Britain and Biafra
Sir : For some years now, scholars in Nigeria have been watching uneasily the attempts of Ibo historians to create Ibo pedigrees for the non- Ibo peoples who they feel should be part of the Ibo empire.
Your. correspondent Mr Okole's recent (20 December) reference to the Ubani Ijo as the `Ubani Ibos' is one of the brashest of these attempts so far.
Since .Ibo dreams of empire seem to grow in inverse proportion to Ibo military success, per- haps we shall soon hear of the 'Yoruba Ibos,' or even of the 'Hausa Ibos.'
Robin Horton Senior Research Fellow, Niger Delta Studies, Institute of African Studies, Ibadan University
Sir: The great obstacle to a negotiated settle- ment in Nigeria-Biafra is the present rivalry in Lagos between Russia and the United Kingdom. This situation gives Lagos a power of blackmail and makes it hard for either Russia or Britain to apply reasonable restraint to the Nigerian !hawks.'
. Thus, if England ceases aid to Nigeria, the Russians in their isolated position can be ex- pected to show greater interest in peaceful nego- tiations without preconditions. The ground for hope lies in the fact that a Russia bearing all the burden of aid and military training in Lagos and in the Arab world must surely seek to cut that burden as the Americans are trying to do in Vietnam.
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