History is often written by the victors, and nowhere is this truer than in the story of Biafra. Between 1967 and 1970, the Eastern Region of Nigeria—dominated by the Igbo ethnic group—declared independence as the Republic of Biafra. The Nigerian government, backed by foreign powers, launched a brutal war to suppress the secession. What followed was not only one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern African history but also a humanitarian catastrophe of genocidal proportions. Yet today, the Biafran tragedy remains a silenced chapter of global memory, eclipsed by other narratives and often dismissed as a mere civil war.
The Human Cost of Biafra
The Nigerian-Biafran War claimed an estimated two to three million lives, most of them Biafran civilians. Starvation was weaponized deliberately, with blockades preventing food and medical aid from reaching the besieged region. Images of skeletal children with swollen stomachs shocked the world in the late 1960s, briefly galvanizing international relief efforts. Despite this, the suffering was never officially recognized as genocide by the international community, even though the deliberate use of famine as a tool of war fits the very definition.
Nigeria and Its Allies
Nigeria did not act alone. The war effort was bolstered by Britain, the former colonial power, which supplied arms and political cover. The Soviet Union, eager to expand its influence in Africa, also provided military support. Other nations, either through silence or complicity, enabled the Nigerian government to crush Biafra’s independence movement. In effect, global powers treated Biafra not as a humanitarian crisis but as a geopolitical inconvenience.
A Forgotten Genocide
Unlike the Holocaust or the Rwandan genocide, the Biafran tragedy has not been etched into the collective conscience of the world. There are no international memorial days, no widespread acknowledgment in history curricula, and no reparations or official apologies. The victims of Biafra remain largely unremembered outside of Nigeria and the Igbo diaspora. For many, the war is reduced to a footnote in the broader story of post-colonial Africa, a framing that erases the systematic targeting and suffering of a people.
The Politics of Silence
One reason for this erasure is the politics of international diplomacy. Recognizing the Biafran genocide would implicate powerful nations and challenge the legitimacy of Nigeria’s current statehood. For decades, the Nigerian government has worked to suppress discussion of Biafra, portraying it as a closed chapter. Meanwhile, the world—ever cautious not to destabilize Africa’s most populous nation—has largely played along.
Why Memory Matters
For the Biafran people, forgetting is not an option. The descendants of survivors carry the scars of the war, both physical and psychological. Recognition of the atrocities is not just about history—it is about justice, accountability, and preventing recurrence. The silence surrounding Biafra sets a dangerous precedent, suggesting that the mass starvation of civilians can be tolerated if geopolitics demands it.
A Call for Acknowledgment
As the world reflects on the lessons of past genocides, the Biafran tragedy must be reclaimed from oblivion. Scholars, activists, and human rights defenders have a duty to tell the stories that governments wish to bury. Acknowledging the genocides against the Biafran people does not rewrite history—it corrects it.
Until the voices of Biafra are heard and their suffering recognized, the world remains complicit in forgetting one of the darkest chapters of the twentieth century.