Must Biafra starve?
NIGERIA NICHOLAS STACEY
The Rev Nicholas Stacey is deputy director of Oxfam.
The tragedy of the Nigerian civil war escalates daily. The Swiss Red Cross representative in Biafra, Mr Jaggi, puts 3,000 children dying a day as a cautious and conservative estimate. When the Irish Roman Catholic Bishop of Oweri, Bishop Wheelan, whose diocese is in Biafra, told a press conference called by Oxfam four weeks ago that a million Ibos were likely to die between now and the end of August, some thought that he was over-emotionally involved in the agony of his people, and was exagger- ating. Today all reports confirm the horrifying accuracy of his prediction. And still nothing effective is being done to bring relief to the starving. Not since I was a seventeen year old midshipman standing amid the ruins of Hiro- shima a few weeks after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945 have I experienced such agony of heart and mind as during the last weeks when my colleagues and I in Oxfam have been struggling to find ways of getting emergency supplies into Biafra.
. . and you see, well, I sort of promised this economic miracle, and I was wondering if, well you know..
For weeks Oxfam had been trying to get across to the British public the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in Nigeria-Biafra. We could evoke little interest amongst the press This, I believe, was partly due to the fact that few papers had reporters in Biafra. The editorial in the SPECTATOR, later followed by Michael Leapman's moving reports in the Sun and Alan Hart's report on Independent Television New;, gave us the break we were looking for. The barriers of public ignorance and indifference were broken. They were quickly replaced by in- tense interest and concern which is now under- standably in danger of turning into frustration, utter despair and deep disappointment.
Frustration at our inability to get significant quantities of supplies into Biafra. Despair be- cause we know that unless a large-scale opera- tion is mounted in the next kw days the problem will solve itself in weeks—millions will be dead. Utter disappointment at Colonel Ojnkwu's ap- parent refusal to allow a land corridor, even supervised by the Red Cross, until a cease-fire is agreed. (To the western mind his claim that his people would think the food was poisoned may be hard to understand, but it is a very real fear.) Utter disappointment at Major-General Gowon's unwillingness to agree without strings to a temporary Red Cross daytime air lift from Fernando Po into Biafra. Utter disappointment with the British government for allowing the situation to develop the way it has.
The British public realise that we can have little influence over events in Vietnam. They instinctively feel that we should still have some influence in Nigeria, especially as we have been told this is the justification for supplying the Federal forces with arms. What is this influence worth if Lord Shepherd cannot even persuade Major-General Gowon to allow a Hercules, chartered by Oxfam under the auspices of the Red Cross, to ferry stock-piled Norwegian stock fish provided by the World Council of Churches from Fernando Po into Biafra?
As was to be expected, Major-General Gowon has condemned Oxfam for involving itself poli- tically in the Nigerian crisis and has described the organisation as hostile. Nothing could be further from the truth. Oxfam has already given £80,000 towards relief work in Federal Nigeria. while all Oxfam advertisements, broadcasts and articles have made it abundantly clear that our main immediate concern is for the Ibos in be- leaguered Biafra simply because in terms 01 human suffering they are in the greatest need. I believe the work of the voluntary agencies. far from being an embarrassment to the British government, should positively strengthen its hand in its negotiations with Lagos.
Oxfam and other agencies, totally dependen as they are upon the support and goodwill of the British public, are only expressing and trying to act on the deep concern of their millions of supporters. Surely Her Majesty's Government could explain to Major-General Gowon that the British people are not prepared for their govern ment to stand on the touchline and watch ten of thousands die? In some circles it has been suggested that the voluntary agencies should soft-pedal their plans for bringing relief (unde the auspices of the International Red Cross) for fear of damaging the Hunt Commission. Ther is strength in this argument, but the agencie want to tell their supporters what they are do- ing, and, more important, thousands of deepl concerned people are clamouring for effectiv and speedy action in the face of such a mountin tragedy. In fact, I believe the voluntary agencies have done a crucial job in alerting the British
public to the full horror of the situation, as well as showing initiative in getting in supplies. It was at the end of last week that Oxfam came close to achieving a relief breakthrough. Pending agreement on and the setting up of a land corridor, Leslie Kirkley, Oxfam's director, cabled from Biafra that an immediate day airlift was necessary as the existing clandestine flights at night were totally inadequate. We managed to get an option on a Hercules capable of taking twenty tons, and also fitted for an air drop. To check Kirkley's assessment that the length and bearing strength of the runway in Biafra were adequate, we sent out one of the aircraft's cap- tains to Biafra. The charter company required that it should fly under the auspices of the Inter- national Red Cross and have the agreement of Major-General Gowon and Colonel Ojukwu for day flights on the forty minute run from Santa Isabel to Biafra. The Red Cross and Colonel Ojukwu agreed, and we asked Lord Shepherd and the International Red Cross in Lagos to try to get clearance from Major-General Gowon. At one point Lord Shepherd seemed optimistic, but permission was not forthcoming. Indeed, by last Friday, when the option on the aircraft expired, Lagos radio reported that any un- authorised aeroplanes flying into Biafra would be shot down. As the Hercules could have shifted sixty to eighty tons of high protein food a day, this refusal was a bitter blow.
Oxfam is still hoping that the Hunt Commis- sion may get official permission for day time flights. Whilst nobody believes this is the ulti- mate answer. it is an essential immediate expedi- ent until a land corridor is agreed and set up. In the meantime, we are exploring ways of strengthening and increasing the present spas- modic, inadequate and expensive Red Cross and Caritas night flights. In the name of humanity it is hard to see that we can do less.
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