The First Republic (1960–1966)

The First Republic is the name generally given to Nigeria's first period of independent civilian government, from independence on 1 October 1960 to the military coup of 15 January 1966 (Wikipedia). Strictly, Nigeria was a dominion with the British monarch as head of state until 1963, when it became a republic within the Commonwealth; the parliamentary, Westminster-style system was kept, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, the governor-general, became the first president, a largely ceremonial office. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was prime minister.

The federation was made up of large regions, each dominated by one party: the Northern People's Congress (NPC) in the north, the NCNC in the east and the Action Group in the west. According to the Library of Congress country study, the federal government was an NPC–NCNC coalition, although the two parties were very different, and the Action Group formed the opposition.

The country study traces how stability broke down. In 1962 the Action Group split between Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Akintola, the premier of the Western Region; rioting followed, the federal government declared a state of emergency in the region, and Awolowo and others were later convicted of treason. A Midwestern Region was carved out of the Western Region, its creation confirmed by plebiscite in 1963. Censuses in 1962 and 1963 were bitterly disputed, because population decided each region's share of seats. Riots broke out in Tivland in 1960 and 1964. The federal election of December 1964 was boycotted in parts of the country, and in the six months after the Western Region election of November 1965 an estimated 2,000 people died in violence in that region.

On 15 January 1966 a group of army majors attempted to seize power. Wikipedia records that Prime Minister Balewa, Ahmadu Bello (premier of the north and Sardauna of Sokoto), Samuel Akintola (premier of the west) and the finance minister Festus Okotie-Eboh were killed. The army commander, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, took control and suspended the constitution, ending the First Republic.