Discuss The Causes Of The Nigeria Civil War

In this paper we would analyze the causes of the Civil War and advocate the thesis that slavery was the cause of the Civil War.

Instead of focusing on diversifying, the leaders of the country focus on gaining power and standing in the government. “Nigeria’s most daunting challenge lies in overcoming the severe divisions among its competing religious and ethnic groups” . Moreover, once they gain it, their problems do not end, since they must look over their back, never knowing how long they will hold on to the little power they have. Meanwhile, the common person suffers, as he is neglected by his government and must survive on his own. “The standard of living declined even further than before and external debts increased.” This neglect of the common man bodes ill for the government, as it is the common man who votes in the polls. However, the vote does very little, since corruption is rampant in Nigeria.

The central cause of conflict between North and South was slavery, but it was only in it's expansion that it became a reason for war. The entrance of slavery into politics made it into a public issue, and once the issue became public the conflict had to be solved.

War was inevitable: ‘This simple and seemingly innocuous action broke the last thread and split the last institution symbolizing Nigeria's nationhood and cohesion which had been regularly tampered with by the politicians since 1962. The rift between the Eastern Region and the rest of the country was total’ (ibid). In a meeting convened in Aburi, Ghana, by Ghanaian general Gen. Ankrah, leader of the eastern region military Lt. Col. Ojukwu understood the real issues at hand and convinced attendees that the only way for Nigeria to stay together is that it has to break apart, effectively implying secession. After a breakdown in communication, a frustrated federal government passes Decree no. 8 of 17th March 1967, which split Nigeria’s regions into twelve states. This was seen by Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon as a pre-emptive, non-violence weapon against the east. The eastern region was split into 3 states. Lt. Col. Ojukwu unsurprisingly rejected Decree no. 8 and states that the Enugu, (capital of Nigeria’s eastern region) is headed for secession. On the 30th of May 1967, the eastern region of Nigeria declares itself as the independent sovereign state of Biafra. The Federal military fired the first bullet on the 6th of July 1967. Now this essay will turn to providing a background to the development of Realism as an analytical theory of International Relations.

The primary cause of the outbreak of the Civil War was due to the economic differences between the Northern and Southern States. In the years prior to the Civil War, the economic interests of the North were increasingly different from that of the South. (Economies and the Civil War). In the North, the vast majority

The primary cause of civil war is the sectionalism of slavery whether it is legal or illegal and the two sides which the North and South strongly believe in their beliefs and their way of getting money. The North was booming with new inventions and they were steering away from the slavery lifestyle, meanwhile in the south slavery is what southern's value especially since new technology didn’t work in the southern states due cause of weather. Some other events that heavily contribute to the war was the missouri compromise causes a lot of separation with the two sides splitting them up. Evenmore with the election of 1860 definitely was one of the breaking point as well not to long after the election a book later was written called uncle tom’s

The Civil War was a big part in our history and had a major impact on the way we live today. It affected our whole countries ideas and eventually made us united. Railroads were beginning to become a huge deal in the North as a mean to transport goods more quickly. Frederick Douglas was a black activist fighting for anti-slavery and equal rights as stated in the constitution. The causes of the Civil War between the North and the South were politics, economics, and slavery.

The first main cause of the Civil War was conflict between the North and the South about the abolition of slavery. The emigration of african

The causes of the civil war have been many, the general focus revolved around social class inequality, poverty and repressive military rule. Before the war, almost everyone in El

Nigeria was having an internal war that the Muslims started with the Ibos. It started when they gained independence in 1960. They adopted the feudal systems and had to share power with Lagos, and three state governments in the north, east, and west. In 1964, the Ibos seized power and declared a central dictatorship. The Muslims of the north didn’t like the Ibos because they weren’t Muslim. So they sparked a war in 1967. The Ibos, after a group of northern officers obtained the government positions, created their own

Nigeria would be of a seed if there was any Nigeria before 1914. Britain was so ambitious to change our way of life; hence Biafra problem started. Maybe Biafra would be beautiful and civilized if there was no Fredrick Lugard in 1914. Lugard tampered with what was organic that has led to early graves over 5 million Biafrans, that was when Biafrans rejected fact of being unjust. The death of the over five million Biafrans cannot be in vain. Then read the New York Times report of 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1970 about the persecution of the Biafran people. We must agree that Nigeria was created as a trap to destroy Biafran people and to serves the interest of Britain. Radio Biafra (Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB) has made it clear that Biafrans do not understand what Nigeria

The first was the weak sense of nationalism caused by all the ethnic groups where religion played a major part of the division. The main three ethnicities in Nigeria are Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo; the former is Muslim while the two latter are Christians. The second cause mentioned was the “divide and rule” which was a British tactic to employ ethnic groups against one another, and thus “helped ensure that ethnicity would be the main line of political cleavage after Nigeria became an independent country.” The third cause is the personal rule system based on “big men” and what this means is that Nigerian’s who worked for the British used their personal relationships to gain power and wealth, and in a certain way it is still used today in the Nigerian government. The fourth devastating cause was the “creation of an increasingly active and interventionist state during WWII and after until its independence in 1960, but that opened the doors to patronage, which would be used to gain political power and wealth. The past reveals the problems Nigeria has had for several decades, some of which have not disappeared but seem to get progressively worse. (CITATION)

Before we begin, let’s take a look at the country and its environs. Nigeria a former British Colony, located in the western part of Africa, it shares borders with Benin, Cameroun, and Niger. A growing population of 150million, labour force of 51million (70% Agriculture, 10% industry and 20% service), urbanisation is less than 40%, GDP is over $300billion, Per capita income is $2300. Nigeria is blessed with different cultures, languages and ethnic groups (252 in total); this was due to the colonization of the British in the early 19th century (Columbia Encyclopaedia). The British amalgamated its protectorates in 1914 to enable stable control and governance which made them create one Nation of Nigeria formed from all the groups, community and empires around the Niger area under their control. Nigeria had her independence on the 1st of October 1960 and since then various civil wars, political and religious unrest in the country to share power and resources amicably.

     Nigeria has been a country in political turmoil for a long time. The country was created in 1914 under British colonial rule and at that time it was considered a protectorate. It was not until 1960 that Nigeria received independence from the United Kingdom. One of Nigeria's problems politically is that it has over three hundred different ethnic groups. The three largest of these are the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba. At the time of the independence of Nigeria it was split up into three states with each state being under the control of one of the major ethnic groups. The natural resources of the other 297 ethnic groups were exploited for the major three groups,

Corruption can be defined as the use of entrusted power to accumulate public wealthy for personal benefit. Corruption is not peculiar to any country, continent or state; it is sure a global issue which is an endemic to all government all over the world. However, corruption is prevalent in the Niger delta region of Nigeria; public officers in this oil producing state of Nigeria are corrupt. Consequently, it has defied the Niger delta from developing politically and economically which has left the states reputation in a mess. Radicalization of youths, abject poverty and -political instability are the three leading effects of corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria.