Even before Nigeria gained independence in 1960, deep anxieties had been building between the Northern, Western, and Eastern regions. Beyond...
Even before Nigeria gained independence in 1960, deep anxieties had been building between the Northern, Western, and Eastern regions. Beyond language differences, the regions had developed unevenly under British colonial rule, breeding mutual suspicion rather than national unity.
Many ordinary citizens were already asking difficult questions: Who would control power after independence? Which region would dominate the others? Would some ethnic groups be favored over others?
The British policy of governing the regions separately had widened these divisions. Political leaders often placed regional interests above national unity. While the country moved toward self-rule, many people did not feel emotionally united as Nigerians.
Northern leaders feared that the more educated and politically active South would sideline them. In the South, particularly the East and West, there were concerns that the North’s larger population would give it permanent control of the central government.
As regionally-based political parties emerged, politics increasingly became a contest for ethnic and regional dominance rather than a shared national project. By the late 1950s, trust between regions had badly eroded amid disputes over census figures, elections, and representation.
An elderly man from the Eastern Region captured the mood: “We were becoming independent, but the people were already afraid of one another.”
These pre-independence fears later fueled military coups, ethnic violence, reprisal killings, and ultimately the Nigerian Civil War (Biafran War). For many families, especially those who still observe May 30 in remembrance, the scars remain deeply personal.
The painful truth is that Nigeria approached independence already divided — long before the first shots were fired.
Written by
Mazi Ogadinma
Edited by
Obiageli Mboma
For
Enugwu State Media Team
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