Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Anthony Enahoro
1923 – 2010
Moved the first motion for Nigerian independence
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Nigeria Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
In 1953 he stood up in the House of Assembly and formally moved that Nigeria should govern itself — the first politician ever to do it.
Anthony Eromosele Enahoro was born at Uromi in what is now Edo State and became the youngest newspaper editor in Nigerian history at twenty-one, taking over the Southern Nigerian Defender in 1944. Editing against a colonial government cost him two prison sentences for sedition, in 1946 and 1947, before he was twenty-five.
He joined the Action Group and was elected to the Federal House of Assembly. On 31 March 1953 he moved the motion that the House accept as a primary political objective the attainment of self-government for Nigeria in 1956. Northern members walked out rather than vote on it, fearing that immediate independence would leave them dominated by the south, and the motion failed. It was moved successfully in 1958 by Remi Fani-Kayode, and independence came on 1 October 1960. But Enahoro had put the demand on the record first, in the chamber, as a formal question the colonial power had to answer — which is why he is widely called a father of the Nigerian state.
He was jailed again in the 1960s over the Action Group treason trial, fleeing to Britain and being extradited in a case that became a cause célèbre there. He spent the Abacha years in exile campaigning for a return to civilian rule, and the last part of his life arguing for a national conference to rewrite the federation's terms. He died in 2010.
He joined the Action Group and was elected to the Federal House of Assembly. On 31 March 1953 he moved the motion that the House accept as a primary political objective the attainment of self-government for Nigeria in 1956. Northern members walked out rather than vote on it, fearing that immediate independence would leave them dominated by the south, and the motion failed. It was moved successfully in 1958 by Remi Fani-Kayode, and independence came on 1 October 1960. But Enahoro had put the demand on the record first, in the chamber, as a formal question the colonial power had to answer — which is why he is widely called a father of the Nigerian state.
He was jailed again in the 1960s over the Action Group treason trial, fleeing to Britain and being extradited in a case that became a cause célèbre there. He spent the Abacha years in exile campaigning for a return to civilian rule, and the last part of his life arguing for a national conference to rewrite the federation's terms. He died in 2010.
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