by Staff writer
Independence Day is an official national holiday in Nigeria, celebrated on the first of October. It marks Nigeria’s proclamation of independence from British rule on 1 October 1960.
Nigeria became a republic in 1963, but succumbed to military rule three years later after a bloody coup d’état.
A separatist movement later formed the Republic of Biafra in 1967, leading to the three-year Nigerian Civil War.
Nigeria became a republic once again after a new constitution was written in 1979.
However, the republic was short-lived, when the military seized power again four years later.
A new republic was planned to be established in 1993, but was dissolved by General Sani Abacha. Abacha died in 1998 and a fourth republic was established the following year, which ended three decades of intermittent military rule.
He was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition, without an autopsy — leading to widespread speculation that he may have been poisoned by political rivals via prostitutes.
