Dons Eze
ONLY SIX NIGERIANS SIGNED 1914 AMALGAMATION DOCUMENT; IGBOS NOT REPRESENTED
Many Nigerians have asked if there were parties from the southern and northern Protectorate that partook in the declaration of Nigeria, or did the British on their own sign the document in the absence of the people involved?
Southern and Northern Protectorates were joined to form Nigeria in 1914. By then the nationalists we know of now were still little to know what happened. Nnamdi Azikiwe was only 10 years old, Ahmadu Bello was 4 years, Obafemi Awolowo was 5 years then.
This forces concerned individuals to ask – Which Nigerian signed the Amalgamation document?
It has been revealed that there were only 28 individuals involved in the Amalgamation of the South and the North Protectorates. Out of the 28, only 6 were Nigerians. The rest were all British citizens. Lord lugard, the first governor general led the Amalgamation (he was the one who proposed it first) and the final signature was his.
The six Nigerians are;
1. HRH Maiturare Sarkin Mussulumi and Sultan of Sokoto
2. Usuman Dan Maje who later became Emir of Kano
3. Sir Kitoyi Ajasa a lawyer
4. HRH Oladugbolu Alaafin of Oyo
5. HRH R Henshaw (Obong of Calabar)
6. Abubakar Shehu of Borno
These were the Nigerians present at the amalgamation. They were there ceremoniously. No Igbo man was present in the amalgamation of Nigeria, even though the Igbos had powerful Kings like the Obi Okosi of Onitsha, Eze Nri òbalíke among others. The reason is not far-fetched, It’s thought that the Igbos fought strongly against the British rule and they were never in support of their systems. Lagos colony was also against the amalgamation as at then.
The British were more comfortable and had better relationship with Fulani/Northerners.
The British perhaps handed over leadership roles to the Northerners. So, the saying that Northerners want to always rule Nigeria did not just start today. It was positioned so by the British.The location of the amalgamation was was in Zungeru, Niger State. That was the Capital of the British Protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1902 until 1916.
