Africa's Divided House

IT has become something of a cliche to note that Biafra's rebellion confronted Nigeria with the same issue that the U.S. faced when the South seceded more than a century ago. The great difference is that the American Civil War had few immediate repercussions outside the U.S.; Nigeria's conflict is certain to strike resonant chords across the continent of Africa for decades to come.

At its present stage of development, Black Africa is gripped by primeval tribal loyalties that stand in the way of nation building. Had the Ibo secession worked, some of Africa's 6,000 other tribal groups would undoubtedly have been encouraged to seek independence, setting back the process of political modernization indefinitely. Conversely, the victory of the central government may strengthen the forces that hope to create strong federal systems in Africa. -

Though each African country has its own unique problems, all share the common difficulty of tribalism. Education and industrialization are gradually creating a more sophisticated urban class. Nevertheless, most Black Africans retain such intense allegiance to their tribes that they actively distrust most outsiders. That attitude breeds tribal nepotism within governments, fosters rivalries and often leads to bloodshed.

Black Africa's tribal problems have only been intensified by the borders that it inherited from its onetime colonial masters. Europe's 19th century exploiters fashioned frontiers that afforded them the greatest prestige and economic gain. They frequently cut tribes or peoples in two--or sometimes three. One legacy of colonial mapmaking can be found in East Africa, where Somalia claims parts of Kenya and Ethiopia because of the large numbers of Somalis in those countries.

Even for countries without border problems, the very welter of tribes in most of Africa's new nations presents a formidable problem. In Tanzania, for example, there are 120 tribal groups speaking at least as many distinct languages. Yet many African countries may be better off with many small, weak tribes than with a few strong rival groups. In the early '60s in Rwanda, the squat Bahutu literally cut the tall, stately Watutsi down to size by whacking their legs off. Thus ended the age-old Watutsi hegemony over the Bahutu. Two smoldering guerrilla wars are ethnic in origin: Black Africans are pitted against lighter-skinned Arabs in the Sudan and Chad. A tense situation that has led to riots and gunplay but not war exists in

Kenya, where Luo resentment runs high against the more numerous Kikuyu.

The most extreme proponents of secession argue that the present African states are creatures of colonialism and should be dissolved. New nations, based on tribal boundaries, they insist, would be truly legitimate political entities. Such countries, so the argument goes, would be free of the civil strife and rivalries that now plague the continent.

But they would also be extremely weak--which may be one reason why South Africa, concerned about Nigeria's potential strength, supported Biafra. Secession, moreover, would lead to the further balkanization of Black Africa, where many of the countries such as Gabon (pop. 480,000) and Swaziland (pop. 395,000) are already far too small to function as working national economies. Furthermore, attempts at revising Black Africa's map would undoubtedly plunge the continent into the same sort of bloody border wars that plagued South America in the 19th century. In its founding meeting in 1963, the 41-nation Organization of African Unity adopted in principle the concept that the borders should remain as they are. As Tanzania's President Julius Nyerere said, "Our boundaries are so absurd that they must be regarded as sacrosanct." By the same token, the O.A.U. has also condemned secessionist movements. Only four member nations recognized Biafra; two of them, Tanzania and Zambia, did so only as an unsuccessful ploy to facilitate a negotiated settlement of the conflict. -

One immediate effect of the failure of the Biafran secession was that when representatives of ten French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa met last week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroun, they promptly patched up their differences. They had fallen out after Gabon's President Albert-Bernard Bongo and the Ivory Coast's Felix Houphouet-Boigny recognized Biafra. The specter of the beaten Biafrans is likely to serve as a warning to secessionist leaders elsewhere in Africa. It may also embolden national governments to crack down more swiftly and effectively on breakaway elements.

Still, as long as Africa remains afflicted by tribalism and mired in economic difficulties, secessionist movements cannot be ruled out. And what about Nigeria? One pessimistic and probably exaggerated view is that the only thing holding Nigeria together has been the war against the Ibos. Less exaggerated, unfortunately, is speculation that an end of hostilities could be followed by trouble from another of the country's major tribes, the restive Yorubas of Western Nigeria.

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