Henry Willink Commission established

The Henry Willink Commission was set up on 26 September 1957 to inquire into the fears of minority ethnic groups in Nigeria and to find ways to allay their apprehension about the Federal structure of governance. Minority groups including the Edos in Western Nigeria, the Tivs in the Middle Belt of Northern Region, and the Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers peoples of the Eastern Region had agitated for the creation of more states. The Commission concluded that the minorities' fears were genuine but that creating new states would not resolve them and would generate new minority problems; instead it recommended the entrenchment of fundamental human rights, a Unified Police Force, and the establishment of special development areas.