Eyo Ita 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 second Professor in Nigeria.
14 Facts About Eyo Ita
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Eyo Ita was one of the earliest Nigerian students who studied in the United States instead of the frequent route of studying in the United Kingdom.
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Eyo Ita was a deputy national president of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
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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.
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Eyo Ita was a leading Nigerian nationalist during British colonial rule.
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Eyo Ita was a member of the former with the establishment of the Nigerian Youth League in Calabar and he campaigned vigorously for education as a tool of freeing the African mind and soul and liberating it from forces of political repression.
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Eyo Ita formed the Nigerian Youth Movement in 1934 which rapidly expanded with the addition of Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1938.
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Eyo Ita later became the proprietor of the West African People's Institute in Calabar.
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Eyo Ita joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons 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.
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Eyo Ita left NCNC to form the National Independence Party, which became one of the five Nigerian political parties that sent representatives to the July 27,1953 London Conference on Nigerian Constitution.
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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 minority report of a federation of eight states.
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In 1951, major elections 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.
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The new group later formed the National Independence Party, and Eyo Ita later became a member of the movement for the creation of the Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers State.
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Eyo Ita left the movement and re-joined the NCNC in 1956.