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 millennium.
The name
Nigeria was taken
from the
River Niger running through
Nigeria.
This name was coined by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British
colonial
administrator, in the late 19th century.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the
eighth most populous country in
the world, and the most populous country in the world in which
the majority of the population is
black. It 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. It is the
second largest economy in
Africa, and is a
Regional power
that is also the
Hegemony in West
Africa.
History
Early history
The
Nok
people in central Nigeria produced terracotta
sculptures that have been discovered by archaeologists. A
Nok sculpture resident at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
portrays a sitting dignitary wearing a "Shepherds Crook" on the
right arm, and a "hinged flail" on the left. These are symbols of
authority associated with ancient Egyptian pharaohs, and the god
Osiris, and suggests that an ancient Egyptian style of social
structure, and perhaps religion, existed in the area of modern
Nigeria during the late Pharonic period.
In the northern part
of the country, Kano
and Katsina
has recorded
history which dates back to around 999. Hausa kingdoms and the
Kanem-Bornu Empire prospered as trade posts
between North and West Africa.
At the beginning of the 19th century under
Usman dan Fodio the Fulani became the leaders of a centralized
Fulani
Empire
which continued until 1903 when the Fulani were
divided up among European colonizers. Between 1750 and 1900,
between one- to two-thirds of the entire population of the
Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves.
The
Yoruba people date their presence in the
area of modern republics of Nigeria, Benin and Togo to about 8500
BC.
The
kingdoms of Ifẹ
and Oyo in the western block of Nigeria became prominent
about 700–900 and 1400 respectively. However, the Yoruba
mythology believes that Ile-Ife is the source of the human race and
that it predates any other civilization.
Ifẹ produced the
terra cotta and bronze heads, the Ọyọ extended as far as modern
Togo
. Another prominent kingdom in south western
Nigeria was the
Kingdom of Benin
whose power lasted between the 15th and 19th century.
Their dominance
reached as far as the well known city of Eko, later named Lagos
by the
Portuguese
.
In southeastern Nigeria the
Kingdom of
Nri of the
Igbo people flourished
from the controversial date of around the 10th century until 1911.
The Nri Kingdom was ruled by the
Eze Nri.
The city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture.
Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in
the territory of the Umeuri clan, who trace their lineages back to
the patriarchal king-figure,
Eri.
Colonial era
Portuguese explorers were the first
Europeans to begin trade in Nigeria, and called the port Lagos after the
Portuguese town of Lagos
, in Algarve. This name stuck on with more
European trade with the region. The Europeans traded with the
ethnicities of the coast and also established
a trade in slaves which affected many
Nigerian ethnicities. Following the
Napoleonic Wars, the British expanded trade
with the Nigerian interior. In 1885 British claims to a West
African sphere of influence received international recognition and
in the following year the
Royal
Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir
George Taubman Goldie. In 1900
the company's territory came under the control of the British
government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of
modern Nigeria. On January 1, 1901 Nigeria became a British
protectorate, part of the
British Empire, the foremost world power at
the time.
In 1914, the area was formally united as the
Colony and
Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained
divided into the northern and southern provinces and Lagos colony.
Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded
more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt
in Nigeria's political life ever since.
Slavery was not finally outlawed in
northern Nigeria until 1936. Following
World War II, in response to the growth of
Nigerian
nationalism and demands for
independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British
Government moved Nigeria toward
self-government on a representative and
increasingly federal basis. By the middle of the 20th century, the
great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa.
Post-independence
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United
Kingdom. The new republic incorporated a number of people with
aspirations of their own sovereign nations. Newly independent
Nigeria's government was a coalition of conservative parties: the
Nigerian People's Congress
(NPC), a party dominated by Northerners and those of the
Islamic faith, and the
Igbo and Christian dominated
National Council
of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) led by
Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became Nigeria's maiden
Governor-General in 1960. Forming
the opposition was the comparatively liberal
Action Group (AG), which was largely dominated
by
Yoruba people and led by
Obafemi Awolowo.
An imbalance was created in the polity by the result of the 1961
plebiscite.
Southern Cameroon
opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while northern Cameroon
chose to remain in Nigeria. The northern part of the country was
now far larger than the southern part. The nation parted with its
British legacy in 1963 by declaring itself a
Federal Republic, with Azikiwe as the first
president. When elections came
about in 1965, the AG was outmanoeuvered for control of Nigeria's
Western Region by the
Nigerian National Democratic
Party, an amalgamation of conservative Yoruba elements backed
heavily by the Federal Government amid dubious electoral
circumstances.
Nigerian-Biafran War
This disequilibrium and perceived corruption of the electoral and
political process led in 1966 to several back-to-back
military coups. The first was in January and
led by a collection of young leftists under Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna
and Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. It was partially successful – the
coupists murdered the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,
the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and the
Premier of the Western Region, Sir Ladoke Akintola. Despite this,
the coupists could not set up a central government because of
logistic reasons. Sir Nwafor Orizu, the acting President was then
pressured to hand over government to the Nigeria Army, under the
Command of General JTU Aguyi-Ironsi. This coup was counter-acted by
another successful plot, supported primarily by Northern military
officers and Northerners who favoured the NPC, it was engineered by
Northern officers, which allowed Lt Colonel
Yakubu Gowon to become head of state. This
sequence of events led to an increase in ethnic tension and
violence. The Northern coup, which was mostly motivated by ethnic
and religious reasons was a bloodbath of both military officers and
civilians, especially those of Igbo extraction.
The violence against the Igbo increased their desire for autonomy
and protection from the military's wrath. By May 1967, the Eastern
Region had declared itself an independent state called the
Republic of Biafra under the leadership
of Lt Colonel
Emeka Ojukwu in line with
the wishes of the people. The
Nigerian Civil War began as the Nigerian
(Western and Northern) side attacked Biafra (South-eastern) on July
6, 1967 at Garkem signalling the beginning of the 30 month war
that ended in January 1970. More than one million people died in
the three-year civil war. Following the war, Nigeria became to an
extent even more mired in ethnic strife, as the defeated southeast
and indeed southern Nigeria was now conquered territory for the
federal military regime, which changed heads of state twice as army
officers staged a bloodless coup against Gowon and enthroned
Murtala Mohammed; Olusegun Obansanjo succeeded the former after an
assassination.
Military era
During
the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria joined OPEC
and billions of dollars generated by production in the oil-rich
Niger
Delta
flowed into the coffers of the Nigerian
state. However, increasing
corruption and graft at all levels of
government squandered most of these earnings. The northern military
clique benefited immensely from the oil boom to the detriment of
the Nigerian people and economy. As oil revenues fuelled the rise
of federal subventions to states and precariously to individuals,
the Federal Government soon became the centre of political struggle
and the centre became the threshold of power in the country. As oil
production and revenue rose, the Nigerian government created a
dangerous situation as it became increasingly dependent on oil
revenues and the international commodity markets for budgetary and
economic concerns eschewing economic stability. That spelled doom
to federalism in Nigeria.
Watts Michael, State, Oil and
Agriculture in Nigeria, Berkeley, 1987. Retrieved February 22,
2007.
Beginning in 1979, Nigerians participated in a brief return to
democracy when Obasanjo transferred power to the civilian regime of
Shehu Shagari. The Shagari government
was viewed as corrupt and incompetent by virtually all sectors of
Nigerian society, so when the regime was overthrown by the military
coup of
Mohammadu Buhari shortly
after the regime's fraudulent re-election in 1984, it was generally
viewed as a positive development by most of the
population.
Nigeria, Military Faces Daunting Challenges, AP
Press International, March 3, 1984. Retrieved February 22,
2007. Buhari promised major reforms but his government fared
little better than its predecessor, and his regime was overthrown
by yet another military coup in 1985.
The new head of state,
Ibrahim
Babangida, promptly declared himself
President and Commander in chief of the Armed
Forces and the ruling
Supreme
Military Council and also set 1990 as the official deadline for
a return to democratic governance.
Babangida's tenure was marked by a flurry
of political activity: he instituted the International Monetary Fund's Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) to aid in the
repayment of the country's crushing international debt, which most
federal revenue was dedicated to servicing. He also inflamed
religious tensions in the nation and particularly the south by
enrolling Nigeria in the
Organization of the
Islamic Conference.
After Babangida survived an abortive coup, he pushed back the
promised return to democracy to 1992. When free and fair elections
were finally held on the 12th of June, 1993, Babangida declared
that the results showing a presidential victory for
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale
Abiola null and void, sparking mass civilian violence in
protest which effectively shut down the country for weeks and
forced Babangida to keep his shaky promise to relinquish office to
a civilian run government.
Bilski Andrew, "Broken Promises"
Maclean, September 6, 1993. Babangida's regime is adjudged to
be at the apogee of corruption in the history of the nation as it
was during his time that corruption became officially diluted in
Nigeria.
Diamond, larry, Kirk-Greene Anthoiny, Oyeleye Oyediran,
Transition without End: Nigerian Politics and Civil Society Under
Babangida.
Babangida's caretaker regime headed by
Ernest Shonekan survived only until late
1993 when General
Sani Abacha took power
in another military coup. Abacha proved to be perhaps Nigeria's
most brutal ruler and employed violence on a wide scale to suppress
the continuing pandemic of civilian unrest. Money had been found in
various western European countries banks traced to him. He avoided
coup plots by bribing army generals. Several hundred millions
dollars in accounts traced to him were unearthed in
1999.
"Nigerian Lawyer: Abacha accounts apparently in
Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, and Germany", AP press, January
10, 2000. The regime would come to an end in 1998 when the
dictator was found dead amid dubious circumstances. Abacha's death
yielded an opportunity for return to civilian rule.
Recent history
Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 when it elected
Olusegun Obasanjo, a
Yoruba and former military head of state, as
the new
President ending almost
thirty three-years of military rule (from 1966 until 1999)
excluding the short-lived
second
republic (between 1979 and 1983) by military dictators who
seized power in
coups d'état and
counter-coups during the
Nigerian
military juntas of 1966-1979 and 1983-1998.
Although the elections which brought Obasanjo to power in 1999 and
again in 2003 were condemned as unfree and unfair, Nigeria has
shown marked improvements in attempts to tackle government
corruption and to hasten development. While Obasanjo showed
willingness to fight corruption, he was accused by others of the
same.
Umaru Yar'Adua, of the
People's Democratic
Party, came into power in the
general election of 2007 –
an election that was witnessed and condemned by the international
community as being massively flawed.
Ethnic
violence over the oil producing Niger Delta region (see Conflict in the Niger Delta) and
inadequate infrastructures are some of the current issues in the
country.
Government and politics
Nigerian National Assembly
Nigeria is a
Federal Republic
modelled after the United States, with
executive power exercised by the
president and with overtones of the
Westminster System model in the
composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the
bicameral legislature.The current president of Nigeria is
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua who was elected in 2007.
The president presides as both
Chief of
State and
Head of Government
and is elected by
popular vote to a
maximum of two four-year terms. The president's power is checked by
a
Senate and a
House of
Representatives, which are combined in a
bicameral body called the
National Assembly. The Senate
is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from
the capital region of Abuja; members are elected by popular vote to
four-year terms. The House contains 360 seats and the number of
seats per state is determined by population.
Ethnocentricism,
tribalism,
sectarianism (especially religious), and
prebendalism have played a visible role
in Nigerian politics both prior and subsequent to independence in
1960. Kin-selective altruism has made its way into Nigerian
politics and has spurned various attempts by tribalists to
concentrate Federal power to a particular region of their
interests.
Nationalism has also led to active
secessionist movements such as MASSOB,
Nationalist movements such as Oodua Peoples Congress, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta
and a civil
war. Nigeria's three largest ethnic groups have
maintained historical preeminence in Nigerian
politics; competition amongst these three groups,
the
Hausa,
Yoruba, and
Igbo,
has fuelled corruption and graft.
Abuja, Capital City of Nigeria
Because of the above issues, Nigeria's current political parties
are
pan-national and irreligious in
character (though this does not preclude the continuing preeminence
of the dominant ethnicities). The major political parties at
present include the ruling
People's Democratic Party of
Nigeria which maintains 223 seats in the House and 76 in the
Senate (61.9% and 69.7% respectively) and is led by the current
President
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua;
the opposition
All Nigeria
People's Party under the leadership of
Muhammadu Buhari has 96 House seats and 27
in the Senate (26.6% and 24.7%). There are also about twenty other
minor opposition parties registered. The immediate past president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, acknowledged
fraud and other electoral "lapses" but said the result reflected
opinion polls. In a national television address he added that if
Nigerians did not like the victory of his handpicked successor they
would have an opportunity to vote again in four years.
Like in many other African societies,
prebendalism and extremely excessive corruption
continue to constitute major challenges to Nigeria, as vote rigging
and other means of coercion are practised by all major parties in
order to remain competitive. In 1983, it was adjudged by the policy
institute at Kuru that only the 1959 and 1979 elections witnessed
minimal rigging.
Jibrin Ibrahim, Legislation and the Electoral
Process: The Third Term Agenda and the Future of Nigerian
Democracy. Paper for Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)
Nigeria Roundtable, 2006.
Law
There are four distinct systems of law in Nigeria:
- English law which is derived from
its colonial past with Britain;
- Common law, a development of its post
colonial independence;
- Customary law which is derived
from indigenous traditional norms and practice, including the
dispute resolution meetings of pre-colonial Yorubaland secret societies;
- Sharia law, used only in the
predominantly Muslim north of the country. It is an Islamic
legal system which had been used long before the colonial
administration in Nigeria but recently politicised and spearheaded
in Zamfara
in late 1999 and eleven other states followed
suit. These states are Kano
, Katsina
, Niger
, Bauchi
, Borno
, Kaduna
, Gombe
, Sokoto
, Jigawa
, Yobe
, and Kebbi
.
The country has a
judicial branch,
the highest court of which is the
Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Foreign relations
Upon gaining independence in 1960, Nigeria made the liberation and
restoration of the dignity of Africa the centrepiece of its foreign
policy and played a leading role in the fight against the apartheid
regime in South Africa.
"Collins Edomaruse, how Obasanjo cut UK,
US to size", by Andrew Young, This Day (Nigeria) -, July 20,
2006. One notable exception to the African focus
of Nigeria's foreign policy was the close relationship the country
enjoyed with Israel
throughout
the 1960s, with the latter country sponsoring and overseeing the
construction of Nigeria's parliament buildings.
Nigeria's foreign policy was soon tested in the 1970s after the
country emerged united from its own civil war and quickly committed
itself to the liberation struggles going on in the Southern Africa
sub-region. Though Nigeria never sent an expeditionary force in
that struggle, it offered more than rhetoric to the
African National Congress (ANC) by
taking a committed tough line with regard to the racist regime and
their incursions in southern Africa, in addition to expediting
large sums to aid anti-colonial struggles. Nigeria was also a
founding member of the
Organization for African
Unity (now the
African Union), and
has tremendous influence in
West Africa
and Africa on the whole.
Nigeria has additionally founded regional
cooperative efforts in West Africa, functioning as standard-bearer
for ECOWAS
and
ECOMOG, economic and military organizations
respectively.
With this
African-centred stance, Nigeria readily sent troops to the Congo at the behest of the United Nations shortly after independence
(and has maintained membership since that time); Nigeria also
supported several Pan African and pro-self government causes in the
1970s, including garnering support for Angola's
MPLA, SWAPO in Namibia
, and aiding anti-colonial struggles in Mozambique, and Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) military and
economically.
Nigeria retains membership in the
Non-Aligned Movement, and in late
November 2006 organized an Africa-South America Summit in Abuja to
promote what some attendees termed "South-South" linkages on a
variety of fronts. Nigeria is also a member of the
International Criminal Court,
and the
Commonwealth of
Nations, from which it was temporarily expelled in 1995 under
the
Abacha regime.
Nigeria has remained a key player in the
international oil industry since the
1970s, and maintains membership in
Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC
which it joined in July, 1971.
Its status
as a major petroleum producer figures prominently in its
sometimes vicissitudinous international relations with both
developed countries, notably the
United States and more recently China
and
developing countries, notably Ghana, Jamaica and Kenya.Shaw
Timothy, The State of Nigeria: Oil Prices Power Bases and Foreign
Policy, Canadian Journal of African Studies, Vol 18, no 2,
1984.
Millions of Nigerians have emigrated at times of economic hardship
to Europe, North America and Australia among others. It is
estimated that over a million
Nigerians have emigrated to the United
States and constitute the
Nigerian
American populace. Of such Diasporic communities include the
"Egbe Omo Yoruba" society.
Military
The Nigerian Military are charged with protecting The Federal
Republic of Nigeria, promoting Nigeria's global security interests,
and supporting peacekeeping efforts especially in West
Africa.
The Nigerian Military consist of an Army, a Navy and an Air Force.
The military in Nigeria have played a major role in the country's
history since independence. Various juntas have seized control of
the country and ruled it through most of its history. Its last
period of rule ended in 1999 following the sudden death of former
dictator
Sani Abacha in 1998, with his
successor, Abdulsalam Abubakar handing over to the democratically
elected government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
Taking advantage of its role of Africa's most populated country,
Nigeria has repositioned its military as an African peacekeeping
force.
Since 1995, the Nigerian military through
ECOMOG mandates have been deployed as
peacekeepers in Liberia
(1997), Ivory Coast
(1997–1999), Sierra Leone
1997–1999, and presently in Sudan
's Darfur region under an African Union
mandate.
Geography
Lagos famous Alpha Beach
Nigeria is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and has
a total area of , making it the world's 32nd-largest country (after
Tanzania).
It is comparable in size to Venezuela
, and is about twice the size of California
. It shares a border with Benin
(773 km), Niger (1497 km), Chad (87 km), Cameroon
(1690 km), and has a coastline of at least 853 km.
The
highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi
at . The main rivers are the Niger and the Benue
which
converge and empty into the Niger Delta, the world's largest river deltas.
Nigeria is also an important centre for
biodiversity.
It is widely believed that the areas
surrounding Calabar
, Cross River State, contain the world's largest
diversity of butterflies.
The
drill monkey is only found in the
wild in Southeast Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon.
Nigeria has a varied landscape. The far south is defined by its
tropical rainforest climate,
where annual rainfall is a year. In the southeast stand the
Obudu Hills.
Coastal plains are found in both the southwest
and the southeast.. This forest zone's most southerly portion is
defined as salt water swamp, also known as a mangrove swamp because
of the large amount of
mangroves in the
area. North of this is fresh water swamp, containing different
vegetation from the salt water swamp, and north of that is rain
forest.
Nigeria's
most expansive topographical region is that of the valleys of the
Niger and Benue River valleys (which merge into each other and form a "y"
shape).. To the southwest of the Niger there is
"rugged" highland, and to the
southeast of the Benue hills and mountains are found all the way to
the border with Cameroon, this montane land is part
of the Cameroonian
Highlands forests ecoregion.
The area near the border with Cameroon close to the coast is rich
rainforest and part of the
Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal
forests ecoregion, an important centre for
biodiversity including the
drill monkey which is only found in the wild
in this area and across the border in Cameroon.
It is widely believed
that the areas surrounding Calabar, Cross River State, also in this forest, contain
the world's largest diversity of butterflies. The area of southern Nigeria
between the
Niger and the
Cross River has seen its forest more
or less disappear to be replaced by grassland (
see Cross-Niger transition
forests).
Everything in between the far south and the far north, is
savannah(insignificant tree cover, with grasses and
flowers located between trees), and rainfall is between per year.
The savannah zone's three categories are
Guinean forest-savanna mosaic,
plains of tall grass which are interrupted by trees and the most
common across the country: Sudan savannah, similar but with
"shorter grasses and shorter trees; and
Sahel
savannah, comprised patches of grass and sand, found in the
northeast..To the north is the
Sahel with its
almost desert-like climate, where rain is less than per year and
the
Sahara Desert is encroaching.
In the
dry north-east corner of the country lies Lake Chad
, which Nigeria shares with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Environmental issues
Alawi Way in Lagos, Nigeria
Nigeria's Delta region, home of the large
oil industry, experiences serious
oil spills and other environmental
problems. See
Environmental issues in
the Niger Delta for more details, and
Conflict in the Niger Delta
about strife which has arisen in connection with those
issues.
Waste management including
sewage treatment, the linked processes of
deforestation and
soil degradation, and
climate change or
global warming are the major environmental
problems in Nigeria.
Waste management presents problems in a
mega
city like Lagos and other major Nigerian cities which are
linked with economic development, population growth and the
inability of municipal councils to manage the resulting rise in
industrial and domestic waste.
Haphazard industrial planning, increased urbanization, poverty and
lack of competence of the municipal government are seen as the
major reasons for high levels of waste
pollution in major Nigerian cities. Some of the
'solutions' have been disastrous to the environment, resulting in
untreated waste being dumped in places where it can pollute
waterways and groundwater.
In terms of
global warming, Africans
contribute only about one metric ton of carbon dioxide per person
per year. It is perceived by many climate change experts that food
production and security in the northern
sahel
region of the country will suffer as semi-arid areas will have more
dry periods in the future.
Subdivisions
Nigeria
is divided into thirty-six states and one Federal
Capital Territory, which are further sub-divided into 774 Local Government Areas
(LGAs). The plethora of states, of which there were only
three at independence, reflect the country's tumultuous history and
the difficulties of managing such a heterogeneous national entity
at all levels of government.
Nigeria
has six cities with a population of over 1 million people
(from largest to smallest: Lagos, Kano, Ibadan
, Kaduna
, Port Harcourt
, and Benin
City
). Lagos is the
largest city in
sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of over
10 million in
its urban area alone.
Population of Nigeria's cities over a
million include Lagos (7,937,932),
Kano (3,848,885), Ibadan
(3,078,400), Kaduna (1,652,844),
Port
Harcourt
(1,320,214), Benin
City (1,051,600), Maiduguri
(1,044,497) and Zaria
(1,018,827)
Economy
Lagos Central Business District, Lagos
State, Nigeria
Nigeria is classified as an
emerging
market, and is rapidly approaching middle income status , with
its abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal,
communications, transport sectors and stock exchange (the
Nigerian Stock Exchange), which is
the second largest in Africa. Nigeria is ranked 37th in the world
in terms of
GDP as of
2007. Nigeria is the United States' largest trading partner in
sub-Saharan Africa and supplies a fifth of its oil (11% of oil
imports). It has the seventh-largest trade surplus with the U.S. of
any country worldwide. Nigeria is currently the 50th-largest export
market for U.S. goods and the 14th-largest exporter of goods to the
U.S. The United States is the country's largest foreign investor.
The bulk of economic activity is centred in 4 main cities: Lagos,
Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Abuja. Beyond these three economic
centers, development is marginal.
Previously, economic development had been hindered by years of
military rule, corruption, and
mismanagement, the restoration of democracy and subsequent economic
reforms have successfully put Nigeria back on track towards
achieving its full economic potential as one of the Major Economies
in Africa.
Lagos CBD Skyline, Nigeria
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit and the World Bank, Nigerian GDP at purchasing power parity has nearly doubled from $170.7 billion in 2005 to 292.6 billion in 2007. The GDP per head has jumped from $692 per person in 2006 to $1,754 per person in 2007.
During the
oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria
accumulated a significant foreign debt to finance major
infrastructural investments. With the fall of oil prices during the
1980s oil glut Nigeria struggled to
keep up with its loan payments and eventually defaulted on its
principal debt repayments, limiting repayment to the interest
portion of the loans. Arrears and penalty interest accumulated on
the unpaid principal which increased the size of the debt. However,
after negotiations by the Nigeria authorities, in October 2005
Nigeria and its
Paris Club creditors
reached an agreement in which Nigeria repurchased its debt at a
discount of approximately 60%. Nigeria used part of its oil profits
to pay the residual 40%, freeing up at least $1.15 billion
annually for poverty reduction programmes. Nigeria made history in
April 2006 by becoming the first African Country to completely pay
off its debt (estimated $30 billion) owed to the
Paris Club.
Key sectors
Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world and
the 8th largest exporter, and has the 10th largest proven reserves.
(The country joined
OPEC in 1971).
Petroleum plays a large role in the
Nigerian economy, accounting for 40% of GDP and 80% of Government
earnings.
However, agitation for better resource
control in the Niger
Delta, its main oil producing region, has led to
disruptions in oil production and currently prevents the country
from exporting at 100% capacity.
Nigeria has one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets
in the world, major emerging market operators (like MTN, Etisalat,
Zain and Globacom) basing their largest and most profitable centres
in the country. The government has recently begun expanding this
infrastructure to
space based
communications. Nigeria has a space satellite which is
monitored at the Nigerian National Space Research and Development
Agency Headquarters in Abuja.
The country has a highly developed financial services sector, with
a mix of local and international banks, asset management companies,
brokerage houses, insurance companies and brokers, private equity
funds and investment banks.
Nigeria also has a wide array of underexploited mineral resources
which include
natural gas,
coal,
bauxite,
tantalite,
gold,
tin,
iron ore,
limestone,
niobium,
lead and
zinc. Despite huge
deposits of these natural resources, the mining industry in Nigeria
is still in it infancy.
Agriculture used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of
Nigeria. At one time, Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of
groundnut,
cocoa, and
palm oil and a significant producer of
coconuts,
citrus
fruits,
maize,
pearl
millet,
cassava,
yams and
sugar
cane. About 60% of Nigerians work in the agricultural sector,
and Nigeria has vast areas of underutilized arable land.
It also has a manufacturing industry which includes leather and
textiles (centred Kano, Abeokuta, Onitsha, and Lagos), car
manufacturing (for the French car manufacturer
Peugeot as well as for the English truck
manufacturer
Bedford, now a
subsidiary of
General Motors),
t-shirts,
plastics
and
processed food.
The country has recently made considerable amount of revenue from
home made Nigerian Movies which are sold locally and
Internationally. These movies are popular in other African
countries and some parts of Europe.
Demographics
Population density in Nigeria
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa but exactly how
populous is a subject of speculation. The
United Nations estimates that the population
in 2009 was at 154,729,000, distributed as 51.7% rural and 48.3%
urban, and with a population density of 167.5 people per square
kilometer. National census results in the past few decades have
been disputed. The results of the most recent census were released
in December 2006 and gave a population of 140,003,542. The only
breakdown available was by gender: males numbered 71,709,859,
females numbered 68,293,08.
According to the United Nations, Nigeria has been undergoing
explosive population growth and one of the highest growth and
fertility rates in the world. By their projections, Nigeria will be
one of the countries in the world that will account for most of the
world's total population increase by 2050. According to current
data, one out of every four Africans is Nigerian. Presently,
Nigeria is the eighth most populous
country in the world, and even conservative estimates conclude
that more than 20% of the world's black population lives in
Nigeria. 2006 estimates claim 42.3% of the population is between
0–14 years of age, while 54.6% is between 15–65; the
birth rate is significantly higher than the
death rate, at 40.4 and 16.9 per
1000 people respectively.
Health,
health care, and general living
conditions in Nigeria are poor.
Life
expectancy is 47 years (average male/female) and just over half
the population has access to potable water and appropriate
sanitation; the percentage is of children under
five has gone up rather than down between 1990 and 2003 and infant
mortality is 97.1 deaths per 1000
live
births.
HIV/AIDS rate in Nigeria is much lower compared to the
other African nations such as Kenya
or South
Africa whose prevalence (percentage) rates are in the double
digits. In 2003, the HIV prevalence rate among 20 to 29
year-olds was 5.6%. About Nigeria, like many developing countries,
suffers from a
polio crisis as well as
periodic outbreaks of
cholera,
malaria, and
sleeping sickness. As of 2004, there
has been a vaccination drive, spearheaded by the
W.H.O., to combat
polio and
malaria that has been
met with controversy in some regions.
Education is also in a state of neglect.
After the 1970s oil boom, tertiary education was improved so that
it would reach every subregion of Nigeria. Education is provided
free by the government, but the attendance rate for secondary
education is only 29% (32% for males, 27% for females). The
education system has been described as "dysfunctional" largely
because of decaying institutional infrastructure. 68% of the
population is
literate, and the rate for
men (75.7%) is higher than that for women (60.6%).
Nigeria's
largest city is Lagos.
Lagos has grown from 300,000 in 1950 to an estimated 15 million
today, and the Nigerian government estimates that city will have
expanded to 25 million residents by 2015.
Ethno-linguistic groups
|-
|
|
|
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|A Hausa harpist
|Igbo men
|Yoruba drummers
Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups, with varying languages and
customs, creating a country of rich ethnic diversity.
The largest ethnic
groups are the Fulani/Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, accounting for 68% of population, while
the Edo, Ijaw
, Kanuri, Ibibio, Ebira
Nupe and Tiv comprise 27%;
other minorities make up the remaining 7 percent. The middle
belt of Nigeria is known for its diversity of ethnic groups,
including the Pyem, Goemai, and
Kofyar.
There are
small minorities of British, Americans
, East Indians,
Chinese (est. 50,000), white
Zimbabweans, Japanese, Greeks, Syrian
, Lebanese and refugees and immigrants from
other West African or East African nations. These minorities
mostly reside in major cities such as Lagos and Abuja, or in the
Niger
Delta as employees for the major oil companies.
A number
of Cubans
settled
Nigeria as political refugees following the Cuban Revolution.
In the
middle of the nineteenth century, a number of ex-slaves of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian descent and emigrants from
Sierra
Leone established communities in Lagos, Ibadan and other
regions of Nigeria. Many ex-slaves came to Nigeria following
the
emancipation of
slaves in
Latin America.
Many of
the immigrants, sometimes called Saros
(immigrants from Sierra Leone) and Amaro (ex-slaves from Brazil
) later
became prominent merchants and missionaries in Lagos and Abeokuta
.
Language
Linguistic map of Nigeria, Cameroon,
and Benin
The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in
Nigeria is 521. This number includes 510 living languages, two
second languages without native speakers and nine extinct
languages. In some areas of Nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than
one language. The official language of Nigeria, English, was chosen
to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. The
choice of English as the official language was partially related to
the fact that a part of the Nigerian population spoke English as a
result of British colonization that ended in 1960.
The major
languages spoken in Nigeria represent three major families of
African languages – the majority
are Niger-Congo languages, such as
Yoruba, Igbo, the Hausa
language is Afro-Asiatic; and
Kanuri, spoken in the northeast,
primarily Borno
State, is a member of the Nilo-Saharan family. Even though most
ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages,
English, being the official language, is widely used for education,
business transactions and for official purposes. English as a first
language, however, remains an exclusive preserve of a small
minority of the country's urban elite, and it is not spoken at all
in some rural areas. With the majority of Nigeria's populace in the
rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country
remain indigenous languages. Some of the largest of these, notably
Yoruba and Ibo, have derived standardized languages from a number
of different dialects and are widely spoken by those ethnic groups.
Nigerian Pidgin English,
often known simply as '
Pidgin' or 'Broken'
(Broken English), is also a popular lingua franca, though with
varying regional influences on dialect and
slang.
The pidgin English or Nigerian English is
widely spoken within the Niger Delta Regions, predominately in Warri
, Sapele, Port Harcourt, Agenebode, and Benin City.
Culture
Literature
Nigeria has a rich literary history, and Nigerians have authored
many influential works of
post-colonial literature in the
English language. Nigeria's
best-known writers are
Wole Soyinka,
the first African
Nobel
Laureate in Literature, and
Chinua
Achebe, best known for the novel,
Things Fall Apart and his
controversial critique of
Joseph
Conrad. Other Nigerian
writers and
poets who are well known
internationally include
John Pepper
Clark,
Ben Okri,
Buchi Emecheta,
Helon
Habila,
Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie, 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 in 2003.
Music and film
Nigeria
(naija) 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.
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 20th century musicians such as
Fela
Kuti have famously fused cultural elements of various
indigenous music with American
Jazz and
Soul to form
Afrobeat music.
Adams, S. Black
President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: New Museum of
Contemporary Art, New York, New York; This Is Lagos: Yabis Night,
Music and Fela: Skoto Gallery, New York, New York [Exhibit].
African Arts v. 37 no. 1 (Spring 2004 Country .
JuJu music which is
percussion music fused with
traditional music from the
Yoruba
nation and made famous by
King Sunny
Adé, 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.
There is a budding
hip hop movement
in Nigeria.
Kennis Music, the self
proclaimed "No 1 Record Label in Africa" and one of Nigeria's
biggest record labels, has a roster almost entirely dominated by
hip hop artists.
Some famous musicians that come from Nigeria are
Fela Kuti,
Adewale
Ayuba,
Ezebuiro Obinna,
Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde
Barrister,
King Sunny Adé,
Ebenezer Obey,
Femi Kuti,
Lagbaja,
Dr. Alban,
Sade
Adu, Wasiu Alabi,
Bola Abimbola
and
Tuface Idibia.
In November 2008, Nigeria's music scene (and that of Africa)
received international attention when
MTV hosted
the continent's first African music awards show in Abuja.
The Nigerian film industry is known as
Nollywood. Many of the
film
studios are based in Lagos and Abuja and the industry is now a
very lucrative income for these cities.
Religion
Osun temple.
Nigeria is home to a variety of religions which tend to vary
regionally. This situation accentuates regional and ethnic
distinctions and has often been seen as a source of sectarian
conflict amongst the population. The main religions are
Islam (
see Islam in
Nigeria),
Christianity
(
see Christianity in
Nigeria), and indigenous religions, most notably Yoruba
Orisha or Orisa veneration and
Ifá and
Igbo Odinani. Christianity is concentrated in the south
while Islam dominates in the north; central regions tend to be
religiously divided.
The majority of Nigerian Muslims are
Sunni
(95%), but a significant
Shia minority exists
(
see Shia in Nigeria). Some
northern states have incorporated
Sharia law
into their previously secular legal systems, which has brought
about some controversy.
Kano
State has sought to incorporate Sharia law into its
constitution.
Christian Nigerians are about evenly split between
Roman Catholicism and
Protestantism. Leading Protestant churches are
the
Church of Nigeria, of the
Anglican communion, and the
Nigerian Baptist Convention. The
Yoruba area contains a large Anglican population, while Igboland is
predominantly Catholic.
Across
Yorubaland (western Nigeria,
Benin, Togo), many people are adherents to Yorubo/Irunmole
spirituality with its philosophy of divine destiny that all can
become
Orisha (
ori, spiritual head;
sha, is chosen: to be one with Olodumare (
oni
odu, the God source of all energy;
ma re, enlighthens
/ triumphs).
Other minority religious and spiritual groups in Nigeria include
Hinduism,
Judaism, The
Bahá’í Faith, and
Chrislam (a
syncretic
faith melding elements of Christianity and Islam). Further, Nigeria
has become an African hub for the
Grail
Movement, the
Rosicrucian order
(
AMORC), and the
Hare
Krishnas.
Cuisine
Nigerian cuisine, like West African cuisine in general, is known
for its richness and variety. Many different
spices,
herbs and flavourings are
used in conjunction with
palm oil or
groundnut oil to create deeply flavoured
sauces and soups often made very hot with
chilli peppers. Nigerian feasts are colourful
and lavish, while aromatic market and roadside snacks cooked on
barbecues or fried in oil are plentiful and varied.
Sport
Nigerian football fans at a football match between the Ivorian and
Nigerian football team.
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, won the African Cup of Nations in
1980 and
1994, and also hosted the Junior
World Cup. They won the gold medal for football in the
1996 Summer Olympics (in which they
beat Argentina) and have reached the finals of the U-20 World
Championship in 2005. In September 2007, Nigeria won the U-17 World
cup for the third time, becoming the first African nation to have
achieved that feat and the second nation (after Brazil) to do so.
Nigeria had previously won the very first U-17 tournament in 1985
(China '85), 1993 (Japan '93) and in 2007 (Korea '07).
The nation's cadet team to Japan '93 produced some of the world's
finest players notably
Nwankwo Kanu, a
two-time African Footballer of the year who won the European
Champions League with Ajax
Amsterdam and later played with
Inter Milan (Italy),
Arsenal FC (London, UK),
West Bromwich Albion (UK) and
Portsmouth F.C. (UK). Other players
that graduated from the Junior teams are
Celestine Babayaro (of
Newcastle United, UK),
Wilson Oruma and
Taye
Taiwo (of Marseille, France).
According to the official September 2007
FIFA World Rankings, Nigeria was the
top-ranked football nation in Africa and the 19th highest in the
world. Nigeria is also involved in other sports such as
basketball,
cricket and
track
and field. Boxing is also an important sport in Nigeria;
Dick Tiger and
Samuel Peter are both former World
Champions.
Societal issues
Despite its vast government revenue from the mining of petroleum,
Nigeria is faced by a number of societal issues due primarily to a
history of inefficiency in its governance.
Human rights
Nigeria's human rights record remains poor and government officials
at all levels continue to commit serious abuses.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the most significant
human rights problems are: extrajudicial killings and use of
excessive force by security forces; impunity for abuses by security
forces; arbitrary arrests; prolonged pretrial detention; judicial
corruption and executive influence on the judiciary; rape, torture
and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners,
detainees and suspects; harsh and life‑threatening prison and
detention center conditions; human trafficking for the purpose of
prostitution and forced labor; societal violence and vigilante
killings; child labor, child abuse and child sexual exploitation;
female genital mutilation (FGM); domestic violence; discrimination
based on sex, ethnicity, region and religion; restrictions on
freedom of assembly, movement, press, speech and religion;
infringement of privacy rights; and the abridgement of the right of
citizens to change the government.
Under the Shari'a penal code that applies to Muslims in twelve
northern states, offenses such as alcohol consumption,
homosexuality, infidelity and theft carry harsh sentences,
including amputation, lashing, stoning and long prison terms.
Strife and sectarian violence
Because of its multitude of diverse, sometimes competing
ethno-linguistic groups, Nigeria prior to independence has been
faced with sectarian tensions and violence. This is particularly a
major issue in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, where both
state and civilian forces employ varying methods of coercion in
attempts gain control over regional petroleum resources. Some of
the ethnic groups like the
Ogoni, have
experienced severe environmental degradation due to petroleum
extraction.
Since the end of the civil war in 1970, some ethnic violence has
persisted. There has subsequently been a period of relative harmony
since the Federal Government introduced tough new measures against
religious violence in all affected parts of the country.
In 2002,
organizers of the Miss World Pageant were
forced to move the pageant from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to London
in the wake of violent protests in the Northern part of the country
that left more than 100 people dead and over 500
injured. The rioting erupted after Muslims in the country
reacted in anger to comments made by a newspaper reporter.
Rioters
in Kaduna killed an
estimated 105 men, women, and children with a further 521 injured
taken to hospital.
Health issues
Nigeria has been reorganizing its health system since the
Bamako Initiative of 1987 formally
promoted community-based methods of increasing accessibility of
drugs and health care services to the population, in part by
implementing user fees. The new strategy dramatically increased
accessibility through community-based healthcare reform, resulting
in more efficient and equitable provision of services.A
comprehensive approach strategy was extended to all areas of health
care, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and
improvement in health care efficiency and cost.
The Nigerian health care system is continuously faced with a
shortage of doctors known as '
brain
drain' due to the fact that many highly skilled Nigerian
doctors emigrate to North America and Europe. In 1995, It was
estimated that 21,000 Nigerian doctors were practicing in the
United States alone, which about the same as the number of doctors
working in the Nigerian public service. Retaining these expensively
trained professionals has been identified as one of the goals of
the government.
Education
Nigeria provides free, government-supported education, but
attendance is not compulsory at any level, and certain groups, such
as nomads and the handicapped, are under-served. The education
system consists of six years of primary school, three years of
junior secondary school, three years of senior secondary school,
and four years of university education leading to a bachelor’s
degree. The rate of secondary school attendance is 32 percent for
males and 27 percent for females. In 2004 the Nigerian National
Planning Commission described the country’s education system as
“dysfunctional.” Reasons for this characterization included
decaying institutions and ill-prepared graduates.
Happiness survey
In 2003, Nigerians were reported to be the happiest people in a
scientific survey carried out in 65 nations in 1999–2001. The
research was reported by one of the world's top science magazines,
New Scientist, and was picked
up by a number of news outlets. See
Nigeria tops happiness survey. The report
considered that the country's family life and culture were more
important than its problems and material wealth in determining
happiness.
Crime
A type of
advance fee fraud known
as "419" (named after Section 419 of the Nigerian Penal Code) and
the "Nigerian scam" is a form of
confidence trick practiced by individuals
and criminal syndicates (
organized
crime) that is commonly associated with Nigeria, though it is
now used in other places. The confidence man persuades the target
to advance relatively small sums of money (the advance fee) in the
hope of realizing a much larger gain (usually touted as millions).
In 2003, the Nigerian
Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (or EFCC) was created to combat this and
other forms of organized financial crime. It has succeeded in
bringing several "419"
crime bosses to
justice and in some cases has been able to return the stolen money
to victims.
Media representation
Documentary
See also
References
- McIntosh, Susan Keech, Current directions in west African
prehistory. Palo Alto, California: Annual Reviews Inc., 1981.
215–258 p.: ill.
- Shaw, Thurstan, Nigeria: Its Archaeology and early history.
Retrieved February 22, 2007.
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Black History.
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Intensify, Financial Times, February 24, 1986.
- Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who served
briefly as Nigeria's second president, devoted his government to
combating this phenomenon with Decree 33, which banned 81 political
parties and 26 tribal and cultural organizations in the name of
national unity. See Osaghae, The Crippled Giant: Nigeria Since
Independence, Indiana University Press, 1998, p. 57. ISBN
0-253-21197-2.
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Sub-Nationalism in Nigeria: Movement for a Mid-West State/Ethnic
Politics in Kenya and Nigeria/Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in
Nigeria", in African Studies Review, September, 2003.
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Realities of Regionalism" in Capitol Scholar.
- Sharia Law in the Northern States of Nigeria: To
Implement or Not to Implement, the Constitutionality is the
Question.
- Golda. Elinor Burkett, p. 202.
- See, e.g., the African Union website, at
http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/Past/2006/November/SummitASA/summit.htm
- "Egbe
Omo Yoruba, National Association Of Yoruba descendants in North
America", yorubanation.org, May 19, 2007.
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Independent (London), March 11, 1998.
- Rank Order - Area.
- CIA World Factbook. Note that coastlines, and
borders based on rivers or natural features, are fractals, the
length of which is imprecise and depends on the measurement
convention adopted.
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Management: A Tool for Environmental Protection in Nigeria." A
Journal of the Human Environment, 31, (1)
(February 2002).
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Climate Change Burden Is Greater". Environmental Health
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May 15, 2007.
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www.economist.com.
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Congress – Federal Research Division. Country Profile- Nigeria (2006).
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Geographic.
- Lagos, the mega-city of slums, irinnews.org,
September 5, 2006.
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(Random House, 2002).
- China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More
Migration, By Malia Politzer, Migration Information
Source, August 2008.
- Why white Zimbabwean farmers plan to stay in
Nigeria, By Sarah Simpson, csmonitor.com, May 2, 2008.
- Toyin Falola; The History of Nigeria, Greenwood Press, 1999.
pp. 41,47.
- Abiola Dosumu Elegbede-Fernandez, Lagos A Legacy of Honour.
Spectrum Books, 1992. pp. 19,27.
- Nigeria - Media at
www.nationsencyclopedia.com.
- Osita Agbu; Ethnic Militias and the Threat to Democracy in
Post-Transition Nigeria, Nordic African Institute, 2004, p. 6.
- Owobi Angrew, Tiptoeing Through A Constitutional Minefield:
The Great Sharia Controversy in Nigeria, Journal Of African law,
Vol 48, No 2, 2002.
- "Kano Seeks Supremacy of Sharia Over
Constitution", wwrn.org, Accessed May 19, 2007.
- "Adherents by Location", Adherents.com, Accessed May
19, 2007.
- "In African, Islam and Christianity are growing -
and blending", csmonitor.com, Accessed May 19, 2007.
- "Grail Movement - Nigeria",
grailmovementnigeria.org, Accessed May 19, 2007.
- "Region Three covers Nigeria", amorc.org.uk, Accessed
May 19, 2007.
- "Day Hare Krishna Came to Town", wwrn.org,
Accessed May 19, 2007.
- H.O. Anthonio & M. Isoun: "Nigerian Cookbook". Macmillan,
Lagos, 1982.
- AFRICABASKET, "Nigerian Basketball", Africabasket.com,
Accessed April 29, 2007.
- Mike Chinedu Anekwe: "Brain Drain: The Nigerian
Experience." Niger Delta Congress website accessed
April 8, 2007.
- Nigeria country profile. Library of
Congress Federal Research Division (June
2006). This article incorporates text from this source, which
is in the public
domain.
- BBC: Nigeria tops happiness survey, Thursday,
October 2, 2003. Website accessed March 26, 2007.
-
http://web.archive.org/web/20050115001333/http://www.haverford.edu/pols/faculty/glickman/Articles/CJAS_Text_final_1-35.pdf
- http://www.efccnigeria.org
External links
- Government
- General information
- News media
- Tourism
Ben Addelman and
Samir Mallal about the Nigerian film
industry, Nollywood. It
premiered at the Festival de nouveau cinéma de Montréal 2008.
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