Biafra: “Nigeria’s Breakup Inevitable and Just” – Mike Arnold

Mike Arnold, a former mayor in the US, has said that Nigeria’s breakup is “likely inevitable and just.”

Arnold, who is known for being supportive of the Biafra struggle, made the comment during a speech to members of the US Congress.

Arnold, who is also the founder and chairman of Africa Arise International (Nigeria) and Africa Arise USA, said in his presentation “Nigeria at the Crossroads: The Case for Action” that the British colonial masters never wanted Nigeria to succeed.

Arnold talked about what needs to happen for Nigeria to get on a path of peace and development. He said that the Nigerian people should have the chance to choose their own constitutional future through a referendum.

“Like so many other British colonial contraptions designed to fail, separation is likely inevitable — and just: Analytical characterization drawing on the colonial-era orchestration of Nigerian federal structure, the Biafran independence question, the 1999 Constitution’s imposition and the persistent structural Northern political dominance documented throughout this briefing.

Some examples of British colonial partitions that didn’t work out or needed a lot of restructuring are India-Pakistan (1947), Sudan-South Sudan (2011), the breakup of British Somaliland, and Cyprus. “The official stance of Africa Arise International and related projects, such as the proposed Covenant Republic framework, is that the Nigerian people should be able to choose their own constitution through a referendum,” he said.

He said that the Republic of Biafra, which is no longer in existence, was “then the fastest-growing economic region on earth for a decade.”

According to historical data from the Nigerian Federal Office of Statistics and the World Bank, the economy of eastern Nigeria grew between 1955 and 1965. He said, “The Eastern Region under Premier Michael Okpara’s development program had some of the highest long-term growth rates in Africa before the Civil War.”

“In 1967, the South declared its independence. The British supported the North, which blocked the South. They shot down planes from the Red Cross. As many as three million people, mostly children, died of starvation. On May 30, 1967, Biafra declared itself independent. The war went on until January 1970. There is a lot of evidence that the British government gave the Federal Military Government money and political support. The federal forces’ food blockade led to mass starvation, with estimates of casualties ranging from 1 million to 5 million, mostly Igbo civilians, with children being hit the hardest. Arnold said that “multiple Red Cross and Joint Church Aid relief planes were shot down during the blockade.” He also said that British support for the Nigerian federal forces made sure that Biafra could not win.

Arnold brought up current events and warned that the supposed Christian genocide in Nigeria has gotten worse since US President Donald Trump named Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).

“Since being named a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act on October 31, 2025, killing and impunity have only gotten worse.” Since the designation, violence against Christian communities has continued and gotten worse. This includes the March 3 Ngoshe massacre, the attacks on churches in Kwara State, the Palm Sunday Angwan Rukuba massacre, and the April 2026 Jos pastor bounty case.

He spoke out against what he called the deliberate refusal to recognize and help internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nigeria, which he said meets the legal definition of genocide.

Arnold says that the Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu has denied the existence of multiple displacement camps in Abuja, even though the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has documented them since 2015. He said that the Nigerian government’s actions have made the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stop recognizing the IDPs camps.

He says that the Tinubu administration is only paying lip service to the campaign against Christian genocide in Nigeria. He also says that the Nigerian government is guilty of genocide because it denies the existence of millions of displaced people, especially young people.

“Current reports from the UNHCR and IOM, as well as communications from the Nigerian government to international organizations, have stopped recognizing many of these same camps.

Arnold said, “Deliberate non-recognition of IDPs, along with denial of humanitarian aid and active obstruction of international assistance, where documented, meets the conditions-of-life standard where intent can be inferred from pattern.”