Nigeria And The Zones

BY 1904, what the British had were the Colony and Protectorate of Lagos, the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Protectorate of the Northern Nigeria.

Given the plural nature of these territories, there was a feeling even within the British that a federal system would enhance national unity and integration of the component parts of the country. Sir Water Egerton, then, Governor of Lagos, and Commissioner of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, recommended a form of federation. Another British official, E. D. Morel, advocated a splitting of the country into four provinces.

Temple, an acting Governor, also advocated splitting the territory because he believed that was the only way to ensure effective administration, better service to the people, and the development of an efficient bureaucracy. Temple was so sure that an “excessive centralisation… is a real disadvantage.”

Lord Lugard, the architect of the amalgamation, rejected or ignored these proposals for a federal system, and insisted on a unified system of administration, apparently because of his training and profession as a military man.

According to the Colonial Office, “Sir Lugard’s proposals contemplated a state which is impossible to classify. It is not a unitary state; it is not a personal union of separate colonies under the same Governor; it is not a confederation of states. If adopted, his proposals could hardly be a permanent solution, and I gather that Sir Lugard only regarded them as temporary, at any rate, in part.”

Because of the obvious differences among the Nigerian peoples in terms of language, religion, custom and traditions, historical background and different stages of their development, the concept of federalism, consisting of political regions, has always been attractive. This, it was felt, would allow the regions or provinces the room to maintain their identity, while remaining parts of a unified state. In the words of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, “Nigeria’s political future may only lie in federation, because as far as the rate of regional progress is concerned, some of the Regions appear to be more developed than others.”

In 1943, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe envisaged a Federal Commonwealth of Nigeria, made up of eight Protectorates based on ethnic affiliation. In 1947, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in his book, Path to Nigerian Freedom, advocated a true federation, consisting of eight regions, based on linguistic/ethnic factors. In subsequent studies, Awolowo recommended a maximum of eleven linguistic/ethnic Regions for Nigeria. The main thrust of the federalist argument is the need to permit all the nationalities of Nigeria to develop to full political and national cultural maturity.

There was also implicitness in all the discourse, a basic recognition of the Region, as the federating unit. In its Freedom Charter of 1948, the NCNC (National Council of Nigeria and C ameroon) wanted Nigeria organised into “states on national and linguistic bases enjoying legal equality within the framework of a federal commonwealth.” The NPC (Northern People’s Congress) advocated for decentralisation, insisting on wide powers for the regions. The Egbe Omo Oduduwa also advocated “the grouping of Nigeria into various autonomous states or regions, purely on ethnic basis”. The Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) campaigned in 1940s that the guiding principles on the division of the country into regions must be ethnic classifications, cultural affinity, common problems and perhaps administrative convenience.

In its 1994 Memorandum to the National Constitution Conference Commission, the Obas, Chiefs and Leaders of Thoughts of Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Oyo States argued that “the cause of Nigeria’s federalism will be well and truly advanced, if we return to the pre-1966 evolutionary path, a balanced federal structure which recognises fully the legitimate claims of all ethnic groups for self-determination, and where no single entity among the federating units will be strong or powerful enough to hold others to ransom, but where each of the federating units is large enough, both in terms of size and population as well as of resources to be viable, self-reliant and dynamic.

Other relevant factors include the homogeneity of each federating unit, geographical continuity among the units of the Region, and demonstrable willingness to be together.” On these bases, a federation of six Regions was proposed. For the first time in the long debate on regions, the factors of geography, resource base and viability became significant, and therefore considered.

In its 1994 Memorandum to the same Constitutional Conference Commission, the Igbo-speaking people of Nigeria proposed that the Federal Republic of Nigeria be organised into six Regions. They argued that three of the Regions – Eastern, Western and North Western– are inhabited, mostly by major ethnic groups while the other three Regions – Southern, Central and North Eastern– are inhabited by minor ethnic groups.

This structural arrangement, according to them, maintains a parity between North and South, between East and West, and between major and minor ethnic units. On its own, the Chief Tony Enahoro-led Movement for National Reformation argued that 8-11 regions be created on the basis of ethnic homogeneity, such that no ethnic nation will be in two Regions, viability in terms of adequate economic resources, and adequate human resources in terms of size of population.