Statement by the President Upon Authorizing Aid to Victims of the Civil War in Nigeria.

I HAVE today authorized a $2.5 million contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross to aid the victims of the Nigerian civil war. This contribution is in addition to the $10 million in money, food, and equipment we have already given, and the more than $4.3 million given by American voluntary agencies. We hope other governments will also respond generously. Nigeria's need is great and urgent.

The United States Government is doing-and will continue to do--all within its power, working with others, to help the thousands now starving on both sides of the battlelines. The international relief effort is already reaching over 2 million people on both sides. We will do all we can, in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies, to maintain and augment the flow of relief supplies.

But so long as this war continues, men, women, and children will continue to starve. So long as the fighting goes on, no relief effort-however bold, however efficient--can meet the great need. The political dispute underlying this war is a Nigerian and an African problem--not an American one. But conscience and humanity impel all nations to call again on both parties to bring this tragic struggle to an end.