- Ibadan Peoples Party
The Ibadan Peoples Party (IPP) was established on
June 15 1951 , by a group of eminentIbadan indigenes who opposed the politics oftribalism and personality, which held sway in the Yorùbá dominatedWestern Region, Nigeria in the 1950s. Its foundingchairman was ChiefAugustus Akinloye , and the other founders were; ChiefAdegoke Adelabu , Chief Kola Balogun, Chief T.O.S Benson, Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya and ChiefH.O. Davies . The other leaders of the IPP were: Chief S. A. Akinyemi, Chief S. O. Lanlehin, Chief Moyo Aboderin, Chief Samuel Lana,HRH Chief D. T. Akinbiyi, Chief S. Ajunwon, Chief S. Aderonmu, Chief R. S. Baoku, Chief Akin Allen and Chief Akinniyi Olunloyo.Ideological status quo
The attempt to systematically introduce tribal and sectionalist politics in
Nigeria started in 1945, when ChiefObafemi Awolowo along with Dr. Oni Akerele, Chief Akintola Williams, Professor Saburi Biobaku, Chief Abiodun Akinrele, Chief Ayo Rosiji and others, established the Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà in 1945, inLondon . The organization’s stated goal was to unite the Yorùbá politically. Some years later, some parochial Yorùbá politicians based inLagos were getting particularly worried that a large number of the politically active Yorùbá youth, were increasingly being drawn, into the nationalist and communal fold of theNational Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) under the leadership of Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe . Thus onMarch 21 1951 , the Ègbe Ọmọ Odùduwà set up a political party called the Action Group; which was to serve as the platform for realizing itselitist primary objective of herding the Yorùbá under one political tent. This was theideological mindset that was rejected by a lot of the Yorùbá, particularly the Ibadancommoners , which led to the formation of the IPP.Elections of 1951
When the election into the Western Region
House of Assembly was completed in November 1951, the Action Group was surprised it won only 29 out of the 80 seats contested. In fact, the (AG) lost in all theconstituencies in Ibadan; the capital city of theWestern Region, Nigeria and likewise inLagos , the capital ofNigeria . The AG had expected that as the “party of the Yorùbá it would sweep the elections with ease, at all levels; and in so doing, form the regional government. However, in Ibadan, the IPP won all the six seats up for grabs while in Lagos; the NCNC won all the available five seats. Faced with this set of circumstances, the Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà lured twenty victorious candidates on the ticket of the smaller rival parties to join the Action Group; thereby tilting the balance in favor of the party, against its primary opponent; the NCNC. Some of the leaders of the small parties were offered ministerial appointments to join the AG. One of them was Chief Augustus Akinloye who was appointed the Nigerian Minister ofAgriculture andNatural Resources ; and who reciprocated by persuading four out of his five victorious colleagues in the IPP into joining the AG. The only IPP member who refused to join the AG was Hon ChiefAdegoke Adelabu , who, instead, joined the more national NCNC.Body politic
The Ibadan
electorate did not take kindly to thedefection of its elected representatives on the platform of IPP to the Action Group. They used the opportunity of the 1954 federal elections and the 1956 regional elections to express their aversion of the Action Group. In the 1954 Federal elections, when both parties went head to head; the NCNC won 22 seats in theHouse of Representatives of Nigeria while the AG secured 19 seats. In Ibadan, thecapital city of the Western Region, the ruling party AG secured just one out of the five federal seats up for grabs. The loathing of the AG by the Ibadan electorate was further demonstrated in the regional elections, which was held onMay 26 ,1956 . Despite the fact that the election was held after the AG had been in power for five years, and had implemented significant social projects, particularly in the area ofeducation ; the results for 1956 were: 48 seats won by the AG and 32 seats by the NCNC. However, a closerscrutiny of the actual votes cast revealed that, the margin of victory between the AG and the NCNC was just 39,270 votes. The AG got 623,826 or (48.3%) of total votes, while the NCNC got 584,556 or (45.3%) of the total votes cast. The battle lines had been drawn; the ensuing mayhem and ruthless machinations thatencapsulated the Ibadan political scene, degenerated and continued to spiral out of control until 1966, when the military seized control of the government, and banned all political parties in Nigeria.References
[http://www.ceddert.com/misrepresentation_by_%20others.htm THE MISREPRESENTATION OF NIGERIA BY NIGERIANS AND OTHERS By: Alkasum Abba] .
Some facts and figures were drawn from the book, by Yusufu Bala Usman and Alkasum Abba, entitled; The Misrepresentation of Nigeria: The Facts and the Figures, CEDDERT, Zaria, 2005 reprint.
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