Chapter 660 – London is not happy

“I don’t think Britain should be blamed for Nigeria’s ethnic problems, Nigeria was like this before we came here, it wasn’t us who made the Hausa people believe in the religion of peace.”

Azikiwe had studied in the United States and Alan Wilson’s reference to the experience, in connection with how it was opposed to Britain, could be considered very serious in nature, while the second paragraph referred to the current ethnic problem facing Nigeria.

“There is no doubt that the Hausas, as the majority ethnic group, deserve more power. This is in line with the basic rule of democratic politics, where the minority follows the majority. I think it would be responsible and the best outcome to put the future of Nigeria in the hands of the Hausa.”

“Of course there is not just one way, as in the case of British India, which turned hostile after the division, it is not unreasonable for a section of voices to argue that to avoid such a tragedy, a restructuring of some of the colonies and a strategy of partition could have avoided this.”

While flipping through the information, Allen Wilson said these words in a very soft voice, and his expression was very sensible, one could even say sincere, that’s what he thought.

With the person in question, the key political memories in Allen Wilson’s mind were awakened, remembering that Azikiwe was indeed the father of the Nigerian nation, that was true.

But there was something else, and that was that post-independence Nigeria did start out in the hands of the Igbos in control, and the Igbos even felt that it wasn’t enough, that democratic politics gave the other two ethnic groups a chance, and that it would be better to implement a military government model, having initiated a military coup d’état.

After the military coup, the military was utilized to defeat the forces of the other ethnic groups and build a complete Nigeria to complete the development.

But the Igbo themselves are the smallest of the three ethnic groups in terms of area and population, and the weakest one has set the precedent of a military coup, so don’t blame the other ethnic groups for doing the same. Once such an example is set, it is all about whoever has the biggest fist who stands to reason.

Eventually, Nigeria fell into the hands of the Hausa military junta, centered on Obasanjo, a Yoruba man.

Obasanjo is a Yoruba man and a Christian himself, but the military forces surrounding him are dominated by the Hausas.

The Hausas themselves are the largest ethnic group in Nigeria, and unlike the Igbos, who are clustered at all levels of government, the Hausas are the main source of the big-headed soldiers, and in fact, at first, the senior officers of the military were also predominantly Igbo. But the Hausas, who were mainly low ranking officers, went through several coups to remove the Igbo from power.

From this it is clear that Obasanjo was not without sleight of hand during his rule of Nigeria. The Yorubas, of which he was a member, were neither officers of Nigeria as the Igbos were during the British period, nor were they the majority in the military as the Hausas were.

But it was Obasanjo who ultimately dismantled the zoning administration based on the three major ethnic groups and suppressed Nigeria’s ethnic tensions, but of course the suppression was limited to his tenure.

Azikiwe, listening to Alan Wilson’s analytical and threatening words, could not help but retort, “Nigeria is one, all are Nigerians.”

“Oh, that’s what Nehru and Ali Jinnah said back then. Sukarno, who was looking for trouble with the Dutch, said the same thing, did you all agree on this together?” Alan Wilson snorted a laugh and muttered to himself, “After all, wanting to be the founding father of a nation, this kind of lucrative desire is not incomprehensible, talking nonsense with your eyes open is a necessary skill, Mr. Azikiwe, you must have been a good leader while you were alive.”

It was not a death threat, Alan Wilson’s words were very sincere, that’s how he saw it.

The two men had very different positions and naturally had little in common, but Azikiwe soon realized that the official from London was very honest, and that some of the things he said were hard to hear, but in the British perspective now, were perfectly fine.

Like giving control of Nigeria to any of the three major ethnic groups before leaving, when in fact the main threat to the Igbos was still the Hausas, who were of a different religion and still more numerous.

Of course this candor was based on deterrence, and Alan Wilson said that the Igbos, as currently represented by Azikiwe, had upset London by making a demand for autonomy at a time when the King of England had just died of illness and the Crown Prince had not yet ascended to the throne.

Azikiwe, on his part, explained that it was a spontaneous outcry and was not meant to upset London at this time.

“Oh, so it is!” Alan Wilson, finally sensing that the Pan-Africanist didn’t seem to be incommunicable, changed his tone, “Mr. Azikiwe, do you expect Britain to help you eliminate the ethnic tensions in Nigeria? And then take the blame for all the killings? Let the world lash out at Britain? And then give you the whole of Nigeria? No way?”

“I think under normal circumstances, without the kind of wishful thinking that you pan African think about, you should know which ethnic group Nigeria should be in the hands of after the British leave. Or else let’s try it? Have a democratic election before the British leave? Let’s see who wins? And we’ll put Nigeria in the hands of that nation, how about that?”

Azikiwe was about to say something, but eventually opened his mouth and said nothing; it wasn’t that he didn’t have something to say in rebuttal. It was just a feeling that what he was advocating for didn’t necessarily win at election time.

“One thing I don’t want to see, and that is that Britain doesn’t mind handing over British Cameroon to French trusteeship if the Igbos still won’t cooperate, and I’m sure it would be easy to offer that in exchange for French support for Britain in West African affairs.”

Alan Wilson stared wistfully at Azikiwe, “You and I understand what that means. Any more trouble and I’ll do it, and you won’t regret it when the time comes.”

British Cameroon was only a small piece of Cameroon, which was itself a German colony that was divided between Britain and France after the war. The French piece of it was over ninety percent of the original Cameroon. And the British piece was a cross-border settlement of the Igbo.

The unquestionable result of Alan Wilson’s reference to handing over British Cameroon to France was that the Igbo, themselves the least numerous of the three major ethnic groups, had a population even more incomparable to the other two.

“Mr. Azikiwe, think about it. Don’t think that just because you have studied in America, you can really learn independence from America. France paid the price of having its king beheaded in the first place. Sending an expeditionary force to fight the British in North America, if you want to follow suit, let’s see if there’s another France that’s willing to do that.”

“Even if there is!” Allen Wilson said with a wistful turn of phrase, “The Royal Navy could have sent two battleships over, fired a few volleys at the city of Lagos at their feet, and then patted themselves on the back.”

If someone were to ask Alan Wilson right now if he was happy, of course he was, talking like that in front of a leader at the level of the Father of the Nation fulfilled one of his dreams, there was a time when he wanted to talk like that in front of Nehru.

But at that time, the main thing was to maintain stability, to ensure that the last period of British India’s interests are maximized.

If he were to change to the present, he would have no such scruples, and although he accused the future father of the Nigerian nation of half a dozen things, the two men maintained their posture of sitting face to face as Ingram came in.

“Alan, the information you asked for.” Ingram sent in the development plan on Nigeria.

“No problem!” Alan Wilson nodded his head and then placed the information in front of Mr. Azikiwe and said, “According to our observations, the current Nigeria is not suitable for self-governance, and if a hasty decision is made to intensify the conflict, there is a risk of a civil war breaking out, which is the precedent of the Indo-Pakistani war. The idea of the current British colonial government is to carry out a development program for the three major ethnic agglomerations, the core purpose is, to complete the development plan formulated by the colonial government, and whoever can complete it the best to prove their ability, we will hand over the future of Nigeria’s future to whoever we want to hand it over to.”

“The premise is that all the materials needed will be imported from British soil and exchanged for Nigerian raw materials. Mr. Azikiwe can interpret this as a test and I still believe that the Igbo have the upper hand. If at the end of the day the Igbos get the best results, then in five years time you are looking for London to talk, at which time a plan for self-government will be drawn up, and for the first five years we will still have to supervise Nigeria’s political situation, so that a mature response will be produced, and Nigeria will be officially independent.”

Seeing Azikiwe’s hesitation, Allen Wilson said conspiratorially, “Looks like I’d better talk to the Hausas, and the French would surely want Britain to give Cameroon back.”

“It’s a mature and responsible plan. We are, of course, more than willing to accept it, and it would prove the Igbo’s competence.” Azikiwe agreed straight away, “We can show the whole of Nigeria that the Igbo have experience in running Nigeria.”

“Mr. Azikiwe don’t force it, if you think it is forced you can just say so.” Allen Wilson lit a cigar and with the smoke schmoozing, “Of course I won’t change it if you say it.”

Azikiwe pushed his glasses, his seemingly intelligent gaze behind the lenses was sincere, “Not reluctantly at all.”

If the APC in the North endorsed this development plan, he would not even have a chance to regret it when the time came.

“Very well, I will stay in Nigeria for half a month to finish this matter and also go to the Gold Coast.” Alan Wilson looked at the time and took the initiative to inquire, “Holding whether to stay for an afternoon tea?”

Azikiwe of course understood that Alan Wilson was giving an order to leave, and decisively said that he still had things to do, and left the administrative office.

“How did the talk go?” Ingram waited until the man had left before coming in to inquire about the progress.

“It seems to be going well, I heard that he is a media man, I learned a saying in the East that a showman can’t rebel for three years. A so-called independent leader like this one who plays with his pen is of that caliber.” Alan Wilson said with contempt, “But I hope that the independence leaders in Africa are all at this level.”