BENIN AND THE MIDWEST REFERENDUM OF 1963. By Nowamagbe A.
Omoigui, MD, MPH, FACC Chief Executive Officer, Cardiovascular Care Group, PA
Cardiovascular Care Group, PA Columbia, SC, USA
Speech delivered on Friday, December 20, 2002
at the Oba Akenzua II Cultural Complex, Airport Road, Benin City on occasion of
the Fifth Late Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwadiae Egharevba (MBE) Memorial Lecture and
Award Ceremony, under the distinguished Chairmanship of S. A. Asemota Esq.
(SAN), sponsored by the Institute for Benin Studies.
INTRODUCTION
It is a great honor to me to be invited to address this gathering of important sons, daughters and friends of Benin on the occasion of the 5th Chief (Dr.) Jacob Uwadiae Egharevba (MBE) memorial lecture.
Therefore, I would like to express
my profound appreciation to the Institute for Benin Studies, ably coordinated
by Uyilawa Usuanlele. The Institute’s foresight and persistence in
organizing this annual event rightly honors a deserving son of Benin, whose
priceless historical scholarship in difficult circumstances has placed key
aspects of our history as a people on record for present and future
generations.
In coming before you today, I am
humbly following the path of more eminently qualified individuals before
me. Professor Unionmwan Edebiri set the tone when he spoke on "Benin
and the outer world." Professor Eghosa Osagie reflected on
"Benin in contemporary Nigeria." Dr. Iro Eweka reminded
us that "We are, because he was." Professor Peter
P. Ekeh then reached deep into the archives of our ancestry when he presented
" Ogiso Times and Eweka Times: A preliminary history of the Edoid Complex
of Cultures."
I am neither a professional
political scientist nor historian. However, story telling is part of our
culture and tradition. It is one of the ways ordinary folk have passed
the story of our people from one generation to another for centuries.
When I was originally invited to deliver today’s lecture, I tossed and turned
for many months. What singular event in my lifetime, I wondered, did the
most, even at a tender age, to shape my sense of whom I am?
What was so singularly unique in its ramifications, as told to me by my father,
that I could sit in the moonlight and tell it again and again to my children,
and someday, God willing, to my grandchildren and great grandchildren?
That event was the MIDWEST REFERENDUM OF 1963, when I was four years
old.
Why Benin? After all, two provinces
(Benin and Delta), and many divisions (including the Benin division) in what
became the “Mid-West” were involved in the “War” to create the Midwest region
in 1963.
There are two reasons. First,
the history of the Midwest referendum and events leading to it is exceedingly
vast and cannot in all honesty be addressed in a single lecture without losing
focus. Secondly, I found a curious excerpt in the report of the Henry
Willink Commission:
“In general, it is our view that
desire for the State is strong in Benin City and Benin division, the heart of
the old Benin Kingdom, and that the idea has progressively less appeal as one
moves outwards from this centre.” [Colonial Office: Nigeria - Report
of the Commission appointed to enquire into the fears of Minorities and the
means of allaying them. July 30th, 1958. Chapter 4, page 31]
This prompted me to know more about
why Benin came to be considered by the Minorities Commission as the epicenter
of the Midwest State Movement and how she mobilized herself and others to join
hands to prosecute the “war for the Midwest”.
I shall conclude with two take-home
messages:
a).
Political parties come and go, but nationalities remain.
b).
Organized and united across traditional and contemporary forms of leadership,
nothing can stand in the way of the peoples of the Midwest.
PREAMBLE
On March 29th, 1963 the
Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nigeria was given the responsibility
for the organization of a referendum to decide whether a new Region should be
created out of the Western region in a sub-region called “the Mid-West”, comprised
of the Benin and Delta provinces.
Preliminary guidelines were
contained in an official letter signed by Mr. F.B.O. Williams on behalf of the
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs. In accordance with the
Constitutional Referendum Regulations, 1963, Mr. Gabriel Esezobor Edward
Longe, Barrister-at-Law was earlier appointed on January 21st as
the Supervisor and empowered to appoint other referendum officials. It was
projected that about 71 officials, all Nigerians of Midwest origin, drawn from
the Federal Public Service, Corporations in the Federal territory and from
other suitable institutions, working full time for about three months, would be
required. On the day of the referendum, about 9,300 additional officials
were anticipated to be required for operations. The Command Center for
the Referendum was designated as No. 2 King’s Square, Benin City. It
was to that office that all referendum officials reported on Saturday, April 6,
1963 to begin their historic assignment.
The appointed Referendum and
Assistant Referendum Officers for the various districts of the Mid-West are
listed in Appendix One (1).
On the 24th of June 1963,
by order of the Federation of Nigeria Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 43,
Volume 50, the Supervisor of the Mid-West referendum issued Government Notice
No. 1265.
It declared that voting at the
Constitutional referendum for the creation of the Mid-Western Region would
proceed on Saturday, the 13th day of July 1963. The referendum
question was as follows:
“Do you agree that the Midwestern
Region Act, 1962, shall have effect so as to secure that Benin Province
including Akoko Edo District in the Afenmai Division and Delta Province
including Warri Division and Warri Urban Township area shall be included in the
proposed Mid-Western Region?”
Hours of voting at designated
Polling Stations extended from seven o’clock in the forenoon until six o’clock
in the evening. It is important to note that a new Voters registration
List was not compiled for the purposes of the Mid-West referendum. Only
those listed four years earlier in the Federal Electoral Register of 1959 were
entitled to vote. Those who wished to vote “yes” were to place
their ballot papers in the “white box”. Those who wished to
vote “no” were to place their ballot papers in the “black box”.
The results of the Referendum were
as follows [GE Longe: Results of the Midwest Referendum, 1963. July
18, 1963. From D.A. Omoigui archives.]
No.
|
District
|
Votes Scored by Eligible Voters
|
|
Affirmative Answer “YES”
|
Negative Answer
“NO”
|
||
1
|
ABOH
|
33,072
|
722
|
2
|
AFENMAI
|
76,998
|
1,260
|
3
|
ASABA
|
68,637
|
365
|
4
|
BENIN
|
130,562
|
2,081
|
5
|
ISHAN
|
73,088
|
563
|
6
|
URHOBO
|
150,382
|
273
|
7
|
WARRI
|
30,703
|
1,377
|
8
|
WESTERN IJAW
|
15,635
|
577
|
Total
|
579,077
|
7,218
|
|
The total number of eligible voters,
being persons whose names appeared in the Federal Electoral register of 1959
was 654,130. Of this number the percentage that voted in the affirmative
was 89.07%, well in excess of the required 60% (or 392,478) for the creation of
the Mid-West region. The region that was born on August 9, 1963 as a
result of the July 13th plebiscite remains the only major administrative
unit of Nigeria created by due constitutional process.
EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE REFERENDUM
FROM
1897 – 1933
In the meantime, Benin was administered as part of the Niger
Coast Protectorate, which later became the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria in
1900. From 1906 “Southern Nigeria” was administered as three main
provinces, Western, Central and Eastern, along with the Lagos colony with which
it had been merged that year. The Eastern province was run from Calabar,
the Central Province from Warri, and the Western Province from Lagos. The
Central Province was also known as the Niger province. It consisted of the
Aboh, Agbor, Asaba, Awka, Benin, Forcados, Idah, Ifon, Ishan, Kwale, Okwoga,
Onitsha, Sapele, Udi and Warri districts. The protectorate of Northern
Nigeria, on the other hand, was initially organized into 13 provinces (run by
Provincial residents) before Ilorin and Kabba were merged into one.
According to the “Anthropological Report on the Edo speaking peoples” by
Northcote Thomas in 1910, Edo-speaking peoples were mainly located in the
Central Province of “Southern Nigeria” and the Ibie and Ukpilla districts of
Kabba province of “Northern Nigeria.”
The protectorates and colonies of Northern and Southern
Nigeria were later amalgamated on January 1st 1914 to create
“Nigeria”. [FD Lugard: Report on the Amalgamation of Northern and
Souther Nigeria, and administration, 1912 – 1919. H.M. Stationery Office, 1920].
In Benin, after a 17 year interregnum, Prince Aiguobasimwin, (also known
as Ovbiudu – the courageous one) eldest son of Oba Ovonramwen, was crowned Oba
Eweka II on July 24, 1914. Indeed, the splendor of that
coronation ceremony is what initially triggered the interest of the late Jacob
Egharevba to write down the history of his people. Dr. Ekhaguosa Aisien
has eloquently discussed the remarkable story of how Eweka II regained the
throne against incredible odds in his paper “Edo Man of the Twentieth
Century.” [http://www.dawodu.net/aisien.htm] The Ibie and
Ukpilla districts of Kabba province of “Northern Nigeria” were merged with
their kith and kin in the Benin province of “Southern Nigeria” in 1918.
Also Read: Edo 2016: I’ve Giving to Esanland Far More Than Anenih and PDP ever did — Oshiomhole
Also Read: Edo 2016: I’ve Giving to Esanland Far More Than Anenih and PDP ever did — Oshiomhole
After 1897, the opening of core
traditional Benin lands to so-called “legal trade” in Oil Palm and Forestry by
British agents and surrogates created new opportunities and encouraged mass
migrations of southern Edoid peoples, among who were the Urhobo.
The period of the interregnum also witnessed aggressive missionary activity,
establishment of schools, institution of a system of Warrant Chiefs and the
beginnings of what later became the western educated elite. After 1914,
the structure of the colonial Benin Native Council provided a platform for
competition between elements of the new elite (like Iyase Agho Obaseki) who
controlled the District Council, and the Oba. The Oba was further
weakened by not being allowed to collect taxes, appoint chiefs without British
consent or control land designated as reserved for Government activity.
Following the introduction of polls and direct taxation in 1920, the new
westernized elite in Benin became increasingly epitomized in the years to come
by social and later political groups known at various times as the “Benin
Tax-Payers Association” and “Benin Community”. With the restoration of
the indigenous monarchy on one hand, and the simultaneous nurturing of a
colonial proxy elite on the other, therefore, two tracks in the leadership of
Benin were invoked and waxing and waning tensions inevitably developed between
them [Igbafe: Benin under British Administration].
In spite of British gerrymandering,
primordial linguistic and cultural bonds (and differences) that had evolved
over centuries could not be wished away overnight. The appropriate
administrative structure for Nigeria was, therefore, always a source of
controversy during the colonial era, as evidenced by the number of
constitutions that were promulgated in 1922 (Clifford), 1946 (Richards), 1951
(Macpherson), 1954, and finally 1960. Since
independence in 1960, our flirtation with numerous constitutions in 1963, 1979,
1989, 1995 and 1999 as well as states creation exercises and calls for a
“sovereign national conference” continues to reflect this dilemma.
For example, early British
administrators toyed with various proposals for combining groups of provinces
into regions and thus nullifying the distinction between “Northern Nigeria” and
“Southern Nigeria”. In 1912, the Editor of the African Mail, Mr.
E. D. Morel, suggested that Nigeria be consolidated into the Northern, Central,
Western and Eastern provinces [ED Morel: Nigeria, Its Peoples and Problems,
London, 1912, p201-10, 2nd Edition]. Charles L. Temple,
one time Resident of Bauchi and later Lt. Governor of Northern Nigeria,
proposed seven provinces, namely, the Hausa States, Benue Province, Chad
Territory, Western, Central and Eastern provinces along with the Lagos colony.
The Governor-General, Sir Frederick John Dealtry Lugard accepted neither of
these proposals. Thus after amalgamation, Northern and Southern Nigeria were
left intact under powerful Lt. Governors while the three previous large
provinces of Southern Nigeria, which had been run by Provincial Commissioners,
were broken down into smaller provinces and placed under Provincial
Residents. Northern Nigeria comprised the Sokoto, Kano, Bornu, Bauchi,
Zaria, Nupe, Kontagora, Ilorin, Nassarawa, Munshi (Tiv), Muri and Yola
provinces. The old “Central province” of Southern Nigeria was split into
the Benin and Warri provinces. The “Eastern Province” was divided into
the provinces of Calabar, Ogoja, Onitsha and Owerri. The “Western
province” became the Abeokuta, Ondo and Oyo provinces, joined thereafter by the
new Ijebu province in 1916. Lagos remained The Colony. But
some provinces were more equal than others, in Lugard’s eyes. Those that
were “more important” were classified as “First Class” provinces. These
were the Sokoto, Kano, Bornu, Bauchi, Zaria, Oyo, Owerri and Abeokuta provinces.
[FD Lugard: Report on the Amalgamation of Northern and Souther Nigeria, and
administration, 1912 – 1919. H.M. Stationery Office, 1920]. The
headquarters of the Southern Provinces was later moved from Lagos to Enugu in
1929.
Even in those early days, there were
already stirrings of nationalism. In October 1923, Humphrey Omoregie
Osagie, then only a 27-year-old clerk, delivered a political lecture in Lagos
under the auspices of Herbert Macaulay and the Nigerian National Democratic
Party. The young man from Benin would one day become a Titan in the
struggle for emancipation of his people. [A. J. Uwaifo: Omo-Osagie and Party
Politics in Benin, Department of History, University of Ibadan, May 1985]
Meanwhile, Oba Eweka II became
increasingly concerned about the long-term implications of various
administrative proposals for new regions that would ride roughshod over the
unique history and independence of most of the peoples of the Central Province,
which later became the Benin and Warri Provinces. Therefore, in 1926, he
requested the British to bring all the Edoid and Anioma (Western Ibo) areas
together in one region that would have a direct reporting relationship with the
center. He argued that the people of the Benin and Warri provinces were
predominantly of one linguistic, cultural, religious, chieftaincy and
historical stock and had functioned in the same cultural system before the
British came. [File BP 44,VOL 1, The Oba of Benin. National Archives, Ibadan].
To the best of my knowledge,
therefore, Oba Eweka II, in 1926, was the first, following the dissolution of
the old Central province, to conceptualize the consolidation of what later
became the Midwest region of Nigeria in 1963. It was during his reign
that the first pan-Edo association called the Institute for Home-Benin
improvement emerged in 1932. Its mandate - according to its own documents - was
to represent the "Edo speaking people of Nigeria viz: Benin City, Ishan,
Kukuruku, Ora, Agbor, Igbanke, Sobe etc." [Uyilawa Usuanlele: The
Edo Nationality and the National Question in Nigeria: A Historical perspective.
In Osaghae and Onwudiwe (Eds). The Management of the National Question in
Nigeria. PEFS. Ibadan 2001] In the same year, Thomas Erukeme,
Mukoro Mowoe, Omorowhovo Okoro and others formed the Edoid Urhobo Brotherly
Society in Warri.
Unfortunately, Oba Eweka II joined
his ancestors on February 8, 1933 and did not live to see his dream come
true. It was, therefore, on the shoulders of his son, Oba Akenzua II,
crowned on April 5, 1933, after overcoming opposition from his older sister
that the spiritual and royal leadership of the future Midwest State Movement
was to fall. [H Osadolo Edomwonyi: A Short Biography of Oba Akenzua
II. Bendel Newspapers Corporation, 1981.]
to be continued.....ALSO READ: BENIN AND THE MIDWEST REFERENDUM OF 1963. By Nowamagbe A. Omoigui, Part 2
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