Public Affairs; Biafran Famine: The Sin of Inaction

We're here tonight to discuss the tragedy now occurring in behalf of the participants in the discussion of Professor Jesse of Dosia effects of Clinical Nutrition at MIT and formerly dean of the University of Nevada medical school and also a professor of chemical pathology. There you have the participants of Doctor Who girl Queenie Boudreau of the Department of the nutrition at MIT and Dr. Wayne Baldwin research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Find him and we should Monye chairman of the Wellesley College partner of sociology and anthropology. The war between the federal government of Nigeria and we are from was the result of several years of political unrest in which mutual trust between the three major regions and the diverse peoples of Nigeria was a rodent a decisive event leading to the current conflict. Was the massacre in northern Nigeria of approximately 30000 in both the fear and spied by these massacres close to a million other evils who lived outside their homeland to return to the east for safety and agreement for a loosely united Nigeria with suitable girl tease for all its

citizens which was negotiated to the world in Ghana in January of 1967 was not put into effect and as a result people of the eastern region felt that in order to safeguard their lives they have to secede from Nigeria. But present the federal forces around the African territory imposing a virtual blockade. And they've also taken many of the major towns. Most of the population has fled into the remaining heartland thus causing a tremendous refugee problem which is aggravated by the devastation of the economy. I think Professor dozin might like to have your description of the situation at the present time. Perhaps your evaluation of an elder of this or has been going on for 14 months. What has happened to focus the attention of the world on this tragic situation. Has been the starvation problem. So I would like to explain briefly the magnitude of this problem and how it has been brought about by the war.

Three main factors in this war have contributed to bring about this. My nutrition problem. The first is the nature of the food supply in behalf are to be Africa is self-sufficient eventually So in terms of its color requirements of its people but it produces only about one third of the protein needs. One third of the pollution requirements come from nothing major. Mainly in the form of beans and beef. The remaining one third but imported from nowhere and Europe and the former dried codfish and milk. Now with the eventual blockage of the Africa gotten the last

one and a half years the supply of protein that is about two thirds of the requirements I have indicated have been completely cut off. The second factor which has brought about this problem is the increase in population at the beginning of the conflict. As has already been stated. Two million refugees left. Nothing major. I would turn to behalf after the massacre of their friends in mathematics in 1966. The two million people in addition to the 12 million normal population of the AFA meant an increase of about one sixth of the population. The third factor is the nature of the war itself. Because this war has been fought by the federal forces and the spirit of genocide

because that effort has been to eliminate as many as possible to be Africans before the war started 10000 the Africans were killed in another major and me in 1066 and a further 30000 killed in September 1966 during the war itself that has been my second and a very large scale of civilians wherever the federal forces occupy it. There have been extensive reports of the massacre of people in patients in hospital nurses looking after them and which report has not. I've been accepted by the federal government. There was a massacre of about 1500 men who were holding a reception

for the federal forces after the occupation of that town. Well it says the war was being fought in the spirit of man that all the civilians flee from their homes and their land wherever their federal forces occupied. So now that the federal forces have occupied about half of the territory of being Africa it means that about the population of all of these areas have moved into the remaining portion of the AF. And that means another. Five or six million refugees. The situation then is that in order to meet the food needs of the hour for the present time we have to provide veterans the protean and entire protein supply for the whole population which will amount to about a 1000 times a protein rich foods by day. In addition to

that we have to provide the calorie needs of the 2 million refugees from Mother Nigeria and the five or six million refugees who have fled from federal occupied territories. This amounts to a further 6000 tons of food per day. So the myth that imams we would one then 1000 pounds but they are put in rich foods and 6000 tons per day of energy Richwoods to admit the calories of Wyman's other refugees. The immediate problem then is to get this quantity of food in as fast as possible. Because of the nature of this conflict I think it is clear that only is ceasefire so that the people who have been displaced from their lands can return to that land as soon as possible will

bring about any lasting relieve so that we must press for a ceasefire immediately in order to save the situation. And finally after the ceasefire it is necessary that this supply of food of the order of magnitude which I have already indicated should continue for at least a one planting season. That's approximately one year after the ceasefire in order to allow the people time to resettle and to plant food for the following season. It certainly was a very clear and interesting informative statement of the situation. I wonder doctor you know whether you might give us a description of the difficulties involved or and also tell us something about the ways in which you think this food can most efficiently be sent to be out front in a minimum amount of time. Now the federal government the federal government of Nigeria

has proposed to the food going into Biafra should go through at a land corridor in the federal head of Biafra. Now it happens that lead gas which is a capital of Nigeria is about 500 miles away from this from where this land corridor will be established and the road is bad. That bridge is on the road and ever before this Ford gets on tour they still call it a land corridor. It shall have taken weeks and besides in the buy off rights of where this food is to be distributed There's also the difficulty of the bad roads and the car bridges. So if you think of it in terms of that it will take about five to six weeks for a food convoy loaded from Lagos to even reach the fringes of

Biafra so that it's not just a book tour rather than buying from government and international agencies like the International Red Cross there. Oxford famine relief Association they carried that as a Catholic relief organisation I've proposed that in order to get food clean and safely into Biafra it should be airlifted from there. All sure islands like Finland up or sun where there are now piled up. Now it takes less than one to two hours to fly in food from from one port to Biafra and his business to that it costs about three dollars to put in a pile of food from Fernanda port to Nigeria but that it will cost another four hundred dollars extra to export the

same amount of food from the Red Ghost Biafra so that airlift at the moment seems the only probable the only possible way of getting relief quickly to the people. People often run dog why Biafra is refusing food through Nigeria this is understandable from two points of view from the political party and from the military plant and from the practical point of view too. First of all it gives Nigeria the politic of the frontage in that it makes it look as a buy off or rather Nigeria is the only government capable of providing relief to Biafra suffering civilians. Also it gives a military advantage to Nigeria because even in the Nigerian held areas of Biafran territory they're not in complete control. They can't even administer those areas and opening a land corridor

in those areas is an invitation really makes it easier for the Nigerian government or Nigerian government forces to bring a jet into Biafra. And thirdly the people of Biafra have said they believe this food is passing through for drug territory poisoned. Now this is a belief which you can dispute and either believe in it. There will be food there said. And so stockpiling food in Legos and even succeeding in putting it into Biafran territory doesn't solve the problem because it will want the food. They believe sincerely it is poisoned and the International Red Cross Oxfam the current US have confirmed this in fact I've stated that this is almost a phobia. So it seems to me meaningless for people to send in supplies to Lagos. First of all because it can't get in through the land corridor system and secondly even if it were

to get to know the people of Biafra I wouldn't eat it. So mon 0 1 the only best room by which food can go to the people of Biafra is by lifting their supplies from this off shore islands into Biafra. But unfortunately the first Nigerian forces now shoot at plants carrying food into Biafra including plumes hired by the Vatican or they are Catholic relief organisation plans by the World Council of judges and even plans by the International Red Cross. As a matter of fact their Red Cross has just announced its suspended flights carrying food into Biafra. No. Lego's all the federal Nigeria has said that as far as is concerned that starvation or starving people into surrender is a weapon of warfare. So as a last time Nevermore cry Lego's plays

politics with supplies in the Biafra. It isn't sincere we don't think it's really sincere in wishing released or going to Biafra because of these two reasons. It's accepted starvation as a weapon of warfare. And besides the experience of people in the areas or viral by field forces is to kill civilians who have low is used to take with anybody. So I love those two backgrounds we don't feel Lego's is sincere and that is why I have not a foreign country like the United States or any international organisation. She don't not take early food into Biafra while the politicians drongo. Thank you very much Dr. Baldwin would you like to comment on some of the apparent difficulties of the airlift into Be off and why it is that as far as one can tell only about 200 tons a day go in by illicit operations.

Well I would like to correct that figure a little bit closer to 10 times a day that go around and perhaps two hundred times would. It would be something that would approach a starvation diet. This is just a trickle of food that's getting in and it doesn't begin to approach the needs of people there. The Lord Hunt mission report indicated that there were 1 million people on each side of the battle line who needed immediate relief. And the problem of transporting food is not only hazardous flying conditions but to a limited number of aircraft. And the problem is not that there's as Dr. Dozier inductor pointed out not that food is not available food is stockpiled on the islands off shore

but it's not being moved in effectively. That has to be changed. Could you tell us anything at all about some of the efforts that have been made to change this and why there are no further flights into the Africa at the present time. It seems rather obvious that large numbers of people are starving. And even if it is only a question of humanitarian relief why this has not been acted upon. The. Problem of humanitarian considerations is is I would think the the greatest concern here. Political politics have been carried to an absurdity when it involves the starvation of up people and a number of concerned. Citizens mostly Peace Corps

volunteers who have returned to this country. There are seventeen hundred from the Nigerian area who represent a vast reservoir of expertise on the area who have lived intimately with the people when its problems are very very concerned about us. A delegation of Peace Corps return Edis and myself went to see the assistant secretary of state for African affairs Mr Palmer. Last week Mr Palmer impressed me as a sincere concerned stressed man who said that he went to sleep at night and woke up in the morning thinking about this problem. And however he gave no indication of altering his policy of noninvolvement. And this was underlined last week by the Secretary of State Dean

Rusk. I think that this has to be changed and that you know to change this that the people in this country have to request that the White House re-examine this issue. And I think that every one of us has to try as it is as best he can to encourage the White House to take another look at what seems to be a bad policy. Dr. Baldwin you mentioned a moment ago that politics and really been carried too far on this issue. They say that politics is one of the major ingredients in aggravating the situation of starvation and that it was politics which disallowed food to be carried in from a very. Close area namely the offshore islands and to be offshore and I wonder Professor Dozier whether you'd like to comment on that.

Yes. In this issue it's become very difficult indeed to separate a humanitarian problems of the starvation. From the politics of the war and the only way in which we can understand this is from the government which I had made earlier about the approach of the federal forces to this war that it is that that is to kill as many Afghans as possible in fact we eliminate them. That is genocide and up to what already is mentioned this are so. When he said that the federal government regards starvation I say weapon of the war. And as far as they are concerned it does not matter whether the extermination is effected by means of weapons or through starvation and that is

why I think that governments throughout the world have a moral responsibility to ensure that their food gets to the starving and suffering people of behalf or respective of the attitude of the federal government. And if it is necessary to force a ceasefire in order to do this and I think that it is the duty of all of us to do whatever we can with our governments to see that action is taken to effect the ceasefire. Dr. Baldwin do you have any advice on what perhaps the American government might do us citizens of the American government might do.

Well I think that there are two types of killers. There's the type of killer who kills with a gun and the type of killer who sits back and does nothing while people die. And I think that it's in the tradition of the American people to stand up and be counted. And that now is the time that we have to we have to direct our government on this issue since it's not taking the initiative. And it's up to all of us to appeal to the president to re-examine this issue now before it's too late in the next month. A million people are going to die there if something's not done immediately by November. It's been estimated that six million people will die. How are we going to be able to live with that. This is a disaster the magnitude of the extermination of European

Jews. This is the largest disaster since the Second World War completely eclipses in terms of numbers of humanity of the Korean and Vietnamese wars. I understand many of the sources describing the war claim that more people have been killed in Africa by durian conflict than in the entire Vietnamese War. And I do believe those figures can be substantiated. For us a little Would you like to comment on that speculation. What it does is to read about other movement. Purely civilians dying from buying from Nigerian war lumber well over 100000. This excludes the soldiers who die in the field as a result of the war action. But since we offer accepted starvation as one of the weapons being used on Sirius millions are going to die. We might as well our God to the toll of the

war and this war will took Frehley millions of lives and been pointed out repeatedly here Phyllis is unparalleled in the history of humanity. One other thing I would like to comment on is the fact that Nigeria gives the impression that their war is over and therefore already gone what won a victory this is far from the truth. They were still waging bitterly on all fronts and also even though they claim they've captured how the terror drove Biafra it's so obvious that even in the areas in which they are unable to establish an effective administration. Thirdly there have been many missions are now coming to take the Biafran view and that is bad for our for so to survive. I said people should

being uprooted from Nigeria at the moment for African states and Florida recognize Biafra and Francis made a statement which indicates it might. Many European countries have sympathy with the Biafra who've suffered as a result of war. I have sympathy for the Biafran cause. Well we're hoping that this will be a general trend. Dr. Barton since you've stressed humanitarian concern tonight I wonder whether you have any final advice on what United States citizens might be able to do to aid these unfortunate peoples and be off from. I think that is necessary that every American direct He directed a request to the White House to the president either by phone or by telegram and ask him to exercise every effort to ensure an immediate cease fire and delivery of real relief efforts

to be offered and to infect both sides of the battle line. Thank you very much gentlemen we I'd like to thank once again you profess it doe's you knew Dr. Bell and Dr. Baldwin for a very informative discussion tonight.