Hail Biafra
SI.: Your correspondent Mr Martelli (Letters, 16 August) does not seem to 'be very conver- sant with The background to the current Nigeria/Biafran conflict. As one whose firm has advised East Nigeria/Biafra on commer- cial and economic matters for nearly ten years and who has visited the area, both before and since the war commenced, I can assure Mr Martelli that there is scarcely a family In Biafra which has not had one of its members either killed, maimed or among the 1.8 million refugees who fled the North and the West during the massacres of 1966. These people are, therefore, unlikely to be very impressed by Mr Martelli's picture of the happy lbos enjoy- ing the delights of Federal rule.
Finally, I would like to challenge Mr Mar- telli on three points :
1. What evidence can he produce to justify his amazing statement that an independent Biafra would be non-viable? Apart from pro- ducing nearly all of Nigeria's palm oil, half its palm kernels, Biafra also has 67 per cent of the total Nigerian oil production (69 per cent of this coming from the Ibo ethnic areas).
2. If the non-Ibos have rejected Biafra, why has the Biafran government suggested a plebis- cite under international supervision in the minority areas and why has the Federal government rejected this?
3. Perhaps Mr Martelli would tell us who these 'more responsible Ibos' are who have rejected Biafra.
Grenville lone* 123 Pall Mall, 'London SW1
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