Western and Eastern Nigeria were both awarded self-government in 1957, while the Northern region would follow in 1959. The communal, racial and political rivalries, most clearly manifested in the Kano riots of 1953, had led to increased decentralisation and in 1954 Nigeria received its third constitution in seven years (Brendon, 2007, 534). The British looked to exploit this splintering, most notably between prominent nationalists such as Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik) and Obafemi Awolowo.

Awolowo, who had founded the Action Group to promote Yoruba interests, was a vocal opponent of colonial rule, arguing that British administration had been ‘carried out by incompetent, inferior officials’, and that the British never had ‘the true interests of the country at heart’. In 1955, referring to the government of the Western region, he stated that ‘in fourteen months under the present government, we have done more for Nigeria than the British did in 120 years’ (Gunther, 1955, 775).

The British destroyed the destiny of the southerners.