National Congress of British West Africa
The National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA), founded in 1919, was one of the earliest nationalist organization in West Africa, and one of the earliest formal organizations working toward African emancipation.[1] It was largely composed of an educated elite in the Gold Coast, who felt under threat from the incorporation of 'traditional authorities' in the colonial system.[2]The cofounders included Thomas Hutton-Mills, Sr., the first President, and J. E. Casely Hayford, the first Vice-President. Other co-founders and early officials included Edward Francis Small, F. V. Nanka-Bruce, A. B. Quartey-Papafio, Henry van Hien, A. Sawyerr and Kobina Sekyi.[2]
Founding
Inspiration
Regional Influences
The founding of the NCBWA was based, in part, on the existing legacy of resistance and nationalist movements throughout the British colonial holdings in West Africa. Some of the resistance movements that influenced the development of the NCWBA were those by “King Aggrey of Cape Coast in the Gold Coast in the 1860’s” and “King Kosoko of Lagos & Jaja of Opobo in the nineteen century”[3]. The previous nationalist movements that sparked the creation of the NCWBA included the Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS) and the Fante Confederation.[3]
International Influences
Internal Motivations
The Congress agitated for the establishment of a West African Court of Appeal, where judges would be nominated Africans.
References
- ^ Eluwa, G. I. C., "Background to the Emergence of the National Congress of British West Africa" (African Studies Review, Vol. 14, No. 2. [1971], 205-218), 213.
- ^ a b Michael R. Doortmont, The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities by Charles Francis Hutchison: A Collective Biography of Elite Society in the Gold Coast Colony, Brill, 2005, p. 29
- ^ a b ELUWA, G.I.C. (1971-01-01). "The National Congress of British West Africa : a Study in African Nationalism". Présence Africaine (77): 131–149.
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