Nigeria
The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria accounts for over half
of West Africa's population. Although less than 25% of Nigerians are
urban dwellers, at least 24 cities have populations of more than
100,000. The variety of customs, languages, and traditions among
Nigeria's 250 ethnic groups gives the country a rich diversity. The
dominant ethnic group in the northern two-thirds of the country is
the Hausa-Fulani, most of whom are Muslim. Other major ethnic groups
of the north are the Nupe, Tiv, and Kanuri. The Yoruba people are
predominant in the southwest.
About half of the Yorubas are Christian and half Muslim. The
predominantly Catholic Igbo are the largest ethnic group in the
southeast, with the Efik, Ibibio, and Ijaw comprising a substantial
segment of the population in that area. Persons of different
language backgrounds most commonly communicate in English, although
knowledge of two or more Nigerian languages is widespread. Hausa,
Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, and Kanuri are the most widely used Nigerian
languages. |
|
In the northern cities of Kano and Katsina, recorded history dates
back to about 1000 AD. In the centuries that followed, these Hausa
kingdoms and the Bornu empire near Lake Chad prospered as important
terminals of north-south trade between North African Berbers and
forest people who exchanged slaves, ivory, and kola nuts for salt,
glass beads, coral, cloth, weapons, brass rods, and cowrie shells
used as currency.
In the southwest, the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo was founded about 1400,
and at its height from the 17th to 19th centuries attained a high
level of political organization and extended as far as modern Togo.
In the south central part of present-day Nigeria, as early as the
15th and 16th centuries, the kingdom of Benin had developed an
efficient army; an elaborate ceremonial court; and artisans whose
works in ivory, wood, bronze, and brass are prized throughout the
world today. In the 17th through 19th centuries, European traders
established coastal ports for the increasing traffic in slaves
destined for the Americas. Commodity trade, especially in palm oil
and timber, replaced slave trade in the 19th century, particularly
under anti-slavery actions by the British Navy. In the early 19th
century the Fulani leader, Usman dan Fodio, promulgated Islam and
that brought most areas in the north under the loose control of an
empire centered in Sokoto.
A British Sphere of Influence
Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the
Nigerian interior. In 1885, British claims to a sphere of influence
in that area received international recognition and, in the
following year, the Royal Niger Company was chartered. 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. 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. 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, increasingly federal,
basis.
Independence
Nigeria was granted full independence in October 1960, as a
federation of three regions (northern, western, and eastern) under a
constitution that provided for a parliamentary form of government.
Under the constitution, each of the three regions retained a
substantial measure of self-government. The federal government was
given exclusive powers in defense and security, foreign relations,
and commercial and fiscal policies. In October 1963, Nigeria altered
its relationship with the United Kingdom by proclaiming itself a
federal republic and promulgating a new constitution. A fourth
region (the midwest) was established that year. From the outset,
Nigeria's ethnic, regional, and religious tensions were magnified by
the significant disparities in economic and educational development
between the south and the north.
On January 15, 1966, a small group of army officers, mostly
southeastern Igbos, overthrew the government and assassinated the
federal prime minister and the premiers of the northern and western
regions. The federal military government that assumed power was
unable to quiet ethnic tensions or produce a constitution acceptable
to all sections of the country. Its efforts to abolish the federal
structure greatly raised tensions and led to another coup in July.
The coup-related massacre of thousands of Igbo in the north prompted
hundreds of thousands of them to return to the southeast, where
increasingly strong Igbo secessionist sentiment emerged.
In a move that gave greater autonomy to minority ethnic groups, the
military divided the four regions into 12 states. The Igbo rejected
attempts at constitutional revisions and insisted on full autonomy
for the east. Finally, in May 1967, Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, the
military governor of the eastern region, who emerged as the leader
of increasing Igbo secessionist sentiment, declared the independence
of the eastern region as the "Republic of Biafra." The ensuing civil
war was bitter and bloody, ending in the defeat of Biafra in 1970.
Following the civil war, reconciliation was rapid and effective, and
the country turned to the task of economic development. Foreign
exchange earnings and government revenues increased spectacularly
with the oil price rises of 1973-74. On July 29, 1975, Gen. Murtala
Muhammed and a group of fellow officers staged a bloodless coup,
accusing Gen. Yakubu Gowon's military government of delaying the
promised return to civilian rule and becoming corrupt and
ineffective. General Muhammed replaced thousands of civil servants
and announced a timetable for the resumption of civilian rule by
October 1, 1979. Muhammed also announced the government's intention
to create new states and to construct a new federal capital in the
center of the country.
General Muhammed was assassinated on February 13, 1976, in an
abortive coup. His chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo,
became head of state. Obasanjo adhered meticulously to the schedule
for return to civilian rule, moving to modernize and streamline the
armed forces and seeking to use oil revenues to diversify and
develop the country's economy. Seven new states were created in
1976, bringing the total to 19. The process of creating additional
states continued until, in 1996, there were 36. |
|
