Nigerian First Republic
Overview
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
government of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution
Constitution of Nigeria
The Constitution of Nigeria is the supreme law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Nigeria has had a series of constitutions. The current constitution was enacted on 29 May 1999, inaugurating the Nigerian Fourth Republic.-Colonial era :...
.
Nigeria gained independence from Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on October 1, 1960, when the Declaration of Independence was signed in the main boardroom of the Federal Palace Hotel
Federal Palace Hotel
The Federal Palace Hotel is a 150 room hotel that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, located in the commercial hub of Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria.- History :The Federal Palace Hotel is a Sun International property...
. It was declared a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
three years later on October 1, 1963. The constitution and Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
of government were inherited from the British colonialists.
- Action GroupAction Group (Nigeria)Action Group was a Nigerian political party established in Ibadan on March 21, 1951, by the Ègbe Ọmọ Odùduwà led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The party was founded to serve as the platform for realizing his primary objective of mobilising the Yorùbá into one political umbrella...
(AG) - Borno Youth MovementBorno Youth MovementBorno Youth Movement was a Nigerian political party founded on June 26, 1954. The party was founded by young radicals of Kanuri heritage who were indignant with the administrative course of native authorities in Borno and wanted to reform the authority....
(BYM) - Democratic Party of Nigeria and Cameroon (DPNC)
- Dynamic PartyDynamic PartyDynamic Party was a Nigerian political party headed by the mathematician and erudite scholar Chike Obi. It was inaugurated in Ibadan on April 7, 1951. The party embraced Kemalism, and was cautious about the early movement towards self-government....
(DP) - Igala UnionIgala UnionIgala Union was a political union in Nigeria during the nation's first republic. The union was originally made up of members from a powerful Igala group who were sympathetic to the Northern People's Congress. The union won four House of Representatives seats in the 1959 parliamentary...
(IU) - Igbira Tribal UnionIgbira Tribal UnionIgbira Tribal Union was a political organization formed by educated servicemen from Igbira Native Administration of Northern Nigeria, headed by George Ohikere. The union was one of the non Hausa-Fulani organizations that was affiliated with the dominant Northern People's Congress during the...
(ITU) - Midwest Democratic FrontMidwest Democratic FrontThe Midwest Democratic Front was a small political party from Nigeria's Midwest region; encompassing present day Edo and Delta states. The party was one of the various small parties that forged alliances with the dominant parties in Nigeria's first republic, such as the Action Group, the Northern...
(MDF) - National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons/National Council of Nigerian CitizensNational Council of Nigeria and the CameroonsNational Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons , was a Nigerian political party from 1944 to 1966. The name included 'Cameroons' because Cameroon had become an administrative part of Nigeria in 1945. Cameroon had been a colonial territory of Germany...
(NCNC) - Niger Delta CongressNiger Delta CongressThe Niger Delta Congress was one of the small political parties in Nigeria's First Republic. The party generated most of its support from minorities in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. The party was formed by Harold Biriye and some southern minority leaders, principally from Degema, Ogoni, Brass and...
(NDC) - Nigerian National Democratic PartyNigerian National Democratic PartyThe Nigerian National Democratic Party , was Nigeria's first political party.Formed in 1923 by Herbert Macaulay to take advantage of the new Clifford Constitution, the NNDP successfully organized various Yoruba interest groups into a single group that was able to compete politically...
(NNDP) - Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU)
- Northern People's CongressNorthern People's CongressNorthern People's Congress is a political party in Nigeria. Formed in June 1949, the party held considerable influence in the Northern Region from the 1950s until the military coup of 1966....
(NPC) - Northern Progressive FrontNorthern Progressive FrontThe Northern People's Front was a Nigerian political league comprising NEPU and United Middle Belt Congress members....
(NPF) - Republican Party (RP)
- United Middle Belt CongressUnited Middle Belt CongressUnited Middle Belt Congress was a political party in Nigeria during the nation's First Republic. The Party was a fusion of two major middle belt organizations, the Middle Zone League and the Middle Belt Peoples' Party...
(UMBC) - United National Independence PartyUnited National Independence Party (Nigeria)The United National Independence Party was a Nigerian political party formed in the mid 1950s. It was made up of a group of N.C.N.C members who were opposed to some of the policies of Nnamdi Azikiwe and had formed the National Independence Party...
(UNIP) - Zamfara Commoners Party (ZCP)
The country was split into three geopolitical regions—Western Region
Western Region, Nigeria
The Western Region was a subdivision of the federation of Nigeria until 1967. Its capital was at Ibadan.It was established in the 1930s under British rule as a subdivision of the Southern Nigeria colony...
, Eastern Region
Eastern Region, Nigeria
The Eastern Region was one of Nigeria's federal divisions, dating back originally from the division of the colony Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its capital was Enugu. The region was official divided in 1967 into three new states, East-Central State, Rivers State and South-Eastern State...
and Northern Region
Northern Region, Nigeria
The Northern Region was one of Nigeria's federal divisions. It was created before independence in 1960, with its capital at Kaduna. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, who had voted to become part of Nigeria....
—and its political parties took on the identities and ideologies of each region.
