Whither Nigeria: Unitarism, Federalism, Confederalism or Separatism?
NHistorical Background of Nigeria igeria’s current population of between 140 and 150 million is multi-ethnic. Among the principal ethnic group are the Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Fulani, Edo, Efik, Ijaw, Nupe, Kanuri, Igala, Urhobo etc. there are over 300 other linguistic groups.
Following the major West African population movements of the millennium of the Christian era, the ethnographic pattern of Nigeria started to stabilize with the rise of medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and Kanem-Borno. The fourteen and fifteenth centuries saw the rise of the Hausa City states of Katsina, Kano, Gobir, etc., in the north as well as the appearance of Nupe and Kwararrafa Kingdoms in the middle belt area of Nigeria.
In the South- Western part, the associated Kingdoms of Oyo and Benin were also well established by the fifteenth century, developing from common origins in Ife, the scared capital of the Yoruba people. A bit obscure is the early history of the Igbo people in the Eastern part of the forest belt, whose purely village society was based on a system of communal land holding. Some-how, a complex social and political pattern had developed among the people of what is now Nigeria by the time the earliest European expeditions reached the coast in search of gold. Slaves were initially West African’s principal export commodity, and the trade was to continue for over 400 years, with British ships handling most of the traffic by the early eighteenth century. A con-sequence of the slave trade was the creation of Deltaic states; a number of large trading ports which become dependent on the European slave traders for their economic survival.
In the hinterland, civil war ravaged the Yoruba states, culminating in the disintegration of the Oyo Empire. In the North, a jihad (Muslim holy War) was launched under the leadership of the Fulani. Meanwhile, European influences were gaining foothold in the South as the value of “Legitimate” trade increased.
In 1861, Britain annexed Lagos, declaring it a colony. After the Nigerian area was declared a British “Sphere of influence” at the Berlin conference in 1885, Britain established protectorates in various regions of this area.
The 1914 Amalgamation of Nigeria
The political entity known as Nigeria came into existence in 1914 with the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates on January 1, 1914, the colony and protectorate of Nigeria came under a unitary administration presided over by Lord Frederick Lugard as Governor General. The aims of the amalgamation were to extend to the South the Native Authority system established by Lugard as High Commissioner in the North from 1900 to 1906 and to provide technical services on an all Nigeria basis.
Lieutenant Governors were appointed for Southern and Northern Nigeria and these two parts remained largely separate units. A wholly advisory Nigerian Council was created to cover all Nigeria but this arrangement was not considered a success and in 1922, it was replaced by a legislative council for the colony and Southern part of the protectorate.
Constitutional Developments Under Colonial Rule
The Constitutional arrangements initiated in 1922 remained substantially unchanged until 1946 when it was replaced by Governor Sir Arthur Richard’s constitution. A legislative council whose competence and membership covered the whole of Nigeria was established, twenty-eight of its members were to be unofficial, four of whom would continue to be directly elected by the ratio of Lagos, 3 and Calabar 1. Twenty were to be directly selected by the Regional Council in each of the three Regions which have resulted from the division of southern Nigeria into Eastern and Western provinces. Governor Richard argued that a central legislature was not enough.
Nigeria falls naturally into the Regions: The North, The West and the East, and the people of those regions differ widely in ethnicity, customs outlook, and traditional systems of government. In all regional Houses of Assembly, there were unofficial and (African) majorities, but they consisted of members selected by the native authorities. The regional councils have no legislative powers but only limited financial ones. Executive power remained in the hands of British officials at the centre as well as in the Regions.
The new constitution, Macpherson constitution (named after Governor Sir John McPherson) enacted in 1951, established legislatures in each of the three regions which were empowered to legislate on specified subjects such as agriculture, social services, local government, etc.
Members of the central legislature were elected from their own members by the regional legislature (68 from the north and 34 by each of the southern regions). At the centre, each Region was represented by an equal number of three ministers and one for Southern Cameroon.
The Southern Political parties continues to press for more effective power for African ministers and supported in opposition of the Northern stance, for grant of selfgovernment in 1956. This resulted in a constitutional conference in London in June 1953 which eventually led to a new constitutional settlement that came into force from November 1, 1954. The regions now assumed the aspect of states within a federation.
The Motion and Counter-Motion for Self-Government
The road leading to this constitutional settlement had been rough and bumpy. During the legislative council meeting in Lagos, a member of the Action Group Party from the Western Region moved a motion in 1953 that, Nigeria, be granted self-government in 1956 which, northern members did not support but suggested that “as soon as practicable” be substituted for “1956” pending consultation with their constituencies in the North.
In supporting the counter motion moved by a northern member, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto said, “I rise to associate myself with the last speaker. The mistake of 1914 has come to light and I would like to go no further. I was referring to the amalgamation that took place in that year between the old independent governments of Northern and Southern Nigeria.” In his autobiography, entitled, MY LIFE, Sardauna of Sokoto had this to say about the episode during the debate on self-government in 1956 motion moved by Anthony Enahoro.
“We were all not only angry at our treatment, but indignant that people who were so full of fine phrases about the unity of Nigeria should have set their people against the chosen representatives of another Region while passing through their territory and even in our own. What kind of trouble had we let ourselves in for by associating with such people?
“Lord Lugard and his amalgamation were far from popular amongst us at that time. There were agitations in favour of secession (emphasis ours); we should set up on our own; we should cease to have anything more to do with the Southern people; we should take our own way.”
The Eight Points Motion of the North
However, after extensive consultation with stakeholders throughout the Northern provinces, the Northern Regional House of Assembly and the House of Chiefs agreed to soften their stance and passed the following motion.
“Be it resolved that this House prays His Honour, The lieutenant Governor to set up machinery for the consideration of popular opinion upon measures to amend the arrangement for Nigeria on the following principles.
1. Each region shall have complete legislative and executive autonomy with respect to all matters except the following a. Defence b. External Affairs c. Customs d. West institutions.
2. There shall be no central legislative body and no central executive or policy-making body for the whole of Nigeria.
3. There shall be a central agency for all regions, which should be responsible for the matters mentioned in paragraph (1) (a) to (d) and any other matters delegated to it by a region.
4. The central agency shall be at a neutral place, preferable Lagos.
5. The composition, powers and responsibility of the central agency shall be defined by order-in-council establishing the new constitutional arrangements. The agency shall be a non-political body.
6. The services of the railway, air services, ports, electricity and local mining shall be organized on an inter-regional basis and shall be administered by public corporations. Such public corporations shall be independent bodies governed solely by the statutes under which they are created. The boards of such corporations shall be composed of experts with a minority representation of the regional governments.
7. All revenues shall be levied and collected by the regional government, except customs revenue. Customs duties shall be collected at the port of discharge by the central agency and paid to each region. The administration of the customs shall be organized to ensure that goods consigned to each region are separately cleared and charged to duty.
8. Each region shall have a separate public service.
“Be it further resolved that should general support be accorded to these proposals they be forth-with communicated to the government of the United Kingdom requested that, Her Majesty, be advised to amend the constitutional instruments accordingly.”
The Commitment of Founding Fathers to Federalism
The Sardauna of Sokoto, Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who were leading figures of their respective political parties, NPC, NCNC and AG and who also headed Regional Governments and Federal Government in the case of Balewa were the Founding Fathers of the Nigerian state. All subscribed to the idea of federalism in various degrees as a form of government best suited for Nigeria. Awolowo was the foremost exponent of this idea, about which he expounded in a book he wrote in 1945 as a student in the United Kingdom which was published in 1947. The book titled “Path to Nigerian Freedom” stated inter alia.
“Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression. There are no “Nigerians” in the same sense as there are English, Welsh, or French. The word “Nigerian” is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Niger area from those who do not.”
Again, in his autobiography, titled Awo, published by Cambridge University Press in 1960, African research the Awolowo stated:
“In 1951, when the controversy on the form of Nigeria’s constitution began, I had already been for more than eighteen years a convinced federalist.”
The Independence Republican Constitutions
Constitutional conferences were later held in London in 1957 and 1958 between Nigerian leaders and the representatives of the British imperial government headed by the Secretary of States for the Colonies, Oliver Lyttleton (Lord Chandos). The resulting document became the Independence Constitution of 1960 which was later amended to become the Republican Constitution when Nigeria became a republic in 1963. The Federal Constitution was a Parliamentary Westminster - type with Head of State and Head of Government at federal level (Prime Minister, President) as well as Governors and Premiers at regional levels - North, West and Eastern regions-the constituent federating units. Nigeria continued to operate the 1963 Constitution until January 15, 1966 when the military seized power from the civilians after executing a bloody military coup during which political and military leaders of the North were assassinated by soldiers.
The concept and practice of federal Westminster system of government in Nigeria was accepted by a majority of Nigerians who regarded it as one of the “agreed ingredients” and/or “cardinal principles” of the “constitutional settlement” or “social contract” binding on all Nigerians. However, despite acceptability of constitutional settlement, Nigerian leaders continued to question its applicability to the Nigerian state whenever some ethnic or regional groups perceived that it was being dominated by other groups.
The Military Intervention and Civil War
Again, when the military seized power in January 1966 and attempted to impose a unitary system of government by abolishing the then four existing regions, the North reacted violently against the Unification Decree promulgated by General Aguiyi Ironsi’s regime on May 24, 1966. Disturbances erupted all over the North, during which several hundreds of people, mostly Igbos (Ironsi’s tribe) were killed. The government was toppled on July 29, 1966 and replaced by another military government headed by then Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, a Northern military officer.
The original intention of the July 29, 1966 counter coup leaders was to seize the reign of government and then announce the secession of the Northern Region from the rest of the country.
This was in line with the general mood of the people of the North, whose clarion call during the May 29 disturbance in the North which claimed many Igbo lives was Araba or Aware (Hausa word for “secede”). In fact, the coup leaders instructed Northern elements in Lagos to leave the metropolis for the North giving a deadline within which to comply. and