HIAF 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Nigerian Air Force, Médecins Sans Frontières, Military Dictatorship
Document Summary
Secession from the postcolonial state: contest over natural resources, oil, #1 oil producer on continent until recently, military dictatorship. Republic of biafra: declares independence 1967, trying to maintain control over oil reserves in southern nigeria. Initially, nigerian government tries to get a settlement to bring them back into the fold. Sent in military to restore nigerian governmental power. Oil: postcolonial emphasis 1970 forward, extremely valuable on world market, easy to control, contracts with international oil companies, people in biafra argue that they have never received their fair share of oil revenues. 1990s: ken sara-wiwa leading fight in se nigeria to recognize environmental devastation and return oil revenues to se, arrested falsely for murder, pronounced guilty, and executed by nigerian government. American relationship: clinton administration considered sanctions against nigeria, but in the end, didn"t do anything, after 9/11, nigeria most important exporter of oil from africa to us.
