House of Chiefs should be next, by Eric Teniola

Now that we are about to establish State Police in the Constitution, the next step should be the establishment of House of Chiefs in the Constitution too. It is a wish.
I am afraid the wish may be dead on arrival. Considering the present set of politicians that we have, I do not see the possibility.
They would not want competition for power and influence with the future House of Chiefs. They would rather give the traditional rulers gifts or collect titles from them or use them for state functions.
Moreover, the traditional rulers themselves seem to be satisfied with what they are indulging in now.
Low profile responsibilities without constitutional schedules. They are not pushing enough to have constitutional roles and they are behaving as if they are helpless.
If not for fear and the urgency of necessity the State Police will not be. Yet, the idea of House of Chiefs is not new in our political history. If we want it, we can reactivate the process.
After the London Constitutional Conference of 1957, the conference noted with approval the intention of the government of the Northern Region to secure wider representation in the Northern House of Chiefs.
It agreed that the members of the Northern House of Chiefs should be all first-class chiefs, and 95 chiefs other than first class chiefs, as at present an adviser on Muslim Law, and those members of the Executive Council of the Northern Region who were members of the Northern House of Assembly.
The conference also agreed that the West membership of the House of Chiefs should be increased to 124, that power to recognize and grade chiefs for the purpose of the Constitution should be vested in the Governor-in-Council and that the House of Chiefs should have delaying powers similar to those possessed in the United Kingdom by the House of Lords.
The Conference noted that the Government of the Western Region had decided that the Governor-in-Council, after consultation with the President of the Western House of Chiefs, should set up a Council of Chiefs to advise the government on matters relating to the discipline of chiefs and any other matter that might be referred to them by the responsible Minister.
The question of constitutional provision governing the selection of chiefs and designation of certain head chiefs as permanent members of the House of Chiefs was under consideration by the Western Regional government.
The Conference took note of the agreement of the Western Regional Government that the principles governing the selection of members of the Western House of Chiefs should in due course be included in the Constitution.
The Conference took note that the government and the opposition in the eastern region had reached on a formula for the classification of chiefs which would enable a House of Chiefs to be established.
The Conference agreed to recommend that the Southern Cameroons House of Chiefs should for the present continue to be advisory body and its members should continue to be appointed by the Commissioner of the Cameroons acting in his discretion, but that these arrangements should be reviewed between the Secretary of State and the Southern Cameroons Government towards the end of 1959.
Those who attended the conference among others, were Sir James Robertson, Governor General, Sir John Rankie, Governor, Western Region, Sir Robert Stapledon, Eastern Region, Sir Gawain Bell, Governor Northern Region, Mr. J.O. Field, Commissioner of the Cameroons, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Premier, Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, Mr. L.J. Dosunmu, Mr. E.O. Eyo, Mr. S.O. Ighodaro, Mr. S.G. Ikoku, Chief A.O. Lawson and Chief F.R.A. Williams (Action Group), Dr. E.M.L. Endley, Premier Southern Cameroons, Mr. P. A. Aiyuk and Mr Mr. J.T. Ndze (Kamerun National Congress), Mr.J.N. Foncha (Kamerun Democratic Party and Mr. P.M. Kale (Kamerun People’s Party).
Others were Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Premier, Eastern Region, Mr. A.M.F. Agbaje, Mr. M.O. Ajebo, Mr. T.O.S. Benson, Dr. S.E. Imoke, Mr R.A. Njoku, Chief F.S. Oktie-Eboh, Dr. M.I. Okpara, Mr. D.C. Osadebay and Mr B. Olowofoyeku (National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons), Malam Amin Kano, Malam Abdul Mumuni (Northern Elements’ Progressive Union), Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, Premier of the Northern Region, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minster of the Federation, Alhaji Aliyu, Makama of Bida, Alhaji Isa Kaita, Madawaki of Katsina, Alhaji Muhhammadu Ribadu and Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Wada(Northern People’s Congress).
The rest were Mr. H.J.R. Biriye(Rivers), Mr. J.S. Tarka (United Middle Belt Congress), Dr. E.U. Udoma (United National Independence Party), Sir Muhammadu Sanusi, Emir of Kano, Alhaji Usman Nagogo and Emir of Katsina (Chiefs Norther Region), Sir Adesoji Aderemi, Oni of Ife, Oba Aladesanmi, Ewi of Ado-Ekiti(Western Region) and Chief S.E. Onukogu(Eastern Region).
As a result of the London agreement, certain portions of the Constitution relating to the establishment of House of Chiefs were included in the 1963 Constitution.
Section 41 of the 1963 Constitution states that “There shall be a Parliament of the Federation, which shall consist of the President, a Senate and a House of Representatives.
42.—(1) Without Prejudice to the provisions of section 46 of this Constitution, the Senate shall consist of—
(a) twelve Senators representing each Region, who shall be selected at a joint sitting of the legislative houses of that Region from among persons nominated by the Governor; (b) four Senators representing the Federal territory; (c) four Senators selected by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minster.
(2) The Senators representing the Federal territory shall be
(a) the Oba of Lagos, who shall be an ex-officio member of the Senate;
(b) a Chief selected in such manner as may be prescribed by the Parliament by the White-Cap Chiefs and War Chiefs of Lagos from among their own number; and (c) two other persons selected for that purpose in such manner as may be prescribed by Parliament.
(3) A joint sitting of the legislative houses of a Region may regulate its own procedure for the purposes of this section.
43. Without prejudice to the provisions of sections 47 and 88 of this Constitution, the House of Representatives shall consist of three hundred and twelve members.
44. Subject to the provision of section 45 of this Constitution—-
(a) a person shall be qualified for selection as a Senator if he is a citizen of Nigeria and has attained the age of forty years;
(b) a person shall be qualified for election as a member of the House of Representatives if he is a citizen of Nigeria and has attained the age of twenty-one years and in the case of a person who stands for election in the Northern Nigeria, is a male person.
Section 4 of the 1963 Western Region Constitution states that “There shall be a legislature for the region, which shall consist of the Governor, a House of Chiefs and a House of Assembly and which shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Region.
5. (1) The House of Chiefs shall consist of—
(a) the person for the time being holding such chieftaincies as may be described by the Governor, who shall be ex officio members of the House;
(b) eighty-seven Chiefs having such qualifications and selected in such manner as may be prescribed by the Legislature of the Region;
© such Special members, being Chiefs (not exceeding four) as may be selected by the Governor, acting in accordance with the advice of the Premier; and
(d) if he is not a member of the House of the House of Chiefs apart from this paragraph, the President of the House.
(2) (a) The seat in the House of Chiefs of a member other than an ex officio member or a Special member shall become vacant in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the Legislature of the Region;
(b) The seat in the House of Chiefs of a Special Member, including a Special Member appointed by the Governor at any time before the coming into force of this Constitution, shall become vacant if he is removed from office as a Special Member by the Governor, acting in accordance with the advice of the Premier.”
Let me refer specifically to Section 26 of the Constitution of Mid-Western Nigeria Act 1964.
It states “(1) The House of Chiefs shall not— (a) proceed upon any bill, other than a bill sent from the House of Assembly, that, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes provision for any of the following purposes—
(i) The imposition, repeal or alteration of taxation;
(ii) The imposition of any charge upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Region;
(iii) The payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Region of any moneys not charged thereon or any alteration in the amount of such a payment, issue or withdrawal; or
(iv) The composition or remission of any debt due to the Region; (b) proceed upon any amendment to any bill that, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes provision for any of those purposes; (c) proceed upon any motion (including any amendment to a motion) the effect of which, in the opinion of the person presiding would be to make provision for any of those purposes; or (d) receive any petition that, the opinion of the person presiding, requests that provision be made for any of those purposes. (2) Except upon the recommendation of the Governor signified by not a Minister of the Government of the Region, the House of Assembly shall not—-
(a) Proceed upon any bill (including an amendment to a bill) that, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes provision for any of the following purposes— (i) the imposition of taxation or the alteration of taxation otherwise than by reduction; (ii) the imposition of any charge upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Region or the alteration of any such charge otherwise than by reduction (iii) the payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Region of any moneys not charged thereon or any increase in the amount of such a payment, issue or withdrawal; or (iv) the composition or remission of any debt due to the Region;
(b) proceed upon any motion (including any amendment to a motion) the effect of which, in the opinion of the person presiding would be to make provision for any of those purposes; or (c) receive any petition that in the opinion of the person presiding requests that provision be made for any of those purposes.”
All the four regions had House of Chiefs till 1966.
From 1966 till 1975, the military were in power and there was no attempt to make a new Constitution. In 1975, the then head of State, General Murtala Muhammed constituted a 50-member committee on Constitution Drafting. It was headed by Chief Alade Rotimi Williams, SAN, the former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in Western Region. He was also former President of Nigeria Bar Association. The Secretary of the committee was Alhaji Gidado Idris, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture Kaduna State. He was assisted Mr. R.C.O. Nwokedi, Mrs O.O. Onajide, Mr. A. Obilade and Dr. O.A. Obozuwa.
Others were Mr. E. Omofuma, Mr. O. Ogunade, Mr. J.O. Oyefeso, Mrs A.T. Kole, Mrs M.M. Wuraola, Mr. J.E. Ikebude, Mr. J.E. Ikebude, Mr.R.O. Akpabio, Mrs J.O. Adeyem-Wilson, Mrs V.O. Odunuga, Mrs M.M. Albert, Mrs P.C. Adiele,Mr. A.O. Iyiola, Mr. E.O. Ajiboye, Mrs J.T. Okechukwu, Mr. E.I. Ojogwu, Miss A.E. Anwana, Mr.J.A. Adesanwo, Mr. Ben Enahoro, Mr. N. Oeekan and Mr. P. Nwajei.
The Rotimi Williams committee then established seven sub committees. The subcommittee on the executive and legislature was headed by Alhaji F.G. Rasaq. Other members were Dr. E. Eleazu, Alhaji Sule Gaya, Dr. I. Ahmed, Dr Kole Abayomi, Mr. F. Okunnu, Dr. G.A. Odenigwe, Mr. S.G. Ikoku, Alhaji Shehu Malami and Dr. K.O. Mbadiwe.
Section 2 of the recommendations of the subcommittee states that “experience has shown that in periods of crisis in this country, the one stable element is traditional authority. The persons who represent this traditional authority can play a moderating role when the inevitable instability inherent in a dynamic situation threatens to destroy the corporate existence of the Nation State. We have therefore felt it necessary that this moderating influence be introduced at the highest level. It is our hope that the National Legislature should attain such stature in the minds of Nigerians as to provide an image of solidity and permanence that can serve as a rudder to our ship of State.”
They stated further in Section 2.8 that “The Governor shall consult the State Council of Chiefs as a body in the exercise of his powers in relation to the following matters:
Maintenance of public order, customary and cultural affairs, inter-communal relations, chieftaincy affairs and such other matters may be referred to it by the Governor. Furthermore, the Council of Chiefs shall elect one Senator from themselves to represent the State in the Senate.”
In conclusion of their report, Section 37 states that (a) “The Governor may consult the State Council of Chiefs as a body in the exercise of his powers in relation to the maintenance of public order, customary and cultural affairs, intercommunal relations, Chieftaincy matters and such other matters as may be referred to it by the Governor. The composition, powers and procedure shall be prescribed by the State Assembly.”
Let’s look at the profile of the members of the subcommittee.
Alhaji Abdulganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq (A.G.F) (November 13, 1927 – July 25, 2020) was the first Commissioner of Finance for Kwara State after the state was formed in 1967 under Yakubu Gowon’s military administration. He was also the first lawyer from the Northern part of Nigeria. He was President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2000 – 2003 and Vice-President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 1983 – 2000. Abdulganiyu was born in Onitsha on November 13, 1927, to Munirat and Abdul Rasaq.
Both his parents were indigenous of Ilorin, Kwara State from Onokatapo and Yerinsa quarters (presently Adewole ward, Ilorin-West) respectively. He studied at the United African School in Ilorin from 1935 till 1936. In 1938, he started at CMS Central school, Onitsha and left in 1943 at the end of his primary education. He started his secondary education at the Kalahari National College, Buguma in 1944 and was there till 1945 when he left to attend African College, Onitsha. He was at African College till 1947. He was a foundation student at the University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) in 1948.
Abdulganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq was called to bar on February 8, 1955, at the Inner Temple, London. After his return to Nigeria, he was made a special member of the Northern House of Assembly from 1960 – 1962 following the Country’s independence. Following that, he was the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Ivory Coast from 1962 to 1964.
He was a member of the Federal Parliament from 1964 to 1966 as the Federal Cabinet Minister of State for Transport. He then became the Kwara State Commissioner of Finance, Health and Social welfare from 1967 – 1972. Abdulganiyu was a member of the Capital Issues Commission from 1973 to 1978 and has also been a member of the International Commission of Jurists since 1959. He was the chairman of the Nigerian Council of human rights.
Alhaji Abdulganiyu was appointed a SAN in 1985 and also the father of the present governor of Kwara state, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Alhaji Lateef Olufemi Okunnu was born on February 19, 1933. He was educated at King’s College, Lagos and the University College, London He was a civil servant in 1953; technical assistant, teacher, King’s College, Lagos, 1953-1956, publicity secretary, Committee of African Organisations, London, 1958-1960, editor, Nigeria Bar Journal, 1964-1968, member Executive Committee, Nigeria Bar Association, 1964-1968 and Minister for Works and Housing. He is a lawyer and politician.
Alhaji Sule Gaya, a former parliamentarian and minister of Works in the First Republic, an accomplished educationist and politician. Alhaji Gaya was born in 1925 in Gaya, Kano. He was elected member of the Northern Regional Parliament in 1956 and became parliamentary secretary in 1957. He was later appointed Councilor in Charge of Education at Kano Native Authority. He held the traditional title of Sarkin Fadan Kano. He died in 2018 at the age of 93.
Alhaji Shehu Malami (1937-2022) had his education at Sokoto Modern School, Kano Secondary, Schook, Katsina Provincial Secondary School, Bida Provincial Secondary School, North Devon Technical College, Barnstaple, England, Southend-on-Sea Municipal College, England, called to the Bar, Middle Temple, London. He was a broadcaster with the British Broadcasting Corporation, 1959-1963, Private Secretary to the Sultan of Sokoto, 1972-1974, Director, Barclays Bank of Nigeria Ltd, 1974-1980, director, Japan Petroleum Company, 1974-1977, director, Gusau Oil Mill Ltd, 1974-1978 and Chairman Consolidated Industries Ltd, Sokoto, 1976-1980.
Alhaji Malami was appointed Chairman, Union Bank of Nigeria, 1981; former member, Northern People’s Congress, UK Branch; member, Sokoto Loca Authority Council, 1972-1974, member, Governing Council, University of Nigeria, Nsukka since 1974, member, Sokoto University Advisory Council, Chairman, Nigeria Television Authority and member, Constituent Assembly, 1977-1978. He was later appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa.
Dr. Koleade Adeniji ABAYOMI (S.A.N) (August 20,1940- April 2, 2020) had his education at the C.M.S. Grammar School and King’s College, both in Lagos.
He studied Law at the University of Durham and graduated with LL. B Hons. Thereafter, he proceeded to the Nigerian Law School for the vocational practical training course in October 1965. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1966.
He was awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship in October 1966 for Post Graduate studies in Law at the Clare College Cambridge. He obtained the postgraduate degree of LL. B (now LLM) at Clare College Cambridge University in 1967 and a doctorate (Ph.D) degree from Cambridge in 1970. He was also a scholar at Clare College Cambridge University and Commonwealth Scholar Cambridge University.
Dr. Abayomi returned to Nigeria in 1970 to start a lecturing career at the Council of Legal Education, Nigerian Law School. He was first engaged as lecturer grade II and later became Secretary to the Council of Legal Education and Director of Administration from 1999-2001. In 2001, he was appointed Deputy Director-General and Head of Lagos Campus of the Nigerian Law School and he became the Director-General of the School in November 2004.
Dr. Kole Abayomi was a member of the Nigeria Constitution Drafting Committee from 1975-1976, Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Board 1976-1979; Vice-Chairman of the Lagos State owned Ibile Property Corporation between 1976-1979 and Chairman, Lagos State Ibile Holdings 1991-1992.
He was a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law; Co-founder/President, Nigeria Society for Legal Research and Development; Member National Committee on Law and Administration in Nigeria (1981).
Dr. Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe (1915–1990) was a Minister in the first Republic. He was born to the family of Mbadiwe Odum from Arondizuogu then under then Orlu division of present-day Imo State. His uncle, Igwegbe Odum, was a warrant chief in the colonial era.
He started primary education at St Mary’s Catholic School, Port Harcourt, and finished it at a government school in Aba. He then attended the Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar, Aggrey Memorial College, Arochukwu, Igbobi College, Lagos and the Baptist Academy, Lagos. At Baptist Academy, Samuel Akintola and E.E. Esau were staff members, while some of his schoolmates at Igbobi were Taslim Elias, Horatio Thomas and Justice F.O. Coker.
After his secondary education, he dabbled into trading by establishing Mbadiwe Produce Association in 1937. He left Nigeria to study at Columbia University and New York University for a number of years. While in America, he helped to establish an African student’s association, through which he gained the attention of the U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who received him and his organization in the White House.
After returning from the U.S., Dr. Mbadiwe started another business and established a research institute on African Arts. He soon entered the Nigerian political scene and joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. In 1951, he was elected into the Eastern Region House of Assembly. He was re-elected in 1954, and shortly thereafter appointed Minister for Lands and National Resources. In 1957, he was appointed Minister for Commerce.
However, his political success was to undergo a great challenge when in mid-1958, he and Kola Balogun attempted to remove Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as the leader of National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). Mbadiwe set up his own newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, as an organ of protest. He later re-joined the party and was appointed Minister for Trade and Communications and also served as a special adviser to the Prime Minister, advising on African affairs.
According to Segun Adeniyi in his article five years ago, Dr. Datti Ahmed (1936-2021) was born in 1936 in Daigari, Kano, Datti Ahmed attended Barewa College before reading medicine at the University of Ibadan. He began his working career as a House/Medical Officer in the Northern Nigerian Civil Service. At age 30 in 1966, he resigned to go into private medical practice with the establishment of Kano Clinics. And he has at various times served in public capacities. For instance, between 1976 and 1979, he was the pro chancellor and chairman of the governing council of the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife).
A simple man who lived a complicated political life, Datti Ahmed was a disciple of the late Aminu Kano. However, during the Second Republic, he led the Concerned Citizens Committee, a group of prominent Northern politicians and professionals who threw their support behind the presidential aspiration of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo during the 1983 general election. When he was contesting the presidency in the ill-fated Fourth Republic, Datti Ahmed shocked many northerners when he publicly criticized Nigeria’s membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) which had by then generated controversy. He said if elected, he would reexamine its relevance to the nation’s economic and political need. Remarkably, even then, he was renowned as a strong adherent of Islam which he would fully later embrace in the last decades of his life.”
Dr. Uma Oke Eleazu was born on June 16, 1932 in Asaga, Ohafia in Imo state. He had his education at the Hope Waddel Training Institute, Calabar, 1950-1951, Fourah Bay College, Freetown, 1958-1960, King’s College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne England, 1960-1962, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA, 1965-1969; labour officer, Federal Ministry of Labour, Lagos, 1962-1963,lecturer, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1963-1965, assistant Professor of Political Science, California, 1969-1971, associate Professor of African Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 1972-1974, dean of studies, Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, 197-1976, appointed director, National Policy Development Centre, May 1976.
Mazi Samuel Goomsu Ikoku was a Nigerian trade unionist and politician. As a student at University of Southampton, Ikoku supported Nigeria’s independence movement, writing articles printed by the West African Pilot. After his degree, he joined the radical arm of the independence movement, working as an adviser to the Nigerian Federation of Labour led Michael Imoudu and later co-founding the United Working People’s Party in 1952. A year later, the party was officially disbanded, the government did so after branding the organization as subversive and communist. Ikoku later began a relationship with the Action Group (AG) that span majority of the First Republic.
Mazi Ikoku sometimes spoke on national issues with a sense of candor, this style led to him being called a controversial figure by former Science and Technology Minister, Sam Momah.
Ikoku graduated from Achimota College and later studied at University College, Southampton. Beginning in 1946, Ikoku took interest in the independence movement led by Nnamdi Azikiwe. He began writing articles in Azikiwe’s West African Pilot criticizing the Legislative Council, in which his father was a nominated member, arguing against the council as an imposed government and aligning with Azikiwe’s ideas about immediate independence.
Whilst studying he met his future spouse, Eileen. He returned to Nigeria in 1949 and joined the civil service, during this time, he took up advisory roles with trade unions in the country. He left government work in 1951, to dedicate his time to work for the Nigerian Federation of Labour which was seeking affiliation with the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Mazi Ikoku also joined a group of young socialist to form a short-lived political organization, the United Working People’s Party, independent of prominent individuals. During this time, he began publishing a journal with editorials supporting Stalinist ideas. Both the journal and the paper were disbanded by colonial authorities.
In the 1950s, Mazi Ikoku joined one of the mainstream parties when he became a member of Action Group which then had a strong organizational structure. Ikoku was immediately given the position of organizing secretary. In 1957, he won regional House of Assembly election, in the assembly he represented AG and served as the leader of opposition. During the campaigns preceding the election, Ikoku’s father was contesting the same seat under the United National Independent Party.
Mazi Ikoku was a member of the Action Group’s socialist faction. This faction was to focus on ideology as a political campaign tool and a believer in imperialism as a pressing danger. in 1960, the party adopted democratic socialism as an Ideology but the party’s national executive and the Western regional premier leaned towards capitalism.
In 1962, he traveled to Ghana, days before factional crisis engulfed the Western Region House of Assembly leading to a state of emergency. Some factional members of the Action Group were later charged for treason. In Ghana, Ikoku organized a branch of the party and also worked as a lecturer at Nkrumah’s Ideological Institute and as an editor for the Spark magazine, published in Ghana.[1]
During the Nigerian Civil War, Mazi Ikoku did not support secession. He was briefly detained after his return from Ghana but was later appointed commissioner for Economic Development and later Health in the East Central State.
Mazi Ikoku broke ranks with former Action Group members and joined Aminu Kano’s People’s Redemption Party during the Second Republic. He was appointed Secretary-General of the party, which believed in the emancipation of the talakawa. He was Aminu Kano’s running mate in 1979 presidential election which was won by Shehu Shagari. However, beginning during the twilight of the republic, Ikoku began to shift away from his socialist ideas. He left PRP and became an adviser to Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria.
He spoke of elongating the role of the military in Nigeria’s political affairs during the administration of Ibrahim Babangida and later served as deputy chairman of the Transition Implementation Committee during Sani Abacha’s regime. As the deputy chairman, Mazi Ikoku argued that Abacha was free to succeed himself if the political parties agree to draft him as their presidential candidate.
He died in 1997. Mazi Ikoku was step-father of Patti Boulaye.
Professor Godwin Anibeze Odenigwe was born on December 12, 1925. He had his education at the Central School, Umabi, 1931-1932, St. Patrick’s School, Amokwe, 1937-1940, St. Thomas School, Udi, 1941, St. Charles Teacher Training College, Onitsha, 1942-1945, Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1950-1953, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, 1953-1957, University of London, England, called to the Bar, Gray’s Innn, London, 1958; Senior Lecture and head, Department of Government and Administartion, Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan, Senior lecturer and head, Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, reader in Political science, later, Professor of Political Science, University of Nigeria and special adviser to the President for Political Affairs, 1979-1983.