Walking Together: Canadian Churches’ Campaigns for Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War

This article explores the roles of the Canadian churches in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. It pays particular attention to the strategies adopted by the Canadian churches involved in fundraising for Biafra and the implications of those efforts for the civilian victims of the war in the Biafran enclave. The total blockade of Biafra imposed on the secessionist state by the Nigerian government caused widespread starvation. In most parts of Biafra, it was commonplace for children to suffer from all kinds of diseases, especially kwashiorkor, as a result of lack of access to food, medicine, and other vital survival materials. Canadian missionaries who visited the secessionist enclave to assess the situation and its impact on Biafran civilians returned to Canada and mobilized their church members to support Biafra. Although the efforts of the Canadian churches were significant in the overall humanitarian scheme in wartime Biafra, their interventions were limited due to a lack of support and commitment from the Canadian government.