constitutional development

The first constitutional approach in Nigeria of 1914 was the Lugard constitution of 1914 that was responsible for creating legally what was now refer to as NIGERIA by merging the Southern and the Northern Nigerian Protectorates into one entity. Therefore,the 1914 Lugard Nigerian Council can be called the first Nigerian Constitution.At the early stage of Nigeria's colonial experience,constitutions were imposed on Nigerians in the sense that they were not allowed either to determine the nature of the document or to participate in the process of bringing them in to being.
The second constitutional process was the Clifford constitution of 1922. There was no dramatic or significant changes both in terms of the constitution and that of Lugard. Twenty- four years later,there was the Richard's constitution of 1946.
Richard constitution of 1946 introduced the concept of regionalism in Nigeria. In 194, Nigeria was divided into three (3) regions--NORTH, EAST,and WEST. With respect tothe Richard constitution, all that merely happened was that the Governor drafted a constitution that was supposed to replace the Clifford constitution of 1922. The draft constitution was later on submitted to the central legislative council ,and final approval of this constitution was given by the BRITISH PARLIAMENT
The Richard constitution suffered serious criticism and opposition from its inception from the emerging political class, so that in 1951, this constitution was replaced by the Mcpherson constitution ..
Posted 13th January 2013 by Yunusa Bawa