herbert macaulay was the father of nationalism in nigeria.
who is the father of nationalism in nigeria?
herbert macaulay
nigerian nationalism asserts that nigerians are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of nigerians. nigerian nationalism is a territorial nationalism, emphasizing a cultural connection of the people to the land — in particular the niger and benue rivers. it first emerged in the 1920s under the influence of herbert macaulay who is considered the founder of nigerian nationalism. it was founded because of the belief in the necessity for the people living in the british colony of nigeria of multiple backgrounds to unite as one people in order to be able to resist colonialism. the people of nigeria came together as they recognized the discrepancies of british policy. "the problem of ethnic nationalism in nigeria came with the advent of colonialism. this happened when disparate, autonomous, heterogeneous and sub- national groups were merged to form a nation. again, the colonialists created structural imbalances within the nation in terms of socio-economic projects, social development and establishment of administrative centres. this imbalance deepened the antipathies between the various ethnic nationalities in nigeria (nnoli, 1980; y oung, 1993 and aluko, 1998)." the nigerian nationalists' goal of achieving an independent sovereign state of nigeria was achieved in 1960 when nigeria declared its independence and british colonial rule ended. nigeria's government has sought to unify the various peoples and regions of nigeria since the country's independence in 1960.
nigerian nationalism
however nigerian nationalism by the 1940s was already facing regional and ethnic problems to its goal of promoting a united, pan-nigerian nationalism. nigerian nationalism and its movements were geographically significant and important in southern nigeria while a comparable nigerian nationalist organization did not arrive in northern nigeria until the 1940s. this regional division in the development and significance of nigerian nationalism also had political implications for ethnic divide - southern nigeria faced strong ethnic divisions between the igbo and the yoruba while northern nigeria did not have strong internal divisions, this meant northern nigeria that is demographically dominated by the hausa was politically stronger due to its greater internal unity than that of southern nigeria that was internally disunified. the south that was ethnically divided between the igbo and the yoruba, though the region most in favour of nigerian nationalism; faced the north that was suspicious of the politics of the south, creating the north-south regional cleavage that has remained an important issue in nigerian politics.
nigerian nationalism