LAGOS, Nigeria, Dec. 29, 1964—The
Federal Republic of Nigeria moved
to the brink of dissolution
tonight, the eve of the first
national elections since the
country became independent of
Britain four years ago.
The Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa, emerged from a
three‐hour emergency meeting
with President Nnamdi Azikiwe
and Opposition southern leaders
and announced that the elections
would go ahead tomorrow as
planned.
The United Progressive Grand
Alliance, which dominates the
southern half of the nation,
reaffirmed its threat to boycott
the polls.
The election is now virtually
conceded here to the National
Nigerian Alliance, the party of the
conservative Moslem Hausas of
the vast Northern Region and of
a faction of Yoruba tribesmen in
the Western Region.
Leaders of the southern
Opposition appealed at today's
meeting for an election
postponement after alleging that
scores of the organization's
candidates had been denied the
right to contest seats in the
north.
The boycott decision by the
southerners and the North's
seemingly certain yictory
heightened fears here that the
prosperous Eastern Region, rich in
newly found oil, might secede
from the Federation.
The Premier of the Northern
Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello. openly
accused the Ibo tribesmen of the
Eastern Region of plotting a
separate state.
He charged that this was the real
topic of discussion at today's
emergency meeting and said he
did not attend for this reason.
The meeting was also boycotted
by the pro‐Government Premier
of the Western Region.
Sir Ahmadu charged that the Ibos
falsely pictured themselves “as
the oppressed peoples of Nigeria”
to gain sympathy for their
intended secession.
But the real reason, he
contended, was that the East's
new oil revenues made a
breakaway economically possible.
Sir Ahmadu urged that if the East
insisted on seceding, “then other
Nigerians ought to concede such
a right in peace.”
The Northern Region leader,
echoing a speech by President
Azikiwe three weeks ago,
declared that if Nigeria was about
to dissolve, a conference should
bercalled.”to divide our assets.”
The month ‐ long election
campaign has been marked by
widespread violence. Clashes
between political rivals have
occurred almost daily and several
politicians have been killed.
Tribalism is at the root of the
crisis. The Yorubas of the West
have long feared domination by
the more aggressive Ibos of the
East. And both these southern
tribes have a traditional fear of
being overwhelmed by the more
numerous Hausas to the north.
The Northern Region won a slim
majority in the 1959 elections
that led to independence but
agreed to form a coalition with
the East as a gesture toward
national unity.
During the first few years after
independence the coalition
functioned behind an outward
veil of harmony. But the elections
have unleashed once again all the
deep‐rooted tribal antagonisms
that lie just beneath the
Federation's surface.
In the election tomorrow, most of
the voters will mark their ballots
opposite brightly colored symbols
because they, cannot read
English, the official language.
Most Hausas in the Northern
Region, where only the men are
permitted to vote, will make their
marks opposite a green hoe—
symbol of the Northern People's
Congress.
The Ibos of the Eastern Region
have always been loyal to the
red rooster of the National
Convention of Nigeriar Citizens.
The rooster is also likely to reign
supreme in the MidWest Region
whose autonom j the National
Convention championed last year.
The Yoruba West is one of the
few areas where a contest lis
anticipated. Most YorubaS favor
the palm tree of the Action .
Group, whose former leader, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, is in jail under
a sentence foi treason.
But the National People's
Congress is hopeful that its ally in
the west—the National Nigerian
Democratic Party‐^‐will cut
deeply into. the Action Group's
traditional strength.
The Federal Election Commission
has erected hundreds of
aluminum‐sheeted polling booths
in areas where there are ~no
churches, mosques or schools for
polling centers.
But scores of these temporary
shelters have been torn down by
partisans of the Action Group and
the National Convention, which
have urged their backers to
boycott the elections because of
alleged fraud in the North.https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/30/archives/nigeria-appears-near-a-breakup-secession-of-east-is-feared-in-wake.html

No long talk

"Divide our assets"..yam,tomatoes and cow..na e be the only assets north get.

The meeting was also boycotted
by the pro‐Government Premier
of the Western Region.
Sir Ahmadu charged that the Ibos
falsely pictured themselves “as
the oppressed peoples of Nigeria”
to gain sympathy for their
intended secession.

In 1964, before the first coup and the pogrom?

So e don tey?

No be today dem Hausa and Yoruba begin eye Biafran oil.

Following

Nigeria have been a contraption from the force marriage contracted on its behalf by Flora Shaw and Lord Lugard.

donbachi:
"Divide our assets"..yam,tomatoes and cow..na e be the only assets north get.

Pigs, gala, akpu, beads and red caps na e be the only assets south east get.

OP, what are you trying to achieve with this post now