American Defender of One Nigeria: James Meredith, the Nigerian Civil War and the Politics of American Intervention in the Global South.

This article examines African-American Civil Rights leader James Meredith’s pro-One Nigeria activism in the United States during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), highlighting his opposition to pro-Biafran groups that sought American political recognition of the secessionist Biafran Republic. Drawing on Meredith’s fact-finding mission to Nigeria, public speeches, correspondences, and congressional testimony, the study shows that Meredith rejected allegations of genocide against the Nigerian government and framed the pro-Biafran campaign as a neocolonial destabilization effort. Meredith’s advocacy for Nigerian unity was influenced by his civil rights background and pan-African ideology, aligning with continental Pan-Africanists like Kwame Nkrumah who opposed the balkanization of African states. The article situates Meredith’s activism within the broader transnational black liberation movements of the long sixties and underscores his role in shaping American public opinion and policy toward Nigeria during the conflict.