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Federation of Nigeria | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954–1963 | |||||||||
| Motto: "Unity and Faith" | |||||||||
| Anthem: God Save the Queen (until 1960) Nigeria, We Hail Thee (from 1960) | |||||||||
.svg) Territory of the Federation of Nigeria after integratingNorthern Cameroons in 1961 | |||||||||
| Status | Britishprotectorate (1954–1960) Sovereign state (1960–1963) | ||||||||
| Capital | Lagos | ||||||||
| Government | Federation as Britishprotectorate (1954–1960) Federalparliamentaryconstitutional monarchy (1960–1963) | ||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||
• 1954–1960 | Elizabeth II (asQueen of the United Kingdom) | ||||||||
• 1960–1963 | Elizabeth II (asQueen of Nigeria) | ||||||||
| Governor-General | |||||||||
• 1954–1955 | Sir John Stuart Macpherson | ||||||||
• 1955–1960 | Sir James Wilson Robertson | ||||||||
• 1960–1963 | Nnamdi Azikiwe | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1960–1963 | Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa | ||||||||
| Legislature | Parliament[1] | ||||||||
• Upper house | Senate | ||||||||
• Lower house | House of Representatives | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
• Established | 1954 | ||||||||
| 1 October 1960 | |||||||||
• Northern Cameroons integration | 1 June 1961 | ||||||||
| 1 October 1963 | |||||||||
| Currency | Nigerian pound | ||||||||
| |||||||||
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TheFederation of Nigeria was a predecessor to modern-dayNigeria from 1954 to 1963. It was a British protectorate until its independence on 1 October 1960. The Federation consisted of three regions:
British rule ofColonial Nigeria ended in 1960, when theNigeria Independence Act 1960[2] made the federation an independentsovereign state.Elizabeth II remained head of state as theQueen of Nigeria, as well asother dominions and commonwealth realms. Her constitutional roles in Nigeria were exercisable by theGovernor-General of Nigeria. Three people held the office of governor-general during the whole existence of the Federation of Nigeria:
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa held office asprime minister (andhead of government).
TheFederal Republic of Nigeria came into existence on 1 October 1963.[3] The monarchy was abolished and Nigeria became arepublic within the Commonwealth. Following the abolition of the monarchy, former Governor-GeneralNnamdi Azikiwe becamePresident of Nigeria, as a ceremonial post under the 1963 constitution.
Elizabeth II visited Nigeria in 1956 (28 January – 16 February).
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