Controversial ex-Aviation
Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has stirred the hornet’s nest again, saying that it
was not the late Anthony Enahoro who moved the motion for Nigeria’s
independence as widely claimed, but that it was his late father, Chief Remi
Fani-Kayode who actually did.
“On August 2nd 1958 my father,
Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s
independence from British colonial rule,” he said.
He said nowhere had the confusion
of Nigerians been made more manifest when it comes to history than on the vexed
question of who successfully moved Nigeria’s motion for independence.
“There has been so much
misunderstanding and disinformation about who actually moved that motion and I
believe that it is time to to set the record straight and bring this matter to
closure.
In order to do so successfully we must be guided by facts and
historical records and not by emotion, sentiment or political considerations.
The moment we allow our recollection of events or our knowledge of history to
be guided or beclouded by such perennial considerations, we are finished as a
people.
“The truth is that almost 90 per
cent of Nigerians have been brought up to believe that the motion for Nigeria’s
independence was successfully moved by Chief Anthony Enahoro, a man that is
undoubtedly one of our most revered nationalists and founding fathers.
“Though nothing can be taken away
from Enahoro in terms of his monumental contributions in our quest for
independence (I would argue that he kicked off the process for that struggle
with his gallant efforts in 1953); the fact remains that he was not the man who
successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence,” Fani-Kayode said.
According to him, another group
of Nigerians believed that Chief S.L. Akintola, another great nationalist and
elder statesman and the former Premier of the old Western Region, was
responsible for the successful movement of the motion for Nigeria’s
independence.
“Again though, there is no doubt
that Akintola played a major and critical role in the whole process, he was not
the one that successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence. There is
yet another school of thought that says that it was Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,
the much loved former Prime Minister of blessed memory that was the first to
successfully move the motion for Nigeria’s independence. Again this is not
historically accurate.
“Balewa’s 1959 motion was not the
first successful motion for our independence and neither was it in actual fact
a motion for independence at all. It was rather a motion to amend an already
existing motion which had already been successfully moved and passed by
Parliament and which had been accepted and acquiesced to by the British in
1958,” he added.
Fani-Kayode then said: “That
successful 1958 motion was moved by none other than my late father of blessed
memory, Chief Remilekun Fani-Kayode, the former Deputy Premier of Nigeria’s
Western Region. Not only did he play a major role in the movement of the motion
for Nigeria’s independence but, as a matter of fact, his was the first
successful motion for independence in Parliament that was accepted by the
British and it was actually the one who got us our independence. His motion,
which was moved in Parliament on the platform of the Action Group on August 2,
1958, was actually the landmark and most significant motion of all when it
comes to the issue of our independence.”
He explained further: “Let us
look at the history, the records and the facts. Chief Anthony Enahoro moved a
motion for ”self rule” in the Federal House in 1953 which proposed that we
should have our independence in 1956. Unfortunately it was rejected by Parliament
and it therefore failed. It also resulted in a walk out by the northern NPC
parliamentarians who were of the view that Nigeria was not yet ready for
independence.
“The tensions and acrimony that
came from all this and the terrible treatment that was meted out to the
northern parliamentarians and leaders that were in the south as a result of the
fact that they would not support Enahoro’s motion resulted in the infamous Kano
riots of 1953.”
However, Fani-Kayode said “If the
Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda continues I shall move the motion for
Oduduwa’s independence from Nigerian colonial rule.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com