Dr Philip Afaha.
Today marks the 58th independence anniversary of Nigeria. When i was asked to deliver the 2018 Independence Day Speech I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. As I watched people throng into the arena for celebration, I remembered back in those days when every child craved for independence; the glitz, the razzmatazz and everything a festival could offer.
In Ubium where I grew up, the entire village will be shut down. Both young and old will throng to Ikot Ubo to behold the only spectacle that will remind them of their nationality. I remember the prize giving ceremonies when every child would be told his school had won a prize either in parade, dance, athletics, uniforms, and even in cheering. My school once won a prize because we screamed the most.
October 1st was always a great day until Nigeria lost her bearings!
My inclination as a historian demands that i approach issues from their past; to attempt historicising even when the object is the future. So let’s have a glimpse at the past before we discuss the hope for Nigeria.
An Independence Day anniversary is an opportunity to remind ourselves of our past. On a day like this everyone knows what to expect I believe everyone already knows a bit of Nigerian history. As a teacher I’m trained to always presume or pretend my audience does not have the details or the facts i have to offer, and that they expect to be reminded even of those things they already know. Let’s look at some aspects of Nigerian history before independence.
Nigeria has a unique and noble history. The name itself was suggested on the 8th 0f January, 1897 by Flora Shaw a West African correspondent of the times of London who later married Sir Lugard the first governor-general of the country.
It took a couple of years before so many of the peoples were cobbled into the colonial project of that name. Nevertheless, although at that time it only meant the country along which the Royal Niger company traded, as time went on, it became obvious that the river Niger and its branches especially the Benue were the most important geographical feature that bounded the whole country together.
It is intriguing when the Niger manifests in two metaphors; the girdle and the tree. Viewed as a girdle, the Niger appears as a three-pronged girdle which naturally wraps the Nigerian territory into what it is. While the two upper prongs clutch the two northern extremes as if to fend off the Sahara, the lower web-like prong appears to cuddle the southern tip from dissolving into the Atlantic. The second metaphor, on its part presents the Niger as a tree with two huge branches. The nebulous delta appears as root formations which not only stabilizes the giant tree, but draws the needed food from the Atlantic reservoir and send it through the stem and the twin branches up to the fringes of the Sahara.
History draws one lesson here; which is that, nature appears to favour this union.
There were numerous states and communities at various stages of development in the Nigerian area which Britain cobbled together to create the country. What is of interest is that the Nigerian peoples had always lived and interacted with each other long before the British amalgamation experiment.
For example Sokoto caliphate, founded by Usman Danfodio following jihad in the early 19th century was still vibrant at the time of colonisation. It was the most extensive polity in what is now west and central Africa. Within three decades of the breakout of the jihad the caliphate came to encompass the whole of what is Hausaland, western and north-western provinces of Borno, the Nupe kingdoms, as well as Ilorin and Kabba parts of Oyo. The caliphate stretched from Luptako now in Bukina Faso to Bindir now in Chad Republic enclosing most of northern Cameroon. The caliphate was run as confederal system with the emirates running their governments with only important decisions referred to Sokoto.
Certainly there were pockets of autonomous states and communities within the confines of the caliphate but they were also gradually being integrated through warfare, trade and some aspects of acculturation.
The systematic penetration of the almost wholly unexplored country east of the Niger began in 1900, and in 1902 the Aro oracle of Arochukwu, whose ramifications extended throughout the eastern portion of the country- a cult of human sacrifice and slavery- was crushed by force of arms. These mostly acephalous communities were expectedly subjugated by use of the gunboat and the maxim.
In the west the collapse of the Oyo Empire led to mass migrations of the Yoruba, the intermingling of groups and the foundation of new settlements such as new Oyo, Ibadan, Abeokuta and many others.
One could say the political and social upheavals in Yorubaland led to the consolidation of the Yoruba culture and integration like no other in their history. The British amalgamation built on that. Elsewhere the spread of Edo culture to most of Benin’s neighbours clearly shows integration at work.
The conquest, coercion or co-option of the various states and peoples into colonial Nigeria took several forms.
In 1851, for example, the British intervened in the succession dispute in Lagos where they imposed their nominee as king. Ten years later, urged by the missionaries and traders the British conquered Lagos and made it a colony. From that point and buoyed by the success in Lagos, other parts of Nigeria began to be brought gradually under British colonial influence.
In 1886 captain Tubman Goldie’s united Africa company was given a royal charter to trade and exercise political power in the Niger districts. It was in order to render river Niger safe as a gateway into the interior, that the British colonizers proclaimed protectorates in the delta regions.
In 1885, the Niger protectorate was proclaimed followed by the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1887. These protectorates were initially administered by the Royal Niger Company and its sphere of influence reached the north as far as Idah.
The withdrawal of the charter granted to the Royal Niger company brought the whole Nigeria under the colonial administration. The territory was then divided into; (a) Lagos colony,(b) the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, and (c) the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria.
To secure central direction of policy and pool economic resources, the British government buoyed by the recommendation of a special committee report on the British Niger territories of 1898 adopted the policy of gradually amalgamating its various administrative units in Nigeria.
In 1906, the Lagos colony and protectorate was amalgamated with the protectorate of Southern Nigeria thus setting the pace for the 1914 exercise. To Lugard, the challenges of administering a territory as vast as Nigeria were daunting the more so as the two countries of North and South were diametrically dissimilar in almost every facet of life, ostensibly due to their culture and period of contact with the western world.
Sir Lugard became the first Governor General of Nigeria and ruled until 1919. He was succeeded by Hugh Clifford (1919-1925, Graeme Thompson (1925-1931), Donald Cameron (1931-1935), Bernard Bourdillon (1935-1943), Arthur Richards (1943-1948), John Macpherson (1948-1954) and James Robertson (1954-1960).
On 1st October 1960, Nigeria gained her independence from Great Britain amidst tumultuous fanfare.
The new country was already expected to be an influential factor in global affairs given the sheer potentials she commanded both in size and resources. Like an aircraft, Nigeria took off successfully at independence with all the potentials and promises of a black superpower, but a few years after that celebrated take-off, it has been wobbling helplessly in the sky for over a half of a century due to crew rascality.
For 58 years our country has suffered untold pains and thrashings as a result of bad leadership and internal contradictions. From ethno-religious acrimonies, to nepotism and corruption, the list of Nigeria`s woes is endless. The annoying reality is our real nemesis is bad leadership. As a people we have been so unlucky in the area of leadership. In my last Nelson Mandela lecture a few months ago I had argued that with our potentials and size Nigeria should be able to produce a Mandela; a leader who can rise above the very pettiness that has kept the country on its knees since independence. It is a sad commentary that all of Nigeria leaders both at the Federal up to the State levels from 1960 to date were all found wanting in providing reliable leadership. The scorecard is scandalous but I salute the resilience of the Nigerian people. I strongly commend the Buhari administration for its posturing and campaigns against corruption even though i`am convinced, like any one of you here present, that Corruption is a government business. This is a common knowledge among Nigerians. But there is hope for Nigeria when we have the number of people angling to get their PVCs to vote during the next elections. There is hope for Nigeria especially now that we have come to know that religion is a paramount problem in Nigeria. There is hope for Nigeria now that public space has really opened up (thanks to the social media) and is reeling out information and challenging some of the perceptions we had as a people.
There is hope for Nigeria as citizens have begun to ask questions especially about how they are governed and are demanding accountability from their leaders. There is hope for Nigeria as we can no longer ignore our history as a people as government recently capitulated and agreed that history should be taught in our schools. There is hope for Nigeria because we can now gather on our own not on ethnic, religious platforms or government prompting, but in unity as Nigerians as we gather here in this arena.
I cannot conclude this speech without a reminder on the coming 2019 Elections. It promises to be a watershed in the annals of our history. Never before had Nigerians been so incensed and determined to cast their votes. There are two diametrically opposite expectations from this enthusiasm; if the elections are handled properly it will harness the voter energies for national cohesion and development. But if the next elections are mishandled the same energies may produce unwanted and disruptive outcomes. I implore INEC, security agencies and politicians to be circumspect in their handling of our next elections; it may be the last string that holds Nigeria together.
Once again I thank the organisers, and sponsors of this Unity Fun Fair commemorating Nigeria`s 58th independence. There is Hope for Nigeria.
*Dr Philip Afaha is Head of Department; History & Diplomatic Studies, University Of Abuja
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