Happy Independence Day Nigeria! While we celebrate and work together to make our nation better and carve a better way forward for Nigeria, let’s reminisce on some unforgettable events in our nation’s history after our independence on October 1st, 1960. These 20 events will forever remain special to us:
1. October 1, 1963: Nigeria became a Republic
2. December 30, 1964: The first national elections held in independent Nigeria
3. August 31, 1966: The original name “Federal Republic of Nigeria” was restored.
4. May 22, 1973: National Youth Service Corp was introduced
5. September 2nd, 1976: Universal Primary Education was first introduced
6. March 5, 1980: Mrs. Folake Solanke became the first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria
7. September 9, 1982: The Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) was established
8. October 16, 1986: Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature
9. December 12, 1990: Abuja officially became Nigeria’s capital
10. June 21, 1994: Rashidi Yekini scored Nigeria’s first goal at the World Cup
11. September 1, 1994: RayPower 100.5 pioneered private radio broadcasting in Nigeria
12. December 21, 1999: Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment Scheme (SMEEIS) was approved by the banker’s committee
13. September 14, 1999: Professor Chinua Achebe won the maiden National Creativity Award
15. March 6, 2000: The first kidney transplant in Nigeria was conducted at St. Nicholas Hospital by Dr. Shonibare
14. November 16, 2001: Agbani Darego was crowned Miss World.
15. December 26, 2004: First Calabar carnival was held
16. April, 5, 2005: Dele Olojede became the first African-born journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize
17. October 12, 2005: 1000 Naira notes went into circulation for the first time
18. April 21, 2006: Nigeria became the first African country to completely pay off its debt to the Paris Club
19. July 26, 2007: Guaranty Trust Bank became the first African Bank to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
20. August 22, 2009: 120 Nigerian police officers were awarded UN peace keeping medals for their service in Liberia.
Share your favourite event with us in the comment section below or our Twitter handle: @connectnigeria
