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{{Infobox officeholder
|name= Prof. Eyo Ita
|image=
|caption=
|order=
|office=Premier of Eastern Region of Nigeria
|term_start=1951
|term_end=1953
|office2=Leader of Government Business, Eastern Region of Nigeria
|term_start2=1951
|term_end2=1953
|order3=Minister for Natural Resources
|office3=
|term_start3=
|term_end3=
|predecessor3=
|successor3=
|lieutenant=
|predecessor=
|successor=[[Nnamdi Azikiwe]]
|birth_date=1903
|birth_place=Creek Town
|death_date=1972
|death_place=
|party=[[N.C.N.C]]
|profession=[[Educationist]] [[Politician]]
|spouse=
|signature=
|footnotes=
}}{{Short description|Nigerian educationist and politician}}
'''Eyo Ita''' {{Audio|Ig-Eyo Ita.ogg|listen|help=no}} (1903&ndash;1972)<ref name="Death">{{cite journal|title = African Concord|volume = 2|issue = 27–39|pages = 30|publisher = Concord Press of Nigeria|date = 1988|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-EYuAQAAIAAJ&q=%22late+Eyo+Ita%22|access-date = 2012-06-10}}</ref> was a [[Nigerian]] educationist and politician from Creek Town, in present-day Cross River State,  who was the leader of the Eastern Government of Nigeria in 1951 and the first Professor Nigeria ever had. He was one of the earliest Nigerian students who studied in the United States instead of the frequent route of studying in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name="Ezera">Kalu Ezera. ''Constitutional Developments in Nigeria: An Analytical Study of Nigeria's Constitution-Making Developments and the Historical and Political Factors That Affected Constitutional Change'', 1960, p. 46.</ref> He was a deputy national president of the [[National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons]] (NCNC) in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
==Early life and education==
Eyo Ita was born in Creek Town in present-day Odukpani LGA of Cross River State, into the royal family of King [[Eyo Honesty II]], ruler of Creek Town. His parents were Prince Eyo Nsa Eyo Ita and Princess Ako Eyo Ita of Adak-uko clan.
Ita attended the [[Presbyterian]] [[Hope Waddell Training School]] in [[Calabar]] before pursuing his tertiary education at London University and [[Columbia University]] in [[New York City|New York]]. He stayed in the U.S. for 8 years.
While in Calabar, he was exposed to the teachings of [[James Aggrey]], who pursued academic opportunities for African students in Historical Black Colleges and Universities in America. Calabar became a training ground for some [[nationalist]] [[politicians]] due to the early site of secondary schools in the city and the influence of people like James Agrrey.
==Nigerian nationalism==
Ita was a leading Nigerian nationalist during British colonial rule.  Upon his return from the United States, he formed the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) in 1934 and galvanized the Nigerian youths for nationalism.  The cannons of the Youth Charter adopted in 1937 centered on nationalism, inter-tribal harmony and a greater tomorrow. The Youth Movement became catalyst for championing Nigeria's independence from Britain. The return of Nnamdi Azikiwe from the United States in 1937 added more prominent Nigerians into the movement.
==Political career==
In the 1930s, Ita was a member of two movements in [[West Africa]], the Youth movement and the Education movement. He was a member of the former with the establishment of the Nigerian Youth League in Calabar<ref name="Zachernuk">Philip Serge Zachernuk, ''Colonial Subjects: An African Intelligentsia and Atlantic Ideas'', University of Virginia Press, 2000, pp 107-108. {{ISBN|0-8139-1908-8}}.</ref>
and he also campaigned vigorously for education as a tool of freeing the [[Ethnic groups of Africa|African]] [[mind]] and [[soul]] and liberating it from forces of [[political repression]]. He formed the Nigerian Youth Movement in 1934 which rapidly expanded with the addition of Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1938.  He later became the proprietor of the West African People's Institute in Calabar. He joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in the 1940s and was elected vice president after the death of [[Herbert Macaulay]], which saw [[Nnamdi Azikiwe]] emerging as the new leader of the party.  Eyo Ita left NCNC to form the National Independence Party (NIP), which became one of the five Nigerian political parties that sent representatives to the July 27, 1953 London Conference on Nigerian Constitution.
Some of his mentors were [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] and [[Edward Wilmot Blyden]], who were notable Pan-Africanists of their eras.
===National Independence Party===
In 1946, the [[Richards Constitution]] which advanced a [[regional]] political framework for the country to enhance regional political and economic [[autonomy]] became law. The constitution was made [[law]] without the proper consultation of Nigerians, leading to Nnamdi Azikiwe and Eyo Ita opposing the regional political arrangement, while they presented a [[Dissenting opinion|minority report]] of a federation of eight states. However, in 1951, the constitution was reviewed with minor changes to the original but opposed by Azikiwe. The major politicians of the time resorted to work within their [[ethnic]] and regional base as a foundation to gain [[political]] power, this led to regional [[politics]] and concentration of power in regional and [[Federal republic|federal]] [[minister (government)|ministers]], who were largely nominated by the party and the regional House of Assemblies. In 1951, major [[election]]s were held in the Eastern region of Nigeria with Eyo Ita becoming leader of the Eastern government and Azikiwe, leader of opposition in the Western Regional Assembly, a potential obscure position in light of his national repute.<ref name="Falola and Oyebody">Toyin Falola, Adebayo Oyebade. ''The Transformation of Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Toyin Falola'', Africa World Press, 2002, pp. 96-97. {{ISBN|0865439982}}</ref>
A few federal ministers, however, from the NCNC supported a trial run of the [[Macpherson Constitution]] of 1951, in contravention of Azikiwe's view of opposition. The ministers had an ally in Eyo Ita. This led to internal wrangling, and a power struggle began, leading to the exit of some of the ministers and Eyo Ita.<ref name="Ainslie">[[Rosalynde Ainslie]], Catherine Hoskyns, [[Ronald Segal]], ''Political Africa: A Who's Who of Personalities and Parties'', Frederick A. Praeger, 1961, pp. 21-22.</ref> The new group later formed the [[National Independence Party (Nigeria)|National Independence Party]], and Eyo Ita later became a member of the movement for the creation of the Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers State (COR State). He left the movement, however, and re-joined the NCNC in 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prof Ita Eyo, A Pioneer Of Youth Movements|url=https://www.pressreader.com/nigeria/the-guardian-nigeria/20190825/281874415066365|via=PressReader|access-date=2020-05-26 | newspaper=[[The Guardian (Nigeria)|The Guardian]] | publication-place=Lagos, Nigeria |date=25 August 2019}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ita, Eyo}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Cross River State]]
[[Category:National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons politicians]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Nigerian politicians]]
[[Category:Nigerian expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:People of Efik descent]]
[[Category:Hope Waddell Institute alumni]]