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Nigeria Popular Disillusionment and Political Realignment
The conspiracy trials that led to the conviction of two
of
the country's most dynamic politicians, Awolowo and
Enahoro,
severely weakened public confidence in the political and
judicial
systems. Abuses were widespread, including intimidation of
opponents by threats of criminal investigation,
manipulation of
the constitution and the courts, diversion of public funds
to
party and private use, rigging of elections, and
corruption of
public officials whose political patrons expected them to
put
party interests ahead of their legal responsibilities.
Popular
disillusion also intensified because politicians failed to
produce benefits commensurate with constituents'
expectations.
The volatile political scene leading up to elections in
1964
was ominous. The Action Group virtually disappeared from
the
federal parliament as a result of the Awolowo affair,
thereby
fundamentally altering political alignments at the
national
level. By early 1964, therefore, the federal parliament no
longer
had a recognized opposition. Akintola's party, which was
renamed
the Nigerian National Democratic Party in an effort to
attract
more support, now dominated the Western Region. The
federal
government nominally consisted of a consensus of the
ruling
parties of all four regions, but it was a fragile alliance
at
best and had emerged as a result of heavy-handed tactics.
The
NCNC had strengthened its position by gaining firm control
of the
Midwestern Region, so that it dominated two of the four
regions.
Akintola managed to undermine the NCNC in the Western
Region,
even though nationally he was pledged to an alliance with
the
NCNC. For its part, the NCNC denounced Akintola's party as
a
"tool of the NPC" and allied itself with remnants of the
Action
Group.
Political realignment was deceptive, however, because
the
basic divisions within the country remained unaltered. The
NPC
was reasonably secure in the Northern Region, despite the
presence of minor parties, but it could not govern Nigeria
alone,
and alliances with any of the southern parties were
ideologically
incompatible and very tenuous. The NPC continued its
dominance
because of the inability of the other parties to find
common
ground among themselves and with northern progressives.
Awolowo's
pointed remarks in 1963 that democracy could be secured
only if
the Action Group and the NCNC could reach an accommodation
that
would remove the deadweight of the NPC from power fueled
NPC
concerns. The detention of Awolowo prevented that alliance
from
maturing, but it did not result in greater political
stability.
Indeed the alliance between the NPC and NCNC, which had
dominated
federal politics and destroyed the Action Group, now fell
apart.
Data as of June 1991
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