6th November, 2003 - Effiong, Last President of Biafra, Who Made the Surrender Announcement Dies.

6th November, 2003 - Philip Effiong, The Last President of Biafra, The Man Who Made Biafra Surrender Announcement Dies.

Philip Asuquo Effiong was born on November 18, 1925, in Ibiono Ibom, in what is today Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

On July 28, 1945, he joined the Nigerian Armed Forces, beginning a career that would one day place him at the heart of one of Africa’s most tragic conflicts.

By the mid-1960s, Effiong had become one of Nigeria’s most respected officers, the nation’s first Director of Ordnance, a man known for his calm intellect and technical brilliance. But in May 1967, when the Eastern Region declared independence as the Republic of Biafra under Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Effiong found himself pulled into history’s storm. He was named Vice President and Chief of General Staff, serving loyally beside Ojukwu throughout the brutal Nigerian Civil War.

For almost three years, Effiong watched the dream of Biafra rise and then crumble under hunger, disease, and relentless warfare. By January 1970, Biafra was on its knees. Federal forces advanced steadily through operations such as Operation Tail-Wind (7–12 January 1970), capturing key towns and cutting off supplies. Ojukwu, realizing defeat was inevitable, fled to Côte d’Ivoire on January 9, 1970, leaving behind a collapsing nation.

In the midst of despair, Effiong stepped forward. On January 8, 1970, he quietly assumed leadership as Acting Head of State of Biafra. Four days later, on January 12, he addressed the world in a radio broadcast, announcing Biafra’s surrender to Nigeria

Then, on January 15, 1970, at Dodan Barracks in Lagos, standing before Nigeria’s Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, Effiong uttered the historic words that ended the war:

“I, Major-General Philip Effiong, Officer Administering the Government of the Republic of Biafra, hereby affirm that the Republic of Biafra hereby ceases to exist.”

With that declaration, the guns of Biafra fell silent. The secession had ended and so had a chapter that claimed more than a million lives.

After the war, Effiong lived a quiet life, shunning politics and avoiding the bitterness that had consumed many of his contemporaries. He spoke rarely, but when he did, his words carried the weight of peace and forgiveness.

On November 6, 2003, just twelve days before his 78th birthday, Philip Effiong passed away quietly in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. He was 77 years old. His death marked the final passing of a man who had witnessed the rise and fall of a nation and who, in its dying moments, chose peace over power.

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