Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa KBE PC (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only prime minister of Nigeria upon independence.

[5] Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912, in the Northern Nigeria Protectorate (modern-day Bauchi State).

Together with Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, who held the hereditary title of Sardauna of Sokoto, they proposed the transformation of the cultural organization, Jam'iyyar Mutanen Arewa, which means Northern People's Congress (NPC) in English, to become a political platform for use as campaign platform during the elections of 1951.

Balewa was elected vice president of the new party and subsequently resigned his post as headmaster of Bauchi Middle School.

During his tenure at the transport ministry, both the Marine and Railway departments were transformed to corporations and the designs for a bridge over the Niger and plans for the Kainji Dam were developed.

As part of his plans to unify the country towards the move for independence in 1960, he formed a coalition government between the NPC and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), led by Nnamdi Azikiwe and also invited the Action Group (A.G.), the 1957 cabinet was constituted as an all party cabinet.

It marks the beginning of the last stage of our march toward independence and all of us who are here today should be thankful to Almighty God who has given us the opportunity to witness the events of this most memorable time.Nigeria adopted a new constitution in 1963 which abolished the monarchy and the office of governor-general, with Nigeria becoming a parliamentary republic within the Commonwealth with the Nnamdi Azikiwe as President of Nigeria and head of state.

[22] However, a treason charge and conviction against one of the western region's leaders, Obafemi Awolowo, led to protest and condemnation from many of his supporters.

Rioting and violence were soon synchronous with what was perceived as inordinate political encroachment and an over-exuberant election outcome for Awolowo's western opponents.

[26] However, as Prime Minister of Nigeria, Balewa played important roles in the continent's formative indigenous rule.

[28] He had an enormous amount of respect for President John F. Kennedy, describing him, and his age in particular as "matured as that of any older statesman.

Balewa, during his premiership, attached great importance to its Commonwealth membership, declaring in a UN speech, "we shall not forget our old friends.

"[33][26] Balewa had a pro-West orientation in his foreign policy, which represented for abhorrence to USSR and other Eastern Bloc states.

As a result, the circulation of communist literature in Nigeria was banned and students were discouraged from taking Soviet educational scholarship.

Balewa had personally assured the British government "we shall use every means in our power to prevent the infiltration of communism and communist ideas into Nigeria."

[34] Balewa was overthrown and murdered in a military coup on 15 January 1966, as were many other leaders, including his old companion Sir Ahmadu Bello.

News of his assassination spurred violent riots throughout Northern Nigeria and ultimately led to the bloody counter-coup of July 1966.

[10] In 1933, Balewa wrote Shaihu Umar, a novella about a pious Muslim in response to a request by Rupert East, the head of the colonial Translation Bureau, to promote Hausa literature.

[36][37] Written in a prose homily structure,[10][35] the protagonist, Shaihu Umar, recounts his events in his life's history.