Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-04-22

o.. NA - ..aHN
The title of Sardauna means
"feld marshal" and Sir Alma
du is a descendant Of the great
warrior chief Osman dan Fodio.
The Sardauna, who is 40, Is
a cheerful giant Of a man and
every ebony inch an aristocrat
After finishing his high school
education. he taught school and
served as an administrative Of
ficer for few years before he
was named Sardauna.
He became a member OF the
northern House of Represen-
tatives in 1852 and two years
later became Premier Of the
North and head of the North
ern Peoples Congress. the poll
itical party which controls the
populous North and Yields the
balance Of power on the fed
eral level.
Able Administrator
The Sardauna, who is Of the
royal house Of Sokoto, is GER
tainly not a democrat. But he
is a very wise and able admin
istrator. He is strongly pro-
British and the North turned
down regional autonomy in
1854 because he felt the peo-
pie weren't ready for it, In an
other age, the Sardauna would
have been a brilliant and be-
nevolent despot.
The job of first Prime Min
lister of an independent Nigeria
is his for the asking III 1860
But the Sardauna and other
northern aristocrats regard the
Ibos and Yorubas of the south
with a mixture of fear. hatred,
and contempt. Instead Of be-
coming Prime Minister himself
the Sardauna sent to Lagos an
able Muslin commoner, Abu-
bakar Tafawa Balewa. Balewa
although a man of intellect and
character, in fact acts as the
Sardauna's regent.
The Sardauna has his eye
on another prize: If the post
of Sultan of Sokoto should be-
come vacant, he would be a
likely candidate. If this prefer
ence seems strange. put it this
way: If you we're an American
Catholic: would you rather be
President or Governor OF New
York and Pope?
Eastern Leader
In eastern Nigeria, the leader
is American-trained DR.. MAN.
di Azikiwe. Xix. as everyone
calls him, is no stranger to
Washington. He used to do a
creditable 50-second 440 at
Howard University. Xix bounced
from Howard to Storer College
to Lincoln to Penn to Column
bia, emerged with graduate de-
greeS in both arts and science
and something approaching an
American accent.
After a three-year teaching
stint at Lincoln. he went to
the Gold Coast where he edited
a paper hardly distinguished
for its restraint. Bounced out
of the Gold Coast. Xix found
himself paper in Nigeria and
in a few years, built an en-
pire worth more than So mil
lion.
In 1914, the hefty former
heavyweight boxer founded tine
National Party of Nigeria anc
the Cameroons, which rules in
eastern Nigeria and is the op'
position party in the west.
His career since 1914 ha!
been rocked by scandal anc
shaken by political revolution,
within the NPNC, but eacl
time Xix, the old pro of Yves
African politics. has come out
if not in an aromatic state
at least stronger politically
than he was before.
Xix wants to be the frs
Prime Minister of an independ
ent Nigeria so badly he cal
taste it. He has announced
that he will give up the pre-
miership of the East and rur
for the Federal House, ant
there are indications that h,
may have gained the Sardauna'
support in his quest for the job
Oppose Western Leader
This is a marriage of con.
venience. Both Xix and tn
Sardauna hate Obafemi Awol
owo, squat, scholarly Premier o
the Western Region, who ais
has national ambitions.
Awolowo, who is 40, had
Dickensian childhood complete
with an evil uncle. His fathe
died when Awo was IL and tn,