DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA: HISTORY AND

PROBLEMS TO 1966
BY
IHEDIWA NKEMJIKA CHIMEE
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

INTRODUCTION

The name Nigeria came into existence in 1914. Prior to this date, the
varied culture groups that constitute the polity had existed as independent
and autonomous groups coming into contact with one another through trade
and some other forms of intercourse. As Ijoma observed:
Before the year 1900, different ethnic groups (in Nigeria),
estimated at over 250 in number governed themselves in
various ways. ……However the beginning of the this
century saw the imposition of alien rule on a political
entity called Nigeria.1

After the conquest of Lagos in 1861, the British had extended their imperial
dragnet to much of Yorubaland before the end of the 19 th century. From the
last quarter of the 19th century to the period 1900, places like Benin
Kingdom, the Niger Delta Chiefdoms and the Efik had lost their autonomy
to the British. With the invasion of Arochukwu in 1901-1902, Igboland was
penetrated and taken. The hegemonic Hausa/Fulani Caliphate in the
Northern section of the polity had the baptism of British fire like all the
other groups whom the British had encountered. With the British
appointment of a consul in 1867, which was stationed at Lokoja, the last
three decades of the century saw the loss of autonomy of the Northern Emirs

1
and the eventual defeat of the Sultan. At the revocation of the charter of the
Royal Niger Company on December 31, 1899, which empowered the
company to administer “the Niger Basin” for the British government, the
British took over direct control of the area.2. By 1906, the colony of Lagos
and the protectorate of Southern Nigeria were merged under one
administration. Thus with the amalgamation of 1914, these two
administrative units became one and continued till 1960 when Independence
was achieved. As we have stated earlier, Nigeria as constituted by the British
imperialists is a society with varied cultures and peoples, and the British did
not take into cognizance the future of the disparate and heterogeneous nation
so created in an event of their disengagement. The composition of the polity
was such that leverage was given to the major ethnic groups over and above
the minorities found in their regions. The Hausa/Fulani are preponderant in
majority in the North, the Yoruba in the West, and the Igbo in the East, thus
creating a veritable base for ethnic competition and struggle. This situation
where a single ‘nationality’ group of culturally related tribes3 in the three
regions being in control of affairs there, and numerically strong, did not go
down, neither did nourish democratic spirit in the succeeding years.
The foundation of disunity was formally laid by the British
administration after the amalgamation in 1914. Lugard who was in control
of Nigeria from this date till 1919, did not show interest in unifying the
country effectively. His policies insulated the North and isolated if from the
south. The Nigerian Council he created did not reflect the true aspirations of
the Nigerian people, and was never seen as medium through which political
participation was to be achieved by Nigerians. That Nigerian Council was
composed of expatriates and only six nominated Nigerians were chosen;
thus it did not achieve any meaningful end for the people as it was a mere

2
forum for the presentation of his Annual Address of events in the previous
year without any legislative authority. The creation of Sabon Gari for the
non-natives in the North was an attempt by the colonial administration to
further isolate the two groups of Nigerias.4 Nigerians did not have the initial
opportunity of understanding themselves and developing a deep
consciousness for unity, as a result of the ugly foundation the colonialists
laid.
Lugard did not create an enabling structure for the galvanization of
political consciousness in Nigerians; it was when Hugh Clifford took over
from him in 1919, that a semblance of encouraging signs appeared. He
quickly abolished the Nigerian Council and replaced it with the Legislative
Council for the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. This was a broader
council with wider representation of Africans in it. Ironically, the same trend
under Lugard continued for this legislative council did not have Northern
representations in it, rather British colonial officials continued to represent
the North in this forum, and this trend continued till the next thirty two
years, (from 1914-1946), when Richards constitution was proclaimed.
Though the 1922 constitution is regarded as haven laid the foundation of
elective principle and nationalist activities in Nigeria, it did not bridge the
gap between the North and the South. No wonder the political leaders from
the two lines of the divide, did not understand themselves well in the true
spirit of democratic culture.

Road to Democracy
As we noted earlier, political activity was not a feature of the colonial
state of Nigeria, not until 1922, when the elective principle was introduced
in the constitution of Hugh Clifford. Consequently, political activities began

3
to take root as candidates jostled for seats in the municipal areas of Lagos
and Calabar. Though at this early stage of political development, political
parties were not the basis of representation. The Nigerian (Legislative
Council) Order in Council of 21 November 1922, laid down the
qualifications of electors. The franchise was strictly limited by qualifications
of nationality, age, residence, and income. So any male of above 21 years, a
British subject or a native of the protectorate of Nigeria could vote, and a
prospective voter had to be resident for the twelve months immediately
preceding the date of registration in the municipal area for which an election
was being held5
The first political party so-to- say which was urban based and almost
restricted to the environs of Lagos was Macaulay’s Nigerian National
Democratic Party. It was in control of Lagos politics and had won seats into
the legislative council, but did not have the radical touch of a political party
as well as a wider reach. Ultimately, it was like a pressure group not
advocating for independence but maintaining an attitude of unswerving
loyalty to His Majesty the king and Emperor6. It was the Nigerian Youth
Movement, which emerged in 1934 that challenged the NNDP in subsequent
legislative council elections and even won more seats than the latter. It had
wider spread network then any other movement before it and enjoyed
popular support from the masses particularly the young people. This vibrant
organization witnessed a split in 1941 as a result of leadership tussle
between Ernest Ikoli an Ijaw and Samuel Akisanya a Yoruba. With the
victory of the former in the contest for NYM’s leadership, Nnamdi Azikiwe
who had supported Akisanya left the movement on spurious grounds.
Though it is not within the province of this work to discuss the details about
the NYM misfortune. Nnoli however observes that the split in the NYM was

4
not associated in anyway with the conflicting interests of farmers, rather
involved the ownership and monopoly of the nationalist press7. Both Ikoli
and Azikiwe represented different press interests, and Azikiwe could not
endure losing the patronage, which his papers derived, from the NYM; so he
had to leave the movement, and with him, most of his Igbo supporters.

Political activities had to wane at the split of the NYM till the time
some young men from Kings College met with Azikiwe on the need to form
an effective political body8. The series of meetings on this issue perhaps
were called as an attempt at salvaging the dying political zeal within the rank
and file of the nationalists and to save the nationalist struggle from relapsing
into ethnic lines as events were showing9. On 26 of August 1944, the
inaugural meeting of this conference resolved to form the Nigerian National
Council; however, this was renamed the National Council of Nigeria and
Cameroon. This was the first political party after the fortunes of both NNDP
and NYM had waned considerably. From the time NCNC was formed, the
road to democracy was gradually but consistently opening wider with the
political firmaments wearing new looks. The constitution of Nigeria into
three regions at the eve of the Second World War, by Governor Bernard
Bourdillon for administrative convenience, was made permanent by the time
Governor Richards took over and enacted the Richards constitution in 1946,
10
which in fact became a platform for ethno-regional contest, that has
continued to characterise our political history.
Before 1946, the contradiction in the Nigerian Political System had
been established by the British through their divide-and-rule policies, which
emboldened the leaders of the nationalist movement in galvanizing, and
maximizing the privileges being their ethnic leaders conferred on them to the

5
detriment of national unity. However, the 1946 constitution created an in-
road that necessitated the formation of democratic structures like political
parties for the ultimate achievement of independence-though ethnic and
regional in content and character; it created the leverage needed to support
and deepen and sustain a democratic culture. Though this opportunity was in
most instances misapplied by the various regional leaderships in their rabid
quest for power and ethnic aggrandisement.

Party Politics and the Challenge of Democratic Principles

As we earlier mentioned, party politics and political consciousness in
Nigeria was given fillip by the emergence of Clifford’s Constitution of 1922,
which created the legislative council to which the electorates elected
representatives to the municipal area of Lagos and Calabar. Though the
number of seats allocated to both areas were limited in comparison to the
electorates’ population, it was however a booster to political participation.
Candidates who contested election for the legislative council joined political
parties mainly in the Lagos area council, but candidates for Calabar stood for
election as independents; and for the fact that Calabar had available only one
seat as against three in Lagos, did not give mush scope for the development
and organization of political parties comparable in stature to those in Lagos
municipal area between 1923 and 1947.11 what may have determined the low
political ebb there could be attributed to the number of registered voters
there which numbered only 341, and was too small to encourage the growth
of political parties.12 Parties like Nigerian National Democratic Party and
Nigerian Youth Movement, were the most popular political organizations at
this time, though there were other associations that tended to resemble

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political parties to which residents of the colony belonged, but these were
largely unpopular in comparison to the above two.
The Richards Constitution of 1946 left much to be desired as regards
elective representation in Nigeria; the structure of representation for the
members of the legislative council was mainly nomination with exception to
Lagos where three representatives were elected and Calabar which had one.
The nationalists despised the constitutional structure, which was not
patterned to encourage responsible government. Irrespective of the protests
against the constitution, the NNDP/NCNC alliance still went ahead to
contest the 1946, legislative council election. The NCNC of this time was
not popular among the Lagos electorate, and therefore had to align with the
NNDP. The NYM which was already loosing much of its flavour by this
time however did not disguise its opposition to the 1947 legislative council
election. However, Azikiwe, Adedoyin and Olorun-Nimbe who won the
Lagos seats boycotted Legislative Council Sessions for nearly one year, and
did not take the prescribed oath till March, 1948. This was because electors
of the Lagos municipal area in 1947 passed a resolution mandating their
representatives to abstain from being sworn in till the amendment of
Richards’s constitution as it was envisioned that through that way Nigeria
shall have responsible government.
Election into the municipal areas of Lagos and Calabar between 1923
to 1947 was generally free and fair without ballot stuffing, thuggery,
violence, arson and killings associated with elections from the independence
period. Though the Richards constitution had created regionalism, the 1954
constitution had deepened it. Between 1947-1952, two other key regional
parties had been formed thereby setting the stage for political calculation and
support on regional grounds. The Action Group was launched in Nigeria as

7
a cultural organization in 1948, and as a political party in 1951. From its
conception, this party represented the interests of the descendents of
Oduduwa, and had Obafemi Awolowo, as its progenitor. The Northern
Peoples Congress formally became a political party in 1951; while the
National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon had been formed as early as
1944. The regional legislative houses elections unsurprisingly saw these key
three parties in control of their regional houses. This fact had been variously
discussed, and Nafziger notes that

In Nigeria, the three largest ethnic communities Hausa-

Fulani, Ibo (sic), Yoruba – were major rivals in the
struggle for power at the centre, and also dominated the
polities of the main Regions….the North, East, and West
respectively.14

The politics of Regional Houses of Assembly was characterized by

struggle, arm-twisting, betrayals and intimidation, as each party leader
sought to consolidate its power by reducing opposition.15 This led Sklar to
observe the three basic contradictions that characterized Nigerian political
system. He identified them to include the regionalization of party machinery
of government, the reliance of the opposition party upon the support of a
class-conscious regional power group; and that the constitutional allocation
of power is inconsistent with the real distribution of power in society-the
constitution gives dominant power to the numerical majority, the north.16
During the 1957 regional election, opposition parties, particularly the
Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) suffered defeat at the hands
of the emirs, because the emirs being conservative, did not feel at ease with
the radicalism exhibited by the members of NEPU. More so, since the
constitutional arrangement empowered the emirs and other Native

8
Authorities to “inject” into the final electoral colleges at the provincial levels
additional members equal to 10 percent of the elected membership, their
choice candidates were injected into the regional assembly.17 The story of
regional party domination was the same in both the Eastern and Western
Regions where ethnic parties controlled the political space.
Again in December 1953, Azikiwe’s NCNC won a landslide victory
in the Eastern Regional election, under the 1954 constitution thereby paving
the way for the emergence of Azikiwe as the Premier of the Region;
Obafemi Awolowo’s AG won in the West and he became the Premier of the
West, the NPC won in the North and the Saduana of Sokoto was designated
premier of the North18; consequently making each a regional Lord. At the
1954 Federal elections, the overall anticipation was that Action Group
would win majority seats in the West so as to form a parliamentary coalition
with the NPC, but the NCNC won majority of seats in both the East and
West, thus making way for a coalition with NPC. Prior to the 1959 general
election, each of the three regional parities fought to retain victory and to
consolidate its position; and Party politics was anything less than free and
fair. The AG campaigned for the creation of a new states in both the North
and East, so as to secure the support of the minorities in the respective
regions and to destabilize the party in control, but this strategy failed as both
the North and the East resisted if vigorously.
The 1959 general election showed the supremacy of the political
parties in their respective regions. The NCNC had won all the 50 seats in the
East, the NPC won 104 out of 110 seats in the upper North, the AG won 32
out of the 47 seats in the Yoruba sector of the West, won 14 seats out of 23
seats out of 23 seats in the Eastern minority area and in alliance with
UMBC, won 25 out of the 74 seats in the lower North. The NCNC won 14

9
out of the 15 seats in the Midwest. The NPC came out of the poll with 142
seats out of a total of 312 seats. The NCNC/NEPU alliance showed second
with 89 seats; while the AG had 73 seats.19 The NCNC which at this time
had become friendly with the NPC, once again formed a coalition Federal
Government, having Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the Prime Minister while
Nnamdi Azikiwe became the President. The political actors during the
election of 1959 flouted known democratic principles in campaigning for
votes, and continued in the 1964 general election in the same style.
The procedures for the conduct of 1959 and 1964 Federal elections
varied. For instance, universal adult suffrage from single member
constituencies was used in the Eastern and Western Regions as well as in
Lagos, while adult male suffrage was adopted in the Northern Region.
Intimidation was another feature of the election period especially by the
leading parties against their rivals. Thus in 1959, two members of the AG
were indicted by the Eastern regional government on the grounds of
publishing documents charging official discrimination against supporters of
their party which were alleged by the government to contain seditions
statement. One was convicted and imposition of a 100 pound fine (or two
years imprisonment) 20. In Western region allegations were rife that the
regional government party used the customary courts to intimidate
supporters of the opposition, and in the North, opposition party members
were constantly subjected to pervasive restriction on their freedom of action
and opinion. Prohibitions by a regional statute in the North made it an
offence for any one under the age of sixteen to attend political meetings,
wear party badges, shout slogans or distribute party literature; and forbade
adults from inciting children to do this things.21

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 Another flaw that characterized politics during the 1959 Federal
election was the requirement for permit to hold political meetings. In the
North, this power was vested in the Native Authorities and lies in the hands
of District Heads-who were politicians. As a result, AG and NEPU members
were jailed or fined or even caned for addressing meetings without a permit,
or for shouting the name of the opposition leader as a chief.22 Generally, the
1959 election was marked by “distressingly frequent” acts of violence
during the campaigns, electoral procedure that produced the independence
government was one that lacked full democratic practices, and may have
accounted for why the first Republish did not sustain.
Inter and intra-party struggle for the domination of the political space
lad to the political parties devising strategies, which had negative backlash
on the political process. For example, after Awolowo had left the region for
the centre as the national opposition, he sought to retain the over-bearing
powers he had enjoyed while the premier as the leader of the party, but the
premier Akintola would not concede such grounds to him. The disagreement
on the operational tactics of the party and power struggle rent the AG and by
1962 a state of emergency was declared by the Federal Government. While
the coalition government intent on finding a leeway to destroy the AG,
capitalized on the crises to create the Mid-Western region in 1963, to whittle
the influence of AG and ultimately destroy the party and its leadership.
After the declaration of state of emergency by the Federal
Government, a commission was set to look into the past activities of the
Action Group; and was headed by justice G.B.A Coker of the then Lagos
High Court. The Commission castigated Chief Awolowo and his supporters
for having allowed public funds to be wasted in the form of unredeemed
loan made by the government to private individuals.24 Meanwhile, Chief

11
Awolowo was arrested along with some of his supporters; they were charged
with plotting to overthrow the government and upon conviction Awolowo
was sentenced to ten years imprisonment while others got varied terms of
imprisonment. At the end of the state of emergency in 1963, Akintola and
his faction in AG who had formed the United Peoples Party combined with
former NCNC opposition members of the Western House of Assembly to
form a new coalition government in the region with Akintola as Premier;
while the old AG became the opposition in the Western Regional House of
Assembly. Yet a rift developed between the UPP/NCNC alliances leading to
the transformation of UPP/NCNC coalition into Nigeria National
Democratic Party under Akintola’s leadership 25.
The creation of the Mid-Western region had arguably led to the loss of
NCNC members in the Western Regional House of Assembly and the
weakening of the party in the region. This situation played into the hands of
Akintola who fanned the embers of Yoruba ethnicity. It accused the NCNC
of being an Igbo party and claimed that its participation in the Federal
Government was only to foster the interest of the Igbo people. A campaign
of hatred was generated against the leadership of the NCNC by the UPP and
supported by the NPC. The supporters of the NCNC in the West were urged
to withdraw their support arguing that the party was out to enslave them.
The 1962/63 census controversy and the general election of 1964 formed the
basis for the eventual collapse of the first Republic. The hostility unleashed
by the NNDP and NPC against the NCNC, led the NCNC form an alliance
with the AG, which was called United Progressive Grand Alliance.
Akintola’s NNDP increasingly became unpopular among the Yoruba people
and this led to the party adopting all manner of unwholesome political
approach to revitalize its fading popularity and to be in power at all cost.

12
 The regional election into the Western Regional House of Assembly
of 1964 was the worst election in the history of party politics in Nigeria. The
NNDP/NPC alliance was neck-deep into fraud to retain power. The electoral
commission was used to falsify results, the legal machinery was used in
favour of the NNDP, thugs fought opponents of the NNDP; generally, the
election was fraudulent, and was responsible for the violent convulsion that
rocked the region and the eventual military coup of January 15, 1966.
Mukwugo Okoye observed that the NNDP of S.L. Akintola, perhaps created
a world record in its shameless political opportunism, because it not only
changed alliances, in response to weathercock of political expediency, but
also, in order to remain in power even after it had lost the confidence of the
Western electorates. 26
The politics of the period of our study showed graphically the flaws
inherent in the political elites’ style of leadership. All known democratic
principles were disregarded and power calculations remained largely
regional. This type of atmosphere could only but breed tension and crisis. As
it were, the military struck, bringing to an abrupt end Nigeria’s First
Republic after barely six years in governance after independence.

Conclusion
The development of democratic culture in Nigeria had basic
constraints. The British colonial administration intentionally created the
polity to divide it and its peoples. Both the Lugardian Nigerian Council and
the Lagos Legislative Council which he created, did not have Northern
representatives. The Clifford’s Legislative Council for the Colony and
Protectorate of Nigeria, still did not have Northerners there, but merely had

13
British officials representing the North. This type of situation acted as a
catalyst that deepened mutual distrust between the two groups of Nigerians.
Regionalism further distanced the groups, rather than pursue national
programmes and policies that would engender unity, the leaders of the
various political parties pursued regional and ethnic interests as well as self-
rewarding programmes. This constituted a major set back in the
development of a virile democratic culture in the polity.
The cut-throat competition which characterized party politics during
the nationalist period continued after independence and weakened the
structures of democratic governance so much so that the civilian regime fell
a cheap pray to the military in January 1966. The political elites are squarely
to be blamed for the mess that became the political terrain of Nigeria during
this period. Had primordial and sectional politics been avoided and
integrative policies pursued by the political party leaders, perhaps
democratic governance would have succeeded in independent Nigeria and
the consciousness deepened in the mind set of Nigerians. Democracy is
attitudinal in nature and requires openness and accommodation to thrive.
The Nigerian experience during this period showed that elite did not want to
sacrifice for the future of the nation but were merely pretending to work for
the development of the institutions of democratic governance. The current
pattern of politics in Nigeria can be traced back to the old problems of
Nigeria, and not until the nation is taken in with seriousness and
commitment by all, the aspirations of good governance through democratic
consolidation may well be an infatuation.

14
NOTES

1. Okoro. Ijoma, “Nigeria’s Path to Western Democracy

1900-1960: A
Historical Perspective”, in Bulletin of
Ecumenical Theology, Vol. 5/2 1993, p.30.

2. Ihediwa N. Chimee, “The Impact of Ethnicity on Democratic

Transition in
Nigeria: A case study of the Two-Party
System, 1989-1993” A B.A. Project
Submitted to the Department of History,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, September
1996, p.1-2.

3. Richard .L. Sklar, Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an

Emergent African Nation, Nigeria: Nok
Publishers, 1963, p.4

4. Olusanya. G.O., “The Sabon-Gari System in the Northern

States of Nigeria” in Nigerian Magazine,
No. 94, Sept. 1967, pp. 242-244.

5. Tekena, Tamuno, Nigeria and Elective Representation 1923-

1947, London: Heinemann Education at
Books, 1965, p. 33-34.

6. G.O. Olusanya, The Second World War and Politics in

Nigeria 1939-1953, Lagos: Evans Brothers,
1973, p.17.

7. Okwudiba, Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Nigeria, Enugu: Fourth

Dimension Publishers, 1977, p. 143.

8. G. O. Olusanya, Ibid. p 72.

9. Ihediwa N. Chimee, “The Political Class and the Manipulation of

Ethnicity in Africa: The Nigerian case to
1966” in Proceedings of the International

15
 Research and Development Institute, Vol. 1,
No.2,2006, p. 101.

10. Ayodeji. Olukoju, “Nigeria: A Historical Review” in New

Strategic For Curbing Ethnic and Religious
Conflicts in Nigeria, (ed), F.U. Okafor,
Enugu:Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1997,
p. 26.

11. Tekena. Tamuno, Nigeria and Elective Representation 1923-

1947, p. 57.

12. Loc. Cit.

13. Ibid. p. 99-100.

14. Wayne E. Nafziger, “The Political Economy of Disintegration in

Nigeria” in Journal of Modern African
Studies, Vol. 11, No.4, 1973, p. 508.

15. I. F. Nicholson, “Political Parties in Nigeria”, in The Politics

and Administration of Nigerian Government
(ed), Franklin .L. Blitz, London: Sweet and
Maxwell, 1965, p. 151.

16. Richard .L. Sklar, “Contradictions in the Nigerian Political

System” in Journal of Modern African
Studies, Vol.3, No.2, 1965, p. 201.

17. Richard .L. Sklar, and C.S. Whitaker, Jr. “The Federal Republic of
Nigeria” in National Unity and Regionalism
in Eight African States, (ed) Gwandolen. M.
Carter, London: Oxford university Press,
1966, p. 42.

18. Ibid. p. 50.

19. Ibid. p. 52.
20 Ibid. p. 90.
21. Kenneth . Post, The Nigerian Federal Election of 1959,

16
 London: Oxford University Press, 1964, p.
290-291.
22. Ibid. p. 292

23. Ibid. p. 299.

24. Olushola. Fadehunsi, Nigeria: The Last Days of the First

Republic, Lagos: A.O. F. Press, 1970, p.8.
25. Ibid. p.9.

26. Mokwugo. Okoye, Politics and Problems of the First Republic

of Nigeria, Ife: University of Ife Press, 1874,
p. 10.

17