Nigerianisation was the policy of training and posting Nigerians to positions of responsibility previously occupied by expatriates in the public service of the government of Nigeria.
It was gradual and involved reorganizing government agencies and expanding educational facilities at selected high schools and colleges.
In Nigeria, the structure of the colonial machine placed emphasis on indirect rule and the placement of expatriate Residents, Divisional Officers and administrators to the provinces where they were in direct contact with citizens.
Though both offices were inundated with constant transfer of personnel and lack of funds, many of the positions in the secretariat were filled with expatriates from other colonies while most of the governing functions were done by residents in the provinces.
The educated Africans including some on the civil service and the nationalists began to clamor for increased involvement of Nigerians in the senior positions of administration.
[7] Colonial officials in London and in Nigeria had limited the advancement and recruitment of educated Africans into senior positions with the exception of a few such as Henry Rawlingson Carr and Joseph McEwen.
The new system also increased the level of participation in political development by educated Nigerians who opted not to join the civil service.
A few years after the commission published its report, the regional political leadership in Southern Nigeria were not convinced that enough qualified Nigerians were being recruited into the civil service.
This sentiment varied in the predominantly Islamic North where indirect rule was a tool of governance, Western education was limited and thus the number of qualified Northerners were few.
In March 1952, the council appointed a commission jointly led by Simeon Adebo and Sydney Phillipson to review the process of the recruiting more Nigerians into the civil service.
In August 1955, the House of Representatives called on the Council of Ministers to present proposals towards the Nigerianisation of the civil service.
[16] Three major governmental bodies were charged with implementing the process: the Public Service Commission, Scholarship Board and the establishment office.
Expatriate military officers were now placed under the control of Nigerians and given a maximum period of 3 years of secondment before returning home.
Cadetship was established in select secondary schools to discover potential recruits who could qualify for officer positions.
[20] To prevent loss of career opportunities, the expatriate led Civil Service Organization demanded compensation from the government.