Introduction
Nigeria gained political independence on 1 October 1960. The period between independence and 15 January 1966 is generally referred to as the First Republic, even though it was only on 1 October 1963 that Nigeria officially became a republic.
At independence, Nigeria had all the trappings of a democratic state — a supposedly independent judiciary and a parliamentary system of government modelled along British lines. Yet these features alone were not enough to guarantee the survival of the new republic. Indeed, Nigeria at independence had certain inherent structural and fundamental weaknesses which significantly contributed to the collapse of the First Republic. Perhaps the most significant of these was the disproportionate power of the Northern Region within the federation, particularly with regard to its size.
Regional Imbalance and the Party System
The Northern Region in the First Republic was larger — both in landmass and population — than the Eastern and Western regions combined. This size accounted for its dominance in the federal parliament, given the regionalised nature of the federation. This unbalanced structure of the party system did not merely result in electoral dominance by one party bloc; it also significantly contributed to the collapse of the First Republic.
The major political parties that emerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s were rooted in their respective regions, with each seeking to control power within its own region. The Northern People's Congress (NPC) and the Action Group (AG) — representing the Northern and Western regions respectively — clearly emerged along these lines. The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), founded in 1944, began as a pan-Nigerian nationalist party, but the pressures of regionalism gradually pushed it to become primarily an Eastern-based party, though it retained pockets of support elsewhere in the federation. These regional parties drew their core support from the dominant ethnic groups in their respective regions: the NPC from the Hausa-Fulani, the AG from the Yoruba, and the NCNC from the Igbo. A more ideologically driven alternative, the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), opposed the NPC in Kano and allied itself with the NCNC.
The 1959 Federal Election and the Coalition Government
The 1959 federal election, the first national election to usher Nigeria into independence, saw the major parties win the majority of seats in their respective regions, but none emerged powerful enough to form a national government alone. A coalition government was therefore formed between the NPC and the NCNC. Nnamdi Azikiwe, leader of the NCNC, became Governor-General in November 1960, and subsequently President when the country became a republic in 1963. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of the NPC was named Prime Minister, while Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the AG had to settle for Leader of the Opposition. The regional premiers were Ahmadu Bello for the Northern Region, Samuel Akintola for the Western Region, Michael Okpara for the Eastern Region, and Dennis Osadebey for the Mid-Western Region (created in 1963).
Other Contributing Factors
In addition to the unbalanced nature of the federation and the regionalised party system, other problems contributed to the collapse of the First Republic. These include the 1962–63 census controversy.
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