Before State Creation: The Political Battle Of Calabar, Ogoja & Rivers
The Forgotten Fault Lines of Eastern Nigeria
LONG before Nigeria’s civil war and the subsequent creation of states, political tensions were already reshaping the old Eastern Region. While public memory often focuses on the rivalry between major nationalist leaders and the struggle for independence, another story unfolded beneath the surface—a story of minority groups who felt increasingly excluded from political power and who eventually demanded their own administrative identity.
The agitation that produced the demand for a Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State was not born overnight. It emerged from years of political disagreements, concerns about representation, and fears that minority communities would remain permanently overshadowed within the Eastern Region’s power structure.
Nearly six decades after the creation of South Eastern State and Rivers State in 1967, historians continue to debate the extent to which those concerns were justified. What remains undisputed is that the COR movement became one of the most influential minority rights campaigns in Nigeria’s constitutional history.
How the Eastern Region Was Formed
The Eastern Region evolved under British colonial administration and by the mid-1940s comprised provinces such as Calabar, Ogoja, Owerri, Onitsha and Rivers.
The region was among the largest and most politically important territories in colonial Nigeria. It was ethnically diverse, encompassing Igbo-speaking communities as well as Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Ijaw, Ogoni, Ekoi and numerous other ethnic nationalities.
Although these groups shared administrative boundaries, they often possessed distinct political traditions, languages and historical experiences.
As nationalist politics intensified after the Second World War, these differences increasingly influenced political alignments.
The Eyo Ita–Azikiwe Crisis and the Birth of Minority Opposition
One of the defining moments occurred in 1953.
Professor Eyo Ita of Calabar Province had emerged as Leader of Government Business in the Eastern House of Assembly. However, political developments involving Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe altered the balance of power.
After failing to secure political leadership in the Western Region, Azikiwe returned to the East, where pressure mounted within the NCNC for him to assume leadership of the Eastern government.
The circumstances surrounding Eyo Ita’s removal generated significant resentment among many politicians from Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers provinces.
The resulting political fallout led to the formation of the United Nigeria Independence Party (UNIP), spearheaded by figures including Dr. Okoi Arikpo and Sir Udo Udoma.
For many minority leaders, the episode became evidence that political influence within the region was increasingly concentrated in the hands of dominant groups.
The Rise of the COR State Movement
Out of these tensions emerged the campaign for a separate Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers State.
The movement argued that minority communities required constitutional protection and a political structure that would guarantee equitable representation.
Its supporters maintained that population size and electoral dominance allowed majority groups to control critical political institutions, appointments and policy decisions.
The COR campaign soon became one of the major constitutional questions discussed during Nigeria’s pre-independence negotiations.
The issue was so significant that it attracted the attention of British colonial authorities and later became part of discussions before the famous Willink Commission of 1957–1958.
The Willink Commission and Minority Fears
Concern over minority grievances prompted the British government to establish the Willink Commission.
The commission toured various parts of Nigeria, gathering evidence from groups who feared marginalisation after independence.
Representatives from the COR movement presented arguments for state creation, claiming that minority interests could be overwhelmed within larger regional structures.
Although the commission acknowledged the legitimacy of many concerns, it stopped short of recommending immediate state creation.
Instead, it proposed constitutional safeguards and special development measures.
For many minority activists, the decision was disappointing.
Representation, Power and the Politics of Inclusion
Debates over representation became central to the controversy.
Critics of the Eastern Regional government argued that cabinet appointments, legislative influence and administrative structures disproportionately favoured certain areas.
Supporters of the regional government, however, argued that appointments reflected political realities, electoral strength and available leadership experience rather than deliberate exclusion.
Modern historians generally caution against simplistic interpretations of the period.
While evidence suggests that many minority groups genuinely felt politically disadvantaged, scholars also note that political competition was intense across all regions of Nigeria during the transition to independence.
From Agitation to State Creation
The concerns raised by the COR movement did not disappear after independence.
Instead, they became increasingly prominent during the political crises of the 1960s.
In May 1967, General Yakubu Gowon announced the creation of 12 states, breaking up Nigeria’s four regions.
The decision led to the establishment of Rivers State and South Eastern State, the latter eventually becoming today’s Akwa Ibom and Cross River States.
For many supporters of the COR movement, the development represented a delayed recognition of demands that had been voiced for more than a decade.
A Legacy That Still Shapes Nigerian Politics
The story of Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers remains one of the most important chapters in Nigeria’s constitutional evolution.
It illustrates how questions of inclusion, representation and political equity can shape national debates for generations.
Today, discussions about restructuring, federalism, resource control and state creation often echo many of the arguments first advanced by minority leaders in the Eastern Region during the 1950s.
Their struggle helped redefine Nigeria’s political map and continues to influence debates about governance and national cohesion.
