The Central Bank of Nigeria building at Tinubu Square, Lagos, formally opened on 1 July 1959, on the same day that the Central Bank of Nigeria commenced full operations and began issuing Nigerian currency. The timing gave the ceremony significance far beyond the opening of another government office.
Nigeria was still under British colonial rule and would not become independent until 1 October 1960. Yet one of the institutions required for greater economic self-government was already being put into operation.
The establishment of the Bank represented an important transfer of monetary responsibility. For decades, currency used in Nigeria had been issued through a colonial system centred on the West African Currency Board. The new Central Bank was designed to issue legal tender, hold external reserves, promote monetary stability and act as banker and financial adviser to the Federal Government.
The building at Tinubu Square consequently stood at the intersection of architecture, economics and constitutional change. Its opening represented Nigeria’s growing control over its monetary affairs during the final phase of colonial rule.
Nigeria Before the Central Bank
Nigeria did not begin using money in 1959. Long before the Central Bank existed, different forms of money circulated across the territories that later became Nigeria.
During British colonial rule, however, the formal currency system became increasingly centralised. From 1912, the West African Currency Board issued currency for British West African territories, including Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
The arrangement provided a common currency system, but it was not a Nigerian central bank.
The West African Currency Board did not give Nigeria the range of responsibilities associated with a national monetary authority. Currency issue and reserve management remained part of a wider imperial financial structure.
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At the same time, weaknesses in Nigeria’s developing banking system encouraged demands for stronger regulation. The failure of several indigenous banking ventures and concern about the condition of the banking sector contributed to official inquiries and new banking legislation.
The Banking Ordinance of 1952 became an important stage in the regulation of financial institutions, but regulating commercial banks was different from creating a central bank.
As Nigeria moved towards self-government during the 1950s, the need for a national monetary institution became increasingly important.
The Central Bank of Nigeria Ordinance of 1958
The legal foundation for the new institution came through the Central Bank of Nigeria Ordinance, 1958, No. 24.
The legislation created the Central Bank of Nigeria as a corporate institution and provided for it to begin business on a date appointed by the Governor-General.
Its responsibilities were extensive.
The Bank was expected to issue legal tender currency in Nigeria, maintain external reserves, safeguard the international value of the currency, promote monetary stability and a sound financial structure, and serve as banker and financial adviser to the Federal Government.
The Ordinance also provided that the Bank should have its chief office in Lagos, while allowing branches to be established elsewhere in Nigeria.
The decision reflected the importance of Lagos at the time. It was the federal capital and the country’s leading commercial and financial centre.
The Central Bank of Nigeria building at Tinubu Square therefore emerged from a wider programme of institution-building as Nigeria prepared for greater self-government.
The Opening at Tinubu Square
On 1 July 1959, the Central Bank of Nigeria commenced full operations.
That same day, the Central Bank building at Tinubu Square, Lagos, was formally opened by Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
The occasion was attended by senior officials and distinguished guests, including the Governor-General and Cameron Cobbold, Governor of the Bank of England.
The opening marked a major change in Nigeria’s financial administration.
For the first time, the country had its own central banking institution responsible for major aspects of currency and monetary management.
The event also coincided with the issue of Nigerian currency by the new Bank.
Nigeria was still more than a year away from independence, but an important part of the financial machinery required for national government was already operating.
Nigeria’s New Currency
The commencement of Central Bank operations brought a new phase in Nigeria’s currency history.
On 1 July 1959, the Central Bank issued Nigerian notes in denominations that included five pounds, one pound, ten shillings and five shillings. Coins were also issued under the new monetary arrangement.
The change did not mean that older currency disappeared immediately.
Money issued by the West African Currency Board continued to circulate during the transition as the Central Bank gradually introduced its own currency and withdrew the earlier notes and coins.
The West African Currency Board’s currency did not lose its legal tender status in Nigeria until 1 July 1962.
The transition therefore occurred over several years rather than in a single day.
What fundamentally changed in 1959 was the authority responsible for Nigeria’s currency.
The new Central Bank now stood at the centre of a developing national monetary system.
The Importance of Tinubu Square
Tinubu Square occupied a prominent place in colonial Lagos.
The surrounding area was close to major commercial streets, government offices, banks and trading firms. Lagos Island and the Marina corridor formed one of the most important financial districts in the country.
Locating the Central Bank there placed it close to the commercial institutions with which it would regularly interact.
The building also gave physical form to an institution whose work might otherwise appear abstract.
Central banks deal with currency, reserves, government finance, banking and monetary policy. A headquarters building turned those functions into a visible public institution.
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For Nigerians living through the final years of colonial rule, the opening of the Bank represented another stage in the construction of institutions that would soon belong to an independent state.
The Road to Independence
The Central Bank began operating approximately fifteen months before Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960.
This timing is historically important.
Nigeria’s transition to independence was not simply a political event that occurred on one day. Government institutions had to be created, staffed and organised in advance.
A functioning state required ministries, courts, security services, administrative departments and financial institutions capable of carrying out national responsibilities.
The Central Bank formed part of that broader preparation.
Its creation allowed Nigeria to develop greater institutional responsibility for currency, reserves, government banking and monetary administration before independence arrived.
The Bank’s opening did not immediately sever every financial relationship with Britain.
Nigeria remained connected to the sterling system, and the Nigerian pound continued to have a close relationship with British sterling.
The significance of 1959 therefore lies not in the idea that complete economic independence was achieved overnight, but in the fact that an important area of financial administration had moved into a Nigerian institution.
From Lagos to Abuja
The Central Bank continued to expand after independence.
As Nigeria’s economy and financial system grew, the responsibilities of the Bank increased. New departments were created, branches developed across the country and its role in monetary and banking policy became more extensive.
Nigeria later moved its federal capital from Lagos to Abuja.
The Central Bank subsequently transferred its principal headquarters functions to the new capital.
During the transition, some important departments remained in Lagos. By 2001, departments including Finance and Accounts, Banking Operations, Currency Operations and Branch Operations were among those that completed relocation to Abuja.
Today, the Central Bank’s head office is situated at Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way, Central Business District, Abuja.
Lagos nevertheless remains important to Nigeria’s financial system and continues to host major Central Bank operations.
The Changing Lagos Headquarters
The physical appearance of the Central Bank’s Lagos premises has changed considerably since 1959.
The institution expanded over the decades, and the Lagos complex underwent substantial reconstruction.
A later redevelopment involved the demolition of an existing 11-storey building and the construction of a new 23-storey office building with a basement.
The modern Lagos office therefore belongs to a much later phase of the Bank’s architectural history.
It should not be confused with the structure associated with the beginning of Central Bank operations in 1959.
Tinubu Square remains historically important because it was there that the Bank entered full operation during Nigeria’s final period of colonial rule.
The Building as a National Symbol
The Lagos headquarters later became part of Nigeria’s monetary imagery.
When Nigeria changed from pounds, shillings and pence to the naira and kobo in 1973, images associated with the former Central Bank headquarters in Lagos appeared on Nigerian currency.
The symbolism was striking.
The institution responsible for issuing the country’s money had itself become an image carried on that money.
By then, Nigeria had been independent for more than a decade and had passed through major political and economic upheavals, including the Nigerian Civil War.
Yet the old Lagos headquarters remained closely associated with the institutional history of Nigerian currency.
Its appearance on banknotes reflected the place the Central Bank had acquired in the public identity of the state.
A Milestone in Nigeria’s Institutional Development
The opening of the Central Bank at Tinubu Square was part of a much larger transformation.
Nigeria’s path towards independence required more than constitutional conferences and political negotiations. It also required working institutions capable of exercising national authority.
The Central Bank was one of the most important of those institutions.
Its responsibilities affected virtually every part of the economy, from the government’s finances and commercial banking to currency and foreign reserves.
By establishing the Bank before independence, Nigeria entered 1960 with an important part of its financial administration already functioning.
The transformation was gradual, but the significance of the institution was considerable.
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Conclusion
The Central Bank of Nigeria building at Tinubu Square occupies an important place in Nigeria’s economic and political history.
Created under the Central Bank of Nigeria Ordinance of 1958, the Bank commenced full operations on 1 July 1959. On the same day, its building at Tinubu Square was formally opened and the institution began issuing Nigerian currency.
The event occurred while Nigeria was still under British colonial rule and more than a year before independence.
Its importance therefore extended beyond banking.
It formed part of the institutional preparation for self-government and the transfer of important responsibilities into Nigerian hands.
The Bank would later expand, its headquarters would move to Abuja and its Lagos facilities would be transformed. But Tinubu Square remains central to the story of its beginnings.
On 1 July 1959, Nigeria did more than open a bank building. It brought into operation one of the institutions that would become essential to the economic life of the independent country.
Author’s Note
The opening of the Central Bank of Nigeria at Tinubu Square shows that independence was built through institutions as well as political declarations. Nigeria’s transition from colonial rule required structures capable of managing currency, reserves, banking and government finance. The establishment of the Central Bank before independence provided part of that administrative foundation. Its opening on 1 July 1959 therefore stands as an important milestone in the gradual transfer of financial responsibility and the wider construction of the modern Nigerian state.
References
Federation of Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeria Ordinance, 1958, No. 24, Supplement to Official Gazette No. 37, Vol. 45, 8 May 1958.
Federal House of Representatives Debates, 6 August 1959, proceedings covering the opening of the Central Bank building at Tinubu Square and the commencement of Central Bank operations.
Central Bank of Nigeria, official institutional and currency histories covering the establishment of the Bank, commencement of operations on 1 July 1959 and the development of Nigerian currency.
