O --N i October I960 the people of Nigeria and the world at large celebrate the independence of this great new country, in population by far the largest on the African continent. In the constitutional sense the Nigerian Federation has taken ten years to build. In a remarkable series of conferences between successive Colonial Secretaries and representative leaders from all parts of Nigeria, differences have been ironed out and unity forged on the basis of a federal structure. During this period the central and regional legislatures have established themselves as working and effective institutions. Nigerian Ministers and officials have gained experience of the working of government through the exercise of responsibility. The people at large, drawn from widely differing ethnic groups, have developed an attachment to the idea of federal union. It is a process of which Nigeria and Britain may justly be proud. Those who knew West Africa in the 'thirties and before would have been struck by the speed of this transformation in a single decade from a colonial system of administration to full independence. But by the standard set this year in some other parts of Africa, Nigeria stands out not for the speed of its transformation, but for the fact that it has had time before its independence to build up its institutions and its sense of national unity. In the neighbouring French Territories, the transformation has taken just four years, from the Loi Cadre of I956 to the emergence of Mali and Madagascar, to be followed shortly by others, as independent states in the French Community. In the Congo the change from a completely colonial system, without representative institutions, to full independence has taken only some eighteen months. The process of constitution building in British Somaliland, now independent and united with the former Trust Territory of Somalia, has been equally rapid. Even in East Africa, Tanganyika has had only two years from its first direct elections to the Legislative Council in I958 to the establishment of responsible government with elected Africans in a large majority in both the Legislature and Council of Ministers. Thus the year I960 is not only notable for Nigeria's independence; it has seen a great surge forward throughout West Africa and the middle region of the continent. With the exception of one or two territories only,