THE AFRICA DOSS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000700160001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 3, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 21, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

'
British secret ser
As British influence in Africa declined, so did British secret ser
b~m
hundreds of agents to African capitals like Accra, La
din
g
sen
to buttress "sensitive" states against communism and protect
E. H. Cookridge continues his exclusive series on the CIA
117.1:1 1A/1t JJ.J D1'1MY - - l T,.taArr.
Approved For Release 2OM31,L : CIA-RDP80-0
~ G~f~~3gC?G1
HE adventurous operations
often bordering on the bizarre
which the Central Intelligence
Agency pursued in many parts
or the world are usually
ascribed to one man: Allen Dulles.
They culminated in the abortive in-
vasion of Cuba in 1961. When Dulles
departed from the directorship of CIA
after the Bay of Pigs debacle, he
certainly left an indelible stamp of his
_
influence as the architect of the mighty
CIA edifice and its worldwide rami-
fications.
The policy of his successors has,
been no less forceful. CIA
however
,
activities under its present director, -z -(
appear less aggressive because they are _t
being conduted with greater caution
and less publicity, and because they
have ? been adroitly adjusted to the A bloodless co- in Uganda in January last
changing climate in international poll- and installed Major-General Idi Amin as mill
tics. In the past CIA gained notoriety a section of his troops). How far was the C1
by promoting revolutions in Latin protest in Santa Domingo. A pro-rebel poster attacks American tnrervennan
d
sup-
American banana republics, an
porting anti-communist regimes in
South-East Asia. Its operations in
Africa were more skilfully camou-
flaged. For many years they had been
on a limited scale because the CIA had
relied on the British secret service to
provide intelligence from an area
where the British had unsurpassed ex-
perience and long-established sources
of information. But with the emergence
of the many African independent
countries, the wave of "anti-colonial-
ist" emotions, and the growing in-
filtration . of Africa by Soviet and
Chinese "advisers", British influence
declined. Washington forcefully
into the breach.
h CIA
throu
d
,
g
,
steppe
with the avowed aim of containing
communist expansion.
Financial investments in new in- \1.~ =ra?`'`
dustnal and mining enterprises, and , .*
lavish economic aid to the emerging ,
governments of the "underdeveloped" men began hurriedly to establish their 'rig served for many years as a skilful
countries, paved the road for the influx "stations" in Accra, Lagos, Nairobi FBI agent before joining CIA and
of hundreds of CIA agents. Some com- Kampala, Dar-cs-Salaam, Lusaka, the being employed at Addis Ababa,
bined their intelligence, assignments "sensitive areas" in danger of slipping Nairobi, and Dar-es-Salaam, acquir-
with genuine jobs as .technical, agri- under communist sway. ing fluency in Swahili. By 1965 the
cultural and scientific advisers. By the mid-1960s several senior CIA Accra CIA Station had two-score
. The British Government - parti- officials, such as Thomas J. Gunning active operators, distributing largesse
pularly after the Labour Party had and Edward Foy, both former U.S.' among President Nkrumah's secret
come to power in 1964 - withdrew Army Intelligence officers, were firmly adversaries.
t f th it SIS and MI5 officials established at Accra. They were later The Americans had every intention
STATINTL
STATINTL
mos o
from African capitals, though some joined by William B. Edmondson, who of helping Ghana's economy by build-
remained, atAp icot'1 91riI e1 ~0'ff 0 ~ Y o
rulers, to ,organise their own new in- Africa, an tc la outs, sortium, the Vo a u o i -
telligence and security services. CIA attractive, motherly woman, whom' ing hydro-electric power for the,
nn nn,- wnd have SUSDected of hav- r. ?~r.t i r.?,.. .7
 Guardian .
7 February 1970
Approve) For Releage 2001/03/04?x: A-RDPa-01601 R0Q07J
I
Fdllowing is a reply to a criticism by the
.- \
.Richard' Ward, the Guardian's. foreign editor, accidentally coincide with Nigeria's entry into.
writes: :. r the 'ranks of the world's leading oil producers.
struggle in his country could be viewed in terms'., are'so fond of citing, the demand for a separate
-'of a piece of straw resting on a rock: the straw nation only arose when Ojukwu' thought he.
being the Saigon regime and the rock U.S. im- could finance his bid for 'power with oil reve-
perialism. Once the rock is. smashed, the straw' nues and was given encouragement by U:S. and
would. obviously fall, he said, while making an . British oil corporations. There was no popular.
expressive motion with his fist. . ' demand for independence, no guerrilla warfare,
This analogy illustrates a basic truth-that, indicating that the Ibo masses were behind the'
.U.S. :- imperialism is 'the cause 'of 'the' war in secession.
Vietnam and that without the support. of the ` "In 1967, the Ibos became intensely oil-
U.S., the Saigon regime will collapse. This is not minded," wrote the. Paris newsweekly L'Ex-
:to.say that internal questions in South Vietnam .i"Press in its Jan. 19 issue. "From their..territory,'
have no importance, but the fundamental'ele-. i'they thought they 'could cut the oil lines and.
merit is U.S. imperialism. exploit the 67% of the [Nigerian oil] reserves
A confusion of primary and secondary}ques- located in their province. This factor gave them
-.lions was made by the Africa' Research Group's ' the illusion of strength and pushed them to
criticism of the Guardian Viewpoint Jan. 24 on -take the risk of secession. .
":'the war in Nigeria. The editorial and a longer "When the flag of secession 'was raised in
article in the same issue discussed both, the Biafra," wrote Lawrence Fellows in the Jan. 30
internal forces within Nigeria and historical role N.Y. Times, "as the Biafrans saw it.. oil was to,
of imperialism, providing specific facts docu=. be the foundation of their republlc't .wealth.''
menting the relationship between Gen..' As early as Jan. 23, 1967, Le Monde reported
Ojukwu's secessionist movement 'and the oil nine of 12'oil companies operating: in Nigeria;.
monopolies, demonstrating that Western oil in- . were American and by self-interest the U.S. was
f
- -terests were behind the war. sympathetic to the cause o Lt. Col. Ojukwu.
~. Gulf Oil in particular was said to be "very
1:"
favorable to the separatists, as was Shell
Ignoring the facts British Petroleum, which'then" controlled 85%.
STATINTL
ARG stated U.S. corporations should beThe Biafra war effort quickly bogged down
called "into account" for tjheir role in Nigeria after an initial'summer 1967 offensive and its
.-...and that "the presence of tlie.oil companies was'"U.S. and British backers quickly changedtteir
..significant," yet they completely evaded dis- stance, but then 'the smaller vultures; :,the
cussing the actual relationship between the oil French and Italian national oil companies,
interests and' Biafra. This omission invalidates stepped"in and gambled on Ojukwu. C.L. Sulz-
their analysis. Anything can be,proven in, poli burger., has clearly revealed that in the eyes of
tical "analysis" if one ignores basic facts. ? imperialism the era of Rudyard Kipling was not
Despite an anti-imperialist posture and - dead. In The Jan. 23 N.Y. Times; Sulzberger
,.claims of putting forward "a radical class-based . wrote:
analysis," ARG's statements'in the Guardian "French policy in Nigeria lid down by de
-and other publications serve to obscure the Gaulle, paralleled French policy in the Congo.
situation in Nigeria and minimize the real xole ? In each case it sought to pry loose from an
of imperialism. 'Anglo-Saxon' zone of influence huge and pros-
This was not ARG's, intention, but it appears porous chunks-Katanga, with its copper and
to be a classic case of inability attention see the the to cer- uranium, from a pro-American Congo, and Bia-
.for the e trees. ARG has called fra, with its oil, from a pro-British Nigeria.
tain mechanisms, such as aid programs, by Another article, "A Strong Smell of Oil," in
which imperialism tries to maintain its control'- ;
and confused them with the driving forces be- ' ,the Jan. 27 Jeune Afrique, calls attention to the
hind imperialism. tole of AGIP,'a subsidiary of ENI, the Italian
While advising us "to, learn something about r national oil corporation, which reportedly paid.
'the actual conditions" in the third world, ARG the Biafran treasury $3 million in June 1969.
appears to be unaware that 'the search for profit ' France was one. of the main arms suppliers
is the heart of the question, of imperialism. ? to Biafra. With characteristic imperialistic can-
Specifically, ARG says "our task.i:s'not,to rail dor, Paris claimed that the French-made arms
against the 'greed of the oil companies'' and must have been given by sympathetic African
that "the bloodshed in NigeLia did not come countries. But Jacques Decornoy reported in
spouting out of an, oil well." Trn an all too.. the Jan. 20 Le Monde that this assertion caused
unfortunate extent, ' however, it did in fact. smiles in Libreville, capital of Gabon. "One'
come "spouting out of an oil well" and to, miss cannot see how Gabon could have furnished
this point miss mu 'f th reason for the thousands of tons of arms 'and ? munitions," lltln
a' ove or? eieas'e'. 0.04 rnGJA-RDP8-0-:01601 R000700160amN=0
 Finally,
the r eQujd4,S ~ r#An#01/03/04 CIA-RDP80-01601 R000700160001 -0
different u d k
believe. ~ Both nominally supported Nigeria,
once Ojukwu floundered. The British supplied
arms, but not enough to bring the war to a
conclusion. The U.S. embargoed arms to both
the Nigerians and Biafrans (if we discount
reports of CIA involvement) and it furnished
economic aid to both, as did Britain. Neither
British nor U.S. actions are consistent with the
view that they favored a strong, unified Nigeria.
What they wanted was a prolonged war which
they thought would leave Nigeria riven by inter-
nal rivalries, as were fostered by the federal
. institutions imposed under British colonialism.
This 'does not exhaust the story .of imperi-
alist intervention in Nigeria. But it should be i
'.clear that although Africans did the fighting, it
was at bottom a war for oil, a war instigated
and promoted by the greed of. the oil com-
panics.
The Africa Research Group's article in the Jan. 31
Guardian contained the sentence: "Imperialist institu-
preceding
tions cannot be checked. " That and its
sentence should be: '7f imperialist tnstitutionseannot
be checked, the pattern of Nigeria-Illafia- may be
repeated in other parts ofAfrica."
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000700160001-0
 1'x0S ANU:I lsS TIMES
Approved For Release 200,1103 Q0Gl DP80-016
Lagos Radio Assails
U.S., Britain, Holland
Exclusive to The Tlmos from Reuters
LAGOS, Nigeria-Radio
Nigeria Tuesday criticized
the United States, Britain
and. the Netherlands as
!fair. weather friends and
'paid the Soviet Union had'.
Mono more than any other
nation , to 'help Nigeria
crush its rebellion.
P In a commentary, read '
aftcr:news bulletins, the
;cation' said, the United
1', Rates had` adopted a poll- .
cy of, r+egative neutrality:
;awhile ? the , Central, Intel-
1 ligenceAgency was pour-
ing weapons and money
into the rebel camp.
The commentary singled'
out for greatest criticism
the Netherlands, which
over
did not "give
what t happened in Nigeria
w
as long as its. oil interests
were not affected.
-. . _,_- ...,1.4
w
had been cool in the past,.
had stepped in like a true
friend when fair weather
feet at the crucial moment
,in the early stages. of the
war, the commentary said,
when the rebels . had ap-
peared to be g a i..n i n g
strength. However,- it had
changed later, the,, state-
ment added. said
'The commentary
the Soviet Union, toward
hich Nigerian relations
friends had failed. .
Russia sold arms and
equipment for "raw cash,"
the commentary said.
"Thanks to the Soviet,
Union, the federal governi, ment apcceeded in.crush-
ing the`. rebellion ".. it, con-
cluded: } y
STATINTL
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000700160001-0
 11~~Guardian STATINTL
Aaaroved For Release 220'~~i~-RDP80-016
revenues. General Ojukwu and the group he spoke for were STATINT
willing to settle for less-and Biafra was launched.
only France and the French oil interests fully backed Ojuk-
wu to the end. France was betting on Ojukwu in hopes of
gaining a larger share of the oil concession at the expense of
British and U.S. companies.
Once it was clear that a long war was in prospect, the
!.The war ends
None but the most diehard. reactionaries could feel any
thing but satisfaction that the civil war in Nigeria has finally
ended.
The attempted secession of Biafra was never in' the';
-interests of the Nigerian masses, including the Ibos, who
I 'dominated Biafra.
Recognizing how far Nigeria must go to produce a social
`system reflecting the needs of the Nigerian people, there
was never any question that the break up of Africa's largest
state was a regressive development, bound only to benefit
,,imperialism.
In essence, the struggle over Biafra was a consequence of
neo-colonialisrn, of Western imperialism striving to increase.
Its profits in Nigeria. It is not a.mcre coincidence that when
Biafra sought to secede in May 1967 the overwhelming bulk
' .In .this connection : it .is important to remember' that
before Biafra's secession the federal government had pre.
sented a request for an increase of its share in the oil
'were used to gain..."independcnce."
Western imperialism, never lost the upper hand.
After plans for a quick secession had been furstrated,
1 ly bogged down and the Nigerian army, which was not ,?i
'r simply lighting tiny Biafra but countering a major drive by i
Contrary to the expectations of the oil companies and
despite the assistance from the West, Ojukwu's effort quick-
to hinder the huge "private" relief operations, which were
an important factor in keeping the war going. Armaments,
it is well known, sometimes arrived on the relief planes,-
U.S. and Britain backed Nigeria officially but did nothing
CIA involvement in these mercy flights may well be con.
Express reported that Ojukwu was spirited out of Nigeria in ,? .
an unmarked aircraft-one of the CIA's so-called ghost';
planes used for especially secret operations.
The U.S. policy called for a compromise settlement. if -,
secession would not work, the oil companies and Washing- ;'''
ton sought some kind of semi-autonomous arrangement
which would have weakened Nigeria although it would have
preserved Nigerian hegemony.
The actual outcome, total defeat for Biafra, was the last
`development anticipated by imperialist interests. it was an,',,
;important victory for Nigeria, but it cannot be forgotten,.`,.;
.that imperialism remains solidly entrenched in Nigeria. Bri-?
:tish and l,l.S. capital dominate the economy.
The strategy of contemporary imperialism-ncocolon-.
..ialism-involves the uses of puppets like Diem, Thicu, Ky
',,:and the others who do U.S. bidding in Vietnam, or like
`?Ojukwu, from one of Nigeria's richest families and closely
tied to Western economic interests. Neocolonialism also,;':;,
seeks to perpetuate the internal rivalries it fostered in the:i
colonial era
when Africa was carved u
without th
li
h
,
p
e s
g
t-
."Biafran" territory. eat regard for national or tribal boundaries. What appeared
It was, in a sense, an oil war, having little resemblance to to be tribal rivalry- in. Nigeria actually' was a struggle for ,.?.:
liberation struggles as they have come to be defined in , imperialist interests.
numerous wars for national liberation fought throughout`''. .. _. ,:
?!
it
h
t
e world. l'? should be pointed out that the federal Nigerian government'
At the beginning of the conflict, Biafra was supported was not responsible for the lbo massacres in 1966 nor did it
by U.S., British, French and other oil interests. Without this ,'ever have any interest in lbo genocide, as the Western
support, which implied future backing by respective West- ~:
d ..:.r-_....r._ ,.t ..a admirers of Biafra have charged. The 1966 massacre was
an
of
h
e .vv
`~?"".aumu, wnu n tia rc t
finance the new state, it is hardly likely General Ojukwu ! r???'?-"~~ - ?. b.??~
. advantages over other peoples-the majority of the Nigerian
and the Biafran comprador bour coisie he represented-a
r r L a population. When the British left, bourgeois elements
""" " ?" p "? it-h- among the Ibos dream d of dominating Nigeria in eolabora-
out
eerests-would ld have e contemplated d secession. . W Wit
the cash payment by the oil monopolies and military and tion with the Western interests. The 1966 massacres, en?
couragcd by regional feudal elements, should have warned
economic aid from abroad, it is doubtful Biafra could have the Ibo l~adcrs of the dangers of making a bid for control.
held out for more than a few weeks. In the final stages of But the ibo bourgeoisie, persisted in its bid for power,
the war the "mercy" shipments of food only prolonged a
:futile and. losing venture 'at the expense of millions.of ' ? concealing it behind the alleged threat of genocide.
It would be naive to assume that the groundswell of
in Biafra.
,.people
The rhetoric of the Biafran 'struggle was independence ? i popular support in the West for Biafra was a completely
but the reaiity would have been Biafra's subordination to .' '' spontaneous development. Although the campaign for Biaf.
od iniperialislolp ' Ydkrt(itd~tR eIot aVevil0101WID4 ~:: ?I 'i P~'b- '6 ~1 O.t~'~'0~ 1~0 1 s who
erful African state. Tiny Biafra would have been easier to. aB'C 11U
erl-
 ",III w.s:lInialN POT STATINTL
Approved For Release 2001/e44PM ??A-RDP80-01601 R00070
New
1s 0 CI ? , r A e
L .
for other agencies to dis-I' .
shipments from the United
States, Canada and Britain
landed here today but them
still was no word on when food
Ivory Coast Gives
Asylum To Ojukwu
and medical supplies might be Prom News Dlsnatche5
flown to three former Biafran ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Jan.
airstrips the government has 23-Gen. C. Odumegwu
cleared for such cargos. Ojukwu, who fled Biafra be
The airports at Port Har- fore Its capitulation to Ni-
,.court, Enugu and Calabar form geria Jan. 12, has been
a triangle embracing most of granted political . asylum In
the former secessionist terri- this West African country, a
tory. The government yester. government communique an-
day approved use of the air- ; nounced today.
fields but ruled out. use of Uli His whereabouts had been a
airport, last major lifeline to !mystery since he left ' Biafra
Biafra before the civil war Jan. 10 on a plane that flew
ended. 'him to the Portuguese island
The first of three mobile has- of. Sao Tome off Nigeria. The
pitals requested by Nigeria ar- announcement said Ojukwu is
Lagos
led. the tiny ,Biafran air force
said tonight Ojukwu left Bia-
fra voluntarily. Count Carl
Gustav von Rosen added that
as far as he knew the ' U.S.
Central Intelligence Agenc
"had nothing to do with"
Ojukwu's air escape.]
Nigeria' Reassures
Rogers of Welcome
Associated Press
The Nigerian go~erriment
has assured the, United States official in Lagos expressed
that Secretary of State Wil-
liam-P. Rogers will be a wel-
,come guest when he visits
Liam C. Trueheart by an un-
identified Nigerian official.
It sharply contradicted an
torial in the Lagos news
welcome because of alleged
antagonistic statements he
made about Nigeria.
"We had renewed assurances'
that the secretary will be wel-
come and that the Nigerian)
government is looking for-1
regret that . the editorial had,
appeared and assured us that!,
it did not reflect government!
policy."
Rogers is due In Lagos Feb.!
19 for a 24-hour visit at ~ the'
Nigerian capital during -his
visers. Air Canada flew in 10 phouet-Boigny had said re-1Lagos next month.
tons of drugs donated by the cently: "The Ivory Coast will The assurance, State
CdI
anaian Red Cross. never give asylum to a govern- ment'press officer Robert : J
h
C
arter flights from Britain ment in exile. The Ivor Coast
brought two heavy trucks and y
several tons of medical sup- will never serve as a base for
plies. (subversion to no matter whom
Many doctors and nurses al- !against no, matter.. whom. This
ready had left for the war-torn Ivery clear position permits
east-central state and 15 more..:our country to receive any po-
doctors and 13 nurses were due litical refugee who agrees to
In Lagos Monday. !respect this rule.
Officials continued to ex- "It Is by virtue of this sol-
amine reports sent from Ower- , emn principle that we ac-
ri in former Biafran territory corded the right of asylum to
by correspondents flown there ; Gen, Ojukwu when he arrived
.1 on an authorized visit earlier in the Ivory Coast. It is by vir-
In the week. Officials' were tue of this solemn' principle
known to be incensed at some that Gen, Ojukwu, although
`reports they considered unbal-I entirely free In his move-
,
anced and with no menti
f
on o
etill hlitil
, :mas, wave no poca government relief efforts. activity In the Ivory Coast."
Radio Nigeria exhorts war Ojukwu, 36, left the provi-
refugees hourly to stay where ,stone) secessionist; capital of
they are until relief supplies Owerri as the Biafran state,
arrive, but workers say there set up May. 80, 4
196.7 was on
.. .._ ..._ ! ...-
are not nearly enough tru
k
c
s
bl t
o get the juu uune
.
[Reports of victorious
Nigerian troops raping nurses
gained credence today when
Brig. John Drewry, Canadian
member of 'an International
,,observer team here, said some
nurses "who have been raped
are hiding In the bush afraid
to' come out," a UPS dispatch'
said.
[In Geneva today, Joint
Church Aid, the group barred
thy Nigeria because it helped
relieve Biafran suffering dur-
ing the war, said it would with -
draw Its aircraft from Sao
Tome but. would leave tons of
relief',, supp]ies etpef} ~j