This day in 1960, Nigeria declared her independence from the British colonial rule. On October 1, 1960, the Union Jack was lowered for the Nigerian Green White Green flag to fly and it marked the beginning of a journey of self-reliance for the nation. Nigerian patriots, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Chief Anthony Enahoro and several others who fought for the reality of Nigeria’s independence have long left us; 56 years after, the fight to bring about that reality of a great, unified Nigeria still continues.

Governments have come and gone, the effects of bad leadership over the years have plagued us, citizens have had it good, bad and even worse, we have gained so much and we have lost much more but the Nigerian dream has never failed. In the spirit of independence, we bring to you a live blog where you can get up-to-the-date information of all the events of today’s 56th Independence celebration, in real time.

From President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day speech to Twitter Nigeria’s #IndependenceDay bants to speeches that will surely fail to Uber’s boxes of delightful small chops, YNaija presents the Independence Day liveblog.

Tolu

Your pop culture/entertainment go-to. Music head. Wallflower. I do not like to write. On a mission to decipher covfefe.