Abstract: Who was responsible for the redrawing of the 15 century African map, who alters it?
Study the map carefully and you would ask the question.
The Bight of Biafra, or Mafra (named after the town mafra in southern Portugal), between Capes Formosa and Lopez, is the most Eastern part of the Gulf of Guinea; it contains the islands Fermando Poo, [Equatorial Guinea], Prince’s and St Thomas’s. The name Biafra – is indicating the country – fell into disuse in the later part of the 19th century.
A 1710 map indicates that the region known as “Biafar”(Biafra) was located in the present-day Cameroon, The Bight of Biafra extends East of the Bight of Benin from the River Delta of the Niger in the North until it reaches Cape Lopez in the Gabon, Besides the Niger River, Calabar River, Ndian, Wouri, Sanaga, Muni and Komo River,The main islands in the Bay are Bioko, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico, Countries located at the Bight of Bonny are Southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea(Bioko islands and Rio Muni), and Gabon(Northern Coast).
The Bight of Biafra accounted for 30.1% (2.6million) of the total number of slaves exported from the Western Africa coast, the Bight of Benin to the west accounted for 17.% while Central Africa to the South accounted for 48%, By the Middle of the eighteenth century, Bonny had emerged as the major slave trading port on the Bight of Biafra outpacing the earlier dominant slaves ports at Elem Kalabari(also known then as New Calabar) and Old Calabar.
These three ports together accounted for over 90% of the slave trade emanating from the Bight of Biafra, Between 1525-1859 Britain dominated the slave trade from the Bight of Biafra accounting for over two-thirds of slaves exporting to the New World.
However, in 1807, Great Britain made illegal the international trade in slaves, and the Royal navy was deployed to forcibly prevent slavers from the United States, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, West Africa and Arabia from plying their trade, Early, in 1777, Portugal transferred control of Fermando Poo and Annobon to Spain suzerainty thus introducing Spain into the early Colonial history of the Bight of Biafra,On 30 June 1849.
Britain established its military influence over the Bight of Biafra by building a Naval Base and consulate on the island of Fermando Poo, under the authority of the British Consults of the Bight of Benin: On 6 August 1861, the Bight of Biafra and the neighboring Bight of Benin(under its own British consults) became a United British consulate, again under British consuls:
*. 1861-Dec 1864 Richard Francis Burton
*. Dec 1864-1873 Charles Livingstone.
*. 1873-8 George Hartley.
*.1878-13 Sept 1879 David Hopkins.
*. 13 Sept 1879-5 June 1885 Edward Hyde Hewlett.
In 1967, the Eastern region of Nigeria seceded from the Nigerian state and adopted the name of its coastline, the adjoining Bight of Biafra, becoming the newly independent Republic of Biafra.
This independent was short-lived as the new state lost the ensuing Nigeria Civil War, In 1975, By decree, the Nigeria government changed the name of the Bight of Biafra to the Bight of Bonny.
God Restore Biafra Back Quickly.
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