Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Dr. Esekumemu V. Clark
the army against Ijaw Youths at Odi in Bayelsa State, leaving more
than 300 innocent civilians dead.
Meantime, the lack of policy articulation by the leadership to
follow through and put into perspective the recommendations of the
Willink Commission led to demands by ethnic minority groups for
participation and more representation at both regional and national
levels. In 1963, the Midwestern part of the old Western region of
Nigeria governed from Ibadan decided to opt-out after a vote of
referendum which overwhelmly decided for a ‘yes’-vote. Thus in 1964,
a fourth region was created in the country known as the Midwestern
region 1[1] with its capital and seat of administration based in Benin-
City, in order to pacify the concerns of minority groups under the
Yoruba dominated Western region. One can argue that the delinking
of Midwest from the Western region was only made possible because
of the internal Action Group (AG) crisis in 1962, which pitted Chief
Awolowo’s led section against Chief Akintola’s factions of the Western
region’s government at Ibadan. The Northern People’s Congress
(NPC)-led federal administration, in coalition with the NCNC at the
national level, worked to make it possible to create the new region out
of the Western region. The NPC and the NCNC cooperated in seeing
that the Midwest was created out of the West, while, despite the
minority problems in their own regions, both political parties had
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