SUMMARY
The study shows that the Nigeria Civil War which broke out on 6th July 1967, was a culmination of an uneasy peace and stability that had plagued the Nigerian state from independence. Between 1967 to 1970 Nigerian civil war, many international non-government organizations provided humanitarian assistance to Nigerians and especially in the Biafra enclave. Apart from the international humanitarian principle and law, the scale of the war casualties and impact on human life and property prompted the need for humanitarian interventions. Non-states like Roman Catholic Church swung into action, to provide relief materials to victims, especially civilians affected in the course of the civil war. Of course, there were many religious and non-religious bodies that provided humanitarian needs to Biafra, but, this study examines the humanitarian efforts of the Catholic Church in Biafra during Nigeria's civil war.
This study attempts a comprehensive examination of the humanitarian efforts of the Catholic Church in wars and other areas around the world, the event and politics that led to the Nigeria civil war, why the Catholic Church enter the civil war and why they increased their activities in Biafra. Indeed, one of the reasons humanitarian efforts were made possible was because the Catholic Missions such as Irish Holy Ghost Fathers and the Holy Rosary Sisters mingle with the people.In fact, on the eve of the civil war, many of the Catholic missions in Nigeria were situated in the eastern region and this also means that missionaries or Catholic Church expatriates were much more in the Eastern region of Nigeria than the other three regions – North, West and Mid-Western regions. This does not mean that the Catholic Missions in the other three regions were irrelevant rather it only showed the extent of the humanitarian role of the Catholic Church in the civil war.
The study also revealed the global humanitarian efforts of the Catholic Church. The study showed that the Church was enormously involved in humanitarian activities around the world. The Church has shared in the people's suffering and needs during and after wars. There are larger numbers of Catholic organizations formally accredited to inter-governmental institutions. They include international Catholic lay organization (ICO), the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS), Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). The Catholic Church is engaging in developmental and humanitarian response in many different areas around the world such as providing simplified but modern housing for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, taking an active part in peace building in Sri Lanka, protecting people's rights in Guatemala, supporting the mechanism for democratic free and fair elections in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan and Colombia.
The Catholic Church's humanitarian efforts have gained momentum in the areas of education, and basic amenities such as shelter water and clothing for victims of natural and human-made suffering. For instance, education is the bedrock of any nation’s development ancient and modern. That means that at every given point in a nation marched to civilization there is one form of education or the other that suit the society, though, the mode or approach may vary. Thus the Catholic Church recognized this fact and decides to educate people in their area of operation.
The study shows that despite the allegation levied against the Catholic Church during the war, they perform relatively well during the war and after the war. Our study revealed that during the war (in Nigeria), the Catholic Church works in partnership with the Federal and Biafran sides of the war to assist victims of war and help implement health and social welfare programs and promote humanitarian principles across the country, especially the Biafrans. The study showed that before the hostilities started in 1966, the Roman Catholics outnumbered the Protestant and other religious sects in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. Catholic's seat was concentrated principally among the Igbo tribe of the region. In 1966, for example, there were an estimated 1,050 expatriate priests in Nigeria, of which nearly 607 were in the East. The remaining 400 were spread in the other regions. So, when the war broke out in 1967, there were a large number of Catholic expatriate clergies in Nigeria, and Catholic missionaries directly exerted influence.
The study revealed the impact of the Catholic Church's humanitarian efforts in the Nigerian civil war. Humanitarian action is founded on the principle of humanity that all human beings are entitled to be treated humanely and to receive lifesaving assistance simply by virtue of being human and on the humanitarian imperative that people have a right to receive humanitarian assistance and humanitarian actors have a right to assist wherever it is needed. Thus one of the first impacts of the Catholic Church's humanitarian assistance to Nigerians or Igbo land is that it led to the preservation of hundreds of thousands of lives.
