British Empire was called, began in 1948 and lasted until 1960, but by 1957, Britain felt confident enough to grant independence to the Federation of Malaya within the Commonwealth. In 1963, the 11 states of the federation together with Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo joined to form Malaysia, but in 1965 Chinese-majority Singapore was expelled from the union following tensions between the Malay and Chinese populations. Brunei, which had been a British protectorate since 1888, declined to join the union and maintained its status until independence in 1984. In 1951, the Conservative Party returned to power in Britain, under the leadership of
Federation of Nigeria government). The Federal Republic of Nigeria came into existence on 1 October 1963. The monarchy was abolished and Nigeria became a republic within the Commonwealth. Following the abolition of the monarchy, former Governor-General Nnamdi Azikiwe became President of Nigeria. Elizabeth II did not visit the Federation of Nigeria between 1960 and 1963. She did visit: Federation of Nigeria The Federation of Nigeria was a predecessor to modern-day Nigeria. It existed between 1 October 1960 and 1 October 1963. When British rule ended in 1960, the Nigeria Independence Act 1960 transformed the Federation of Nigeria into an independent sovereign state. The