POLITICAL PARTIES AND PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF -NIGERIA BY VICTOR FINIPAYA PERETOMODE 'l Bachelor of Education University of Benin Benin City, Bendel 1979 Master of Science Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 1982 Doctor of Education Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 1984 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS July, 1985 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my deceased grandmother, Mrs. Ebiavwo Ogbaudu, Who, during her lifetime, was always committed to the integra­ tion of the extended family. ('fg~ 3 7() I POLITICAL PARTIES AND PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA Thesis Approved: ii 122s179 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to express his gratitude to his major adviser, Professor James J. Lawler, for his wise counsel, critical evaluation, and searching criticisms of my work. The author also appreciates Professor Lawler's words of encouragement, his patience in reading through handwritten drafts of the different chapters of the thesis before having them typed, and all other invaluable assistance throughout the period of the preparation of this study. The author also wishes to express his indebtedness to the other members of the thesis committee, Professor Harold V. Sare and Professor Franz A. Von Sauer, for their assistance. Finally, a note of genuine appreciation is also expressed to the Department of Political Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, for its award of graduate assistantship which provided the financial assistance, making the completing of this program and thesis possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION. 1 Analytical Framework • 5 Hypothesis ••••••• 9 Significance of Study. 10 Research Method ••••• 11 Definition of Critical Terms • • 11 II. DEFINITIONS, CONDITIONS, THEORIES, AND STRATEGIES OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION. • • • • • • • • • . • 14 Definitions of National Integration. 14 Process of Political Integration • 22 1. Territorial and Geographic Proximity • 22 2. Degree of Homogeneity. • • • . 23 3. Mutual Knowledge or Cognitive Proximity. • • 23 4. Government Effectiveness • • • • • . 24 5. Functional Interests • • • • • • • • • 25 6. Communal Character or Social Motive. 25 7. Structural Frame • • • • • • 26 8. Previous Integrative Experience. • 26 Theories of National Integration • • • • • 27 1. Theory of Charismatic Leadership 28 2. The Political Party Brokerage Theory • 30 3. The Elite-Mass Gap • • • • . • . • . • 32 4. The Free Market Model. • • • • • . • • 36 5. The Structural-Functionalist Thesis. • 37 6. Social Communications-Transactional Theory • 38 7. The Cross-Pressure Theory. • . • 40 8. The Equitable or Balanced Development Approach • • • . • • • • • . 41 9. Consociational Democratic Theory • 42 III. BACKGROUND TO NIGERIA • 49 Introduction •••• 49 Geography •• 49 Precolonial History •• 52 The Peoples of Northern Nigeria •• 55 The Peoples of Western Nigeria • 61 The Peoples of Eastern Nigeria • • 65 vi Chapter Page From Colonial ism to Independence. • • . • • • • • 70 Introduction • • • • • • • • • . • • • . • . 70 From 1861 Annexation of Lagos Up to Amalgama- tion in 1914 . • . • . • • . • • . 71 Political and Constitutional Developments from Amalgation (1914) - Independence (1960) • • 72 Principle Political Parties at Independence. 77 Political Trends in Nigeria From Independence to the Present . • • • • • . ,• . • . • • • • • 83 IV. THE MAJOR NIGERIAN POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION • • • . • . • • • . • . 94 Introduction ••••...•..•....•....• 94 Identifying the Major Political Parties in Niger~a Up To 1966, and in the 1979 Elections • 95 The Scope, Nature, and Political Bases of the Major Political Parties in the First Republic •• 97 Political Parties and Conflicts and Crises in Nigeria . • . • • . • ll5 The Self-Government Crises at the Center in 1953 • . • . ll6 Census Conflicts from 1933-1964 ••••• 122 The Election Crisis of 1964-1965 •••• 133 The Western Region Election Crisis, November 1965 • • . • . • • . • . • . • . 138 V. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS. • 144 Summary •••• . • • 145 Findings • • • • 146 Conclusions. • . 147 Recommendations •• • 150 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY • . • • • • . • • • . • • • • • • • . • 163 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Size of the Fifteen Major Ethnic Groups in Nigeria. • 54 II. Ethnic Distribution of Northern Region's Population, 1963. 59 III. Ethnic Distribution of the Population of Western Region, 1963. • . • . • • . • . • . • . • • 61 IV. Ethnic Distribution of Eastern Region's Population. • 67 V. Major Political Parties of the First Republic of Nigeria • • • . • . • . • • . • 96 VI. Ethnic Distribution of Major Party Leaders, Nigeria (in Percentages). • . • . • . • . 100 VII. Regional Distribution of the Members of the Central Executive Committee of the Major Parties, 1959. • 101 VIII. Selected Communal Bases of Party Support in Situations of Interparty Competition • • • . • • . • • • . • . 102 IX. The Results of Nigerian Elections, 1951-1965 and 1979 103 X. Percentage Vote (Presidential Election) • • • 113 XI. Growth of Population in Nigeria, 1901-1963. 124 viii LIST OF MAPS Map Page 1. Nigeria and Her Neighbors •• so 2. Vegetation and Rainfall Zones in Nigeria. 51 3. Main Tribal Groups in Nigeria 53 4. Historical Empires that Arose in the 16th Century in the Area Which Came to be Known as Nigeria in 1914 • • • • • 56 ' 5. Principal Ethnic Groups in Northern Region. 58 6. Principal Ethnic Groups in Western Region . 62 7. Principal Ethnic Groups in Eastern Region 66 8. Ethnic Majority and Minority Areas of Regions 69 9. Nigeria as a Federation of Nineteen States. 92 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION National integration in Nigeria has proved a delicate and continuing process that broadly has involved the interplay of institutional and sociological forces ••. It has witnessed the interaction of coercive (military), identitive (socio­ psychological), and utilitarian (economic) factors .•• The present level of integration of this community and the success of future attempts to accelerate integration will depend on the judicious use of any or several of these factors ••. (Williams, 1968, p. 71) The political entity called Nigeria is a polyethnic society with more than 250 linguistic groups. It is an artifical creation of the British resulting from the amalgamation of northern and southern protec- torates in 1914. Nigeria gained her political independence from Britain on October 1, 1960 and became a republic on October 1, 1963. But, from the 1940s to the 1980s, there have been a series of threats to secede from the federation by each of the major ethnic groups--the Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba, and the Ibo. There have been two actual secession bids, although the first was a minor issue that was quickly overcome. The first of the secession bids was in February 1966, when Isaac Boro, Sam Owanaro, and Nottingham Dick--some of the frustrated advocates of creating a rivers state out of the former Eastern Region dominated by Ibo-speaking people--" declared an illegal 'Delta People's Republic' and sought to defend it militarily" (Tamuno, 1970, p. 577). However, they were soon arrested by the Nigerian Army, tried and finally condemned 1 2 to death by the Federal Court for treason. They were later to be pardoned in 1967. In May 1967, the people (the Ibo) of the Eastern Region of Nigeria under the leadership of the military governor of that region, Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the formation of a new country, the "Republic of Biafra". The secession of the east led to a bloody civil war which lasted for about three years. Besides the secession threats and bids, Nigeria has witnessed a number of military coups d'etat and counter coups, the lastest coup being that of December 31, 1983 which toppled the four years and three months old civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. The series of secession threats, the several military coups and counter coups, the "ill-fated gamble" and the declared illegal "Delta People's Republic", and the secession bids of the east and the subsequent civil war that Nigeria has witnessed since Ln the 1940s up to 1983, as Osei-Kwame (1980) rightly points out, clearly demonstrates the "lack of internal ·political integration in that country" (p. 1). Tamuno (1970), a Nigerian scholar and professor of history and a keen observer of the Nigerian political trends, also alluded to the problem of national unity in Nigeria when he stated, "historically, it was easier to estab­ lish the Nigerian state than to nourish the Nigerian nation •.• The latter eluded both British officials and Nigerians for several decades there­ after" (p. 564). The question of national integration no doubt stands at the very core of the political problems in Nigeria. It stands out in the minds of serious and well-meaning Nigerians of all walks of life. It has been a problem in the past. It is still a problem and concern today and will continue to be a major concern in the years to come. Until this problem 3 is resolved, sectionalism, civil disturbances, threats of secession, and possibly another civil war may plague the country in the future. Coleman and Roseberg ( 1964) point out that "the problems of inte- gration are the major issues and obstacles in the task of nation build- ing, which is itself the primary preoccupation of the leadership (and elites)