The Acceptance of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) in Ilesa, Southwestern Nigeria, 1946 — 1966: An Interpretative History
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Date
2019
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Publisher
Kaduna Journal of Humanities
Abstract
Party politics in the First Republic was predicated on ethnic
affiliation. There were very few areas in Nigeria where
political party affiliation was not really based on ethnicity.
Resa, a town in Southwestern Nigeria mainly followed the
National Council of Nigerian Citizens. (NCNC) Some scholars
worked on the politics of the First Republic but did not focus
mainly on local politics in the interior of Yorubaland. Peel is
the only one who did a sociological study on Ilesa and
contributed immensely to the study of the Ijesa as a people
among the Yoruba of western Nigeria. The aim of this work
is therefore to examine the activities of the NCNC and the
acceptance of the party among the Ijesa between 1946 and
1966. This study interrogates the hegemony of the party in
Ilesa after its victory at election and its subsequent control of
the local administration there. The little developmental
improvement in Ilesa was done by this administration. This
study reveals that the Ijesa people change their attitude when
the government of the N. C. N. C. collapsed. The new
management committee that was formed by the Action Group
could not control the hitherto local assessment of tax and rates
through which the bulk of the finances of the council came.
This generated several disaffection among the Ijesa. The
political crisis that followed changed the climate of political
affiliations and association during this period.