In our last post, we took a look at the amalgamation process of Nigeria - the first and the second amalgamation processes. However, one question was left unanswered from our last post and that is; "was the amalgamation process of Nigeria advantageous or disadvantageous to Nigeria, both as a people and as a nation?" Here, we will look at the resultant effects of the amalgamation.

Resultant Effects of the Amalgamation

No doubt, the main idea behind the amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates was to create a single political unit out of Nigeria. However, things did not turn out exactly as it was expected because it raised other questions with difficult answers. Firstly; with the superlatively static disposition of the Fulanis (Northern Nigeria); for example; being amalgamated with the dynamic, individualistic and egocentric community of the South, what will you expect from such amalgamation?

Maybe you will be interested to know this; in the pre-colonial/colonial times, acquiring of formal knowledge and western education was mostly seen in the Southern part of Nigeria because of their contact with missionaries that established mission schools there. On the other hand, the Fulanis, during that time, were majorly traditionalists - no wonder both protectorates were in rivalry and often led to hostilities. Uniting these two protectorates to form an entity that is governed by one administration has been inferred by many to be one of the greatest colonial errors in Nigeria.

Some have also quipped that the amalgamation itself was not harmful (at least, unity can also be found in cultural and ethnic diversity) but the administration that was introduced by the British after the amalgamation process suggested isolationism even in the midst of the amalgamation. Take a look at this scenario: The main amalgamation took place in the year 1914 and everyone would have expected a full emergence of one political unit, but the case was not so. From the period of 1914 to 1939, Nigeria functioned as a federation (or rather a society) of two distinct protectorates or provinces.

However, by the mid 1939, the British authority that ran the administration of Nigeria sub-divided the defunct Southern province to get Western province and Eastern province. This triune sub-division remained like that until Nigeria gained her independence and other regions were created - like the mid-west, and the North was further sub-divided. This is why, in this present time, Nigeria is sub-divided into regions (North-east, North-central, South-south, South-east, South-west etc) but still under one administration.

Colonialism and the People of Nigeria

It is worthy to note that colonial rule and colonialism at large was done without prior consent from Nigerian populace. Just like we saw from our last post, the original idea behind colonialism was never in benefit of Nigeria but for exploitation and personal economic reasons - this was the reason many prominent Nigerians (the likes of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo) rose up and fought for her independence.

It became clear that the colonial masters were interested in the cheap and abundant raw materials in Nigeria for their manufacturing processes, at the same time, they saw Nigeria as a ready market for their manufactured goods. This was the reason the policies of colonialism in Nigeria was majorly tilted towards favouring their own economy and highly benefited the British lords without recourse to the opinion of Nigerians themselves. Putting it in clearer terms, Nigerians became foreigners (or more like strangers) in their own fatherland.

Nationalism Movements

Owing to the fact that Nigerians were excluded from participating in governmental activities and economic process in their own fatherland, some Nigerian activists and revolutionists rose up to call for immediate reform in the entire system. These activists formed some nationalism movements to press home their demands.

Their demands were very simple; they wanted to benefit from the system of government in their own country. Much more than that, they wanted to be independent of colonialism. The movements they formed to lead this course include:

• NYM (Nigerian Youth Movement): This movement was established in 1936 by a group of like-minded Nigerian youths and other prominent patriarchs in the society, like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik), Ernest Ikoli, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Samuel Akinsanya etc, to demand for independence of Nigeria. NYM was considered by many Nigeria history scholars as the first true pre-independence nationalism movement.

• West Africa Pilot: This was a renowned media agency that was instrumental to the independence of Nigeria.

• National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon: This movement also had Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as member. It was established in the later part of 1944 with the purpose of establishing a self-governing Nigerian nation which is void of European mandate and rulership.

All these aforementioned nationalism movements, and many others, worked together with one voice; to call for the actualization of independence for the Africa's most populous nation; Nigeria. in 1960, October 1, the declaration was made and Nigeria emerged as a self-governing nation and gained her independence with Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as the first indigenous Nigeria president.

References: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4, Ref5