International records / OpenAlex research

N igeria, Separatist Agitation, Contemporary

Nigeria gained independence from British colonial domination on October 1, 1960 as a fusion of well over 250 ethnic nationalities. Intense competition for political power among postcolonial leaders has given rise to stiff divisions and suspicion among various nationalities, ethnic groups, and, indeed, religious associations within the country. By 1967, the bid to declare a state of Biafra by the Igbo secessionists of Eastern Nigeria had led to the outbreak of a fatal civil war, which lasted until 1970 and claimed an estimated three million lives.