Theatre of the Absurd -Part 2

Theatre of the Absurd -Part 2

Marginalisation? Let us examine history.

The best point to start analysing a topic is to go back in history for context. The cry of marginalisation is not a new phenomenon and this cry among the Igbo ethnicity, is a recurring lament. Permit me to say from the onset that I am a firm believer in Nigeria as a unit and I do not have enmity in any part of my bones for any ethnic group. I embrace Nigeria. That said, I am also a realist and an analyst, and I believe that if Nigeria is going to be able to move forward to greater unity and development we must speak frankly about the “who”, “what”, “where” and “when” of events in history that led us to this day and this periodic resurgence of agitations for secession. We are in a sense of déjà vu here. 

The amalgamation of the three regions into one nation of 1914

The premise for the argument that we were never one nation is cited as the ‘unholy’ 1914 amalgamation of the 3 regions by the colonial masters. It is true that this amalgamation occurred without our consent. Our consent was scarcely needed anyway, since we had been colonised and the masters could do whatever they liked. The colonial master had formally been ruling the regions separately until 1914 when for economic and administrative expediency, the merger was done, and the merged territory was named Nigeria. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Your answer would depend on what side of the political spectrum you are on. We will pick up this point later in this article, but suffice to say that to me, this is moot as we have long since gone past the event of 1914.

After amalgamation, how did we manage to remain one country? 

This is where the shades of grey began to show. It is my posit that our founding fathers from the 3 dominant regions actively collaborated in the birth of Nigeria in 1960. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Herbert Macaulay and a host of others actively wrestled independence out of the hands of the colonial masters. History is replete with all the struggles and the call for independence and how regions were granted internal rule at different times several years before independence. We already had separate rule in the regions and did not need to embrace independence as one nation. Why did we?

At the birth of the First Republic, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe from the East became the President of Nigeria, replacing the Queen of England as the ceremonial head of Nigeria. Tafawa Balewa became the Prime Minister, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was Premier of the West, Sir Ahmadu Bello was Premier of the North while Dr. Michael Okpara was premier of the East.  Could we say at that time that there was marginalisation? 

History records that there have always been skirmishes between the tribes as there was a riot in Jos in 1943 involving the Igbos and the northerners, and a few others like the one in Kano in the 1950s. Also, there was mistrust to a great degree between the Yorubas and Igbos in the West, and especially in Lagos, arising out of a view that Lagos being the capital should not be regarded as part of the West but as ‘no man’s land”. Familiar? This notion was soundly rejected by the West and did not carry the day. The notion of no man’s land was credited to Nnamdi Azikiwe of the NCNC. In fact, at that time, Chief Awolowo threatened that the West would secede if the notion of Lagos as no man’s land was adopted.

So, if the distrust was rife between the nations, why did they forge ahead and continue to independence as one nation? In fairness to the regions, my history tells me, that the West wanted to include a clause for secession in the Constitution, but the NCNC of Dr Azikiwe disagreed. Curious!

The Profile of the Regions

It was in 1946 that the British split the South into 2-Western and Eastern Regions. The West was practically homogenous in culture and language, save for the Delta areas, but the Eastern region housed diverse ethnicities, with the Igbos being dominant. From the time the East began internal self-rule, there were agitations by the other Eastern tribes that they were being marginalised by the Igbos and the first secession was recorded in Nigeria because of this alleged marginalisation. We will discuss this first secession in Part 3. 

The map of Nigeria during the first republic delineates the regions. What will strike any person from the map below, is the sheer size of the Northern region comparative to the South. Would anyone really have expected that the first Prime Minister of Nigeria would not emerge from such a region?

Would anyone really have expected that there would not be more constituencies and thus more voting blocs from the Northern region relative to the South? Was the Colonial Government right to draw the Nigerian Map and give the North such a generous and dominant space? I believe this was not an equitable beginning at all, but it is important to note that the Nigerian nation did begin to split itself to more equitable distributions, but unfortunately, the citizenry continued to see the origin as somehow fixed and thus being the present. 

What is pertinent to note is that from creation, the North had the largest land mass followed by the West and then the East. 

What did the regions do in their regions?

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, embraced his region of the West and got to work immediately, making policies for the development of the Western Region, and taking actions that were so radical and progressive that history still records them as great feats and the bold moves of the Western Region drive the nostalgic demands that is now rife in the polity, for a return to the regional mode of governance. What did the East do? They also got down to regional government but permit me to ask anyone to contradict me in saying that history does not record as many feats of development giant strides in the East as it recorded for the West. For the West, the boldness of Free Education, WNTV (first in Africa) Cocoa House, Liberty Stadium etc are still of note. The North also continued to govern in the manner they had begun under the colonial rule-concentrating on agriculture and embracing the religion of Islam as culture in such a manner that religion became part and parcel of northern heritage. 

Was there marginalisation in the First Republic? I will leave readers to decide individually. Why did Awolowo not cry marginalisation? Why did he focus on his region? Because he had always believed in federalism where the regions were strong, and the centre was not that dominant? Did the East believe in this as well? Listening to the interview granted by General Ojukwu on the precursors to the civil war, he showed dissatisfaction that Nnamdi Azikwe was not made the substantive Prime Minister of the First Republic. He felt already that the North were too dominant and that they were not comprising of the best brains available at that time. He felt the best brains were from the East. This was the beginning of the marginalisation mantra in my view and this to me was too early in our democracy. It is the view of many that Dr. Azikiwe embraced the North in coalition rather than the West because the North was perceived to be an easier fish to fry than the west in respect of academic prowess. As events unfolded, if Azikiwe had benefit of hindsight, would he still have the same opinion? 

I believe that the underlying belief that the North was backward at that time, led the Eastern leaders to a position of arrogance, a superiority complex that was premature. Anyone who has listened to Tafawa Balewa speaking as Prime Minister of Nigeria would not call him low in intellect. He was a perfect orator. Readers may wish to watch him and listen to some of his speeches on YouTube-

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Big774YSs8A
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-kvCTK8FxU

It is true that the South had more highly educated personalities than the North at independence but that was basically because of the influence of early civilisation being embraced in the South relative to the North. 

During the first republic, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the Federal Prime Minister had to govern the entire young nation? Did he get it right? Not really! Have any of the modern democracies got democracy right in the centuries that they have held on to it? No. We all witnessed the recent invasion of the US Capitol by loyalists of former President Trump which threatened American democracy in an existential manner, but the insurgency was quelled, and the insurgents are presently being prosecuted. So, what does this say to us, no democracy has ever been free of problems, but with adherence to law and with the judiciary as arbiter and with dialogue rather than war, nations thrive. But in the case of Nigeria, all we did then and have continued to do is to try to dominate each other and this was more of the modus operandi of the East and North rather than of the West to the other regions. In the west, the modus operandi was internal or intra personality acrimony. 

The Midwest Region is created

The first region to be split was the Western Region. Out of the Western region was created the Midwest region in 1963. Did the West oppose this reduction of their landmass or their voting rights and blocks? The new Midwest comprised of the former Bendel State which had what is now known as Edo and Delta States. It is pertinent to state unequivocally that the Midwest region was carved out of the West, and it was never a part of the Eastern region. In fact, the Benin kingdom has ancestry in Yorubaland. I cannot remember there being a cry of marginalisation by the West or any other tribe when the Midwest was created. Everyone continued with their regions.  There are Yorubas in the present Kwara and Kogi states and they are classified as in the North Central zone, but at independence, these two states were in the Northern region. Should the West not have been upset that Ilorin, the capital of Kwara state which was founded by the Yorubas was classified as northern Nigeria? There are Yorubas in Dahomey in the Republic of Benin and Dahomey had at one time been part of the Oyo Empire. Should Nigeria seek to amalgamate Dahomey as part of Nigeria? There are Igbos in Cameroon, Gabon and Equitorial Guinea. Should Nigeria take over those countries or ask the Igbos to go to those countries? There are Hausas and Fulanis in many Sahel countries, and surely Nigeria cannot take over those countries. 

So, it is ludicrous to keep fighting that we are different peoples who were forced together. Populations migrate all over regions of the world. The UK is made up of peoples from the history of their origin. UK was captive to Roman Empire, Nordics, and has history of marriage between Greece etc. Wherever one finds oneself is where he can claim. Nigeria may have started as a mere “geographic expression”, yet it has 100 years history of amalgamation. 

Governments and Political Parties of the First Republic

History tells us that Nigerian politics was largely regional based and that no single political party was ever federal enough in spread and outlook as to be able to win the control the Federal Legislature and Executive although they all aimed to control the Federal Government. Tafawa Balewa’s Northern People’s Congress (NPC) which formed the largest block had to form a coalition with the East’s National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). The NCNC later became National Convention of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC). In fairness to the East, the name of their predominantly Easterners’ party was national in outlook, but it failed to garner national membership. The West had the Action Group which was predominantly of western members although it also had members across the other regions. The first main political coalition in Nigerian politics was between the North and the East, (NPC and the NCNC). This is curious because surely, you do not get married to someone you feel is marginalising you. The Action Group was the party that had the second largest numbers of parliamentarians, and it was officially the named opposition party. Chief Obafemi Awolowo had to relinquish his position as Premier of the West to become the leader of the opposition in Congress.

Why have I dissected the first republic in this manner? I have done so to trace the origin of the cry of marginalisation that the Igbos have held on to for so long. So again, I ask: Were the Easterners marginalised at the beginning of the Republic? The facts do not bear witness to this. The facts allude to a people who wanted relevance at the centre and aligned with the party they saw as the vehicle for their ambition. The Igbos were heavily favoured in the government of Tafawa Balewa because of the alliance of the NPC and the NCNC. Chief Awolowo as the leader of the Action Group did not support that the AG should align with the NPC and this was one of the reasons for a fall out between Awolowo and Chief Akintola who became the Premier of the Western Region when Awolowo moved to the Federal House as leader of the opposition. This fand this would eventually cause the destabilisation of the Western Region (Wild, Wild West). 

It is my posit, that the Igbos were not marginalised in the First Republic. Perhaps they felt that they were the most suited for the top leadership of the country, perhaps they felt Nnamdi Azikiwe ought to have been made Prime Minister, perhaps they thought that being in the centre was the ultimate power. Whatever they thought, was their thinking, and it is at best subjective, but it was not marginalisation. If the West could stay apart and accept to be the opposition and plan strategies for unseating the NPC in future elections, then so could they. Also, there was opportunity for the NCNC to form a coalition with the AG, but Azikiwe was not of that bent, even though some factions of his NCNC were. This has been the story of Nigeria. The Igbos have continued to align with the North in subsequent elections and never with the West. The West has also continued in its path of intra personality fight for dominance which is also repeating itself in modern politics.

The arrogance of the three dominant tribes

 

The Hausa/Fulanis in the North, the Yorubas in the west and the Igbos of the East behave as if they are the only tribes in Nigeria. This is so arrogant and one other reason to view the marginalisation cry as curious indeed. Should the other tribes complain of marginalisation? In a country that has over 250 ethnic groups, how do we satisfy a cry by all tribes to have control of the centre? During the first republic these were the political parties that were registered:

1. The Action Group (AG)
2. Borno Youth Movement (BYM)
3. Democratic Party of Nigeria and Cameroon (DPNC) -a splinter group from NCNC-revolted against Azikiwe and ended up being known only in Orlu and Onitsha
4. Dynamic Party (DP)
5. Igala Union (IU)
6. Igbira Tribal Union (ITU)
7. Midwest Democratic Front (MDF)
8. National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons/National Convention of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) 
9. National Independence Party (NIP)
10. Niger Delta Congress (NDC)
11. Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP)
12. Northern People’s Congress (NPC)
13. Northern Progressive Front (NPF)
14. Republican Party (RP)
15. United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC)
16. United National Independence Party (UNIP)
17. Zamfara Commoners Party (ZCP)

As we can see from the array of parties that were registered and active in the political landscape of the first republic, all peoples participated in the republic so the assertion that Lord Lugard somehow or the other merged an unwilling group of separate entities into one and thus forever condemned Nigeria to ruin just does not hold water. Yes, we came together under colonialism, but we embraced our independence as a people and tried to make a go of it. I would ask you all to watch the video showing the independence celebration and the emotions and expressions of joy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMC34KhZCf8

“The Wild Wild West”

Have we changed our character in the West from how we played politics in the first republic and now? I posit No. The Yorubas from time immemorial have always been a people united by language, but everything in between could be controversial. If we go back in history, we will see that Yorubas fought wars amongst themselves and had many types of governments in as many sub-tribes. The famous Kiriji war (Ekiti Parapo) of 1877-1893 is not too far back in memory, where the Western Yorubas (Ijebus and Ibadans) were aligned against the Eastern Yorubas (the Ekitis) in a war in defence of each other’s independence. The Ekiti’s fought to halt the dominance of the Ibadans who wanted a united nation after the fall of the Oyo empire. The Ekitis wanted their confederacy to subsist. Ibadans had republicanism, Ekitis, confederacy, the Ijayes’ had a military dictatorship, where Kurumi ruled with iron fist, Abeokuta had a federation.  Yoruba wars amongst themselves threw up fierce rulers including Kurumi, Bashorun Oluyole, Efunsetan Aniwura (female), Balogun Ogunmola, Ogedengbe, Efunroye, Tinubu (female) 

Yorubas have never been united in any specific way other than language and this remains up till today. Yorubas are independent thinkers and strategists. They align with others based on principles. There has always been dualism in Yoruba politics. No one party is uniquely Yoruba. This explains why in the 2^nd Republic Yorubas embraced NPN as well as UPN and in the days of the aborted 3^rd Republic, Yorubas were in both the NRC and the SDP. Similarly in the de facto 3^rd Republic Yorubas are active in both the NPN and the APC. Politics in Yorubaland has equally never been dominated by one leader. Chief Obafemi Awolowo came to be nearly the leader that would have achieved this and indeed he was gifted the title of Asiwaju Yoruba, but he had fierce contest with Akintola, who wanted just what the Easterners wanted (more power and dominance at the centre by aligning with the North). 

The Action Group became divided and Akintola’s faction aligned with the NPC and the resistance by supporters of Awolowo of the AG led to the carnage that occurred in the West in the 1964-1965 and which led to charges of treason being levelled against Chief Awolowo, his conviction and a sentence of imprisonment. In fact, Akintola led his faction to form a new party the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). In a weird political manoeuvre, Tafawa Balewa declared a State of Emergency in the Western Region, dissolved the Western Regional Assembly and without an election, the NNDP somehow formed the majority in the newly constituted Western Assembly. Of course, the Awolowo faction and supporters were not taking this manoeuvre lying low. Mayhem and carnage ensued and the infamous “Operation wetie” was bequeath to the history of the Yorubas. 

The beginning of our derailment as a nation and as a democracy

The first military coup happened on January 15, 1966. It was as unexpected as it was shocking and it was brutal, and sadly it was perpetrated by officers of Major rank, and all were majorly of Eastern extraction. The coup was extremely bloody, and Hausa political big wigs were killed including the Northern Premier Sir Ahmadu Bello and the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. In total, 22 people were slaughtered by the Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna led coup. Apart from the PM and the Premier of the North many senior politicians, many senior Army officers (including their wives), and sentinels on protective duty were killed. Major General Aguiyi Ironsi became the first Military Head of State, and he was Igbo. According to the coup masterminds, they undertook the military takeover because the Nigerian leaders at the helm of affairs were running Nigeria aground with their corrupt ways. Ministers under them were living flamboyant lifestyles and looting public funds at the expense of ordinary citizens. Does this sound familiar? Does it resonate today as it did in the 16 years of the PDP and in the Shagari years of the NPN? Have we moved further from our corruption?

Those of us who have lived through military rules in Nigeria know that an unsuccessful coup spells death sentence to the perpetrators. Major General Aguiyi Ironsi however did not sentence the coup plotters to death. His tardiness in meting out swift judgement and retribution was viewed by many as overt support for the coup and that the coup had been perpetrated by the Igbo majors to instal an Igbo head of Nigeria and that this was in keeping to the agenda of the Igbos to dominate Nigeria. Rightly or wrongly, the assumption took root and endures till today. The assumption was further fuelled by the fact that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was out of Nigeria at the time of the coup-he was on holiday abroad and even had gone on a cruise. Nwafor Orizu an Igbo was the Senate President and in the absence of Azikwe, he was the President of the country. It was Orizu who announced that the Senate had voluntarily given the powers of democracy to the military. He dissolved Parliament and handed over power to Major General Aguiyi Ironsi.

I must bring Part 2 to a close and leave the conclusion of the treatise to part 3, lest we lose concentration. But a few foods for thought:

1. Was Nigeria somehow forced into this union?
2. Did the federating regions demonstrate that they did not want the union?
3. Why were the regional actors jostling for control of the centre?
4. Is democracy not mainly about jostling for power?
5. Did the Igbos not actively contend for leadership and power?
6. Was there truly a demonstrated marginalisation of any group?
7. Were there not a plethora of political parties in the first republic showing that Nigerians actively participated in their own destiny?
8. Why did the Igbos who were the third largest ethnicity at that time and had the least homogeneity in their region somehow believe they were the dominant group in Nigeria and merited the leadership at the centre?
9. Why did all regions not concentrate on their regions and develop their regions? Why were they so focused on the centre that the whole concept of regionalism somehow derailed?
10. A call for return to regionalism in the present day is being romanticised as the panacea to all our current issues. If regionalism threw up “Operation Wetie” in the past in the West, what has changed in the character of our politics in the SW to give hope that regionalism is an option now?

We will pick up the thread of these questions in part 3 where we will discuss how we got to this point; how we commenced a unitary system that gave rise to our power at the centre problem. We will discuss the first secession attempt that preceded the Biafra secession, and we will see the part played by Ojukwu is quelling that secession attempt. We will see the actions that entrenched unitary governance in Nigeria, the ethnic groups that brought the unitary system. We will then see what factors culminated in the Nigerian Civil War. 

I believe that the young generations of the Igbos have been sold a one-sided history which is largely propaganda. I am sure I am not wrong in this belief, and it is with utter degree of responsibility that I make this assertion. I believe that the Igbo leaders must have a frank conversation with themselves first and agree on what is truth and what is propaganda. I believe that until the Igbos face up to their part in all the antecedents leading to the Biafran war and admit to some of their calculations and miscalculations, history will continue to repeat itself. If a “Truth Commission” is set up, truth must be sacrosanct. Nigeria as an entity has faced up to a lot of its part in the war. The war happened because two sides disagreed. No party is totally blameless in a war. Both sides lost souls and more souls were lost on the side of the loser in keeping with the way battles usually are. If Nigeria wants to heal, the Igbos must make peace with their consciences. I am Nigerian, I have atoned for a war I did not plan, and a war, I did not sanction. I have atoned because I want my nation to heal, but I cannot deny the facts that history records and I cannot begin to embrace a propaganda machinery that has distorted historical facts and continues to do so to the detriment of our national development.

I pause for a while and will pick up the thread in Part 3.

This write up is mine. If you have a contrary opinion and you have your facts to buttress your position, please hit the comment section or do better-write on your own blog.