Aburi Acord: It’s Implication on the Nigerian Civil War
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the relationship between Aburi accord and Nigeria civil war
- To know the contribution of Aburi in Nigeria civil war
- To ascertain the impact of Aburi to National unity
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
THE POLITICAL PRELUDE TO THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR
The political crises that engulfed the country in the early and mid 1960s could be traced back to the amalgamation of 1914. The country was artificially created by the British colonial power without the consent of the people being herded together. Over 250 ethnic groups were arbitrarily fused together into an unwieldy and non-consensual union by the United Kingdom. Nigeria was so ethnically, religiously and linguistically complex that even some of its leading politicians initially doubted if it could constitute a real country. Tafawa Balewa, a northern politician who later became the first prime minister once stated that, Nigeria existed as one country only on paper. It is still far from being united. Nigerian unity is only a British intention for the country. In a similar vein, another prominent Nigerian politician from western region of the country, Obafemi Awolowo stressed that, Nigeria is not a nation; it is a mere geographic expression…. On top of all this, the country is made up of a large number of small, un-integrated tribal and clannish units who live in political isolation from one another…. But they are divided into a number of tribes and clans, each of which claims and strives to be independent of the other. These utterances and views held about the composition of the nation by her political leaders were later to speed up ethnic politics that marred the first republic thereby, ushering in the military coup of January 1966 and its attendant civil war. The largest ethnic groups in the north of the country were the Muslims, traditional and socially conservative, Hausa/Fulani ethnic group. The south was dominated by two competing ethnic groups: the proud and culturally rich Yoruba in the South-west, and the energetic, industrious and vibrant Igbo in the South-east. In 1939, the British carved the country into three regions along the predominant ethnic lines. Hemmed in between them were approximately another 250 disparate ethnicities. The differences between them were accentuated by religion. The South of the country is predominantly Christian and the North is largely Muslims. Added to the above, the cultural differences between the ethnic groups made it virtually impossible for Nigerians to have any commonality of purpose. Thus, in the 1950s, when it was obvious that the British would relinquish power to the leading Nigerian political leaders, the polity to have control of the central government exhibited the clear differences of the separate regions. Hence, ethnic politics towed party formations. In addition, ethnic conflicts were equally infiltrated into the army, the Nigerian police, the civil service as well as in the educational sector.10 The formation of political parties assumed the ideology of each of the three geo-political regions in the north, south-east and south-west.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to Aburi accord its implication on the Nigerian civil war.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain Aburi accord its implication on the Nigerian civil war
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of Aburi accord its implication on the Nigerian civil war
Summary
This study was on Aburi accord its implication on the Nigerian civil war. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the relationship between Aburi accord and Nigeria civil war, to know the contribution of Aburi in Nigeria civil war, to ascertain the impact of Aburi to National unit. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of ministry of defence, Abuja. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up civilian security officers, administrative officers, senior officers and junior officers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
It has been established that in the event of stalemate between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ojukwu‟s Eastern Region to resolve Nigeria’s internal conflict, Ghana, under the leadership of General J.A. Ankrah, in the spirit of good neighbourliness, offered its territory for mediation, between the belligerent parties to the crisis in January 1967. While some African countries like Gabon, Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Guinea gave diplomatic recognition to the secessionist Republic of Biafra, Ghana maintained her neutrality, though, to the consternation of the Nigerian Government. Though Ghana’s categorization of people of Igbo descent living in its territory as special refugees’ and its expulsion of Yoruba and Hausa elements in November 1969 raised great suspicion of its sympathy for the Republic of Biafra, it never at any point in time made any official pronouncement to the effect of recognizing Biafra as a sovereign state. Even then, its action may be rationalised based on the perception of the international community that the rest of Nigeria was bent on exterminating the Igbo ethnic nationality (Ikime, 2002:67). Finally, Ghana was not the architect of the Nigerian civil war. All the remote and immediate factors that prompted the war suggest that the Nigerian State was faced with internal dissention and disintegration between 1966 and 1970. Nigeria was indeed a house divided against itself at the time of Ghana’s intervention. Since Ghana was never a party to the war, it should therefore be exonerated from all insinuations as a collaborator with Biafra. Its mediatory role should be commended for promoting peace and good neighbourliness in the West African sub-region
Recommendation
African problems must be confronted and address by the Africans themselves. African leaderships and their government should stop the attitude of self-enslavement to the West. The survival of Africans is in the hands of Africans themselves. African leadership and their governments should be committed and determined to confront and address African problems with African solutions
REFERENCES
- James O. Ojiako, Nigeria: Yesterday, Today, & …?, (Onitsha: Africana Educational Publishers (Nig.) Ltd., 1981), p.84
- Toyin Falola & Matthew M. Heaton, A History of Nigeria, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008), p.158
- James O. Ojiako, Nigeria: Yesterday, Today,… , p.85 Adewale Ademoyega, Why We Struck, (Ibadan: Evans Brothers Ltd., 1981), p.21; Raph Uwechue, Reflections on the Nigerian Civil War, (New York: Africana Publishing Corporation, 1971), p.28;
- Toyin F. & Matthew M. H., A History of Nigeria…, p.159 Toyin F. & Matthew M. H., A History of Nigeria…, p.158
- Olayiwola Abegunrin, Africa in Global Politicsin the 21st century, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), pp. 83-84
- Max Siollin, Oil, Politics & Violence: Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture (1966-’76), (New York: Algora Publishing, 2009), p. 12
- Olayiwola A., Africa in Global Politics …, pp.86-87 Olusanya G. O., ‘Constitutional Developments in Nigeria 1861-1960’ in Obaro Ikime (ed.) Groundwork of Nigerian History, (Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Bks (Nig.) Plc., 1981), p.528
- Olayiwola A., Africa in Global…, p.94 Max S., Oil, Politics & Violence…, p.12 Ibid.,p.13;
- Adewale A., Why We Struck…, pp.16-22 James O.O., Nigeria: Yesterday, Today…, pp. 214-218
- Toyin F. & Matthew M. H., A History of Nigeria, (New York: Cambridge Press, 2008), p.172
- Raph Uwechue, Reflections on the Nigerian Civil War, (New York: Africana Publishing Corporation, 1971), p.6
