Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Abubakar (1912–1966)

Nigerian politician, prime minister 1957–66. In September 1957 he was appointed prime minister, a post he retained at Nigerian independence three years later. In 1962 he declared a state of emergency in response to a political crisis in the Western Region. He was assassinated two years later in a coup. He was made knighted in 1960.

Balewa trained as a schoolteacher and later served as an education officer in the colonial administration. He became a member of the Northern House of Assembly in 1946 and joined the Northern People's Congress in 1951. After entering the House of Representatives in 1952, he became minister of works 1952–54, and minister of transport 1954–57.