Action Group (Nigeria)

In 1941, Obafemi Awolowo nursed the Nigerian Youth Movement in Ibadan, oriented to educated elites. In 1945, Awolowo formed the group Egbe Omo Oduduwa, now to forge Yoruba unity bringing together traditional and educated elites.^[3]

Egbe was advertised as a nonpolitical organization for men and women of Yoruba Nationality to build the Yoruba State of Nigeria. The organization gained wide support in Western Nigeria.^[3]

In 1950, Macpherson Constitution introduced democratic elections in the country. However, as a cultural organization, Egbe wasn't able to contest elections.^[3] The Action Group was formed as a political arm of Egbe.^[1]

The Action Group (AG) was established in Ibadan on 21 March 1951 and its public inauguration was held on April 28, 1951, at the historic hall on the hill in Owo in present Ondo State. Representatives from 22 of the 24 administrative divisions of the Western Region participated in the inauguration. Chief Samuel Akinsanya suggested inviting personalities in the Western Region to join the party. Some of the most important chiefs of Western Nigeria participated in a meeting in Ibadan on June 10, 1951, to form the Action Group. However, the meeting was presided by Nigerian doctor Akinola Maja, who wasn't a chief. Egbe's chiefs helped Action Group to get popularity in the region.^[3]

The party won regional power in Western Nigeria while Nigeria was still under British colonial rule. It took part in the national elections on the eve of Nigerian independence in 1960 but was able to garner little support outside the Western Region and the Nigerian federal capital city of Lagos. A conservative coalition was formed between the northern Muslim-dominated Northern People's Congress and the Igbo National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, excluding the Action Group from national power.^{[citation needed]} In the Western Region, the Action Group had launched free primary education and other advances. However, its exclusion from national power, and what some^{[by whom?]} considered a fair share of the national revenue for the Western region, led to internal tensions. Awolowo was arrested on what many^[who?] considered trumped-up charges of treason, and plotting the overthrow of the federal government. Meanwhile, a pro-government party, the NNDP, was established in power in the Western Region by Chief Samuel Akintola, who left the AG to forge an alliance with the NPC at the center. These tensions and the manipulation of the elections of 1965 were among the factors that led to the 1966 military coups, and the subsequent Nigerian Civil War.^{[citation needed]}