The Zikist Movement and the Fight for Nigerian Independence, 1945-1960
Keywords:
Zikist Movement; Nnamdi Azikiwe; Nigerian nationalism; decolonisation; Foster-Sutton Tribunal; Chief Harvey Jim JajaAbstract
Nigerian independence is usually narrated through the careers of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and the Northern leaders who negotiated the final constitutional settlement. This article recovers a quieter but consequential strand of that history: the Zikist Movement, a youth-led, multi-ethnic and action-oriented body founded in Lagos in 1946 and declared an unlawful society in 1950. Drawing on the scholarship, published and archival primary sources, and a private letter from Chief Harvey Jim Jaja of Opobo to Azikiwe dated 1 February 1957, it argues that the Zikists injected a militant, anti-tribal and ideologically coherent radicalism into Nigerian nationalism between 1946 and 1950, and that colonial suspicion of radical nationalists, together with the solidarity such nationalists drew from traditional elites, persisted into the final phase of the independence struggle. The Foster-Sutton Tribunal of 1956-57 and the Jaja letter are read together as evidence of that continuity. The article concludes that the Movement’s main legacy lay less in organisational success than in a political culture of sacrifice and impatience with gradualism.
References
Primary Sources
A. Official and archival records
1. African Continental Bank (Inquiry). (1957a, February 6). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 564, cols. 50–51W. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written_answers/1957/feb/06/african-continental-bank-inquiry
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3. Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts. (1956). ENIS Nos E 506 and 507: Motion filed by E. O. Eyo, Chairman, Eastern Region Development Corporation, 20 Apr 1956 (MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 365/85, folder 3, items 6–7) [Archival item description]. Archive of the Fabian Colonial Bureau, Weston Library, Oxford. https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/742948
4. Colonial Office. (n.d.). CO 537/5801 and related series on the Zikist Movement. The National Archives, Kew, London.
5. Commission of Inquiry (Membership and Terms of Reference). (1956, August 1). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 557, cols. 143–144W. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1956/aug/01/commission-of-inquiry-membership-and
6. Eastern Region, Nigeria (Commission of Inquiry). (1956, July 24). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 557, cols. 215–221. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/jul/24/eastern-region-nigeria-commission-of
7. Foster-Sutton Tribunal. (1957). Report of the Tribunal appointed to inquire into allegations reflecting on the official conduct of the Premier of, and certain persons holding ministerial and other public offices in, the Eastern Region of Nigeria (Cmnd. 51). Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
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B. Private papers
9. Jaja, H. J. (1957, February 1). Chief Jim Harvey Jaja, grandson of King Jaja of Opobo, writes a letter to cheer and encourage Dr. Azikiwe during trying times [Typescript letter]. Nnamdi Azikiwe Papers, Zik’s Library, Onuiyi Haven, Nsukka, Nigeria; digitised by the Modern Endangered Archives Program, UCLA Library, UCLA Digital Library. https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/z1d84b92 (local identifier zik_man_00282; consulted 29 September 2026)
10. Opobo Divisional Branch of the NCNC. (1957, February 22). An address of welcome presented by the Opobo Divisional Branch of NCNC to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe on the occasion of his visit to Opobo [Address]. Nnamdi Azikiwe Papers, Zik’s Library, Onuiyi Haven, Nsukka, Nigeria; digitised by the Modern Endangered Archives Program, UCLA Library.
https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/z1hf87rt (local identifier zik_man_01527; consulted 23 September 2026)
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