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Nigeria
Lagos • Kano • Ibadan • Kaduna • Port Harcourt • Benin City • Maiduguri • Zaria • Aba • Jos • Ilorin • Oyo • Enugu • Abeokuta • Abuja • Sokoto • Onitsha • Warri • Ebute Ikorodu • Okene • Calabar • Uyo • Katsina • Ado-Ekiti • Akure • Bauchi • Ikeja • Makurdi • Minna • Effon Alaiye • Ilesa • Owo • Umuahia • Ondo • Ikot Ekpene • Iwo • Gombe • Jimeta • Gusau • Mubi • Ikire • Owerri • Shagamu • Ijebu-Ode • Ugep • Nnewi • Ise-Ekiti • Ila Orangun • Saki • Bida • Awka • Ijero-Ekiti • Inisa • Suleja • Sapele • Osogbo • Kisi • Gbongan • Ejigbo • Funtua • Igboho • Buguma • Ikirun • Abakaliki • Okrika • Amaigbo • Lafia • Gashua • Modakeke • Bama • Ilobu • Jalingo • Okigwe • Offa • Esuk Oron • Nsukka • Nguru • Hadejia • Ijebu-Igbo • Uromi • Birnin Kebbi • Pindiga • Azare • Nkpor • Ikere-Ekiti • Lafiagi • Kontagora • Kuje • Yola • Biu • Olupona • Lere • Wukari • Igbo-Ora • Emure-Ekiti • Isieke • Ifo • Igede-Ekiti • Effium • Idanre • Potiskum • Keffi • Makoko • Epe • Gambaru • Ogaminana • Ihiala • Ipoti • Lalupon • Ughelli • Bende • Oke Mesi • Kafanchan • Ikom • Agulu • Daura • Numan • Kagoro • Ode • Igbo-Ukwu • Aramoko-Ekiti • Igbara-Odo • Ozubulu • Aku • Oyan • Jega • Asaba • Ohafia-Ifigh • Afikpo • Apomu • Fiditi • Orita Eruwa • Eha Amufu • Malumfashi • Kaura Namoda • Enugu-Ukwu • Idah • Obonoma • Agbor • Ezza-Ohu • Uga • Nkwerre • Auchi • Lokoja • Ekpoma • Ijebu-Jesa • Kabba • Ilaro • Damaturu • Argungu • Gumel • Geidam • Talata Mafara • Gummi • Otan Ayegbaju • Ogoja • Katsina-Ala • Itu • Kumo • Oke Ila • Pankshin • Nasarawa • Kachia • Dikwa • Moriki • Patigi • Wamba • Baro • Okuta • Birnin Kudu • Badagry • Ogwashi-Uku • Eket • Kamba • Daura • Takum • Igbeti • Zungeru • Zuru • Yenagoa • Tegina • Awgu • Wudil • Nafada • Ibi • Sofo-Birnin-Gwari • Dutsen Wai • Kaiama • Ubiaja • Otukpa • Oguta • Damboa • Jebba • Garko • Mokwa • Gaya • Tambuwal • Elele • Monguno • Kwale •
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THE NIGERIAN COAT OF ARMS
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 Location of Nigeria within the continent of Africa | |||
 Map of Nigeria | |||
 Flag Description of Nigeria: The Nigeria flag was officially adopted on October 1, 1960. The centered white stripe is symbolic of peace and country unity, while the green stripes represent the fertile land. | |||
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Official name Federal Republic of Nigeria
Form of government federal republic with two legislative houses (Senate [109]; House of Representatives [360])
Head of state and government President: Goodluck Jonathan
Capital Abuja
Official language English
Official religion none
Monetary unit Nigerian naira (₦)
Population (2013 est.) 174,508,000COLLAPSE
Total area (sq mi) 356,669
Total area (sq km) 923,768
Urban-rural population Urban: (2011) 49.6%
Rural: (2011) 50.4%
Life expectancy at birth Male: (2007) 46.4 years
Female: (2007) 47.3 years
Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate Male: (2008) 71.5%
Female: (2008) 48.8%
GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2013) 2,760
About Nigeria
British influence and control over what would become Nigeria and Africa's most populous country grew through the 19th century. A series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater autonomy; independence came in 1960. Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. The government continues to face the daunting task of reforming a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy. In addition, Nigeria continues to experience longstanding ethnic and religious tensions. Although both the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections were marred by significant irregularities and violence, Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since independence. The general elections of April 2007 marked the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's history.
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south. The capital city is Abuja. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
The people of Nigeria have an extensive history, and archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BC. The Benue-Cross River area is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd CE.
The name Nigeria was created from a portmanteau of the words Niger and Area, taken from the River Niger running through Nigeria. This name was coined by the future wife of the Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, during the early 20th century.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the eighth most populous country in the world with a population of over 150 million, therefore making it the most populous 'black' country in the world. It is a regional power, is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009.
| THE NATIONAL ANTHEM | THE NATIONAL PLEDGE | MOTTO |
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Arise, O compatriots, Oh God of creation, |
I pledge to Nigeria my country |
Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress |
The Nigerian coat of arms features an eagle mounted on a black shield, which is trisected by two silvery wavy bands. Two white chargers support the shield, and at its base is a wreath of coctus spectabilis flowers cast in the national colors of white and green. The black shield represents the fertile soil while the silvery bands denote the Rivers Niger and Benue, which form the main inland waterways in the country. The coctus spectabilis is a colorful flower, which grows wildly in Nigeria. The eagle stands for strength and the chargers symbolize dignity. The Nation’s motto, 'Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress' is inscribed at the base of the coat of Arms
Display/Usage of the National Coat of Arms Government presence is depicted in offices and other public places with the placing of the Nigerian Coat-of-Arms side by side with the portrait of the President and Commander-in-Chief. The portrait of the Commander-in-Chief is usually to the right of the Coat-of-Arms, while that of the Principal Officers/Chief Executives of any government establishment e.g. the Governor or Head of Establishment is on the left of the Coat-of-Arms. This position remains valid when the portraits are hung on the wall. In a situation where the Head of State, Commander-in-Chief, is addressing the nation the Coat-of-Arms is usually encapsulated in the seal of the nation and placed above the Head of State, Commander-in-Chief’s seat. It should be noted that the Commander-in-Chief’s portrait as well as that of the Principal Officer of the Government establishment, in which the Coat-of-Arms is located, should always support the Coat-of-Arms or the Armorial Bearings. Note that, improper placement/display or absence of these symbols in offices of Principal Officers/Chief Executives could amount to disrespect to constituted authority.
Geography of Nigeria
The Land
Nigeria, country located on the western coast of Africa. Nigeria has a diverse geography, with climates ranging from arid to humid equatorial. However, Nigeria’s most diverse feature is its people. Hundreds of languages are spoken in the country, including Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, Hausa, Edo, Ibibio, Tiv, and English. The country has abundant natural resources, notably large deposits of petroleum and natural gas.
The new national capital is Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory, which was created by decree in 1976. Lagos, the former capital, retains its standing as the country’s leading commercial and industrial city.
Modern Nigeria dates from 1914, when the British Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria were joined. The country became independent on Oct. 1, 1960, and in 1963 adopted a republican constitution but elected to stay a member of the Commonwealth. The First Republic was replaced by the military, which ruled for 13 years. The Second Republic lasted from 1979 to 1983, followed by another 15 years of military rule.
Land
Nigeria is bordered to the north by Niger, to the east by Chad and Cameroon, to the south by the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west by Benin. Nigeria is not only large in area—larger than the U.S. state of Texas—but also Africa’s most populous country.
Relief
In general, the topography of Nigeria consists of plains in the north and south interrupted by plateaus and hills in the centre of the country. The Sokoto Plains lie in the northwestern corner of the country, while the Borno Plains in the northeastern corner extend as far as the Lake Chad basin. The Lake Chad basin and the coastal areas, including the Niger River delta and the western parts of the Sokoto region in the far northwest, are underlain by soft, geologically young sedimentary rocks. Gently undulating plains, which become waterlogged during the rainy season, are found in these areas. The characteristic landforms of the plateaus are high plains with broad, shallow valleys dotted with numerous hills or isolated mountains, called inselbergs; the underlying rocks are crystalline, although sandstones appear in river areas. The Jos Plateau rises almost in the centre of the country; it consists of extensive lava surfaces dotted with numerous extinct volcanoes. Other eroded surfaces, such as the Udi-Nsukka escarpment (see Udi-Nsukka Plateau), rise abruptly above the plains at elevations of at least 1,000 feet (300 metres). The most mountainous area is along the southeastern border with Cameroon, where the Cameroon Highlands rise to the highest points in the country, Chappal Waddi (7,936 feet [2,419 metres]) in the Gotel Mountains and Mount Dimlang (6,699 feet [2,042 metres]) in the Shebshi Mountains.
Drainage
The major drainage areas in Nigeria are the Niger-Benue basin, the Lake Chad basin, and the Gulf of Guinea basin. The Niger River, for which the country is named, and the Benue, its largest tributary, are the principal rivers. The Niger has many rapids and waterfalls, but the Benue is not interrupted by either and is navigable throughout its length, except during the dry season. Rivers draining the area north of the Niger-Benue trough include the Sokoto, the Kaduna, the Gongola, and the rivers draining into Lake Chad. The coastal areas are drained by short rivers that flow into the Gulf of Guinea. River basin development projects have created many large man-made lakes, including Lake Kainji on the Niger and Lake Bakolori on the Rima River.
The Niger delta is a vast low-lying region through which the waters of the Niger River drain into the Gulf of Guinea. Characteristic landforms in this region include oxbow lakes, river meander belts (see meander), and prominent levees. Large freshwater swamps give way to brackish mangrove thickets near the seacoast.
Soils
Soils in Nigeria, and in Africa generally, are usually of a poorer quality than those in other regions of the world. However, over the centuries Nigerians have utilized agricultural techniques such as slash and burn, intercropping, and the use of shallow planting implements to cope with the shortcomings of the soil. In the precolonial period the country normally produced enough agricultural commodities to feed its population, and it even maintained a surplus for export.
Nigeria’s major soil zones conform to geographic location. Loose sandy soils consisting of wind-borne deposits and riverine sands are found in the northern regions, although, in areas where there is a marked dry season, a dense surface layer of laterite develops, making these soils difficult to cultivate. The soils in the northern states of Kano and Sokoto, however, are not subject to leaching and are therefore easily farmed. South of Kano the mixed soils contain locally derived granite and loess (wind-borne deposits). The middle two-thirds of the country, the savanna regions, contain reddish, laterite soils; they are somewhat less fertile than those of the north because they are not subject to as much seasonal drying, nor do they receive the greater rainfall that occurs in the more southerly regions. The forest soils represent the third zone. There the vegetation provides humus and protects it from erosion by heavy rainfall. Although these soils can readily be leached and lose their fertility, they are the most productive agriculturally. Hydromorphic and organic soils, confined largely to areas underlain by sedimentary rocks along the coast and river floodplains, are the youngest soil types.
Climate
Nigeria has a tropical climate with variable rainy and dry seasons, depending on location. It is hot and wet most of the year in the southeast but dry in the southwest and farther inland. A savanna climate, with marked wet and dry seasons, prevails in the north and west, while a steppe climate with little precipitation is found in the far north.
In general, the length of the rainy season decreases from south to north. In the south the rainy season lasts from March to November, whereas in the far north it lasts only from mid-May to September. A marked interruption in the rains occurs during August in the south, resulting in a short dry season often referred to as the “August break.” Precipitation is heavier in the south, especially in the southeast, which receives more than 120 inches (3,000 mm) of rain a year, compared with about 70 inches (1,800 mm) in the southwest. Rainfall decreases progressively away from the coast; the far north receives no more than 20 inches (500 mm) a year.
Temperature and humidity remain relatively constant throughout the year in the south, while the seasons vary considerably in the north; during the northern dry season the daily temperature range becomes great as well. On the coast the mean monthly maximum temperatures are steady throughout the year, remaining about 90 °F (32 °C) at Lagos and about 91 °F (33 °C) at Port Harcourt; the mean monthly minimum temperatures are approximately 72 °F (22 °C) for Lagos and 68 °F (20 °C) for Port Harcourt. In general, mean maximum temperatures are higher in the north, while mean minimum temperatures are lower. In the northeastern city of Maiduguri, for example, the mean monthly maximum temperature may exceed 100 °F (38 °C) during the hot months of April and May, while in the same season frosts may occur at night. The humidity generally is high in the north, but it falls during the harmattan (the hot, dry northeast trade wind), which blows for more than three months in the north but rarely for more than two weeks along the coast.
Plant and animal life
The main vegetation patterns run in broad east-west belts, parallel to the Equator. Mangrove and freshwater swamps occur along the coast and in the Niger delta. A short way inland, the swamps give way to dense tropical rainforests. Economically valuable, the oil palm grows wild and is usually preserved when forest is cleared for cultivation. In the more densely populated parts of the southeast, the original forest vegetation has been replaced by open palm bush. In the southwest large areas of forest have been replaced by cacao and rubber plantations. Tropical grassland occupies the area north of the forest belt and is studded with baobab, tamarind, and locust bean trees. The savanna becomes more open in the far north and is characterized by scattered stunted trees and short grasses. Semidesert conditions exist in the Lake Chad region, where various species of acacia and the doum species of palm are common. Gallery forests (narrow forest zones along rivers) are also characteristic of the open savanna in the north. In densely populated areas of the savanna, such as those around the towns of Sokoto, Kano, and Katsina, the vegetation has been removed by continuous cropping, overgrazing, and bush burning. In the far northern areas the nearly total disappearance of plant life has facilitated a gradual southward advance of the Sahara.
Camels, antelopes, hyenas, lions, baboons, and giraffes once inhabited the entire savanna region, and red river hogs, forest elephants, and chimpanzees lived in the rainforest belt. Animals found in both forest and savanna included leopards, golden cats, monkeys, gorillas, and wild pigs. Today these animals can be found only in such protected places as the Yankari National Park in Bauchi state, Gashaka Gumti National Park in Taraba state, Kainji Lake National Park in Kwara state (see Kainji Lake), and Cross River National Park in Cross River state. Rodents such as squirrels, porcupines, and cane rats constitute the largest family of mammals. The northern savanna abounds in guinea fowl. Other common birds include quail, vultures, kites, bustards, and gray parrots. The rivers contain crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and a great variety of fishes.
Demography of Nigeria
Nigeria is made up of three large ethnic groups – the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo-who represent 70 percent of the population. Another 10 percent comprises of several other groups numbering more than 1 million members each, including the Kanuri, Tiv, and Ibibio. More than 300 smaller ethnic groups account for the remaining 20 percent of the population. However, these groups are similar in nature, thus melting all the boundaries to become a huge group. Most Nigerians speak more than one language. The country’s official language, English is widely spoken, especially among educated people. Apart from English, 400 native Nigeria languages are also spoken, out of which some are being threatened with extinction.
Nigeria happens to be the most populous country of Africa. As a matter of fact the Nigerian people comprise a population with the highest density in the whole world. People in Nigeria give great importance to religion. 45% of the population is Christian, 45% Muslim and the rest 10% is a mixture of quite a few indigenous religions. However, as Nigerian culture is multi-ethnic, there used to exist quite a few religions and deities.
People of Nigeria traditionally used to worship many inanimate objects. Ancestor worship was also largely practiced by many tribal groups of Nigeria. The most popular among the innumerable ethnic groups in Nigeria are Ibo or Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani. Yoruba people mostly occupy the southern parts of Nigeria. The Ibo or Igbo group stay in the South-Eastern States of Nigeria. The Hausa-Fulani stay in Northern Nigeria.
The birth rate among the Nigerian people is about 43.26 per1, 000 people, while the death rate is 12.01 per 1000 people. The life expectancy for the total population of the Nigerian people is 55.98 years, with 54.69 years for males and 57.3 years for females. The fertility rate is about 6.31 children born per woman. The population growth rate is 3.16%. However, the unity among the Nigerian people, in spite of being ethnically diverse is definitely something unique.
In 2002, Nigeria’s estimated population was 129, 934,911, yielding an average density of 141 persons per sq km (364 per sq mi). At the last census, in 1991, the population totaled 88.5 million. Like previous censuses, notably the annulled 1962 and 1973 censuses and the hotly disputed 1963 census, the accuracy of the 1991 census was highly controversial. Before the 1991 census, the number of registered voters indicated that Nigeria’s population was probably between 115 and 125 million – that is about 30 percent more than indicated in the census.
With a birth rate of 39.2 per 1,000 and a death rate of 14.1 per 1,000, Nigeria’s population is growing at an average of 3 percent annually, a rapid pace and little change from the 1970s. The average Nigerian woman gives birth six times in her lifetime, although among more educated women, the rate is somewhat lower. Nearly half of Nigerians are younger than 15 years. By 2025 the population is projected to grow to 204 million, nearly double the current size.
The highest population densities are in the Igbo heartland in southeastern Nigeria, despite poor soils and heavy emigration. The intensively farmed zones around and including several major Hausa cities, especially Kano, Sokoto and Zaria in the north are also packed with people. Other areas of high density include: Yorubaland in the southwest, the Central Jos Plateau and the Tiv homeland in Benue State in the South Central Region. Densities are relatively low in the dry North-East and in most parts of the Middle-Belt. Ecological factors including the prevalence of diseases such as sleeping sickness, carried by the tsetse fly and historical factors, especially the legacy of pre-colonial slave raiding, help to explain these low densities.
- 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.--->>>>>Read More<<<<
Economy of Nigeria
The Nigerian economy is one of the largest in Africa. Since the late 1960s it has been based primarily on the petroleum industry. A series of world oil price increases from 1973 produced rapid economic growth in transportation, construction, manufacturing, and government services. Because this led to a great influx of rural people into the larger urban centres, agricultural production stagnated to such an extent that cash crops such as palm oil, peanuts (groundnuts), and cotton were no longer significant export commodities; in addition, from about 1975 Nigeria was forced to import such basic commodities as rice and cassava for domestic consumption. This system worked well as long as revenues from petroleum remained constant, but since the late 1970s the agricultural sector has been in continuing crisis because of the fluctuating world oil market and the country’s rapid population growth. Although much of the population remained engaged in farming, too little food was produced, requiring increasingly costly imports. The various governments (most of them military-run) have dealt with this problem by banning agricultural imports and by focusing, albeit briefly, on various agricultural and indigenization plans.
In the late 1990s the government began to privatize many state-run enterprises—especially in communications, power, and transportation—in order to enhance the quality of service and reduce dependence on the government. Most of the enterprises had been successfully privatized by the beginning of the 21st century, but a few remained in government hands.
At the turn of the 21st century, Nigeria continued to face an unsteady revenue flow, which the government attempted to counter by borrowing from international sources, introducing various austerity measures, or doing both at the same time. As a result, an ever-increasing share of the national budget was needed for debt repayment, which, with corruption dominating government operations, meant that very little of Nigeria’s income was being spent on the people and their needs. The country benefited from a 2005 debt-relief plan by which the majority of its debt to a group of creditor countries known as the Paris Club would be forgiven once it had repaid a certain amount; Nigeria successfully met this condition in 2006, becoming the first African country to settle its debt with the group. (For information on the role women have played in Nigeria’s economy and culture, see Sidebar: Nigerian Women.)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Nigeria has no shortage of arable land overall, but there is an extreme shortage of farmland in the most densely settled areas of the southeastern states and around Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto. This has forced large numbers of land-hungry Igbo, Ibibio, and Hausa people to migrate to other parts of the country. Often, however, cultural traditions, such as the prohibition against selling family land, have restricted access to farmland in some localities that appear to have abundant cultivable land, and, in the far north, desertification has severely limited the land area available for cultivation.
About two-thirds of all Nigerians obtain a living from agricultural production. Most are small-scale subsistence farmers who produce only a little surplus for sale and who derive additional income from one or more cash crops and from the sale of local crafts. Farms are small, usually less than 2.5 acres (1 hectare) in the south and about 7.5 acres (3 hectares) in the open grassland areas of the north. Because the soil is not totally amenable to mechanized equipment, the hoe and matchet (machete) continue to be the dominant farm implements. The shortage of farmland in some localities and limited access to land in others are among the factors that restrict the size of farmland cultivated per family. Environmental deterioration, inferior storage facilities, a poor transport system, and a lack of investment capital contribute to low productivity and general stagnation in agriculture. With the population growing rapidly and urbanization accelerating, the food deficit continues to worsen despite government efforts to rectify the situation.
Root crops—notably yams, taro, and cassava—are the main food crops in the south, while grains and legumes—such as sorghum, millet, cowpeas, and corn (maize)—are the staple crops of the drier north. Rice is also an important domestic crop. Trees—notably oil palm, cacao, and rubber trees—are the principal industrial crops of the south, while peanuts (groundnuts) and cotton are produced in the north. Small-scale farmers dominate the production of industrial crops, as they do with staple food crops. Cocoa beans, from the cacao tree, are the major agricultural export; production of other industrial crops has declined, owing to the general stagnation in agriculture.
In 1982, in the first major step taken to halt the decline in industrial crop production, the government disbanded the produce marketing boards, which paid prices set by the government. Many farmers have since been motivated to cultivate tree crops, and the federal and state governments have established plantations of oil palm, rubber, and cacao. Programs to alleviate the food shortage have featured the direct purchase and distribution of foodstuffs by government agencies and the production by government parastatals of various staples on large commercial farms. The Operation Feed the Nation program of 1976–80 sought to increase local food production and thereby reduce imports. Citizens were encouraged to cultivate any empty plot of land, urban dwellers being encouraged to garden undeveloped building plots. Since 1980 agricultural policies have focused on the small farmer.
The raising of sheep, pigs, and goats was underdeveloped at the beginning of the 21st century. The cattle-herding Fulani are still the main beef producers, although some of the cattle under the care of these nomads belong to settled farmers and city dwellers. However, the level of meat consumption in Nigeria, as in most African countries, does not approach that of the West.
Nigeria’s permanent forest reserves occupy less than one-fifth of the total land area. Outside these reserves, much of the forest cover has been destroyed through regular burning to prepare land for farming or to facilitate hunting. Forest destruction is most extensive in the more densely settled areas, such as the Niger delta, and in the drier savanna, where overgrazing, bush fires, and the great demand for fuelwood prevent normal regeneration of plants on fallow land. There are many large plantations of exotic species, such as gmelina and teak, established by the government to provide electric and telegraph poles and fuelwood. In the arid zone of Sokoto, Kano, and Borno states, forest belts have been established to help arrest the southward advance of the Sahara. Forest plantations have been established in many watersheds to protect water catchment areas of rivers and to reduce the incidence of soil erosion.
Fishing has assumed greater importance as a food source following the loss of thousands of head of livestock during the recurring drought in the Sahel since the early 1970s. The domestic catch supplies more than half of the fish demand. Lake Chad and the southern coastal waters are the main sources of fish, but large quantities are caught every year in pools in seasonal rivers of the northern states.
- Resources and power
Nigeria has a variety of both renewable and nonrenewable resources, some of which have not yet been effectively tapped. Solar energy, probably the most extensive of the underutilized renewable resources, is likely to remain untapped for some time, and the vast reserves of natural gas produced with crude oil have yet to be fully exploited.
Resource extraction is the most important and the fastest-growing sector of the economy, reflecting the rise to prominence of crude oil output. Nigeria has been a member of OPEC since 1971. There are oil refineries at Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna. The petroleum industry remains dominant, and crude petroleum continues to account for virtually all export earnings. The most economically valuable minerals are crude oil, natural gas, coal, tin, and columbite (an iron-bearing mineral that accompanies tin). Petroleum, first discovered in 1956, is the most important source of government revenue and foreign exchange—its share of the gross domestic product rose from virtually nothing in the 1950s to about two-fifths in the late 1990s. Most of the oil output comes from onshore fields in the Niger delta, although an increasing proportion of the crude is produced at offshore locations. There are vast reserves of natural gas, but most of the gas produced is a by-product of crude oil; in the past this was burned off, as there was no market for it, but efforts have been made to utilize more of this commodity. Since 1984, oil companies have been required to reinject into the ground some of the natural gas produced in the course of pumping crude oil. Production has often been interrupted by protests, as the inhabitants of the oil-producing regions have demanded a larger share of the revenues.
Nigeria possesses significant reserves of coal, but these deposits are being developed gradually. Coal is used by the railroad, by traditional metal industries, and by power plants to generate electricity. Coal mining, initially concentrated around the city of Enugu and its environs, began in 1915. It declined after the late 1950s with the discovery of oil but subsequently increased. Substantial coal reserves of varying quality can be found in south-central states in a band that stretches from Benin to Cameroon. Deposits discovered more recently in the southwestern part of the country at Lafia-Obi are being developed for the Ajaokuta steel complex.
The Jos Plateau, where tin mining began in 1905, also contains columbite. By the early 21st century, the country’s tin-smelting capacity had not been reached, a result of diminished world demand in the late 1980s; production of columbite has also declined since the mid-1970s.
There are iron-ore deposits in the Lokoja area, which is close to the Ajaokuta steel complex in the lower Niger valley, and limestone occurs in many areas, where it is widely exploited for manufacturing cement and for use in the steel industry. Extensive iron-ore deposits found in Kwara state have been exploited since 1984. Construction of a plant to process the ore began in 1992 with the intention of supplying the Ajaokuta steel complex, whose river port was completed in 1995.
Other mined minerals include gypsum, kaolin, rock salt, baryte, phosphates, gold, sapphires, topazes, and aquamarines. Uranium deposits discovered in the northeastern part of the country have not yet been exploited.
About one-third of the country’s power is provided by hydroelectricity, although this source has the potential to provide an even greater amount of power. The main sources of hydroelectric power are the dams at Kainji, Shiroro (Niger state), and Jebba (Kwara state). Thermal plants fired with natural gas and coal are at Afam, Sapele, and Lagos and on the Oji River and supply about three-fifths of the country’s power. Demand, however, always exceeds supply. Fuelwood (firewood and charcoal) is still an important energy source for domestic use.
- Manufacturing
Revenue from mining has enabled the federal government to establish such capital-intensive industries as the Ajaokuta and Aladja steel mills, pulp and paper mills at Oku Iboku and Iwopin, petrochemical plants at Kaduna, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, and an aluminum smelter at Ikot Abasi. In the past, large-scale manufacturing—dominated by the production of textiles, tobacco, beverages, and cement—was controlled by foreign investors. The government’s indigenization efforts have altered the ownership situation, although the management and effective control of most large factories have remained in the hands of expatriate representatives of multinational corporations. The greatest weakness of this sector has been its dependence on imported raw materials. That situation changed in 1987, when the import of a wide range of raw materials was prohibited, although the ban was later rescinded. Even so, imports were subject to some restrictions at the beginning of the 21st century, and manufacturers were encouraged to use raw materials from local sources. The highest concentration of large factories is in the Greater Lagos area. Each state capital has a number of large manufacturing industries, but a few major industries, such as paper mills and steel mills, are located in remote areas where new towns have grown up to serve the factories.
Traditional industries carried out in homes or in makeshift workshops include the making of iron implements such as hoes and hatchets, door hinges, bolts, and dane guns (firearms of obsolete design, originally of European manufacture). Traditional soap- and salt-making workshops appeared in large numbers after the near collapse of the Nigerian economy in 1983, when most wage earners were unable to pay for factory-made soap and imported table salt. These industries continued after the economy recovered, but they were concentrated in rural areas. Pottery making and wood carving are widespread, as are canework and the making of bags and mats from raffia.
- Finance
The Central Bank of Nigeria issues the national currency, the naira, which has been devalued several times since 1980. The Central Bank has branches in all the state capitals and provides guidelines to all commercial and merchant banks in the country. In 1976 all foreign banks were compelled to sell 60 percent of their shares to Nigerians. Banks proliferated in the 1980s, after the financial sector was liberalized. Many of these banks proved unstable, however, and in 1995 the government was forced to rescue some of them. Soon after, the government began privatizing banks and closing those that had violated banking regulations. By the beginning of the 21st century, the country had some 100 banks and financial institutions, and branch locations were widespread. There are a stock exchange and a securities exchange commission in Lagos.
- Trade
The direction of domestic trade in staple foods is largely north-south between different ecological zones but also between major urban centres in the southeast and southwest. The southern states supply plantains, cassava, kola nuts, and fruit to the northern states, which in turn supply beans, onions, and livestock to the southern states. Yams from the central region are traded in the southern and the far northern cities. Women play a dominant role in marketing foodstuffs and manufactured goods in the southern states. Most of the food items and manufactured goods are sold in open market stalls, in small neighbourhood shops, and on the streets.
There is very little trade between Nigeria and other African countries. The main markets for Nigerian exports—consisting mostly of crude oil, cocoa beans, and rubber—are the United States and the countries of the European Union (EU). The main imports are machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods (iron and steel products, textiles, and paper products), chemicals, and food, most of which come from the EU, China, and the United States.
At independence Nigeria had accumulated a trade deficit, which resulted from the importation of large quantities of machinery and equipment. By the late 1960s it had a trade surplus, as revenue from crude oil exports allowed the country to import capital goods and industrial raw materials. Trade deficits returned beginning in mid-1970. Since then Nigeria’s balance of trade has alternated between periods of deficits and of surpluses, driven by fluctuations in the global oil market and government decisions on how to spend its money. A trade surplus in 1980, for example, allowed work to continue on the new federal capital designate of Abuja, but by 1982 the surplus had become a deficit, and at the end of 1983 the country was virtually bankrupt. At the beginning of the 21st century, exports were greater than imports, but the interest on the country’s external debt was so high that a truly favourable balance of trade (as opposed to one that existed on paper only) hinged at least partly on the effectiveness of debt relief.
- Services
Nigeria has many attractions of interest to tourists. There are miles of coastal beaches, wildlife reserves, a variety of cultures, and many museums that house artistic treasures. However, the many decades Nigeria spent under military rule created a repressive environment not well suited to the tourist. Since the installation of the democratically elected government in 1999, the country has faced periods of ethnic violence, also not conducive to attracting a tourist clientele. Nevertheless, more than two million people visited the country annually in the early 2000s.
- Labour and taxation
Nigeria has a long history of labour movements and contains numerous unions. Under the various military governments, labour activity was sharply curtailed. After the democratic elections in 1999, however, labour movements were once again able to express their discontent, and various strikes took place at the end of the 20th century and into the beginning of the 21st.
In the southern part of Nigeria, women perform the majority of the agricultural labour, and, in cities such as Lagos, women dominate the market activity as well. No legal barriers exclude women from universities and professions, particularly in the south. However, women in northern states, especially those following Islamic law (Sharīʿah), have their activities more tightly controlled.
The main sources of government finance consist of petroleum royalties and rents, import duties, and corporate income and value-added taxes.
- Transportation and telecommunications
- ROADS
Roads are the most important means of transportation in Nigeria, carrying more than four-fifths of all passenger and freight traffic. The general pattern of road transport, from north to south and from the interior to the southern seaports, dates to the colonial period, when raw materials were shipped to Britain and other western European countries, which returned them as finished goods. More roads were added in the 1970s and early ’80s—an expressway running between Lagos and Ibadan opened in 1978, and a road between Benin-Shagamu and Port Harcourt–Enugu was turned into a four-lane divided highway by 1981.
Road traffic is heaviest in the cacao belt of southwestern Nigeria, the peanut and cotton belt of the Kano-Katsina region, the Jos Plateau tin fields, and the palm belt of southeastern Nigeria. These areas are served by a dense network of all-weather roads. The relatively unproductive and sparsely settled areas of the central region, the Cross River region, and the Lake Chad basin have tenuous road links that carry only a few trucks a day.
Because the well-developed road system of the 1970s and ’80s was not maintained, it became increasingly dangerous to use. Moreover, as a result of deteriorating road conditions, a trip from Benin City to Lagos in the early 21st century took twice as long as it did in 1980. Road safety standards also are poor; the accident rate is high; and, because of Nigeria’s chronic economic problems, it is difficult to find spare parts to repair motor vehicles. Lagos has notorious traffic problems; its streets are packed with both pedestrians and vehicles that create traffic tie-ups called “go slows.” To ease the traffic problems, people often share taxis or ride in trucks.
- RAILROADS
Now surpassed by roads, railroads were once the dominant transport system. Nigeria’s railroads have proved incapable of transporting large cargoes such as peanuts and cotton from the north. In addition, passenger volume dropped significantly by the 1980s because the trains were slow (attributed largely to the narrow-gauge track) and service was poor. The railroad system has two single-track trunk lines: the eastern line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri and the western line from Lagos to Kano. Branch lines connect the western trunk line to Kaura Namoda, Nguru, and Baro on the Niger. A newer railway line includes the Ajaokuta steel complex. Since 1960 tracks have been relaid with heavier rails to permit greater loads and higher speeds, signals have been improved to speed rail movements, and steam engines have been replaced by diesel locomotives. Beginning in the 1990s, there was expansion of the railway system, including the laying of new track between Warri and Ajaokuta and the addition of mass transit lines between Lagos and several cities to the west.
- SHIPPING AND AIR TRANSPORT
Creeks and rivers were historically the primary avenue of transportation. The most important waterways, the Niger and Benue, were dredged in the 1990s because they were drying up; they still carry substantial quantities of goods. The Cross River is used to ship exports to the port at Calabar, but, like other rivers in Nigeria, it is not navigable during the dry season. Passenger and cargo boats operate on the lagoons and on the many creeks along the Nigerian coast from Lagos to the Cross River. Ports at Lagos and Port Harcourt, administered by the Nigerian Ports Authority since its establishment in 1954, are the main international seaports. Chronic congestion at these two ports was largely responsible for the authority’s takeover in 1970 of the installation and administration of the smaller ports of Warri, Sapele, Koko, and Calabar. The Lagos port complex (including the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports) was subsequently expanded, and facilities in the smaller ports also were modernized and enlarged. Bonny and Burutu are the major ports for shipment of petroleum.
Almost all the state capitals are served by air transport. There are smaller airfields in some provincial cities and in the oil-producing areas of the Niger delta and the Cross River estuary. Lagos, Kano, and Abuja handle most of the international air traffic. At the beginning of the 21st century, Nigeria had a notoriously poor aviation safety record.
- TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Mobile phone service has expanded considerably more quickly than land telephone services. Although telephone lines have existed in the major cities since the late 1970s, service was expensive and inadequate and was often cut off for no apparent reason. Use of cellular phones, on the other hand, has spread steadily since the late 1990s. Internet service began to expand rapidly at the beginning of the 21st century.
Trade
Nigeria is the United States' largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, largely due to the high level of petroleum imports from Nigeria, which supply 8% of U.S. oil imports--nearly half of Nigeria's daily oil production. Nigeria is the fifth-largest exporter of oil to the United States. Two-way trade in 2010 was valued at more than $34 billion, a 51% increase over 2009, largely due to the recovery in the international price of crude oil. Led by cereals (wheat and rice), motor vehicles, petroleum products, and machinery, U.S. goods exports to Nigeria in 2010 were worth more than $4 billion. In 2010, U.S.--->>>>>Read More.<<<<
Nigeria is one of those countries in Africa that has a wide variety of different natural resources. Nigeria is richly endowed with a variety of Natural Resources raging from precious metals various stones to industrial such as Barites, Gypsum, Kaolin and Marble. Most of these are yet to be exploited. Statistically, the level of exploitation of these minerals is very low in relation to the extent of deposit found in the country. One of the objectives of the new National Policy on Solid Minerals is to ensure the orderly development of the mineral resources of the country.--->>>>>Read More.<<<<
As part of the efforts to provide an enabling environment that is conducive to the growth and development of industries, inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI), shield existing investments from unfair competition, and stimulate the expansion of domestic production capacity; the federal government of Nigeria has developed a package of incentives for various sectors of the economy. These incentives, it is hoped, will help revive the economy, accelerate growth and development and reduce poverty.--->>>>>Read More.<<<<
Government and Society of Nigeria
- Constitutional framework
Under the 1999 constitution, executive power is vested in a president who serves as both the head of state and chief executive, is directly elected to a four-year term, and nominates the vice president and members of the cabinet. The constitution provides for a bicameral National Assembly, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each state elects 10 members to the House of Representatives for four-year terms; members of the Senate—three from each state and one from the Federal Capital Territory—also are elected to four-year terms.
- Local government
There are two tiers of government—state and local—below the federal level. The functions of the government at the local level were usurped by the state government until 1988, when the federal government decided to fund local government organizations directly and allowed them for the first time to function effectively.
Nigeria is divided into 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory at Abuja; the constitution also includes a provision that more states can be created as needed. At independence the country was divided into three regions: Northern, Eastern, and Western. The Mid-West region was created out of the Western region in 1963. In 1967 Col. Yakubu Gowon, then the military leader, turned the regions into 12 states: 6 in the north, 3 in the east, and 3 in the west. Gen. Murtala Mohammed created an additional 7 states in 1976. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida created 11 more states—2 in 1987 and 9 in 1991—for a total of 30. In 1996 Gen. Sani Abacha added 6 more states.
- Justice
The Nigerian legal and judicial system contains three codes of law: customary law, Nigerian statute law (following English law), and Sharīʿah (Islamic law). Customary laws, administered by native, or customary, courts, are usually presided over by traditional rulers, who generally hear cases about family problems such as divorce. Kadis (judges) apply Sharīʿah based on the Maliki Islamic code. Since 1999, several states have instituted Sharīʿah law. Although the states claim that the law applies only to Muslims, the minority non-Muslim population argues that it is affected by the law as well. Christian women, for example, must ride on female-only buses, and some states have banned females from participating in sports.
Nigerian statute law includes much of the British colonial legislation, most of which has been revised. State legislatures may pass laws on matters that are not part of the Exclusive Legislative List, which includes such areas as defense, foreign policy, and mining—all of which are the province of the federal government. Federal law prevails whenever federal legislation conflicts with state legislation. In addition to Nigerian statutes, English law is used in the magistrates’ and all higher courts. Each state has a High Court, which is presided over by a chief judge. The Supreme Court, headed by the chief justice of Nigeria, is the highest court.
- Political process
The constitution grants all citizens at least 18 years of age the right to vote. The Action Group (AG) and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) were the major Nigerian parties when the country became independent in 1960. However, their regional rather than national focus—the AG represented the west, the NPC the north, and the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons the east—ultimately contributed to the outbreak of civil war by the mid-1960s and more than 20 years of military rule. Political parties were allowed briefly in 1993 and again starting from 1998, but only parties with national rather than regional representation were legal, such as the newly created People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Alliance for Democracy, and the All Nigeria People’s Party.
Women have participated in the government since the colonial period, especially in the south. Their political strength is rooted in the precolonial traditions among particular ethnic groups, such as the Igbo, which gave women the power to correct excessive male behaviour (known as “sitting on a man”). Igbo women, showing their strength, rioted in 1929 when they belie
Culture Life of Nigeria
Religion
- Abuja National Mosque
Nigeria has a variety of religions which tend to vary regionally. This situation accentuates regional and ethnic distinctions and has often been seen as a major source of sectarian conflict among the population. The two main religions are Christianity and Islam. Traditional religious belief systems are also widely practiced. Islam dominates in the north of the country, with some northern states having incorporated Shari'a law amid controversy.[19]
Literature
Nigeria has a rich literary history, both prior to British imperialism and after, as Nigerians have authored several works of post-colonial literature in the English language. The first African Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, is Nigeria's best-known writer and playwright. Other Nigerian writers and poets who are well known on the international stage include Chinua Achebe, John Pepper Clark, Ben Okri, Sonny Oti, and Ken Saro Wiwa, who was executed in 1995 by the military regime.
Nigeria has the second largest newspaper market in Africa (after Egypt) with an estimated circulation of several million copies daily.[20]
Music
Nigerian music includes many kinds of folk and popular music, some of which are known worldwide. Styles of folk music are related to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments, and songs. As a result, there are many different types of music that come from Nigeria. Many late-twentieth-century musicians, such as Fela Kuti, have famously fused cultural elements of various indigenous music with American Jazz and Soul to form Afrobeat music.[21] JuJu music, which is percussion music fused with traditional music from the Yoruba nation and made famous by King Sunny Ade, is also from Nigeria. There is also fuji music, a Yoruba percussion style, created and popularized by the one and only Mr. Fuji, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. Of recent, a budding hip hop movement has surfaced. World famous musicians that come from Nigeria are Fela Kuti, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Femi Kuti, Lagbaja, Sade Adu. Nigeria has been called "the heart of African music" because of its role in the development of West African highlife and palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the Congo, Brazil, Cuba, and elsewhere.
The Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood is famous throughout Africa. Many of the film studios are based in Lagos and Abuja, and the industry is now a very lucrative income for these cities.
Sport
Like many nations, football is Nigeria's national sport. There is also a local Premier League of football. Nigeria's national football team, known as the Super Eagles, has made the World Cup on three occasions:1994, 1998, and 2002. It won the African Cup of Nations in 1980 and 1994, and also hosted the Junior World Cup. Nigeria won the gold medal for football in the 1996 Summer Olympics (in which they beat Brazil). According to the official November 2006 FIFA World Rankings, Nigeria is currently fifth-ranked football nation in Africa and the 36th highest in the world.
Societal issues Despite its vast government revenue from the mining of petroleum, Nigeria is beset by a number of societal problems due primarily to a history of inept governance. Some of these problems are listed below.
Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria as it runs counter the country's deeply ingrained cultural and religious mores. Gay sex is punishable by imprisonment in the south and possibly death in the Muslim north.
Nigeria has one of the developing world's worst environmental records. Oil spills in dense areas are not uncommon, and raw sewage is a frequent problem in all major cities.
Due to its multitude of diverse, sometimes competing ethno-linguistic groups, Nigeria has been beset since prior to independence with sectarian tensions and violence. This is particularly true in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, where both state and civilian forces employ varying methods of coercion in attempts to gain control over regional petroleum resources. The civilian population, and especially certain ethnic groups like the Ogoni, have experienced severe environmental degradation due to petroleum extraction, but when these groups have attempted to protest these injustices, they have been met with repressive measures by military forces. As a result, strife and deterioration in this region continue.
There are also significant tensions on a national scale, especially between the primarily Muslim, highly conservative northern population and the Christian population from the southeastern part of the country.
Since the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970, ethnic and religious violence has continued. Violence between Muslims and Christians occurred until early 2004. There has subsequently been a period of relative harmony since the government introduced tough new measures against religious violence in all affected parts of the country.
Nigeria has been reorganizing its health system since the Bamako Initiative of 1987 formally promoted a community-based method of increasing accessibility of drugs and health-care services to the population. This results in more efficient and equitable provision of services.
History of Nigeria
- &Early Nigerian cultures
THE NOK CULTURE
Evidence of human occupation in Nigeria dates back thousands of years. The oldest fossil remains found by archaeologists in the southwestern area of Iwo Eleru, near Akure, have been dated to about 9000 bce. There are isolated collections of ancient tools and artifacts of different periods of the Stone Age, but the oldest recognizable evidence of an organized society belongs to the Nok culture (c. 500 bce–c. 200 ce).
Named for the village of Nok, site of some of the finds, the ancient culture produced fine terra-cotta figurines, which were accidentally discovered by tin miners on the Jos Plateau in the 1930s. Initially Neolithic (New Stone Age), the Nok culture made the transition to the Iron Age. Its people raised crops and cattle and seem to have paid particular attention to personal adornment, especially of the hair. Distinctive features of Nok art include naturalism, stylized treatment of the mouth and eyes, relative proportions of the human head, body, and feet, distortions of the human facial features, and treatment of animal forms. The spread of Nok-type figures in a wide area south of the Jos Plateau, covering southern Kaduna state southeastward to Katsina Ala, south of the Benue River, suggests a well-established culture that left traces still identifiable in the lives of the peoples of the area today. Many of the distinctive features of Nok art can also be traced in later developments of Nigerian art produced in such places as Igbo Ukwu, Ife, Esie, and Benin City.
IGBO UKWU
Bronzes, which have been dated to about the 9th century ce, were discovered in the 1930s and ’40s at Igbo Ukwu, near the southwestern city of Onitsha. (See also African art.) They reveal not only a high artistic tradition but also a well-structured society with wide-ranging economic relationships. Of particular interest is the source of the copper and lead used to make the bronzes, which may have been Tadmekka in the Sahara, and of the coloured glass beads, some of which may have come from Venice and India, the latter via trade routes through Egypt, the Nile valley, and the Chad basin. It is believed that the bronzes were part of the furniture in the burial chamber of a high personage, possibly a forerunner of the eze nri, a priest-king, who held religious but not political power over large parts of the Igbo-inhabited region well into the 20th century.
Kingdoms and empires of precolonial Nigeria Nigeria [Credit: From J. Fage, An Atlas of African History; Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.]Many indigenous polities emerged in Nigeria before the British took control in the late 19th century. In the north there were several large and developed systems, including the Hausa states of Kano, Katsina, Zaria, and Gobir; Kanem-Borno; and the Jukun states of Kwararafa, Kona, Pinduga, and Wukari. Smaller kingdoms included those of the Igala, Nupe, and Ebira. Notable in the south were the Yoruba states of Ife and Oyo, the Edo state of Benin, the Itsekiri state of Warri, the Efik state of Calabar, and the Ijo (Ijaw) city-states of Nembe, Elem Kalabari, Bonny, and Okrika.
KANEM-BORNO
The history of Borno antedates the 9th century, when Arabic writers in North Africa first noted the kingdom of Kanem, east of Lake Chad. The lake was then much larger than the present-day body of water, and its basin attracted settlements and encouraged exchange. A pastoral group, ancestors of the Kanuri, established a centralized state over those referred to collectively as the Sao. Initially, trading links extended to the Nile valley of Egypt. There is some evidence that Kanem had made contact with the Christian kingdoms of Nubia before it was overrun by Muslims, who gained a foothold in the ruling family of Kanem in the 11th century. From Kanem the rulers tried to dominate the areas south and west of the lake as well. By the 12th century they had been compelled by attacks from the Sao to move their capital to the region west of Lake Chad, and they gradually lost control of most of the original Kanem.
For a long time, Borno was the dominant power in the central Sudan, including much of Hausaland. The Bayajidda legend, concerning a mythical Middle Eastern ancestor of the Hausa, seems to suggest that the rise of a centralized political system in Hausaland was influenced from Borno. Though the rulers of Borno embraced Islam, the structure of the monarchy remained traditional, with the queen mother and other female officials exercising considerable power. The selection of the monarch, the coronation rites, and other bases of royal authority were dictated by pre-Islamic beliefs. The princes and other members of the royal family were granted fiefs and posted away from the capital to govern frontier zones, while people of slave origin were preferred for the royal guard and palace officials.
HAUSALAND
For centuries the Hausa have occupied the northern plains beyond the Jos Plateau, which were a crossroads open not only to Borno but also to the states of Mali and Songhai in the western Sudan, the trans-Saharan routes to northern Africa, and various trade routes to the forest areas of Borgu, Oyo, and Benin. Perhaps because of this strategic location, the Hausa developed a number of centralized states—such as Daura, Katsina, Kano, Zaria, Gobir, and, later, Kebbi—each with a walled city, a market centre, and a monarchical system of government. Islam, which was introduced from the Mali empire in the 14th century, strengthened both the monarchical system and the commercial contacts, but it remained predominantly an urban religion until the beginning of the 19th century. Even within the walled cities, however, some pre-Islamic rites remained part of the ceremonies that sustained monarchical authority. A considerable rivalry existed between the different states over agricultural land and the control of trade and trade routes, and Hausaland was periodically conquered by powerful neighbours such as Borno and Songhai.
YORUBALAND AND BENIN
Ife, which flourished between the 11th and 15th centuries, emerged as a major power in the forested areas west of the Niger and south of Hausaland. Some of the characteristic features of Yoruba culture emerged during that time: a monarchical system based on city-states and nucleated villages; a pantheon of gods, a few of which were recognized widely but with several local variations; and divination centred on the deity Ifa, with its corpus of sacred chants. Ife is best known for its potsherd pavements and for the great artistry of its terra-cottas and bronzes, especially the naturalism of many of its bronze figures. (See also African art.) Ife’s influence on surrounding states is evident in the fact that all the monarchies of Yoruba states claim descent from Ife as a way of establishing legitimacy, sometimes borrowing regalia from Ife to use in coronation rites and sometimes sending remains of deceased rulers to Ife for burial.
Oyo, founded in the 14th century and located in the savanna to the north of the forest, gradually supplanted the older kingdom of Ife. After more than a century of struggle with nearby Borgu and Nupe, it established itself strategically as the emporium for exchanging goods from the north—rock salt, copper, textiles, leather goods, and horses—with products from the south—kola nuts, indigo, parrots, and cowries. By the 17th century it had built up a cavalry force with which it dominated people in western Yorubaland and in the dry gap to the coast; to the south, infestations of tsetse flies prevented kingdoms there from effectively utilizing horses.
Portuguese explorer or trader [Credit: Photograph by CJ Nye. Brooklyn Museum, New York, gift of Arturo and Paul Peralta-Ramos, 56.6.74]When the Portuguese arrived in the kingdom of Benin in the 15th century, they found a monarchy, dating back many centuries, with a complex structure of chiefs and palace officials presiding over a kingdom that was expanding in all directions. In time, Benin dominated not only the Edo-speaking peoples to the north and south but also the area eastward to the Niger and, along the coast, to Lagos (which the Edo now claim to have founded) and even into present-day Ghana. It also exerted considerable influence on eastern Yorubaland and maintained trading connections with Oyo. Benin art, which began to flourish in the 15th century, was characterized by naturalistic bronze sculptures and bronze door panels that covered the outside of the royal palace.
IGBOLAND AND THE DELTA CITY-STATES
Many Nigerian peoples did not develop centralized monarchical states. Of these, the Igbo were probably the most remarkable because of the size of their territory and the density of population. The Igbo characteristic decentralized society seems to have been a deliberate departure from the earlier traditions of Nri; monarchical institutions in such outlying cities as Asaba, Onitsha, and Aboh probably arose through the influence of the kingdoms of Igala and Benin. Igbo lineages were organized in self-contained villages or federations of village communities, with societies of elders and age grade associations sharing various governmental functions. The same was true of the Ijo of the Niger delta and peoples of the Cross River area, where secret societies also played a prominent role in administration. Monarchical structures began to emerge by the 18th century in response to the needs of the overseas trade.
Initially, Portuguese contacts focused on Benin and Warri. By the 17th and 18th centuries, at the height of the slave trade, the delta city-states had become the principal outlets of that activity. Various coastal communities organized themselves as entrepôts of the slave trade, so that they would not also become its victims. Similarly, the Igbo, like the Benin and Yoruba kingdoms, supplied slaves to the coast, although Benin had largely ended its involvement in the Atlantic slave trade by the 18th century. The deleterious effect of the slave trade on the society and the economy was felt everywhere, but, in terms of loss of population, those who suffered most appear to have been the noncentralized peoples of the middle belt. The trade also caused severe economic and political dislocations, intercommunal rivalries, and the forced migrations of millions of people out of Nigeria.
THE SOKOTO JIHAD
Nigeria [Credit: From J. Fage, An Atlas of African History; Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.]At the beginning of the 19th century, Islam was well established at all the major centres of the Hausa states and Borno. The etsu (ruler) of Nupe had accepted Islam, and a few teachers and itinerant preachers were also known in parts of the Oyo empire. A group of Muslim intellectuals, most of them Fulani led by Usman dan Fodio, were unhappy that in all these places the rulers allowed the practice of Islam to be mixed with aspects of traditional religion and that nowhere was Islamic law (the Sharīʿah) observed in full. After 20 years of writing, teaching, and preaching in Gobir and surrounding states, Shehu (meaning “chief” or “senior”) Usman (as he was now called) withdrew his followers to Gudu, where they formally proclaimed him amīr al-muʾminīn (“commander of the faithful”), pledged their loyalty, and prepared for war. In 1804 he called on his followers and all lovers of true Islam to rise up and overthrow the unjust rulers. He appealed to the masses of slaves and to the pastoral Fulani as oppressed people to join the revolt.
The high degree of communication that existed at this time among the different peoples in the area that would become Nigeria was evidenced when the call to jihad (“struggle” or “battle”)—made in Gudu, in the northwest—had repercussions throughout the entire area comprising the present-day country. As a result of the considerable interaction along trade routes and rivers draining the northern plains to the Niger-Benue valley, through the delta, and across the coastal lagoons, the call to jihad was answered not only in the Hausa states, such as Kano, Katsina, and Zaria, but also in Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, and Adamawa and eventually in Nupe, Ilorin, and other places where there were pockets of Fulani scholars.
Thus was created a caliphate, with its seat at the newly established town of Sokoto. Each emirate enjoyed autonomy but pledged loyalty to the amīr al-muʾminīn and made contributions for the upkeep of Sokoto. Disputes within or between emirates were referred to Sokoto for settlement by officials who traveled as often as possible to oversee developments. Usman himself retired in 1811 to concentrate on the intellectual direction of the movement, which followed the teachings of the Qadiri brotherhood and strict adherence to the Maliki code of laws. His brother Abdullahi and his son Muhammad Bello carried on the jihad and laid the basis of administration. When Usman died in 1817, Muhammad Bello succeeded him as amīr al-muʾminīn, while Abdullahi, as emir of Gwandu, was given charge of the western emirates, notably Nupe and Ilorin. In this way, all the Hausa states, parts of Borno, Nupe, Ilorin, and Fulani outposts in Bauchi and Adamawa were drawn into a single politico-religious system. The rulers of Borno invited Shehu (Sheikh) Muḥammad al-Amīn al-Kānemī, a distinguished scholar and statesman who disagreed with the Fulani view that jihad was an acceptable tool against backsliding Muslims, to lead their defense of Borno against the Fulani jihad. In the process Islam was revived in Borno, and the old Seyfawa dynasty was eventually replaced by that of Shehu Muḥammad al-Kānemī.
THE COLLAPSE OF OYO
Although the Fulani intrusion into Ilorin largely contributed to the collapse of the Oyo empire, it was not the only cause. Deep-seated conflicts arose between the alafin, or ruler, and his chiefs, including both provincial rulers and lineage chiefs and councillors at the capital. In spite of the external threat from the Fulani and others, the conflicts could not be resolved. Fulani ascendancy at Ilorin cut off the supply of horses to Oyo and made the defense of the capital untenable. Large groups of people from Oyo had to migrate southward, where they established a new capital (at present-day Oyo) and other centres such as Ibadan and Ijaye. This pressure, in turn, pushed the Egba farther south, where they founded the town of Abeokuta about 1830. The collapse of the Oyo empire unleashed a major redistribution of the Yoruba people and precipitated a series of Yoruba wars that lasted until 1886.
The arrival of the British
western Africa: European penetration, late 19th century [Credit: From J. Fage, An Atlas of African History; Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.]The Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars stimulated the slave trade at a time when the British were actively trying to stop it. Slaves formerly had been traded for European goods, especially guns and gunpowder, but now the British encouraged trade in palm oil in the Niger delta states, ostensibly to replace the trade in slaves. They later discovered that the demand for palm oil was in fact stimulating an internal slave trade, because slaves were largely responsible for collecting palm fruits, manufacturing palm oil, and transporting it to the coast, whether by canoe or by human porterage. The palm oil trade was also linked to the Sokoto jihad and the Yoruba wars, because many warriors recognized the importance of slaves not only as soldiers and producers of food to feed soldiers but additionally as producers of palm oil to trade for European dane guns and other goods.
Many of the slaves exported in the 1820s and ’30s were intercepted by the ships of the Royal Navy, emancipated, and deposited in Sierra Leone under missionary tutelage. Some of them began to migrate back from Sierra Leone in search of home and trade. They invited missionaries to follow them and, in the 1840s, made themselves available as agents who allowed missionaries and British traders to gain access to such places as Lagos, Abeokuta, Calabar, Lokoja, Onitsha, Brass, and Bonny. In 1841 the British tried to settle some Egba on a model farm in Lokoja, but the plan was aborted because the mortality rate among European officials was so high. It was also partly to protect the Egba that the British shelled Lagos in 1851, expelled Kosoko, the reigning oba, and restored his uncle, Akitoye, who appeared more willing to join in a campaign to abolish the slave trade. The British annexed Lagos in 1861 in order to protect Akitoye’s son and successor, foil Kosoko’s bid to return, and secure a base for further activities.
The British were not yet willing to assume the expense of maintaining an administration in Nigeria. To reduce costs, Lagos was administered first from Freetown in Sierra Leone, along with Gold Coast forts such as Elmina, and later from Accra (in present-day Ghana); only in 1886 did Lagos become a separate colony. A consul was maintained at Fernando Po to oversee the lucrative palm oil trade in the region called the Oil Rivers. Missionaries were active: Presbyterians in Calabar and the Church Missionary Society (CMS), Methodists, and Baptists in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oyo, and Ogbomoso. The CMS pioneered trade on the Niger by encouraging Scottish explorer and merchant Macgregor Laird to run a monthly steamboat, which provided transportation for missionary agents and Sierra Leonean traders going up the Niger. In this way Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther—born in the Yoruba-inhabited area of Oshogbo and the first African ordained by the CMS—was able to establish mission stations at Onitsha, Lokoja, and Eggan and later at Brass and Bonny.
By the 1870s the Niger trade was becoming profitable, and a few French companies took notice. French Roman Catholic missionaries, established in Ouidah (Whydah), arrived in Lagos and considered missionary work on the Niger. The British responded to such evidence of rivalry by defending their right to free navigation on the river at the Berlin West Africa Conference of 1884–85. At the same time, George Dashwood Goldie, a British businessman, bought out all French rivals and created the Royal Niger Company (chartered 1886) in order to control trade on the Niger and administer the immense territories of the Sokoto caliphate and Borno. In addition, two other protectorates were declared, one over the Oil Rivers and the other over the hinterland of Lagos, to establish a claim that these areas were also British “spheres of interest.”
The boundaries of the two protectorates and the territories of the Royal Niger Company were difficult to define, but the tension was eased in 1894 when both entities were merged into the Niger Coast Protectorate. Rivalry between the Royal Niger Company and the Lagos Protectorate over the boundary between the emirate of Ilorin and the empire of Ibadan was resolved with the abrogation of the charter of the Royal Niger Company on January 1, 1900, in return for wide mineral concessions.
In the north Frederick Lugard, the first high commissioner of Northern Nigeria, was instrumental in subjugating the Fulani emirs. Some were deposed, some were defeated in battle, and others collaborated. By 1903 the conquest of the emirates was complete. The mud-walled city of Kano was captured in February, and, after a vigorous skirmish at Kotorkwashi, the sultan’s capital, Sokoto, fell the next month. All the territories were now under British control, and the search for an identity began, first as Northern and Southern Nigeria and then with eventual amalgamation.
The British penetration of Nigeria met with various forms of resistance throughout the country. In the south the British had to fight many wars, in particular the wars against the Ijebu (a Yoruba group) in 1892, the Aro of eastern Igboland, and, until 1914, the Aniocha of western Igboland. In the north many emirates did not take military action, but the deposed caliph, Atahiru I, rebelled in 1903. Many Muslims resorted to migration as a form of resistance, a tactic known as the hejira, in which those perceived as infidels are avoided.
Resistance was strong in western Igboland, where a series of wars were waged against the British. The Ekumeku, who were well organized and whose leaders were joined in secrecy oaths, effectively utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the British. Their forces, which were drawn from hundreds of Igbo youth from all parts of the region, created many problems for the British, but the British used forceful tactics and heavy armaments (destroying homes, farms, and roads) to prevail. The Ekumeku, however, became a great source of Igbo nationalism.
Nigeria as a colony
After the British government assumed direct control of the Royal Niger Company’s territories, the northern areas were renamed the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria, and the land in the Niger delta and along the lower reaches of the river was added to the Niger Coast Protectorate, which was renamed the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Lagos remained the capital of the south, with Zungeru the new capital of the north. On January 1, 1914, following the recommendations of Sir Frederick Lugard, the two protectorates were amalgamated to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria under a single governor-general resident in Lagos. Between 1919 and 1954 the title reverted to governor.
Following Lugard’s success in the north, he set out the principles of the administrative system subsequently institutionalized as “indirect rule.” Essentially, local government was to be left in the hands of the traditional chiefs, subject to the guidance of European officers. Native institutions were utilized and interference with local customs kept to a minimum, although the British did not always understand the local customs. While this system had built-in contradictions, over the years the Nigerian system developed into a sophisticated form of local government, especially in the emirates and under the banner of “native administration,” which became the hallmark of British colonial rule in Africa.
Many changes accompanied British rule: Western education, the English language, and Christianity spread during the period; new forms of money, transportation, and communication were developed; and the Nigerian economy became based on the export of cash crops. Areas with lucrative crops such as cacao and peanuts (groundnuts) profited, while many people in different parts of the country had to migrate to work elsewhere as tenant farmers or use their newly acquired education and skills to work in cities as wage earners, traders, and artisans. Two tiers of government emerged, central and local. The central government, presided over by the governor-general and accountable to the secretary for the colonies in London, was more powerful but distant from the people. Local administration, where the colonial citizens typically experienced colonial authority, was based on the policy of indirect rule first developed in the north.
To prevent any united opposition to its authority, the British adopted a divide-and-rule policy, keeping Nigerian groups separate from one another as much as possible. Traditional authorities were co-opted in the north, where the spread of Western education by Christian missionaries was strongly resisted by Muslim leaders. In the south the British occasionally created a political hierarchy where there had been none before; in most cases they ruled through those who were most malleable, whether these people had held traditional positions of authority or not. Because Western education and Christianity spread rapidly in the south and not in the north, development was much slower in the north, and the growing disparity between north and south later caused political tensions.
Further dislocation accompanied the outbreak of World War I. Locally this involved the immediate invasion of the German-held Kamerun (Cameroon) by Nigerian forces, followed by a costly campaign that lasted until 1916. Later Nigerian troops were sent to East Africa. (During World War II they again served in East Africa, as well as in Burma [now Myanmar].) In 1922 Kamerun was divided under a League of Nations mandate between France and Britain, Britain administering its area within the government of Nigeria; after 1946 the mandated areas were redesignated as a United Nations (UN) trust territory.
Although colonial rule appeared secure in the first two decades of the 20th century, the British struggled to keep control of their Nigerian colony and continued to do so until Nigeria became independent in 1960. The British, when faced with dissent, tended to grant political reforms in an effort to dispel the attractiveness of more-radical suggestions. Early on in colonial rule, for example, Nigerians protested the manner in which water rates and head taxes were collected. Nigerians also requested more political representation. The Nigerian Legislative Council was established in 1914 and was given limited jurisdiction; it was replaced in 1922 by a larger one that included elected members from Lagos and Calabar, although its powers also were limited and the northern provinces remained outside its control. A more representative system did not appear until 1946, when each geographic group of provinces had its own House of Assembly, with a majority of nonofficial (though not yet all elected) members; there were also a House of Chiefs and, in Lagos, a central Legislative Council. By 1919 the National Council of British West Africa, an organization consisting of elites across West Africa, was demanding that half the members of the Legislative Council be Africans; they also wanted a university in West Africa and more senior positions for Africans in the colonial civil service.
Beginning in the 1920s, a number of Nigerians joined other blacks in various parts of the world to embark on the wider project of Pan-Africanism, which sought to liberate black people from racism and European domination. In 1923 Herbert Macaulay, the grandson of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, established the first Nigerian political party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which successfully contested three Lagos seats in the Legislative Council. Macaulay was despised by the British, but he came to be regarded as the “father of modern Nigerian nationalism.”
Azikiwe, Nnamdi [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]After the 1930s, political activities focused primarily on ways to end British rule. A national party, the Nigerian Youth Movement, emerged in 1934, and its members won elections to the Legislative Council. After 1940, political activities were broadened to include more people. In 1944 Macaulay and Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Igbo who had been educated in the United States, united more than 40 different groups to establish the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). The forces unleashed against the British were now diverse, including soldiers who had served in World War II, the media, restless youth, market women, educated people, and farmers, all of whom became committed to the anticolonial movement. Political leaders resorted to the use of political parties and the media to mobilize millions of Nigerians against the continuation of British rule.
The British answered this activity by attempting to create a more representational colonial system. The Macpherson constitution, promulgated in 1951, provided for a central House of Representatives, but friction between the central and regional legislatures, related to the question of where supreme party authority lay, soon caused a breakdown. In response to Azikiwe and other nationalists, the Lyttelton constitution of 1954 created a fully federal system, comprising the three geographic regions of Nigeria, the Southern Cameroons, and the Federal Territory of Lagos. Each region had a governor, premier, cabinet, legislature, and civil service, with the significantly weaker federal government represented in Lagos by a governor-general, bureaucracy, House of Representatives, and Senate.
Awolowo, Obafemi [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]The southern protectorate was divided into two provinces in 1939—Western and Eastern—and in 1954 they, along with the northern protectorate, were renamed the Western, Eastern, and Northern regions as part of Nigeria’s reconstruction into a federal state. Internal self-government was granted to the Western and Eastern regions in 1957. The Eastern region was dominated by Azikiwe and the Western one by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Yoruba lawyer who in 1950 founded the Action Group. Demanding immediate self-government, the Action Group was opposed by the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), which was composed largely of northerners and headed by several leaders, including Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. At its own request the Northern region was not given internal self-government until 1959, because northerners feared that their region might lose its claim to an equal share in the operation and opportunities of the federal government if it was not given time to catch up with the educationally advanced south. Among the problems needing attention before the British would grant full independence was the minorities’ fear of discrimination by a future government based on majority ethnic groups. After the Willink Commission examined and reported on this issue in 1958, independence was granted.
Independent Nigeria
Nigeria administrative boundaries in 1960 [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]Nigeria was granted independence on October 1, 1960. A new constitution established a federal system with an elected prime minister and a ceremonial head of state. The NCNC, now headed by Azikiwe (who had taken control after Macaulay’s death in 1946), formed a coalition with Balewa’s NPC after neither party won a majority in the 1959 elections. Balewa continued to serve as the prime minister, a position he had held since 1957, while Azikiwe took the largely ceremonial position of president of the Senate. Following a UN-supervised referendum, the northern part of the Trust Territory of the Cameroons joined the Northern region in June 1961, while in October the Southern Cameroons united with Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. On October 1, 1963, Nigeria became a republic. Azikiwe became president of the country, although as prime minister Balewa was still more powerful.
After a brief honeymoon period, Nigeria’s long-standing regional stresses, caused by ethnic competitiveness, educational inequality, and economic imbalance, again came to the fore in the controversial census of 1962–63. In an attempt to stave off ethnic conflict, the Mid-West region was created in August 1963 by dividing the Western region. Despite this division, the country still was segmented into three large geographic regions, each of which was essentially controlled by an ethnic group: the west by the Yoruba, the east by the Igbo, and the north by the Hausa-Fulani. Conflicts were endemic, as regional leaders protected their privileges; the south complained of northern domination, and the north feared that the southern elite was bent on capturing power. In the west the government had fallen apart in 1962, and a boycott of the federal election of December 1964 brought the country to the brink of breakdown. The point of no return was reached in January 1966, when, after the collapse of order in the west following the fraudulent election of October 1965, a group of army officers attempted to overthrow the federal government, and Prime Minister Balewa and two of the regional premiers were murdered. A military administration was set up under Maj. Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, but his plan to abolish the regions and impose a unitary government met with anti-Igbo riots in the north. The military intervention worsened the political situation, as the army itself split along ethnic lines, its officers clashed over power, and the instigators and leaders of the January coup were accused of favouring Igbo domination. In July 1966 northern officers staged a countercoup, Aguiyi-Ironsi was assassinated, and Lieut. Col. (later Gen.) Yakubu Gowon came to power. The crisis was compounded by intercommunal clashes in the north and threats of secession in the south.
Gowon’s attempt to hold a conference to settle the constitutional future of Nigeria was abandoned after a series of ethnic massacres in October. A last-ditch effort to save the country was made in January 1967, when the Eastern delegation, led by Lieut. Col. (later Gen.) Odumegwu Ojukwu, agreed to meet the others on neutral ground at Aburi, Ghana, but the situation deteriorated after differences developed over the interpretation of the accord. In May the Eastern region’s consultative assembly authorized Ojukwu to establish a sovereign republic, while, at the same time, the federal military government promulgated a decree dividing the four regions into 12 states, including 6 in the north and 3 in the east, in an attempt to break the power of the regions.
THE CIVIL WAR
On May 30, 1967, Ojukwu declared the secession of the three states of the Eastern region under the name of the Republic of Biafra, which the federal government interpreted as an act of rebellion. Fighting broke out in early July and within weeks had escalated into a full-scale civil war. In August Biafran troops crossed the Niger, seized Benin City, and were well on their way to Lagos before they were checked at Ore, a small town in Western state (now Ondo state). Shortly thereafter, federal troops entered Enugu, the provisional capital of Biafra, and penetrated the Igbo heartland. The next two years were marked by stiff resistance in the shrinking Biafran enclave and by heavy casualties among civilians as well as in both armies, all set within what threatened to be a military stalemate. Peacemaking attempts by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) remained ineffective, while Biafra began earning recognition from African states and securing aid from international organizations for what was by then a starving population.
The final Biafran collapse began on December 24, 1969, when federal troops launched a massive effort at a time when Biafra was short on ammunition, its people were desperate for food, and its leaders controlled only one-sixth of the territory that had formed the Biafran republic in 1967. Ojukwu fled to Côte d’Ivoire on January 11, 1970, and a Biafran deputation formally surrendered in Lagos four days later.
General Gowon was able, through his own personal magnetism, to reconcile the two sides so that the former Biafran states were integrated into the country once again and were not blamed for the war. The oil boom that followed the war allowed the federal government to finance development programs and consolidate its power. In 1974 Gowon postponed until 1976 the target date for a return to civilian rule, but he was overthrown in July 1975 and fled to Great Britain. The new head of state, Brig. Gen. Murtala Ramat Mohammed, initiated many changes during his brief time in office: he began the process of moving the federal capital to Abuja, addressed the issue of government inefficiency, and, most important, initiated the process for a return to civilian rule. He was assassinated in February 1976 during an unsuccessful coup attempt, and his top aide, Lieut. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, became head of the government.
THE SECOND REPUBLIC
Obasanjo pursued Mohammed’s desire to return the country to civilian rule. As a first step, a new constitution was promulgated that replaced the British-style parliamentary system with a presidential one. The president was invested with greater power but could assume office only after winning one-fourth of the votes in two-thirds of the states in the federation.
Many political parties emerged, but only five were registered: the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), the Unity Party of Nigeria, the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), the Great Nigeria People’s Party, and the Nigeria People’s Party. All promised to improve education and social services, provide welfare, rebuild the economy and support private industry, and pursue a radical, anti-imperialist foreign policy. The PRP was notable for expressing socialist ideas and rhetoric. Shehu Shagari, the candidate of the dominant party, the right-wing NPN, narrowly won the 1979 presidential election, defeating Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The NPN’s party leaders used political power as an opportunity to gain access to public treasuries and distribute privileges to their followers. Members of the public were angry, and many openly challenged the relevance of a democracy that could not produce leaders who would improve their lives and provide moral authority. Even in this climate, however, Shagari was reelected president in August–September 1983, although his landslide victory was attributed to gross voting irregularities. Shagari was not able to manage the political crisis that followed or to end Nigeria’s continuing economic decline, and the military seized the opportunity to stage a coup on December 31, 1983, that brought Maj. Gen. Muhammad Buhari to power.
MILITARY REGIMES, 1983–99
Buhari justified his coup and subsequent actions by citing the troubles of the Second Republic and the declining economy. The regime declared a “War Against Indiscipline” (WAI), which resulted in the arrest, detention, and jailing of a number of politicians. When the WAI was extended to journalists and others not responsible for the social decay and economic problems, the government’s popularity began to wane. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida assumed power following a bloodless coup in August 1985.
Babangida at first presented to the public and the media the image of an affectionate and considerate leader. He released political detainees and promised that public opinion would influence his decisions and those of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, the supreme governing body. The public, however, demanded an end to military rule. Babangida outwardly supported a return to civilian government but worked to undermine the process in order to retain power.
A transition program was announced in 1986 that was to terminate in 1990 (later extended to 1993), and the military controlled the process. The government created two political parties, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC), and produced their agendas for them; freely formed parties were not registered, and many politicians were banned from politics. The 1979 constitution was modified by a Constituent Assembly, and a series of elections were then held for local government councillors, state governors, and legislatures.
Although Babangida voided presidential primary elections held in 1992, and all the candidates were banned from politics, a presidential election was slated for June 1993 between two pro-government candidates: Chief M.K.O. Abiola of the SDP and Alhaji Bashir Tofa of the NRC. The Babangida government believed that the elections would never take place and felt that, even if they did, the north-south divide would lead to a stalemate, as Abiola came from the south and Tofa from the north. Contrary to government expectation, however, the election was held on schedule, and it was free, fair, and peaceful. Chief Abiola won, but Babangida annulled the results before they became official. This turned out to be a serious miscalculation that forced him out of power in August 1993, and an Interim National Government (ING) was instituted, led by Yoruba businessman Ernest Shonekan. The ING faced opposition from all sides, and Gen. Sani Abacha, the defense minister under Babangida, overthrew it in November, reinstating military rule. Like Babangida, he promised a transition to civilian rule while pursuing the means to maintain power, but, unlike Babangida, he used excessive force to attain his ambition.
If the political future of Nigeria appeared bright with the victory of Chief Abiola in June 1993, Abacha’s seizure of power and subsequent rule reversed most of the gains that the country had made since 1960. At no time since the mid-1960s did so many question the existence of Nigeria as a political entity. When leading politicians did not call for the breakup of the country, they advocated a confederacy with a weakened centre and even a divided army and police force. Opposition forces called for a national conference to renegotiate the basis of Nigerian unity. The country’s international image was damaged, as it suffered serious condemnation and isolation.
The Abacha regime ignored due process of law, press freedom, individual liberty, and human rights. The government used violence as a weapon against its opponents and critics; when Abiola proclaimed himself president, he was arrested in June 1994 and died in jail in 1998. Trade union movements were suspended and protesters were killed, yet opposition to the government, particularly outside of the country, did not abate. Abacha and his loyalists again used the state as an instrument of personal gain.
The decisive turning point in military disengagement came with Abacha’s sudden death in June 1998. Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, appointed to replace him, promised to transfer power to civilians. He freed political prisoners, ended the harassment of political opponents, and set forth a timetable for the transition to civilian rule. The country’s international image improved, but economic performance remained sluggish.
RETURN TO CIVILIAN RULE
Obasanjo, Olusegun: swearing-in ceremony, 1999 [Credit: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek—AFP/Getty Images]After Abacha’s death, political activity blossomed as numerous parties were formed. Of these, three emerged that were able to contest elections: the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Alliance for Democracy, and the All People’s Party. A series of elections were held in January–March 1999 in which councillors for local governments, legislatures for state and federal assemblies, and state governors were selected. The presidential election took place in February and was carefully monitored by an international team of observers. Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP, who as head of state in 1976–79 had overseen the last transition from military rule, was declared the winner and was sworn in on May 29. A new constitution was also promulgated that month. Nigerians, tired of prolonged and crisis-prone military regimes, welcomed the change of government, as did the international community. In the first civilian-administered elections since the country achieved independence in 1960, Obasanjo was reelected in 2003, although there were widespread reports of voting irregularities.
Nigeria [Credit: AP]Although conditions in Nigeria were generally improved under Obasanjo, there was still considerable strife within the country. Ethnic conflict—previously kept in check during the periods of military rule—now erupted in various parts of Nigeria, and friction increased between Muslims and Christians when some of the northern and central states chose to adopt Islamic law (the Sharīʿah). Demonstrations were held to protest the government’s oil policies and high fuel prices. Residents of the Niger delta also protested the operations of petroleum companies in their area, asserting that the companies exploited their land while not providing a reasonable share of the petroleum profits in return. Their protests evolved into coordinated militant action in 2006. Petroleum companies were targeted: their employees were kidnapped, and refineries and pipelines were damaged as militants attempted to disrupt oil production and inflict economic loss. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was the most active of such militant groups, although its activity decreased after the group declared a unilateral ceasefire, and the government introduced an amnesty program in 2009.
Obasanjo was also faced with resolving an ongoing border dispute with neighbouring Cameroon that included the question of which country had rights to the Bakassi Peninsula, an oil-rich area to which both countries had strong cultural ties. Under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling, the region was awarded to Cameroon, and Obasanjo was criticized by the international community when Nigeria did not immediately comply by withdrawing its troops from the area in the subsequent years. He also received much domestic criticism for contemplating withdrawal from the peninsula by those who questioned the fate of the large number of Nigerians living in the region and cited the long-standing cultural ties between the Bakassi Peninsula and Nigeria. Nevertheless, Obasanjo eventually honoured the terms of the ruling in 2006 when Nigeria relinquished its claim to the peninsula and withdrew its forces.
The process of transferring the peninsula to Cameroon was not without its problems, including the ongoing issue of resettling Nigerians displaced by the transfer and the dissatisfaction of those who remained but were now under Cameroonian rule. In November 2007, Nigeria’s Senate voted to void the agreement that had ceded the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon. However, this action did not affect the actual status of the peninsula, and a ceremony held on August 14, 2008, marked the completion of the peninsula’s transfer from Nigeria to Cameroon.
Meanwhile, Obasanjo was the subject of domestic and international criticism for his attempt to amend the constitution to allow him to stand for a third term as president; the proposed amendment was rejected by the Senate in 2006. With Obasanjo unable to contest the election, Umaru Yar’Adua was selected to stand as the PDP’s candidate in the April 2007 presidential poll. He was declared the winner, but international observers strongly condemned the election as being marred by voting irregularities and fraud. Nonetheless, Yar’Adua was sworn in as president on May 29, 2007.
Yar’Adua’s health was the subject of rumours, as he had traveled abroad for medical treatment several times in the years prior to his presidency and continued to do so after the election. His ability to serve as president while dealing with health issues was called into question after he went to Saudi Arabia in late November 2009 for treatment of heart problems and kidney problems. After he had been absent from Nigeria for several weeks, critics complained of a power vacuum in the country, and there were calls for Yar’Adua to formally transfer power to the vice president, Goodluck Jonathan. Although a ruling by a Nigerian court on January 29, 2010, indicated that Yar’Adua was not obligated to hand over power to the vice president while he was out of the country for medical treatment, the controversy surrounding his prolonged absence remained. On February 9, 2010, the National Assembly voted to have Jonathan assume full power and serve as acting president until Yar’Adua was able to resume his duties. Jonathan agreed and assumed power later that day, but it was unclear whether or not the assumption of power was constitutional. When Yar’Adua returned to Nigeria on February 24, 2010, it was announced that Jonathan would remain as acting president while Yar’Adua continued to recuperate. Yar’Adua never fully recovered, however, and died on May 5, 2010; Jonathan was sworn in as president the following day. His priorities for the rest of his term included tackling corruption, dealing with the country’s energy problems, and continuing his involvement in peace negotiations with rebels in the Niger delta, something he had focused on while he was vice president.
Another area of focus cited by Jonathan was the reformation of the electoral process. Noting the irregularities associated with the 2007 presidential election, he vowed to make fair and transparent elections a priority, beginning with those scheduled for 2011. Voting in Nigeria’s legislative elections began on April 2, 2011, but, because necessary electoral materials were not available in some areas, voting was halted and postponed until April 9 (April 26 in some locations). As a result, the presidential election that was scheduled for April 9 was delayed until April 16. Jonathan was the overwhelming winner of the presidential election, receiving almost 59 percent of the vote among a field of 19 other challengers. Former military leader and head of state Muhammadu Buhari placed second, with about 32 percent of the vote. In other elections, the PDP did not fare as well as in previous years, but it managed to maintain control of the legislature and a majority of state governorship posts. International observers praised the elections as being largely free and fair. The polls were not completely without violence or controversy, however, as supporters of Buhari and other losing candidates rioted, primarily in the north, and accused the ruling PDP of electoral fraud.
Boko Haram: ruins of a street market in Kano [Credit: Sunday Alamba/AP]Among the most-pressing concerns in Jonathan’s first full term as president was the ongoing threat presented by Boko Haram, an Islamic sectarian movement founded in 2002 in northeastern Nigeria; the group claimed to want to end the corruption and injustice in the country and impose Sharīʿah, or Islamic law. Boko Haram did not gain widespread notoriety until 2009 when, after an altercation with military and local police forces, it began attacking police and government targets, killing and injuring many; in response, security forces launched a crackdown on the group, killing many members. Shortly thereafter, the group’s leader, Muhammed Yusuf, was captured and killed while in police custody, as were several of his followers. After a hiatus, the group resurfaced under the leadership of Yusuf’s deputy, Abubakar Shekau, and unleashed a campaign of violence in 2010 that continued in the following years.
Boko Haram’s attacks grew in intensity and frequency, occurring primarily in northeastern and central Nigeria and typically targeting government buildings, military barracks, the police, and Christian churches and schools. Extrajudicial violence and killings by the police and military while in the pursuit of the group’s members were not uncommon and further heightened tensions in the country; the extrajudicial activity was also widely condemned by human rights groups. In 2012 some estimates held that more than 2,800 people had been killed by Boko Haram or by the security forces pursuing the group. The idea of granting amnesty to the group members if they disarmed—similar to what had been done with the MEND rebels in 2009—had been periodically proposed but dismissed for various reasons. In April 2013, however, with Boko Haram’s violence showing little sign of abatement and the previous strategies of dealing with the group by force clearly proven ineffective, Jonathan appointed a committee to investigate the implementation of an amnesty program, but it bore little fruit. In June Jonathan officially declared Boko Haram a terrorist group and banned it under Nigerian law. The militants and anyone caught helping them could then be prosecuted under the country’s Terrorism Prevention Act, which was expected to facilitate legal prosecution of the accused.
Boko Haram’s attacks continued throughout the rest of 2013 and into 2014, with the government unable to do much to stop the group. In April 2014 Boko Haram’s mass kidnapping of more than 275 girls from a boarding school in Chibok in Borno state brought the group and its unabated campaign of terror into the international spotlight. The kidnapping was widely condemned across the globe and generated an increase in offers of international assistance to Nigeria, which, unlike in the past, the country was now more willing to accept. Neighbouring countries as well as Western nations worked with Nigeria to curtail the group’s actions and to try to locate the missing schoolgirls. The next month the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on individuals in Boko Haram—freezing assets and issuing travel bans and an arms embargo—but, given the nature of the group’s operations, it was unclear if the sanctions would actually have an impact on Boko Haram’s activities. They did not: the group’s attacks continued, and in August Boko Haram declared the areas under its control to be an Islamic state.
The government’s inability to eliminate the threat from Boko Haram was one of the key issues in the run-up to the 2015 presidential and legislative elections, along with the economy and the persistent complaint of corruption. Economic progress was mixed: Nigeria’s economy grew to be the continent’s largest in 2014, but the oil-reliant economy also experienced sharp decline later that year because of plunging oil prices on the world market. Also, despite overall economic growth during Jonathan’s term, many Nigerians, especially those in rural areas and in the north, lived in poverty. The elections had originally been scheduled for mid-February, but the country’s electoral commission postponed them for six weeks, citing the current level of violence from Boko Haram in the northeast as an impediment to holding elections there. Jonathan, who had been criticized along with the military for not doing enough to combat Boko Haram, accepted assistance from the neighbouring countries of Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Plans were made for a regional force comprising troops from Nigeria and the aforementioned countries, and an offensive was launched against the militants. Marked progress was made in the fight against Boko Haram, with forces retaking much of the area previously held by the group. Meanwhile, in early March Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), although it was not clear what effect that would have on the group’s actions.
Although there were 14 candidates standing in the March 28 presidential election, the real contest was seen as being between Jonathan, once again the PDP candidate, and Buhari, the former military head of state (1984–85) who was the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and enjoyed a reputation as being tough on corruption and adept at handling security issues. The election was the most closely contested ever in Nigeria. When it became clear that Buhari had won the election, Jonathan conceded. The election marked the first time that an incumbent had been defeated and power would be handed from one party to another. Buhari was inaugurated on May 29, 2015.