Pages: (76-88 )
Abstract
This paper examines the extent to which propaganda negatively affected humanitarian operations in the Nigerian Civil War. The belligerents in the Nigerian conflict employed extensive propaganda, using relief to pursue their predetermined ends. The distortion and delay of humanitarian operations caused by propaganda led to the death of millions of people in Biafra. It must be noted that even when malnutrition and starvation began to have unprecedented effect on Biafrans, the federalists through their propaganda machineries countered this development by claiming that the horrifying pictures and reports were Biafra’s propaganda. Through extensive propaganda, parties to the conflict and their foreign backers exploited the miseries of the civilian victims of the war for their political gains. It is against this background that this study argues that propaganda had unprecedented negative impact on humanitarian operations during the crises. This study adopts the historical and qualitative research methods. It concludes among other things that propaganda has the capacity to delay, distort or permanently prevent effective humanitarian operations in intra-state violent conflicts
Keywords: Biafra, Civil War, Humanitarian Operations, Nigeria, Propaganda,