Prof G. M Umezurike Library, Imopoly

Philip Efiong was a Nigerian military officer who was the 1st Vice President and the 2nd and last president of the Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970.

Born in Ibiono Ibom in present-day Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, on 18 November 1925, Philip Effiong joined the Nigerian Armed Forces on 28 July 1945. The UK later commissioned him for duty in the Rhine, West Germany. He was then transferred to the Nigeria Army Ordnance Corps; then to England for further training after a peace-keeping stint in the Republic of Congo in 1961. He was Nigeria's first Director of Ordnance.

Efiong became Chief of General Staff of Biafra under Head of State, Odumegwu Ojukwu during the Nigeria-Biafra war.

The tactics of the Nigerian military during the war included economic blockade and deliberate destruction of agricultural land. Even before the war, the area was a net importer of food, depending on income from its oil fields to feed its populace.

With the blockade cutting off oil revenue and agricultural destruction reducing food production, the result was mass dislocation and starvation of the populace. Two to three million people are thought to have died in the conflict, mostly through starvation and illness.

When Biafra's military resistance collapsed, Ojukwu fled to Côte d'Ivoire.

On 15 January 1970 at Dodan Barracks in Lagos, in the presence of General Yakubu Gowon, Effiong announced the end of the Biafran conflict.

"I, Major-General Phillip Efiong, Officer Administering the Government of the Republic of Biafra, now wish to make the following declaration: That we affirm that we are loyal Nigerian citizens and accept the authority of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria. That we accept the existing administrative and political structure of the Federation of Nigeria. That any future constitutional arrangement will be worked out by representatives of the people of Nigeria. That the Republic of Biafra hereby ceases to exist."

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Meet the First Female University Students in Nigeria in 1953 (University of Ibadan).

From the Left:
Florence Gabrielle Abiola Adeniran (née Martins),
Olusolape Folaşade Ifaturoti (née Akinkugbe),
Grace Aweni Alele-Williams (née Alele)the , Adetowun O̩molara Ogunseye (née Banjo).

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Chinua Achebe and his wife Christie Achebe on their wedding day in 1961.

READERS ARE LEADERS.

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Meet Chief Emeka Anyaoku, 3rd Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations

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Chief Emeka Anyaoku, GCON, GCVO, CFR is a Nigerian diplomat of Igbo descent. He was the third Commonwealth Secretary-General. Born in Obosi, Anyaoku was educated at Merchants of Light School, Oba, and attended the University College, Ibadan, then a college of the University of London, from which he obtained an honours degree in Classics as a College Scholar. Aside from his international career, Chief Anyaoku continues to fulfill the duties of his office as Ichie Adazie of Obosi, a traditional Ndichie chieftainship.

Eleazar Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Anyaoku was born on 18 January 1933 to Emmanuel and Cecilia Anyaoku in Obosi, then a very large village in the eastern part of Nigeria.[citation needed] Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Anyaoku had been educated to the middle school level after his primary education at the CMS school in Onitsha under the guardianship of Reverend William Blackett a Christian Missionary. After his education he worked first with the railways and later in the hospital in Kaduna in the Northern part of Nigeria before becoming a catechist. After serving for a number of years, he went back to his village to farm. He became Ononukpo (Head) of Okpuno Ire, a quarter in Ire, the largest village in Obosi.

Cecilia, née Adiba Ogbogu, was married as second wife by Emmanuel when he returned from Kaduna following the death of his first wife. Cecilia hailed from a family in Ugamuma quarter of Obosi. She grew up at the home of Rev. Ekpunobi, her guardian, who was the first Obosi citizen to be ordained as an Anglican Priest. He was regarded as one of the most enlightened and educated in the community then. Cecilia stayed with the Ekpunobi family as a ward. Rev. Ekpunobi, on learning of the death of Emmanuel's wife, invited him to his home and subsequently convinced Emmanuel and Adiba to marry each other. Their first child, a girl, did not survive. Thereafter, Emeka was born and he has

Dec 31st 1983 coup:

First highly placed Nigerians to be arrested and taken to Bonny Camp was Vice President Alex Ekwueme and Mr Sunday Adewusi (IG of Police).

This is Imo River

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The Imo River (Igbo:Imo) is located in southeastern Nigeria and flows 240 kilometres (150 mi) into the Atlantic Ocean. In Akwa Ibom State, the river is known as Imoh River, that is, Inyang Imoh, which translates to River of Wealth (Ibibio: Inyang means river or ocean, and Imoh means wealth). Its estuary is around 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide, and the river has an annual discharge of 4 cubic kilometres (1.0 cu mi) with 26,000 hectares of wetland. The Imo's tributary rivers are the Otamiri and Oramirukwa. The Imo was cleared under the British colonial administration of Nigeria in 1907–1908 and 1911; first to Aba and then to Udo near Umuahia.

The deity, or Alusi of the river is the female Imo who communities surrounding the river believe to be the owner of the river. Mmiri in Ibo or Igbo language means water or rain.

A festival for the Alusi is held annually between May and July. The Imo River features an 830-metre (2,720 ft) bridge at the crossing between Rivers State and Akwa Ibom State. The river god, or Arushi, is a female imo, and the communities surrounding the river believe her to be the river's owner.

Imo river was reported by the world Health Organization as one of the most polluted rivers in Nigeria.

The river has been said to have coliform bacteria, which makes it unsafe for human consumption.

The major supply of drinkable water for Owerri, the Otamiri River, may dry up if people of the state's capital city continue to pollute it, according to a warning from Imo State Water and Sewerage Corporation.

The General Manager (GM), Emeka Ugoanyanwu, said over the weekend that locals should not dispose of trash, urinate, bury the dead, and build soak-away pits along the river.

A project to deliver clean water to Imo residents will also get underway by January, according to the World Bank. Three monarchs from five autonomous communities in the Owerri municipality were present for a roundtable discussion hosted by the Open Arms Initiativ

On February 6, 1956, a historic moment was captured during the Royal Nigerian Tour. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is seen walking past a procession of traditionally robed chiefs at a grand garden party held in her honor. This esteemed event followed the Durbar ceremony in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, showcasing the rich cultural heritage and pageantry of the region.

Source Northbook