Herbert Macaulay
During the 1920s, a period in Nigerian history
associated with the beginning of political
agitation for self-rule, Macaulay became a
leading figure in the first generation of
Nigerian Nationalists. In 1921, Macaulay
passionately led protests in Lagos over water
rates, land issues, and mishandling of the
railway finances. In 1922, he helped a Lagos
chief in his legal battle with the colonial
government who had forcefully taken some of
his land for government purposes. The highest
court in England heard the case and returned
the land to the chief. This victory inspired
Macaulay to establish in 1923 Nigeria’s first
political party, the Nigerian National
Democratic Party whose members were the
first to sit in the Legislative Council.
The Nigerian National Democratic Party
dominated Nigerian politics throughout the
1920s until the late 1930s. However in 1934,
the NNDP lost its dominant position to newly
organized student groups such as the
Nigerian Youth Movement. In order to avoid
the demise of the party, Macaulay’s NNDP
joined forces with the Nigerian Youth
Movement to form the National Council of
Nigeria and the Cameroons, NCNC. The NCNC
led by Macaulay was not a political party, it
was a nationalist organization designed to
advocate for an independent Nigeria. Herbert
Macaulay did not live to see the attainment of
independence in 1960. He died in Lagos at the
age of 81 on May 7, 1946.
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