Brown Cover OP 43 - The Watson Institute for International Studies

Although relief agencies were committed to assisting the
most vulnerable people, the army and the civil service—and their
extended families—were supplied first. As author John Stremlau
said, “The only way for Ojukwu to placate the military and the
civil service as conditions worsened was to allow them direct and
ample access to relief materials.” This was possible because of
poor agency control over distribution, the role of the government’s
Directorate of Food Supply in the distribution of food, and the
involvement of Biafrans sympathetic to the government in the
distribution effort. “Unrestricted access” of government personnel
to relief supplies ensured the continuation of the military
effort and the functioning of the state structure.
Finally, agencies extended activities from relief to the encouragement
of self-sufficiency by expanding agricultural production
and providing seed and agricultural implements to the
population of rebel-held areas. Jointchurchaid, for example, set
up food production committees in every province in the enclave
to create demonstration plots, assess need for seeds, and oversee
distribution of agricultural equipment. The nongovernmental
organization CARITAS shipped 100 tons of maize seeds from
Colombia to assist in the operation, and converted sports grounds
around missions to food production. The particular focus on
cassava—which Ojukwu referred to as Biafra’s “secret
weapon”—sustained the population’s carbohydrate reserves
much longer than was expected. 15
The experience in Biafra exemplifies the most painful dilemmas
faced by humanitarian agencies in dealing with the conflict
connection. Their activities sustained many people who would
have died otherwise. Yet, they also sustained the rebel regime,
provided cover for its arms import program, and prolonged the
war.
The airlift and the broader relief effort … was an act of
unfortunate and profound folly. It prolonged the war by
eighteen months … A great deal of postwar effort went
into refuting the charge that the churches and NGOs
prolonged the war. Because if it is true, they must also
have prolonged the suffering, contributing to the deaths
of 180,000 people or more. 16
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