The ripple effects of electoral experience in a frontier community in Nigeria: A study of a micro revolution in Ilorin, 1955-1959

Abstract

The adoption of Arthur Richards Constitution in 1946 and its implementation from the 1st January, 1947 translated to different things in different parts of the present day parts of Nigerian. Being an imperial order that extended the electoral principle in Nigeria, beyond Lagos and Calabar that have been having elected representatives in the European dominated councils in their respective areas since 1922, it was bound to stimulate major changes in both the administrative structures and social relations in the new areas to be covered. In Ilorin Community for instance, the operation became a platform to vent the congested minds of the oppressed peoples through the combined traditional and colonial administrative policies in the area. Ilorin, like the other parts of the then Northern Nigeria, the electoral process began as an extension of powers of the Traditional Authorities that served the indirect rule policy of the colonial administration. By 1955 however, the combination of the traditional and colonial policies had become a heavy burden that the multicultural population in Ilorin were no longer ready to bear. The situation influenced the unity of the oppressed people to form the association, which in local parlance, referred to as “Ilorin Talaka Parapo”. The ripple effects of the electoral process translated into a micro revolution. Key words: Electoral principle, ripple effects, micro revolution, colonial administration.