From today, the 15th of September, 2020 Nigerian Tracker will be bringing to its numerous and esteemed readers the processes that led to Nigeria’s Independence on the first of October 1960, Nigeria will clock 60 Years on the 1st of October 2020.
On first October 1960 Princess Alexandra who represented the Queen of England and handed over the independence constitution to Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in Lagos, Nigeria’s former Federal Capital.
Analysts from different disciplinary backgrounds have related how Nigeria got independence for the British Colonial Masters on the first of October 1960 through multiple ways and processes.
Some are saying that Nigeria secures its independence on a platter of Gold while others are of the opinion that there is no way the British colonial Masters will handover Nigeria to Nigerians without any rancor.
Constitutional Negotiations was one of the ways followed up by the British colonialists to ensure that Nigeria became self-governing in 1960.
The Clifford Constitution named after Nigeria’s second colonial Governor who came after Sir Fredrick Lugard introduced elective principles for Nigeria.
The constitution tagged Clifford Constitution of 1922, Nigeria conducted elections into the legislature and that gave room for the formation of political parties.
The first political party formed by Nigerians under the Clifford Constitution was the NNDP, Nigeria’s National; Democratic Party, the leader of that party was Sir Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay.
When elections were conducted, the party NNDP had its first legislative representatives at the legislature courtesy of Sir Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay who was born in 1846 and died in 1946, 14 years before Nigeria’s Independence.
After the Clifford constitution that brought the first elective principle to Nigeria was other constitutions through Nigerian colonial masters who had provisions that continued to pave way for Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
The constitutions are the Macpherson constitution, Oliver Littleton constitution, and the 1960 independence constitutions.
The colonial constitution that gave another way to make Nigeria self-governing from 1957 was the Oliver Littleton constitution, of 1956, its provisions permitted the 2 regions out of the 3 regions of Nigeria to have internal self-government.
The Western and Eastern Regions of Nigeria gained Internal self-government in 1957 while the Northern region got internal self-government in 1959.
The Regions had Premiers Obafemi Awolowo, Michael Okpara, and Sir Ahmadu Bello for the West, East, and North respectively.
That was the way through which Nigeria gained Independence in 1960 through constitutional Negotiations.
To be continued.
