Nigeria 
i/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/, officially the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a
federal constitutional republic comprising
36 states and its
Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja. 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 in the south lies on the
Gulf of Guinea on the
Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the
Hausa,
Igbo and
Yoruba.
Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims in the North
and Christians in the South; a very small minority practice traditional
religion. Since 2002 there have been a spate of clashes, particularly in
the North of the country, between government forces and the Islamists
Boko Haram, militant jihadists who seek to establish
sharia law.
The people of Nigeria have an
extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE.
[5] The area around the
Benue and
Cross River 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
Niger River
running through the country. The British colonised Nigeria in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century, setting up administrative
structures and law while recognizing traditional chiefs. Nigeria became
independent again in 1960. Several years later, it had civil war as
Biafra tried to establish independence. Military governments in times of
crisis have alternated with democratically elected governments.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the
seventh most populous country in the world, and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is
black.
[6] Its oil reserves have brought great revenues to the country. It is listed among the "
Next Eleven" economies, and is a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations.
History
Early history
The
Nok people of central Nigeria produced the earliest
terracotta sculptures found in the country.
[7] In the northern part of the country,
Kano and
Katsina have a recorded history dating back to around 999 AD.
Hausa kingdoms and the
Kanem-Bornu Empire prospered as trade posts between North and West Africa.
Also in the North, at the beginning of the 19th century under
Usman dan Fodio, the
Fulani led the centralized
Fulani Empire,
which continued until 1903 when the Fulani population and land were
divided into various European colonies. Between 1750 and 1900, one to
two-thirds of the population of the
Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves.
[8]
The royal
Bini mask of ivory, one of Nigeria's most recognized artifacts
The Yoruba kingdoms of
Ife and
Oyo in southwestern Nigeria became prominent in the 12th
[9][10] and 14th
[11]
century respectively. Yoruba mythology states that Ile-Ife is the
source of the human race and that it pre-dates any other civilization.
The oldest signs of human settlement dates back to the 9th century.
[9] Ifẹ produced terracotta and bronze figures, and Ọyọ once extended from western Nigeria to
Togo. The
Kingdom of Benin
is located in southwestern Nigeria. Benin's power lasted between the
15th and 19th century. Their dominance reached as far as the city of Eko
(an
Edo name later changed to
Lagos by the
Portuguese) and further.
[12]
The
Kingdom of Nri of the
Igbo people
started in the 10th century and continued until it lost its sovereignty
to the British in 1911. It is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria.
[13][14] Nri was ruled by the
Eze Nri,
and 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; they trace their lineages back to the
patriarchal king-figure
Eri.
[15] The oldest pieces of bronzes made out of the lost-wax process in West Africa were from
Igbo Ukwu, a city under Nri influence.
[13]
The people traded overland with traders from North Africa for
centuries. In the 16th century, Spanish and Portuguese explorers were
the first Europeans to begin trade in Nigeria, in the port they named
Lagos and in
Calabar. The Europeans traded goods with the peoples of the coast. Soon they also negotiated for a portion of the existing
African slave trade.
Traditionally, peoples captured in war were made slaves by the
conquerors. Usually they were taken back to the conquerors' territory,
put to work and sometimes acculturated and eventually absorbed into the
other culture. When the Europeans entered the trade, they transported
slaves mostly to the Americas to work as laborers. Particularly in what
became the United States, slavery became a permanent racial caste to
which people of African descent were confined. The demands of the slave
trade produced a greater market in slaves than had existed before.
Nigerian ethnic groups were transported to the Americas and the
Caribbean as part of the African diaspora of slavery.
Colonial era
Benin city in the 17th century with the
Oba of Benin in procession. This image appeared in a European book,
Description of Africa, published in Amsterdam in 1668.
[16]
The slave trade was joined by Great Britain and France. The colonial
era is considered to date from 1800, when Great Britain did With rising
anti-slavery sentiment in Great Britain, it abolished its international
slave trade in 1807 together with the United States. Following the
Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain established the
West Africa Squadron in an attempt to halt the international traffic in slaves.
[17] It stopped ships of other nations that were leaving the African coast with slaves; sometimes it would take the freed slaves to
Sierra Leone, its colony in West Africa, rather than return the people to the risk of renewed slavery in other coastal states.
In 1885, British claims to a West African
sphere of influence received recognition from other European nations. The following year, it chartered the
Royal Niger Company 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 1 January 1901, Nigeria became a British
protectorate, part of the
British Empire,
the foremost world power at the time. The independent kingdoms of what
later became Nigeria fought many wars against the British Empire in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries trying to regain independence. By war
the British conquered
Benin in 1897, and in the
Anglo-Aro War
from 1901—1902 defeated other opponents. The restraint or complete
destruction of these states opened up the Niger area to British rule.
In 1914, the British formally united the Niger area as the
Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the
northern and
southern provinces and
Lagos Colony.
The people of the South, with more interaction with the British and
other Europeans due to the coastal economy, adopted Western education
and developed a modern economy more rapidly than in the north. Many of
its elite's sons went to Great Britain for education. The regional
differences continue to be expressed in Nigeria's political life as
well. For instance, northern Nigeria did not outlaw
slavery until 1936.
[18]
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. Nigeria became independent in 1960.
Post-independence
On 1 October 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United
Kingdom. 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 the Yoruba and led by
Obafemi Awolowo.
[19]
The cultural and political differences among Nigeria's dominant ethnic
groups: the Hausa ('Northerners'), Igbo ('Easterners') and Yoruba
('Westerners'), were sharp.
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 its first
president. When elections were held in 1965, the
Nigerian National Democratic Party came to power in Nigeria's Western Region.
Nigerian-Biafran War
The 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 coup plotters murdered Prime Minister Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa, Premier Ahmadu Bello of the Northern Region and Premier
Ladoke Akintola of the Western Region. Despite this, they could not set
up a central government. President Nwafor Orizu was then pressured to
hand over government to the Nigeria Army, under the command of General
JTU Aguyi-Ironsi.
The 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, motivated by ethnic and
religious reasons, resulted in the deaths of many military officers and
civilians, especially those of Igbo descent.
[citation needed]
The violence against the Igbo increased their desire for autonomy. By
May 1967, the Eastern Region voted to declare independence as a state
called the
Republic of Biafra, under the leadership of Lt Colonel
Emeka Ojukwu.
[20] The
Nigerian Civil War
began as the Nigerian (Western and Northern) side attacked Biafra
(South-eastern) on 6 July 1967 at Garkem. The 30 month war, with a long
siege of Biafra and its isolation from trade and supplies, ended in
January 1970.
[21]
Estimates of the number of dead in the former Eastern Region are
between 1 and 3 million people, from warfare, disease, and starvation,
during the 30-month civil war .
[22]
Military era
During the
oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria joined
OPEC,
and the huge revenue generated made the economy richer, although the
military administration did nothing to improve the standard of living of
the population, or to help the small and medium businesses, or even
invest in the infrastructure. As oil revenues fueled the rise of federal
subventions to states, the federal government became the centre of
political struggle and 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; it
did not build economic stability. That spelled doom to
federalism in Nigeria.
[23]
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 became viewed as corrupt and incompetent by
virtually all sectors of Nigerian society. The military coup of
Muhammadu Buhari
shortly after the regime's fraudulent re-election in 1984 was generally
viewed as a positive development by most of the population.
[24]
Buhari promised major reforms, but his government fared little better
than its predecessor. His regime was overthrown by another military coup
in 1985.
[25]
The new head of state,
Ibrahim Babangida,
declared himself president and commander in chief of the armed forces
and the ruling Supreme Military Council. He 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 enrolled Nigeria in the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which aggravated religious tensions in the country.
[26]
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 12 June 1993, Babangida declared that the results
showing a presidential victory for
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola
were null and void. Mass civilian violence erupted in protest, which
effectively shut down the country for weeks and forced Babangida to keep
his promise to relinquish office to a civilian-run government.
[27] Babangida's regime has been considered the most corrupt, and responsible for creating a culture of corruption in Nigeria.
[28]
Ernest Shonekan's caretaker civilian regime was overwhelmed in late 1993 by the military coup of General
Sani Abacha.
He oversaw brutal rule using violence on a wide scale to suppress the
continuing civilian unrest. He shifted money to offshore accounts in
various western European banks and voided coup plots by bribing army
generals. Several hundred million dollars in accounts traced to him were
discovered in 1999.
[29]
The regime came to an end in 1998 when the dictator was found dead amid
questionable circumstances. Abacha's death yielded an opportunity for
return to civilian rule.
Democratic era
Nigeria regained democracy in 1999 when it elected
Olusegun Obasanjo, the former military head of state, as the new
President of Nigeria ending almost 33 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.
Ethnic violence over the oil producing Niger Delta region and inadequate infrastructures are some of the current issues in the country.
Umaru Yar'Adua of the
People's Democratic Party (PDP) came into power in the
general election of 2007 – an election that was witnessed and condemned by the international community as being severely flawed.
[30]
Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010. Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as Yar'Adua's replacement on 6 May 2010,
[31] becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State, while his vice, a former
Kaduna state governor,
Namadi Sambo,
an architect, was chosen on 18 May 2010, by the National Assembly
following President Goodluck Jonathan's nomination for Sambo to be his
Vice President.
[32][33]
Goodluck Jonathan served as Nigeria's president till 16 April 2011, when a new
presidential election in Nigeria
was conducted. Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP was declared the winner on
19 April 2011, having won the election by a total of 22,495,187 of the
39,469,484 votes cast to stand ahead of
Muhammadu Buhari from the main opposition party, the
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which won 12,214,853 of the total votes cast.
[34]
The international media reported the elections as having run smoothly
with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous
elections.
[35]
Boko Haram is an Islamist movement that seeks to abolish the secular system of government and establish
Sharia law in the country.
[36][37] Different regions of Nigeria have seen clashes between Christians and Muslims.
[38]
Government and politics
Nigeria is a Federal Republic modelled
after the United States,
[39] with
executive power exercised by the president and with overtones of the
Westminster System model
[citation needed]
in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the
bicameral legislature. The current president of Nigeria is
Goodluck Jonathan, who succeeded
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to the office in 2010. The president presides as both
Head of State and head of the national executive and is elected by
popular vote to a maximum of two four-year terms.
[2]
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.
[2]
Ethnocentrism, tribalism, religious persecution, 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.
[40] 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 (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) have
maintained historical preeminence in Nigerian politics; competition
amongst these three groups has fuelled corruption and graft.
[41]
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).
[41][42] 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); the opposition
All Nigeria People's Party
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.
[43]
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.
[44]
Law
Main article:
Law of Nigeria
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 and the Èkpè and Okónkò of Igboland and Ibibioland;
- 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.[45]
The country has a
judicial branch, the highest court of which is the
Supreme Court of Nigeria.
[2]
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.
[46] 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.
[47]
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
Organisation 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 the
Economic Community of West African States (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.
[48] 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.
[49]
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.
[50]
Military
Ship House, Defense Headquarters
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.
[2]
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 power to
the democratically elected government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
Taking advantage of its role as 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,
[51] and presently in
Sudan's
Darfur region under an African Union mandate.
Geography
Nigeria is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and has a total area of 923,768 km
2 (356,669 sq mi),
[52] 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 4,047 kilometres
(2,515 mi) border with Benin (773 km), Niger (1497 km), Chad (87 km),
Cameroon (1690 km), and has a coastline of at least 853 km.
[53] Nigeria lies between latitudes
4° and
14°N, and longitudes
2° and
15°E.
The highest point in Nigeria is
Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft). The main rivers are the
Niger and the
Benue River which converge and empty into the
Niger Delta, one of the world's largest river deltas and the location of a large area of Central African Mangroves.
Nigeria has a varied landscape. The far south is defined by its
tropical rainforest climate, where annual rainfall is 60 to 80 inches (1,524 to 2,032 mm) a year.
[54] In the southeast stands the
Obudu Plateau.
Coastal plains are found in both the southwest and the southeast.
[55]
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.
[56][56]
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).
[55] To the southwest of the Niger there is "rugged"
highland, and to the southeast of the Benue are hills and mountains which forms the
Mambilla Plateau,the highest Plateau in Nigeria.This plateau extends to the border with
Cameroon, this
montane land is part of the
Bamenda Highlands in Cameroon. 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 Rivers 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 20 and 60 inches (508 and 1,524 mm) per
year.
[54] 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.
[56] In the Sahel region, rain is less than 20 inches (508 mm) per year and the
Sahara Desert is encroaching.
[54] In the dry north-east corner of the country lies
Lake Chad, which Nigeria shares with
Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Environmental issues
Nigeria's Delta region, home of the large
oil industry, experiences serious
oil spills and other environmental problems, which has caused
conflict.
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.
[57]
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.
[58]
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
8 million in its urban area alone. Population of Nigeria's cities over a million are listed below
Population of major cities
| City |
Population |
| 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 |
| Zaria |
1,018,827 |
However, these figures are regularly disputed in Nigeria.
[59]
A clickable map of Nigeria exhibiting its 36 states and the federal capital territory.
States:
Federal Capital Territory: Abuja
Economy
Nigeria is classified as a
mixed economy emerging market, and has already reached middle income status according to the
Worldbank,
[60]
with its abundant supply of natural 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 31st in the world in terms of
GDP (PPP)
as of 2011. 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.
[61] The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected economic growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009.
[62][63][64] The IMF further projects a 8% growth in the Nigerian economy in 2011.
[65]
February 2011: According to
Citigroup,
Nigeria will get the highest average GDP growth in the world between
2010–2050. Nigeria is one of two countries from Africa among 11
Global Growth Generators countries.
[66]
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. It is now the second
largest economy in Africa (following South Africa), and the largest
economy in the West Africa Region.
[67]
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.
[68]
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.
[69] 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.
[70]
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.
[71] Despite huge deposits of these natural resources, the mining industry in Nigeria is still in its infancy.
Agriculture used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of Nigeria.
[72] At one time, Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of
groundnuts,
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.
[73]
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.
Science and technology
Four
satellites have been launched by the Nigerian government into
outer space.
The Nigeriasat-1 was the first satellite to be built under the Nigerian
government sponsorship. The satellite was launched from Russia on 27
September 2003. Nigeriasat-1 was part of the world-wide Disaster
Monitoring Constellation System.
[74]
The primary objectives of the Nigeriasat-1 were: to give early warning
signals of environmental disaster; to help detect and control
desertification in the northern part of Nigeria; to assist in
demographic planning; to establish the relationship between
malaria vectors and the environment that breeds malaria and to give early warning signals on future outbreaks of
meningitis
using remote sensing technology; to provide the technology needed to
bring education to all parts of the country through distant learning;
and to aid in conflict resolution and border disputes by mapping out
state and International borders.
NigeriaSat-2, Nigeria's second satellite, was built as a
high-resolution earth satellite by Surrey Space Technology Limited, a
United Kingdom-based satellite technology company. It has 2.5-metre
resolution panchromatic (very high resolution), 5-metre multispectral
(high resolution, NIR red, green and red bands), and 32-metre
multispectral (medium resolution, NIR red, green and red bands)
antennas, with a ground receiving station in Abuja. The NigeriaSat-2
spacecraft alone was built at a cost of over £35 million.
[citation needed] This satellite was launched into
orbit from a military base in China.
[74]
NigComSat-1,
a Nigerian satellite built in 2004, was Nigeria's third satellite and
Africa's first communication satellite. It was launched on 13 May 2007,
aboard a Chinese
Long March 3B carrier rocket, from the
Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China. The spacecraft was operated by
NigComSat and the Nigerian Space Agency,
NASRDA.
On 11 November 2008, NigComSat-1 failed in orbit after running out of
power due to an anomaly in its solar array. It was based on the Chinese
DFH-4 satellite bus, and carries a variety of
transponders: 4
C-band; 14
Ku-band; 8
Ka-band; and 2
L-band. It was designed to provide coverage to many parts of Africa, and the Ka-band transponders would also cover Italy.
On 10 November 2008 (0900 GMT), the satellite was reportedly switched
off for analysis and to avoid a possible collision with other
satellites. According to Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, it
was put into "emergency mode operation in order to effect mitigation and
repairs".
[75] The satellite eventually failed after losing power on 11 November 2008.
On 24 March 2009, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Science and
Technology, NigComSat Ltd. and CGWIC signed a further contract for the
in-orbit delivery of the NigComSat-1R satellite. NigComSat-1R was also a
DFH-4 satellite, and is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter
of 2011 as a replacement for the failed NigComSat-1.
[76]
On 19 December 2011,a new Nigerian communications satellite was
lunched into orbit by China in Xichang.The satellite according to
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan which was paid for by the insurance
policy on NigComSat-1 which de-orbited in 2009, would have a positive
impact on national development in various sectors such as
communications, internet services, health, agriculture, environmental
protection and national security.
[77]
Demographics
Population density in Nigeria
| Population in Nigeria[78] |
| Year |
Million |
| 1971 |
55.1 |
| 1980 |
71.1 |
| 1990 |
94.5 |
| 2000 |
124.8 |
| 2004 |
138.0 |
| 2008 |
151.3 |
Population in Nigeria increased from 1990 to 2008 with 57 million and 60 % growth in population.
[78]
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and accounts for about
18% of the continent's total population, however, exactly how populous
is a subject of speculation.
[79]
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. On June 2012, President
Goodluck Jonathan said that Nigerians should limit their number of
children.
[80]
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 is one of eight
countries expected to account collectively for half of the world's total
population increase from 2005–2050.
[81]
By 2100 the UN estimates that the Nigerian population will be between
505 million and 1.03 billion people (middle estimate: 730 million).
[82] In 1950, Nigeria had only 33 million people.
[83]
According to current data, one out of every four Africans is Nigerian.
[84] Presently,
Nigeria is the seventh 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.
[85]
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.
[85] 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%.
[86] Nigeria suffers from periodic outbreaks of
cholera,
malaria, and
sleeping sickness. It is the only country in Africa to have never eradicated
polio, which it periodically exports to other African countries. A 2004 vaccination drive, spearheaded by the
W.H.O. to combat polio and malaria, met with some opposition in the north,
[87] but polio was cut 98% between 2009 and 2010.
Education is 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%).
[85]
Nigeria's largest city is
Lagos. Lagos has grown from about 300,000 in 1950
[88]
to an estimated 15 million today, and the Nigerian government estimates
that city will have expanded to 25 million residents by 2015.
[89]
Ethno-linguistic groups
 |
 |
 |
| 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 62% of population
[citation needed], while the
Edo,
Ijaw,
Kanuri,
Ibibio, Ebira,
Nupe,
Gwari,
Itsekiri,
Jukun,
Urhobo,
Igala,
Idoma and
Tiv comprise 33%; other minorities make up the remaining 5%.
[90] The middle belt of Nigeria is known for its diversity of ethnic groups, including the Pyem, Goemai, and
Kofyar.
The official population count of each of Nigeria's ethnicities has
always remained controversial and disputed as members of different
ethnic groups believe the census is rigged to give a particular group
(usually believed to be northern groups) numerical superiority.
[59][91][92]
There are small minorities of British, American,
East Indian,
Chinese (est. 50,000),
[93] white
Zimbabwean,
[94] Japanese, Greek,
Syrian
and Lebanese immigrants in Nigeria. Immigrants also include those 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 in Nigeria as political refugees following the
Cuban Revolution.
In the middle of the 19th century, a number of ex-slaves of
Afro-Cuban and
Afro-Brazilian descent
[95] and emigrants from
Sierra Leone
established communities in Lagos and other regions of Nigeria. Many
ex-slaves came to Nigeria following the emancipation of slaves in the
Americas. Many of the immigrants, sometimes called Saros (immigrants
from Sierra Leone) and Amaro (ex-slaves from Brazil)
[96] later became prominent merchants and
missionaries in these cities.
Language
Linguistic map of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin
The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in Nigeria is 521.
[citation needed]
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 and
Igbo; the
Hausa language is
Afro-Asiatic; and
Kanuri, spoken in the northeast, primarily
Borno State, is part of the
Nilo-Saharan family.
Even though most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own
languages, English as the official language is widely used for
education, business transactions and for official purposes. English as a
first language is used only by a small minority of the country's urban
elite, and it is not spoken at all in some rural areas. Hausa is the
most widely spoken of the three main languages spoken in Nigeria itself
(Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba) but unlike the Yorubas and Igbos, the Hausas
tend not to travel far outside Nigeria itself.
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 Igbo, 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,
Ewu, and
Benin City.
[97]
Religion
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.
[98]
Even though, Nigeria is apparently divided equally between Islam and
Christianity between north and south, it is evident that across Nigeria
there is widespread belief, albeit suppressed for political reasons, in
traditional religious practices.
According to a 2003 report, 50.4% of Nigeria's population are
Muslims, 48.2% are
Christians and 1.4% adhere to other religions.
[99] Among Christians, 27.8% are
Catholic, 31.5% are
Protestant and 40.7% belong to other Christian denominations.
[100]
The core north is largely Muslim, there are large numbers of both
Muslims and Christians in the Middle Belt, including the Federal Capital
Territory. In the west of the country, especially in the Yorubaland,
the population is said to be evenly divided between Muslims and
Christians, while in the southeastern regions are predominantly
Christians with widespread traditional beliefs, Catholics,
Anglicans, and
Methodists are the majority with few traditional beliefs, while the Niger Delta region is mainly Christian.
[101]
The majority of Nigerian Muslims are
Sunni, but a significant
Shia and
Sufi minority exists (
see Shia in Nigeria) and a small minority of
Ahmadiyya. Some northern states have incorporated
Sharia law into their previously secular legal systems, which has brought about some controversy.
[102] Kano State has sought to incorporate Sharia law into its constitution.
[103]
Christian Nigerians are about evenly split between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Leading Protestant churches are the
Church of Nigeria, of the
Anglican communion, Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria,
Redeemed Christian Church of God, the
Nigerian Baptist Convention and
The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations. The Yoruba area contains a large Anglican population, while
Igboland is predominantly Catholic and the
Edo area is predominantly
Assemblies of God which was introduced into Nigeria by Augustus Ehurie Wogu and his associates at Old Umuahia.
Across
Yorubaland
in the west 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,
[104] Judaism, The
Bahá’í Faith, and
Chrislam (a
syncretic faith melding elements of Christianity and Islam).
[105] Further, Nigeria has become an African hub for the
Grail Movement[citation needed] and the
Hare Krishnas,
[106] and the largest temple of the
Eckankar religion is in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with a total capacity of 10,000.
Culture
Literature
Nigerian citizens 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,
Cyprian Ekwensi,
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 has a role in the development of West African
highlife,
afrobeat, and
palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the
Congo, Brazil,
Cuba, and elsewhere.
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.
[108] 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 Mr. Fuji, Alhaji Sikiru
Ayinde Barrister. The is also the Afan Music invented and popularized by
the
Ewuborn poet and musician Umuobuarie Igberaese. There is a budding
hip hop movement in Nigeria.
Kennis Music,
the self-proclaimed number-one 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
Dele Sosimi,
Adewale Ayuba,
Ezebuiro Obinna, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Bennie King,
Ebenezer Obey, Umobuarie Igberaese,
Femi Kuti,
Lagbaja,
Dr. Alban,
Sade Adu, Wasiu Alabi, Bola Abimbola,Zaki Adze,
Tuface Idibia,
D'Banj and
P Square.
[citation needed]
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.
[109]
The Nigerian video-film industry is known as
Nollywood, which is now the second-largest producer of movies in the world. Many of the
film studios are based in Lagos and
Enugu, and the industry is now a very lucrative income for these cities.
T.B. Joshua's Emmanuel TV, originating from Nigeria, is also one of the most viewed television stations across Africa.
[110]
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
chili peppers.
Nigerian feasts are colourful and lavish, while aromatic market and
roadside snacks cooked on barbecues or fried in oil are plentiful and
varied.
[111]
Sport
Association football is Nigeria's national sport and the country has its own
Premier League of football. Nigeria's
national football team, known as the Super Eagles, has made the
World Cup on four occasions
1994,
1998,
2002, and most recently in
2010. They 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).
The nation's cadet team from Japan '93 produced some international 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 F.C. (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 May 2010
FIFA World Rankings,
Nigeria was the second top-ranked football nation in Africa and the
21st highest in the world. Nigeria is also involved in other sports such
as basketball,
cricket and track and field.
[112] 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.
[113]
According to the U.S. Department of State,
[113]
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.
[114]
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, the
Miss World Pageant was moved from
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.
[115] 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.
In 2010, more than 500 people were killed by
religious violence in Jos.
[116]
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.
[117]
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.
[118]
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.
[citation needed]
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.
[119]
According to 2009 estimates, HIV
prevalence is about 3.6% of the adult population in Nigeria.
[120]
The 2011 UNAIDS Report indicates that Nigeria has the second highest
number of new HIV infections in the world and lacks the necessary
HIV-related investments to combat the disease.
[121]
Education
Children at school in
Ile-Ife, Nigeria
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% for males and 27% 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.
[122]
Crime
Nigeria is home to a substantial network of
organized crime,
active especially in drug trafficking. Nigerian criminal groups are
heavily involved in drug trafficking, shipping heroin from Asian
countries to Europe and America; and
cocaine from South America to Europe and South Africa. .
[123] The various Nigerian
Confraternities
or "campus cults" are active in both organized crime and in political
violence as well as providing a network of corruption within Nigeria. As
confraternities have extensive connections with political and military
figures, they offer excellent alumni networking opportunities. The
Supreme Vikings Confraternity, for example, boasts that twelve members
of the
Rivers State House of Assembly are cult members.
[124] On lower levels of society, there are the "
area boys", organized gangs mostly active in
Lagos
who specialize in mugging and small-scale drug dealing. According to
official statistics, gang violence in Lagos resulted in 273 civilians
and 84 policemen killed in the period of August 2000 to May 2001.
[125]
Internationally, Nigeria is infamous for a crime dubbed
419, a type of
advance fee fraud (named after Section 419 of the Nigerian Penal Code) along with the "
Nigerian scam", a form of
confidence trick practiced by individuals and criminal syndicates.
[126] In 2003, the Nigerian
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (or EFCC) was created to combat this and other forms of organized financial crime.
[127]
There is also some
piracy in Nigeria, with attacks mainly directed at smaller ships shuttling employees and materials belonging to the
oil companies with any involvement in
oil exploration in the
Niger Delta. From 1 January 2007 to 29 October 2007, twenty-six pirate attacks were recorded.
[128]
Nigeria is also pervaded by political
corruption. It is ranked 143 out of 182 countries in
Transparency International's 2011
Corruption Perceptions Index.
Media representation
