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The Zikist Movement—a Study in Political Radicalism, 1946–50

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

G. O. Olusanya
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Extract

To understand the factors behind the formation of the Zikist Movement it is necessary to examine the political situation in Nigeria after World War II, which had stimulated national awakening to an unprecedented degree. Ideas of self-determination had taken root and various militant organisations had emerged—the trade unions, the ex-servicemen's unions, the Association of Market Women—each with its own grievances against the British colonial administration. These bodies, if properly organised and disciplined, could have become a powerful force in the struggle for freedom.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , November 1966 , pp. 323 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1966

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References

Page 323 note 1 E. Ikoli and S.A. Akinsanya were rivals within the Nigerian Youth Movement for nomination to contest a seat in the Legislative Council left vacant by Dr K. Abayomi, who was proceeding to Britain for further studies. The Movement was split into two; and Dr N. Azikiwe, who had already been rejected for nomination, supported Akinsanya. Many believed that this was not on principle but out of a desire to make capital from the trouble and thus destroy the Movement.The fact that Azikiwe then resigned from it, and was followed out by all the Ibo members, aroused the suspicion of others.

Page 323 note 2 West African Pilot (Lagos), 19 02 1946.Google Scholar Amongst those present were Kola Balogun, Nduka Eze, G. Onyeagbula, Abiodun Aloba, M. Ama, G. Ebo, J. Inoma, and S. Aderibigbe.

Page 324 note 1 Anyiam, F. U., Men and Matters in Nigerian Politics, 1934–58 (Yaba, John Odwesa and Co. Ltd., 1959), p. 17.Google Scholar

Page 324 note 2 Orizu, N., Without Bitterness (New York, 1944), p. 293.Google Scholar See also West African Pilot, 17 June 1946, and 10 February 1961, on the philosophy of Zikism.

Page 325 note 1 Okoye, Mokwugo, Storms on the Niger (Eastern Nigeria Printing Corporation, Enugu, n.d.), p. 138.Google Scholar

Page 325 note 2 Ibid. pp. 140–41.

Page 325 note 3 Jones-Quartey, K. A. B., A Life of Azikiwe (London, 1965), p. 191.Google Scholar

Page 326 note 1 West African Pilot, 6 04 1949.Google Scholar

Page 326 note 2 Okoye, op. cit. p. 137.

Page 327 note 1 Mazi Mbonu Ojike was one of the most militant Nigerian nationalists, and a prominent member of the N.C.N.C. He was popularly known as the ‘Boycott King’. He rose to be a Minister in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. His untimely death in 1965 was mourned by all.

Page 327 note 2 West African Pilot, 31 12 1947.Google Scholar

Page 328 note 1 West African Pilot, 31 12 1947.Google Scholar

Page 328 note 2 Azikiwe, Nnamdi, Before us lies the Open Grave (London, 1947), p. 2.Google Scholar

Page 329 note 1 Report of the Commission of Enquiry into the Disorders in the Eastern Provinces of Nigeria (London, 1949), p. 34.Google Scholar

Page 330 note 1 Private papers of Raji Abdallah. The lecture was entitled, ‘What is Zikism?’.

Page 330 note 2 Okoye, op. cit. p. 177.

Page 330 note 3 Ibid. p. 193.

Page 330 note 4 The Times (London), 14 04 1950.Google Scholar

Page 331 note 1 Okoye, op. cit. p. 141.

Page 332 note 1 See Sklar, R. L., Nigerian Political Parties (Princeton, 1963), p. 74.Google Scholar

Page 332 note 2 Aihaji Raji Abdallah (then Raji Abdallah) resigned from the N.C.N.C. on the ground that a cartoon in The West African Pilot ridiculed the youths (including himself) who had suffered imprisonment. See ibid. 2 March 1951.

Page 332 note 3 Okoye, op. cit. pp. 158–9.