The Nigeria–Biafra war: postcolonial conflict and the question of genocide

The Second-Generation Liberation Movement in Southern Sudan: Anti-Colonialism as a Set of Practices

“…Later, this idea that colonialism was not solely a European practice, but could be used to describe the actions of non-European governments, was adopted by separatist movements struggling for independence from newlyformed post-colonial states. In Biafra, Western Sahara, Eritrea, Iraqi Kurdistan and of course Southern Sudan, liberation movements began depicting their governments as colonialist and imperialist in nature, and hence their struggle as anti-colonial one (Heerten and Moses 2014;Allan 2016;Weldemichael 2013;Gunter 2013). In Southern Sudan too, the leaders of the insurgency came to depict themselves as freedom fighters struggling against Arab colonialism (Akol Ruay 1994, pp.…”

Children’s Personal Data: Discursive Legitimation Strategies of Private Residential Care Institutions on the Kenyan Coast

“…The 1967-1970 attempt by Biafra (the eastern region of Nigeria) to secede from Nigeria led to a three year long civil war, during which the Nigerian federal army deliberately blocked international aid missions' access and the delivery of food and medical supplies to Biafra (Baughan 2015;O'Sullivan 2014). While the Biafran leaders attempted to demonstrate legitimacy and raise awareness on the Biafran people's long-standing discriminated status within the larger Nigeria, the British, Russian, and American governments continued diplomatic and military support for the Nigerian federal government, and the western public remained unconcerned (Baughan 2015;O'Sullivan 2014;Heerten and Moses 2014). It was only televised and print images in western media, of critically malnourished Biafran babies and children struggling and dying of starvation that prompted a shift in the western public's stance, from one of indifference to one of solidarity (Heerten and Moses 2014;O'Sullivan 2014;Baughan 2015).…”

“…Through the initiative of a number of Aid Committees, most of which were formed during the Biafra-Nigeria war, relief supplies were airlifted into Biafara and starving malnourished children-who came to be referred to as "Biafran orphans" in press media-were later airlifted out of Biafra to relief camps in neighbouring African countries (Heerten and Moses 2014;O'Sullivan 2014;Baughan 2015). As Heerten and Moses have argued, these aid committees transitioned into some of today's large international NGOs, making way for a new form of humanitarianism.…”

The Holocaust in the National Curriculum after 25 years

“…Sometimes, as with the Nigeria-Biafra conflict of the late 1960s, public "associations with the Holocaust became especially virulent". 62 A language (however flawed) did exist then for talking about the Jewish experience, but this was used with varying degrees of sophistication and interest. Nor did this language necessarily translate into shared understanding, either of what was being spoken of or about, or how its contours related to other instances of human atrocity.…”