3. - usaid

This view is enshrined in the Charter of the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) and represents a widespread conviction that any violent change, such
as secession, withh the political boundaries of any one of the independent
countries of Africa augurs serious trouble for the rest of the continent.
African leaders have felt they had to start with a premise that the thousands
of ethnic groups on the continent should and could reconcile their differences
withh existing boundaries and build towards national identities or be
faced with a process which mipj~t adversely affect every African nation and
hopelessly fractionalize the continent. They insist upon the necessity for
dialogue and participation in the solution of problems by those directly
affected. The OAU considers the problems of Nigeria closely related to the
problems of Africa as a whole and soluble only within an African f'ramework.
Historical Background with Regard to Nigeria
Nigeria, with about 50 million people, is the most populous of African
comtries. It has three mjor ethnic groups and some 250 smaller ethnic
groups with differences in bngmge, culture, and religion. The country is
split by a Y-shaped river system, made up of the Niger and Benue Rivers.
The Hausa and Fulani people llve in and on both sides of the fork of the
Y; the homeland of the Yorubas is in the area to the southwest of the Y,
while to the southeast is the home of the Ibos, the pup which predominates
in the area under the control of the Biafran authorities. The way in which
Nigeria developed as a nation and tribal rivalry are important to an understanding
of why civil war finally broke out in that counTry in 1967.
Colonial Period
Great Britain established a colony in Lagos in 1861. British influence
then expanded along the coast and into the interior. In 1914 three separate
territories in the country were joined to form the Colony