During the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the prime minister of Nigeria, was kidnapped and his body was found by the roadside six days after the kidnapping.[2][3] He was then buried in Bauchi where he was born. His tomb was declared as a nationwide monument on August 29, 1979, by the military administrator of the state, Brigadier Garba Duba.[4][5]
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's Tomb Signboard
The construction of the monument and the buildings surrounding the tomb began in 1977 and it was authorized in July 1979.[6][7]