Philip Effiong
Philip
Efiong (also spelled Effiong,
18 November 1925 – 6 November 2003) was the first Vice President and the second President of the now defunct Republic
of Biafra during the Nigerian
Civil War of 1967 to
1970.
Early life
Born in Ibiono Ibom in present-day Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, on 18 November 1925, Philip Effiong
joined the Nigerian Armed Forces
on 28 July 1945. He quickly rose through the ranks until on 11 January 1956 he
received the Queen's Commission
following his officer cadet training at Eaton Hall in
Chester. The UK later commissioned him for duty in the Rhine,
West Germany. He was then transferred to the
Nigeria Army Ordnance Corps; then to England for further training after a
peace-keeping stint in the Republic of Congo in 1961. He was Nigeria's first
Director of Ordnance. His son is his namesake.
Biafra
Efiong became Chief of General Staff of Biafra
under Head of State, Odumegwu Ojukwu
during the Nigeria-Biafra war.
The tactics of the Nigerian military during the war included economic
blockade and deliberate destruction of agricultural land. Even before the war,
the area was net importer of food, depending on income from its oil fields to
feed its populace.
With the blockade cutting off oil revenue and
agricultural destruction reducing food production, the result was mass
dislocation and starvation of the populace. Two to three million people are
thought to have died in the conflict, mostly through starvation and illness.
When Biafra's military resistance collapsed,
Ojukwu fled to Côte d'Ivoire.
Effiong became acting Biafra Head Of State
Efiong assumed leadership in this situation of
turmoil, starvation, and collapse. He became acting Head of State of Biafra on
8 January 1970 and on 12 January announced surrender. [1]
Effiong's Speech to Gowon
On January 15, 1970 at Dodan Barracks in Lagos, in the presence of
General Gowon, Effiong announced the end of the Biafran conflict.
"I, Major-General Phillip Efiong, Officer
Administering the Government of the Republic of Biafra, now wish to make the
following declaration: That we affirm that we are loyal Nigerian citizens and
accept the authority of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria. That we
accept the existing administrative and political structure of the Federation of
Nigeria. That any future constitutional arrangement will be worked out by
representatives of the people of Nigeria. That the Republic of Biafra hereby
ceases to exist."[2]
At the time of the surrender, Effiong believed
that the situation was hopeless and that prolonging the conflict would have led
only to the further destruction and starvation of the people of Biafra. At that
time Effiong said, "I am convinced now that a stop must be put to the bloodshed
which is going on as a result of the war. I am also convinced that the
suffering of our people must be brought to an immediate end."[3]
Nnaemeka
L. Aneke wrote, "General Efiong’s handling of Biafra’s
surrender is one of the most tactical and devoted maneuvers ever seen on the
Nigerian scene. Those who do not appreciate the depth of it may not have
appreciated what was at stake as Biafra capitulated."[4] Many observers had expected wholesale
retribution at war's end.
Later life
In a 1996 interview, Effiong reflected on those
events:
I have no
regrets whatsoever of my involvement in Biafra or the role I played. The war
deprived me of my property, dignity, my name. Yet, I saved so many souls on
both sides and by this, I mean Biafra and Nigeria. . . .
I felt that I
played a role which has kept this country united till today. . . .
At the end of it
all when I saw they (Biafran soldiers) could no longer continue and Ojukwu had
fled, I did what was ideal after wide consultation . . . [1]
Efiong died 6 November 2003, at the age of 77
less than two weeks before his 78th birthday.
References
#nationalweekofremembrancefordepartedwriters
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