No Independence Before Majority African Rule

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NIBMAR or No Independence Before Majority African Rule refers to the policy where colonies of the British Empire in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean were not to receive independence unless they had put in place democratic reforms resulting in majority rule rather than rule by the white colonial minority.

In particular, this position was advocated with respect to the future status of Rhodesia as a sovereign nation. British Prime Minister Harold Wilson was pressured into adopting the approach during a conference in London. Wilson was not initially inclined to do so, but Lester Pearson, the Canadian Prime Minister at the time, formulated a draft resolution committing Wilson to NIBMAR. Pearson was to later recall: “I wasn’t sure whether I was being asked to commit polygamy or incest, but whatever it was, I did it.” The accomplishment was short-lived, however, as Wilson continued to extend offers to Ian Smith which came considerably short of NIBMAR (offers which Smith nonetheless ultimately rejected).

[edit] References:

• Good, Robert C. U.D.I.: the International Politics of the Rhodesian Rebellion (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1973).