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Early
history
The
first known civilisation in Nigeria was that of the
Nok. The Nok were an
iron age people existing from 500 BC until about 200 AD on the
Jos plateau in north-eastern Nigeria.
The
Kanem-Bornu Empire near
Lake Chad dominated
northern Nigeria for over 600 years, prospering as a terminal of
north-south trade between North African
Berbers and forest
people. In the early 19th century,
Usman dan Fodio brought
most areas in the north under the loose control of an Islamic
empire centred at Sokoto.
The
kingdoms of
Ife and
Oyo in the southwest
and
Benin in the south
developed elaborate systems of political organisation in the
15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
Ife and Benin are noted
for their prized artistic works in ivory, wood, bronze, and
brass.
In the
southeast, the populous village-networks of the
Igbo and other
acephalous groups like the
Ibibio were mostly
governed by indigenous African notions of egalitarianism and
democracy. Some of the oldest artwork found in West Africa was
recovered in this region, with the Igbo-Ukwu bronze sculptures
being among the most famous.
Colonialism and pre-independence
In the
17th through 19th centuries, European traders established
coastal ports for the increasing traffic in
slaves destined for the
American continent. Commodity trade replaced slave trade in the
19th century.
The
Royal Niger Company was
chartered by the
British government in
1886. Northern and Southern Nigeria became British protectorates
in 1901 and were amalgamated into a single colony in 1914. In
response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism following
World War II, the
British moved the colony towards self-government on a federal
basis.
Independence
Nigeria won full independence in 1960, as a federation of three
regions, each retaining a substantial measure of
self-government. At the time of Nigeria's first elections in
1959, there were a number of prominent parties:
Nnamdi Azikiwe's
National Council of Nigerian and the Cameroons (NCNC) which had
control of the Eastern Region;
Ahmadu Bello's Northern
People's Congress (NPC), which had control of the Northern
Region; and
Obafemi Awolowo's
Action Group (AG) which had control of the Western Region.
When
no party won a majority during the 1959 elections, the NPC
combined with the NCNC to form a government, and when
independence arrived in 1960,
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
was made the Prime Minister, and
Nnamdi Azikiwe was made
the Governor General.
As
with much of Nigerian history, severe conflicts developed within
the ruling coalition. In 1962, part of the Action Group split
off to form the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), led
by S.I. Akintola. In 1963, the Mid-Western Region was formed
from part of the Western Region. When Nigeria became a Republic
in 1963, Nnamdi Azikiwe was made the President of the Federal
Republic. However, in 1964, a great controversy broke out, over
the 1963 population census, with the NCNC claiming that there
was an overestimatation of the number of people in the Northern
Region, thus giving the north a greater representation in the
federal parliament.
Army
coups of 1966
In
1966, two successive
coups by different
groups of army officers brought the country under military rule.
In January of that year, a number of junior army officers staged
a coup d'état to overthrow the government, in the process
killing Balewa, Bello, Akintola and some senior officers.
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
who successfully stopped the coup, was put in charge of the
military government which was to be the first of many. Despite
the fact that this coup was tremendously violent, the new
government did promise a progressive agenda – a return to
civilian rule determined by elections and vowed to stamp out
corruption and stop violence, and this particularly appealed to
the youth. Furthermore,
Aguiyi-Ironsi tried to
restore discipline within the army. He suspended the regional
constitution with its different regions, dissolved all
legislative bodies, banned political parties, and formed a
Federal Military Government with the aim of centralising
governance. A decree was issued, that March, to abolish the
federation, and unify the federal and regional civil servants.
Many accused Aguiyi-Ironsi of favouring the Igbos over other
ethnic groups and the fact that the military government did not
prosecute the officers that killed the northern leaders stirred
further rage. Though Aguiyi-Ironsi had some concessions like
protecting the northerners from southern competition in the
civil service, many northerners felt like the coup was a plot to
make the Igbos dominant in Nigeria. Fighting broke out for a
while between the northerners and the Igbo, and in July of the
same year, northern officers staged another coup, killing
Aguiyi-Ironsi and many other Igbo officials. The Muslim officers
chose
Yakubu Gowon (who was a
Christian) as the new ruler. Gowon had not actually been
involved in the coup, but they felt he would be a compromising
candidate to head the Federal Military Government. His first
steps included restoring federalism, and releasing Awolowo
(jailed in 1964 for treason), from prison.
Gowon
vowed to start Nigeria along the road to civilian government.
However, now the Igbos were becoming more and more afraid of
their position in Nigeria. In 1967, when Gowon moved to split
the four existing regions into 12 states,
Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, the
leader of the Eastern Region refused to accept this, and
declared that the Eastern Region would become its own
independent republic, named
Biafra. This was not
accepted, and in June 1967, a civil war broke out between Biafra
and the remainder of Nigeria.
Civil
war
Main article:
Nigerian Civil War
Following the creation of Biafra, war broke out between the
Federal Government and the Igbo dominated eastern region. Under
Brigadiers Adekunle, Obasanjo and Murtala Mohammed, a systematic
battle plan that comprised saturated air bombings and starvation
forced the Biafran rebels to capitulate. On
15 January
1970, left with the
choice of surrender and the total destruction of the Biafran
populace,
Philip Effiong, Chief
of Staff of the rebel army accepted the terms of surrender
before
Yakubu Gowon, Head of
the Northern-dominated federal government.
Military government, 1974-1979
In
1974, Gowon broke his promise to return the nation to civilian
rule, and in July 1975, there was yet another military coup, the
first of many bloodless coups. This brought the hugely popular
Murtala Ramat Mohammed
to power. As his predecessors had done, Murtala Mohammed
promised to lead Nigeria back into civilian rule. In February
1976, there was an attempted coup by Buka Dimka, and though it
was unsuccessful, Muhammed was killed. So, Olusegun Obasanjo was
chosen to take his place as the new ruler, and promised to
continue what Muhammed had started. During his term, he raised
University fees, and this led to student riots. The government
then banned student organisations, restricted public opposition
to the regime, controlled union activity, and nationalised land.
Controversy trailed his indigenisation of foreign businesses
perceived to be much to the advantage of his own Yoruba people
who were the larger population in the then capital Lagos and the
increased oil industry regulation. However, in 1978, Obasanjo
did set up a new constitution, one that would return the country
to the much awaited state of civilian rule. Elections were
finally held in 1979, bringing
Shehu Shagari into
office as the new President of Nigeria.
Army
coup of 1983
While
Shagari was able to serve his entire term and was, in fact the
victor of the 1983 elections, many people believed the elections
were rigged and the rightful leader was Obafemi Awolowo. This
set the stage for yet another coup, this time on
December 31,
1983. The new military
government, under Muhammadu Buhari was welcomed at the time,
because many felt that the nation had further deteriorated into
more shameless corruption and economic mismanagement, under the
supposedly democratically elected government of
Shehu Shagari. Buhari
set out to try to revive the economy, and this took priority
over everything else, including returning the country to
civilian rule. He also took security of the government as a high
priority, restricted freedom of the press, suppressed criticism
of the government, and outlawed many organisations. Moreover, he
declared a "War Against Indiscipline" to deal with such aspects
as public behaviour, sanitation, public appearance, corruption,
smuggling, and patriotism. He also took many other measures of
austerity that made it difficult for some companies to run, and
this eventually led to high inflation and thus a much higher
cost of living.
Army
coup of 1985
Yet
another bloodless coup took place on
August 27,
1985. This time
Ibrahim Babangida (Buhari's
chief of army staff before the coup) was named the ruler.
Babangida claimed that Buhari's regime was insensitive to the
feelings of the Nigerian masses, especially with regards to the
restrictions imposed on the press. He started his rule claiming
to be a human rights activist, but this image faded with time.
Though he released some of the politicians that Buhari
incarcerated, he also hounded opposition interest groups, and
detained many radical people for various offenses, and even had
a decree to facilitate some oppressive acts. As concerns his
economic policy, Babangida introduced market reforms, freeing
exchange and interest rates, and this led to a sharp drop in the
value of the Nigerian currency, while raising lending rates to
more than 40 percent.
In
April 1986, there was another attempted coup by Mamman Vatsa,
and him and his followers were executed. On
April 22,
1990, there was yet
another attempted coup by Gideon Orkar that failed, but almost
killed Babangida, whose bedroom had been bombed. Unlike previous
coups and attempted coups, this coup was believed to have been
heavily funded by civilians, suggesting that they were willing
to have another military ruler over Babangida.
New
constitution and failed elections
As per
a new constitution that was drafted in 1990, the country was to
return to civilian rule in 1992. As the date approached, there
were many suspicions that this promise was not going to be kept.
Pressure started mounting on the military government, and
finally, in 1992, an election took place. However, the Babangida
government annulled the results of that election, claiming
fraud, and postponed a re-run of the elections for a year.
Another election was held in June 1993, and on
June 12,
1993, the winner was
declared to be Moshood Abiola. Babangida again claimed fraud,
and annulled the results of this election, which was believed to
be the first fair election held in the history of Nigeria. This
led to great unrest, all over Nigeria. Hundreds of demonstrators
were killed, human rights and pro-democracy activists were
arrested, and opposition newspapers were shut down. The pressure
mounted anyway, and finally on
August 27,
1993, Babangida
resigned, and appointed Ernest Shonekan, a civilian, in place as
the head of an interim civilian government.
Shonekan's rule was the shortest rule in Nigerian history,
lasting less than three months. The Government was declared
illegal and unconstitutional by a High Court, and General
Sani Abacha took power
on November 17, 1993. Abacha is believed to have been
instrumental in both the 1983 and the 1985 coups, and was
Babangida's defence minister. Abacha, the most infamous of the
infamous Nigerian rulers brought much publicity to Nigeria from
the international community. Initially, Abacha promised to
return the government to civilian rule within two years. In the
meantime, he dismantled all elected institutions, terminated all
national and state assemblies, closed independent publications,
banned all political activity, and suspended the constitution.
On June 12, 1994, Abiola, backed by politicians, retired army
brass, and pro-democracy activists, proclaimed himself as the
president. He was imprisoned on charges of treason, and in 1996,
he was placed in solitary confinement. Following Abiola's, his
wife, Kudirat Abiola, launched a campaign for democracy and
human rights. She held pro-democracy rallies, defied the
military decree banning political associations, presented
victims of military repression to international fact-finding
missions, inspired many other people, especially women, and won
the "Woman of the Year" awards in both 1994 and 1995. However,
on
June 4,
1996, she was
assassinated, and quite naturally, the assassination was
attributed to the military government of Sani Abacha
Attempted coup and international condemnation
On
March 1,
1995 there was another
attempted coup by Lawan Gwadabe. Also suspected as part of this
coup were Olusegun Obasanjo (a previous president) and Shehu
Musa Yar'Adua. They were sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for
this. Yar'Adua died while in prison, and Obasanjo was there for
the remainder of Abacha's life. Also arrested sometime during
1995 was Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, a human rights activist who had
been repeatedly arrested and released, but this time was charged
with treason, and sentenced to life imprisonment, which was
later reduced to 15 years, even against High Court rulings, and
Amnesty International. He was also in jail for the remainder of
Abacha's life.
Also
in 1995, was the giant controversy that brought the Ogoni people
into the spotlight.
Ken Saro-Wiwa, an
environmentalist and playwright, had been critical of the
Nigerian government for the environmental damages being
inflicted on the land inhabited by the Ogoni people, due to the
oil industry. Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders were arrested on
charges of conspiring to slay political opponents. On October
31, 1995, all nine leaders were sentenced to death, by hanging.
Opposition for this sentence and an appeal for mercy came from
all over the world, including the Commonwealth, and Nelson
Mandela. However, on
November 10, they were
hung anyway. This stunned the world, and led to the suspension
of Nigeria from the Commonwealth, and Nelson Mandela calling for
international sanctions against Nigerian oil, which account for
more than 90 percent of Nigeria's foreign currency earnings.
Military intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone
Doubtless, this hurt the already bleeding economy and Abacha
tried to improve his image by portraying Nigeria as a regional
peacemaker, and in 1996, even aided a peace agreement that ended
Liberia's seven-year civil war and made way for elections in
Liberia. Also, when a military coup took place in Sierra Leone,
Abacha stepped in, and sent his army on a military assault to
restore the democratically elected government. This did inspire
some amount of confidence from the public who were becoming
increasingly confident that he would return Nigeria to a
democratic rule as he had promised. Nigerian self confidence
also received a boost when the men's national soccer team became
the first African team to win Olympic gold in the
1996 games in Atlanta
where they defeated
Argentina.
On
December 21,
1997, there was
allegedly another attempted coup on the Abacha government by
Oladipo Diya, and he was imprisoned. Many believe that the
incident was fabricated by the Abacha government to justify the
subsequent persecution of Diya. In April 1998, Diya, four other
officers, and a civilian were sentenced to death, while many
others were sentenced to prison terms of varying lengths.
Failed elections of 1998
Elections to return to civilian rule were set for
August 1,
1998, with a return
date to civilian rule set for
October 1,
1998. However, in
April, Abacha became the only nominated candidate for the
presidency. Opposition to his rule had been mounting more and
more in recent months, because it was suspected that he did not
intend to step down. Demonstrations and riots broke out, and
many were killed.
Abacha's reign of terror came to an end when he died
unexpectedly on
June 8,
1998, of a heart
attack.
Abdulsalami Abubakar
became leader of the Provisional Ruling Council. He lifted the
suspension of the 1979 constitution, and was set to release
Chief M.K.O. Abiola the
winner of the 1993 Election before the latter died in July 1998
from what international medical experts initially described as
natural causes; later this was changed to death from poisonous
substance. Court cases since Abiola's death have brought to
light that his tea was poisoned.
The
rise of Obasanjo
In
1999, Nigeria elected
Olusegun Obasanjo as
President in its first elections in 16 years. Obasanjo and his
party also won the turbulent elections of 2003. Although having
won the election, Obasanjo has had a love-hate relationship with
the Nigerian people. With the killing of Justice Bola Ige, an
advocate for peace, justice and openness, many doubt the success
of Nigeria's democratic dream; particularly, with the ever
daunting 2007 election around the corner.
Many
educated Nigerians are leaving the country, causing a massive
"brain drain" on the economy. The corruption of the Nigerian
political class is exemplified by the arrest and trial of the
Inspector General of Police and the recent arrest of
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha,
the governor of
Bayelsa State, in the
United Kingdom on charges of money laundering
olitics
Main article:
Politics of Nigeria
Nigeria is a
Federal Republic,
comprising 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory of
Abuja.
States
-
Main article:
States of Nigeria;
For traditional states, see
Nigerian traditional states
Nigeria is divided
into 36
states and one
territory. Each state
has a
unicameral
House of Assembly and
an elected
Governor, who appoints
an
Executive Council.
Geography
 Nigeria is located on the
Gulf of Guinea. Its
major cities are located in southern lowlands. The central part
of the country contains hills and plateaus. The north consists
of arid plains that border the Sahara. Its neighbouring
countries are
Benin,
Niger,
Chad and
Cameroon.
Forest
and woodland occurs chiefly in the southern third of the
country, which is affected by seasonal rains from the
Atlantic which occur
from June to September. As one progresses northward the country
becomes drier and the vegetation more
savanna in type. The
northern third of the country forms part of the semi-arid
sahel region on the
fringes of the
Sahara desert.
Nigeria is divided roughly in three by the rivers
Niger and
Benue, which flow
through the country from north-east and north-west to meet
roughly in the centre of the country near the new capital city
of
Abuja. From here the
united rivers flow south to the sea at the
Niger Delta. Its
highest point is
Chappal Waddi (2,419
m), on the Cameroonian border.
conomy
Main article:
Economy of Nigeria
The
oil-rich Nigerian economy, long hobbled by political
instability,
corruption, and poor
macroeconomic management, is undergoing substantial economic
reform under the new civilian administration. Nigeria's rulers
stole or misused £220 billion. Nigeria's former military rulers
failed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the
capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of
foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues.
The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with
rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter
of food, has since 1974, been a net importer of basic
foodstuffs.
Mineral resources include
petroleum,
coal and
tin. Agricultural
products include
groundnuts,
palm oil,
cocoa,
citrus Fruits,
maize,
millet,
cassava,
yams and
sugar cane.
Although not a legitimate revenue-generating activity, Nigeria
has become infamous in certain Western circles for the
propagation of
advance fee fraud or
"419" scams via
email.
Demographics
Main article:
Demographics of Nigeria
The
most populous country in
Africa, Nigeria
accounts for approximately one-quarter of the continent's
people. Although fewer than 25% of Nigerians are urban dwellers,
at least 24 cities have populations of more than 100,000 and
45-60% of the population are expected to reside in or around
metropolitan areas by the year 2015.
The
variety of customs, languages, and traditions among Nigeria's
estimated 250 ethnic groups gives the country a rich cultural
diversity. The dominant ethnic group in the northern part are
the
Hausa-Fulani, the
overwhelming majority of whom are
Muslim. Other major
ethnic groups of the north are the
Nupe,
Tiv, and
Kanuri.
The
Yoruba people are predominant in the south, especially the
south-west. Over half of the
Yorubas are
Christian and about a
quarter are
Muslim, with the
remainder following mostly traditional beliefs. The
Ibo (third-largest
ethnic group),
Efik,
Ibibio/Annang, and
Ijaw (the country's
fourth-largest ethnic group) communities also comprise a
substantial segment of the population in that area particularly
the south-east.
Persons of different language backgrounds most commonly
communicate in
English, although
knowledge of two or more Nigerian languages is widespread.
Hausa,
Yoruba, and
Igbo are the most
widely used Nigerian languages.
In
recent years against a background of national economic and
political uncertainty, there has been a radicalisation of
politics particularly in the northern part of the country.
Several northern states have instituted parts of traditional
Islamic
Sharia law including
enforcing the strict separation of the sexes and handing out
mediaeval punishments for crimes such as theft and adultery.
Education
Colleges:
List of Nigerian universities
Public Health Issues
Polio
One
issue which has been complicated by political chaos has been the
effort of the
World Health Organization
to eradicate
polio worldwide.
Northern Nigeria was the location of half of all documented
polio cases in 2003, but Muslim clerics have repeatedly
inveighed against the
vaccine as an effort by
Westerners to
sterilise young
Nigerian Muslim girls. The national vaccination program was
suspended in several states in August of 2003, and the disease
nearly quintupled in frequency (119 cases in first quarter 2004,
vs. 24 in 2003). By May 2004, polio was reported to have spread
from there to several other African nations which had previously
been declared polio-free. On
May 18, the state of
Kano agreed to resume vaccination programmes using vaccines
produced in
Indonesia, not the
US.
[1]
Obstetric Fistula
From a
September 28, 2005, New York Times article:
-
Mostly teenagers who tried to deliver their first child at
home, the girls failed at labor. Their babies were lodged in
their narrow birth canals, and the resulting pressure cut off
blood to vital tissues and ripped holes in their bowels or
urethras, or both. Now their babies were dead. And the
would-be mothers, their insides wrecked, were utterly
incontinent.
This
is
obstetric fistula, a
very painful, preventable condition. Deferred marriage, birth
control and
caesarian section have
all but eliminated this health problem in the developed world.
Also from that article:
-
[Obstetric fistula] is most concentrated in sub-Saharan
Africa, where poverty and rudimentary health care combine with
traditions of home birth and early pregnancy to make women
especially vulnerable. In Nigeria alone, perhaps 400,000 to
800,000 women suffer untreated fistulas, says the United
Nations.
The
United Nations has a campaign to treat and prevent fistulas. See
endfistula.org.
Culture
Main article:
Culture of Nigeria
See
also
Culture and religion
Ethnic groups
Government
News
Overviews
Communities
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