§ 42. Mr. Fenner Brockwayasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what grounds Mr. Awolowo, Prime Minister of the Western Region of Nigeria, has been refused permission to 459 address a meeting of his supporters planned at Ilorin in the Northern Region on 30th June.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe hon. Member is misinformed. Chief Awolowo, who is Premier of the Western Region, has not been refused a permit to hold a meeting at Ilorin. The Ilorin Native Authority decided that a procession and meeting inside the town would constitute a serious threat to public order, but they will agree to a meeting on the outskirts of the town and have already offered to issue a permit accordingly.
§ Mr. BrockwayIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that his Answer shows that I am not in the least misinformed in my Question? Is it not the case that Mr. Awolowo, Prime Minister of the Western Region, has been refused permission to speak in the town and that he is permitted to speak only outside the walls of the town?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThis relates to a proposed meeting in a different territory, in the Northern Region and not in the Western Region. Under the Native Authority Law, 1954, the Northern Native Authority has certain powers. If it decides to exercise them in this way and to say that a meeting in the town, with its limited police facilities, is not a wise step, but that there can be a meeting outside the town, that seems to me to be essentially a matter for local decision.