Radio Biafra, also known as Voice of Biafra, is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

and a trademark that was founded by the defunct

Republic of Biafra Biafara anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 to 1970. Its territory consisted of the former Eastern Region o ...

. It was operated by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader and Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor who served as the deputy director. It is believed to have its first transmission before the Nigeria-Biafra war, the radio station was instrumental in the broadcast of speeches and propaganda by

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 193326 November 2011) was a Nigerian military officer and political figure who served as President of Biafra from 1967 to 1970. As the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, which he declar ...

to the people of the Republic of Biafra.

Transmission

Now based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Radio Biafra transmits via the internet and shortwave broadcast targeted to the

Eastern Nigeria The Eastern Region was an political division, administrative region in Nigeria, dating back originally from the division of the colony Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its first capital was Calabar. The capital was lat ...

, with their contents broadcast in English and Igbo. Radio Biafra claims to be broadcasting the ideology of

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

–"Freedom of the Biafran people".

Controversy

Radio Biafra has been met with mixed reactions. While some critics have criticized the station for "inciting war" through its programmes and "preaching hate messages" against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

which it refers to as a “zoo”, an editor for ''

Sahara Reporters Sahara Reporters is a news agency based in New York City that focuses on promoting citizen journalism by encouraging everyday people to report stories about corruption, human rights abuses and other political misconduct in Africa, with special f ...

'' wrote in defence of the radio station after he compared Radio Biafra with the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

Hausa service ( BBC Hausa). On 14 July 2015, it was reported in the media that the radio station had been jammed because it did not have a broadcast licence from the

Nigerian Broadcasting Commission The National Broadcasting Commission is the broadcast regulator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The commission was set up on August 24, 1992, by Decree 38 of 1992 later amended as an act of the National Assembly by Act 55 of 1999 and now known ...

. However, the radio station in a swift reaction labelled such claims as "lies" and went on to release its new frequency details to the public.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Biafra Urban contemporary radio stations