Inaugural address delivered by His Exellency, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief Federation of Nigeria on November 16, 1960.

IT is with humility mingled with joy that I thank this grand concourse of patriots and friends of Nigeria for congregating here, today, on the occasion of my inauguration as first African Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Federation of Nigeria. I was appointed to this post of high honour by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice of the Prime Minister of Nigeria, to succeed my predecessor in office, that accomplished colonial administrator, Sir James Robertson, G.C.M.C., G.C.V.O.

This mighty audience comprises of eminent men and women drawn from all the Regions of Nigeria and different parts of Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. We have in this august assemblage representatives of heads of states and governments, paramount rulers and chieftains, statesmen and politicians, nationalists and freedom fighters, university administrators and professors, trades union leaders and ex-servicemen, local government heads and civil servants, moulders of public opinion in addition to professional men and women in different walks of life, including a select group of invitees who represent various organizations which are interested in Africa and in the orderly progress of our country towards national autonomy.

I am indeed happy that I can count on such an array of well-wishers at home and abroad because the attainment of political independence by our country involved complications which are both national and international, and these require sympathetic and experienced friends to guide us in our honest efforts to build a united nation which would be worthy of the respect and collaboration of the comity of nations.

Perhaps it would not be irrelevant for me to call your attention to the fact that in the political history of contemporary Africa, this is the second time that a person of African descent has been inducted into the office of Governor-General. The first occasion was in November, 1940, when General Charles de Gaulle appointed Felix Eboue, a native of Cayenne, French Guiana, in the Caribbean, to be Governor-General of former French Equatorial Africa, which has now evolved into the Republics of Chad, Gabon, Brazzaville Congo and the Central African Republic.

In the chequered history of our nation, this is the second time that a person of African descent has had the distinction to assume a gubernatorial post. On 8th July, 1960, Sir Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife, was sworn in as Governor of Western Nigeria. Today, I have had the privilege and the honour of being sworn in as the first indigenous Governor-General of the sovereign state of Nigeria. It is a distinction to assume such a high office, because during the colonial era, governorship was an instrument of absolute authority; but now it has become an instrument of constitutional authority.

Before the enactment of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which granted independence to certain countries, which now constitute the Commonwealth of Nations, the Governor-General was an embodiment of power, in that he was both a representative of the Crown and of the Government of the United Kingdom. He played an active role in the government of his territory by exercising initiative on a number of issues of an executive and administrative nature, and he was vested with reserved powers to veto certain acts of the local government.

The Statute introduced a new element of constitutional importance when the Governor-General ceased to represent the Government of the United Kingdom but continued to represent the Crown, who is Head of the Commonwealth. In this context, the Governor-General, as Head of State, now holds the same relation to the Government of Nigeria as the Queen does to the Government of the United Kingdom. As a constitutional ruler, the Governor-General Exercises power formally and constitutionally in order to reflect the wishes of a democratically constituted authority.

There were substantial reasons for this shifting of emphasis in the exercise of power of Governor-General from an active to a passive role within the framework of the Constitution. Colonial territories not being international persons could not exercise sovereign powers. Their suzerains acted on their behalf but reserved the right to concede to them sovereignty of a restricted nature. This relationship was based on the legal concept that colonial territories were political inferiors; ergo, they were in political servitude until the situation changed.

After a series of Imperial Conference from 1907 to 1926, it became necessary not only to make a distinction between colonial territories which did not exercise internal and external sovereignty from those which did. Those territories which exercised ‘‘responsible government” internally and externally, either partially or wholly or both were regarded as Dominions. The others were Dependencies.

Later, the Statute specifically defined ‘‘Dominion” to mean Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Irish Free State and Newfoundland. It is significant that at the material time these territories, with the exception of South Africa, were inhabited by a great majority of people of European descent. In the case of South Africa, a small European minority had complete control of the government.

In 1926, the inter-imperial Relations Committee of the Imperial Conference, under the chairmanship of Lord Balfour, recorded the opinion that the tendency of the Dominions to seek equality of status with Britain was both right and inevitable. Hence, the Dominions were defined as

‘‘Autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.”

After the end of the World War II, India, Pakistan and Ceylon became independent closely followed, a decade later, by Ghana, Malaya and Nigeria. The adoption of a replica form of government by three of the above-named states did not affect Commonwealth status materially, but it must be admitted that a fundamental change occurred in its structure: the Commonwealth has evolved from an association of colonial territories settled mainly by persons of European descent to a multi-racial and multi-national community, which has ‘‘no ties, no commitments, no obligations, no trace of imperial control or subordinate colonial status.”

These great social changes in the structure and outlook of the commonwealth are basic, hence they have altered the office of Governor-General to become Head of State and representative of the Crown, as distinct from Head of Government. Since colonial rule is authoritarian, the evolution to independence has transformed the situation so that the Governor-General of a Commonwealth country has now become a constitutional ruler.

The Imperial Conference of 1926 defined the position in these terms. ‘‘That it was an essential consequence of the equality of status existing among the members of the British Commonwealth that the Governor-General of a Dominion is the representative of the Crown, holding in all respects the same position in relation to the administration of public affairs in the Dominion as is held by His Majesty the King in Great Britain, and that he is not the representative or agent of His Majesty’s Government in Great Britain.

The fact that British political institutions have influenced the course of our national history, made us in Nigeria to adopt the parliamentary system of government. In effect, it means a recognition of the existence of ministerial responsibility with an active head of Government, who remains in office, so long as he retains the confidence of the majority of the representatives of the electorate. Hence there is a bifurcation in the exercise of power between the Governor-General, as the erstwhile Head of Government in a colonial regime, and the Prime Minister.

The changes have had an impact also on the nationality of the persons who assume this high office. The Imperial Conference of 1926 and 1930 agreed that in view of the changes envisaged, the appointment of a Governor-General should be a matter lying solely between the Crown and the particular Commonwealth country concerned. In this connection, the principle was established that it is for each State in the Commonwealth to decide whether or not to appoint distinguished citizens from the United Kingdom or from within its territorial limits or from elsewhere.

In practice many Commonwealth countries have opted to appoint their own nationals as Governors-General. Since 5th April, 1937, the Crown on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of South Africa, has always appointed a South African national as Governor-General. In January 1947, the Crown approved the appointment of Sir William John Mckell, G.C.M.G., Premier of Western Australia, as Governor-General of Australia. On 15th August, 1947, the Crown approved the appointment of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, as the first Governor-General of Pakistan.

After the departure of Lord Mountbatten, the first native Governor-General of India was Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, former General Secretary of Indian National Congress. When India became a Republic, the office of President was made analogous to that of Governor-General and Dr. Rajendra Prasad, former Minister of Food and President of the Indian Constituent Assembly, was elected. The present Governor-General of Ceylon, since 1954, is Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, who is a former Leader of the Senate and Minister of Finance. It will be noted that all the individuals mentioned above as native Governors-General were active politicians before they assumed their high office.

I have gone to the length of giving this historical background because of the nature of oaths I have taken today and because of my honest belief that the existence of a stable and constitutional government in Nigeria can become a motive power for the revival of the stature of man in Africa and an impelling force for the restoration of the dignity of man in the world. Before the Honourable Chief Justice of the Federation of Nigeria, I have subscribed to two oaths according to law: the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office.

In making the Oath of Allegiance, I swore that I would be ‘‘faithful and bear true allegiance” to the Crown. This oath is consistent with our Commonwealth relationship in view of the implications of Dominion status. As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, we are an autonomous community and we are freely associated as such although united by a common allegiance to the Crown.