Please who can enlighten me on this .discuss the primary steps taken and its importance before promulgation of 1954 Lyttleton constitution

Well....I do not claim to know much about that part of history,but I do remember reading about some prominent events that led up to the Lyttleton constitution.
1. Anthony Enahoro submitted on the floor of the legislative council that Nigeria should be given independence,however,the northerners who didnt feel ready for independence opposed the move,rather,they insisted that Nigeria would gain independence "as at when practiceable".
2. The move by the northerners sparked widespread protest in Lagos,which in turn led to the 1953 Kano riot.
3. The north threatened to secede
4. In response,the then Governor-General of Nigeria,Sir Lyttleton,called a national conference that eventually led to the promulgation of the Lyttleton constitution in 1954.

this are the primary steps before Oliver Littleton constition 1 there was a constitutional conference held in London between July 30- august 22 1953, some recommendation were made such as A. that Nigeria should adapt federal system with residual power granted to the regional govt, B. the legislative power should be shear between the regional and component govt. C. that her Majesty would in 1956 grant self government to regions that desire it. 2. the second was Lagos constructional conference of 1954 oliver Littleton the secratery of colonies anounce when MacPherson constitution was riddled with criticism on 21st may 1953 at the British house of common , that her majesty want to restructure Nigeria constitution the conference take a look of sir Louis chicks fiscal commission as was published in December 1953,...the Lagos conference accept the fiscal commission of sir Louis chicks with reference to allocation of financial resources to regions and center... they also recomend that the public service should be regionalized,they also recommend the judiciary should be regionalized and southern Cameroon granted autonomy. these recommendations of London and Lagos formed the underpinning constitutuent of the Oliver Littleton constitution of 1954. the name Littleton constitution was used because then Oliver Littleton was the British secretary for colonies,... pls typographic errors are mine as I am typing from a small phone .

Copied from a book : HISTORY OF NIGERIAN CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

After the annexation of Lagos by the British in 1861, a legislative and executive council was constituted for it. In 1862, Lagos and other British territories in the Gold coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia were by a commission dated 19 February 1866, placed under a Governor General based in Sierra Leone. However, they each had separate legislative councils. In 1874, the Gold coast and Lagos were formed into a separate colony with a governor and legislative council based in the Gold coast. In 1886, Lagos became a separate political entity with its own Governor, executive and legislative councils. In 1906, the protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the colony of Lagos were amalgamated and called the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria. By Article 4 of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate Order in Council 1906, the Legislative Council of Lagos was empowered to make laws for the protectorate of Southern Nigeria by ordinance.

In 1914, the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria was merged with the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and they were referred to as the Colony and protectorate of Nigeria. The legislative council was this time allowed to make law for only the colony. The governor made laws for the protectorates. Lord Lugard said the reason for this was “until communications by railway are greatly extended,the proposition is physically impossible”. This was due to the large size of the country.

In place of a legislative council for the country, there was established an advisory body called the Nigerian council. It had 30 members of whom 17 were officials and 13 non-officials. Of the non-officials, four were nominated by the governor to represent commercial, shipping, mining and banking interests. while the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, Calabar chamber of commerce of chamber of mines appointed one member each. The remaining members were Nigerians appointed by the governor.

THE 1922 CONSTITUTION
On assuming office in 1919, Sir Hugh Clifford, the governor, was pressured by the then West African congress, led by Caseley Hayford, to provide constitutions in West African subject states. This led to the making of the Clifford constitution of 1922. It introduced the first electoral system in Nigeria. The first election was conducted into the legislative council with four slots:3 for Lagos while 1 for Calabar. However, the election was based on limited franchise which restricted the election to those that earned a minimum of 100 pounds annually, which was very expensive for most Nigerians.

It also introduced a legislative council which replaced the Nigerian council. It consisted of 46 members with the governor as the head. Out of the 46, 23 were official members and 19 were unofficial members. The remaining four were elected as previously stated. However, the council could only legislate for the South. The governor legislated for the North via proclamation.

There was also an executive council, however, it had no Nigerians. It consisted of the governor, chief secretary, lieutenant governors, an administrator for Lagos, attorney – general, commandant of the Nigerian regiment,director of medical service, Comptroller general and Secretary for native affairs.

After Hugh Clifford, there were two other governors, Cameroon and Bernard Boudillion. They didn’t do much in terms of constitutional development. However, Boudilion divided Nigeria into East, West and North for administrative purposes. This was the bedrock for future regionalism.

THE RICHARDS CONSTITUTION
Before, the end of 1944, the then governor, Sir Arthur Richards provided a new proposal for constitutional amendment. This was as a result of pressure being mounted on him by the educated elites. They felt that the Clifford Constitution did not represent the indigenous population. Therefore, the governor introduced the constitution which had the following aims:

• To promote Nigeria’s unity

• To provide adequately within that desire for the diverse elements that make up the country

• To provide greater participation of Africans in the determination of their own affairs.

The constitution provided for a new legislative council, it had: The governor, 16 official members, and 28 unofficial members. Of the 28, two were nominated by the governor while 4 were elected. The North had 11 members, the West had 8 members while the East had 6 members. The elected 4 were from Lagos and Calabar. Also, the constitution made the council legislate for the whole country.

The constitution also provided for regional houses of assembly. The members of the regional assembly were nominated by the native authority. However, they weren’t legislative bodies. They were just grounds for discussing national issues. Also, it was from the house of assembly that members were nominated to the legislative council. The East and West had unicameral legislature while the North, in addition to a house of assembly, had a house of chiefs.

Also, the constitution reduced the amount of the limited franchise from 100 pounds to 50 pounds. This is considered as a plus because more people could vote and be voted for. However, it was still too expensive for most Nigerians.

The executive council in Lagos also had for the first time,Nigerians. they were Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Bankole Rhodes.

Despite all these improvements compared to the Clifford constitution, the constitution still had some defects. First, it limited franchise to only Lagos and Calabar. Also, the money required for the right to vote was still too expensive for most Nigerians. Also,the regional houses of assemblies could not make laws, they were merely grounds for public discussion. The constitution also did not include the elites. This is because those nominated into the regional houses of assembly and the legislative council were nominated by the native authority.

MACPHERSON CONSTITUTION
Due to the above criticism of the Richard constitution, it was felt that a new constitution was needed. The governor, Sir John Macpherson, not wanting to make the mistake his predecessor made, decided to include Nigerian in the constitutional making process. There was wide consultation of Nigerians even to the village levels. Also, there was the Ibadan conference of 1950. The result of all these was that it led to the creation of the Macpherson constitution.

The constitution provided for a federal legislature called the house of representatives. It had 136 elected representatives, 6 ex-officio members and 6 nominated by the governor. 68 members were from the North, 34 from the West and 34 from the East.

It also provided for regional legislatures that could make laws for their regions.The legislatures in the West and North were bi-cameral, each having a house of chiefs alongside the regional legislature. In the East, it was a unicameral legislature. It was also from the regional legislatures that members were nominated to the legislative council.

LYTTLETON CONSTITUTION
Despite, the improvements in the Macpherson constitution, it could not keep Nigerians united. It collapsed soon due to problems from the legislature. In 1953,Anthony Enahoro of the A.G proposed on the floor of the house that Nigeria should be given independence in 1956. The Northerners, who felt they were not ready for independence, opposed this. They proposed that independence should be given ‘as soon as practicable’. This led to been booed in Lagos. This led to a riot in Kano in reaction to what happened in Lagos. Also, the North threatened to secede.

In order to calm things down, the then colonial secretary, Oliver Lyttleton called the leaders for a conference in London. Some issues were discussed during the conference and committees were set up.Their reports were to be considered in the Lagos conference of 1954. It was the conference that led to the Lyttleton constitution.

The constitutional conferences of 1953 and 1954 held in London and Lagos respectively gave birth to the Lyttleton constitution. The constitution fully introduced a federal system,with North, East, West and Southern Cameroons. While the Federal capital territory was in Lagos.

Judicially, the West African court of appeal was abolished. There was a supreme court for Nigeria and individual high courts for the regions. However, the highest court of appeal was the judicial committee of the privy council. The Eastern and Western regions became self-governing in 1957 while the North became self-governing in 1959. Southern Cameroon through a referendum opted out of Nigeria.