Strategies and Diplomacy in the Nigeria’s War of Unity, 1967-1970 (Published)

This study examines the aim and strategies of the Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970, emphasizing the diplomatic positions and war strategies adopted by the two sides involved. It agrees that series of researches have been carried out as regards the Nigerian Civil War but only a few viewed it on the ground of diplomatic maneuvering and strategy. The various literatures laid more emphasis on the causes, dimensions and effects of the war without a thorough analogy on the use of tact and strategy in the context of the war. The study examines the use of propaganda, military tact, media, peace talks and summits in the context of the Nigerian civil war. This study is divided into two parts; the use of strategies by the Nigerian government and the Biafra people, as well as the peace talks and summits that took place during the war. Both primary and secondary sources are employed in this research.

Keywords: Biafra, Civil War, Diplomacy, Nigeria, Peace talks, Propaganda, Strategy, maneuvering

The Indifferent Attitude of the Ibibio to the Biafran Enterprise in the Context of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970 (Published)

The Nigerian civil war (6th July, 1967 – 15th January, 1970) that plunged the entire nation into chaos and devastation involved various ethnic nationalities. The conventional wisdom has been that the Ibibio fought on the side of the Biafra. This study examined the role the Ibibio played in the civil war. The study revealed that a larger proportion of the Ibibio population participated in the war on the side of the federal troops. Few that supported Biafra were former federal military officers and some in the civil service. The support to the federal troops by the Ibibio was as a result of their marginalization and oppression by the Igbo in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. The Ibibio played a significant role in the collapse of the Republic of Biafra. The study had corrected the persistent misconception that the Ibibio fought on the side of Biafra. The study made use of primary and secondary sources, the primary sources included oral interview, archival materials and government publications while the secondary sources were mainly books, articles in journals and unpublished thesis.

Citation: Godwin Stephen Emah and  Oluwaseun Samuel Osadola (2021) The Indifferent Attitude of the Ibibio to the Biafran Enterprise in the Context of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970, International Journal of History and Philosophical Research, Vol.9, No.3, pp.1-8,

Keywords: Biafra, Civil War, Ibibio, Nigeria, apathy

Nigerian Federalism and Obasanjo’s Civilian Administration in Nigeria, 1999-2007 (Published)

Adopting the systems and behavioural theories, this article examines the impact of military ethos and orientation on the principle of true federalism during the Obasanjo’s civilian administration in Nigeria. The paper argues that Obasanjo’s military ethos, orientation and behavior largely led to the distortion of the principle of true federalism during his tenure as Nigeria’s civilian president. Against the backdrop of what is contained in the existing literature which usually focus on the distortion of federalism by military rulers, the present work looks at the issue of distortion of federalism from the perspective of military orientation of civilian leaders who had consciously and unconsciously imbibed military behaviours, norms, attitudes, values and practices as a result of long association with military government. It submits that this trend adversely affected the practice of true federalism, a principle believed by the vast majority of Nigerian people as panacea for stability and peaceful co-existence. Thus, it calls for a proper re-orientation and the alteration of the mind-set of every civilian and all retired military men now in leadership positions in Nigeria to see themselves as civilians rather than military men in order to handle issues of national importance in line with federal rules and democratic principles

Keywords: Civilian Administration, Nigeria, Nigerian Federalism, Obasanjo

The New Trends In Government- Labour Relations In The Downstream Of The Oil And Gas Industry In Nigerian Fourth Republic (Published)

Government -Labour relations particularly in the downstream of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria has not been short of conflicts. In the time past, the conflicts were largely between employers and employees. However, since the Fourth Republic a new trend has emerged that involves state governments and labour union in the industry. It must be said that the conflicts were a product of the reaction of the union against social, economic and political policies of the government. This new trend is best demonstrated in Lagos state, where the attempt by the state government to manage traffic led to clashes of interest between the state government and member of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). The work examines the nature of conflict between Lagos state government and National of Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers. The work discussed the nature of the conflict, elaborated on the institutional process for industrial conflict resolution, explored how the conflict was managed, examined the role of bad governance in the conflict, discussed the impact and implication of the conflict and offers suggestion on how to improve conflict management in this particular case and in general. The work interviewed relevant authorities and individuals in the conflict: the officials of the Lagos state ministry of transport and its agency- the Lagos state transport management authority (LASTMA) and their counter part in NUPENG. Publications such as a newspapers, journals and books were also consulted. The collected data from the respondents and publications were analysed descriptively. The work argues that bad governance is the root of the conflict as successive government abandoned the infrastructural need of the nation in the sector which culminated in the dependency on imported refined crude oil products. This created it own problem of managing traffic as the major importation outlet is in Lagos and there is lack of parking lots to accommodate the inflows of unprecedented tanker vehicles. The work further argues that, the attitude of members of NUPENG also contributed to the conflict. Also, lack of communication which brews mistrust, lack of confidence and end up in conflict played a part

Keywords: Labour Relations, Nigeria, Oil and gas industry, Trends in Government

A CRITIQUE OF SOME OF THE AVAILABLE SECONDARY SOURCES ON NIGERIAN HISTORY (Published)

Trained historians reconstruct past human actions with the aid of available pieces or fragments of evidence from available sources. These could be primary or secondary. While none is infallible or can stand on its own without recourse to the others, secondary sources are ubiquitous and more readily accessible than the others. Newspapers, journals, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, seminar reports, books, etc are more readily available and accessible to the researcher and less cumbersome than ancillary and allied disciplines like numismatics (the collection and study of coins); epigraphy (the study and deciphering of old inscriptions); linguistics (the systematic and scientific study of language); dendrochronology (the use of tree growth rings for dating historical events and changes in the environment) and archaeology (the study of ancient cultures through remains). Although, oral information are also always almost readily available, there are instances where custodians of vital historical information, eye witnesses of or dramatis personae in events being reconstructed live hundreds of miles away from the researcher. This is not the case with secondary sources. However, just as secondary sources are prevalent so are they replete with erroneous submissions. It is for this purpose that this paper attempts to correct some of the erroneous submissions in some of the available secondary sources on Nigerian (particularly political) history. The method of data analysis employed in this paper is the historical method – simple descriptive collation and analysis of historical data.

Keywords: Nigeria, Nigerian History, Secondary Sources

The Niger Delta Crisis in Nigeria: Some Moral Lessons (Published)

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is richly endowed with enormous and abundant oil and gas resources contributing to ninety percent of Nigeria’s annual income. The Niger Delta region however, is severely exploited after being explored of her natural resources. This has led to widespread agitation, protest and militancy by her citizens. The crisis this has engendered has very significant moral undertone that one can learn from. Thus this work, apart from its historical insight, attempts to highlights these moral lessons with the thesis that “injustice” always leads to consequences that are not desirable.

Keywords: Crisis, Injustice, Militancy, Morality, Niger-Delta, Nigeria