Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa became prime minister during Britain's administration in 1957 and retained his post after Nigeria's independence in 1960. Balewa rose to national office due to regional jockeying for position. Charles Hauss, author of Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges, writes that more prominent leaders then Balewa retained massive popular support in their home regions, but had little national authority, and did not believe that the federal government would have substantial power.

Balewa was deputy to Ahmadu Bello, arguably the most powerful politician in Nigeria, who ruled in the northern region of the country. Following independence, Bello became the premier of the region and positioned Balewa in what he thought would be a weaker role as the federal government's prime minister.

This tenuous regional versus federal relationship continued throughout the early years of independence, but in 1966 that changed. On January 15, junior army officers revolted throughout the country, killing Balewa and two other prominent politicians: Bello in the north and Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the prime minister of western Nigeria.