The Igbo Road To Freedom I

1.1 The Crises-ridden Federation.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria is not working and has never worked as a united country. The debate on Restructuring or Dissolution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the one hand, and the Political Future of Ndigbo, on the other, is provoked by the fact that the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not working and is crisis-ridden, Ndigbo, in particular, and most of the nationalities that make up the Federal Republic in general, feel enslaved and dominated by alien and uncompromising hegemony. This peculiar situation of Ndigbo in Nigeria has constantly fueled their desire to opt out of Nigeria.

1.12 Demand for break-up or opting out of Nigeria, not of Igbo origin.

Indeed, Ndigbo is not alone in this situation; the desire to leave Nigeria was not originated by them. Several other nationalities in Nigeria have at one time or made serious moves like Ndigbo to opt out of Nigeria. This was the case in 1966 when Northern Nigeria led by the Fulani felt they had lost control of the Government following the January 1966 coup. The Yoruba did so in 1992-4 following the annulment of June 12 won by Chief M. K. O. Abiola. In the sixties, the Tiv nation fought for their own political and so did the Ijaw nation and Isaac Adaka Boro. In the case of the Niger Delta, the movement for their freedom is still ongoing.
To understand the nature of the incessant political crises and demands for the break-up of the country, we must look for the roots in the history of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

1.2 Faulty Federal System

1.21 Nigeria is a country of many nations.

Nigeria is a multi-ethnic Federation put together by the British without a proper foundation. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is made of autonomous nationalities which the British forced into an artificial political and economic union without their consent. Before the emergence of British colonial rule, there was nothing like Nigeria as a country. What existed were only separate nationalities (with several communities) independent of each other just like the European nations –the French, the English, the Russian, the Turks, the Portuguese, etc. Some had cultural and commercial links with each other. Their initial contact with Britain and the rest of Europe was mainly commercial. Among these independent nationalities were the Ijaws, Igbos, Urhobos, Itsekiris, Yoruba, Hausas, Fulani, Nupes, Kanuris, Ogonis, Gwaris, Katafs, Jukars, Edos, Ibibios, Efiks, Idomas, Tivs, Junkuns, Biroms, Agns, Ogojas and so on. There were Kingdoms like Oyo, Lagos, Nri, Aro, Calabar, Brass, Itsekiri, Benin, Tiv, Bornu, Sokoto Caliphate (with lost control over Kano, Ilorin, Zaria, etc.) Bonny, Opobo, etc.

1.22 European colonial interest led to the creation of Nigeria.

The 1884 Berlin Conference of European powers ceded the territories of these nationalities to Britain. Initially, there was a loose commercial relationship with the British Royal Niger Company which was granted corporate trading rights by the British Government. Later in 1900, the British government assumed direct political and economic control of the territory. Their basic interest in the territory was in the natural resources of the area (palm oil and palm kernel, cocoa, hides and skins, groundnut, coal, tin, iron bauxite, etc.), which were needed as raw materials in the British industries.

1.23 Forced Acquisition of Territories and their Artificial Amalgamation.

Through a process of arm-twisting, forced treaties, conquest, and other form of subterfuge, the British colonial power brought these separate nationalities together without seeking and obtaining their consent.

First, Britain brought them together under separate artificial combinations.

• The Northern Protectorate,
• The Southern Protectorate and
• The Colony of Lagos.

Finally, all these artificial combinations of independent nation-states were brought together under the one-sided Amalgamation Treaty of 1914 and baptized NIGERIA, with a British Colonial Officer presiding over her affairs as the Governor- General assisted by other colonial officers. During the intra-European struggles for control of the world, the colonizer’s citizens from these territories as soldiers in their war of world domination.

2.0 REGIONALISM AND THE MAKING OF AN ARTIFICIAL FEDERATION.

2.1 Federation with a Central Government and Three Regional Governments.

For purposes of convenient political, economic, and administrative control, the British colonial authority devised various constitutional arrangements for the Federation. The most outstanding one with the greatest tragic consequences for the Federation and the peoples in the entire territory was the Regional Governmental Structure of 1954 via the so-called Macpherson Constitution. Here again, the British grouped these independent nationalities into three regions –

a. The Eastern Region

b. The Northern Region, and

c. The Western Region.

2.2 Formation of Political Parties and the Loss of National Autonomy by the various Nationalities.

Formation of Political parties was encouraged, and there and then all consultations were between the British and the leaders of the political parties, while the nationalities and their leadership were ignored. Indeed, Nigeria became a Federation of political parties rather than a Federation of Nationalities.

2.3 Domination of the Regions by Major Nationalities.

The result of this constitutional process was an artificial Federal Regional Structure which put most of the various nationalities in each Region under the control and domination of the dominant nationality in the Region. The regions were controlled by the dominant political parties which were controlled by the dominant nationalities. Thus, the Fulani dominated the Northern region, Ndigbo dominated the Eastern Region, while the Yoruba dominated the Western Region.

Beneath this artificial federal structure, were constant national rivalries; first among the big three nationalities (Igbo, Fulani, and Yoruba) for domination of their regions and next for the control of the Federation. And then there was rivalry between the gig nationalities and the smaller ethnic nationalities within the regions controlled by them.

2.31. Special British interest in the Northern Region.

The Making of Fulani Hegemony. For reasons of the convenience of colonial control, the British had a special arrangement for managing the affairs of the Northern Region in what was called Indirect Rule. By this arrangement, the British shared power with the Fulani Emirs; in fact, she directly and constitutionally put the various nationalities in the Region under the control of the Fulani Emirs.

The British went further to ensure that the Northern Region was dominant in terms of allocation of territorial landmass but also in terms of manipulating the census figures. A one-time British Colonial Officer, Mr. Harold Smith, confessed that the British falsified the Nigerian pre-independence Census figures before they were released in their bid to put the North in power at all costs. According to him,” …Despite seeing vast land with no human but cattle in the north, we still gave the North 55 million instead of 32 Million. This was to be used to maintain their majority votes and future power bid”.

Thus, the British made sure the Northern Region was the dominant Region over the rest, and by that arrangement, the Fulani became the dominant political force in the Federation and has since continued to control and dominate the whole of the whole Federation. Given the feudal and religious character of the Fulani socio-political system, they have made it impossible to democratize the political and social system of the Republic.

The situation today is that the Federal Republic of Nigeria is under the firm grip of the Fulani hegemony. The Fulani is in firm control of the Nigerian Military, all Security Forces (Intelligence and the police) the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, the Central Bank, Currency, Immigration and Customs, the Oil Industry, Agriculture, Education, all the major institutions of the State.

Given this state of affairs, any democratic remaking of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is almost impossible. However, the future of Nigeria will depend on the recovery of the national identities and political freedom of the various nationalities that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That, of course, will depend on their individual and collective ability and will to assert their Fundamental Right to Self- determination.

2.4 How the early leaders of Nigeria saw the Emergent Federation.

2.41 Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the front-line pan-Africanist and leader of what was initially the biggest political party in Nigeria, the National Council of Nigeria, and the Cameroons (NCNC), strenuously promoted the philosophy of ONE NGERIA and the slogan ONE NATION, ONE DESTINY! urging all in the Federal Republic “let us unite and forget our differences’.

2.42 Sir, Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and one-time Premier of Northern Nigeria, was fully aware of the political reality of Nigeria as an artificial assemblage of distinct nationalities. He held the view that in making one country out of the multi-nationalities of Nigeria, one should not forget the fact that Nigeria is a country of many nations with basic cultural, political, economic, and religious differences. He, therefore, jealously guarded the large territorial bounty the British had put under the dominance of the Fulani, his people.

He thus promoted the slogan ONE NORTH, ONE DESTINY! and urged the other leaders and everybody to “in uniting let us remember our differences”. Aided by the British, the Sardauna deployed his feudal background, using all manner of political, religious, and administrative machinery to cow and manipulate the large territory and various nationalities the British had put under his control. 2.43. Sir, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, echoed the Sardauna’s views when he said, “We must recognize our diversity and the peculiar conditions under which the different tribal communities live in this country.”

2.44 Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the first Premier of Western Nigeria, in his book, Path to Nigeria’s Freedom asserted that “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 Nigeria from those who do not. There are various national or ethnic groups in the country. It is a mistake to designate them as “tribes.” Each of them is a nation by itself with many tribes and clans. There are as many differences between them as there are between Germans, English, Russians, and Turks, for instance. The fact that they have a common overlord does not destroy this fundamental difference. (“Path to Nigerian Freedom” (Faber & Faber, 1947, page.48) Chief Awolowo went on to name ten such nationalities as recorded in the 1931 Census, namely, Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba, Fulani, Kanuri, Ibibio, Munshi or Tiv, Edo, Nupe, and Ijaw.) while acknowledging that there are several others. Nigeria is today said to comprise over 350 such nationalities.

2.5 Dialectics of a Multi-National Society.

Politics is said to be a struggle among social forces. And in a multi-ethnic society, the most potent social forces are the ethnic nationalities. In the final analysis politics in a multi-ethnic society is seen as a struggle for self-determination and pre-eminence among the contending groups. This explains why the most celebrated national heroes are ethnic heroes, ranging from the Sardauna of Sokoto, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Michael Okpara, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, Joseph Tarka, Isaac Boro, Ken Saro Wiwa, etc.

2.6 The Pull Between Nationalism and Federalism in the Making of the Federation.

The pull between Federalism with a very weak foundation and Nationalism with strong natural socio-cultural and historical roots is at the root of the instability of the Nigerian Federation. In other words, attachment to one’s nationality was much stronger than attachment to the Federation unless one was in a position to join the dominant political party.

i. As we observed earlier, the initial three regions were artificial constructs. Each Region was swallowed by its dominant nationality – a. Eastern Region by the Igbo b. Northern Region by the Hausa-Fulani c. Western Region by the Yoruba ii. The dominant party in each Region was equally dominated by the dominant Nationality in the Region. The most outstanding in this contradiction between Federalism and Nationalism is the case of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).

NCNC started as a truly ‘pan-Nigerian Party”, but eventually became an Igbo-dominated National Party especially when the other major ethnic groups built their party as an instrument for struggle over the control of the center.

iii. The Sardauna of Sokoto and even Mallam Aminu Kano made no pretensions to recognize this political reality. And so gave their parties names that reflected the reality of the ethnic orientation of political organization in a multi-national society. a. Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC) – The Sardauna of Sokoto. b. Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) – Aminu Kano. c. United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) – Joseph Tarka. d. Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri’s party was a later formation and so did not have an appellation showing its Northern base and concern with the interest of the Kanuris. His Party was called The Grand National Party of Nigeria (GNPP)

2.7 Sir Ahmadu Bello was not A Federalist but a Fulani Nationalist.

Today it is obvious that Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto was very realistic in recognizing that no union is built on the fundamental principle of freedom of association and Self-Determination! The Union must allow the various constituent nationalities to freely decide if the different nationalities can succeed if it is not built on the right foundation; and if the Union is willing to be part of the union or not. It will not succeed if it does not allow the various peoples to control their ancestral homes if it does not allow them to control their sociocultural economic and political environment and life.

2.8 Minorities in search of political relevance and survival.

Within each Region, there were minority Nationalities seeking to project their national identities and so had to resist the dominance of the bigger nationalities controlling the affairs of their Region. And in doing so, they sought political alliances with the big parties outside their region. This enabled them to have a recognizable voice and influence in the affairs of the Federal Republic.

• NEPU in the North allied with the NCNC dominant in the East.
• UMBC in the North allied with the Action Group (AG) in the West.
• The Mid-West Regional Movement in the West allied with the NCNC in the East.
• The COR Movement in the East with the Action Group and the NPC What was wrong with some of the pre-as Constitutional Conferences?

2.9 The 1963 Constitution – The Birth of Political Naivety versus Political Realism

At the dawn of the Republican Constitution of 1963, Southern politicians were enjoying the fanciful intellectual and emotional idea of Nigeria being ‘truly independent, no longer tied to the apron string of Her Majesty’s Government as was the case with their dominion status. On the other hand, the Northern politicians, led by the Sardauna of Sokoto, had their eyes on who controls the so-called independent Republic; that is to say, the North had her eyes on the management and control of STATE POWER in the new Republic.

And what are the decisive indices of state power? – the Military, the Executive, and the Legislature- In other words, he who controls the decisive instruments of state power would invariably control the Federal Republic. In short, their major concern and focus were on the major instruments or organs of state power, viz, the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, the Military, and the Security Forces (the Security Council, the NSO, the Police, the Customs, etc.).

In his article, The Republican Constitution of 1963: The Supreme Court and Federalism in Nigeria, Akin Alao reveals that the Republican Constitution of 1963, was among other things, to allay the fears of insecurity by the Prime Minister (Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa) to bolster the powers of the Executive, regulate Cabinet/Legislative relations, enhance the leverage of the Executive over the Judiciary through subtle intimidation. For example, according to him, the power of the Governor-General to remove the Prime Minister was amended to make his removable dependent on loss of confidence by his Cabinet which was composed of his appointees.

Within the same period, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, the Chief Justice of the Federation complained about the loss of independence by the Judiciary following the subjection of the Judicial Service Commission to the powers of the Prime Minster (The Republican Constitution of 1963: The Supreme Court and Federalism in Nigeria by A kin Alao. The University of Miami International and Company Law Review Rev 91, 2015).

2.10. The 1966 Military Intervention, not responsible for the Collapse of the 1963 Federal Constitution.

The military was not responsible for the collapse of the 1963 Constitution. That Constitution collapsed on its own weightlessness and faulty assumptions. Its incapacity to guarantee a stable and genuine political union was demonstrated through a series of crises between 1962 and 1966.  During this period the contradiction between federalism and nationalism bared its monstrous fangs and progressively tore every element of the faulty Federal structure.

The military intervened when the 1963 Constitution itself collapsed, when it proved incapable of sustaining the rule of law, and democratic conduct of state affairs, and thus could not deal with the contradiction between federalism and nationalism.

The Constitution collapsed when the leadership of the Fulani nationality had assumed an overbearing influence and had taken over (in fact seized) the affairs (state power) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The collapse of the 1963 Constitution before the January 1966 coup was manifested through a series of crises, for example, i. Census crises of 1962, ii. The 1962 treasonable felony trial and imprisonment of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his allies, some of whom were driven into exile. iii. The Federal Election Crisis of 1964, iv. The Western Nigeria Election crises of 1965 It was at this point that the military got involved. The military was to be used to settle the power struggle, in other words, the military, the ultimate force finally got involved in the resolution of the power struggle. Having manipulated all the other ethnic nationalities, two fronts had emerged in the power struggle. By the end of 1965, two coups were on the offing –

The Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) led by the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) of the Sardauna of Sokoto in alliance with the National Democratic Party (NDP) led by Chief S. L. Akintola planned for a final settlement of the power struggle by using the military.

The young army officers driven by the patriotic pan-Africanist ideology of democratic socialism and in sympathy with Chief Awolowo seized the initiative and staged a pre-emptive coup early on 15th January 1966. It must be stated for the sake of objectivity, that the sympathy for the coup led by Major Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu was not for Igbo hegemony, rather, according to their records and testimony, their sympathy was for Chief Awolowo not as a leader of the other broad alliance, the United People’s Grand Alliance (UPGA) but their sympathy for him as an individual, If it was otherwise, they could not have killed Chief Festus Okotieboh, one of the major kingpins of UPGA.

The military leaders killed in the January 15th, 1966, coup were killed because they were regarded as the leaders of the alternative military coup which was to have taken place on January 17th, 1966.

2.11 The Nigerian Military and Full-blown Fulani Hegemony.

Between January 15, 1966, and October 1999, Nigeria was ruled by the Military. Except for the six months of the Ironsi regime, the rest were under the Northern Military leaders (Gowon, Buhari, Babangida, Abacha, and Abubakar). Within this period, the Federal Republic of Nigeria was radically restructured to advance the hegemony of the North. During this period there was the politico-intellectual mafia based in Kaduna called the Kaduna Mafia. This was the intellectual backbone of the Fulani power machinery. Dr. Bala Takaya wrote a book on the operations of this Mafia, but the book was seized by the military and all copies confiscated.

Under the reign of the Northern military, Nigeria went from three regions (one in the North and two in the South) to what it is today, namely, 36 states and the Abuja Federal Capital Territory – (nineteen plus Abuja in the North and seventeen in the South). This translated to 20 States in the North and 17 in the South. In addition to this, they created a lob-sided Local Government Structure with a total of 774 Local Governments. Out of this, the North has 428 Local Governments, while
the South has 346. These all have huge implications for Revenue and Power–sharing between the North and the South.