foreign donors

But a year passes and the Nigerians have still failed to capitalize on their successes. There are several reasons for this failure:the surprising ingenuity of the Biafrans when they are hard on their heels; the command and transport difficulties of the Nigerian army; the goodwill of foreign donors, who take considerable risks to supply Biafra; the problems that the Nigerian army encounters in the occupied regions where the population is hostile to it. However, the existence of Biafra remains extremely precarious and depends entirely on outside help.
On August 28, 1969, a council of African ministers met in Addis Ababa to try to settle the conflict. But both Biafra and Nigeria seem to have entrenched themselves in irreducible positions. The outcome of the conflict still seems distant and thousands of children continue to die of hunger despite the solidarity and dedication of many charitable organizations.
At the end of 1969, Nigeria's Gowon regime appears to be shaky. The division of the old regions into states took away some of the bitterness from the political disputes, but the war hit the economy hard. Army recruitment absorbed some of the unemployed and we are a long way from the turmoil of the years 1964-1965, but it is clear that the conditions could easily be recreated if the stalemate persisted for too long or if a large many soldiers were demobilized with no prospect of being
reclassified once the war with Biafra was over.
In Biafra, solidarity seems to persist among the population because common suffering and unhappiness. Certainly, very many Biafrans are tired of the war, but they seem to see no other solution.
Nigeria, by encouraging the Ibos to return to their jobs in the North and by cutting them off from the fields oil, totally unrealistic. The role of the Ibos in the North is, indeed, over, and the Central East State, without the jobs and revenue from the oil concessions, cannot support them. However, we note with surprise that in Biafra, despite the state of siege, the famine and the bombardments, the mentality hardly seems to have changed.
The debacle began on December 18. The Biafran forces will gradually yield to the new Nigerian offensive. The entire southern front is disintegrating; Owerri, the provisional capital, is taken. .
On January 12, 1970, air communications were interrupted; most of the Biafran units have laid down their arms. Nigerians offer amnesty and life to soldiers who surrender. General Ojukwu left the country to "seek an honorable solution" and entrusted the affairs of state to General Philip Effiong, who belongs to an ethnic minority, the Ekik tribe.
January 13 , Effiong delivers a radio address. "A delegation of our people stands ready to meet anywhere with the representatives of the Nigerian federal government to negotiate," he said. May God help us! »
The drama is over. The Biafran nation has ceased to exist.