Ojukwu Secedes and Declares the Republic of Biafra.

Fellow countrymen and women, you, the people of Eastern Nigeria:

Conscious of the supreme authority of Almighty God over all mankind,
of your duty to yourselves and posterity;

Aware that you can no longer be protected in your lives and in your
property by any Government based outside Eastern Nigeria;

Believing that you are born free and have certain inalienable rights
which can best be preserved by yourselves;

Unwilling to be unfree partners in any association of a political or
economical nature;

Rejecting the authority of any person or persons other than the
Military Government of Eastern Nigeria to make any imposition of
whatever kind or nature upon you;

Determined to dissolve all political and other ties between you and
the former Federal Republic of Nigeria;

Prepared to enter into such association, treaty or alliance with any
sovereign state within the former Federal Republic of Nigeria and
elsewhere on such terms and conditions as best to subserve your common
good;

Affirming your trust and confidence in me;

Having mandated me to proclaim on your behalf, and in your name, that
Eastern Nigeria be a sovereign independent Republic,

Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,
Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and
pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim
that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria
together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall
henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of
"The Republic of Biafra". And I do declare that-

i. all political ties between us and the Federal Republic of Nigeria
are hereby totally dissolved;

ii. all subsisting contractual obligations entered into by the
Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by any person,
authority or organization or government acting on its behalf, with any
person, authority or organization operating, or relating to any matter
or thing, within the Republic of Biafra, shall henceforth be deemed to
be entered into with the Military Governor of the Republic of Biafra
for and on behalf of the Government and people of the republic of
Biafra, and the covenants thereof shall, subject to this Declaration,
be performed by the parties according to their tenor;

iii. all subsisting international treaties and obligations made on
behalf of eastern Nigeria by the Government of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, shall be honoured and respected;

iv. Eastern Nigeria's due share of all subsisting international debits
and obligations entered into by the Government of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria on behalf of the Federation of Nigeria shall be honoured
and respected;

v. steps will be taken to open discussions of the question of Eastern
Nigeria's due share of the assets of the Federation of Nigeria and
personal properties of the citizens of Biafra throughout the
Federation of Nigeria;

vi. the rights, privileges, pensions, etc. of all personnel of the
Public Services, the Armed Forces and the Police now serving in any
capacity within the Republic of Biafra, are hereby guaranteed;

vii. we shall keep the door open for association with, and would
welcome, any sovereign unit or units in the former Federation of
Nigeria or in any other parts of Africa desirous of association with
us for the purposes of running a common services organization and for
the establishment of economic ties;

viii. we shall protect the lives and property of all foreigners
residing in Biafra; we shall extend the hand of friendship to those
nations who respect our sovereignty, and shall repell any interference
in our internal affairs;

ix. we shall faithfully adhere to the charter of the Organization of
African Unity and of the United Nations Organization;

x. It is our intention to remain a member of the British Commonwealth
of Nations in our right as a sovereign, independent nation.

Long live the Republic of Biafra!

And may God protect all who live in her!