People of Nigeria

People of Nigeria

• Ethnic groups

There are an estimated 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria. Each inhabits a territory that it considers to be its own by right of first occupancy and inheritance. Individuals who are not members of a dominant group but who have lived and worked for several decades in the territory of the group are still considered to be aliens. In most rural areas, such aliens may not acquire outright title to land, yet considerable numbers of people have migrated from one ethnic territory to another in search of farmland. There are three major ethnic groups in the country: the Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba, and the Igbo.

The northern-dwelling Hausa, the most numerous group in the country, have become integrated with the smaller Fulani group, whose members conquered Hausaland in the early 19th century; the great majority of both are Muslims. Town-dwelling Fulani intermarry freely with the Hausa and other groups, and they continue to control the administration of the Hausa towns. The cattle-herding rural Fulani, who generally do not intermarry, speak the Fulani language, Fula, rather than Hausa.

Another large and politically dominant group is the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria. They consider the city of Ile-Ife their ancestral home and the deity Oduduwa their progenitor. Most Yoruba are farmers but live in urban areas away from their rural farmland. Each Yoruba subgroup is ruled by a paramount chief, or oba, who is usually supported by a council of chiefs. The ooni (oni) of Ile-Ife, who is the spiritual leader of the Yoruba, and the alaafin (alafin) of Oyo, who is their traditional political leader, are the most powerful rulers, and their influence is still acknowledged throughout the Yoruba areas.

The third major ethnic group, the Igbo of southeastern Nigeria, lives in small decentralized and democratic settlements. The largest political unit is the village, which is ruled by a council of elders (chosen by merit, not heredity) rather than by a chief. A smaller proportion live in large towns and are culturally much closer to the Edo of neighbouring Benin City (in Edo state) than to the Igbo east of the lower Niger valley.

Less numerous are the Ibibio, who live near the Igbo and share many of their cultural traits, and the Edo, who created the important precolonial kingdom of Benin. In the middle belt, where the greatest concentration of ethnic groups (more than 180) occurs, the Tiv and the Nupe are the largest groups. Both are settled cultivators, but, while Nupe society is hierarchical, that of the Tiv tends to be decentralized.

• Languages

The languages of Nigeria are classified into three broad linguistic groups: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic. The huge Niger-Congo group is further subdivided into nine major branches, including the Kwa subgroup, spoken in the extreme southwestern corner of the country; the Ijoid branch, spoken in the Niger Delta region; the Atlantic subgroup, which most notably includes Fula; the extensive Benue-Congo subgroup, which includes Tiv, Jukun, Edo, Igbo, Igala, Idoma, Nupe, Gwari, Yoruba, and several languages of the Cross River basin such as Efik, Ibibio, Anang, and Ekoi; and the Adamawa-Ubangi languages, such as Awak, Waja, Waka, and Tula, spoken in northern Nigeria. The Nilo-Saharan group is represented in Nigeria principally by Kanuri, although speakers of Bagirmi and Zerma are also present in the country. Afro-Asiatic is a much larger linguistic group and comprises Hausa, Margi, and Bade, among others. Some peoples (such as the Fulani and the Tiv) are relatively recent immigrants, but, on the basis of modern linguistic research, it is thought that the great majority of Nigerian languages—specifically the Kwa subgroup—have been spoken in roughly the same locations for some 4,000 years.

Hausa was an official language of the northern states from 1951 to 1967. It is the most widely spoken language, although English is the official language of Nigeria. In addition to English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, and English Creole are widely spoken. Many of the languages exist in written form.

• Religion

At the beginning of the 20th century, most Nigerians were followers of traditional religions, but British colonial policies discouraged this to such an extent that by the time of independence in 1960 the great majority of the people were classified as Muslims or Christians. At the beginning of the 21st century, more than two-fifths of the population was Muslim, slightly less than that was Christian, and about one-tenth claimed to follow traditional religions. However, many of those professing to be Muslims and Christians also openly performed certain rites or rituals of traditional religions that were no longer condemned as they had been during the colonial period. While a supreme god (called Olorun Olodumare in Yoruba, Chukwu in Igbo, Osalobua in Edo, and Abasi Ibom in Ibibio) is central to many of the traditional religions, the deity is worshipped through a number of intermediaries or lesser gods.

Religious freedom is guaranteed by the constitution, and Muslims and Christians live and work together, although there is continuing conflict between the two groups and between them and adherents of traditional religions. The greatest concentration of Muslims is in the northern states; there, three-fourths of the people profess the religion of Islam, which also is the dominant faith in a few of the southern states. Christians make up more than three-fourths of the population in the eastern states.

The main established Christian groups are Roman Catholics, Methodists, Anglicans, and Baptists. A growing number of breakaway Christian churches, which embrace indigenous cultural traditions, are gaining popularity—a development perceived as a threat by the older established churches. The breakaway Christian churches often include drumming and dancing in their services, a practice since adopted by the established churches in an attempt to avoid losing members. Another issue has been how Islam and Christianity have chosen to incorporate the traditional practice of polygamy. Christianity has officially disallowed it, while Islam has allowed men to have up to four wives; however, breakaway Christian churches often have placed no limits on the practice.

• Geographic regions

Marked differences exist between north and south, not only in physical landscape, climate, and vegetation but also in the social organization, religion, literacy, and agricultural practices of the people. These differences form the basis of the division of Nigeria into three geographic regions: the south, or Guinea coastlands; the central region; and the north, or Nigerian Sudan.

SOUTH

The south is the most economically developed part of Nigeria. Its forest resources are intensively exploited, and its tree crops are harvested on peasant farms and commercial plantations. All of the country’s major industrial centres and oil fields, as well as its seaports, are concentrated in the region. Important cultural centres are also found in the south, such as those of the Yoruba in the western part of the region, the Edo in the region’s midwestern section, and the Igbo-Ibibio in the east. Parts of the country’s Igbo and Ibibio-inhabited areas are the most densely settled areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The Yoruba-inhabited areas where cacao is grown are also densely settled and attract many migrants from the congested Igbo and Ibibio-inhabited areas. The eastern Cross River area is virtually uninhabited owing to the poor soil and climate.

CENTRAL REGION

The central region is the most sparsely settled and least developed part of Nigeria, comprising about two-fifths of the country’s land area but supporting less than one-fifth of the total population. Small pockets of dense population occur in the tin fields of the Jos Plateau and in the southern Tiv-inhabited area. The remaining, and by far the greater, part of this region is virtually uninhabited owing to the poor soil and climate.

Before 1970, large-scale development in this region, often referred to as the middle belt, was restricted to a few government-supported projects, such as the Kainji Dam and the Bacita sugar project (both in the northwestern part of the region) and a few industries in the towns of Jos and Kaduna (now the capitals of Plateau and Kaduna states, respectively). After the national administrative reorganization of 1975, this central region gained importance because 7 of the then 19 (now 36) state capitals, as well as the approximately 2,800-square-mile (7,250-square-km) Federal Capital Territory were located there. In addition, during the early 1980s a giant iron and steel complex was built at Ajaokuta, near Lokoja.

NORTH

The north, or Nigerian Sudan, underwent significant change in the beginning of the 20th century, when a new economic pattern was created by the construction of a railroad that connected the region to the country’s coastal ports. Before then, the Nigerian Sudan was more outward oriented through regular trans-Saharan contacts with North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Except in the Lake Chad basin, where the Kanuri people established the state of Borno, the Nigerian Sudan has been dominated by a blend of the cultures of the Fulani and Hausa. The former are traditionally nomadic cattle herders, the latter settled cultivators; both groups are predominantly Muslim.

Two regions of dense population are found in the extreme north: the Sokoto area and the Kano-Katsina area. The Kano concentration is based on intensive agriculture in an area of relatively fertile soils, but the densely settled areas around nearby Katsina have impoverished soils and do not produce enough food for the local population.

• Settlement patterns

RURAL SETTLEMENT

About half of the people live in rural areas. Densely populated settlements occur along the coast, in the Yoruba-inhabited area in the southwest, and in the Hausa- and Kanuri-inhabited areas of the far north. In parts of the Igbo and the Anang-Ibibio-inhabited areas in the southeast and the Tiv-inhabited areas in the central region, settlements consist of dispersed homesteads called compounds. Each compound houses a man, his immediate family, and some relatives. A number of compounds make up the village, usually inhabited by people claiming a common ancestor—often the founder of the village.

In the eastern states, each village has a chief, or headman, who, as one of the oldest and most prosperous men in the community, rules by the consent of the people. In the Yoruba- and Edo-inhabited areas and in most parts of the northern states, the chief is chosen by, or with the consent of, the region’s traditional ruler. A characteristic feature of village life is the age-grade system, in which people are grouped together with others of a similar age. This system was more important traditionally—serving to separate males into three-year groupings for purposes of labour and initiation—but its use has diminished.

URBAN SETTLEMENT

Only the Yoruba, Hausa, Edo, Kanuri, and coastal peoples were town dwellers before the 20th century. The Yoruba long have been the most urbanized people in tropical Africa. Their towns, most of them several hundred years old, were originally administrative and trading centres, a function many have retained. About half the Yoruba now live in towns of more than 5,000, notably Ibadan, Ogbomosho, Abeokuta, Ile-Ife, and Oyo. Benin City, like Ibadan and Oyo, is a political as well as a cultural capital; its history dates back several centuries to when it was the centre of the historic state of Benin.

The towns of Bonny, Opobo Town, Okrika, Buguma, Brass, Forcados, Creek Town, and Calabar grew from coastal fishing and salt-trading villages into towns as trade (first in slaves and later in agricultural goods) increased between the coastal peoples and Europeans. At the beginning of colonial rule, these port towns had a more cosmopolitan population than the Yoruba towns and the far north, but they were much smaller.

Kano, Zaria, and Katsina, northern towns of the Nigerian Sudan, are much older than the Yoruba towns. Owing their existence to the trans-Saharan trade as well as to the agricultural wealth of the surrounding region, they were once walled cities. Today Kano, the most important of the ancient towns, contains separate quarters for Hausa-Fulani, southern Nigerians, and Europeans.

Lagos, a cosmopolitan city consisting of islands and mainland areas, is the former capital of and the largest urban region in Nigeria. It was founded (probably through the expansion of the kingdom of Benin) before the 15th century and had a population of about 250,000 when it was declared a British colony in 1861; that number increased to some 8,000,000 in the early 21st century. The creation of many states since 1967 diverted some of the industries and job-seeking migrants from Lagos to the new state capitals, especially the older and larger ones such as Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, and Enugu. Some small towns, notably Minna, Uyo, Makurdi, Maiduguri, and Bauchi, experienced remarkable growth in population and economy after becoming state capitals.

Abuja, a planned city in the centre of the country, has been the official capital of Nigeria since 1991, although some government offices remain in Lagos, the former capital. The decision to create a new capital was made in the mid-1970s, and work on it began in the 1980s. The location was chosen so that no single ethnic group would be favoured over another, although one such group, the Gwari, was displaced by the construction.

• Demographic trends

Nigeria, like other developing countries, has birth and mortality rates that are higher than the world average. Since the mid-20th century, however, infant mortality has declined drastically, and life expectancy has increased; as a consequence, population growth has been rapid. In the early 21st century, almost three-fourths of the population was younger than age 30.

There is considerable migration in Nigeria, especially between the north and the south. Large numbers of southern migrants have settled in the northern cities of Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna, and Jos, while seasonal migrants have often moved from the northern Sokoto and Kano areas to southern areas where cacao is grown. A more significant number of people have migrated from the southeast to the more industrialized and urbanized western states of Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun or to the agricultural western states of Ondo and Edo.

Before the end of the country’s civil war in 1970, many Nigerians emigrated to work in Benin, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone. African migration into Nigeria began about 1972 and was officially encouraged in 1978 by the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), under which the citizens of member states were guaranteed free movement. In the early 1980s a downturn in the Nigerian economy and the alleged involvement of foreigners in religious riots prompted the government to reverse its immigration policy. By 1985 some 2.7 million aliens had been expelled; such measures, however, have not been repeated. The actions of the series of military governments in the 1980s and ’90s caused many Nigerian citizens to immigrate to Europe and the United States.