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19601 October 1960 · Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos

Nigerian independence

Aerial view of Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, the former Race Course where independence was celebrated in 1960
Photo: Isaacayodele32. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At midnight on 30 September 1960 the Union Jack was lowered and Nigeria's green and white flag raised at the Lagos Race Course, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa became prime minister of Africa's most populous country. Independence crowned a decade of constitutional bargaining between the regions. Civil war followed within seven years, but 1 October remains the national day.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Tafawa Balewa Square (former Race Course)The parade ground where the flag was raised, with its horse statues and gate.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: National Museum, OnikanGalleries on Nigerian history, including the car in which Murtala Mohammed was shot.Map ↗

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