On October 6, 1960, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, President of the Senate and Governor-General-designate, on Thursday presented the official mace to the Eastern House of Chiefs at a special historic session in Enugu.
The presentation ceremony symbolized the formal recognition of the legislative authority of the Eastern House of Chiefs as Nigeria edged towards independence from Britain.
Azikiwe, who served as the first President of the Senate of the Federation from January to November 1960, had earlier served as Premier of the Eastern Region from 1954 to 1959.
The mace, the universal symbol of parliamentary authority, was handed over to the House as a mark of its legislative powers under the new constitutional arrangement. The Eastern House of Chiefs, alongside its counterparts in the Northern and Western Regions, was retained in the Independence Constitution of 1960.
Dignitaries present at the session described the presentation as a significant step in blending traditional institutions with modern democratic governance.
Dr. Azikiwe, who later became Governor-General on November 16, 1960, and subsequently Nigeria’s first President in 1963, was at the time preparing to assume office as representative of Her Majesty, the Queen.
The Eastern House of Chiefs, comprising traditional rulers from across the region, was charged with deliberating on matters affecting chieftaincy, custom and tradition.
