By Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Today is Independence Day.
The first of October 1960 is a date to which for two years every Nigerian has
been eagerly looking forward. At last, our great day has arrived, and Nigeria
is now indeed an independent sovereign nation.
Words cannot adequately express my joy and pride at
being the Nigerian citizen privileged to accept from Her Royal Highness these
Constitutional Instruments which are the symbols of Nigeria’s Independence. It
is a unique privilege which I shall remember forever, and it gives me strength
and courage as I dedicate my life to the service of our country.
This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more
wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience, compelled to
watch one country after another overtaking us on the road when we had so nearly
reached our goal. But now we have acquired our rightful status, and I feel sure
that history will show that the building of our nation proceeded at the wisest
pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm
foundations.
Today’s ceremony marks the culmination of a process
which began 15 years ago and has now reached a happy and successful conclusion.
It is with justifiable pride that we claim the achievement of our Independence
to be unparallelled in the annals of history. Each step of our constitutional
advance has been purposefully and peacefully planned with full and open
consultation, not only between representatives of all the various interests in
Nigeria but in harmonious cooperation with the administering power which has
today relinquished its authority.
At the time when our constitutional development
entered upon its final phase, the emphasis was largely upon self-government.
We, the elected representatives of the people of Nigeria, concentrated on
proving that we were fully capable of managing our own affairs both internally
and as a nation. However, we were not to be allowed the selfish luxury of
focusing our interest on our own homes. In these days of rapid communications
we cannot live in isolation, apart from the rest of the world, even if we
wished to do so. All too soon it has become evident that for us Independence
implies a great deal more than self-government. This great country, which has
now emerged without bitterness or bloodshed, finds that she must at once be
ready to deal with grave international issues.
This fact has of recent months been unhappily emphasized
by the startling events which have occurred in this continent. I shall not
labour the point but it would be unrealistic not to draw attention first to the
awe-inspiring task confronting us at the very start of our nationhood. When
this day in October 1960 was chosen for our Independence it seemed that we were
destined to move with quiet dignity to place on the world stage. Recent events
have changed the scene beyond recognition, so that we find ourselves today being
tested to the utmost We are called upon immediately to show that our claims to
responsible government are well-founded, and having been accepted as an
independent state we must at once play an active part in maintaining the peace
of the world and in preserving civilisation. I promise you, we shall not fail
for want of determination.
And we come to this task better-equipped than many.
For this, I pay tribute to the manner in which successive British governments
have gradually transferred the burden of responsibility to our shoulders. The
assistance and unfailing encouragement which we have received from each
Secretary of State for the Colonies and their intense personal interest in our
development has immeasurably lightened that burden.
All our friends in the Colonial Office must today be
proud of their handiwork and in the knowledge that they have helped to lay the
foundations of a lasting friendship between our two nations. I have indeed
every confidence that, based on the happy experience of a successful partnership,
our future relations with the United Kingdom will be more cordial than ever,
bound together, as we shall be in the Commonwealth, by a common allegiance to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, whom today we proudly acclaim as Queen of Nigeria
and Head of the Commonwealth.
Time will not permit the individual mention of all
those friends, many of them Nigerians, whose selfless labours have contributed
to our Independence. Some have not lived to see the fulfilment of their hopes
on them be peace, “but nevertheless they are remembered here, and the names of
buildings and streets and roads and bridges throughout the country recall to
our minds their achievements, some of them on a national scale. Others
confined, perhaps, to a small area in one Division, are more humble but of
equal value in the sum-total.
Today, we have with us representatives of those who
have made Nigeria: Representatives of the Regional Governments, of former
Central Governments, of the Missionary Societies, and of the Banking and
Commercial enterprises, and members, both past and present, of the Public
Service. We welcome you, and we rejoice that you have been able to come and
share in our celebrations. We wish that it could have been possible for all of
those whom you represent to be here today: Many, I know, will be disappointed
to be absent, but if they are listening to me now, I say to them, “Thank you on
behalf of my Thank you for your devoted service, which helped build Nigeria
into a nation. Today we are reaping the harvest which you sowed, and the
quality of the harvest is equalled only by our gratitude to you. May God bless
you all.
This is an occasion when our hearts are filled with
conflicting emotions: we are, indeed, proud to have achieved our independence,
and proud that our efforts should have contributed to this happy event. But do
not mistake our pride for arrogance. It is tempered by feelings of sincere
gratitude to all who have shared in the task of developing Nigeria politically,
socially and economically. We are grateful to the British officers whom we have
known, first as masters, and then as leaders, and finally as partners, but
always as friends. And there have been countless missionaries who have laboured
unceasingly in the cause of education and to whom we owe many of our medical
services. We are grateful also to those who have brought modern methods of
banking and of commerce, and new industries. I wish to pay tribute to all of
these people and to declare our everlasting admiration of their devotion to
duty.
And, finally, I must express our gratitude to Her
Royal Highness the Princess Alexandra of Kent for personally bringing to us
these symbols of our freedom, and especially for delivering the gracious
message from Her Majesty The Queen. And so, with the words “God save our
Queen”, I open a new chapter in the history of Nigeria, and of the
Commonwealth, and indeed of the world.
Balewa, Nigeria’s first prime minister, delivered this
speech on October 1, 1960
Culled from The Cable
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