 As a member of the legislative council, he took on the mantle of defending the interest of indigenous Africans by engaging in debates with other members on major policy initiatives such as the practice of indirect rule and asking a great many questions about official colonial policy and its benefit to Africans.He sometimes offered strenuous opposition to official colonial policy affecting Nigerians in general.He brought the party's nationalistic initiatives to the public sphere and argued for the merits of traditional norms and customs especially those dealing with the selection of traditional chiefs.