NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger...
was granted full independence in October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960,
Jaja WachukuJaja Anucha Wachuku , was a Pan-Africanist; and a distinguished Nigerian statesman, lawyer, politician, diplomat and humanitarian. He was the first Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, as well as first Nigerian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations . He was...
was the First black
SpeakerThe term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the...
of the
House of Representatives of NigeriaThe House of Representatives of Nigeria is the lower house of the country's bicameral National Assembly. The Senate of Nigeria is the upper house....
. Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
. Notably, as First Speaker of the House, Wachuku received Nigeria's Instrument of Independence, the
Freedom CharterThe Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress and its allies the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress...
, on October 1 1960 from Princess Alexandra of Kent -
HM The QueenElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
of
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's representative at the Nigerian independence ceremonies.
The federal government was given exclusive powers in defense, foreign relations, and commercial and fiscal policy.
NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger...
was granted full independence in October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960,
Jaja WachukuJaja Anucha Wachuku , was a Pan-Africanist; and a distinguished Nigerian statesman, lawyer, politician, diplomat and humanitarian. He was the first Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, as well as first Nigerian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations . He was...
was the First black
SpeakerThe term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the...
of the
House of Representatives of NigeriaThe House of Representatives of Nigeria is the lower house of the country's bicameral National Assembly. The Senate of Nigeria is the upper house....
. Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
. Notably, as First Speaker of the House, Wachuku received Nigeria's Instrument of Independence, the
Freedom CharterThe Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress and its allies the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress...
, on October 1 1960 from Princess Alexandra of Kent -
HM The QueenElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
of
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's representative at the Nigerian independence ceremonies.
The federal government was given exclusive powers in defense, foreign relations, and commercial and fiscal policy. The British Monarch was still head of state but legislative power was vested in a bicameral parliament, executive power in a prime minister and cabinet, and judicial authority in a Federal Supreme Court. Political parties, however, tended to reflect the make up of the three main ethnic groups. The Nigerian People's Congress (NPC) represented conservative, Muslim, largely
HausaThe Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. There are also significant numbers found in regions of Sudan, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Chad and smaller communities scattered throughout West Africa and on the...
interests, and dominated the Northern Region. The
National Council of Nigeria and the CameroonsNational Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons , was a Nigerian political party from 1944 to 1966. The name included 'Cameroons' because Cameroon had become an administrative part of Nigeria in 1945. Cameroon had been a colonial territory of Germany...
(NCNC) was
IgboIgbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern and south Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
- and Christian-dominated, ruling in the Eastern Region, and the
Action GroupAction Group was a Nigerian political party established in Ibadan on March 21, 1951, by the Ègbe Ọmọ Odùduwà led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The party was founded to serve as the platform for realizing his primary objective of mobilising the Yorùbá into one political umbrella...
(AG) was a left-leaning party that controlled the Yoruba west. The first post-independence National Government was formed by a conservative alliance of the NCNC and the NPC, with Sir
Abubakar Tafawa BalewaSir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was a Nigerian politician, and the first prime minister of an independent Nigeria. Originally a trained teacher, he became a vocal leader for Northern interest as one of the few educated Nigerians of his time...
, a Hausa, becoming Nigeria's first Prime Minister. The Yoruba-dominated AG became the opposition under its charismatic leader Chief
Obafemi AwolowoJeremiah Obafemi Awolowo was a Nigerian politician and leader, a Yoruba and native of Ikenne in Ogun State of Nigeria, who started as a regional political leader like most of his pre-independence contemporaries. He founded many organizations, including Egbe Omo Oduduwa, the Trade Unions Congress...
.
The First Republic
In October 1963 Nigeria proclaimed itself a Federal Republic and former Governor General
Nnamdi AzikiweBenjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe , usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe, or, informally and popularly, as "Zik", was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism and the first President of Nigeria, holding the position throughout the Nigerian First Republic.-Early life:Azikiwe was born on...
became the country's first
PresidentThe President of Nigeria is the elected head of government and head of state of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Officially styled President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces...
. From the outset Nigeria's ethnic and religious tensions were magnified by the disparities in economic and educational development between the south and the north. The AG was maneuvered out of control of the Western Region by the Federal Government and a new pro-government Yoruba party, the
Nigerian National Democratic PartyThe Nigerian National Democratic Party , was Nigeria's first political party.Formed in 1923 by Herbert Macaulay to take advantage of the new Clifford Constitution, the NNDP successfully organized various Yoruba interest groups into a single group that was able to compete politically...
(NNDP), took over. Shortly afterward the AG opposition leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was imprisoned on treason charges that were later admitted to be without foundation. The 1965 National Election produced a major realignment of politics and a disputed result that set the country on the path to civil war. The dominant northern NPC went into a conservative alliance with the new Yoruba NNDP, leaving the Igbo NCNC to coalesce with the remnants of the AG (Action Group) in a progressive alliance. In the vote, widespread electoral fraud was alleged and riots irrupted in the Yoruba West where heartlands of the AG discovered they had apparently elected pro-government NNDP representatives.