other Nationalist

III

by 

Sampson i. Onwuka

The problem was that N.C.N.C is to produce both the President and Vice President, but the leader of the house and the majority leader of the Senate in 1963 were adapting to the Northern People Congress but were the party that won the general elections but not the majority of seats. In essence, it can be argued that the role of the Prime Minister in Nigeria was no longer an affair from 1963, a position that Northern Nigerians resisted for reasons of their own including the so-called 1959 Right to Protest. (5), It didn’t seem that they was a misunderstanding about the future role of the Prime Minister or those in the three major regions, and it seems that the Premiers of the West, East, and North were gradually aware that there is a likely possibility that new States will be created in Nigeria – that is the first restructure of the Country since independence was underway, that will also mean (6) changing the currency and adapting to ‘Nigeria only’ statuesque (what became the Naira) which some people believe was primarily a stasis of the N.C.N.C and other Nationalist including Obafemi Awolowo. Ben Gbulie argue that C. Odumegwu Ojukwu was against the further division of the States citing like certain Igbos of his elan that it would further weaken the Eastern Region. The Northerners were getting unctions from the East. It seems to me that the old politicians were aware that the old ‘Rights to Protest’ (1959) granted to the Northern Nigeria under the ‘indirect rule’ preponderance couldn’t be defended any more and may or may not have come to an end as such all opposition ended with ‘Presidential orders’ if so given, and everyone including Sarduana was subordinate to now FG (Federal Govt), and that included the Chiefs in Yoruba land and in the East that the decision of the Senate and the Congress or so chosen Parliament which Zik and company didn’t have problems with, was final and if so commanded by the President or ordered by his subsidiaries, it was binding to the Nigerian people. 

This version was perhaps not taken up seriously by Sarduana who felt that his party was perhaps displaced and not favored in some of the decision, besides there was more than enough to suggest that North was not that interested in being part of Nigeria including the West. (8) The politician were also aware that Nigeria was a combination of 8 former empire in that region, that it has three or four auspicious tribes capable of being great West Africa nations, 500 ethnic groups and languages- each dying for attention and capable on their own, more than anything Igbos and the entire Eastern Nigeria could offer, more than what the Yoruba and the entire West could offer, the land mass thrice those of Usman Danfodio and Fulani which was an untenable empire until the English – especially Lord Lugard came and forced the hands of Sokoto Caliphate. In essence, Nigeria was a little too big for one tribe, for instance the Igbo, the Yoruba – who were mainly Nationalist and children of ‘direct rule’, that the addition of others was a privilege that deter the previous authorities of the most organized administrative structures such as the Northern Nigerians under Islam to exercise any power more than the one allotted to them through the Nigerian Constitution. It seems to the best of us, that the Premiers of the three main region and eventually four main regions were aware of the relationship between monarchy and the new political mandate, that they agreed on Presidency – an American model after the tutelage of American trained politicians was progressive. What I think was happening was political agitation for relevance in the new Nigeria where Premiers under the generalissimo of Northern Peoples Congress were jettisoning the old frame of the Federal Government.

It was to be argued that the public humiliation of Tafawa Balewa by Sarduana was not considered a National issue at such, but the direct opposition to the President on matters decided by the House would have been problematic. It seems that part of the political engine that may or may not have opted to act through force and military in the 60’s was a minority – won the electoral votes not popular votes, yes there is possibility that there was more than one planned takeover of power from Azikiwe who was the President – that’s highest authority in the Country, and due to the influence of certain local leaders including Sarduana on official policies it wasn’t likely to happen without removing them from power. We may mention that the so-called Coup in January 15, 66 was perhaps not without reason under Aguiyi Ironsi given his new appointment in 1965. Whether he gave the final orders is a matter he only knew, but he denied that he was not responsible for the death of Sarduana. They were other divisive issues besides the case of electoral votes which IPOB, MASSOB, Biafra Zionist Federation, etc., are perhaps not unaware of but can take into advisement the fact that it is not draw a full measure of the impact of their actions on national theater. And it is repeated by Ben Onwuka the Biafra Zionist that he is not sure if Nnamdi Kanu – the IPOBer - can lead the Igbos or the Biafrans (including others) either to war or some of other land of conscious interest, yet the actions mitigating Anambra elections by IPOB is thorough going that most searching historians will play the host of today’s possible fracas against the ghost of N.P.C and their Sarduana – Ahmadu Bello and

For instance the problem of the Nigerian Rail Road were Sarduana supported the forced sacking of Christians in the Nigerian Rail Roads that go into the North including other civil services. It is history that those who were employed by the Britain to work the train tract ended up in the employment – many of them Igbos, Yoruba, etc., so among the people who were compulsorily fired from service was Victor Banjo’s Dad, Nzeogwu’s father (uncle (?)) – who remained unemployed for many years and died after, S.L Akintola himself. The planned Pogroms in the North was not political article, including the so-called stock-pile to “islamatize” Nigeria – all of these was no longer a Northern affair given refined political status. However the main break with Northern People Congress began after the visits of Sarduana of Sokoto to Kaduna military headquarters and afterwards began to call Northerners to join the Nigerian Army. But indicated that the Hausa military men should not eat with “Infidels” which was also another problem. U.S Intelligence on Nigerian Swiss account was under the title, Ahmadu Bello, with two other names two Lebanese men, and an Italian. They were directly in charge of certain financial accounts of the country, especially resources from Geneva and United Nations and Federal Account. It is not wrong to doubt that the accounts were closed during the civil war but a may have remained a secret until the move by Abacha to install Chemical Bank.

It doesn’t seem that both Tafawa Balewa – Prime Minister under the rungs of Governor General operated freely and others needed to understand that the word sabotage was an ongoing political issue seems that Northern Peoples Congress was desperately interested in Presidential seat but had problems understanding the cabinet role of the ministers, that Tafewa (Tafawa) Balewa was not the head of either the Executive arm, Judicial arm of the Government and by Veto reserved for the President, it could re-position the position of the house. Put it bluntly, Zik’s premise as the President was understood but it seems that the argument on the Nigerian Federal Republic that installed Presidency in 1963 – an idea common to what was happening to nations world wide – was strategically suffocated. This is not a useful argument but the rounding up of these men, Akintola defeated in the election but in power through the vise of N.P.C, none functionary Prime Ministerial – no longer at ease – but still in power until further development with Republic. Sarduana himself was premier of the North as conflict with Kano rivals, but was chairman of the N.P.C, as such his arguments in North was pronounced and his actions was portent to the limits of the King of Sokoto ‘Abubakar III’ and within the realms of Kano polity. That’s a preamble...

The Southern Nigeria and the Northern Nigeria were united by Lord Lugard in 1914, a fact that remind us of William Balfour Baike (Voyage up the River Kwora and Binue’) and his years in an area he named Lokoja (Niger State), that in one stranded whole-year waiting for an evacuation to Britain, he and his group discovered series of villages and communities along the River Niger, from Upper region to Middle Belt all the way down to Lower Niger where their world became animated. There is no information that Baike made it to lower Niger – a history - (A Narrative of the Expedition to the River Niger, W. Allen, R.N, T.R – H Thomson) – perhaps he did - saving that the link to Calabar through the Niger runs to Mali, Guinea and Republic of Benue. This position seethes with resentment on the claims that a certain F. Shaw (?) disclaimer to Flora Shaw (London Guardian) called Nigeria in 1897 – ‘people who live around the Niger’ not around the ‘Benue’ to emphasis a point that she was probably referring to a separate map within what is called ‘Bight of Biafra’ and therefore not Nigeria as we know it today. There was another Shaw who arrived with Frederick Lugard (Lord Lugard) and a few soldiers of fortune from Congo, on invitation by George Goldie after they failed to hold Congo for Britain as against Leopold II of Belgium. This Shaw was definitely a soldier and was shot in Bini City in one of the attempts by Lord Lugard (Lord Lugard’s Diary) and company, to loot the palace of Oba of Bini on information by Goldie. They were successful in capturing the Oba palace at Bini and were surprised at how the Muslims weakened Bini, but may have also made tours in the Eastern part of Nigeria for other reasons and were sure that if Britain and the Queen could offer them any military assistance, they could take over the commerce and force Nigeria into one existence. The wars with the Northern Nigeria including the revolts started in 1912 and ending with the Harmmattan of 1914, and Frederick Lugard turned his attention to the South.

In other to maintain that politically conscious rings such as IPOB, MASSOB, Biafra Zionista, Ohaneze, World Igbo Country, Niger-Delta where well aware of their position in Nigeria, we look at Nigeria before Nigeria in 1914 – a country without Britain amalgamation in 1914 - witnessed by the Azikiwe’s and perhaps Awolowo’s who were most perhaps teenagers when in 1918, Nigeria was called to their alarm as one country under the Great Britain. There was a country witnessed by Azikiwe and company before the formation of Nigeria, but these men including Alvan Ikoku were determined to re-emphasize the statuesque with or without Britain. We can argue that unless with William Balfour Baikie, Nigeria was by Flora Shaw’s definitions ‘people around the Niger’, which was also the route English took as they decamped from the French to what is now the boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon. The British society largely operated through their missionaries given their penetration of Egypt from the land of the Bible, Palestine, in search of Red Sea, Elephantine where Jesus possibly grew up, in search of Exodus route through Egypt to Israel testing the later theories of the nomadic, pastoral, infiltration of the land of the Bible, a quest common with European Bible missionaries at the time. On July 1^st 1798,

Napoleon and the French did everybody a favor by reaching Egypt, to find it a spate of civil disorder and discord between the Native Christians and Muslims and the Muslims mainly Arabic (Asiatic) who were already involved in an 800 year war with Africans. Britain recovered part of Egypt after they defeated Napoleon and the French and proceeded to rule Egypt and following a century of inter-fada with Turkey and blockage, the Turks abandoned Palestine including today’s Israel, and Britain gradually began to nosedive through the region as well. Between the first, second, third, fourth Aliyah to Israel is the rise of Jerusalem today in the hands of Israelis and the Jews, the rise of Jewish party including returnees from Europe and the Likud party with its history. For the record, Europeans decided this war for Arabs and for Asia and they called for the end of hostilities, and Egypt proceeded to Southern Egypt – Sudan were some of their policies were indicative of their latter day actions in what is now Nigeria.

This claim is arguably correct - it is possibly incorrect, for how else could it be that the River Niger which runs from Mali, through to Rep of Benue, through to the course of Nigeria to empty at the continental shelf of Cameroon is to be reduced to the word Nigeria. Was Mali and the Sudanese not existing before 1897? It could happen in future that these countries will be united as one, or it could perhaps hint that Flora Shaw was not exactly referring to current Nigeria only – if at all. But in the language of Baikie and company, there is something about people who live along the Niger, the Benue and the Confluence towns that was interesting, they seem to have sporadically come under the separate spats of different religion. The only indication that the penetration of the North may have something to do with British interest in Sudan (South of Egypt as it was called Suddan – does not mean ‘slaves’ - I don’t know how that makes it to the region) was because of Egypt on one of hand and the penetration of the Southern Boarder’> Sudan by Gordon (In Igbo, the word for South of the border is 'nsu uda', south of the camp 'nsu okaa). Else, Britain was a later day comer to West Africa – whether they have earlier been to West Africa is a second matter. We are sure that their presence in Fernando Po and Bight of Biafra and the Cameroons was a late affair largely due to abandoned slave-trade ports and stations in West Africa from 1848 A.D.