Crisis in Western Nigeria From the eve of independence,
he led the Action Group as the
Leader of the Opposition at the
federal parliament, leaving Samuel Ladoke Akintola as the Western Region Premier.
Serious disagreements
between Awolowo and
Akintola on how to run the
western region led the latter
to an alliance with the Tafawa Balewa-led NPC federal
government. A constitutional
crisis led to a declaration of a
state of emergency in the
Western Region, eventually
resulting in a widespread breakdown of law and order. Excluded from national
government, Awolowo and his
party faced an increasingly
precarious position. Akintola's
followers, angered at their
exclusion from power, formed the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) under Akintola's
leadership. Having previously
suspended the elected
Western Regional Assembly,
the federal government then
reconstituted the body after new elections that brought
Akintola's NNDP into power.
Shortly afterwards Awolowo
and several disciples were
arrested, charged, convicted
and jailed for conspiring with some Ghanaian authorities
under Kwame Nkrumah to overthrow the federal
Government.