A Critical Expose of the Effects Of 1914 Amalgamation on Nigeria

Chinua Achebe citing an Igbo power saw in his There was a dry land tells us that a man who does not know where the rain started to beat him cannot advance where he dried his body. The rain that beat Nigeria began more than than than a decennary ago, from the resolutions of the Berlin conference of 1884/1885 to the economicdriven amalgamation of the sumern and southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914 by Lord Lugard. When the British set foot on the neighborhood presently known as Nigeria, it was a cacophony of many nations nations which the British preferred to c all tribes.Encouraged by the western anthropological binary of the egotism and the former(a), the British colonialists saw themselves as destined and equipped to rescue these African peoples from deep-scaled savagery, superstition and statelessness. They could not acknowledge that these peoples had any form of polish or system of governance. Even if they did, they did not see the need to back up the maturity and crystallization of such institutions.Theirs, they thought was a superior and more authentic civilization, and history especially that of slavery, had perhaps taught them that the need for European to chasten and pacify the other, the rest of the world, especially Africa was a divinely decreed enterprise (Davison 199121-51). Little wonder that when the British came to Nigeria in the 19th century, offset printing as traders and merchants, they did not hesitate to bring on their religion and later, government.With a conjunction of force, t execution and artifice, they set up administrative machinery which was later to beat a metaphor for the suppression and annihilation of indigenous political and socio-religious structures machinery which was intentional to proclaim and establish the superiority of the European self over and preceding(prenominal) the African other. For easy administration more than for any other reason, British colonialists banded several nations to arresther i n 1914 to create Nigeria ane(a) of the liveliest housewives composed a depicted object anthem for the new nation.In recognition of the artificiality of the plan of Nigeria, the anthems author wrote inter alia though tribe and lingua may differ, in trade union we stand Throughout the existence of Nigeria, the endorsement line of the stanza above evokes hypocrisy it represents one of the major falsehoods on which the British founded Nigeria and on which modern Nigeria thrives. Then the questions as to why do the British merge culturally diverse peoples to forge Nigeria? Was it not possible for them to award these nations (which they called tribes) to evolve with minimum external influence and interference?Amalgamation of 1914 Reasons and ProspectsThe primary quill aim of the British in amalgamating the northern and the southern protectorates in Nigeria was plain economic. Compared with the colony and protectorate of southern Nigeria, the protectorate of northern Nigeria prove d relatively poor neighbor. The entire south was very viable and richly enable with surplus resources. The north was not as rich as the south, and was be Britain money since it was not generating enough r eventideue to sustain itself.It was in the free rein to offset the cost of the northern Nigeria that Lord Lugard who was the governor appointed a committee to recommend charges of running the almost barren north at a minimal or no cost to Britain. The chemical radical recommended the amalgamation of the southern to northern to join the two vast areas as one country. On January 1, 1914, northern and southern Nigeria were amalgamated into one country and named the colony and protectorate of Nigeria. The amalgamation hence, was purely for administrative convenience and economic exploitation and as Chinweizu (1978) stated, British profit was too important to be allowed to suffer.The above summary indicates the making of Nigeria and we can observe that the amalgamation of the nort hern and southern Nigeria was not in the pastime of Nigerians as they were not consulted originally the amalgamation.Consequences of the Amalgamation a Toddler After Hundred YearsWhatever Europe did in Africa in those twilight days, she did them solely for her own advantage and almost unceasingly at the detriment of the African. The amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 is no exception. It was a political blunder much of the history of Nigeria supports this thesis, although no one would acknowledge this in modern Nigeria.Before independence, the shadow of ethnicity had grown so tall that even the hostile colonial national anthem could not exorcise it. When the British minded(p) us independence in 1960, it was certain that they have left hand not a truly pacified and unified federation built on write out and mutual respect and equity but a mere geographical expression as Awolowo, one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria, put it. When Tafawa Balewa get the independence charter at racecourse in 1960, he, perhaps, also sure the charter for instability and disaffection.The history of Nigeria between 1960 and 1967, when the civil war in conclusion broke out, is a testimony. Generally, amalgamation preserved the difference among peoples and their administration. The adverse national issues were now looked at from local interests. Closely related to this was the rheumatic con extender which developed between respective administrations as they struggle for different group interest which they represented. So that even in Lugards time, Nigeria was divided along north-south lines. Thus, the way the amalgamation was implemented left a legacy of tension among component parts of Nigeria.Also, the boundary adjustment which accompanied the amalgamation left some geographical in-balance between the north and south thereby creating comparable adverse impact on subsequent nation-building efforts. Furthermore, in spite of all efforts since the famous amalgamation of the northern Nigeria and the southern Nigeria hundred years ago, an act which the northern leaders to this day consistently and publicily condemn as a mistake, Nigeria as a united country was nothing but a fiction. Certain basic features mark a country out as united. Some of these features areCommon or similar culture, as substantially as social system.Common citizenship, with equal rights and privileges for all men anywhere in the country.Common laws and a common judicial system.A common electoral system.Equal rights of all citizens in the lead the law.Rights to acquire property and make a living anywhere in the country.Equal rights to employment anywhere in the country.Equal rights to protection of life and property.Most of these features or even more are completely found lacking in our near country Nigeria.No thanks to ethnic consciousness among Nigerians.Any WayForward?To get the right answers presupposes asking the right questions. Amalgamation of Nigeria is in itself not i n and of itself evil. The problem is that many critics of this very concept tend to be more emphatic in its exposition of the ills of this principle, relegating to the periphery and obliterating it good aspects. We tend to sound and resound the trumpets of disparity among Nigerians but prefer to be myopic about things that are fundamental to us as Africans.It is truthful as some critics may choose to argue that our amalgamation was an unconsulted one as against the United States of Americas voluntary amalgamation. As an Igbo proverb result have it anyukoo amiri onu o gba ufufu (igbo proverb portraying that unity is strength), the unite of the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria could if utilized devoid of ethic sentiments and prejudice will make Nigeria a formidable force in its leadership component part as the giant of Africa. This could only be possible when national interest is placed foremost as against ethnic interests.Furthermore, Nigerians at all direct should learn to imbibe and assimilate more readily the African olfactory perception of Ujamaa socialism as propagated by Julius kambarage Nyerere. This brotherly spirit of communalism will divine service to eliminate every form of division against tribal lines and foster that brotherhood that is deeply rooted in Black consciousness, In conclusion, Nigeria inbuilt arrangement should be re-visited and made in such a way that it reflects true federalism by restoring more powers to the regional governments as this will de-intensify the unhealthy struggle to control the center that led Nigeria where it is today.