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The Development of Political Parties in Western Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Peter C. Lloyd
Peter C. Lloyd
Affiliation:
West African Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan, Nigeria
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Extract

Among the various forms of indigenous political activity in Africa today, that of the nationalist parties of the British West African colonies is perhaps the most prominent. In the Gold Coast and Nigeria these parties have almost achieved self-government for their territories; they now form the government or opposition parties in elected parliaments. They should be clearly distinguished from other types of nationalist movements, such as nativistic uprisings or syncretist movements of religious or tribal associations. As Coleman says: “African nationalism is not merely a peasant revolt …. Where it is most advanced [it] has been sparked and led by the so-called detribalized, Western-educated, middle-class intellectuals and professional Africans; by those who in terms of improved status and material standards of living have benefited most from colonialism; in short, by those who have come closest to the Western World but have been denied entry on full terms of equality.” Many of the members of these nationalist parties had, in their acceptance of a European style of life, turned their backs on the politically inert peasant mass from which they had risen, although in recent years there has been a growing interest on the part of the intellectuals in indigenous culture and history. In other parts of the world, such parties achieved power through revolution; in West Africa, the British colonial governments, in collaboration with these parties, drew up new constitutions and the party members were elected to power by ballot. To retain power the politicians have had to take party politics to the smallest towns and villages, where even nationalism had scarcely existed.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , September 1955 , pp. 693 - 707
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1955

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References

1 For an excellent survey of these forms of political activity, see Coleman, James S., “Nationalism in Tropical Africa,” this Review, Vol. 48, pp. 404–25 (June, 1954)Google Scholar.

2 Ibid., p. 414.

3 Guided perhaps by the successful transfer of power in India, the British West African colonial governments met nationalist demands with offers of new constitutions. Some of these constitutions were barely functioning before they were superseded, but in this way outbreaks of violence, particularly such as spread to the masses, were almost completely prevented.

4 Nigeria is at present divided into three Regions, each with its own legislature and government. Lagos, the Federal capital, is excluded from these Regions. For administrative purposes, Regions are divided into Provinces and these are in turn subdivided into Divisions.

5 There are in addition approximately half a million Yoruba in the Northern Region. With the Hausa (Northern Region) and the Ibo (Eastern Region), they are one of the three main groups in Nigeria.

6 Lagos became a British possession in 1861. In 1886, representatives of the Governor interceded in the tribal wars in Yoruba country and effected a settlement. In the following years, treaties of peace and friendship were signed with many Yoruba rulers. A British Protectorate was declared in 1901.

7 Prest, A. R. and Stewart, I. G., The National Income of Nigeria 1950–1951 (London, 1953)Google Scholar.

8 Ijebu Ode, a town of 28,000 people, is now sixty miles by road from Lagos. Its people are noted traders and those who lived for long periods in Lagos took part in its politics and stirred up some enthusiasm in their home town.

9 The MacPherson Constitution, named after the Governor of the period, came into force after widespread discussion by the Nigerian people. Resolutions were sent in by local government bodies and political associations and these were debated, in turn, at the divisional, provincial, regional, and central level.

10 I have given a fuller description of these elections and an analysis of the membership of the electoral colleges in “Some Comments on the Elections in Nigeria,” Journal of African Administration, Vol. 4, pp. 82–92 (July, 1952)Google Scholar.

11 One of the categories used by Duverger, Maurice in his Political Parties, Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State, tr. North, (New York, 1954)Google Scholar.