NIGERIA STEPS INTO INDEPENDENCE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29192, 30 April 1960, Page 10

NIGERIA STEPS INTO INDEPENDENCE

“Energy, Enthusiasm, And Confidence” [By DON TAYLOR, Editor of "New Commonwealth” London] [United Kingdom Information Service] J HAVE just returned from a tour of Nigeria, the most populous of African countries—four times as big as Britain, with a population of more than 36,000,000. From the plateau and hills of the north, to the surf-pounded coast, I found an energy, an enthusiasm, and a confidence that boded well for the new era of independence for the country which will begin there on October 1. I was astonished at the great leap forward that Nigeria had made in the 14 years since my previous visit. Indeed, looking back, the whole storv of Nigeria in modern times illustrates’ how rapidly a determined and energetic people can advance once an imaginative policy has been evolved.

Let it be remembered that it Is only 62 years since the boundaries of the country were recognised, and only 46 years since the southern and northern parts were amalgamated to form the land of Nigeria as we know it today.

It is true, of course, that the coastal peoples of the area, in common with all those living along the Gulf of Guinea, had contact with Europeans since the latter part of the fifteenth century, but it was not until 1861 that Britain established a lasting footing. That was when Lagos was ceded to the Crown as a base for anti-slavery operations. Traders and missionaries began to penetrate the interior, and Yorubaland in the east came under British protection. The north (from which much of the slave trading emanated) followed the same path. What was known as the “Oil Rivers Protectorate” and its hinterland had already become the Niger Coast Protectorate. The connexion between Britain and the people of what is now Nigeria broadened and strengthened until the formation of the colony and protectorate in 1914, the great Sir Frederick Lugard being, fittingly, the first Gover-nor-General. From hat time on, the story has been one of the gradual march forward to independence. It was never, of course, a straightforward proposition. For here was a new land with boundaries artificially created, and a population so diverse in religion and tribal customs that three Regions emerged. At its formation, the hinterland was still but little known, and indeed the actual era of its exploration was only just ending. Law And Order Th* establishment of law and order throughout the entire region, plus the gradual extension or a comprehensive administralyheralded the real beginning economic exnanainn. Railways

and roads opened up the land, and this revolution in communications gradually brought about a dawning conception of nationhood. Education gave a further dynamic impulse to the whole process of advancement, and the work of the missions in this field was of incalculable value.

But it has been in the years since World War II *hat Nigeria’s progress has merited the description of dramatic. During those years it has been my business to observe the progress of the various countries of the Commonwealth. I would have said only seven years ago that Solomon himself would have been hard pressed to solve the key problem of national disunity in Nigeria. The differences between the three Regions of North, East and West —not to mention the tribal differences within these Regions—seemed almost insuperable. Yet, looking back, it can be seen that the impulse towards nationhood was always there, in spite of the factional disagreements. And underlying everything was the hard fact that Nigeria was, even in 1946. so linked economically that the battle was half-won. It was in 1946 that a constitution was evolved which established a central legislature for the whole of the territory, and regional councils also. The inevitable tug-of-war between the centre and the Regions which always follows such constitutional arrangements persisted during the ensuing years, and it was this balance of power that dictated all the constitutional steps that followed. National Unity A quasi-federal constitution was introduced in 1951, and though it increased regional autonomy it proved a framework too closely-knit. Conferences held in 1953 and 1954 evolved a new constitution for the country (henceforth to be known as the Fedew tion of Nigeria). Regional auto-