Breaking News: Biafran customary Government starts its own Daily Newspaper

The Customary Government of Biafra through the media Representative –Comrade Chinedu Azusu has commenced daily news bulletin to update the public on the background of the current diplomatic efforts  to restore Biafra .Accordingly, Comrade Chinedu  confirmed that Biafra will be restored without firing any bullet and advised Biafrans to be obedient to the instruction(s) of the Supreme Council of Elders.

The news Bulletin further stated as follows’ We need to understand the difference between Citizenship of a Sovereign State and the Indigenous identity of a people. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Res. 61/295 of 2007 and Articles 19-22, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap 10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 (now LFN 2004) make it clear that there is a difference between the citizenship of a sovereign country and the indigenous identities of the peoples that dwell in the country. A perfect example of this situation is the United Kingdom where the Scots, Welsh, Irish and the Anglo-Saxons maintain their indigenous identities as different peoples but of the same British citizenship. In the same way, the indigenous People of Biafra are Nigerians by citizenship but Biafrans by indigenous identity. 

The Ancient Map of Africa in 1662 showed the three kingdoms from where the new country called “Nigeria” was created by the colonial masters. The three kingdoms were as follows: The Kingdom of Zamfara in the North; the Kingdom of Biafra in the East; and the Kingdom of Benin in the West. These three Kingdoms existed on the Map of Africa for more than 400 years before Nigeria was created in 1914. The Kingdoms of Biafra and Benin shared common boundaries with the Atlantic Ocean and had direct access to the Sea through their bays known as Bight of Biafra and Bight of Benin. The word “Bight” is an old English word for “Bay” just like the Bay Beach in Lagos. The Map of Africa produced by the Portuguese from 1492 - 1729 shows Biafra as a large territory spelt as “Biafara”, “Biafar” and “Biafares” having boundaries with such empires as Ethiopia, Sudan, Bini, Kamerun, Congo, Gabon, and others. It was in 1843 that the Map of Africa showed the country spelt as “Biafra” having some parts of the modern day Cameroon within its boundary including the disputed Bakassi Peninsula. The original territory of Biafra was not restricted to the present Eastern Nigeria alone. According to the maps, the Portuguese travellers used the word “Biafara” to describe the entire region of the Lower Niger River and eastwards up to the Cameroon Mountain and down to the eastern coastal tribes, thus including parts of Cameroon and Gabon. The British had diplomatic dealings with Biafrans before Nigeria was created. John Beecroft was the British Consul of the Bight of Biafra from 30th June 1849 to 10th June 1854 with his headquarters in Fernando Po in the Bight of Biafra. The city of Fernando Po is now called Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. It was from the Bight of Biafra that John Beecroft, eager to control the trade in the west and supported by Christian missionaries at Badagry, bombarded Lagos which became a British colony in 1851 and was formally ceded to Queen Victoria, the Queen of England in 1861, in whose honour Victoria Island Lagos was named. Therefore, the British had established their presence in Biafraland before they annexed Lagos in 1861. The left part of the Gulf of Guinea opposite the Bight of Biafra was designated on the Map of Africa as Bight of Benin. Therefore, Biafra was a sovereign entity with its own geographical territory clearly shown on the Map of Africa before the coming of the whitemen just like the ancient nations of Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, etc. The Biafra Nation practised autonomous democracies among its clans as practised among the Igbo today. Actually, the Republic of Biafra which was declared in 1967 by General Odumegwu Ojukwu was not a new country but an attempt to restore the ancient Biafra Nation that existed before Nigeria was created by the British”.The news report concluded