The Willink commission reported in 1958 but did not favour a further fragmentation of the country and opined that the majority party in the regions would by the nature of things have to win the support of the minority. The stage was hereafter set for the eventual attainment of independence by October 1, 1960. At independence agriculture provided employment of about 95 per cent of the entire Nigeria population; agriculture nose-dived in the Gross Domestic Product index from 53 per cent in 1960 to about 34 per cent in 1974.

Palm Oil exports dropped from about 198,000 tonnes in 1961 to 14,000 tonnes in 1973. Groundnut which was about one million tonnes in 1967 crashed to 559,000 tonnes in 1973. On the other hand, Nigeria’s export proceeds of oil is now over 93 per cent from crude oil. The negative and unwholesome structural change on employment has been unfortunately dramatic. While agriculture has been labour intensive, crude oil exploitation is capital intensive and heavy foreign expertise dependent. Unemployment level has therefore risen to a breakeven point with the attendant social problem. The future could be worse unless urgent salvaging measures are taken.

Rapid Development

Each of the regions was fairly autonomous and could legislate over a number of items which have today been take over by the Federal Government. It was during this period that each region began its own regional developmental efforts. There were mutual healthy rivalries to compete for development.

Western Nigeria Television Station/ Western Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (the first television station in Africa), the Cocoa House (A 25-storey complex), the University of Ife, Western Nigerian Development Corporation, Western Nigeria Marketing Board, National Bank of Nigeria, Liberty Stadium, to mention a few, were pioneering efforts by the Western Regional Government under the leadership of Obafemi Awolowo.

On the Eastern Region’s Government side, the government established the University of Nigeria Nsukka, which also has a Teaching Hospital; Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation, etc, amongst other giant strides. The Northern Regional Government replied the Awolowo-led Western Regional government with Northern Nigeria Development Corporation, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the Bank of the North and the famous groundnut pyramids of Kano.

The Military Era

A pertinent portion of Wilkinson Report, particularly its optimistic view that the majority party in the three regions would by nature of things win the support of the minority, indeed, the experiment worked admirably well. In spite of some hitches here and there, Nigerians were gradually getting used to change of government through the ballot. A sense of nationhood was gradually emerging. Then the irreversible damage was done.

On January 15, 1966 the army struck. An attempt to impose a unitary government on the country was instantly foiled by another military coup. This was followed in rapid successions by the civil war and a long military rule. Apart from the four years of the Shagari Government, the country was ruled by the military from 1966 to 1999. We are all witnesses to the misrule and unbridled brigandage of decades of misrule by the military.

The emergence of the military on the political scene and their uneventful stay for about 30 years dealt a fatal blow to the existing federal structure in Nigeria.

None of the Constitutions fashioned out by the military reflects the ideals which informed the making of 1954, 1960 and 1963, 1979 and 1999 Constitutions. What the military did was to by the last two Constitutions, weaken the component states, destroy or impair their power to develop and sustain themselves. It is, therefore, correct to state that the military and their civilian apologists either by design or accident have planted in the Constitution the seeds of national disintegration and disharmony. The allegations of marginalisation and the clamour for confederation constitute the inevitable harvest of the Constitution fashioned by the military.

The above statement could only be understood as painting graphically the sordid picture of the product of amalgamation of Nigeria which was rightly referred to by Northern Political elite as a mere geographic expression.

Views of Eminent Nigerians 

Perhaps the picture was beautifully captured by Adewale Ademoyega in his narrative of the first Nigerian military coup when the retired Major, one of the principal architects of the coup submitted on page one of the book thus:

“Nigeria’s political problems sprang from the careful manner in which the British took over, administered, and abandoned the government and the people of Nigeria. British administrators did not make an effort to weld the country together and unite the heterogenous groups of people…. There was no evil that outlived British administration, namely, political non-advancement. When the British came, they forcibly rubber-stamped the political state of the ethnic groups of Nigeria, and maintained that status quo until they left. Upon their departure nearly a hundred years later, the people resumed fighting for their political right”.

On page 3 of the book, the author continued:

“From the outset, the British governed the North as a monolithic unit, merging the separate Kingdom of Bornu with the Fulani emirates. They also governed the South as a unit until the Richard’s Constitution of 1946, which split the South into two, establishing a country with three large regions. From these, three centres of power were established. Kaduna in the North, Ibadan in the West and Enugu in the East.

Each region was administered from its centre of power by a British  representative called Lieutenant-Governor. The overall coordinating centre was Lagos, where the Governor resided. This was the pattern that led to the independence of Nigeria. With the calling forth of regional representatives to the constitutional conferences that followed, the political leadership of the country split into three, so that the British motive of ‘divide and rule’ was exemplified. It must be noted that this political arrangement by the British was not necessary.

They could, for instance, have carved out a region for the Kanuri in the North-East; for instance that area was never captured by the Fulani. They could also have carved out a region for the Yoruba of Ilorin and Tiv of Benue, since their area were geographically and ethnologically distinct from the Hausa areas, further North. However, the British chose the tripartite arrangement because it was more to their purpose of keeping Nigeria perpetually within their sphere of influence, even after independence.”(emphasis mine).

Commenting on the nature of Nigeria’s federation which he called “a deformed federation”, Dare Babarinsa, one of the fiery finest journalists in Nigeria today in his book House of War at pages 227-278 had this to say: 

“Nigeria is a deformed federation. The component nationalities have few logical basis for relating to one another. There are  many Nigerians, including Hausa-Fulani, who do not feel uneasy about the nature of the federation. A federation is supposed to be a state were the component nationalities have a measure of control over their destinies.

Component units are supposed to be autonomous and economically viable units. They are supposed to have linguistic affinity and cultural cohesion. But since the coming of the military in 1966, they have transformed the federation into one of very strong centre and very weak states. Now the Federal Government has become a monster terrorising the states”.

The above, to say the least, summarises the sorry Nigerian arrangement. Because successive military administrations paid lip service to the clamour for a federation properly so called, the evil of tyrannical centre still persists till date.

To be concluded

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