What Next For Nigeria?
BABATUNDE, YEMI
WHAT NEXT FOR NIGERIA? Can the new nation become a stable factor in Africa's political storm? By Yemi Babatunde LAGOS WHEN 36 MILLION Nigerians celebrated their independence on October 1, there...
...But what difference has it made...
...We have witnessed the beginning of a new Nigerian literature...
...Some observers have feared that Nigeria might eventually turn to the Ghana-Guinea systems, making a farce of parliamentary democracy and moving gradually toward a one-party government...
...The new Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who draws his support from the north, spoke publicly against independence even a couple of years ago—as Lagos newspapers have pointed out with bitterness...
...They were proved wrong when the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), the strongest party in the north, representing the interest of the powerful emirs and the aristocracy, attributed its first political defeat in the Northern Cameroons to the subversive activities of British administrators...
...In Ghana, politicians are constantly talking about the "African personality," but it is here in Nigeria that this personality is gradually being defined and interpreted...
...The Action Group represents a third of the Nigerian electorate and has strong support in all three regions...
...But he was swept into power by the large electorate of northern Nigeria, where most people are conservative Moslems and highly suspicious of the "agitators" of the east and west...
...Today, however, I can be genuinely optimistic...
...Children in Nigeria still learn the history of the British Empire in the schools...
...But this is surely as it should be—we must enrich the present and feed it from our past...
...Most of these intellectuals have studied abroad, in Europe or America, where they learned to think of themselves as Nigerians first and Hausas, Ibos or Yorubas afterward...
...Or of becoming another Congo...
...You can study Greek at University College, Ibadan, but you cannot study Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba or any other African language...
...Thus there is every chance that Nigeria will remain a viable parliamentary democracy with a strong, vigorous and constructive opposition...
...That is why, when Nigeria was divided into three administrative regions by Governor Richards, he decided to include large tribal groups in the north which have temperamental and cultural affinities with the west and the east, e.g., the Yoruba of Kabba province, the Tiv and the Idoma...
...We have talked a lot about "Nigerianization" of our civil service and of education, and have, in fact, been able to replace many Europeans by Africans in senior posts...
...In the past the northerners have regarded the British as allies against the south and have usually preferred British officials to Ibos or Yorubas from the south...
...This party cannot be compared with the Ashanti opposition in Ghana, which consisted of a few intellectuals, none of whom were politicians, and was backed by a tribal organization that was itself in dissolution...
...Writers like the novelist Achebe, the dramatist Soyinka and the poet Okara have produced works that will be our classics of tomorrow, works that are good literature by any standards and typically Nigerian at the same time...
...Furthermore, women have no suffrage in the north, whereas they do vote in both the east and west, so that representation on a population basis is no longer a fair principle...
...Nigeria has no great shortage of senior African civil servants and can boast of a relatively large class of Nigerian intellectuals...
...The Moslem north is larger in population than the western and eastern regions together and so was allocated more seats than the other two regions together...
...It is true, of course, that this young nation still carries the memory of the fierce tribal wars at the end of the 19th century and that some political leaders still remind their followers of their tribal associations...
...The unduly strong position of the north within the Nigerian federation is partly the result of a rather shortsighted policy of the British colonial government...
...The Federal elections held earlier this year were a great disappointment to many of the younger Nigerians—especially in the south (including both eastern and western regions), where the move for nationalism started...
...Will Nigeria be able to make her own contribution to the world of culture...
...But the British have long worked to minimize tribal differences and achieve harmony in their colony: the British colonial government accepted the idea of independence relatively early and slowly and systematically prepared Nigeria for self-government...
...YEMI BABATUNDE is a native Nigerian who writes regularly on his country...
...As to the possibility of Nigeria dissolving into Congo-like anarchy through tribal warfare, this seems very unlikely...
...The Action Group is instead a highly efficient country-wide organization that also controls the western regional government (where it was recently given an overwhelming majority...
...But this seems doubtful: Nigeria has so far not produced a strong man like Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah and even if he arose, he would find it extremely difficult to suppress the opposition Action Group...
...In terms of actual votes cast the north has an electorate roughly equal in size to either of the other regions...
...But they gain in weight and significance because they seem to symbolize the distinct non-nationalistic character of the first Nigerian Government and they point to the depth of feeling which most Nigerians have about their own culture...
...The main thing is that the finished result is something that speaks to and concerns all Nigerians and at the same time represents us to the outside world...
...Nnamdi Azikiwe of the east and Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the west...
...Azikiwe himself, however, stayed out of the NPC-dominated cabinet, presumably because he was unwilling to take any post but that of Prime Minister, which of course had to go to NPC leader Sir Abubakar...
...Is there a danger of Nigeria moving toward a dictatorship like Ghana's...
...But the British have misinterpreted this to mean a particularly pro-British attitude...
...There may be elements in the works of all these writers and artists that are derived from tribal traditions...
...The answers, of course, are difficult and complex, but I think it is safe to say that Nigeria will be able to sustain a strong democratic system without collapsing into anarchy...
...The young nationalist Nigerians resented having to sing a national anthem composed and written by two English women and were angry that an English designer was imported to do the street decorations while Nigerian artists were not even given a chance to compete...
...Even five years ago I would have been at a loss if asked to point out some typically "Nigerian" manifestation of culture...
...The questions everyone now asks as they look at Nigeria's independence are: What are Nigeria's chances of becoming a stable and balanced democracy...
...Thus the least progressive and least developed part of the country has the greatest say in political affairs...
...And yet, even though our civil servants and many of our politicians perpetuate many colonial ideas without knowing it—even though we are forced to sing a foreign national anthem—the younger generation of Nigerians is becoming increasingly aware of the real and basic problems of its country...
...Nigeria's intellectuals can be regarded as a strong anti-tribal force, whose main interest is the unity and stability of the country...
...The NPC therefore had to agree to an uneasy alliance with Azikiwe's eastern National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), though the two parties have little in common except their hatred for the Action Group...
...Temperamentally they felt drawn toward the restraint and dignity characteristic of Islam, which comes as close as anything to the English concept of a "gentleman...
...All the arguments of the Action Group opposition in the Federal House must be related to their actions and achievements in the western region, where they actually control the government...
...We had one or two names, like the sculptor Ben Enwonwu, but many of these earlier Nigerian artists embarrassed us because we felt they were proteges of a European would-be genteel society in Nigeria and (in spite of their talent) they did not represent us...
...The federal system is clearly a blessing for Nigeria, because an opposition party that also controls a regional government cannot easily become irresponsible...
...On the other hand they have usually been at a loss when confronted with the imaginative ebullience of the southerners...
...It has more qualified men in its ranks than any other party, has the strongest financial backing and controls a strong and vigorous press...
...The paramount political fact about Nigeria—and one which causes some observers anxiety about the new Government—is that it is divided into three regions—the north, west and east—each of which has its own regional government in addition to participating in the Federal Government...
...A new generation of writers and painters has emerged which, for the first time, we can truly call our artists...
...The British hoped that the north would prove a last stronghold and an eternal ally of British colonial power...
...Even the opponents of the Action Group admit that the western regional government is the most efficiently run of the three regional governments...
...By Yemi Babatunde LAGOS WHEN 36 MILLION Nigerians celebrated their independence on October 1, there was great joy and jubilation in this capital city—but no one could miss the jarring note in the festivities...
...Superficially, we Nigerians might easily become pessimistic...
...Painters like Nwoko and Uche Okeje, sculptors like Idehen and Osagie are both modern artists and Nigerian artists at the same time...
...This paradoxical situation was created through what looked like a democratic election...
...These may seem small things in comparison with the political freedom which has now become a reality for the Nigerians...
...The British administrators in Nigeria have always taken a fancy to the north and have always disliked the south...
...But for all the strength of the north, the vigorous campaign of the western region's Action Group led by Chief Awolowo—which captured 25 seats in the Federal elections—prevented the NPC from gaining an overall majority...
...The agitation against colonial rule will always be linked with names like the late Herbert Macauley and Dr...
...Assuming that Nigeria will become the stable point in the turmoil of African politics, and that the country can look forward to steady development, the most interesting question is: What kind of country is Nigeria going to be in 20 or 30 years...
...Yet neither Azikiwe nor Awolowo are members of Nigeria's first independent Government...
Vol. 43 • October 1960 • No. 40
