Independence Eve1959· ₤1 (Nigerian)· Chapter I · Money
CBN Act 1958 establishes the Central Bank. Nigerian Pound issued 1 July 1959, replacing WAP at par.
1 July 1959 — 31 December 1972
The first currency issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, replacing the WACB pound at par.
What it bought
A new Volkswagen Beetle landed in Lagos in 1962 cost about ₤500.
Worth today
₤1 of 1959 ≈ ₦27,000 in 2026 money.
The Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 1958 (No. 24) established the CBN, which commenced operations on 1 July 1959 under the first Governor, Roy Pentelow Fenton. The Nigerian Pound replaced the West African Pound at par; the Mint at Igbosere Road, Lagos, opened in 1963.
What it cost — political & economic reality
Nigeria in 1959: who was in charge, the cabinet of the day, the GDP, and the crises that defined the period.
British colonial administration
1900–1960
National reality
Amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates (1914) under indirect rule. Marketing boards extracted cocoa, palm oil and groundnut surpluses; political agitation built through the press and the trade union movement.
Crises of the period
GDP (World Bank)
Pre-independence; no national accounts series
Cabinet (selected portfolios)
Full ministerial roster being compiled.
Government administered by Governors-General and Residents. The first indigenous federal ministers were appointed under the 1954 Lyttelton Constitution.
Source · Toyin Falola, A History of Nigeria (CUP, 2008)
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.