Introduction

We conclude, today, Zik’s larger-than-life image and imperishably gargantuan contributions to the development of Nigeria. Thereafter, we will begin our treatment of our second Nationalist, Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. My thesis is to show that Nigeria once had in the yore, great iconic leaders, comparable to those of America, Russia, China, Great Britain, Asian Tigers, et al.

Nnamdi Azikiwe (Contd.)

In 1945, British Governor, Arthur Richards, presented proposals for a revision of the Clifford Constitution of 1922. Included in the proposal was an increase in the number of nominated African members to the Legislative Council. However, the new changes met opposition from nationalists, such as Azikiwe. NCNC politicians opposed the unilateral decisions made by Richards and the constitutional provision that allowed for only four elected African members, while the rest were to be nominated candidates.
The nominated African candidates were described as mostly loyalists to the colonial government, who would not aggressively seek self-government. Another basis of opposition was that there was little input for the advancement of Africans into senior positions in the Civil Service. NCNC opposed Richards’ proposals and made preparations to argue its case before the new labour government in Britain. A tour of the country was embarked on to raise awareness about the party’s concerns and to also raise money for the U.K. protest.
During of one the tours, NCNC’s president, Herbert Macaulay, died and Azikiwe carried on with leadership of the party. Azikiwe, now the leader of NCNC, also led the delegation to London. In preparation for the trip, he traveled to U.S. to gain sympathy for the party’s case and met a few individuals, such as Mrs. Roosevelt at Hyde Park and making a speech about the “emancipation of Nigeria from the political thralldom, economic insecurity and social disabilities”.
The U.K. delegation, which included Azikiwe, as other leaders, had Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Zanna Dipcharima, Abubakar Olorunimbe, Adeleke Adedoyin and Nyong Essien, visited the Fabian Colonial Bureau, the Labour Imperial Committee and the West African Students’ Union, to raise awareness about its proposals for amendments to the 1922 constitution. Included in NCNC’s proposals was consultation with Africans about changes in Nigerian Constitution, more powers provided to the regional Houses of Assembly and limiting the powers of the Central Legislative Council to matters affecting defence, currency and foreign affairs. The delegation submitted its proposals to the colonial secretary, but little was done to make changes to Richards’ proposals. The Richards Constitution was allowed to take effect in 1947 and Azikiwe contested for one of the Lagos seats to stall the implementation of the new Constitution.
Under the Richards Constitution, Azikiwe was elected to Legislative Council of Nigeria in a Lagos municipal election, under the banner of the National Democratic Party, a subsidiary of NCNC. However, he and the party’s representative did not attend the first session of the council and agitation for changes to the Richards Constitution led to the Macpherson Constitution.
A modified Constitution, the 1951 Mcpherson Constitution, called for Nigerian elections to the regional Houses of Assembly. Like in the Richards Constitution, Azikiwe opposed the new changes, but he chose to contest with the desire of being selected as a House of Representatives member, which would give him a chance to make changes to the Constitution. Staggered elections were held in Nigeria from August to December, 1951. In the Western region, where Azikiwe contested, two parties were dominant, Azikiwe’s NCNC and Awolowo’s Action Group.
The regional election to the Western Regional Assembly was held in September and December 1951. Because the Constitution only allowed for an Electoral College to choose members of the national legislature, the chance of an Action Group majority in the House could prevent Azikiwe from going to the House of Representatives. Azikiwe won a regional Assembly seat from Lagos but the opposition party claimed majority victory in the House of Assembly and Azikiwe was denied the opportunity to represent Lagos in the Federal House of Representatives. In 1951, he became the leader of the Opposition to the government of Obafemi Awolowo in the Western Region’s House of Assembly.
The choice of not selecting Azikiwe to the National Assembly precipitated a series of chaos in the West. An internal agreement by elected NCNC members from Lagos to step down for Azikiwe in the inevitability that Azikiwe would not be nominated broke down. Azikiwe blamed the Constitution and wanted changes to be made. The NCNC, which dominated the Eastern region also followed Azikiwe’s views and was committed to seeing the Constitution amended.
In 1952, Zik moved to the Eastern Region, and the NCNC dominated regional Assembly made proposals to accommodate him. The regional and central ministers of the party were asked to resign for a cabinet reshuffle, but majority of the ministers ignored the resignation call. The regional Assembly then passed a vote of no confidence on the ministers and any appropriation bill sent to the ministry was rejected. This created an impasse in the region and the Lt. Governor dissolved the regional House. A new election returned Azikiwe as a member of the Eastern Assembly. He was selected to the position of Chief Minister and in 1954, became Premier of Nigeria’s Eastern Region.
On 16th of November, 1960, Zik became the Governor General, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister. On the same day, Zik became the first Nigerian named to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. With the proclamation of a Republic in 1963, Zik became the first President of Nigeria. In both posts, Azikiwe’s role was largely ceremonial.
Azikiwe and his civilian colleagues were removed from power in the military coup of 15th of January, 1966, led by Major Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu. He was the most prominent politician to escape the spate of assassinations, following the coup. During the Biafran (1967–1970) war of secession, Azikiwe became a spokesman for the nascent Republic and an adviser to its leader, Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. He switched allegiance back to Nigeria during the war proper and publicly appealed to Ojukwu to end the war in pamphlets and interviews published at the time.
After the war, he served as Chancellor of University of Lagos from 1972 to 1976. He joined the Nigerian Peoples Party in 1978, making unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1979 and again in 1983. He left politics involuntarily after the military coup on 31st of December 1983. He died on 11th of May 1996, at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, in Enugu, Enugu State, during a protracted illness. He was buried in his native Onitsha home. Zik, it was, who established the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His uncommon achievements, nationalistic fervour, pan Nigerian disposition, a polyglot that spoke Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Efik, cannot be forgotten in a hurry. He remains in the pantheon of great and redoubtable African and world leaders.
Concluded
Ahmadu Bello

Introduction

Related News

Having concluded our searchlight on one of Nigeria’s titanic leaders (Zik of Africa), who led us out of servitude and colonialism, let us now beam our searchlight on one of Nigeria’s greatest leaders, Sir Ahmadu Bello.
Sir Ahmadu Bello, KBE, the Sardauna of Sokoto (June 12, 1910 – January 15, 1966), was a Nigerian politician, who was the first and only Premier of the Northern Nigera. As leader of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC)’s, he was a dominant personality in Nigerian politics throughout the early Nigerian Federation and the First Nigerian Republic.

Early life
Bello was born in Rabah c. 1909, to the family of Mallam Ibrahim Bello. His father held the title of Sarkin Rabah. He is a descendant of Uthman dan Fodio, a great grandson of Sultan Muhammed Bello and a grandson of Sultan Atiku na Raba. He attended Sokoto Provincial School and the Katsina Training College. During his school days, he was known as Ahmadu Rabah. He finished school in 1931 and subsequently became the English master teacher in Sokoto Middle School.

Ahmadu Bello’s arrival on the national scene
In 1934, Bello was made the District Head of Rabah by Sultan Hassan dan Muazu, succeeding his brother. In 1938, he was promoted to the position of Divisional Head of Gusau (now in present day Zamfara State) and became a member of the Sultan’s council. In 1938, at the age of just 28, he made attempts to become the Sultan of Sokoto but was not successful, losing to Sir Siddiq Abubakar III, who reigned for 50 years until his death in 1988. The new Sultan immediately made Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna (Warlord) of Sokoto, an honorary title, and promoted him to the Sokoto Native Authority Council. These titles automatically made him the Chief Political Adviser to the Sultan. Later, he was put in charge of the Sokoto Province to oversee 47 districts and by 1944, he was back at the Sultan’s Palace to work as the Chief Secretary of the State Native Administration.
In the 1940s, he joined Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa, which would later become the NPC in 1951. In 1948, he got a government scholarship to study Local Government Administration in England, which broadened his understanding and knowledge of governance.
After returning from Britain, he was nominated to represent the province of Sokoto in the regional House of Assembly. As a member of the assembly, he was a notable voice for northern interests and embraced a style of consultation and consensus with the major representatives of the northern Emirates, namely Kano, Bornu and Sokoto. He was selected along others as a member of a committee that redrafted the 1946 Richards Constitution. He also attended a general conference in Ibadan. His work at the Assembly and in the constitution drafting committee brought him appreciation in the North and he was requested to take on leadership positions within Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa. In the first elections held in Northern Nigeria in 1952, Sir Ahmadu Bello won a seat in the Northern House of Assembly and became a member of the regional Executive Council, as Minister of Works.
                              To be continued next week.

Thought for the week
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” (John Quincy Adams).

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves” (Lao Tsu).

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant” (Max Depree).