Biafra: A Tragedy For Humanity -By Emeka Maduewesi

Mr. YARBOROUGH. Mr. President, Biafra continues to be a great tragedy for all humanity, a grim exhibit of hunger and starvation. It is important to remember that while tragedy only touches us periodically, Biafra’s suffering continues every day.

This month’s Harper’s magazine contains an article entitled “My Summer Vacation in Biafra,” written by Mr. Herbert Gold. It serves as a reminder of the conditions that are destroying a generation of Biafrans. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this article be printed in the RECORD at the conclusion of my remarks.

Another noteworthy article on the subject of Biafra was published in the Washington Post of November 14, 1969. The article, written by Jim Hoagland, of the Washington Post Foreign Service is entitled “How Many Children Dying in Biafra? No One Can Say” I ask unanimous consent that this article also be printed in the RECORD at the conclusion of my remarks.

The article in the Post contains some shocking revelations. It is there stated:
How can I tell you how many children are dying a day? Dr. Aaron Ofekwunigwe, Biafra’s leading child specialist, asked with exasperation. “Pick any number you like and I’ll say it. The point is they are dying.”

He spoke after walking through the grim last hope ward at the Santana Hospital, which houses 600 children suffering from Kwashiokor, the killing protein deficiency disease.

Mr. President, I know the effort to feed the hungry in Biafra is being complicated and frustrated by the Nigerian blockade and Nigerian-Biafran relations. The shooting down of the Red Cross plane by the Nigerians on June 5, 1969, has produced the worst crisis yet. As Father Byrne, a Catholic priest on Sao Tome the jumping off point for relief flights stated:
We have the food; we just cannot get it to them. These children know nothing about secession, economic blockade, political involvement. They only know they are starving.

Mr. President, this Nation and all other nations everywhere must take every means, seek every opportunity, and go to any reasonable length to bring about a resumption of a full contingent of relief flights immediately. Two months from now it may be too late.