“The loss of life from starvation continues at more than 10,000 persons per day over 1,000,000 lives in recent months. Without emergency measures now, the number will climb to 25,000 per day, within a month and 2,000,000 deaths by the end of the year. The New Year will only bring greater disaster to people caught in the passion of fratricidal war; we can’t allow this to continue or those responsible to go free”
Senator Kennedy appeals to Americans Sunday November 17, 1968
Consequently, the rich and the concerned people of the world trooped into Biafra to organize and contribute to saving the starving and the dying children of war. One of the blue bloods and the distinguished beautiful Princess, sister to the pretenders of the Spanish Throne, Cecile de Bourbon Parma took her visit and experience in Biafra to the United States Congress. “In one of the Refugees camps, I had a little girl in my arms, I think she was 10 and I was very anxious and looking forward to taking her along with me to Europe. She was very sick and completely mal-nourished. In-between her gasps, she was also anxious to join me and asked me when the plane will arrive to take her away from Biafra. I promised the plane would come, and when the plane landed, the little girl smiled and died in my arms!”
The Princess, who was testifying for the first time before the US Senate Committee with Senator Ted Kennedy as Chairman, did not live the Congress until she was promised American support aid for the starving children of Biafra. After that harrowing and sobering testimony, Senator Ted Kennedy and many prominent Americans including the then First Lady Patricia Nixon were pulling in many directions to move America to recognize the human carnage that was taking place in the first black on black genocide during the Nigeria civil war.
For the Blacks according to Herbert Gold, in Goodbye Biafra, Two Windows Press, San Francisco 1970, “American Blacks if they are interested at all is in to support Nigeria because they think we are like Katanga, the creature of someone else. Because they don’t know how the Arab hates the Africa and they fancy themselves Moslems and we are Christians. The highest level Washington decision is to follow political rather than humanitarian motives. Oil and spheres of influence rather than Biafran lives.”
Last week, we revealed to you the munificent response of the Jesus People of Canada in the face of the Biafran tragedy. In Europe, the Scandinavians as usual led Europe’s anti genocide charge to ameliorate the sufferings and the annihilation of the Biafran children. When they tried to fly in the relief materials and were being shot into the Atlantic by satanic Sudanese and Egyptian fighter Pilots, aided by evil Nigerian fighter Pilots like Gbadamosi King, Captain Dickson etc. there emerged on the scene a Swiss noble gentleman Carl Gustaf von Rosen, who decided on his own to build his own airforce in defense of Biafra relief flights. Assembled and mainly built up of mini flying civilian aircrafts, Rosen employed Biafran scientists led by the astute improvising genius Onitsha born Achikwu, to equip and give his new array of flying mini aircrafts some offensive guns and teeth. Until his war planes were gradually decimated by either lack of parts or cremated by the more roundly equipped modern Russian fighter jets, Carl Rosen gave the Nigerian savage airforce a run for their money.
Indeed, Norway which is presently the most happy and boosting of the best organized government in the world ensured more than any other country the survival of the Biafrans in the face of the most callous blitz targeted against an African group since the end of the second world war. Norway in order to be effective employed subtly the services of the Norwegian Church Aid Group, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK, Norsk Riks Kringkasting, Norwegian Labour Party…. Arbeide Partiet, and made the most humanitarian impact in Biafra and in those critical days following the end of the shooting war. The former Ebonyi State Governor Elechi, former Senator, Ofia Nwali who qualified as the first Computer PhD graduate in Africa were amongst the prominent beneficiaries of these Norwegian Christian relief group after the war. Significantly, the Norwegian leading political family the Stoltenbergs, fought the Biafran cause like nobody else. In fact it was the father of the Prime Minister, Thorvald Stoltenberg, who led the massive international food, medical and relief aid coming from Norway and Biafra during the dark days of the war. At the last meeting of the European Leaders, I tried to whisper my prayers and gratitude to Jens Stoltenberg, the present Prime Minister of Norway on a CNN montage. From Norway, we recount the sacrifices of the Swedish Churches, and the Swedish Lutheran Church, Uppsala.
Recently, I was in direct phone communications with the Church and the head of that powerful Christian Church confirmed its readiness to participate in our program and in fact they have published the Biafran war literature in the different Scandinavian mother languages which detailed those people’s sacrifices, their humanitarian efforts through their Churches and their people that ensured the survival of the Biafran children. In fact the most strategically important civilian in the Biafran experiment was Eze Onwuna, the first Governor of the Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Akanu Ibiam. He was the one who as the first Black President of the World Council of Churches coordinated, persuaded the World Christian groups to fall in line against genocide. Dr. Ibiam, when there was no food, no medical aid, no doctors, no money inside the besieged Biafran enclave, called on the Christian world to come to the aid of the starving humanity and the Churches of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany responded.
Fifty years after, no Biafran living or dead, have thought it worthwhile to acknowledge these martyrs some of who perished in the air, shot into the Atlantic, or were killed just landing relief at the bomb infested Uli airport. In our program for the Fifty Years Anniversary for the Asaba/Anioma/Biafran genocide memorial, we are going to kneel in prayers with other genocide victims of Armenia, Aleppo, Rwanda, Darfur, Israel, Odi, Agatu, Zaki Biam, Southern Kaduna and for the first time, openly say our gratitude to the following: The Caritas, World Council of Churches, The Red Cross, the Jesus People, Doctors Without Borders, Swedish Churches, Swedish Lutheran Church, Uppsala, the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg and his father Thorvald Stoltenberg, the Norwegian Church Aid Group, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK, Norsk Riks Kringkasting, Norwegian Labour Party…. Arbeide Partiet, Carl Gustaf von Rosen, Bojrn Ryman, Jewish brothers, Ezra Melamed, Samuel Karniely, Josef, Shimony and Arnon Barak for their unprecedented courage, flying in darkness to bring food and succor to the starving children of Biafra.