Except XXXVIII from the book Moral Goodness In Our Lifetime, By Pastor Ajayi James B.C. 

2.4 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF NIGERIAN POLITICS.

 

With the above title for chapter 2 subsection 4 of this book l merely intend to whet the appetite of political pundits, research students and historians to delve fully into the topic, “ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NIGERIA’S POLITICAL PILGRIMAGE,” and find ways to transplant moral goodness into the system. This is a short, indeed, a very short expose of just two critical periods that l witnessed Nigeria’s political processes in her 100 years of existence.

 

The first election in Nigeria took place in 1923, exactly 100 years ago. l have no idea if the 2023 elections were inadvertently planned or they were purposely fixed to co-inside with that remarkable period in Nigeria’s political history. I was yet to be planted into my mother’s womb then. A period of 100 years is not a short time except you are comparing Nigeria’s political development with that of the advanced democracies. l will leave the full history of the Nigerian political development in the last hundred years to historians to deal with.

 

l want this book to be as factual as possible and nothing deliberately fictitious in it.So,l will endeavour to write on my observations from personal experiences as well as a few excerpts from newspaper reports in the last sixty years.

 

There were a few elections between the 1923 elections and those of 1965 of which l cannot write much about as l was not yet a living being by then, or l was too young to grasp fully all the activities nor understand their significance, but only heard then about the escapades of major actors like Herbert Macaulay, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Chief Anthony Enahoro and Adelabu Adegoke (a.k.a Penkele Mess). I used to hear the fiery speeches of these radical nationalists. Only radicals were bold enough to be campaigning about in the watchful eyes of the colonial Governor-Generals like Sir Hugh Clifford, 1919-1925; Sir Creamer Thompson,1925-1931; Sir Donald Cameron, 1931-1935; Sir Bernard Bourdillon, 1935-1943; Sir Arthur……..(TO BE CONTINUED IN EXCERPT THRTY-NINE)

 

LEGENDARY QUOTES:

“POLITICS CONSISTS IN THE MORE OR LESS INCOMPLETE CONTROL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR THROUGH VOLUNTARY HABITS OF COMPLIANCE IN COMBINATION WITH THREATS OF PROBABLE ENFORCEMENT.” – KARL W. DEUTSCH, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, U.S.A.