Benin was weak proxy of Biafra and Benin included some Igbo majority areas (and it's not like Biafra was ever homogeneous to begin with, so the inclusion of the Edo and unifying the Izon won't do too much to shake the tree). Additionally it controlled Nigeria's rubber industry, so a Biafra with Benin would be slightly less likely to catch Dutch Disease.Why? It would be a risky proposition with little payoff.
Biafra (whether or not it annexes Benin) would be fairly prosperous due to the oil and due to the number of educated Igbo there were. I've read that the Igbo before colonialism had somewhat democratic practices compared to the Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba too.
OTL worked out better. I'm about to get rich helping a Prince move some cash to a safer country.
You can laugh, but i know of someone who literally has sent probably $50,000 to Nigeria because he refuses to believe the Prince he is "helping" is a scam.
Sad.
I haven't received one of those emails in a long time. I would pretend to fall for the scam in order to run interference and divert their efforts from real victims.
I think all the secessionist actions against the european empires already did that.With regards to the topic of the thread, a successful Biafra will make secessionist actions a legitimate tactic in resolving issues within Africa. Probably too late to save Katanga, but could have impacts elsewhere.
I think all the secessionist actions against the european empires already did that.
But Africa was already awash with independence movements, and I'm not sure how much one succeeding 20 years before Eritrea did IOTL changes things.Actually Biafra would have been a gamechanger, probably. The OAU agreed to respect colonial borders after decolonisation and a successful secession of Biafra might have seen secessionist movements around the continent emboldened.
But Africa was already awash with independence movements, and I'm not sure how much one succeeding 20 years before Eritrea did IOTL changes things.
A moral boost and nothing more. If the material situation remains the same then those rebellions probably still fail.But hardly any were successful. A successful Biafra becomes a guiding light for many independence movements.
A moral boost and nothing more. If the material situation remains the same then those rebellions probably still fail.
But hardly any were successful. A successful Biafra becomes a guiding light for many independence movements.
Eritrea is also a special case, the end of the Cold War probably had something to do with Eritrea winning independence. The dynamic in the 1960s was different compared to the 1990s.