The Evolution of the Biafran Secessionist Movement, 1967-2022
Creators: Ayoyo, Damilohun D.
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

<p>This research draws primarily on a qualitative methodology framework to investigate how the Nigerian political process shaped the Biafran secessionist movement from 1967 to 2022. Personal interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with eighty-five (85) participants from Southeast Nigeria, consisting of activists from pro-Biafran organisations such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB); IPOB supporters; politicians; opinion leaders; traditional and community leaders; members of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and traders/businessmen/women. The primary data was further contextualised by analysing official press statements and reports from pro-Biafran movement activists/organisations, the Nigerian government, and international organisations such as Amnesty International. The contributions of diverse groups and participants and the inclusion of multiple sources of contextual data enabled the generation of a robust, substantive and critical body of knowledge that significantly contributes to existing literature.This research deepens the explanation of the political opportunity perspective and the framing paradigm within the social movement scholarship. Findings show that the Biafran secessionist movement has evolved around different political opportunities (such as the division among Nigerian political elites, political transition or regime change, decline or increase in state repression, and factionalisation and fracturing of Biafran movement leadership) and framings (such as injustice or illegitimate inequality, freedom or decolonisation, human rights, state failure, political opposition and terrorism) since 1967. Opportunities and threats to protest are intertwined; one does not occur without the other. Every opportunity to protest creates an opportunity to repress. The study affirms the connection between political opportunity and framing. The opportunity of the Biafran movement to protest constitutes an opportunity for the state (actors) to repress it. The framing of the Biafran secessionist movement creates opportunities for public support, opposition and state repression.The findings of this study show that the public perception, support and opposition to the Biafran movement among the Igbos (or in Igboland) depend on age, class, and observers’ expected gain or loss from the advocated change. People who think or feel they will benefit or be empowered if Biafra is achieved are likely to support the Biafran movement. On the contrary, people who envisage economic or political losses from the advocated change are likely to oppose or not support the movement. However, a positive or sympathetic perception of a social movement does not necessarily translate to support for it. Even though the Igbo elites generally perceive the Biafran movement as the result of social injustice, state failure and insecurity, many do not support the movement. The positive perception of the Biafran movement increases when placed on a collective ‘Igbo’ identity framing but decreases when placed on population subcategories or social categories of age, class, and interest.Irrespective of the nature of the regime in power, the Biafran movement remained vulnerable to militaristic and legal repression threats. The degree of repression against the Biafran movement and the movement&#39;s response to repression depends on how the regime in power and the movement perceive or frame each other. State repression produced varied consequences for the Biafran secessionist movement; it caused the movement to decline at certain times and escalated protests at other times. Repression reduced the opportunity for nonviolent protests. At various junctures, however, repression increased the opportunity for violent protests.</p>