Nigeria was granted full independence in October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960, Jaja Wachuku was the First black Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria. Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of Great Britain.

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  • Nigeria was granted full independence in October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960, Jaja Wachuku was the First black Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria. Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of Great Britain. Notably, as First Speaker of the House, Wachuku received Nigeria's Instrument of Independence, the Freedom Charter, on October 1 1960 from Princess Alexandra of Kent - HM The Queen of United Kingdom's representative at the Nigerian independence ceremonies. The federal government was given exclusive powers in defense, foreign relations, and commercial and fiscal policy. The British Monarch was still head of state but legislative power was vested in a bicameral parliament, executive power in a prime minister and cabinet, and judicial authority in a Federal Supreme Court. Political parties, however, tended to reflect the make up of the three main ethnic groups. The Nigerian People's Congress (NPC) represented conservative, Muslim, largely Hausa interests, and dominated the Northern Region. The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) was Igbo- and Christian-dominated, ruling in the Eastern Region, and the Action Group (AG) was a left-leaning party that controlled the Yoruba west. The first post-independence National Government was formed by a conservative alliance of the NCNC and the NPC, with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a Hausa, becoming Nigeria's first Prime Minister. The Yoruba-dominated AG became the opposition under its charismatic leader Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
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  • Nigeria was granted full independence in October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960, Jaja Wachuku was the First black Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria. Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of Great Britain.
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  • History of Nigeria (1960-1979)
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