Independence Constitution

Independence Constitution (1960)

The 1960 Independence Constitution of Nigeria could be attributed to the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954 and the 1957/58 constitutional conferences held in London and Lagos respectively. Nigeria gained her independence on the 1 st of October, 1960.

FEATURES OF THE INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION

1. The Queen of England as the Head of State was represented by the Governor General.
2. Division of power between federal and regional governments.
3. Procedure for amendment of the constitution was entrenched in the constitution.
4. Fundamental human rights were also entrenched in the constitution.
5. Supreme Court Judge was appointed on the advice of Judicial Service Commission.

MERITS OF THE INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION

1. The Independence Constitution established a bi-cameral federal legislature consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives and regional legislature consisting of the House of Chiefs and House of Assembly.
2. The constitution entrenched accountability as it required the Federal Minister of Finance to submit the reports of the Director of Audit before parliament.
3. The attainment of independence created a lot of employment opportunities for Nigerians in the Civil Service; the posts that were hitherto held by British nationals.
4. With the freedom to negotiate her own foreign affairs, Nigeria established trade relations with other nations which contributed in expanding Nigerian foreign trade.

DISADVANTAGES OF THE INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION

1. One of the disadvantages of the independence constitution was that it retained the British Queen as the constitutional ceremonial Head of the State.
2. The Supreme Court was not the court of last resort; the judicial committee of the Privy Council in Britain continued to act as the highest court of appeal for Nigeria.
3. The constitution was weak because members of the House of Senate were appointed by the regional government not elected. They therefore became stooges and surrogates of the regional government.
4. Also, the constitution did not give adequate treatment and definition of the issue of creation of more regions in Nigeria. This over-sight created problems when an attempt was made to create a mid-Western region out of the Western region.