Author: Saul Kipchirchir Marigat
Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, University of Nairobi
P.O. Box 30197 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Email:saulmarigat@gmail.com
Abstract
This article argues that external states – in this case the European powers – are responsible for the exacerbation of the conflicts in Africa. The article uses the Nigerian conflict between 1967 and 1970 as a case study. The conflict got complex, protracted, deadlier and intractable because of the interventions of France, Britain and Russia. The European powers had economic interests in Nigeria and West Africa; they needed oil among other products like cocoa. However, the means that these states used to pursue these interests were detrimental to the conflict. Each of the aforementioned states provided financial and military support to the conflict parties. France supported Biafra while Russia and Britain assisted the Nigerian Federal Government. Additionally, the article finds that the interventions of the three European powers fanned the conflict in Nigerian. This is because the three European states only cared about their interests and not those the Nigerian citizens. This article concluded that unless the role of states is properly understood and addressed, the conflicts in the African continent will continue to prevail. This article recommended that actors in conflict management should deploy diplomatic efforts as a strategy to manage conflicts that involve external states.
Keywords: External states conflicts, Nigerian civil war, European powers, African conflicts
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Suggested Citation
Kipchirchir, S.M. (2020). External states in the African conflicts: a Historization of the role of European powers from 1967-1970 in the Nigerian civil war. African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 7(3), 48-55. Available online at http://arjess.org/social-sciences-research/external-states-in-african-conflicts-a-historization-of-the-role-of-european-powers-from-1967-to-1970-in-the-nigerian-civil-war.pdf
