Biafra: the Revival and Proliferation of Separatism

Abstract

The weak cohesion of African societies, predetermined by their ethnic, linguistic and religious heterogeneity, leads to a great propensity for the spread of separatist sentiments in Africa. The overwhelming majority of existing scholarly works note the continent's tendency towards separatism and irredentism. Indeed, the number of separatist movements in Africa is constantly growing; currently there are more of them than there were in the first postcolonial decades, although only a few of them have been “successful”. The present paper analyzes the reasons for the revival of a secessionist movement in southeastern Nigeria several decades after the end of the 1967-1970 Biafran War. The authors consider activities of separatist organizations that emerged in Biafra in the 2000s-2010s, the reaction of the government of Muhammadu Buhari, and factors hindering the establishment of a new “sovereign state” in the region. The relevance of the present paper is determined both by the growing threat of separatism in Africa and by the lack of research on the current situation in Biafra in Russian-language literature. The authors employ theoretical-analytical and systemic-historical methods to analyze the threat of separatism in Nigeria and conclude that the creation of a new “Republic of Biafra” will remain a utopian project for at least the next decade, yet separatist sentiments will spread and hinder the achievement of internal political stability in the country, which is already experiencing conflicts due to the activities of Boko Haram, tensions between farmers and pastoralists, and militancy in the Niger Delta.