| Urhobo Historical
Society |
INTRODUCTION
It is a great honor to me to be invited to address this gathering of
important sons, daughters and friends of Benin on the occasion of the 5th
Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwadiae Egharevba (MBE) memorial lecture.
Therefore, I would
like to express my profound appreciation to the Institute for Benin Studies,
ably coordinated by Uyilawa Usuanlele. The Institute’s
foresight and persistence in organizing this annual event rightly honors
a deserving son of Benin, whose priceless historical scholarship in difficult
circumstances has placed key aspects of our history as a people on record
for present and future generations.
In coming before
you today, I am humbly following the path of more eminently qualified individuals
before me. Professor Unionmwan Edebiri set the
tone when he spoke on "Benin and the outer world." Professor
Eghosa Osagie reflected on "Benin in contemporary
Nigeria." Dr. Iro Eweka reminded us that "We are, because he was."
Professor Peter P. Ekeh then reached deep into the archives of our
ancestry when he presented " Ogiso Times and Eweka Times: A preliminary history
of the Edoid Complex of Cultures."
I am neither a
professional political scientist nor historian. However,
story telling is part of our culture and tradition.
It is one of the ways ordinary folk have passed the story of our people
from one generation to another for centuries. When
I was originally invited to deliver today’s lecture, I tossed and turned
for many months. What singular event in my lifetime,
I wondered, did the most, even at a tender age, to shape my sense of whom
I am? What was so singularly unique
in its ramifications, as told to me by my father, that I could sit in the
moonlight and tell it again and again to my children, and someday, God willing,
to my grandchildren and great grandchildren? That
event was the MIDWEST REFERENDUM OF 1963, when I was four years old.
The title of my
essay today is the story of “Benin and the Midwest referendum”.
Why Benin? After
all, two provinces (Benin and Delta), and many divisions (including the
Benin division) in what became the “Mid-West” were involved in the “War”
to create the Midwest region in 1963.
There are two reasons. First, the history of the Midwest referendum and
events leading to it is exceedingly vast and cannot in all honesty be addressed
in a single lecture without losing focus. Secondly,
I found a curious excerpt in the report of the Henry Willink Commission:
“In general,
it is our view that desire for the State is strong in Benin City and Benin
division, the heart of the old Benin Kingdom, and that the idea has progressively
less appeal as one moves outwards from this centre.” [Colonial Office: Nigeria - Report of the Commission appointed to enquire
into the fears of Minorities and the means of allaying them. July 30th,
1958. Chapter 4, page 31]
This prompted me
to know more about why Benin came to be considered by the Minorities Commission
as the epicenter of the Midwest State Movement and how she mobilized herself
and others to join hands to prosecute the “war for the Midwest”.
I shall conclude
with two take-home messages:
a).
Political parties come and go, but nationalities remain.
On March 29th,
1963 the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nigeria was given the responsibility
for the organization of a referendum to decide whether a new Region should
be created out of the Western region in a sub-region called “the Mid-West”,
comprised of the Benin and Delta provinces.
Preliminary guidelines
were contained in an official letter signed by Mr. F.B.O. Williams on behalf
of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In accordance with the Constitutional Referendum Regulations, 1963,
Mr. Gabriel Esezobor Edward Longe, Barrister-at-Law was earlier appointed
on January 21st as the Supervisor and empowered to appoint other
referendum officials. It was projected that about 71 officials, all Nigerians
of Midwest origin, drawn from the Federal Public Service, Corporations in
the Federal territory and from other suitable institutions, working full
time for about three months, would be required. On
the day of the referendum, about 9,300 additional officials were anticipated
to be required for operations. The Command
Center for the Referendum was designated as No. 2 King’s Square, Benin City. It was to that office that all referendum officials
reported on Saturday, April 6, 1963 to begin their historic assignment.
The appointed Referendum
and Assistant Referendum Officers for the various districts of the Mid-West
are listed in Appendix One (1).
On the 24th
of June 1963, by order of the Federation of Nigeria Extraordinary Official
Gazette No. 43, Volume 50, the Supervisor of the Mid-West referendum issued
Government Notice No. 1265.
It declared that
voting at the Constitutional referendum for the creation of the Mid-Western
Region would proceed on Saturday, the 13th day of July 1963. The referendum question was as follows:
“Do you agree that the Midwestern Region Act, 1962,
shall have effect so as to secure that Benin Province including Akoko Edo
District in the Afenmai Division and Delta Province including Warri Division
and Warri Urban Township area shall be included in the proposed Mid-Western
Region?”
Hours of voting
at designated Polling Stations extended from seven o’clock in the forenoon
until six o’clock in the evening. It is important
to note that a new Voters registration List was not compiled for the purposes
of the Mid-West referendum. Only those listed
four years earlier in the Federal Electoral Register of 1959 were entitled
to vote. Those who wished to vote “yes”
were to place their ballot papers in the “white box”. Those who wished to vote “no” were to place
their ballot papers in the “black box”.
The results of the
Referendum were as follows [GE Longe: Results
of the Midwest Referendum, 1963. July 18, 1963.
From D.A. Omoigui archives.]
|
No. |
District |
Votes Scored by Eligible Voters |
|
|
|
|
Affirmative Answer “YES” |
Negative Answer “NO” |
|
1 |
ABOH |
33,072 |
722 |
|
2 |
AFENMAI |
76,998 |
1,260 |
|
3 |
ASABA |
68,637 |
365 |
|
4 |
BENIN |
130,562 |
2,081 |
|
5 |
ISHAN |
73,088 |
563 |
|
6 |
URHOBO |
150,382 |
273 |
|
7 |
WARRI |
30,703 |
1,377 |
|
8 |
WESTERN IJAW |
15,635 |
577 |
|
|
Total |
579,077 |
7,218 |
The total number
of eligible voters, being persons whose names appeared in the Federal Electoral
register of 1959 was 654,130. Of this number
the percentage that voted in the affirmative was 89.07%, well in excess of
the required 60% (or 392,478) for the creation of the Mid-West region. The region that was born on August 9, 1963 as a result
of the July 13th plebiscite remains the only major administrative
unit of Nigeria created by due constitutional process.
As is well known,
Benin City, capital of the independent Benin Kingdom and Empire, and traditional
spiritual center of Edo speaking people fell to British troops on February
19, 1897. From that day onwards we became part
of the British colonial system and whatever administrative structures its
agents and latter day surrogates created.
The last independent Oba, Idugbowa Ovonramwen Ogbaisi, was deported
to Calabar on September 13th, 1897, where he died in 1914. [Jacob Egharevba: A Short History of Benin. Ibadan
University Press, 1968, p60]
In the meantime, Benin was administered as part
of the Niger Coast Protectorate, which later became the Protectorate of
Southern Nigeria in 1900. From 1906 “Southern
Nigeria” was administered as three main provinces, Western, Central and
Eastern, along with the Lagos colony with which it had been merged that
year. The Eastern province was run from Calabar,
the Central Province from Warri, and the Western Province from Lagos. The Central Province was also known as the Niger
province. It consisted of the Aboh, Agbor, Asaba, Awka, Benin, Forcados,
Idah, Ifon, Ishan, Kwale, Okwoga, Onitsha, Sapele, Udi and Warri districts. The protectorate of Northern Nigeria, on the other
hand, was initially organized into 13 provinces (run by Provincial residents)
before Ilorin and Kabba were merged into one.
According to the “Anthropological Report on the Edo speaking peoples”
by Northcote Thomas in 1910, Edo-speaking peoples were mainly located in
the Central Province of “Southern Nigeria” and the Ibie and Ukpilla districts
of Kabba province of “Northern Nigeria.”
The protectorates and colonies of Northern and
Southern Nigeria were later amalgamated on January 1st 1914 to
create “Nigeria”. [FD Lugard: Report on the
Amalgamation of Northern and Souther Nigeria, and administration, 1912 –
1919. H.M. Stationery Office, 1920]. In Benin, after a 17 year interregnum, Prince Aiguobasimwin,
(also known as Ovbiudu – the courageous one) eldest son of Oba Ovonramwen,
was crowned Oba Eweka II on July 24, 1914.
Indeed, the splendor of that coronation ceremony is what initially
triggered the interest of the late Jacob Egharevba to write down the history
of his people. Dr. Ekhaguosa Aisien has eloquently
discussed the remarkable story of how Eweka II regained the throne against
incredible odds in his paper “Edo Man of the Twentieth Century.” [http://www.dawodu.net/aisien.htm] The Ibie and Ukpilla districts of Kabba province
of “Northern Nigeria” were merged with their kith and kin in the Benin province
of “Southern Nigeria” in 1918.
After 1897, the
opening of core traditional Benin lands to so-called “legal trade” in Oil
Palm and Forestry by British agents and surrogates created new opportunities
and encouraged mass migrations of southern Edoid peoples, among who were
the Urhobo. The period of the interregnum
also witnessed aggressive missionary activity, establishment of schools,
institution of a system of Warrant Chiefs and the beginnings of what later
became the western educated elite. After 1914,
the structure of the colonial Benin Native Council provided a platform for
competition between elements of the new elite (like Iyase Agho Obaseki) who
controlled the District Council, and the Oba.
The Oba was further weakened by not being allowed to collect taxes,
appoint chiefs without British consent or control land designated as reserved
for Government activity. Following the introduction
of polls and direct taxation in 1920, the new westernized elite in Benin
became increasingly epitomized in the years to come by social and later political
groups known at various times as the “Benin Tax-Payers Association” and “Benin
Community”. With the restoration of the indigenous
monarchy on one hand, and the simultaneous nurturing of a colonial proxy
elite on the other, therefore, two tracks in the leadership of Benin were
invoked and waxing and waning tensions inevitably developed between them
[Igbafe: Benin under British Administration].
In spite of British
gerrymandering, primordial linguistic and cultural bonds (and differences)
that had evolved over centuries could not be wished away overnight. The appropriate administrative structure for Nigeria
was, therefore, always a source of controversy during the colonial era,
as evidenced by the number of constitutions that were promulgated in 1922
(Clifford), 1946 (Richards), 1951 (Macpherson), 1954, and finally 1960. Since independence in 1960, our
flirtation with numerous constitutions in 1963, 1979, 1989, 1995 and 1999
as well as states creation exercises and calls for a “sovereign national
conference” continues to reflect this dilemma.
For example, early
British administrators toyed with various proposals for combining groups
of provinces into regions and thus nullifying the distinction between “Northern
Nigeria” and “Southern Nigeria”. In 1912, the
Editor of the African Mail, Mr. E. D. Morel, suggested that Nigeria
be consolidated into the Northern, Central, Western and Eastern provinces
[ED Morel: Nigeria, Its Peoples and Problems, London, 1912, p201-10,
2nd Edition]. Charles L. Temple,
one time Resident of Bauchi and later Lt. Governor of Northern Nigeria,
proposed seven provinces, namely, the Hausa States, Benue Province, Chad
Territory, Western, Central and Eastern provinces along with the Lagos colony.
The Governor-General, Sir Frederick John Dealtry Lugard accepted neither
of these proposals. Thus after amalgamation, Northern and Southern Nigeria
were left intact under powerful Lt. Governors while the three previous large
provinces of Southern Nigeria, which had been run by Provincial Commissioners,
were broken down into smaller provinces and placed under Provincial Residents. Northern Nigeria comprised the Sokoto, Kano, Bornu,
Bauchi, Zaria, Nupe, Kontagora, Ilorin, Nassarawa, Munshi (Tiv), Muri and
Yola provinces. The old “Central province” of
Southern Nigeria was split into the Benin and Warri provinces. The “Eastern Province” was divided into the provinces
of Calabar, Ogoja, Onitsha and Owerri. The “Western
province” became the Abeokuta, Ondo and Oyo provinces, joined thereafter
by the new Ijebu province in 1916. Lagos remained
The Colony. But some provinces were more
equal than others, in Lugard’s eyes. Those that
were “more important” were classified as “First Class” provinces. These were the Sokoto, Kano, Bornu, Bauchi, Zaria,
Oyo, Owerri and Abeokuta provinces. [FD Lugard: Report on the Amalgamation
of Northern and Souther Nigeria, and administration, 1912 – 1919. H.M. Stationery
Office, 1920]. The headquarters of the Southern
Provinces was later moved from Lagos to Enugu in 1929.
Even in those early
days, there were already stirrings of nationalism.
In October 1923, Humphrey Omoregie Osagie, then only a 27-year-old
clerk, delivered a political lecture in Lagos under the auspices of Herbert
Macaulay and the Nigerian National Democratic Party.
The young man from Benin would one day become a Titan in the struggle
for emancipation of his people. [A. J. Uwaifo: Omo-Osagie and Party Politics
in Benin, Department of History, University of Ibadan, May 1985]
Meanwhile, Oba Eweka
II became increasingly concerned about the long-term implications of various
administrative proposals for new regions that would ride roughshod over the
unique history and independence of most of the peoples of the Central Province,
which later became the Benin and Warri Provinces. Therefore,
in 1926, he requested the British to bring all the Edoid and Anioma (Western
Ibo) areas together in one region that would have a direct reporting relationship
with the center. He argued that the people of the Benin and Warri provinces
were predominantly of one linguistic, cultural, religious, chieftaincy and
historical stock and had functioned in the same cultural system before the
British came. [File BP 44,VOL 1, The Oba of Benin. National Archives,
Ibadan].
To the best of
my knowledge, therefore, Oba Eweka II, in 1926, was the first, following
the dissolution of the old Central province, to conceptualize the consolidation
of what later became the Midwest region of Nigeria in 1963. It was during his reign that the first pan-Edo association
called the Institute for Home-Benin improvement emerged in 1932. Its mandate
- according to its own documents - was to represent the "Edo speaking people
of Nigeria viz: Benin City, Ishan, Kukuruku, Ora, Agbor, Igbanke, Sobe etc." [Uyilawa Usuanlele: The Edo Nationality and the
National Question in Nigeria: A Historical perspective. In Osaghae and Onwudiwe
(Eds). The Management of the National Question in Nigeria. PEFS. Ibadan
2001] In the
same year, Thomas Erukeme, Mukoro Mowoe, Omorowhovo Okoro and others formed
the Edoid Urhobo Brotherly Society in Warri.
Unfortunately, Oba
Eweka II joined his ancestors on February 8, 1933 and did not live to see
his dream come true. It was, therefore, on the
shoulders of his son, Oba Akenzua II, crowned on April 5, 1933, after overcoming
opposition from his older sister that the spiritual and royal leadership
of the future Midwest State Movement was to fall. [H Osadolo Edomwonyi: A Short Biography of Oba Akenzua II. Bendel Newspapers
Corporation, 1981.]
The Urhobo Brotherly
Society evolved into the Urhobo Progressive Union in 1934, and was later
known as the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU). This
tightly knit organization would prove to be a powerful ally in the fight
for the Midwest. In 1935, the Institute for Home-Benin
improvement lobbied for an Edo speaking person to represent the Benin province
in the Legislative council. Up until then Benin
was represented by a Yoruba trader called Mr. I. T. Palmer who was living
in Sapele. This wish was eventually granted
when Gaius Obaseki became the first Edo speaking representative on the Legislative
council in the early forties (Usuanlele op. cit.).
In 1937, the first conference of traditional Obas and rulers in the
Southern Provinces of Nigeria took place in Oyo. At
that meeting a decision was taking to rotate the venue of the meetings to
the domains of various prominent rulers. Coincidentally,
the Ibo State Union was also formed that year.
Then in 1939, what Oba Eweka II had feared came
to pass. The ten Southern Provinces (along with
the Cameroon trusteeship province) were consolidated around the Igbo and
Yoruba nationalities into two groups now called the “Eastern provinces” based
at Enugu, and the “Western Provinces” based at Ibadan. In this new set-up,
the Benin and Warri provinces of the independent old “Central Province” were
now part of the so-called “Western group” with the River Niger as a natural
boundary. The “Anioma” or “Western Ibo” subgroup
of the Benin province, led by Asaba indigenes, requested to be merged with
the Aboh division of the Warri province in a new Western Ibo province, but
were overruled by the British because of the advent of the Second World War. [JIG Onyia: My role in Nationalism. 1986 JID Printers
Ltd. Asaba]. Oba Akenzua II took note
of the Asaba-led agitation. However, in the years preceding it, he was distracted
by internal problems in Benin like the Forest reserve dispute of 1934, the
abolition of District Heads in 1935, Uzebu uprising and Benin water rate
agitation of 1936 – 1940 [Igbafe, op. cit.] .
It was not long, however, before the Richards Constitution of 1947
crystallized both groups of provinces into the Eastern and Western “regions”
of Southern Nigeria, each with its own Regional Assembly.
The old “Northern Nigeria” remained as one large region.
Professor P.A. Igbafe
has discussed much of the dynamics of colonial rule and its impact on traditional
Benin in his outstanding book “Benin under British Administration”. The late Jacob Egharevba also discussed
tensions between Oba Akenzua, a few of his prominent chiefs (like Iyase Okoro-Otun)
and the emerging Benin educated and commercial elite in his seminal book
“A Short History of Benin.” Such tensions
were driven by different agendas but manifested opportunistically from time
to time. Nevertheless, these tensions -
which undermined the Oba’s stature and even threatened his throne - were
temporarily resolved after negotiated concessions following appeals from
British officials and Traditional Rulers in other jurisdictions, like Warri.
During this era
too, Oba Akenzua II, motivated by visions of a united pan-Edoid nation, agreed
to the British proposal for transfer of large tracts of land from the Benin
province to the Warri province for “administrative convenience. Affected tenants, who agreed to continue to pay royalty
in return, populated such lands, many of which had opened up after 1897,
including places like Jesse, Ogharefe and other lands across the Ethiope
River - which are now in the Delta State portion of the former Midwest.
In August 1942,
the conference of traditional Obas and rulers in what was now the Western
Provinces of Nigeria took place in Benin City.
It is said that at that meeting, there was an attempt to speak Yoruba
as the Lingua Franca, thus causing some irritation among delegates from the
Benin and Warri provinces. Nevertheless, the
Second World War was in progress and all efforts were focused on its successful
prosecution, so sleeping dogs were allowed to lie. The
war was interrupted only by reports that the Institute for Home-Benin Improvement
had transformed into the Edo National Union in 1943 and that Nnamdi Azikiwe proposed eight (8) protectorates in
his “Political Blueprint for Nigeria” [RL Sklar: Nigerian Political Parties.
Princeton, 1963]. At about this time tribal unions like the Bauchi Improvement
Association, Ibibio State Union, and the Pan-Ibo Federal Union became known.
The pro-independence National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons
(NCNC) was formed by Herbert Macaulay in 1944.
It attracted many young educated elite from the Benin and Warri provinces
initially. Among them were men like Mr. Anthony
Enahoro, TJ Akagbosu, Chief Gaius Obaseki, Arthur Prest, O.N. Rewane, Begho
and Edukugho. [EA Enahoro: Fugitive Offender, London: Cassell, 1966]
In 1945, two significant events occurred in Benin. Chief Humphrey Omo-Osagie, already mentioned
earlier in this essay, retired from the public service and quietly returned
to Benin. He was an ex-student of King’s College
Lagos where he was a Schoolmate of Oba Akenzua. 1945
was also the year that Oba Akenzua re-established the Aruosa Church as the
Edo National Church of God. He later wrote its
catechism and published two volumes of liturgical books as well as a rule-book
based on its constitution.
In the same year, Michael Adekunle Ajasin and Jeremiah
Obafemi Awolowo conceptualized founding the “non-political” exclusively
Yoruba vanguard cultural group called the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of Descendants of Oduduwa) in London. It would later be formalized in 1947 and then metamorphose
into the Action Group political party in 1950/51. [Sklar, op cit]
After the war, the momentum for independence began
to gather strongly, led by Macaulay until his untimely death in 1946 when
Nnamdi Azikiwe took over the leadership of the NCNC.
By this time Obafemi Awolowo had begun staking positions publicly
and was quoted in 1947 as saying, “Opportunity must be afforded to each group
to evolve its own peculiar political institutions.” [Awolowo: Awo – The
autobiography of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Cambridge University Press, 1960]
Indeed, one of the
controversial issues of that era was the extent to which Edo based parties
and groups should ally themselves with parties and groups outside the Edoid
region. Oba Akenzua II was opposed to external alliances because he saw
them as a threat to Edo National aspirations.
In 1947, for example, there was a conference
of delegates from the Benin and Warri provinces at the old Conference Hall
in Benin City, where fears of domination in the West were articulated.
On the other hand,
some Edo speaking politicians like Anthony Enahoro and Gaius Obaseki, for
example, became disillusioned with Nnamdi Azikiwe and the NCNC allegedly
for Ibo leanings after Macaulay’s death. [Enahoro,
op. cit.] The Pan-Ibo Union had been
one of the founding organizations of the NCNC. However,
Azikiwe later assumed its Presidency in 1948.
The West African Pilot later quoted him in 1949 as saying “It would
appear that the God of Africa has created the Ibo nation to lead the children
of Africa from the bondage of ages….”
Meanwhile deep discomfort
in Benin with the provincial administrative changes of 1939 was heightened
by proposals in the new Richards Constitution of 1946 for the formal creation
of the Eastern, Western and Northern Regions in Nigeria.
The new constitution created a separate House of Assembly and House
of Chiefs in the Northern region. Initially, the Eastern and Western regions
were allotted a unicameral House of Assembly each, to which were later added
a House of Chiefs for each of the Regions. But
back in Benin, Oba Akenzua II found himself once again in dispute with elements
of the “new elite” even as he kept an eye on events at the national level.
Following the death
of Iyase Okoro-Otun in 1943, efforts by the Oba in November 1947 to abolish
the title of Iyase (“Prime Minister”) on account of his experience during
the water rate agitation were strongly opposed. Opposition
was mobilised by the new “Benin Community Tax-Payers Association” primarily
formed to pressure the Oba to confer the title of Iyase on a literate
individual. Thus he reconsidered his position,
even though supported by a group of chiefs and prominent citizens including
Omo-Osagie, Egbe Omorogbe, Ogieva Emokpae, J. O. Edomwonyi, D.E. Uwaifo,
C.Y. Legemah etc. These chiefs and other men
later created the Edo Young People’s party [Edomwonyi, op. cit.] . After an unsuccessful
attempt to confer the title on Idehen, then the Esogban of Benin, Oba Akenzua
eventually conferred it in April 1948 on Hon. Gaius Obaseki, son of the
late Iyase Agho Obaseki, some say under pressure from British authorities. In the next few years to follow the Oba was subjected
to humiliations such as a decrease in his salary and ban from conferring
titles without permission [CN Ekwuyasi: Benin
Situation as it is today. Daily Times, April 26 1950, p8].
As the Iyase, Gaius
Obaseki was executive Chairman of the newly re-organized Benin Divisional
Council while Oba Akenzua II was the President. Obaseki
was also the concurrent Chairman of the Benin City Council and its powerful
Administrative Committee. In addition he was
elected the Oluwo or Leader of the influential Reformed Ogboni Fraternity
(ROF), a fact that would assume great significance in the politics of Benin. The ROF was a religious order said to be have been
in existence since the late 19th century but formally founded
in 1914 by African Christian clergy led by Anglican Archdeacon Ogunbiyi. It was later introduced into Benin society from Yoruba
land, (but is different from the much older traditional Ogboni society of
Yoruba Obaship). The ROF describes itself as
the equivalent in the United States of “the Freemasons, Odd Fellows Fraternity,
The Rosicrucians, etc. [Morton, Williams.
The Yoruba Ogboni Cult in Oyo. AFRICA Vol. xxx
1960, p 362-374].
At the Benin provincial
level, there were two conferences that year, both marked in part by growing
rivalries between two prominent sons of Benin – Chiefs Gaius Obaseki and
Humphrey Omo-Osagie. It was also in May 1948 that
Bode Thomas, an emissary of Obafemi Awolowo paid a visit to the Benin and
Warri provinces to canvass support for a new political party with a “Yoruba
orientation”. The result of Bode Thomas’s visit
was to split the hitherto united nationalist front of young Midwest based
politicians into pro-NCNC and anti-NCNC factions. At
about this time, midwesterners barely took note of a new northern organization
called the Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa, which was founded in May 1948. It would
later evolve into the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), a political party that
was destined to play a critical role in the creation of the Midwest region
after independence.
Anyway, having accepted
the Iyase situation, on October 16th, 1948, Oba Akenzua II addressed
the inauguration of what was known as the “Reformed Benin Community”,
formed by Chief Humphrey Omo-Osagie in Benin:
He said, inter
alia:
“The aims and ideals of this new political body
seem very laudable and there is no doubt that it will help develop usefully
like its counterparts, the Egbe Omo Oduduwa of the Yorubas, the Federal
Union of the Ibos and so on….
In the scheme of things, all Benins should strive
for a state or principality of Benin in the new Nigeria in the making. The Hausas, the Yorubas, the Ibos, and so on are
on the move and the fact that this or that non-Benin political party has
awarded scholarships to Binis for higher studies should not deprive us of
our identity, custom, tradition, language and culture, or lull us into a
false sense of security. …..
I believe Nigeria expects each of her states to
do or mind its own business, though all states have one common business
to perform, that is work together in order to achieve in a short time independence
for a United States of Nigeria.....
Therefore, the Richards Constitution in 1950 must
aim at creating more regions with full autonomy than there are at present,
each with its own Governor. At least there must be a fourth region to be
known as the Central or South West provinces……
I sincerely hope that the day will come when there
will be a larger body to be known as the Federal Union of the Central or
South West Provinces in which the Edo, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ishan, Ora, Ivbiosakon,
Sobe and so on will be principal members of the union…."
[SOURCE: National Archives of Nigeria,
Ibadan; File BP2647. Reformed Benin Community. ]
Akenzua further advised the Reformed Benin Community
to unite all the Edos, critically study the Richards Constitution, which
was due for review, and make the creation of the new region the main focus
of the organization. At about this time, the only other voice that was loudly
heard in the wilderness of States agitation was that of Barrister Udo Udoma
who was the first to conceptualize the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State.
Meanwhile, the new Iyase of Benin, Gaius Obaseki,
was waxing stronger, exploiting his unique concentration of powers. Jacob Egharevba wrote:
“As a result of various differences, ill-feeling grew up between
the Oba and the Iyase.” Professor Igbafe
was more direct:
“Like Cardinal Wolsey of Tudor England, Gaius Obaseki
concentrated power in his own hands with ruthless efficiency and uncompromising
vindictiveness against known opponents……..The Ogboni began to indulge in
excesses. Gaius embarked on a vigorous membership drive.
Those who held out were persecuted.
The result of this over-concentration of power
in the hands of a single individual and the excessive exercise of that power
vis-à-vis the Oba’s loss of prestige, stipend and power, produced
an inevitable but opposite and equal reaction. There
was bitterness against the Ogboni, which now began to dominate the councils
and to infiltrate all walks of life in Benin. Progressive young men found
the Ogboni influence a social menace and unacceptable to their way of thinking.
Possibly the Iyase’s position in the council and in the Ogboni gave excessive
political importance to this cult. Having struggled
to place a literate young Iyase in a position of power in order to deflate
the Oba’s palace autocracy, the people found that the Ogboni cult was now
too powerful and sinister for their comfort.” [Igbafe: op. cit.]
At the Warri and
Benin provincial conferences of 1949, all Edo-speaking people (including
Urhobo) supported calls for a Midwest State [Files BP/2328, BP/2678/1,
BP/742; WP/569/1 National Archives, Ibadan]. During
this period opinion among leaders from Asaba division was predominantly in
support of consolidation with the Eastern region or creation of a western
Igbo province within the Western region. Asaba, western Ijaw, and an Itsekiri
faction all opposed creation of the Midwest. When Benin and Warri delegates
in favor of creation of the Midwest region attempted to raise the issue
at the Western regional conference on Constitutional reform that year, they
were prevented from doing so. Therefore, with
Oba Akenzua in the lead, they walked out. Meanwhile
both Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe at this stage were expressing preference
for a Three-States based Nigeria, a position they elucidated at the All-Nigeria
Constitutional Conference in Ibadan in January 1950, preparatory to the
take-off of the MacPherson Constitution.
Back in Benin, the
fear and resentment of the Ogboni was amplified the suspicion that it was
some sort of mechanism for the Yoruba infiltration and control of Benin
society [Abiodun Aloba: It is a choice between
Ogboni and Benin. Daily Times, October 1st, 1951, p8]. This later became the template for a popular
uprising. Many who had tormented Oba Akenzua
in the difficult days of the 1930s and early forties became royalist. The
“Reformed Benin Community” noted above, later evolved, first to “Otu-Adolo”
and then to “Otu-Edo” on March 15th, 1950, specifically, according
to J. Osadolo Edomwonyi, to “counter the excesses of the ill-motivated activities
of the so-called Taxpayers Association cum Ogboni.” [Edomwonyi, op. cit] After a crack-down by
Obaseki against local demonstrations, a delegation of leaders led by E.
O. Imafidon was sent to Lagos to invite Humphrey Omo-Osagie back to Benin
from a meeting in Lagos, to lead the Otu-Edo. The
new party was dedicated to the “development of Benin and the unification
of all Edo-speaking peoples of Nigeria.” In its
constitution it also said it would promote “a sense of nationalism among
the people of Benin” and combat threats to “the structures of our laws and
custom” and “national unity.” [Orobosa Oronsaye:
Cultural Organisation and Political Development – The case of the Otu-Edo. University of Ibadan, Department of History, June
1977.]
It was in this context
that the Otu-Edo party was formed in a crisis atmosphere, to support the
Oba in his fight against the taxpayers association under Iyase Gaius Obaseki
at the local level while mobilizing support for the Midwest State Movement
at the provincial level. [Otu-Edo Union, File No. 1170/1 National Archives,
Ibadan] Although, there were some
initial problems with key NCNC leaders like Ernest Ikoli, Mbonu Ojike and
Nnamdi Azikiwe, some of whom were suspected of being members of the ROF in
Lagos, Otu-Edo later entered into an alliance with the NCNC at the national
level. Meanwhile, at the local level in
Benin, according to Professor Igbafe:
“……..the Ogboni allied with the Action Group founded
by Chief Obafemi Awolowo out of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa in Yorubaland…”
How did all this
play out?
After Otu-Edo was
created, another political party, called the Benin Action Group was created
in Benin in March 1951, in response to the activities of Bode Thomas mentioned
earlier. They were both opposed to Ogbonism in
Benin politics, as crystallized, in their opinion, by the Benin Community
Taxpayers Association. Indeed both parties overlapped and shared membership.
In the weeks preceding
the formal launching of the united “Action Group” at Owo from April 28 –
30, 1951, Anthony Enahoro had organized a meeting of Benin and Warri leaders
of thought in Sapele, ostensibly to discuss Midwestern solidarity. People like Gaius Obaseki, Arthur Prest, Festus
Edah (Okotie-Eboh), Okorodudu, S. O. Ighodaro etc. were present. At the meeting, most participants expressed sentiments
against the creation of a separate midwestern region.
However, two dissenters, Chike Ekwuyasi and E. O. Imafidon who were
present, rushed back to Benin to alert Omo-Osagie who then called a rally
of his own and initiated counter-measures [Oronsaye, op. cit.; Uwaifo,
op. cit].
On April 28, delegates
from Benin and Warri provinces attended the main Action Group conference
at Owo, at which merger of the Midwestern and Western components was accomplished. Gauis Obaseki emerged as the Vice President for Benin
Province, S.O. Ighodaro, as Treasurer, Anthony Enahoro as Assistant Secretary,
while Arthur Prest and W. E. Mowarin emerged as Vice Presidents from the
Warri province. However, Benin Action Group delegates,
like D.N. Oronsaye, C. N. Ekwuyasi, S. O. Ighodaro, and others, who were
not members of the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, opposed Gaius Obaseki’s election
at Owo. When they returned, the Benin Action
Group dissociated themselves from Chief Awolowo’s Action group and later
allied themselves with H Omo-Osagie’s Otu-Edo party in what was known as
Otu-Edo/Benin Action Group Grand Alliance. Iyase
Obaseki, now Vice President for the Awolowo Action group, moved immediately,
some say ruthlessly, to consolidate his hold on Benin division [Oronsaye.
Op. cit.].
The stage was set,
therefore, for a bitterly fought council election, which took place in December
1951. The period preceding it was associated
with waves of violence, including arson and murder, in an uprising against
the Awolowo Action Group/Benin Taxpayers Association/Ogboni known locally
as “Airen Egbe Ason”, meaning “people do not recognize each other at night”.
Beginning in July, but with its high point
on September 6th, it was allegedly triggered by actions of two
members of the “Ogboni Action group”, namely Iyare and Obazee, at Evbowe
in Isi district. [File 1818/6/B National Archives, Ibadan]
Farmers who opposed the Ogboni
were allegedly mobilized and concentrated at Eguaholor from where they proceeded
to burn down the houses of leaders of the Ogboni in villages all over Isi
district. The epidemic
breakdown of law and order necessitated massive mobilization of Policemen
to many parts of rural Benin province [File B.D. 1818/7. Benin Situation
Report. National Archives, Ibadan]. Many were
detained, subsequently charged to court, fined and even jailed. GCM Onyiuke, Charles Idigbe, and Mr. S. O. Ighodaro,
then the Secretary of the Benin Action group, comprised the legal team hired
by Otu-Edo to defend its members.
Nevertheless, after
the mayhem, with the Ogboni infrastructure broken in the rural areas, Otu-Edo,
under Humphrey Omo-Osagie, with the Oba as its patron, came to power in Benin
in 1952 - while at the regional level, the Awolowo Action Group dominated
the legislature in Ibadan. The Macpherson
Constitution replaced the Richards Constitution in 1952. It created a central
legislature that was called the House of Representatives and initially led
to false hopes that a quick mechanism for States Creation would be established. Meanwhile, Oba Akenzua had to preside over the residual
bitterness that accompanied the recruitment drive for ROF, followed by the
uprising of 1951 in Benin division. It tore
families and communities apart. However, with
no justification intended for the violence, had Chief Humphrey Omo-Osagie
not come to power that year to align the “new elite” with the “traditional
leadership”, the subsequent unified role of Benin as the heartland of the
agitation for the creation of the Midwest may never have seen the light.
When the Western House of Assembly opened in January
1952, 21 out of 24 Midwesterners were allied with the NCNC while three –
S.O. Ighodaro, Arthur Prest, and Anthony Enahoro - were allied with the Action
Group. One immediate source of irritation
was the government’s official pamphlet, which insensitively described the
Parliamentary Mace with four ceremonial swords as representing the authority
of Yoruba Chiefs. To aggravate matters, when
the unicameral Western House of Assembly was formally declared open by then
Lt. Governor Sir Hugo Marshall, the Alake of Abeokuta, rose to speak immediately
after Sir Marshall and said:
“On my right sits the Oni of Ife; On my left, the
Leader of our Government, Obafemi Awolowo. The Voice of the West is complete.”
[Hansard of Western House of Assembly: January 7, 1952]
In other words, as the delegates from Benin and
Delta saw it, the “voice of the West” did not include those of the people
of Benin and Delta provinces. To compound matters,
Benin and Delta delegates later complained too about derogatory epithets
that had allegedly been hurled at them, such as “KoboKobo”, used to refer
to persons (or barbarians) whose diction cannot be understood. [File BP/2328/1 National Archives, Ibadan]
>From this point
on, the Oba of Benin, Akenzua II, supported by the Benin and Warri (Delta)
legislative delegation, began openly touring Benin and other Divisions of
Benin province as well as the Delta province to campaign for the Midwest
(Central) region. According to Professor Michael
Crowder:
“In the Western region, as a reaction against the
allegedly Yoruba-dominated Action group, the Mid-West State movement was
started, supported largely by non-Yoruba-speaking peoples and in particular
the people of the old Benin Empire.” [M Crowder:
The Story of Nigeria. 3rd Edition, 1972. Faber]
Indeed, at the very
next Benin Provincial Conference at Ogwashi-Uku in June 1952, attended by
pro-Midwesterners like JO Odigie of Ishan, Chike Ekwuyasi of Benin and Dennis
Osadebay of Asaba, separatist sentiments were strongly expressed, resulting
in the creation of the “Central State Congress”. [File BP/2328/1 National Archives, Ibadan]
One of the criticisms of the Western region government was the alleged decision
to spend 225,000 pounds in Awolowo’s home province of Ijebu with a population
of 383,000, as compared with 169,000 pounds in the Benin province with a
population of 624,000. Subsequently, a subgroup
known as the Committee of the Midwest Organization emerged under R.O. Odita.
Before the end of
1952 another significant event occurred. It
was the decision of the Action Group government based in Ibadan to restore
the title of the ‘Olu of Itsekiri’ to ‘Olu of Warri’ as it had been known
in previous centuries. Non-Itsekiris in Warri
Province reacted violently, concerned that there was an implication of suzerainty
over the whole province. Thus a compromise was
reached. In exchange for acceptance of the designation
of the Olu as ‘Olu of Warri’, the province was renamed ‘Delta province’. [personal
papers, Alfred O. Rewane] In
spite of this compromise, the experience soured the relationship between
many Urhobo leaders of thought and the Action group leadership, which they
felt, had been beholden to a powerful Itsekiri lobby.
It served to drive Urhobos, already so inclined, further into the
warm embrace of the Midwest Separatist Movement.
Back in Benin, another
one of the many clashes between H. Omo-Osagie and Gaius Obaseki was playing
out. In 1953, Otu-Edo got Iyase Obaseki deposed
as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Benin Divisional Council allegedly
for not attending meetings. His Orderly and Police escorts were withdrawn
and monthly salaries stopped [Oronsaye, Op. Cit.].
However, the Oba did not cooperate in the attempt to strip him of
his title as Iyase, allegedly for not performing the rites of the office. Thus Obaseki retained his title as Iyase – although
he never really performed the formal traditional ceremonies of acceptance
of the title in the first place. Nevertheless,
colonial authorities removed the Resident in Benin province, Mr. H. Butcher
for his role in during and after the controversial Iyase affair of 1948.
In July/August 1953,
Councilor J. Osadolo Edomwonyi moved a motion in the Benin Divisional Council
praying the Constitutional Conference in London to include on its agenda,
the creation of a separate region for the Benin and Delta provinces [Edomwonyi,
Op. Cit.]. However, overshadowed by a bitter
fight between Obafemi Awolowo of the Western region and Nnamdi Azikiwe of
the Eastern region over excision of Lagos on one hand and Southern Cameroons
on the other, creation of new States was overruled at the London Constitutional
conference [Report of the Conference on the Nigerian Constitution, held
in London, July-August, 1953 Cmnd. 8934, (London: H.M.S.O., 1953, p4)]. When he returned from London, Chief Omo-Osagie briefed
Oba Akenzua II, who then made arrangements to host a conference of traditional
and political leaders of the Benin and Delta provinces on September 18,
1953 in Benin City. Anthony Enahoro, S. O. Ighodaro,
Arthur Prest and the Olu of Warri boycotted this well attended meeting. In his address, Oba Akenzua II said, among other
things that Midwesterners were seeking freedom, “not only from the white
man, but also from foreign african nations…” He
went on to state that,
“Benin-Delta
was a sovereign nation before the occupation of the country by the British.” Akenzua also said, “The divide and rule policy
of the British Government had done much harm to the national solidarity
of Benin-Delta Province in the past but as God now wants things to be what
they were before the advent of the British Government, that is, the Yoruba
State for the Yorubas and Benin-Delta State for the “BENDELITES”, that is,
the inhabitants of the Benin-Delta Province, steps should now be taken without
further delay or fear to move the British Government to repair the damage
they have done by restoring the national status of Benin-Delta Province before
they transfer power back to the Nigerians from whom they have taken it.”
Mr. JIG Onyia of
Asaba then moved a motion, which said inter-alia:
“Be it resolved, and it is hereby resolved that:
1. We (the peoples
of Benin-Delta Province) in a conference holding at Benin City this 18th
day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty
three, demand as of right an immediate creation of a separate State for
the peoples of Benin-Delta Province…….” [Edomwonyi,
Op. Cit.]
Spurred on by stronger
and stronger perceptions of discrimination in the West, exemplified by matters
such as the state ment of Alake of Egbaland in 1952, Adegoke Adelabu’s emergence
over Osadebay as NCNC leader of Opposition in the West, threats of Western
regional control of Midwestern forests, etc. H Omo-Osagie urged the assembly
to create a “party which will serve as the Vanguard in the battle for the
Midwest.” The envisioned party was to be independent
of parties based in other regions. After
overruling an alternative concept put forward by JIG Onyia of Asaba, that
the organization so created should be a “movement” rather than a “political
party”, the Benin Delta Political Party (BDPP) was created. It was to function
under the patronage of a President General (Oba Akenzua II) and six Vice
Presidents (Ogirrua of Irrua, Emeni of Obiaruku, Ovie of Ughelli, Momodu
of Agbede, Ovie of Effurun and Ogenieni of Uzairue).
Members of the Executive Committee were D.E. Odiase, T.O. Elaiho,
G. Brass Ometan, J. W. Amu, J. D. Ifode, J. Igben, Martins Adebayo, John
Uzo, H. O. Uwaifo and Barrister Gabriel Edward Longe. Chief Oweh later replaced
JD Ifode. Other BDPP stalwarts included Onogie
Enosegbe II of Ewohimi, E. A. Lamai of Fugar and Martins Adebayo of Akoko-Edo.
[File Ben Prof 2/BP/3022, National Archives, Ibadan]
Oba Akenzua II subsequently
notified the Western House of Chiefs of this development, quipping, “I think
that the Benin Delta State can succeed very well without being tied to the
apron strings of the Yoruba State.” He also said
“The fact is the Benin/Delta People’s Party will not allow the Benin/Delta
State to be annexed to the Yoruba State whether the North and the East are
broken into small States or not.” [Western House of Chiefs Debates, Oct.
20, 1953] Then he proceeded to lead a series
of tours all over the Midwest to campaign for the Midwestern region. Such tours were undertaken in December 1953, February
and May 1954. The BDPP hinged its success on
the prestige of various traditional rulers, inspite of undercurrents of tension
with some western Ibo, specifically Asaba leaders like F. Utomi and G Onyia,
who issued public statements after the Western Igboid Conference of December
1953, that Asaba people should not attend BDPP meetings.
In his memoirs, Dennis Osadebay says “they feared that the creation
of the region would mean the resuscitation of the old Benin Kingdom and
it’s alleged oppressive rule and domination of minorities.” [DC Osadebay: Building a Nation: An Autobiography. MacMillan,
1978.]
In 1954, Obafemi Awolowo became Premier of the
Western region under the 1954 Constitution that created the Federation of
Nigeria. At the same time Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh of Warri, representing
the NCNC, became the Regional Minister of Labour and Welfare. Dennis Osadebay emerged as NCNC Opposition leader
in the West, while V.I. Amadasun became NCNC Chief Whip.
Meanwhile the BDPP relied increasingly on the local NCNC operational
infrastructure, even while foreswearing any party links in public. As time
went on, therefore, pressure grew from within the BDPP to formally ally the
party with the NCNC – which the Oba was opposed to.
Meanwhile there were unconfirmed rumors at the end of 1954 that the
Oba had reached a secret deal with Chief Awolowo. [Michael Vickers, Ethnicity
and Sub-Nationalism in Nigeria, p93] Concerned about these rumours, Chief Omo-Osagie decided
to ignore the General Secretary of Otu-Edo, Mr. J. Osadolo Edomwonyi, who
had close links to the Palace, and unilaterally nominate Mr. Eric Imafidon
to contest the All-Nigerian Parliamentary elections.
Both Omo-Osagie and Imafidon defeated Edomwonyi’s “Oba of Benin BDPP
faction” candidates. [Uwaifo, Op. Cit.; Oronsaye,
Op. Cit.]
The Action Group had in the meantime conceptualized
a plan to seize political control of Benin by co-opting the Oba and destroying
Chief H Omo-Osagie.
According to testimony from Dr. Obas. J. Ebohon,
“My father was the personal driver of Chief Omo-Osagie
through out his political career and what both himself and B2 went through
before, during, and after the creation of Mid-West is unimaginable and sometimes
better than some of 007 epic films. My father
once told me that the journeys to and from the Western House of Assembly
in Ibadan was the type of journeys one makes to and from the battle field.
Firstly, they never exceeded four people and they travelled by Bedford Lorry
instead of a car to which his status demanded. The reason for this was security
as his life was threatened openly by those enraged by his demands for Mid-West
State. He said on approaching Ore, they would disembark and B2 would come
out of the comfortable second row and climb into the back of the Bedford
lorry and be covered with trampoline and that is where he would remain through
the numerous roadblocks put out to hunt him down and, that is how he would
remain until they arrive Ibadan. Sometimes, for the need to confuse his detractors,
he would be hidden in lorries carrying plantain to Ibadan and guess where
he would be sitting - buried among the plantain and that is how he remains
until the outskirts of Ibadan and be transferred into the Bedford lorry
again. On numerous occasions they escaped death with the skin of his teeth.
My father indicated that when they are travelling, it usually was like preparing
for a funeral at B2's house and those of his entourage and the worst is
expected and, when they return unharmed, it was jubilation.” (Source: OJ Ebohon. Edo-Nation Egroup, July 5, 2002. RE: [Edo-Nation]
The Last Edo Political Titan: Chief Humphrey Omo-Osagie)
Under these circumstances, on March 8th,
1955, Obafemi Awolowo invited Oba Akenzua II for a meeting in Ibadan. According to the minutes of the meeting, Chief Awolowo
told Oba Akenzua II to disengage himself from politics before it becomes
a disadvantage. Awolowo told him that he had
planned to preserve the position of traditional rulers as an "important part
of the social and spiritual life of the people" outside the political arena. In response, Oba Akenzua II politely but firmly
drew a distinction between politics and his activities with the Midwest
State movement. He went further to query why the Ooni of Ife and
the Alake of Abeokuta were open supporters and contributors to the
Action Group but were not being similarly advised.
Awolowo reacted by promising to give other Obas similar advice, but
also told Oba Akenzua II to go back to Benin and seriously reflect over
his comments. [National Archives, Ibadan;
File B.P.215 Correspondence with the Oba of Benin.]
This meeting between Oba Akenzua and Chief Awolowo
was to presage a complex series of intrigues that would unfold in the next
few months. Just as Chief H Omo-Osagie was to
leave for Lagos in March 1955 to take up a new position as Parliamentary
Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, he was involved in a factional split
with a sub-faction of the Edomwonyi group led by A.G. Bazuaye within the
Otu-Edo [Otu-Edo Secretariat: Confusion in the Otu Edo. March 4, 1955].
This was coming to a head just as the mandate of the Benin Native Authority
Council was expiring. The Action Group
Government in Ibadan refused to renew the mandate of the council, preferring
instead to appoint a provisional caretaker council.
This caretaker committee was under the chairmanship of the Oba, but
consisted of a mixture of the pro-Action Group Bazuaye faction of Otu-Edo
and elements of Iyase Gaius Obaseki’s pro-Action Group Benin Tax Payers Association,
pending new elections. The new provisional council
included well-known Action Groupers like S.Y. Eke and V.O.E. Osula [Benin
Native Authority Files 730/4 (April 2, 1955) and 730/5 (May5, 1955)]. It increased the salary of the Oba in a move that
appeared to signal a rapprochement between Oba Akenzua and Iyase Gauis Obaseki. It was hoped that the Oba would cooperate with an
alliance of the Bazuaye and Obaseki groups to oust Omo-Osagie from power. But the Oba wanted some kind of public indication
that the Action Group would stop being ambivalent or even hostile toward
the creation of the Midwest.
Therefore, on June 14th, 1955, a legislator,
MS Sowole, moved a motion, seconded by JG Ako, a minister of state, which
was carried in the Western House of Assembly titled “Creation of a Separate
State for Benin and Delta Provinces.” Chief
Awolowo’s curious reaction to this development on the floor of the House
was to announce that “the Government adopts no official attitude whatsoever”
towards the Sowole motion [Western House of Assembly Debates, 14 June,
1955].
According to Professor Michael Crowder, at this
stage, the Action Group:
“…..gave its blessing
to this movement, partly because it was beginning to find the Mid-West an
electoral and economic liability and partly because it realized that
if it were to champion the creation of new states in the Eastern and Northern
Regions it could hardly object to the creation of one in the Western region
itself.”
The problem, though, was that the Action group
was never trusted by core Midwest Protagonists, who saw opportunism and duplicity
in its behavior. Dennis Osadebay, for example, was of the opinion that the
Sowole motion was little more than a vote catching gimmick to secure victory
at the 1955 and 1956 general elections [Osadebay, Op. Cit.]. In time to come his suspicions would be confirmed
when, after independence, Chief Awolowo openly said that the Sowole motion
was not binding on the Western region.
It was in this situation that local government
elections took place in Benin in September 1955. Once
again, Chief Omo-Osagie and the Otu-Edo were victorious [Oronsaye, Op.
Cit.]. A few weeks later, on October 25th,
1955 Oba Akenzua was appointed Minister without portfolio in Awolowo’s government
at Ibadan – an announcement that practically destroyed the BDPP. The Oba explained that henceforth he would use his
membership of the Action group Government of the Western region to push
for the creation of the Midwest. In response,
members of Otu-Edo in Benin staged a mock funeral of the Oba right in front
of his Palace.
Meanwhile, according to Michael Vickers, in December
1955, western Ibo leaders, not unmindful of developments in Benin, but also
confident in their trained manpower advantage over others, decided that
a future Midwest would best serve their interests, rather than either the
West or East. Thus they began renegotiating
the terms of renewed cooperation with the now moribund BDPP. [Vickers: Ethnicity and Sub-Nationalism in Nigeria.
Worldview Publishing, 2000. p121] Thus, inspite of his stature as the earliest
and most consistently committed advocate of the Midwest cause, H. Omo-Osagie
would later concede the leadership of the Midwest State Movement to Dennis
Osadebay, also known as the “Gentleman Leader of the Opposition” in exchange
for support.
In January 1956, the
Oba removed himself as a Patron of Otu-Edo, and stopped making public demands
for the creation of the Midwest, hoping to achieve it, nonetheless, by some
kind of internal understanding with Chief Awolowo’s government. The Oba’s high stakes moves throughout 1955
caused a lot of mistrust within Otu-Edo as well as pro-Midwest sympathizers
in other parties. But Oba Akenzua remained convinced
that his presence in the government was the tactical thing to do in the
circumstances. He would give Chief Awolowo time
to fulfill his promise. In February, he
hosted the Queen at the Benin Airport and made a point of emphasizing the
uniqueness of the grand Benin-Delta reception.
Tragically, Iyase Gaius Obaseki died in April and was mourned throughout
the region as a man of great stature. [Egharevba,
Op. Cit.]
Another development in the Western Regional Assembly
that created consternation in the Benin and Delta provinces was the attempt
in 1956 to enforce Yoruba as a language medium in all schools throughout
ALL the provinces. The British Lt. Governor,
Sir John Rankine, vetoed compulsory implementation in the Benin and Delta
provinces, explaining that it was a time–bomb. It
is not clear what role Oba Akenzua II played
in securing this veto. [personal communication, D. A. Omoigui]
On May 5, 1956, the Midwest State Movement (MSM)
was inaugurated from the ashes of the BDPP. Its
patron was the Obi of Agbor. Members of the Executive Committee were Dennis
Osadebay (Leader), Chief H. Omo-Osagie (Deputy Leader), J. E. Otobo (Secretary),
G.E. Odiase, O. Oweh, F. Oputa-Otutu and M.A. Kubeinje.
Its legal advisers were A. Atake, M. Edewor, W. Egbe, GE Longe, and
JM Udochi. [JA Brand. The Midwest State Movement
in Nigerian Politics. Political Studies, Vol. XIII, 3 (1965), p351]
In preparation for the September 1956 London Constitutional Conference,
the MSM embarked on fund raising drives and political tours through the
Delta and Benin provinces [Vickers, Op. Cit.].
It also began developing detailed arguments to justify the creation
of a new region. Such arguments included the
proposed region’s distinct way of life, various examples of discrimination
including allocation of funds to various line items in the budget. The proposed region’s economic viability was also
studied, taking note of its agricultural base, Rubber, Timber, Palm oil, brown
coal, water resources, ports and its capacity to create secondary industries
from the African Timber and Plywood Factory in Sapele.
The conference was, however, later deferred until 1957.
Meanwhile on May 26, during Western parliamentary
regional elections in Benin, Otu-Edo secured victory once again. Notably, G.I. Oviasu of Otu-Edo/NCNC defeated S.O.
Ighodaro of the Action Group and the Oba’s second son, Felix Akenzua, lost
to VI Amadasun. One irritant during this election
was the complaint that many students from the Benin and Delta provinces
at the University College Ibadan were so mistrusted by Action group operatives
on campus that their names were surreptitiously removed from voters’ registration
lists in Ibadan.
During the 1957 London Constitutional Conference,
the MSM declared that it would be willing to accept a plebiscite in the
Benin-Delta area. However, efforts by the MSM
to insist that the creation of states be discussed before self-government
were outflanked as the NCNC and AG resisted any effort to create new states
in their own regions [Report by the Nigeria Constitutional Conference
held in London, May and June 1957. Cmnd. 207. London: HMSO, 1957]. The AG, for example, accused the NCNC of stalling
about the proposed COR State because of the possibility of discovery of
Oil, even as it was busy proposing regions elsewhere.
The NPC was also uninterested in the creation of new regions in the
North. All three parties did not want any delays
in independence merely on account of creation of new states for minorities.
Eventually, Chief Awolowo, while opposing all State
requests except those of the Midwest, COR and Middle Belt, which he said
should be created simultaneously, got his rivals in the NCNC and Northern
Peoples Congress (NPC) to accept certain fundamental principles which would
guide creation of new regions and which would be enshrined in the proposed
new constitution. These requirements included
a two-thirds majority consent of the legislature of the concerned state
from which the new state was to be created, as well as the federal parliament;
that ethnic groups should not be split; that ethnic groups that chose not
to separate could stay with the original state; and that both the proposed
new state and the residual state from which it was created should meet tests
of viability.
For the Midwest in particular, Anthony Enahoro
proposed an idea patterned after the Ministry of Welsh Affairs that had been
created in 1951 in the United Kingdom by the Conservative government. This concept meant that rather than a new Midwest
region, the Midwest would be managed under a “Ministry of Midwest Affairs”
concurrently under his supervision as the Western region Minister for Home
Affairs. Chief Awolowo accepted this concept.
By the time the conference came to an end, delegates
from the three major ethnic groups had agreed that in addition to tough
legislative requirements at federal and regional levels, a plebiscite should
be conducted in the area of any proposed new state to determine if 60% of
registered voters in the area wanted a new state [Joint Proposals by
the NPC, NCNC and Action Group Delegations: The
creation of New States. Statement submitted to the Nigerian Constitutional
Conference, London, June 1957.]. As a consolation
prize, a Commission of Inquiry was recommended to ascertain the facts about
the fears of minorities and consider what safeguards should be included
in the new constitution, with the proviso that creation of states only be
considered as a last resort. The Rt. Hon. Alan Lennox-Boyd, Secretary of
State for the Colonies, appointed this commission in September 1957. It
later came to be known as the Willink Commission. Its
members were Henry Willink, Gordon Hadow, Phillip Mason and J.B. Shearer. It arrived in Nigeria on November 23rd,
1957 and held public sittings and private meetings from December 8th
to 23rd at Benin and Warri. Following
an extensive schedule of visits all over the country, it left for the UK
on April 12th, 1958 and eventually submitted its report on July
30th, 1958. [Cmnd. 505. London: HMSO, 1958]
Before settling down to prepare for the Willink
Commission visit, reaction to the outcome of the London Conference among
members of the MSM was extremely negative. Chief
Omo-Osagie, for example, said,
“The people of the Midwest would willingly submit
to the use of nuclear weapons, devastating bombs or machine guns to annihilate
them, rather than remain in a self governing West.” [West African Pilot.
July 14, 1957]
TESTIMONY AT THE WILLINK COMMISSION
It has been said that the Midwest State Movement
flew the two expatriate counsels that led the testimony of the pro-Midwest
witnesses at the Willink Commission, into the country.
In point of fact Chief Omo-Osagie paid for their round trip fares
and expenses out of his own pocket. Money was
not forthcoming from the NCNC. The more senior of the pair was George G.
Baker.
Three major sets of opinion were canvassed. The Midwest State movement was only interested in
the creation of the Midwest (meaning Benin and Warri provinces en bloc)
– to which it wanted the Edo-speaking Sobe and Ijagba areas of Ondo province
appended. The Action
Group, represented by its lawyer, Fani Kayode, conceded that the Midwest
might, as a last resort, be allowed to go (after all the legislative hurdles)
but that Warri division and Akoko-Edo should join Ondo province, while the
western Ibo should join the Eastern region and the western Ijaw should join
eastern Ijaw. He even went further to suggest
that Ishan division should be excluded from the “residual Midwest” for no
other reason than because Ishan had a significant number of Action Group
supporters. The government of the Western region,
represented by Rotimi Williams, differed slightly from Fani-Kayode, by accepting
that Afemai and Ishan divisions could join the proposed “residual Midwest”,
implying the Benin and Urhobo divisions, if they wished.
[Willink Commission report. Cmnd. 505. London: HMSO, 1958]
The position of the MSM was based on fear of colonization
by the Yoruba. Detailed testimony was heard
from a broad range of witnesses, including Chiefs Ezomo, Oliha, Ineh and
Osula. Other witnesses included the Chairmen
of the Iyekovia, Uhunmwode and Benin City councils, namely Messrs Adonrin,
Atohengbe and Ogbebor. Edo women made a submission
through Madam Eweka. Complaints included lack
of rubber markets and processing facilities, excessive local taxation, including
“head taxes” which would then be remitted to Ibadan, poor infrastructure,
and discrimination in the award of scholarships and opportunities for Edo
women traders at Ibadan. More recently, Mr. Isaac
Asemota recalled that, “While Benin- City stayed in the dark with no electricity,
running water, good roads, separate and unequal schools and grossly inadequate
health clinics, there in Ibadan, Edo tax monies were being squandered in
the construction of Cocoa House, Mapo Hall and Commercial Broadcasting Service
Radio Station whose frequency we couldn’t even pick up in Benin-City. The
best we could hope for was Redifussion radio which had a very low frequency
and could not be heard more than two miles away from the broadcasting booth.
“ (Isaac Asemota: “The last Edo Political Titan: Chief
Humphrey Omo-Osagie” unpublished manuscript, Edo-Nation Egroup, July 2, 2002.)
The most powerful and emotional testimony from
Benin came from Chief H Omo-Osagie. He lamented
the insidious cultural role of Ifa divination and Ogboni activities
in inserting Yoruba values and ways into Benin society.
He explained that Ifa divination required knowledge of Yoruba,
while the Yoruba derived Ogboni society, was, according to him, “more dangerous
than freemasonry.” In fact he openly stated
that after independence, laws would likely be passed, making membership
of the ROF compulsory. He went on to criticize
the Western region Chiefs Law No. 20 of 1957 which was being used with effect
to intimidate traditional rulers and influence the selection of chiefs and
Dukes inside the Midwest. The Chief also went
into additional detail about perceptions of Yoruba domination of the Police,
government boards, the public service, and the use of scholarships as a
tool for punishing separatist divisions. The
Benin division, for example, had not, under the period of review, received
any scholarships, while the Ijebu province (home to Chief Awolowo) had secured
17 such awards. Another complaint was that Rubber
was being developed in the Ijebu province when investment in the promised
Ikpoba Rubber processing factory for already established rubber plantations
of the Midwest was being help up. A similar
shenanigan affected the Koko port. He went on
to use examples of the decision by the Action Group government to dissolve
the Benin Divisional Council in 1955 as an example of arbitrary misuse of
power. In conclusion, Chief Omo-Osagie opposed
the new “Welsh-type” arrangement implemented by the Action Group through
the establishment of the “Ministry of Midwest Affairs” and the Midwest Advisory
Council, and demanded either the creation of a Midwest region or a return
to a unitary government at the center with provinces at the periphery.
Supporting testimony from the Ishan division, where
the Action Group had deposed the Onogies of Idoa and Ubiaja was also heard
from G. Ebea, A. Ibhazo, Prince Shaka Momodu, and His Royal Highness, Enosegbe
II, Enogie of Ewohimi. Similarly, the Commission
heard from the Oba of Agbede who bluntly stated that the Oba of Benin, and
not any of the Yoruba Obas, was his Oba. On
their part, Messrs Utomi, Onyia and Odiakosa provided the views of the Asaba
division. Interestingly, while scholarship complaints
were commonplace in the Benin division, the Asaba division was doing very
well with scholarships under the guidance of its representative, Dennis
Osadebay, who was then the Chairman of the Regional Scholarships Board. In Warri, there was a
split among the Itsekiri. While Chiefs Arthur
Prest and Festus Okotie-Eboh were in support, at this stage, of creation
of a Midwest region, O.N. Rewane and the Olu of Warri were against it.
In response to testimony of pro-Midwest witnesses,
a shadowy organization called the “Anti-Midwest State Movement” was put
forward by the Action Group. It asserted that
Edos had more to fear from Igbo than Yoruba domination, and that creation
of a Midwest region would expose Edos to Igbo domination.
Among its observations, the commission noted that
actual expenditure on road development in the Midwest area up to March 31,
1957, was only 15% of the estimates, compared with 50% in the Yoruba West. It also made the following observation:
“What is feared is a permanent Action Group majority
in the Western House of Assembly. The Action
Group drawing its inspiration from a Yoruba society, the Egbe Omo Oduduwa
expressing itself….through the Ogboni Fraternity, controlling Boards, Corporations
and Commissions, eventually even the Magistracy and Judiciary, aiming at
the obliteration of all that is not Yoruba. That is what is meant by Yoruba
domination.”
But in its recommendations, the Willink Commission
advised that short of a new state, the “Midwest area” for which the Ministry
of Midwest Affairs of the Western region was being established be reduced
to a “Council for Edo Affairs” with responsibility for development, welfare
and culture preservation, covering the Edo-speaking divisions of Benin,
Urhobo, Afenmai and Ishan. In addition to a
similarly proposed “Calabar Council” in Eastern Nigeria, the commission
felt that “these two are the areas in which it seems to us, there is the
strongest and most united local sentiment and the most clearly distinguishable
culture.” (see Willink Report, Chapter 14, Section 4, Item 36, page 97.)
In reaction, the MSM rejected the Willink report,
insisted on creation of the Midwest region, but left open the possibility
of a “Provincial Commissioner for Benin and Delta provinces” at the federal
level – an option the Action Group rejected outright.
1958 – 1960
While the Constitutional Conference and Willink
Commission were finalizing their activities, the Western region passed what
was known as “amendment No. 4” to the local government law of 1957, which
gave it new powers by which it could manipulate the control of local councils. The combination of the local government and chieftaincy
laws, control of customary courts and heavy handed use of tax assessments
was then exploited in an aggressive drive by the Action Group to take control
of the Benin and Delta provinces [Sklar - Benin: A Study in the Mechanics
of Chieftaincy Control. P238-42, In: Sklar, Nigerian Political Parties.].
During the Lancaster House conference in London
which took place in September and October 1958, the concept of a minority
area inclusive of Benin and Delta provinces, except Warri division and Akoko-Edo
district was discussed and vaguely agreed to, pending further consultation,
without plans for a Special Ijaw Area Board.
[Report by the Resumed Nigeria Constitutional Conference Held
in London, September and October 1958, Cmnd. 569, London: HMSO, 1958]
In the meantime, the rising political profile of
key Midwesterners who would come to play critical roles in the creation
of the Midwest was unmistakable. A national
government was formed based on the 1957 constitution, in preparation for
independence. In this government Chief Festus
Okotie-Eboh of Warri emerged as the Minister for Labor and Welfare (NCNC),
a position which gave him direct access to northern leaders with whom he
consolidated strong personal relationships which would be used by the Midwest
movement with devastating effect after independence.
The Action Group was represented by Chief SL Akintola (Communications
and Aviation) and Mr. Ayo Rosiji (Health). Other
Midwesterners like H. Omo-Osagie, James Otobo, V. I. Amadasun, Oputa-Otutu,
Shaka Momodu, FH Utomi and others also became more prominent in party and
legislative affairs at regional and national levels.
It was in May 1958 that initial talks
to enter into a post-independence government coalition were held between
the NCNC and the NPC [Enahoro, Fugitive Offender, Op. Cit.].
Back in Benin, the battle to undermine Chief Omo-Osagie’s
power base was continuing – on all fronts. Local
government elections took place in Benin on May 17th, 1958 [Oronsaye,
Op. Cit.]. The manipulation of post-election
council nominations made it possible for the Action group to dominate the
council although the party did not win the elections.
On November 25th, Action group stalwart S. Y. Eke, moved
a motion to ban Owegbe “juju” (also known as Isigidi, Aimuekpensulele or
Iselogha) from the Benin division. The motion
was carried and confirmed on March 19th, 1959 by an order of the
Western region Governor-in-Council – with the support of Oba Akenzua II [West
Regional Gazette, No. 14 of 19 March, 1959]. The Oba, who was then a Minister in the government,
had commented in a letter on January 23rd, 1959, that Owegbe
was an imported juju and that its existence in Benin was a threat to peace. Chief Omo-Osagie
demanded a formal judicial inquiry, saying the ban was politically motivated,
and explained that that there was no “juju” or “cult” as such, but that
there was indeed an “Owegbe society” which was the “youth wing” of the Otu-Edo
party. The existence of youth wings was by no
means a new phenomenon in Nigeria. The Zikist
National Vanguard and Awo National Brigade were examples, according to the
Chief, who also directed attention to the violations of fundamental human
rights and freedom of association which the ban implied [Debates of the
Western House of Assembly, May 27, 1959; col. 863].
When however, Chief Omo-Osagie asserted that the
Oba would testify that there was no such thing as “Owegbe juju” known in
the Benin division, the Oba, in a letter dated July 22nd, 1959
stated that there was such a “juju” which, in his opinion at that time, as
a Minister in the Action group government, was dangerous. In what seemed
to reflect the underlying political fear, the Oba said the danger was not
with claims of powers to kill or save but in the ability of intelligent citizens
based in Benin, having convinced less sophisticated rural based folk to
take oaths, could then by order, cause disturbances anytime they wished
– a veiled reference to the disturbances of 1951. Using
this cover, the western region government moved to emasculate the Owegbe
society, which was actually originally created to provide sanctuary for those
who wanted a way to fortify themselves from Ogboni recruitment drives. To illustrate the political nature of this development,
the Oba reversed himself when he wrote a letter in 1962 (having since left
the Action group) to the government saying he no longer had any concerns
about Owegbe (see below).
At the same time, the national wing of the NCNC
was seeking to wean itself from its dependence on the Otu-Edo. It accused Otu-Edo of restricting choices for
candidates in elections to Benin indigenes, to the detriment of resident
Igbos who wanted to contest in Benin and represent the party at the center. This complaint was curious, considering that Chike
Ekwuyasi, an Ibo speaking Midwesterner from Ogwashi-Uku was actually elected
on Otu-Edo platform to represent Benin back in 1951 – and no Benin indigene
had ever been elected from any Igbo district. Nevertheless,
the party established the Orizu and Onyia Commissions of inquiry to probe
Otu-Edo – resulting in a recommendation by J.I.G. Onyia of Asaba to dissolve
Otu-Edo and replace it with straight party membership of the NCNC, also
known as “NCNC simplicita.” The report also
pointed out that Omo-Osagie had not held elections for the position of President-General of Otu-Edo since 1950. This aspect of the report was attractive to Omo-Osagie’s
critics within Otu-Edo – like GI Oviasu, DEY Aghahowa etc, who then formed
a faction called “NCNC pure.” Nevertheless,
Omo-Osagie, leery of non-Edo based political parties, insisted that Otu-Edo
would not be swallowed by any national party but would remain independent.
[Oronsaye, Op. cit.]
Other noteworthy developments in 1959 include the
decision of the NCNC to establish a Midwest secretariat in Benin and the
emergence of the States creation issue in the campaigns for federal elections
in December 1959. In that election, the Action
Group – which said it would also support the creation of the Midwest,
but only if it occurred simultaneously with states creation in other regions
- won three out of fifteen seats in the Midwest, two of which were in Ishan
(A. Enahoro and P.D. Oboh) and one in Afenmai (M. Obi).
The other twelve federal legislators from the Midwest were all members
of the NCNC, including A. Opia, U.O. Ayeni, E. A. Mordi, J.B. Eboigbodi,
Jereton Mariere, J.K. Deomonadia, O. Oweh, Festus Okotie-Eboh, and N. A.
Ezenbodor. In the Benin division, H.O. Osagie,
D.N. Oronsaye and D.E.Y. Aghahowa secured the federal seats. (Daily Times,
December 14, 1959, pp5-6). These legislators
would all play crucial roles in the fight for the Midwest after independence. For example, Jereton Mariere, a distinguished
member of the Urhobo Progress Union, and businessman who had managed the
late Mukoro Mowoe’s business at Agbor, would later emerge the first Governor
of the Midwestern region. [personal communication, Professor PP Ekeh]
1960
As was the case in previous years, 1960 was full of action, for and against the creat