Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, (December 1912 – January 15, 1966) was Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister. He led the Nigeria between 1960-1966.
Early life and career
Abubakar Balewa was born late in 1912 in Bauchi, the son of a Bageri Muslim district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. He started early education at the Koranic School in Bauchi and proceeded to study at the Katsina College where he acquired his teaching certificate. He returned to Bauchi to teach at the Bauchi Middle School. In 1944, he was chosen to study abroad for a year at the University of London's Institute of Education. Upon returning to Nigeria, he became an Inspector of Schools for the colonial administration and later entered politics. He was elected in 1946, to the colony's Northern House of Assembly, and to the Legislative Assembly in 1947. Together with Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, he founded the Northern People's Congress (NPC).
