Biafra: Declaration of Independence 1967
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Fellow countrymen and women, you, the people of Eastern Nigeria: Conscious of the supreme authority of Almighty God over all mankind, of your duty to yourselves and posterity;
Aware that you can no longer be protected in your lives and in your property by any Government based outside Eastern Nigeria;
Believing that you are born free and have certain inalienable rights which can best be preserved by yourselves;
Unwilling to be unfree partners in any association of a political or economical nature;
Rejecting
the authority of any person or persons other than the Military
Government of Eastern Nigeria to make any imposition of whatever kind or
nature upon you;
Determined to dissolve all political and other ties between you and the former Federal Republic of Nigeria;
Prepared
to enter into such association, treaty or alliance with any sovereign
state within the former Federal Republic of Nigeria and elsewhere on
such terms and conditions as best to subserve your common good;
Affirming your trust and confidence in me;
Having mandated me to proclaim on your behalf, and in your name, that Eastern Nigeria be a sovereign independent Republic,
Now,
therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military
Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to
the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the
territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with
her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an
independent sovereign state of the name and title of "The Republic of
Biafra". And I do declare that-
i. all political ties between us and the Federal Republic of Nigeria are hereby totally dissolved;
ii.
all subsisting contractual obligations entered into by the Government
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by any person, authority or
organization or government acting on its behalf, with any person,
authority or organization operating, or relating to any matter or thing,
within the Republic of Biafra, shall henceforth be deemed to be entered
into with the Military Governor of the Republic of Biafra for and on
behalf of the Government and people of the republic of
Biafra, and the covenants thereof shall, subject to this Declaration, be performed by the parties according to their tenor;
iii.
all subsisting international treaties and obligations made on behalf of
eastern Nigeria by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
shall be honoured and respected;
iv. Eastern
Nigeria's due share of all subsisting international debits and
obligations entered into by the Government of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria on behalf of the Federation of Nigeria shall be honoured and
respected;
v. steps will be taken to open
discussions of the question of Eastern Nigeria's due share of the assets
of the Federation of Nigeria and personal properties of the citizens of
Biafra throughout the Federation of Nigeria;
vi.
the rights, privileges, pensions, etc. of all personnel of the Public
Services, the Armed Forces and the Police now serving in any capacity
within the Republic of Biafra, are hereby guaranteed;
vii.
we shall keep the door open for association with, and would welcome,
any sovereign unit or units in the former Federation of Nigeria or in
any other parts of Africa desirous of association with us for the
purposes of running a common services organization and for the
establishment of economic ties;
viii. we shall
protect the lives and property of all foreigners residing in Biafra; we
shall extend the hand of friendship to those nations who respect our
sovereignty, and shall repell any interference in our internal affairs;
ix. we shall faithfully adhere to the charter of the Organization of African Unity and of the United Nations Organization;
x. It is our intention to remain a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations in our right as a sovereign, independent nation.
Long live the Republic of Biafra! And may God protect all who live in her!
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Read the constantly updated news on health from the CDC, FDA and NIH, click here.
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Biafra was the eastern third of Nigeria that tried to become its own
nation on May 30, 1967 because other Nigerians were murdering them, on Jan 15, 1970 the
rest of Nigeria stopped murdering them and they became again part of
Nigeria.
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Biafra audio. Listen to speeches by General Ojukwu and the Biafran national anthem. Click here.
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Haddonfield New Jersey mayor is Tish Colombi. Lovely picture of Tish in article on Olympic runner who grew up in Haddonfield, click here.
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