190 Indonesian Journal of Social and Educational Studie Vol. 2, No.

2, 2021

Yoruba-Igbo Rivalry 1937-1970: A Historical Analysis of the Birth

of Nigeria's Political Dilemma

Udida A. Undiyaundeye
University of Calabar, Cross River, Nigeria
Email: [email protected]

Abstract. The political rivalry between the Yoruba and Igbo ethnic nations revolved around their
undisputed leaders-Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe. It began with the return from the Gold
Coast of Nnamdi Azikiwe. His return engendered an Igbo educational awareness that soon challenged
the Yoruba domination of the economic and political life of the country; leaving in its wake the carcass
of the once vibrant Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM). The brief thaw manifested in the formation of
the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) evaporated with the death of Herbert
Macaulay, the erstwhile president of the party in which Nnamdi Azikiwe was the general secretary,
Nnamdi Azikiwe and the NCNC did not take kindly to the formation by Obafemi Awolowo and his
colleagues of the Edge Omo Oduduwa and subsequently the Action Group (AG). If anything, the
general elections of 1951/52 into the Central Legislature exacerbated the rivalry rendering impossible
hopes of Coalition governments by the NCNC and AG after the federal elections of 1959 and 1964;
and in the process allowed the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) to dictate the direction, pace, and
character of Nigeria’s political development, a trend that not even the military interventions and the
civil war were unable to alter. This paper attempts to deepen our understanding of this rivalry and
concludes that & worked to the utter disadvantage of the two ethnic nations and the Nigerian nation-
state.

Keywords: History, Nigeria, Political Dilemma, Yoruba-Igbo Rivalry.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0

International License.
 Yoruba-Igbo Rivalry 1937-1970: A Historical Analysis - Udida A. Undiyaundeye 191

INTRODUCTION
British colonial authorities in Nigeria were notorious for their Indifference on
matters of provision of social amenities for the masses in urban centers that sprang
up in response to economic activities they engendered (Smock 2013). This void was
filled albeit poorly by communal associations that emerged in the urban centre
across the country. Always working or seeking jobs far from their communal
homelands, members of these associations came to depend on the associations in
times of hardship which were often not far away. In return for the succor given by the
associations, members transferred their loyalty to them rather than the colonial state.
Thus a bond of solidarity was formed in which shared history, successes and rewards
were sinews (Odey et al., 2019; Odey 2018; Okoi 2021a; Okoi 2021b). They fought
their socio-economic battles together against other communal associations or out-
groups. Group successes increased and deepened members' sense of belonging just
as a threat to an association was seen as a threat to its members.
While Obafemi Awolowo was born on March 6, 1909, Nnamdi Azikiwe was
born on November 16, 1904, respectively in Ikenue and Zungeru in present-day Ogun
and Niger states of Nigeria (Oduguwa 2012). Born in rural settings of Nigeria, these
two gentlemen through sheer determination, doggedness and hard work not only
succeeded in their educational adventures, but also rose to the leadership of their
respective ethnic nations by the middle of the 1940s, and thus introduced themselves
to the Nigerian political scene (Oduguwa 2012).
THE RISE OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH MOVEMENT
Dissatisfied with the uncoordinated spate of nationalist agitations in Nigeria in
the 1920s, James Churchill Vanghan, Ernest Sesei Ikoli and Samuel Akisanya among
others founded the Nigeria Youth Movement (NYM) to” lay a solid foundation for the
development of the nationalist spirit in Nigeria (Arifalo 1986). This idea immediately
caught on as the NYM in its charter published in 1938 unification of the ethnic
nations of Nigeria through a search for a common deal. It was in the search for the
attainment of this objective that the new body opened branches in Ibadan, Ijebu Ode,
Warri and Benin in the western; Aba, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Calabar in the Eastern
and Jos, Kaduna, Zaira and Kano in the Northern provinces respectively; and by 1938
claimed a membership of 10,000 and nearly 20 provincial branches (Momah 2013).
No sooner than the NYM found its feet than it was confronted with problems
that posed a mortal threat to its existence. In 1937 Nnamdi Azikiwe returned from his
sojourn on the Gold Coast and joined the Movement (Von Eschen 2014). He soon
found himself at odds with the Movement. First, his newspaper, the West African pilot,
an aggressive nationalist paper fell into a fierce competition with The Nigerian Daily
Service a Lagos based newspaper which editor, Ernest Sesei Ikoli, was noted for his
journalist skills. The Nigerian Daily Service was to the bargain, the mouthpiece of the
NYM; even though the West African Pilot consistently and unequivocally championed
192 Indonesian Journal of Social and Educational Studie Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021

the NYM cause. Since the reading public was small, the fierce competition translated
to financial losses to Nnamdi Azikiwe; prompting in the process Azikiwe’s enthusiasm
for the NYM to immediately begin ‘to wane (Von Eschen 2014). He soon resigned
from the Movement's executive committee. Pleading preoccupation with business
activities he later resigned his membership altogether. Even though he later retracted
his resignation, yet he ceased to be an effective member of the Movement.
Much more worrying Azikiwe started berating NYM leaders who were mainly
Yoruba: H. O. Davies who was “the Dynamo of the Movement” was now “a simpleton”
while others were “imperialist stooges”, “Uncle Toms” etc (Peters 2013). The NYM
leadership did not find this sorry turn of events funny. A worried member bemoaned.
During the days of our “Old Africa,' the Ibos and Yorubas lived together as
Nigerians. It seems to therefore that the remedy for the present troubles is this,
Azikwe has brought his ‘New Africa from America He should return it there
personally. If need be this passage to and fro should be paid by the Movement.
But mark this, unless this Azikiwe's brand of New Africa is done away with
there will be no harmony in this country (Awolowo 1960, p. 145).
This member voiced his frustration on account of two acts Nnamdi Azikiwe
committed that amounted to sacrilege as far as the NYM was concentrated. First,
were the editorials in the West African Pilot asking the colonial government not to
appoint Adetokunbo Ademola as Nigeria‘s first magistrate, at a time the NYM was
pushing for the Africanisation of the civil service. Second, was Nnamdi Azikiwe’s
rationalization of the failure of Samuel Akisanya’s failure at the bye-election in 1941
to fill the seat in the Nigerian Legislative Council vacated by Kofo A. Abayomi on
ethnicism (Tamuno 1970).
Why Nnamdi Azikiwe kicked against the appointment of Adetokunbo.
Ademola’s appointment is not clear if indeed he shared the aspirations of the NYM in
which case the argument of lack of post-qualification experience of Adetokunbo
Ademola did not arise. But then was ethnicism a factor in the legislative bye-election
of 1941 as alleged by Nnamdi Azikiwe and Samuel Akisanya. The two candidates in
the bye-election were Ernest Ikoli and Samuel Akisanya; president and vice president
and founding members of the NYM and of Ijo and Ijebu Yoruba ethnic origins
respectively, their top supporters were respectively Obafemi Awolowo an ijebu
Yoruba and Nnamdi Azikwe, an Igbo. Ernest Ikoli won being voted for by an
organization whose majority membership was Yoruba, More important; no Igbo man
contested the bye-election. Clearly, this allegation of ethnicism as a factor in the
victory of Ernest Ikoli lacks merit. But then it was clearly a sign of things to come as
their top supporters were still in the shadows. Unfortunately for the NYM, It did not
survive the crisis as Nnamdi Azikiwe and Samuel Akisanya left the Movement taking
their Igbo and some of Ijebu supporters along with them. Nor was Obafemi Awolowo
Impressed by Nnamdi Azikiwe’s pro-Igbo biases - which went against the nationalist
spirit of the times (Apeh 2015).
 Yoruba-Igbo Rivalry 1937-1970: A Historical Analysis - Udida A. Undiyaundeye 193

Other areas of contention between the Yoruba and the Igbo were the civil
service and commence. By accident of geography, the Yoruba were the first ethnic
nation of Nigeria to come into contact with Western education and so had a head
start. Naturally, they were the first Nigerian teachers, clerks, lawyers, doctors,
engineers and ministers of religion. It was such that in the 1930s when the Igbo and
other ethnic nations were welcoming back home their first overseas-trained
members, a good number of Yoruba families were producing their own second or
third generation of such foreign-trained professionals. Consequently, the Yoruba
dominated the civil service and commercial sectors of the country.
Nnamdi Azikiwe’s return from his studies in the USA in 1934 and his
subsequent tours in the Eastern provinces inspired Igbo young men in their hundreds
to go abroad for training (Azikiwe 1961). They soon started to return home and take
up jobs in the civil service and commercial sectors of the country's economy. Igbo
achievement in these sectors was such that by the late 1940s and early 1950s the
yawning gap that existed between the two ethnic groups in the country’s economy
had virtually been closed with the Igbo now competing with the Yoruba for posts in
the higher levels of the public and private sectors of the economy. The Yoruba
naturally felt threatened, as they “saw their socio-economic dominance increasingly
eroded by the rising rate of Igbo social mobility...and rallied around the phobia of
Igbo domination (Azikiwe 1961).
The formation of ethnic associations was another area that the Yoruba and the
Igbo were to clash - led respectively by Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo. The
Ibibio State Union was the first ethnic union to be formed in Nigeria in 1928 at Ikot
Ekpene; with the sole purpose of promoting social, educational and cultural activities
of the Ibibio ethnic nation (Justice 1977). The third ethnic union was the Ibo Union,
formed in Lagos in 1936. It became so vibrant that it had a London branch in 1943
(Justice 1977). It became the Igbo Federal Union in 1944 with a national anthem that
was sung at the end of its meetings (Van Den Bersselaar 2005). It was in 1948 at a
pan-Igbo conference in Aba converted to the Igbo State Union, with a mission to
defend the political interests of the Igbo nation having united both the pro and anti-
NCNC Igbo leaders under the presidency of Nnamdi Azikiwe (Van Den Bersselaar
2005; Undiyaundeye 2005a; Undiyaundeye 2009, Undiyaundeye 2017).
Azikiwe had appeared on the Nigerian political scene when the Igbo had little
or no voice in the politics of the country. Yet through his journalistic skills, he
awakened his ethnic compatriots and inspired them into attaining dizzy positions in
the socio-economic spheres of the country destroying in the process the NYM which
some Nigerian political leaders like Obafemi Awolowo had hoped would emerge as a
powerful instrument of a single nationalism in Nigeria (Van Den Bersselaar 2005; Etim
et al., 2020; Okoi 2020). The origins of the formation of a Yoruba ethnic union are
traced to the era of ethnic competition that had become a feature of the social and
economic life of the country. An era when progress by an ethnic group was
interpreted by others Yoruba had become very uncomfortable and insecure as the
194 Indonesian Journal of Social and Educational Studie Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021

previously “backward Igbo” overcame their disadvantages. Obafemi Awolowo

decided in 1945 to form a Yoruba ethnic union also to combat the disintegrating
forces of tribalism, stamp out discrimination within the group and against minorities
and generally infuse the idea of a single nationality throughout the region (Adebanwi
2009).
The new association, when formed, would also dedicate itself to the social,
political and economic welfare of Yorubaland, among other issues (Adebanwi 2009;
Nwagbara et al., 2009). Obafemi Awolowo has elected the pioneer secretary of the
new ethnic union called Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Association of the Descendants of
Oduduwa). Although he made spirited attempts to explain the aims and objectives of
his new association to his Igbo student colleagues in London and had arranged a
meeting between himself and the leadership of the Igbo Federal Union — which did
not hold — to explain his position that in Egbe “was simply the Yoruba counterpart of
the Ibo Federal Union”, yet he was branded an ethnic jingoist (Adebanwi 2009;
Undiyaundeye 2005b; Undiyaundeye 2011). Generally, Igbo Federal Union and
Nnamdi Azikiwe received the news of the formation of the Egbe with hostility: Eyo Ita
had seen clearly the negative effect of these ethnic associations on Nigerian
nationalism and argued that...”the greatest need of Nigerians today Is to become a
community... to evolve national selfhood...seek coordination among them (ethnic
unions) in a way that will help to build a strong national consciousness” (Nnoli 1978,
p. 141).
Clearly, neither Nnamdi Azikiwe nor Obafemi Awolowo or any other Nigerian
ethnic leader shared Eyo Ita’s concerns about the negative effects of ethnic unions on
Nigerian politics. The Egbe Omo Oduduwa was launched in Nigeria on November 28,
1947, at Tom Jones Hall, Lagos, on the return to the country of Obafemi Awolowo,
now a qualified lawyer in 1946 (Adebanwi 2009). Nnamdi Azikiwe was not amused by
the formation of the Egbe. The West African Pilot argued
But now that the Egbe has made it clear that its battle is not really against Dr.
Azikiwe personally and not even against the aspirations of the 27 million
Nigerians backing the NCNC, come for real action… Henceforth the cry must
the time has been one of the battles against the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, its
leaders, at home and abroad, uphill, down dale, in the streets of Nigeria, and in
the residence of its advocates. The Egde Omo Oduduwa is the enemy of
Nigeria. it must be Crushed to the earth there is no going back until the fascist
organization of Sir Adeyemo Alakija has been dismembered (Adebanwi 2014,
p. 54).
Although some Egbe members and their properties were attacked apparently
in obedience to the instigation of the West African Pilot yet there is nothing in the
Egbe aims and methods to attain them that contain anything that can remotely be
regarded as hostile to the Igbo, the NCNC, or Its supporters (Adebanwi 2014).
So why did the Igbo in general and Nnamdi Azikiwe, In particular, give the
news of the formation of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa such a hostile reception and this in
 Yoruba-Igbo Rivalry 1937-1970: A Historical Analysis - Udida A. Undiyaundeye 195

a situation where a similar Igbo society was already two years in existence. Since no
concrete evidence has come to light, it may well be that the Igbo ethnic leadership
preferred to see the Yoruba as they were -disunited and engrossed in mutual
recrimination and condemnation - while the Igbo were uniting themselves and
rallying around their leader, Nnamdi Azikiwe. Intemperate utterances by aspirants to
leadership positions in Nigeria have contributed to ethnic hostility in Nnamdi Azikiwe
took the lead in this. He did not hide his impression of the NYM leadership. As far as
he saw them, they were lackeys of imperialism. Not surpassingly a press was between
the West African Pilot and the Daily Service – the mouthpieces of Nnamdi Azikiwe
and the NYM leadership ensued.
The Egbe was roped in from 1947 when it was launched in Lagos. The situation
degenerated to a point that in July and September extremists on both sides had
bought up all the available machetes in Lagos markets in anticipation of the eruption
of ethnic violence (Olaniyi 2011). Particularly very unhelpful to the growth of a single
nationalism in Nigeria was a part of Nnamdi Azikiwe’s address to the first Igbo State
Conference in 1949; to the effect that
...the God of Africa has especially created the Ibo nation to lead the children of
Africa from the bondage of the ages. The martial prowess of the Ibo nation ... has
enabled them not only to conquer others but, also to adapt themselves to the
role of preserver... the Ibo nation cannot shirk its responsibility (Usuanlele &
Ibhawoh 2017, p. 239).
While this address almost destroyed Nnamdi Azikiwe’s nationalist credentials,
it also made impossible any meaningful cooperation between him and Yoruba
leaders particularly Obafemi Awolowo who had, since the late 1930s on account of
pro-Igbo ethnic biases, lost faith in Nnamdi Azikiwe’s aspirations to the leadership of
Nigerian nationalism.
The Rise of Political Parties and Azikiwe’s Legislative Ambition: Political parties
emerged in Nigeria largely in anticipation of the promulgation of the 1945 Richards
constitution which came Into effect in 1947 (Undiyaundeye 2011). The first political
party to emerge in the early 1940s was the National Council of Nigeria and
Cameroons (NCNC). It was an amalgam of two trade unions, two political parties, four
literary societies, eight professional bodies, eleven social clubs, and one hundred and
one ethnic unions (Justice 1977). It had four objectives. With the death of Herbert
Macaulay the erstwhile president in 1946, Nnamdi Azikiwe was elected president of
the party for a three-year term “and given the power to appoint all other officers of
the National Council (Justice 1977).
On the other hand, the Action Group [AG] party was formed on March 29,
1951, out of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Ayoade 1985). It will appear that its formation
was hastened by several factors. First, the NCNC formed the Yoruba Federal Union for
the sole purpose of countering the Egbe appeal; which action made the Egbe
supporters respond to the effect that the Yoruba Federal Union was a design by the
Igbo to keep the Yoruba divided politically while the Igbo were united as a group
196 Indonesian Journal of Social and Educational Studie Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021

behind Nnamdi Azikiwe43. Second, the NYM now old was clearly no match for the
NCNC in Lagos on the eve of the 1951 general elections. The Yoruba elite was now
faced with “the depressing likelihood of an NCNC government coming to power in
the Western Region”. Hence the Egbe had to be used as a nucleus of new political
opposition to the NCNC (Ayoade 1985). The Action Group was formed and led by
Obafemi Awolowo. The two political and ethnic adversaries now found themselves
eyeball to eyeball in the full glare of the world.
The 1951 general elections were conducted in the Western Region by the end of
1951.
The NCNC did well in Lagos winning all the five seats allocated into the
Western House of Assembly from where two members were to be elected into the
Central Legislature. The successful candidates, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Adeleke Adedoyin, A.
B. Olorun-Nimbe, H. P. Adebola and T. O. S. Benson who replaced J. O Coker -
presented themselves for the election (Ayoade 1985). The House elected Olorun-
Nimbe and Adeleke Adedoyin neither of whom agreed to step down for their party
leader, Nnamdi Azikiwe Why? With regard to A. B. Olorun-Nimbe, he bluntly refused
to step down even though he had enjoyed such a favour and had been offered an
uncreative appointment as Lagos Town Clerk (Ayoade 1985). So what about Adeleke
Adedoyin? Did the AG “mischievously” elect him as Richard L. Sklar alleges? First, he
had been chosen by the party Executive Council to go to the Central Legislature with
Nnamdi Azikiwe. The pressure was brought to bear on him for and against his
resignation in favour of his party leader. Adeleke Adedoyin stepped down only to
reverse himself on January 12, 1952; and withdrew the letter of his resignation
because such an act was viewed as monstrous in local circles. It would shatter Prince
Adedoyin‘s prestige as a man and as a politician. But there is much confidence locally
that such a reasonable man cannot be forced to such is meaningful decision (Ayoade
1985). It will appear that Adeleke Adedoyin for reasons of his career as a politician
decided on his own to deny his party leader the opportunity to go to the Central
Legislature. It was a cruel coincidence that his personal decision fell in line with the
desire of the Acton Group as a party. As a consequence of his failure to go to the
Central Legislature from the Western House of Assembly, Nnamdi Azikiwe found It
very difficult to place trust” ...in Yoruba politicians In an atmosphere of ancestral
tensions (Sklar 2015, p. 76).
This was the state of Yoruba - Igbo rivalry when the 1959 general elections
were conducted. The three major parties the Northern People’s Congress (NPC),
NCNC and AG respectively won 134,81 and 73 seats in the Central Legislature (House
of Representatives). Two comfortable coalition governments in a 312 member House
were either and NPC-NCNC or an NPC AG which would have given the AG the
chance to some of Its manifestoes (Adebanwi · 2014). NCNC-AG cognition was also
possible but with a slim majority of only four seats. Even though Obafemi Awolowo
approached Nnamdi Azikiwe on the matter, yet the latter stunned the proposal
preferring to team up with the NPC Instead. As result, Nigeria and Nigerians were
 Yoruba-Igbo Rivalry 1937-1970: A Historical Analysis - Udida A. Undiyaundeye 197

denied a chance to witness a peaceful transition of power. Southern politicians would

have had the chance to rule Nigeria and in the process lay to rest the colonial
implanted view that only the Hausa-Fulani should rule. Third, Obafemi Awolowo and
his AG that were famed for their organizational skits would have brought these to
bear in the governance of the polity. As a result of Obafemi Awolowo’s incarceration
on charges of treasonable felony, his AG party did very poorly in the 1964 general
elections and its alliance neighbours the NCNC, NEPU and UMBC in the United
Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) were unable to get a working coalition (Adebanwi,
2014). The Nigerian National Alliance (NINA) - a fusion of the NPC and breakaway
faction of the AG under Samuel Akintola was able to form a coalition government. It
is interesting that with Obafemi Awolowo out of the way, the NCNC now saw a need
to team up with the AG (Tijani 1998).
The military staged a coup d’etat on January 15, 1966. This first coup, d’ etat
created more problems for Nigeria and not surprisingly, a second coup d’ etat was
staged on July 29, 1966, which brought Yakubu Gowon, then a Lieutenant colonel to
power. On assumption of power, he released Obafemi Awolowo from prison as he
had promised (Nwalu 2020). He released Obafemi Awolowo because, according to
him, “...the country needs the wealth of your experience” (Nwalu 2020, p. 54) Gowon
did not only release Obafemi Awolowo from prison; he also appointed him to two
critical offices, vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and Minister of
Finance (Nwalu 2020).
OBAFEMI AWOLOWO AND THE CIVIL WAR
Immediately he was sworn into office Obafemi Awolowo went into action to
help diffuse the political tension that hung over the country. Yakubu Gowon invited
him to the Ad-Hoc constitutional conference on September 10, 1966, along with
other leaders (Tamuno 1970). The next day at the meeting of the Western Leaders of
Thought he was unanimously elected “Leader of the Yorubas (Akpan 2014). It was in
this capacity that he took the Western delegation to the conference. The conference
had hardly settled down on its resumption on September 20, 1966, when news of
renewed pogroms forced it to postpone its deliberations indefinitely (Tamuno 1970).
Obafemi Awolowo was bent on keeping the Igbo in the Nigerian federation and this
explains why he led the National Reconciliation Committee to Enugu and held
discussions with the military governor, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu on May 6
and 7, 1967 (Akpan 2014). Which talks did little if anything the diffuse the tension. Did
Obafemi Awolowo betray the Igbo during the civil war as it is popularly believed in
Igboland? From available evidence, the Igbo were not deceived to wage war against
Nigerians by Obafemi Awolowo. On May 1, 1967, in an address to a meeting of the
Western Leaders of Thought in Ibadan he argued that If the Eastern Region is allowed
by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt-out of Nigeria, then the
Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation (Akpan 2014).
198 Indonesian Journal of Social and Educational Studie Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021

This part of the address has been the subject of the allegation of Obafemi
Awolowo’s betrayal of the Igbo as Chinua Achebe sarcastically argued”... But
somebody said: if A is allowed to get out of Nigeria I would follow. Do you remember
who said that”63. It was the Eastern governor who did nothing to reciprocate the
federal government's actions to diffuse the crisis. According to Akpan (2014), Ojukwu
left the members of the National Reconciliation Committee in no doubt that the
meeting place between the people of the East and those of the North”...would be the
battlefield. I do not know whether the visiting team from Lagos grasped the full
significance of that ominous statement. Cyprian Ekwensi also notes that it was
Ojukwu who treated the federal government's reconciliation actions with “contempt,
levity, and apathy (Ekwensi 1976). Obafemi Awolowo was therefore not wrong to
argue that
I am personally satisfied that the acts of omission we feared had not
materialized and that the federal military government acting on the
recommendation of the National Conciliation Committee in the closing days of
May this year did all that was possible in the circumstances to placate the
Eastern leaders... (Awolowo 1960, p. 95).
Hostilities of the Nigerian civil war began on June 6, 1967. With the invasion of
the Midwest region and calls by Radio Biafra that the Yoruba in the Nigerian Army
should desert and report at its army headquarters in Enugu; and take up arms to
liberate themselves from “Hausa, Fulani domination with threats of capturing Lagos
having swiftly got to the border town of Ore, Obafemi Awolowo had to reverse
himself, and urged the Yoruba to enlist massively in the Nigerian Army to fight and
defend Yorubaland. So the civil war was fought and won on January 15, 1970 (Justice
1977).
Obafemi Awolowo apart from being grateful to Yakubu Gowon for his release
from prison was charged as minister of finance to fund the war effort, and nobody
expected Obafemi Awolowo who had, all his life been a Nigerian patriot to support
its dismemberment. And on this score he and Nnamdi Azikiwe were together in spite
of their ethnic hostility Nnamdi Azikiwe fled the rebel enclave just before its collapse
and so if anybody is to be of betrayal, Nnamdi Azikiwe should be the one.
CONCLUSION
Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe by sheer accident of history and hard
work rose to the leadership of their ethnic nations. Unfortunately for Nigeria, they
spent most of their time fighting themselves and in the process converted themselves
and their parties into pawns on the chessboard of Nigerian politics. While the NPC
planted itself firmly at the apex of Nigerian governments, the country was denied the
replication of the development strides that were a lot of the Western Region, good
governance, and political stability.
 Yoruba-Igbo Rivalry 1937-1970: A Historical Analysis - Udida A. Undiyaundeye 199

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