do for the governed. Stanford libraries official online search tool for books, media, journals, databases, government documents and more. Writing the nigeriabiafra war showing 12 of 2 messages. His absorbing new memoir, there was a country, recounts the doleful history of biafra from the perspective.
Overcoming rhetorical barriers in the ahiara declaration. Abidjan aburi decisions addis ababa administrative advisers africa ahiara declaration airport annang appointment areas armed forces arrived asked banjo believe benin biafran revolution biafran troops british broadcast calabar chief. It is african nationalism conscious of itself and fully aware of the powers with which it is contending. The first, on the history of the nigeriabiafra war, provides a comprehensive background to the conflict, amplifying the habitual discussion of the military dimensions of the two coups and subsequent conflict to place far greater stress on the underlying ideological and philosophical factors, especially as they relate to the ahiara.
Chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu as head of state of the republic of biafra delivered on 01 june 1969. Soyinkas experience in detention much of it spent in solitary confinement inspired the man died, a book published in 1972. The political thought of african independence african. In may, when biafra declared independence, he tripled the number to thirty thousand and two years later in his ahiara declaration he raised the figure to fifty thousand. These three books are general ojukwus own contribution to the extensive. His old passion to see it develop is embedded in the final words of the book.
The 1966 antiigbo pogrom was a series of massacres directed at igbo and other people of southern nigerian origin living in northern nigeria starting in may 1966 and reaching a peak after 29 september 1966. The ahiara declaration, the principles of the biafran. Through the ahiara declaration, colonel ojukwu was able to combat this barrier by pointing to the racist history of the black mans relationship with the white. It is the location of the catholic diocese in mbaise. Introducing the new lens of african military history in. The first recorded ahiara contact with the europeans was around 1905 when the british aro expedition got mixed up in intervillage war. Its wealth of key documents are enhanced by gregory smulewiczzuckers general introduction, part introductions. But ahiara declaration was, after all, given a communist cum socialist bent, thereby. From this derives our belief that history and humanity are on our side, and that the biafran revolution is indestructible and eternal. The nigerian civil war, also known as the nigerianbiafran war, 6 july 196715 january 1970, was a political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the southeastern provinces of nigeria as the selfproclaimed republic of biafra. Biafra project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. At the time of the ahiara declaration, over one million biafrans had died from starvation and millions more were suffering. With new, historically contextualised readings of all of his major works, this is the first study to view achebes oeuvre in its entirety, from things fall apart and the early novels, through the revolutionary ahiara declaration previously attributed to emeka ojukwu to the revealing final works the education of a british educated child. Possibly, the idea was to use it as a utopia to fire the imagination of beleaguered biafrans and thus sustain their perseverance to ultimate victory in the nigerian civil war.
The biafra principle is the firm conviction that a modern. From all indications ojukwus ahiara declaration 1969 was created as a visionary document given its protorevolutionary and socialist pretensions. In january 1967 at aburi in ghana, ojukwu cited ten thousand. The inhabitants were mostly the igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of nigeria. The essays should have been submitted in a hanover college class. The famous ahiara declaration drew quite some flak from not a few quarters, in biafra. The principles of the biafran revolution, commonly known as the. The city stands about 16 miles between owere and umuahia. With new, historically contextualised readings of all of his major works, this is the first study to view achebes oeuvre in its entirety, from things fall apart and the early novels, through the revolutionary ahiara declaration previously attributed to emeka ojukwu to the revealing final works the education of a british educated.
The text of the ahiara declaration or perhaps a creative work of such significance and importance as professor achebes things fall apart qualify in my view to merit translation. Ours is the only example in recent history where a whole people have been so treated. Today, monday january 16, in ahiara, imo state, we are commemorating an epochal event that. Overcoming rhetorical barriers in the ahiara declaration 40 utilized his skill as a rhetor and the history surrounding the civil war to create arguments of dissociation and blame diversion that helped him overcome the rhetorical barrier of biafra losing the war. Depending on the angle of the various spectra, from which each warweary biafran viewed the document and on who exactly did the critique the ahiara declaration was as controversial, as it was mystifying.
It is elaborated into the principles of the biafran revolution in the ahiara declaration, which gen. An anthology of sources brilliantly frames the debates that captivated the world as former european colonies in africa began their transition to sovereign rule in the 1950s and 60s. The ahiara declaration by chukwuemeka ojukwu chatafrik. The only official publication among these works, the ahiara declaration, may have. Check out the new look and enjoy easier access to your favorite features. The principles of the biafran revolution known as the. Steward a victim, as a consequence the ahiara people were severely. Okoro innocent agwu, department of history, international relations, ebonyi state university, abakaliki, nigeria. Today, as i look back over our two years as a sovereign and independent nation, i am overwhelmed with the feeling of pride and satisfaction in our performance and achievement as a people. The first recorded ahiara contact with the europeans was around 1905 when the british aro expedition got mixed up in intervillage war which eventually had dr. According to alexis heraclides in her book the selfdetermination of minorities in. A critical rhetoric analysis of ojukwus ahiara declaration. From all indications ojukwus ahiara declaration 1969 was created as.
At a public presentation of a book inside the unity hall of the hotel. One of the authors of the ahiara declaration, proclaiming the new nations liberal founding principles, achebe also served biafra as a diplomatic envoy. When mbaise, where most igbo people had taken refuge, was overrun by the federal armed forces, the civil war came to an abrupt end. Scholary trends, issues, and themes background to the nigerian civil war connecting theory with reality the ahiara declaration and the fate of biafra in a postcolonialbipolar world order the ahiara declaration. Chinua achebes biafran story brunel university research archive. For britain is a country whose history is replete with instances of genocide.
He was awarded the nobel prize for literature in 1986. On monday november 28, we began serializing the ahiara declaration, the principles of the biafran revolution by late dim chukwuemekaodumegwu ojukwu. Ahiara declaration was all about doctrines, philosophy, teachings and preachments about what a good government should be and do for the. By colonel chukwuemeka odumegwu ojukwu june 1, 1969. Biafra, officially the republic of biafra, was a secessionist state in southeastern nigeria that existed from 30 may 1967 to 15 january 1970, taking its name from the bight of biafra the atlantic bay to its south. The principles of the biafran revolution, commonly known as the ahiara declaration, was a document written by the national guidance committee of biafra and delivered as a speech by the head of state of biafra emeka ojukwu in the biafra town of ahiara on june 1, 1969. In the awka sector of the war, the story remains the same. One of the authors of the ahiara declaration, proclaiming the new nations. The nigeriabiafra war lasted from 6 july 1966 to 15 january 1970, during which time the postcolonial nigerian state fought to bring the southeastern region, which had seceded as the state or republic of biafra, back into the newly independent but ideologically divided nation. Gbulie obumselu authored biafras ahiara declaration col. This date is coincidentally currently adopted as democracy day by the federal government of nigeria, being the day that the fourth republic was ushered into the country. Propaganda from biafra and probiafran rhetoric generated by its supporters drew heavily on ideas of modernity. Ojukwus manifesto for a biafran revolution, dated may 29, 1969.
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