Food Diplomacy: The Study of the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-1970

Image Credit: Life Magazine

INTRODUCTION
This is a report base on one of the recommended text in the course outline titled ‘Food and Drink in African History’. One of main content in this text vividly speaks about one diplomatic tool employed by the Nigerian Government in defeating the Eastern people of Nigerian – Food Diplomacy.

Food and Drink in African History is also a review on how food production and consumption have changed overtime and places, and what the production and consumption of food can tell us about different cultures and social interaction overtime. There were key terms highlighted in the introductory part of this book; food security, food sovereignty, food history, and food exchange.

Food history has so many definitions, but, according to Uche Uwaezuoke Okonkwo (2016), It is the chronological discourse on the origin, migration, habits, economic and social developments relating to food. On the other hand, food sovereignty is simply the right of people to define their own food systems by making those who produced food to be in charge of the food distribution and marketing as well. In addition, food security has to do with the availability of food supplies in other to ensure food consumption. The book stated that food exchange began between nations and continent after the voyage of discovery led by Christopher Columbus. It has been given a name known as Columbus Exchange – an exchange between the old and new world.

THE REPORT
The main focus in this text would be brought to the food welfare and diplomacy. It’s a section of this book that gave a heavy details of the food diplomacy and economic blockade strategy in the resolution of the Nigerian – Biafra Civil war, 1967-1970 according to Friday Aworawo and Bernard Adinuba. The focus is rather the impact of the war on food insecurity.
The beginning of the Nigeria civil war also brought with it a lot of confusion in governance especially in Igbo territories. Perhaps as a first step to break Colonial Ojukwu’s power base in the Eastern Region, the federal government under Yakubu Gowon divided the country into twelve states on May 30, 1967. Most of the policies and programs of the post-independence administration of the Eastern Nigeria were either temporarily halted or completely abandoned following the eruption of the Civil war. Thus, plantation, farm settlements and other agricultural establishments that characterized government policies at the time were abandoned. The British External Services Department headed by Mr. James Parker had earlier warned Ojukwu on March 15th that “should a showdown occur, his Majesty Government would instruct British shipping not to call at Port Harcourt for the supply of food to the region.” This previous by Mr. James tells that the British where in support of the Nigeria Federation. At this time, the part of the country and aboard had stop buying made product from the East such as palm oil or Kernel. The British supplied the war ships that made the blockade possible. As the federal government plans progresses, Britain had supply the Nigerian Navy war ships and prices of goods in the East had soar higher than it was on January. Also food items imported from the Northern part of Nigerian, Europe and America, such as sock fish, rice, beverages, beef, groundnut, Crayfish, beans, dried fish, etc were held by the Nigerian Navy as a result of the blockade. The first approach by the Easterners, on the onset of the war was that they had to start growing their food to stay nutritionally fit for the war. This led the Biafra Government to set up a food body known as the Food and Nutrition Directorate – a body set up to feed the armies and the civilian population during the war. The ‘food sovereignty’ vested in this body to distribute food mainly favored the armies whom ‘where prepared for consumption and sent down to the front-line troop.’

A Sixteen year old girl during the war.

By the end of 1968, virtually all the food producing areas headed by the Food and Nutrition Directorate in the Igbo land had been captured by the federal troops. The food producing areas of Biafra were essentially the outlying parts especially Abakiliki and Ogoja to the North, where yam, rice and other staples were produced. Likewise, the movement of the population in Igboland in search of food had a distracting effect on food production. Whereas, the forceful evacuation of people led to the looting of their farmland and harvest. Indeed, the economic blockade seriously hit the foundations of the Igbo economy. With practically nothing coming in from outside, the people were forced to produce virtually what they needed. In a situation where there were hardly any pervious arrangements for such an emergency not a few were caught unawares. What resulted was large scale frustration, hardship and poverty, as the resources of the food producing areas already under pressure due to food insecurity, became over-stretched and obviously gave up in the face of grave challenges resulting in food shortages.  Ojukwu did not hesitate to seek help from Mr. Heirich Jaggi – the International Red Cross Representative in Biafra whom took up the mental calling for assistant.
The Nigerian Government adopting this diplomatic tool ‘Do not allow your enemies to eat in war times’ – a tool that indeed won them the war, not in fact minding the aftermath statement ‘No victor no vanquish’. There was an information by the Nigerian Government saying that there intentions of the food blockade was not to hurt the civilians but to stop the war. But it was proven to be false by ‘a four men team of voluntary student group from universities of Ibadan, Ife and Ahmadu Bello took up the gauntlet, to discover the true situation for themselves.’ The Christian Council and the Nigerian Red Cross, on hearing about the lies of the federal government, made out effort to distribute foods throughout the war times from the 100,000 Nigerian Pounds donations by the Military government in 1968. 
At the initial stage of the war, Biafra had Airport in Enugu, Port-Harcout and Calabar. But these ports were captured by the Nigerian Troops; signaling the end of communications and assistant from the outside world. Still in 1968, the Biafran Engineers started a construction on a new airport named the ‘Uli Airport’ – an airport that accommodates massive war materials and welcomes food supplies from aiders such as the International Red Cross.  The Uli Airport only welcomes food supplies at night because of the angry Nigerian forces, which have been trying to shut down the port because it’s still the only means the Biafrans are using to sustain themselves for survival.

School students gathering for food after the war

CONCLUSION
The Nigerian troops had it as a priority to destroy the Uli Airport by the advice of a British Adviser in Lagos, Colonel Robert Scott. The Airport was later captured in 5 June, 1969 when a Nigerian MiG shot down a DC-7 International Red Cross aircraft, which had started on its flight from Fernando Po in the early evening. In the middle of 1969, both the soldiers and civilian lost the chance of getting a reasonable food supply. With the remaining food distributed to the people by the Red Cross members, it was a shock that the struggle couldn’t continue. The war came to end in 1970, thanks to the diplomatic tool speared-headed by the Nigeria Government – food Blockade.


BIBIOGRAPHY
Ed. by Uche Uwaezuoke Okonkwo. (2016), “Food and Drink in African History” : Madonna University Press