On Lagos Island, just beyond the traffic and commerce that define the city today, lies a space bound tightly to Nigeria’s national story. It is the ground where independence was formally marked, where flags were lowered and raised, and where the birth of a sovereign nation was witnessed by thousands. Long before it became widely known as Tafawa Balewa Square, the site was the Lagos Race Course, and on the night of 30 September 1960 into 1 October 1960, it hosted Nigeria’s defining moment.
Within this historic precinct stood a building that later generations would come to describe as the old National Assembly complex. Though quiet today, the structure remains linked to Nigeria’s early years of self-government and the ambitions of a young nation trying to define itself through representative rule. Its story is not simply architectural, it is political, emotional, and deeply tied to how Nigerians remember independence.
Independence Ground Before the Square Took Shape
In 1960, the Lagos Race Course was already a major public space, used for ceremonies and large gatherings under colonial administration. Independence transformed its meaning. What had once been a colonial venue became a national stage, and the independence ceremony gave the ground a permanent place in Nigeria’s collective memory.
More than a decade later, the area was redeveloped into the monumental ceremonial space now known as Tafawa Balewa Square, named in honour of Nigeria’s first Prime Minister. The square’s construction reshaped the site visually, but it did not erase the deeper historical layers beneath it. As a result, many independence-era memories tied to the Race Course gradually became associated with Tafawa Balewa Square, even though the modern square itself came later.
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A Legislature Near the Centre of Power
In the years following independence, Lagos remained Nigeria’s federal capital. Political life, diplomacy, and federal administration all revolved around Lagos Island. Nigeria adopted a parliamentary system during the First Republic, and national legislative activity was conducted in Lagos throughout this period.
The building later remembered as the old National Assembly complex entered public consciousness as part of that early political landscape. Situated within the orbit of federal authority and close to the independence ground, it became linked to the image of elected representatives gathering to debate Nigeria’s future during the country’s first democratic era.
What made the location especially powerful was its proximity to the independence site. Nationhood, lawmaking, and civic identity were all concentrated within a small geographic space, giving physical form to the idea of a united federal capital.
When Democracy Was Cut Short
Nigeria’s parliamentary democracy did not last long. In January 1966, a military coup ended the First Republic and suspended democratic institutions. Governance shifted away from elected representatives and toward military decree, and the buildings associated with parliamentary life lost their original function.
Through years of military rule and civil conflict, structures once tied to democratic governance remained standing, but their meaning changed. They became silent witnesses to a disrupted political journey, symbols of both aspiration and loss.
A Ceremonial Square Rises Over History
In the early 1970s, the former Race Course was transformed into Tafawa Balewa Square, designed as a national ceremonial ground for state events, parades, and commemorations. The redevelopment gave the site a monumental character and reinforced its role as a place of national symbolism.
This transformation also shaped how Nigerians spoke about the past. Over time, references to the Race Course and Tafawa Balewa Square blended together, creating a single mental image that connected independence, early governance, and later national rituals within one historic space.
The Second Republic and Lagos Once More
Civilian rule returned in 1979, and Nigeria adopted a presidential system with a bicameral National Assembly. Lagos remained the capital during this period, and national legislative activity once again took place in the city.
The old complex near Tafawa Balewa Square remained part of the broader story of federal governance in Lagos, remembered as one of the structures linked to Nigeria’s political institutions before another interruption arrived.
That interruption came in 1983, when military rule returned and brought the Second Republic to an abrupt end. Democratic institutions were dissolved once again, and the role of older legislative buildings faded further into history.
Abuja Changes Everything
On 12 December 1991, Abuja officially replaced Lagos as Nigeria’s capital. This marked a decisive shift in the country’s political geography. Over time, federal institutions relocated, and a purpose-built National Assembly complex in Abuja became the permanent seat of national lawmaking.
Lagos evolved fully into a commercial and economic powerhouse, while many former federal sites entered a new phase, managed, leased, or repurposed in ways that sometimes clashed with public sentiment and historical attachment.
The 2008 Flashpoint
In August 2008, the old National Assembly complex at the Tafawa Balewa Square precinct returned sharply to public attention. The then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, moved to reclaim the complex, raising concerns over its status and the idea that a site tied to Nigeria’s democratic beginnings could be treated as a routine commercial property.
The move sparked widespread discussion about national heritage, ownership, and memory. Nigerians debated whether economic use should outweigh historical significance, and whether independence-era landmarks deserved stronger protection.
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What the Old Complex Means Today
Today, the former legislature complex near Tafawa Balewa Square stands less as a functioning institution and more as a symbol. It represents Nigeria’s early democratic hopes, the disruptions that followed, and the unresolved question of how a nation treats the physical reminders of its past.
Its presence invites reflection. It asks whether history should be preserved only in books and speeches, or also in the buildings and spaces where national life once unfolded.
Author’s Note
This story is about more than a building. It is about how a nation remembers itself. The Lagos Race Course, later Tafawa Balewa Square, and the old complex associated with early federal governance show how independence, ambition, and political rupture can coexist in a single space. What Nigeria chooses to do with such places speaks quietly but powerfully about what it values, what it protects, and what it passes on to the next generation.
References
National Archives of Nigeria, records on federal government buildings and independence-era administrative sites in Lagos.
Toyin Falola, History of Nigeria, Greenwood Press.
Tafawa Balewa Square Management Board, background on the Race Course site and the development of Tafawa Balewa Square.
AllAfrica, report dated 13 August 2008 on the House Speaker’s move regarding the old National Assembly complex.
AllAfrica, report dated 26 August 2008 on heritage debates surrounding Tafawa Balewa Square.
Federal Government public records on the declaration of Abuja as Nigeria’s capital on 12 December 1991.
