Biafran Heroes' Day

INTRODUCTION
Biafrans are mainly Igbos or persons from the old East Central state of Nigeria in West Africa, now divided into two; south east and south south.

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Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

To every other Nigerian, May 30th is just like every other day, but to a Eastern-Biafrans, it is a day to remember our fallen heroes.

SourceThe Biafran Flag

ABURI DECLARATION

As a result of lots of internal crises brewing within, on 5th of January 1987, there was a meeting organized for dialogue between the federal government of Nigeria and Biafra, the meeting held at Aburi. The meeting was attended by Representatives of the Federal government of Nigeria and eastern delegates, led by Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. Eventually, amongst other things, they agreed on true federalism. But after the they returned, the Federal government didn't honor the agreement

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Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu

DECLARATION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF BIAFRA
Just like Magaret Atwood said "War is what happens when language (dialogue)fails"

At about this time, there was massive killing of easterners that lived in the northern part of the country and the silence of the government towards these killings made her complicit.

With the forgoing, On this day in 1967 the Eastern regional leader; Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the Federal republic of biafra in compliance with the directive of the Eastern consultative forum.

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VICTIMS OF WAR

THE NIGERIAN/BIAFRAN CIVIL WAR
In response to this secessional move, Nigeria who is led by Yakubu Gowon clamped down on Biafrans with all their military strength, coupled with the assistance they received from some world powers.

BRAVE SOLDIERS AT THE BATTLE LINEsource)

On the other hand, Biafrans had no other option than to defend self's and their territory even while they were unprepared.
Men, women and children volunteered and joined the army even when they knew that their only faith was death, Because they had no proper training nor were they well equipped.

We Remember

They were curddled off by land, air and sea.
They were alone from the rest of the world and couldn't access any relief materials amidst the war.
They had to source whatever they needed locally including food.
They put together a team of engineers who helped in the manufacture of guns granade and machine guns so as to hold their defence and survive. They managed everything including bullets.

As expected, the new country was not recognized by many super powers, even the few countries that recognized biafra couldn't support them in the fight for obvious reasons.

Victims of War

EFFECTS OF THE WAR

About 3million Biafrans were killed while the war lasted including women and children who were starved to death.
After the war ended in 1970 which they tagged "no Victor no Vanquished" the surviving Igbo Biafrans returned home from thir trenches.

On going back to their properties across the country, they couldn't reclaim them from current occupants, the government tagged them "abandoned properties"

Victims of War

Moreso, all who maintained accounts with banks had their accounts frozen and a pannel the government set up decided to pay everyone that maintained an account before the war a flat sum of 20 pounds not minding the amount you had saved in the bank before the war. All these were geared towards keeping an Igbo man down

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On their Behalf, We Demand Justice

Perhaps, all the demands and complains of our fore father's that led to the war have not been met nor addressed till date. Reasons why we remember them because they wanted a better country for us (either in Nigeria or in Biafra)

Deep down, every Igbo man wants a Biafran Nation, but we are all afraid of the price.

Considering how industrious an Igbo man is and how we are were able to produce assorted military hardwares during the war amidst scarce resources, we can all agree that a Biafran Nation will do better than a 100 Nigeria put together.

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Candle Night For Our Heroes Past

Sadly, those killings and marginalization that triggered the initial uprising are back and on top gear.
Reasons the present generation are still hoping yarning for the restoration of Biafran republic through other means other than the barrel of the gun, because; self determination is a human right.

Unfortunately, Power is not given freely, you take it by force from the hands of the opperassor, that's a true fact.
To support the above stated, Permit me to draw some celestial inspiration from one quote by Mao Tse Tung, a political scientist, he says and I quote "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" We don't wish for war because it does no one any good, but reality is sad, isn't it?

Cc:
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