"A Man of Vision as Godfather” Felix Houphouet Boigny and Biafra’s Struggle for Secession

Abstract

Biafra’s troops fought Nigerian soldiers for thirty months. In its inception, Nigeria had hoped for an early victory, but the Biafrans kept the struggle on. In some battles, such as the one at Abagana in Anambra, they ambushed Nigerian soldiers, killing several hundreds of them. Biafra’s troops could display such enviable resilience against Nigeria’s heavily armed troops because of their access to arms and ammunition, much of which was received through the connections of the Ivory Coast president, Felix Houphouet Boigny. Houphouet Boigny was Biafra’s most committed supporter, but despite this, his connection to Biafra’s war strategy, policy, and efforts is unknown. In this article, I examine the implication of Houphouet Boigny’s intervention in Biafra’s sustained rebellion against Nigeria. In so doing, I demonstrate that Houphouet Boigny not only was a master architect of Biafra’s war diplomacy but also leveraged the war situation to boost the political and international image of Ivory Coast.