...Introduction The Nigerian Civil War, 1967 – 1970, was an ethnic and political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the South-eastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed republic of Biafra. The war became notorious for the starvation in some of the besieged war-bound regions, and the consequent claims of genocide made by the largely Igbo people of those regions. Causes of the Conflict The conflict was the result of serious tensions, both ethnic and religious, between the different peoples of Nigeria. Like most modern African nations, Nigeria was an artificial construct, put together by agreement between European powers, paying little regard to historical African boundaries or population groups. The Nigeria which received independence from Britain in 1960 had a population of 60 million people of nearly 300 differing ethnic and tribal groups. Of the ethnic groups that made up Nigeria, the largest were the largely Muslim Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the half-Christian, half-Muslim south-west, and the Igbo in the predominantly Christian south-east. At independence a conservative political alliance had been made between the leading Hausa and Igbo political parties, which ruled Nigeria from 1960 to 1966. This alliance excluded the western Yoruba people. The well-educated Igbo people were considered by many to be the main beneficiaries of this alliance, taking most of the top jobs and leading business opportunities in the Nigerian federation. The Yoruba westerners...
Words: 1337 - Pages: 6
...oduction The Nigerian Civil War, 1967 – 1970, was an ethnic and political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the South-eastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed republic of Biafra. The war became notorious for the starvation in some of the besieged war-bound regions, and the consequent claims of genocide made by the largely Igbo people of those regions. Causes of the Conflict The conflict was the result of serious tensions, both ethnic and religious, between the different peoples of Nigeria. Like most modern African nations, Nigeria was an artificial construct, put together by agreement between European powers, paying little regard to historical African boundaries or population groups. The Nigeria which received independence from Britain in 1960 had a population of 60 million people of nearly 300 differing ethnic and tribal groups. Of the ethnic groups that made up Nigeria, the largest were the largely Muslim Hausa in the north, the Yoruba in the half-Christian, half-Muslim south-west, and the Igbo in the predominantly Christian south-east. At independence a conservative political alliance had been made between the leading Hausa and Igbo political parties, which ruled Nigeria from 1960 to 1966. This alliance excluded the western Yoruba people. The well-educated Igbo people were considered by many to be the main beneficiaries of this alliance, taking most of the top jobs and leading business opportunities in the Nigerian federation. The Yoruba westerners...
Words: 317 - Pages: 2
...The Biafran War, fought between the people of Nigeria and the people of Biafra, turned into a genocide that many of the world’s most powerful countries did nothing to prevent. In fact, many of those countries supported the side who brought on the genocide. Biafra was a short lived country that was in a war for practically the entirety of its existence, causing over one million people to lose their lives. Biafra no longer exists as a country today, but rather a territory of Nigeria, taking up about half of the southern coast. The Biafran War was devastating to its citizens, but today, some people still want it to be independent. To understand the situations of the war, one must know why the war started, what happened in it, and which other countries...
Words: 1127 - Pages: 5
...the Biafran Civil War which happened in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. It was British colonialism which was the ultimate cause of the war. When the British (along with other European nations) colonized Africa, it split its territories on that continent up into different colonies based on its own interests. In other words, Britain did not go around figuring out which areas really belonged together. Instead, they simply drew lines on the map, creating new political entities that had never existed before. Nigeria was one such entity. When the British drew the map of what would become Nigeria, they included areas that were dominated by a variety of different ethnic groups. Two of the main ethnic groups whose areas were lumped together into Nigeria were the Hausa and the Igbo. There were many differences between these groups. For example, the Hausa were Muslim and had a system of government that was relatively feudal. By contrast, the Igbo were mainly Christian and had a more democratic society. These two groups did not have any natural ties that would make it reasonable to put them together into one country. However, the British lumped them together, creating Nigeria. In 1960, Nigeria became independent. This led to conflicts between the Hausa and the Igbo as to who should have power in the new country. The conflicts between them eventually led the Igbos in the Southeast to secede from Nigeria. They formed a new country that they called Biafra. The war was fought...
Words: 325 - Pages: 2
...presented as being a very good person, a person that is committed to her family. This is normal from the Nigerian Village and the environment she is from. The woman stay homes to take care of the children, while the men go to the city to work, like Okeke. We get the impression that her family is the lowest in the community. We hear Veronica lives in Nigeria around the 1970s, which is the same time as the Civil War, and the author have focused a lot on this. The author makes the reader feel sympathy for Veronica, because she is in the situation she is. Her family is very poor, she has to take care of the family from a very young age. We hear later in the story, that she is lucky getting a man which have a job, so he can get some money to the family. Guy de Maupasssant is presenting the protagonist in “The Necklace” very differently. She is very representative of her society. She is being presented as being very selfish, egocentric and ungrateful. The reader is barely getting any kind of sympathy for her at the beginning of the story. Because of her negative vision on life she only wants the best, of the best. So compared to Veronica who is always optimistic about life, she is very negative. That is on of the most obvious diversities between the two protagonists. As I said earlier the story takes place around the Civil war in Nigeria. The fact that we know it was in the Civil War, tells us a lot about how hard it was for Veronica. She had to take care of the family, while there...
Words: 1234 - Pages: 5
...the high seas, but never over territorial sea of another state -Art.1 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation: “every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the space above its territory” -It is a serious breach of international law for a state to order to violate the air space of another state (for e.g. USA military aircraft attacked, forced to land or shot down by Hungary, USSR, Czechoslovakia-a number of incidents) -Does the states have an unlimited right to attack intruding aircraft in all circumstances? -Lissitzyn principle (from 1953)-important (book!) -Some states support Lissitzyn principle and that flexible approach to civil aircraft as well as military craft, but other states including ICAO-International Civil Aviation Organization, believe that civil aircraft must never be attacked in such circumstances -The rule that (it is not indeed a rule) trespassing civil aircraft must never be attacked does not mean that they have a legal right to trespass -Assembly of ICAO in 1984 adopted an amendment to 1944 Chicago Conv. On the Int. Civil Aviation which confirms that “every state, in the exercise of its sovereignty is entitled to require the landing at some designated airport of a civil aircraft flying above its territory without authority.” and that “every state must refrain from resorting to use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight and that, in case of interception, the lives of persons on board and the safety of aircraft must...
Words: 2165 - Pages: 9
...Evaluating the role of ethnic identity in explaining the occurrence of contemporary civil conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. High hopes for many newly independent states of Africa became diminished as the 1990s saw over a quarter of the continent's states facing armed insurgencies within their borders (Young, 2002: 534). Commentators often point to pathological, deep-seated hatreds in an African tribal mosaic as the bases of such conflict. The fact is, however, that the continent is awash with political grudges, ethnically-framed and otherwise, but civil wars rarely break out. Thus this essay seeks to take a more nuanced approach to understand the analytical challenge posed by such disorder. Starting out by countering the centrality of ethnic identity, it firstly seeks to demonstrate that ethnic identities do not exist primordially, but that they are constructed on weak foundations. Secondly it endeavours to show that where cleavages do exist along lines of cultural difference, simple heterogeneity is insufficient to account for the outbreak of conflict. Next, it moves to underline the fact that more important in explaining civil conflict is whether such conflict is feasible. This is understood both in terms of the perceived capacity of the state and in terms of the viability of insurgency for would-be rebels. A final conclusion will then be expounded that ethnicity is not a central factor, but that it is simply one of a number of strategies under which conflict may be framed...
Words: 2475 - Pages: 10
...predecssors. “The Arab Spring” as it was called began in Tunisia and spread across the region (Al Jazeera). The protestors in this revolt wanted a myriad of things. Some wanted democracy, respect for civil rights, and some want Islamization of government and a movement to theocracy. Syria, once a province of the Ottoman Empire, is a small middle-eastern nation between Lebanon and Turkey. In March 2011, pro-Democracy Arab Spring protestors who were marching to decry the arrest and torture of teen graffiti artists were fired upon by police. After the shootings, many more protestors joined the public displays of defiance (BBC ). After nationwide unrest and a refusal by President Assad to abdicate, the protestors began to arm themselves (Semple). The violence in the country escalated so quickly that by June of 2013, 90,000 people had been killed in the fighting and that number moved to 250,000 by August of 2015 (BBC ). Into the fray came the self-stylized Islamic State. This terrorist group which is opposed to Assad is fighting to create a Muslim caliphate throughout Iraq and Syria. In June of 2014, the group claimed that it’s caliphate had been established, which lead to US airstrikes to destroy the group, thus entering another belligerent into the fight (BBC). The Syrian Civil War was killed more than 250,000 people and approximately 11-12 million of the nation’s 22 million people are displaced. Approximately 6.5 million people are displaced inside of the country, with ~4.5...
Words: 1225 - Pages: 5
...Monrovia Civil War Massina Ballah Strayer University English 090 Professor Delicia Battle August 10, 2012 Monrovia Civil war Many years of war that suffered thousands of people, and many dead. As a result of this, there were no food or medication. Moreover, a war that many thought will never come to an end. Monrovia war, a war that started early Monday morning april 6, 1990. A bright sunny day. Women and children running to save their lives. From a distance, I heard a very big sound of machine guns, bullet flying all over the place. We all ran for safety. As a got dark, it was a terrible night I didn’t know what to do. I felt stomach sick, because of the heavy guns sound. After many hours sitting in the house, I felt that this is the end of our lives. The next day the rebels told us to get out of the house. While working out there, there were many dead bodies in the street. I was afraid, especially my first time looking, and working over dead bodies. We walked for many hours. When it was night time, we slept in a school building. Women were taken from their husband by rebels. I knew that it was not safe for us. No one to protect us. We didn’t have safe drinking water. We drank from the creek, or the riverside. After many day of struggles, we had no food to eat, or medication. My elder brother got ill. We needed medicine. There were no medicine. My brother sickness got worst and he died. I felt so bad. My brother and I were so closed . He was everything...
Words: 388 - Pages: 2
...from the 21st century, my first and quick answer will be war Wars have been going on for centuries. War unavoidably.Brings death, destruction and suffering, which both ruin lives and nations. The most unjustifiable consequence of war is the loss of innocent civilians' lives. Civilians, who could have lived to make a huge impact on the world, pose no direct threat to the 'enemy' and might not even share the motives of the side they have been presumed to support. War eradicates hopes and dreams of millions, destroys homelands, frightens and oppresses people. Nothing that, in the end, brings more bad than it does good can be justified. Any kind of war is unjustifiable because it involves only killing. And what kind of victory does one get? Victory over millions of dead human flesh.Victory over the broken hearts of the family and relatives. We must not forget the horrors of the two world wars. In these wars, there was mass-killing and destruction of property. Thousands were made widows and orphans. War brings hatred and spreads falsehood. People become selfish and brutal. Finally I believe Wars are not the solution of the problems. Instead they generate problems and create hatred among nations. War can decide one issue but gives birth too many. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the greatest horrible faces of the consequence of wars. Even after 60 years people are suffering from the miseries of war. Whatever be the cause of war, it always results in destruction of life and property at...
Words: 1148 - Pages: 5
...War Has No Boundaries The short story “The Sniper” was written by Liam O’Flaherty. The Sniper was published on January 12, 1923. Liam O’Flaherty was born on August 28, 1898. Liam grew up in a poverty-stricken village on Irishmore Island in County Galway on the western coast of Ireland (Cummings,2007). O’Flaherty joined the British Army during the First World War in 1915. He wrote the sniper on his findings during the Irish Civil War. The main ideas that Liam was trying to represent are war has no boundaries, that war reduces humans into mere objects, and individualism. The Irish Civil War began on June 28, 1922 and ended May 24, 1923. The war claimed more lives than the war of independence did. The conflict broke out between two opposing sides: The Free State, and Republican Opposition. The Anglo-Irish Treaty arose from the Irish War of Independence. The treaty provided for a self-governing Irish state in twenty-six of Ireland’s thirty-two counties. The Free State supported the treaty while the treaty represented the republican side. The split between the two opposing sides was very personal. The leaders on the opposing side were very close friends, and were comrades during the Irish War of Independence. The leader of the republican was...
Words: 1396 - Pages: 6
...John Adams once said, “Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.” This means that killing in war is most felt when it could have been avoided. Justification for killing in war is a very debated topic. Some deem it as necessary for freedom, but what is necessary about killing another human being? Liam O’Flaherty was a short story writer from the early to mid-1900s. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (2015) disclose that his various novels and short stories guided the course for other authors in the literary Irish Renaissance. In his story, “The Sniper,” O’Flaherty stresses the importance of the human feeling soldiers obtain when amidts battle. “The Sniper” takes place in Dublin, Ireland in the middle of a heated Irish civil war between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Free Staters. An IRA sniper has been...
Words: 883 - Pages: 4
...War is the one situation that has no room for mistakes. The slightest mistake can cost a person his life when in the line of war. War can change people who may have never wanted to harm a person into someone who is willing to live at all cost, even if it means killing. The short story “The Sniper” written by Liam O’Flaherty incorporates the realities of war all the way down to its finest details. It also shows its extremities and how an option of simply whether to light a cigarette or not can be the decision whether someone lives or dies. People are fighting in these wars and may not know what they are fighting for or why they are fighting. Cummings (2007) found, “Liam O’Flaherty was born on August 28, 1896, in Inishmore, Ireland.”...
Words: 1346 - Pages: 6
...“Conflict is often indiscriminate”. I think that the statement means that sometimes wars and other various types of conflict occur regardless of who you are and just at random. My gut reaction regarding the statement is that conflict can be very indiscriminate equally to how conflict can be discriminative. For example, 9/11 was indiscriminate as the attack targeted multiple groups of people and was an attack just to psychologically damage the confidence of US Homeland Security and the US government; as well as other countries around the globe which saw the news broadcasts and thought that their country was going to be attacked next. However, conflicts like the Stonewall Riots, were discriminative, violent conflicts that attacked innocent people...
Words: 373 - Pages: 2
...Throughout the world conflict persists. This is evident in Nicaragua where the country is facing a land disputes, “a territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession/control of land between two or more territorial entities” which has divided into what can be described as a small civil war of ethnicity with the prize being valuable land along the coast of the country (7,. The two ethnic groups who are responsible for the conflicts are the miskitos of the southern region of Nicaragua, and the mestizos of the northern region of nicaragua. There fighting for land hs spread throughout the Caribbean coast, where most of the indigenous miskito citizens live on and or in close proximity to the area.(6) Both sides of the conflict the mestizos and the miskitos have had casualties since the start of the disputes....
Words: 806 - Pages: 4