Biafra Historical Perspectives
Igbo Perspective.
Biblical Perspective.
Igbo Perspective:
- The name Biafra and its origin,
- The Ethiopian Minority
- Origin and meaning of Igbo/Ibo as a language and people
- Connection of Ibos-Ethiopians and Jews (Bible references)
- 1884 Berlin Conference and the Creation of Nigeria
- Biafra before 1914 Nigeria creation and Biafra Republic of 1966-1970.
- Nigeria genocide war against remnant of Biafra from 1966– till date.
- Political alliance of the Yoruba west and Hausa-Fulani North
The name Biafra, its origin and meaning:
There was a Biafra before 1967 which lost its sovereignty to colonial powers.
“ Early modern maps of Africa from the 15th-19th centuries, drawn by European cartographers from accounts written by explorers and travellers, reveal that the original word used by the European travelers was not Biafra but Biafara, Biafar and sometimes also Biafares.”
Now let me correct one impression about the meaning of Biafra as some believed it is a name given by Portuguese explorers. Biafara people are already known and addressed as Biafara people before they came in contact with the first European merchants. The word Biafra has its generics from “Ephraim” as pointed out by Martin Simon Ukegbe (a religious activist who suggested that the new Republic of Biafra of 1967 be called the Christian Democratic Republic of B”Ephrayim) the B there signifies the bay or bight so the word Biafara or Biafar has its root from B”Ephraim but the Europeans at that time called it Biafar-Biafara or Biafares. Researchers hold the view that the region is inhabited by descendants of Ephraim. Mitchell map of 1839 stated that the important estuaries from where the rivers flow into the ocean is called Ephraim town which is located 60 miles from River Nun which is in the south-south Nigeria today. The river is named after Nun the father of Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim. Biblical meaning of the name “EPHRAIM” is “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction”. The question now is who are the most afflicted, deprived and mostly killed in the contraption called Nigeria “Biafra people” who are the most fruitful, blessed by nature and skills within the contraption called Nigeria “Biafra people” before 1967-1970 genocide war against Biafran people they have been killed in their thousands by the Northerners and Westerners 1966, during the war, all the public facilities where completely destroyed, that includes Schools, Hospitals, Markets, Power plants, Churches, Post offices, Biafra land (south-east Nigeria and some part of South-south) where desolate with no life sustaining amenities, after the war in1970, Awolowo the finance minister gave £20 to every Biafra no matter the amount you have in your bank account, and declared all their properties outside Igbo land abandoned property, including Port Harcourt where Ikwere Igbos denied their Igbo identity with the intention of annihilating and breaking the spirit of Igbo to make them perpetual beggars and people of no hope for the future. The rest are history today which you can confirm for yourself. Today an average Igbo man that has his Igbo identity are far much better than every other Nigeria from all perspective, you can disprove that if you think otherwise.
Biafran Ethnic Nationalities:
Ibos (Igbo speaking Biafrans), Ijaws (speaking Kalabari, Edoid, Izon language etc) others includes: Ibibio-Efiks and Ogojas, and this Great Nations has been coexisting thousands of years ago as Biafra people many centuries before losing her sovereignty to colonial powers before being balkanized into various countries like Guanine Bissau, Kamerun, etc, the Archaeological evidence and African Ancient map stands as a proof that Biafra people are a nation and are Indigenous people
Origin and meaning of Igbo/Ibo as a language and people: (this part is written in Ibo Biafra perspective and all other Biafra Ethnic Nations shared same experience and linkage with their Ibo Brothers, they all came from the same root)
Many people including those of Igbo extraction often confused the term “Ibo and Igbo”, some accused the Europeans of removing the G letter, but the truth remains that the current Igbo language letters were written by the whites I mean English people who as missionaries wrote the Igbo alphabet in order to convey the Gospel in Igbo language that is why the English alphabets and that of Igbo are just same A B C D…. a b ch d….., the original form of Igbo writing is called Nsibidiwhich have been lost with near impossibility of being used again. Just as Biafra has its generic root from B”Ephraim so do Ibo has its generics from Heebo, Eboans, Ebo, then Ibo, while Igbo is the language of Ibos. Ibo is a people and Igbo is their language, just like England is a people and English is their language. We call them English people; many English speaking people of England, while Ibo is a people and Igbos are Igbo speaking people of Ibo. The word “Ibrit” which has its English equivalent as Hebrew were corrupted and mispronounce as Iburus, Heebros, Heebos, Eboes and FINALLY Ibos. But from research findings the word Igbo is found to be an derogatory ancient Sudanese word meaning “People of the forest”. This is how Biafara neighbours address our forefathers as Igbo people meaning people of the forest and as the geographic settlement of our forefathers are in tick rain forest of Africa till date Igbos still occupy the same territory, there are other people refer to with the Igbo word in Yoruba land, e.g
Biblical Perspective:
Connection of Biafra people, Ethiopians and Jews (Bible references):
In a reference about Ethiopian minority, the details of that account proved that both Ethiopia and Biafara shared same boundary located beyond the Ethiopian River and there are similarity in customs and tradition of the Ethiopian Minority and Biafara people which many scholars argue that Igbos Migrated from Ethiopia. These Ethiopia minority are descendants from the son of Solomon who was the product of marriage with Queen sheba, the Ethiopian queen, these Ethiopians has been taken back to Israel as part of the lost tribe. And their extensions beyond the rivers of Ethiopia are settlement of Biafra people as accounted in the Bible Zephaniah 3:10 “”From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, Will bring My offerings. 11“In that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your proud, exulting ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain.… this is the root or point of people arguing that Igbos-Biafra people are Jews owing to the fact from the ancient African map which shows that Biafra and Ethiopia share same boundary and Biafra people inhabited the land beyond the rivers of Ethiopia , I will not go further than this to remain on course.
1884 Berlin Conference and the Creation of Nigeria:
This is where Europeans gathered to share African territories like piece of meat on Butcher man table. They redrew the African map, with total impunity and disregard for the people that live as sovereign nations and their boundaries nations were cut off from their kens and merged with other nation, some they renamed it and some they created a new nation while some where completely removed from the map, Biafara was intentionally removed from the map and they have continued to try to eliminate any trace of Biafara, that’s why the Bight of Biafra in River State is renamed as bight of Bonny. The question is this, why do Britain and other world powers determined to eliminate Biafra. The answer can be traced to their pre-colonial experience when they came in contact with our forefathers, their way of life, administration, skills and knowledge supersedes the comprehension of the Europeans. Democracy, respect to Human life (Human Right) where part of the culture of our forefathers. If quick to learn, highly intelligent, Innovative, strength are all the attribute of our ancestors. It was impossible for them to conquer Biafara land like they did in the Northern Sokoto Caliphate and Western Yoruba kingdoms, they colonised Biafra land in the guise of business treaty which they entered with some clans as represented by Royal Niger Company now renamed Uni-Liver. You need to know the facts.
Biafra before 1914 Nigeria Birth and Biafra Republic of 1966-1970:
I will be very brief on this, like I have already pointed out the Biafra before colonisation transcends the borders of Nigeria, aftermath of the 1884 Berlin conference balkanised African territories Biafara included. We all knew that Nigeria is a product of 1914 Amalgamation of three sovereign nations which includes parts of Benin kingdom which stretched from the Nigeria Edo state to Benin Republic where cut from the western part of River Niger, from the Northern part the River Niger Zamfara Nation which stretched to parts of Sudan was cut into Nigeria and the Eastern part of the River Niger which covers the Biafra land that stretched beyond the Bakkassi, some part of Cameroun, Guinea Bissau, Gabon etc. These three fragmented kingdoms where put together for the sole purpose of economic exploitation by Britain under Lugard. They used the North as puppets to exploit Biafra land through the contraption they created called Nigeria. When the killing of Biafra people became so much, the then military administrator of Biafra land (then Eastern Nigeria) Ojukwu declared the new republic and named it after its original name before the colonisation in the bid to revive the near lost Biafara Nation. So there is no difference in the people, language, tradition and geographical location of the Biafra before colonisation and that of 1966 as declared by Ojukwu.
Nigeria war against remnant of Biafra (Igbos) from 1966– till date:
It is no longer news to say that Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani went into alliance to invade Biafra land and lunched a genocide war with the help of Britain and Russia to annihilate Biafra people, since then till now the war, hatred and subjugation if Biafra people has continue in various forms against Biafra people within the contraption called Nigeria till today, starting with brutal genocide war, economic war, religious war, social war, media war and most current, political war.
Now it is Political war which is an alliance of the Yoruba west and Hausa-Fulani North rocking Nigeria to its root and threating the unity of the contraption called Nigeria have created what is now seen as strongest opposition party against the ruling party especially towards 2015 general election. This is history repeating its self on Nigeria.
Take note of these words:
Alhaji Ahmadu Bello
October 12 1960 (as reported in The Parrot)
“The new nation called Nigeria should be the estate of our great grandfather Urhman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities of the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future”.
Mallam Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
1947 Inauguration of the Richards constitution
“We do not want sir (referring to Richard the then British Colonial Governor/administrator to Nigeria) our Southern neighbours to interfere in our development… I should like to make it clear to you that if the British quitted Nigeria now at this stage the Northern people would continue their interrupted conquest to the sea”….
“…. They have done it in the past and they believe they can do it again and again, Now reflect on this would there be any APC if the president is an Hausa man or from the North or a yoruba man from the west? would there be a massive defection on the side of the northern and western criminals if Buhari or Tinubu won 2011 election? the joke of this noise APC hopes of bringing change is that they now glorify those same crop of thieves who they in the past describe as monsters just because they defected, tell me where the change is from.
THIS IS A NEW FORM OF ALLIANCE AGAINST BIAFRA DESCENT.
READ BEYOND THE LINES AND BE WISE.
THANK YOU.
BY ASUZU CHINEDU PETERS.
Circular Perspective:
Biafrans – Who they are.
The name Biafra like the name Africa can be traced back to the Moorish Tribe of Bani Ifran, a name meaning the Children of Ephraim. In this setting Ephraim refers to their descent from the Israelite tribe of Ephraim being the House of Joseph.
The Bani Ifran or Biafrans were also known as the Bafar tribes and it is they who established the Black Moorish Kingdoms of Ghana,Mali and Songhai. From Mali many of the Biafrans migrated to the areas of present day Nigeria where they became the leaders of the Igbo Nation.
In this regard the authority of the Biafrans was symbolized by the donning of
the Moorish Red Fez which became the sign of an Igbo Chief. The Bani-Ifran also established the ” Divination System ” known to the Yoruba as IFA and to the Igbo as EFA or AFA. This Ephraimite Divination System was practiced by the Prophet Joseph in Egypt and was passed on to his son Ephraim being the progenitor of the Bani-Ifran or Biafran people.
The original Biafrans were members of a Moorish tribe in Morocco known as the Bani-Ifran. A name referring to their descent from the Israelite tribe of Ephraim. Those who settled in Mauritania and Mali became known as the BAFOUR or BAFAR (BIAFAR,BIAFRAN) tribes. They were at times referred to as Black Moors or Black Berbers. They were members of the Mande tribes from which the Mandingo based Soninke and Malinke belonged. In this regard they were amongst the founders of the Ancient Ghana,Mali and Songhai.
To this day there is a tribe in Guinea-Bissau called the Biafada and they are alternatively known as the Biafara. They speak a Mande based language. Traveling from Mali many of the Biafrans settled in Southrern Nigeria. As recently as 1930 a remnant of the Bene-Ephraim (Bani-Ifran) who maintained the original identity were found to be living amongst the Yorubas in the Ondo District. Amongst the Igbo the Biafrans (Ephraimites) became a ruling class whose authority was symbolized by the wearing of the Moorish Red Fez which to this day is a sign of an Igbo Chieftain.
During the 1990’s an Igbo man named Chima petitioned the Israeli Courts for recognition of the Igbo as Israelites. His petition was presented with evidences of Ephraimite(Biafran) origins. Hausa states were founded by Bani-Ifran(Biafran Refugees) during the 10th Century. In understanding the tribal origins of the BIAFRANS it can be further understood that not only are the Igbo counted amongst the Biafrans but the Yoruba and Hausa as well.
It is through the ancient origin or understanding of Biafra as Bani-Ifran meaning of the tribe of Ephraim that the Hausa and Yoruba are connected to Biafra. It was Bani-Ifran refugees who settled in what is now Northern Nigeria who founded the Hausa States:Bayajidda was a representation of the followers of ABU YAZID of the Bani-Ifran who were the founders of the Hausa states. The Bani-Ifran(Bene-Ephraim) also settled amongst the Yoruba.
The indigenous inhabitants of the Southwest were at one time known as the Igbo. A Yoruba tribe living in the Kwara State is still known as IGBO-MINA. However there is a more ancient tribal origin which can be traced from the Bani-Ifran through the Bafour,Bafar and Biafar tribes. There is only one tribe who still uses Biafara as their tribal name. This is the BIAFADA of GUINEA-BISSAU WHO ARE ALTERNATIVELY KNOWN AS THE BIAFAR.
According to the port areas found within the Bight of Biafra maybe not as the article suggests. However most of the ” Non-Igbo ” of South Southeast Nigeria such as the Efik,Kwa,Ibibio of whom the article identifies as being “Authentic Biafrans” were at one time part of the ” Greater Igbo Nation”. The modern Biafran Republic is soley remembered as an “Igbo movement” because of the fact that the Igbo happen to be the majority living in the Southeast.
However it definitely included:
ALL OF THE BIAFRANS OF THE SOUTHEAST INCLUDING THOSE WHO DID NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVES IGBO.
THIS IS VERIFIED IN THE FACT THAT THE 2ND PRESIDENT OF THE BIAFRAN REPUBLIC WAS AN OBONG OF THE EFIK: PHILLIP EFFIONG.
IN THIS REGARD AND IN CONTRAST TO THE AIM OF THE ARTICLE,THE NAME BIAFRA MAY HAVE BEEN ADOPTED AS A NEUTRAL AND UNIFYING NAME FOR ALL OF THE VARIOUS TRIBAL ENTITIES FOUND IN THE SOUTHEAST. SINCE THE IGBO WERE THE MAJORITY IN THE SOUTHEAST THEY BORE THE BRUNT OF THE ANTI-BIAFRAN BACKLASH AFTER THE WAR.OUT OF THE INSTINCT TO SURVIVE SOME OF THE ” NON-IGBO” BIAFRANS BEGAN TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE IGBO. IN ADDITION OTHERS WHO EVEN IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS IGBO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR NOW BEGAN TO DISAVOW ANY IGBO CONNECTION.
THIS IS VERIFIED IN THE FACT THAT THE 2ND PRESIDENT OF THE BIAFRAN REPUBLIC WAS AN OBONG OF THE EFIK: PHILLIP EFFIONG.
IN THIS REGARD AND IN CONTRAST TO THE AIM OF THE ARTICLE,THE NAME BIAFRA MAY HAVE BEEN ADOPTED AS A NEUTRAL AND UNIFYING NAME FOR ALL OF THE VARIOUS TRIBAL ENTITIES FOUND IN THE SOUTHEAST. SINCE THE IGBO WERE THE MAJORITY IN THE SOUTHEAST THEY BORE THE BRUNT OF THE ANTI-BIAFRAN BACKLASH AFTER THE WAR.OUT OF THE INSTINCT TO SURVIVE SOME OF THE ” NON-IGBO” BIAFRANS BEGAN TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE IGBO. IN ADDITION OTHERS WHO EVEN IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS IGBO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR NOW BEGAN TO DISAVOW ANY IGBO CONNECTION.
CRITICAL EXPLAINATION OF THE WORD IGBO AND IBO
- Now this is the meaning of Igbo. the word Igbo is a pronoun Ibo people will call it Nnochi Aha. In Africa the geographic expression of the continent is divided into these main region according to climatic condition, Desert Region, Savanna Region or Sub-Saharan, Tropical Rain Forest, there are other but these are the three main regions in Africa. If you study this map you will find out that Biafra people are the indigenous settler of Africa Tropical rain forest up till today. Our forefathers and other people surrounding are called Igbo people people. The word is a pronoun used to identify people of the then Tropical rain forest as you know that tropical rain forest is the area where there is tick forest with giant timbers and trees. They traders and as such they travel wide, when in contact with their neighbour who are mainly Sudan and other people from savanna area they can only call identify them as “PEOPLE OF THE THE FOREST” which in their language (Sudan) is Igbo. Igbo as a word was the term used to identify the people of the the forest and throughout Africa our forefather and few others which the map will explain to you better why other yoruba people are also called Igbo-Mina in Kwara state and other places. They were originally identified as people of the thick forest when they came in contact with other while they people of the forest where not all the same people, although the majority are from the current Eastern Nigeria which stretched down to Niger Delta area into Southern Cameron. Igbo is the word used by Ancient Sudan who are direct neighbours Biafara kingdom to identify them, just like when people say you are from Agba Enu or Agab Ani (predominantly used in Anambra State). Igbo is a pronoun, which is not part of IBO people, and Igbo became our language because whenever these people of of the forest speaks there language you know they are from the thick forest, that is how Igbo became know as our language main spoken by Ibo people who dwelt in the thick forest of Africa. Of course Ibo people are the original dwellers of the tropical rain forest, although other people latter settled and leaved side by side with Ibo people, but Ibo remained the majority up till today. While the the word Ibo is the people whose identity can be traced from Afra clan of the Moorish Tribe of Bani Ifran. Ibo is the corrupt version of HEBREW – HEBOO-EBOANS-EBO-IBO. They are a people while they finally settled in the Tropical Rain Forest of Africa and were called Igbo people which means people of the rain forest, their language became Igbo language which is the language of people of the thick forest. Study this map and other maps, place my submission side by side with the evidence I provided. Also consult other books for further studies. The clearly shows where we are till today as Tropical rain Forest, and other people who are known as Igbo people but not Ibo people.
