Amalgamation

On 1 January 1914, the British formally united the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the
Northern Nigeria Protectorate into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively,
Nigeria remained divided into the Northern and Southern Protectorates and Lagos Colony.
Inhabitants of the southern region sustained more interaction, economic and cultural, with
the British and other Europeans owing to the coastal economy. [59]

1953 postage stamp with portrait of Queen Elizabeth II

Christian missions established Western educational institutions in the Protectorates. Under

Britain's policy of indirect rule and validation of Islamic tradition, the Crown did not
encourage the operation of Christian missions in the northern, Islamic part of the country.
[60]
 Some children of the southern elite went to Great Britain to pursue higher education. By
independence in 1960, regional differences in modern educational access were marked.
The legacy, though less pronounced, continues to the present day. Imbalances between
North and South were expressed in Nigeria's political life as well. For instance, northern
Nigeria did not outlaw slavery until 1936 whilst in other parts of Nigeria slavery was
abolished soon after colonialism.[61][53]
Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for
independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British government moved Nigeria
toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. By the middle of
the 20th century, a great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa. Nigeria
achieved independence in 1960.[62]
Independence and First Republic (1960–1966)
Main article: First Nigerian Republic

Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, as

the Federation of Nigeria, while retaining the British monarch, Elizabeth II, as nominal head
of state and Queen of Nigeria. Independent Nigeria's founding government was a coalition
of conservative parties: the Northern People's Congress (NPC) led by Sir Ahmadu Bello, a
party dominated by Muslim Northerners, and the Igbo and Christian-dominated National
Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) led by Nnamdi Azikiwe. Azikiwe replaced
the colonial governor-general in November 1960. The opposition comprised the
comparatively liberal Action Group (AG), which was largely dominated by the Yoruba and
led by Obafemi Awolowo. At independence, the cultural and political differences were sharp
among Nigeria's dominant ethnic groups: the Hausa–
Fulani ('Northerners'), Igbo ('Easterners') and Yoruba ('Westerners').[63] An imbalance was
created in the polity by the result of the 1961 plebiscite. Southern Cameroons (since
renamed by separatists as Ambazonia) opted to join the Republic of
Cameroon while Northern Cameroons chose to remain in Nigeria. The northern part of the
country then became larger than the southern part. In 1963, the nation established
a Federal Republic, with Azikiwe as its first president. When elections were held in 1965,
the Nigerian National Democratic Party came to power in Nigeria's Western Region.
Military rule and Civil War (1966–1979)
Main articles: Nigerian military juntas of 1966–79 and 1983–99 and Nigerian Civil War

The Republic of Biafra in June 1967, when it declared its independence from the rest of Nigeria

The disequilibrium and perceived corruption of the electoral and political process led, in
1966, to back-to-back military coups. The first coup was in January 1966 and was led
mostly by Igbo soldiers under Majors Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Chukwuma Kaduna
Nzeogwu. The coup plotters succeeded in assassinating Sir Ahmadu Bello and Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa alongside prominent leaders of the Northern Region and also
Premier Samuel Akintola of the Western Region, but the coup plotters struggled to form a
central government. Senate President Nwafor Orizu handed over government control to
the Army, then under the command of another Igbo officer, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi.
Later, the counter-coup of 1966, supported primarily by Northern military officers, facilitated
the rise Yakubu Gowon as military head of state. Tension rose between North and
South; Igbos in Northern cities suffered persecution and many fled to the Eastern Region.[64]
In May 1967, Governor of the Eastern Region Lt. Colonel Emeka Ojukwu declared the
region independent from the federation as a state called the Republic of Biafra, under his
leadership.[65] This declaration precipitated the Nigerian Civil War, which began as the
official Nigerian government side attacked Biafra on 6 July 1967 at Garkem. The 30-month
war, with a long siege of Biafra and its isolation from trade and supplies, ended in January
1970.[66] Estimates of the number of dead in the former Eastern Region during the 30-month
civil war range from one to three million. [67] France, Egypt, the Soviet Union, Britain, Israel,
and others were deeply involved in the civil war behind the scenes. Britain and the Soviet
Union were the main military backers of the Nigerian government; with Nigeria utilizing air
support from Egyptian pilots provided by Gamal Abdel Nasser,[68][69] while France and Israel
aided the Biafrans. The Congolese government, under President Joseph-Désiré Mobutu,
took an early stand on the Biafran secession, voicing strong support for the Nigerian federal
government[70] and deploying thousands of troops to fight against the secessionists. [71][72]
Following the war, Nigeria enjoyed the oil boom of the 1970s, during which the country
joined OPEC and received huge oil revenues. Despite these revenues, the military
government did little to improve the standard of living of the population, help small and
medium businesses, or invest in infrastructure. As oil revenues fueled the rise of federal
subsidies to states, the federal government became the centre of political struggle and the
threshold of power in the country. As oil production and revenue rose, the Nigerian
government became increasingly dependent on oil revenues and international commodity
markets for budgetary and economic concerns.[73] The coup in July 1975, led by
Generals Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and Joseph Garba ousted Gowon,[74] who fled to Britain.
[75]
 The coup plotters wanted to replace Gowon's autocratic rule with a triumvirate of three
brigadier generals whose decisions could be vetoed by a Supreme Military Council. For this
triumvirate, they convinced General Murtala Mohammad to become military head of state,
with General Olusegun Obasanjo as his second-in-command, and General Theophilus
Danjuma as the third.[76] Together, the triumvirate introduces austerity measures to stem
inflation, established a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, replaced all military
governors with new officers, and launched "Operation Deadwood" through which they fired
11,000 officials from the civil s