1 Oct 1960 — The Union Jack comes down over Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. Its federation joins three regions and 250 peoples. That scale makes Nigeria the continent’s great federal experiment, while making its divisions a deep fault line.
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1 OCTOBER 1960 · THE DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA, 1945–1994
The moment in context
Why did so many African territories reach independence in the same year? Part of the answer lies in a French law passed four years earlier. The 1956 loi-cadre gave elected territorial assemblies and African executives real authority. Leaders including Houphouët-Boigny and Senghor had already governed as ministers. When sovereignty arrived, several territories had governments ready to receive it; the change of flag completed a transfer of power already well advanced.
From Year of Africa, chapter 5 of The Decolonization of Africa, 1945–1994 (JUL 1960).
Why it happened — The framework law and African governments. France’s 1956 loi-cadre made elected territorial assemblies and African executives responsible for real affairs. Houphouët-Boigny and Senghor were…
The turn — Lagos, 1 October 1960 — Nigeria becomes independent. Nigeria lowered the Union Jack on 1 October 1960. Africa’s most populous nation brought some 250 peoples together in a federation of three regions,…
What it changed — New voices at the UN. The states that became independent in 1960 helped give the Afro-Asian bloc a permanent majority in the UN General Assembly. They used that platform…
Then ask the room: Why did seventeen countries become independent in the single year 1960 — and was the speed a triumph or a problem? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
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