2 weeks Ago By ONU JOHN ONWE
Upon the destruction of Zikist Movement by Azikiwe’s betrayal, Britain seized the moment to unfurl its neocolonial agenda camouflaged as decolonisation policy to grant Nigeria independence. First, Governor John Macpherson who succeeded Governor Arthur Richards has read the political terrain to discover that Governor Richard’s combative posture will not only bolster the fervent nationalism led by National Council of Nigerian Citizens which had been further strengthened and rendered impregnable by Zikist Movement. So Governor Macpherson adopted conciliation and accommodation.
He cultivated the friendship of Azikiwe, Awolowo and deepened the trust between the British and Northern native authority and its closed Hausa-Fulani aristocracy. Scions of the caliphate and few carefully selected subalterns such as Tafawa Balewa were enlisted to drive political direction of North on British neocolonial template. And with British neocolonial agenda, Nigeria’s journey to independence commenced.
The first process was the 1950 Constitutional Conference which Governor Macpherson organised on non-party basis as it was more of a talkshop from the district councils to provincial councils where a set of constitutional propositions laid out on questionnaire format were placed before the people to answer “Yes” or “No”. As at 1950, it was only NCNC that was functioning as authentic and viable political party and it did not do much to oppose this British stratagem because as noted in preceding paragraphs of this essay, the destruction of Zikist Movement had invariably rendered it politically impotent. The conference proceeded culminating in the Ibadan summit where British colonial officials led by Governor Macpherson and the Secretary, Hugh Foot presented a compendium of what they had collated from the questionnaires as accepted constitutional propositions from the grassroots.
The significant prepositions at Ibadan summit were the adoption of the existing federal structure of three regions with a strong centre and 50% slot of the central legislative representation to the North. When Southern delegates questioned this proposition of the North having 50% representation, Britain had leaned on the impregnable fortress erected by Northern leaders led by Tafawa Balewa to justify it holding that North had by tax returns of nearly 50% taxable adults of Nigeria established demographic superiority. This was a disingeorious scheme as Britain knew quite well that whatever demographic superiority based on tax returns of North was due to its taxation culture whereas taxation was an anathema to both West and East.
South’s feeble opposition was overruled by Britain and the North got away with that vital political prize. The Ibadan Constitutional Conference produced the 1951 Constitution on which regional government took root. Ordinarily, as at 1950 it was NCNC that was the undisputed national political party but Azikiwe’s 1948 Zikist Movement betrayal had dealt a fatal blow to that youth organisation which in reverse reaction also destroyed Azikiwe’s nationalist credentials and put a question mark on NCNC as nationalist vehicle for independence.
So to fill these yawning political gaps, erstwhile political leaders who had been rendered impotent were encouraged by Britain to form political parties. In 1950, North through Mutanen Arewa socio-cultural organsation grew into a political party called Northern People’s Congress (NPC) while Egbe Omo Oduduwa a Yoruba socio-cultural organsation transformed into Action Group. Using these three main political parties as vehicle to test-run the 1951 Constitution, Britain organised an indirect election at district levels and NPC gained majority of seats in the North while NCNC gained majority seats in the East.
The West became the jigsaw puzzle British colonial authority needed to break Azikiwe’s tenuous hold to Nigeria’s national leadership. Having noted NCNC’s queer organizational structure and membership which had no individual membership but group as noted earlier, Britain did not tie electoral candidacy on strict party membership so that for NCNC for example, the Ibibio National Union, NEPU or Ibadan People’s Party that were alied to NCNC did actually contested the elections without legally bound to NCNC. So after the election the combined strength of NCNC and allied parties’ elected candidates was greater than AG’S candidates.
But by the legal flux pointed out earlier, Britain could not call on NCNC to form Western Region government rather it set on motion every intrigue to torpedo NCNC in Western Region politics and government. So, since Azikiwe could not rally his allies in West and Lagos, AG was able to woo and won them and at the inauguration of Western Region Government Meredith Akinloye, Richard Akinjide, Moyo Aboderin, SA Akinyemi, SO Lanlehin, Chief DT Akinbiji, HP Adebola, Dr. Olorun Nimbe and others cross-carpeted to AG and Awolowo was enabled to form government in Western Region.
Azikiwe having been politically-orphaned in Western Region especially when his NCNC colleagues (Adeleke Adedoyin, HP Adebola and Dr. Olorun Nimbe) refused to yield ground for him to go to the Federal Parliament. This Western Region debacle was a British masterstroke and it destroyed Nigeria nationalist political culture to facilitate tribal regional politics which made possible British neocolonial agenda.
Obafemi Awolowo gained leadership of Western Region on the platter of tribalism but if Azikiwe had persevered by remaining in the West that political stratagem would have crumbled as shown by 1954 federal election which NCNC won and Azikiwe would have regained nationalist credential but Azikiwe was not a political strategist and a patient political-dog. So Nigeria was effectively balkanized when Azikiwe ran back to Eastern Region to displace Prof. Eyo Ita and caused crisis in NCNC.
Meanwhile, Awolowo has taken charge of Western Region gained prominence in Yoruba politics. It was not easy for him as NCNC partisans remained redoubtable, especially given the strength of Chief Adegoke Adelebu’s indispensable overwhelming presence in Ibadan and his other allies in Yoruba land. By 1960, Awolowo had gained a strong foothold in Yoruba politics and having been struggling Leader of Government from 1951 to 1955 and premier form 1956 to 1960, he was fairly established in Western region as the undisputable leader and politician.
At independence, Awolowo decided to go to Federal Parliament as Leader of Opposition which in western democratic culture is recognized as alternate or shadow government. What led to Awolowo’s decision were the political forces that played out before 1960 independence. Three major political parties had jostled for rulership of Nigeria namely National Council of Nigeria Citizens (NCNC) led by Azikiwe, Action group (AG) led by Awolowo and Northern People’s Congress (NPC) led by Balewa.
Every British political intrigue was geared at foisting NPC’s Balewa as Prime Minister of Nigeria. The AG led by Awolowo was well-organised and well-funded and it struck alliances with some minority groups in Northern and Eastern Regions and for this reason championed the creation of states in those regions. Thus Middle Belt Forum in North, Calabar/Ogoja/Rivers elements in Eastern Region allied with it.
AG later espoused “democratic-socialism” and federalism with popular sovereignty that emerges from the destruction of Hausa-Fulani hegemony with feudal concept which Britain had erected upon Nigeria. This Awoist conception of political ideology and politics was not acceptable to Chief Ladoke Samuel Akintola whom he had hesitantly handed over power as premier, for whereas Awolowo detested Azikiwe’s concept of politics but he recognized the fact that he must join the Igbo led by Azikiwe to dislodge the HausaFulani feudal hegemony. But Akintola hated the Igbo as a group and preferred the Hausa-Fulani whom he did argue share similar political culture with Yoruba.
Awolowo, even if he did not practice his “iselu” i.e., politics as a vocation of service and not “ijelu” i.
e., politics as an occupation and entitlement, Akintola did not share this Awoist idea as he perceives Awolowo as merely being hypocritical and unnecessarily politically rigid..
