Nigeria’s past lives in Tafawa Balewa’s house

The unique thing about the late Prime Minister’s house was that everything signified something in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence. For instance, at the entrance to the gigantic house was darkness. Akuyam says this depicts the nation under colonial administration. Moving ahead was another grim darkness which Akuyam   depicts  the continuation of the struggle for […]

The unique thing about the late Prime Minister’s house was that everything signified something in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence. For instance, at the entrance to the gigantic house was darkness. Akuyam says this depicts the nation under colonial administration. Moving ahead was another grim darkness which Akuyam   depicts  the continuation of the struggle for Nigeria’s independence. Then moving a few metres ahead, was full brightness, which Akuyam says signifies attainment of Nigeria’s independence in 1960.

There are two different stairs downwards to the late Prime Minister’s graveside. One was rough. Akuyam says the rough one signifies the hardship Nigerians went through under the colonial administration; while the smooth one depicts freedom and independence in 1960. We took the smooth one down the stairs.

At the open space where Abubakar Tafawa Balewa’s grave was, the wall was painted in different colours. The colours on the wall Akuyam says signifies the different ethnic group in Nigeria. He said the late Prime Minister served the interest of uniting Nigerians as one nation despite this diversity. Unfortunately, he was assassinated on 15th January 1966. He left behind three wives and 19 children in one house and nothing more.

From the graveside, we moved to the resource centre where we saw the personal items of the late Prime Minister. In an auditorium we saw some video and audio cassettes of his speeches. One was his first broadcast to the people of Nigeria in 1957 when he was elected the Prime Minister of Nigeria.

Another item was a sword given to him by the late Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello during the independence ceremony in 1960. His two caps were also there. Then his radio and television. According to Akuyam, the radio and television are still functioning till date. The television was given to him by the Queen during the Prime Ministers conference in 1957 when he was given the name, the Golden Voice of Africa.

From the late Prime Minister’s house, we boarded a cab to a ‘Kilishi’ Joint. The people of Bauchi are known to produce some of the best ‘Kilishi’ in the north. As we took a bite, we were not disappointed but for the fact it was quite expensive.