Philip Effiong

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Obong Philip Effiong
In office
January 8, 1970 – January 12, 1970
Preceded by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
1st Vice President of Biafra
In office
May 30, 1967 – January 8, 1970
President Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
Preceded by Position created
Born November 18, 1925
Akwa-Ibom State, British West Africa
Died November 6, 2003
Aba, Abia State
Nationality Nigerian
Spouse Josephine Effiong

Philip Effiong (also spelled Efiong, November 18, 1925 – November 6, 2003) was the first Vice President and the second and last President of the now defunct Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970.

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[edit] Early life

Born Obong Philip Effiong in the British West African colony of Nigeria, Effiong joined the Nigerian Armed Services on July 28, 1945. He quickly rose through the service ranks until January 11, 1956 when he received the Queen's Commission after his officer cadet training at Eaton Hall in Chester. England later commissioned him for duty in the Rhine in West Germany. Effiong was then transferred to the Nigerian Army Ordnance Corps and then to England for further training after a peace keeping stint in the Republic of Congo in 1961.

[edit] Biafra

Effiong became Vice-President of Biafra under President Odumegwu Ojukwu during the Nigeria-Biafra war.

The tactics of the Nigerian military during the war included economic blockade and deliberate destruction of agricultural land. Even before the war, the area was net importer of food, depending on income from its oil fields to feed its populace.

With the blockade cutting off oil revenue and agricultural destruction reducing food production, the result was mass dislocation and starvation of the populace. Two to three million people are thought to have died in the conflict, mostly through starvation and illness.

When Biafra's military resistance collapsed, Ojukwu fled to Côte d'Ivoire.

Effiong assumed leadership in this situation of turmoil, starvation, and collapse. He became president of Biafra on 8 January 1970 and on January 12 announced surrender.[1]

At the time of the surrender, Effiong believed that the situation was hopeless and that prolonging the conflict would have led only to the further destruction and starvation of the people of Biafra. At that time Effiong said, "I am convinced now that a stop must be put to the bloodshed which is going on as a result of the war. I am also convinced that the suffering of our people must be brought to an immediate end."[1]

Nnaemeka L. Aneke wrote, "General Efiong’s handling of Biafra’s surrender is one of the most tactical and devoted maneuvers ever seen on the Nigerian scene. Those who do not appreciate the depth of it may not have appreciated what was at stake as Biafra capitulated."[2] Many observers had expected wholesale retribution at war's end.

[edit] Later life

In a 1996 interview, Effiong reflected on those events:

I have no regrets whatsoever of my involvement in Biafra or the role I played. The war deprived me of my property, dignity, my name. Yet, I saved so many souls on both sides and by this, I mean Biafra and Nigeria. . . .
I felt that I played a role which has kept this country united till today. . . .
At the end of it all when I saw they (Biafran soldiers) could no longer continue and Ojukwu had fled, I did what was ideal after wide consultation . . . [2]

Effiong died November 6, 2003, at the age of 78.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nigeria-Biafra Civil War
  2. ^ Obong Philip Efion: A Tribute to an Uncommon Nigerian by Nnaemeka L. Aneke. Accessed 5 July 2007.
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