The Independence Day speech on October 1, every year, is one of the most enduring rituals of leadership in Nigeria.

Since Abubakar Tafawa Balewa delivered the first one in 1960, it has become deeply rooted in the country's political culture. Every president or head of state, except Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, has given at least one before leaving office.

Each speech reflects the social, political and economic realities of its time. They reflect on the past, highlight progress in the present, and set an agenda for the future.

For Archivi.ng's The More Things Change initiative to interrogate recurring patterns in Nigerian history, we tracked down every single speech, except for 1961. We analysed them to examine what they might reveal about Nigeria's journey since independence.

But that work of discovery would not be complete unless you could read the speeches yourself, all 158,000 words of them. So we compiled them for you.

Start from 1960 and read your way through Nigeria's evolution in real time.

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s