A New York Times editorial advised warring parties in Yugoslavia to take a lesson from "black Africa ... on the wisdom of respecting the territorial integrity of all states, whatever the mix of peoples.... When it comes to curbing the barbarous excesses of tribalism, black Africa has shown more maturity than otherwise condescending Europeans." Take for example Nigeria in the late 1960s, the editorial says. The African policy of "defending the integrity of existing states ... was tested in 1967-70, when Ibo peoples fought unsuccessfully to form their own state, Biafra."

As a matter of fact, the civil war over Biafra was precipitated by the massacre—by members of the Hausa tribe—of tens of thousands of Ibo; the war itself and ensuing starvation claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

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