History of the 1950 Ibadan Conference and the Entrenchment of Regionalist Politics in Nigeria

Abstract

The people of Nigeria demanded greater political participation in the administration of their territories in the post-World War II period. The process of regaining independence from the British Colonial government culminated in various constitutional conferences in Nigeria. The January 1950 Ibadan Conference was one of these conferences organised. However, the conference rather than being a tool for integration of the polities and people of Nigeria became an avenue through which regionalist politics became part and parcel of Nigerian political terrain. Its significance was visible in the entrenchment of regions as centres of political power control with all the executive powers under regional premiers. Each region became distinct and separate from other regions, whereby regional political parties became centre of politics, rather than national integration. This was a clear demarcation from the existence of the North, West and East as administrative centres only. This act in the long run, defeated the objective of the nationalist struggle, which propagated the unity of Nigeria as a single political and economic entity, rather than a divisive unit created based on myopic standing and ideas of regionalism. This research will employ the use of primary source in the form of Proceedings of the January 1950 General Conference, autobiographies and account of participants, and secondary sources which will enable us to reconstruct the history of that historical development in Nigeria.

Keywords: Nigeria, regionalism, politics, integration, nationalist