The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single stateâ '' possibly similar to the Canadian Confederation , or Australian Federation ; however , before that could happen , the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts . The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single stateâ '' possibly similar to the Canadian Confederation , Australian Federation , or Central African Federation ; however , before that could happen , the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts .