THE ORIGIN BEHIND BIAFRA (Part 1)

There was a Biafra before 1967which lost its sovereignty to colonial powers. “ Early modern maps of Africa from the 15th-19th centuries, drawn by European cartographers from accounts written by explorers and travellers, reveal that the original word used by the European travellers was not Biafra but Biafara, Biafar and sometimes also Biafares.” Now let me correct one impression about the meaning of Biafra as some believed it is a name given by Portuguese explorers. Biafara people are already known and addressed as Biafara people before they came in contact with the first European merchants. The word Biafra has its generics from “Ephraim” as pointed out by Martin Simon Ukegbe (a religious activist who suggested that the new Republic of Biafra of 1967 be called the Christian Democratic Republic of B”Ephrayim) the B there signifies the bay or bight so the word Biafara or Biafar has its root from B”Ephraim but the Europeans at that time called it Biafar-Biafara or Biafares. Researchers hold the view that the region is inhabited by descendants of Ephraim. Mitchell map of 1839 stated that the important estuaries from where the rivers flow into the ocean is called Ephraim town which is located 60 miles from River Nun which is in the south-south Nigeria today. The river is named after Nun the father of Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim. Biblical meaning of the name “EPHRAIM” is “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction”. The question now is who are the most afflicted, deprived and mostly killed in the contraption called Nigeria “Biafra people” who are the most fruitful, blessed by nature and skills within the contraption called Nigeria “Biafra people” before 1967-1970 genocide war against Biafran people they have been killed in their thousands by the Northerners and Westerners 1966, during the war, all the public facilities where completely destroyed, that includes Schools, Hospitals, Markets, Power plants, Churches, Post offices, Biafra land (south-east Nigeria and some part of South-south) where desolate with no life sustaining amenities, after the war in1970, Awolowo the finance minister gave £20 to every Biafra no matter the amount you have in your bank account, and declared all their properties outside Igbo land abandoned property, including Port Harcourt where Ikwere Igbos denied their Igbo identity with the intention of annihilating and breaking the spirit of Igbo to make them perpetual beggars and people of no hope for the future. The rest are history today which you can confirm for yourself. Today an average Igbo man that has his Igbo identity are far much better than every other Nigeria from all perspective, you can disprove that if you think otherwise.
Biafran Ethnic Nationalities:
Ibos (Igbo speaking Biafrans), Ijaws (speaking Kalabari, Edoid, Izon language etc) others includes: Ibibio-Efiks and Ogojas, and this Great Nation has been coexisting thousands of years ago as Biafra people many centuries before losing her sovereignty to colonial powers before being balkanized into various countries like Guanine Bissau, Kamerun, etc, the Archaeological evidence and African Ancient map stands as a proof that Biafra people are a nation and are Indigenous people.
 Many people including those of Igbo extraction often confused the term “Ibo and Igbo”, some accused the Europeans of removing the G letter, but the truth remains that the current Igbo language letters were written by the whites I mean English people who as missionaries wrote the Igbo alphabet in order to convey the Gospel in Igbo language that is why the English alphabets and that of Igbo are just same A B C D…. a b ch d….., the original form of Igbo written has been lost with near impossibility of being used again. Just as Biafra has its generic root from B”Ephraim so do Ibo has its generics from Heebo, Eboans, Ebo, then Ibo, while Igbo is the language of Ibos. Ibo is a people and Igbo is their language, just like England is a people and English is their language. We call them English people, many English speaking people of England, while Ibo is a people and Igbos are Igbo speaking people of Ibo. The word “Ibrit” which has its English equivalent as Hebrew were corrupted and mispronounce as Iburus, Heebros, Heebos, Eboes and FINALLY Ibos. But from research findings the word Igbo is found to be an derogatory ancient Sudanese word meaning “People of the forest”.

Written by  Asuzu Chinedu Peters