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Three years prior to the independence, the Western and Eastern regions became formally self-governing under the parliamentary system – a status which the Northern Region only attained two years later, in 1959. All of these regions remained autonomous and they related to/with the federal government headquartered in Lagos. The federal government retained specified powers such as defence, shipping and navigation, communications, responsibility for banking, currency, external affairs, but real political power was centred in the regions. Significantly, the regional governments controlled public expenditures derived from revenues raised within each region. The prospect of administering a booming regional economy only urged Nigerian leaders the more to mobilise for the march towards independence. Even the people of Nigeria started to call frantically for independence from British colonial rule. The British were now caught in a lock; there was no more way they could ignore the incessant calls for independence. To allow Nigerians to have some measure of control over the affairs of their own land, the British came up with several constitutions in a bid to assuage the feelings of the people.
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The Lyttleton Constitution of 1954 was the last attempt to make a set of laws which could buy the heart of Nigerians but Nigerians leaders like Sir Herbert Macaulay, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and Chief Anthony Enahoro, to mention a few continued with more pressure in the struggle for Nigerian nationalism. The first sign of their labour bearing fruits came on 27th October 1958 when Britain agreed that Nigeria would become an independent state. This primary and major move caused a series of trips by these leaders to London, where the Nigerian Independence Bill was eventually passed at the House of Lords on July 15th 1960. At the turn of the clock, as early as 12 am on October 1st 1960, Nigeria became an independent country. The immediate implication of this was that the Union Jack, also known as the British national flag, was finally lowered while the new Green-White-Green Nigerian flag was hoisted in its place. The National Anthem was also changed from “God Save the Queen” to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” (the Nigerian anthem would later be changed to “Arise O Compatriots” when Nigeria became a Republic in 1963). The first black and indigenous Speaker of the Nigerian parliament, Jaja Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of Great Britain as the leader of the House. Nnamdi Azikiwe became the new Governor-General while Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was elected as the first Prime Minister. Wachukwu was also symbolically handed Nigeria’s Instrument of Independence – also known as Freedom Charter – on October 1, 1960, by Princess Alexandra of Kent who represented the Queen at the independence ceremonies. Featured Image Source: Wikipedia
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