STATEMENT BY DR. FRANCOIS DUVALIER, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI, ON THE RECOGNITION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BIAFRA AS A SOVEREIGN STATE. March 22 1969

STATEMENT BY DR. FRANCOIS DUVALIER,
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI, ON THE
RECOGNITION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BIAFRA AS
A SOVEREIGN STATE. March 22 1969
Your Excellency,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of
your letter under date of December 10,
1968, which has been handed over to me
personally by the members of the
prestigious Biafran Delegation, Dr.
Okechukwu Ikejiani and Mr. Chukwuma
Azikiwe, in the course of a special audience
held in the National Palace on February 20th
1969.
It is with a feeling of great pain that I
concerned myself with this important
document and analysed the various stages
of the tragic condition prevailing in Nigeria
ever since 1966. Both the Haitian people and
myself have greatly appreciated the basic
reasons which prompted you in delegating
an extraordinary mission to the President
for Life of the first independent Negro
Republic in the world, that Republic which
for over a century and a half incarnated
alone Negro dignity and pride while at the
same time proving the capability of our race
to self government.
I have watched with heart sorrows the
distressing events which - only in the course
of May to October 1966 - culminated in the
massacres of some 30,000 persons
originating from the East of Nigeria and
which plunged over 3 million into despair,
physical and moral woes. The serious
consequences brought about by the
arbitrary division of Nigeria into twelve
states have not escaped my notice either. My
attention has been especially held by the
commendable efforts achieved by the
African Unity Organisation and numerous
Heads of State and politicians of the Black
Continent with an eye to reaching a solution
to the crisis in Nigeria. But the clash of
weapons goes on clanging, the number of
victims increasing, and the destruction of
the country being ruthlessly pursued.
On July 29th, 1968, I answered in the
following way the appeal of Dr. Douglas,
President of the Council on Afro-Jamaican
Affairs, Kingston, Jamaica:
"I did receive your cable under date of July
18 by which the Council of Afro-Jamaican
Affairs request my support and relief for
thousands of Biafrans, victims of the
unfortunate civil war between Biafra and
the Federal Government of Nigeria. I will be
happy to join my efforts to those of
numerous international agencies
concerning themselves already with this
serious problem, and have asked of the
qualified services of my government to
study it with a view to decisions to be taken
under the dual criterion of the human
aspect of the question and of the principle
of non-intervention in the affairs of other
peoples which is one of the foundations of
my foreign policy."
On August 19th 1968, granting to African
questions the prominent place to which
they are entitled in my foreign policy, I
addressed, through the Permanent Mission
of Haiti to the U.N.O., the following telegram
to the U.N. Secretary General, U Thant:
"Reference your cable August 19th 1968
instant, I think it is my duty to remind you
that the Haitian Government cannot fail to
express in all occasion its solidarity with the
Biafrans whose ancestors played a capital
role in the glorious epic of 1804. Numerous
African countries have already recognised
the Government of Biafra and some Western
countries, moved by the heroism of her sons
will support the right of the Biafran people
to self-determination. Such are, regarding
this question, the guidelines of my thoughts
which I request of you to take into account
during the debates."
A left-over of colonialism which worked
relentlessly at destroying the structures of
Negro-African civilisations and demarcating
boundaries with her own interests as the
sole criterion, Federal Nigeria has never
since her independence shown the
distinctive mark of a united nation. It has
been impossible for her to silence tribal
rivalries - to achieve the mixture of ethnic
and cultures likely to secure national unity. A
comparative analysis with the territorial
extension and the population of many
countries having a seat in U.N.O.
underscores the importance of Biafra, which
extends over 29,400 square miles and
groups more than 14 million inhabitants.
Culture, geography and inter-group unions
have woven all along history close links
between the four great ethnic entities
forming the Biafran population, viz. Ibos,
Ijaws, Efiks and Ogojas. Thanks to the
resources of her sub-soil and the
desperately hard work of her sons, Biafra
has been for long since a powerful
economic entity an object of the most
diverse covetous desires.
The vocation of the first independent Negro
Republic in the world to secure everywhere
the defence of the prestige and dignity of
our race, its conditions of an extra-
continental state added to the fact that it
does not seek any personal advantage, put
Haiti in a privileged position to cause the
voice of right, wisdom and equity to he
heard. My long experience of office - for
twelve years I have been presiding over the
destinies of the Republic - taught me that it
is labouring under a delusion when dealing
with situations taking on such a tragic cast
to rely on international organisations and
still less on some foreign powers that take
unfair advantage of our divisions and
harbour no sincere wish of a return to
peace in Nigeria.
My political philosophy and the struggle
which I am firmly carrying on in Haiti, in the
basin of the Antilles and on the large
international stage against Marxism-
Leninism cause me to consider with
apprehension the ever-increasing influence
of communism in Nigeria. The planes,
weapons and experts of Soviet Russia are
playing a paramount role in the conflict. In
fact, that great European power is eager to
transform Nigeria into a satellite country
and make sure of an operational base in the
very heart of Africa, a new stage of its
dream of world domination- a dream that
dates back to Peter the Great and Catherine
II.
The profound and generalised resentment
of Nigeria against Biafra together with the
will of domination of some nations
jeopardise the future of Biafrans and
threaten to destroy the glorious Ibo tribes,
descendants of those men who contributed
to the founding of the Haitian homeland.
>From the point of view of international law
as such, and account being taken of such
norms as are generally agreed upon, I am of
the opinion that Biafra fulfils the essential
conditions to constitute a nation, namely: a
material element, the territory and more
especially, a human element: the population.
The said human element is united by race,
religion, language, history, a set of laws. It is,
furthermore, consolidated by the moral
unity and the common will of Biafrans to
group themselves under one banner. This
general resolve adding to the community of
origin and interest: The nation Biafra does
exist, and, therefore, it is for her a scared
duty to organise herself as a free and
sovereign state.
The Recognition which the Government of
the Republic of Haiti solemnly gives to the
Republic of Biafra is based upon the cardinal
principal of its foreign policy, namely the
indefeasible right of peoples and
governments to decide freely of their
destiny. This recognition of the Republic of
Biafra as a free and sovereign state is in
keeping in line with my doctrine of
government to participate in the defence of
oppressed states and peoples. Besides
humanitarian reasons: this doctrine aims at
a return of a just and lasting peace between
Nigeria and Biafra. A peace which could be
enriched by an economic federation likely to
assure the well-being of the populations.
I think it is my duty to express the fervent
wish that this disinterested act bearing the
imprint of wisdom accomplished by the first
independent Negro Republic in the world,
summit of the black world, be a symbol, an
example, a source of inspiration for the
governments and peoples of Africa. It
constitutes the contribution of our unique
experience as a Negro nation to the
resumption of a brotherly dialogue between
Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra.
I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to
your Excellency the assurances of my
highest and distinguished consideration.
Signed: Dr. Francois Duvalier, President,
Republic of Haiti.