An important provision of the 1946 constitution was that it ........

Analyze the question: It asks for an important provision of the 1946 constitution (the Richards Constitution).

Key facts about the Richards Constitution (1946):

• It created three regions: Northern, Western and Eastern.
• It set up Regional Houses of Assembly. The North also had a House of Chiefs, while the West and East had only advisory Houses of Assembly.
• It introduced an unofficial majority in the Legislative Council, not an official majority.
• It extended the Legislative Council to the whole country, including the North.
• It was the first constitution to bring the North into a common legislative body.
• It laid the groundwork for later federalism by dividing the country into regions. Federalism was formally introduced by the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954.

Evaluating the options:

• B. Introduced federalism: Wrong. Federalism was formally introduced in 1954, and the 1951 Macpherson Constitution had already moved toward it.
• C. Official majority for the first time: Wrong. The 1946 constitution gave an unofficial (African and non-government) majority, and official majorities existed in earlier councils.
• D. Office of head of government at the regional level: Wrong. Regional premiers came with the 1954 constitution. Under the Richards Constitution the regional bodies were only advisory, and the Governor remained in overall control.
• A. Conceived federalism for Nigeria: This is the best fit. By dividing the country into three regions with regional assemblies, the constitution planted the idea of federalism. It did not formally introduce it, which is why "conceived" is right and "introduced" is wrong.

The difference between A and B is the key to this question. The 1946 constitution conceived the idea, and the 1954 constitution introduced the system.

Exam tip: Match each constitution to its main feature:

• 1946 (Richards): regionalism, with federalism only conceived
• 1951 (Macpherson): a step toward federalism, with regional legislative powers
• 1954 (Lyttleton): full federalism, with regional premiers