Leadership Crisis and Political Instability in Nigeria, 1964-1966: The Personalities, the Parties and the Policies

Abstract

1964-1966 would go down the annals of Nigerian history as turbulent and politically explosive years. The
federal elections of 1964, which, for all intents and purposes, was an electoral battle between the Nigerian
National Alliance and the United Progressive Grand Alliance, subjected the Nigerian democratic process to
unprecedented stress. The electoral battle between the alliances produced a political stalemate which, for
the first time since the 1914 amalgamation, left the country without a legally constituted central
government for about two days. Although, the deadlock was eventually resolved through a wretched
compromise which did not address the fundamental causes of the crisis; the relief was transient. Thus, in
1965, pre and post election violence in the defunct Western Region created unprecedented political
instability in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the ethnic and other interests of some of the leaders of the Structural
Frame made a quick resolution of the crisis impossible and on 15 January 1966, the military intervened in
the Nigeria democratic process to restore law and order. However, the military intervention did not
immediately produce the magic wand needed for an immediate resolution of the large scale political crisis.
Indeed, the composition of the coup planners on the one hand and the victims of the coup on the other
subjected Nigeria to further political instability and turmoil. Furthermore, the Hausa-Fulani felt that some of
the policies of Nigeria’s first military regime were designed to ‘rob’ them of whatever benefits they still
derived from the Nigerian Federation. The result was further instability and violence. This paper examines
the personalities, the political parties as well as the policies that created unprecedented political instability
and crisis in Nigeria between 1964 and 1966. The method of data analysis employed in this study is the
historical approach - simple descriptive collation and analysis of historical data. This method involves
subjecting data to rigorous criticism with a view to determining their accuracy and authenticity.