BASIC INFORMATION

Full Country Name: The Federal Republic of Nigeria

 
Area: 923,768 sq km (356,700 sq mi)
Population: 128 million (estimated)
Capital City: Abuja (population: about 6 million)
Other Major Cities: Lagos (population: 15 million), Ibadan (5 million), at least 8 other cities with a population of over 1 million
People: Hausa/Fulani (29%), Yoruba (21%), Ibo (18%), at least 250 other ethnic groups
Language(s): English (official), many ethnic languages
Religion(s): Muslim (50%), Christian (40%), traditional (10%)
Currency: Naira
Major political parties: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Alliance for Democracy (AD)
Government: President and elected bicameral National Assembly
Head of State: President Olusegun Obasanjo
Foreign Minister: Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations (UN), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union, Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Commonwealth, Group of 77 at the United Nations (G77), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

GEOGRAPHY

Land area - 923,768 square kilometres.
Nigeria is bordered by Benin to the west, Niger to the north, Cameroon to the east and the Bight of Benin to the south.
The terrain varies from coastal swamps in the south, through tropical forests and savannah to semi-desert in the north. The highest regions are the Jos plateau in the centre of the country (1200-2000 metres above sea level) and the mountains along the border with Cameroon. The river Niger runs across West Africa and Nigeria and turns south at Lokoja to flow out into the Bight of Benin. The Niger Delta is essentially mangrove swamp.
Nigeria is rich in natural resources: oil and gas in the Delta and offshore; solid minerals across the middle and north of the country; and good but under exploited agricultural land throughout.
HISTORY

Pre-Colonial

The first distinct culture in what is now Nigeria emerged around two thousand years ago in the Jos plateau area. Later pre-colonial history divides the country into many local kingdoms, including at different times the Hausa kingdoms and Bornu empire near Lake Chad, the south-west Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, the kingdom of Benin in south-central Nigeria and the Sokoto empire in the north-west.

Colonial

The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese in the late fifteenth century, who established the Bight of Benin as one of the major centres of the European and Atlantic slave trade. The Portuguese monopoly on West African trade was broken towards the end of the sixteenth century. By the eighteenth century, Britain had become the dominant slaving power.

The abolition of the slave trade by Britain in 1807 was an economic blow for the Yoruba kingdoms of the south-west. A series of wars, and attempts to resuscitate the slave trade by other powers, eventually led Britain to annex Lagos as its first colony in what is now Nigeria in 1861. Thereafter, Britain gradually extended its control along the coast creating the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1885 and the Niger Coast Protectorate in 1894.

In the north of Nigeria, a jihad led by Usman dan Fodio in 1803 created a new caliphate of Sokoto, the largest African political entity of the time, and installed a new Fulani dynasty on the thrones of the Northern Emirates. Although Britain had signed a series of treaties with rulers as far north as Sokoto by 1885, its influence was confined to the south.

In 1900, Lord Frederick Lugard set out to extend British influence. In 1903, his troops had conquered Sokoto and Kano and British rule was established. In 1914, he amalgamated the British protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria to form one political and administrative body.

Independence

When Nigeria was granted independence in on 1 October 1960, it was a federation of three regions (Northern, Western and Eastern). Under the constitution of the time the regions retained a substantial measure of self-government. The first Federal Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa, came from the North. In 1963 Nigeria proclaimed itself a Federal Republic, and adopted a new constitution. A fourth region (the Midwest) was established.

The Biafran War

After independence, ethnic and regional tensions mounted; the first national election after independence, in 1964, was characterised by violence and corruption. In January 1966 a group of junior, mostly Igbo, officers overthrew the government, and killed the Federal Prime Minister and the Prime Ministers of the Northern and Western regions. A Federal Government under the (Igbo) army commander-in-chief General Aguiyi Ironsi assumed power, and imposed a state of emergency. Violent anti-Igbo riots broke out in most of the major cities in the north, and General Ironsi was killed in a counter-coup by northern troops in July. The massacre of thousands of Igbos in the north prompted hundreds of thousands to return to their homelands in the south-east, from where there were increasingly strong calls for Igbo secession.

The new military leadership, under General Gowon, tried to reduce tensions and give more autonomy to minority ethnic groups by replacing the regions with 12 states. This move was rejected by the Igbo, who insisted on full autonomy for the east. In May 1967 General Emeka Ojukwu, the Military Governor of the Eastern Region, declared the independence of the Eastern Region, as the 'Republic of Biafra'. Civil war broke out, which lasted until the surrender of Biafran troops in January 1970. About one million people died during the war, mostly civilians following the federal government's blockade of the region.

1970s-1980s

The end of the conflict did not mark a return to political stability. The 1970s and 1980s were marred by a succession of military coups. Olusegun Obasanjo, the current President, was military ruler from 1976-79, when he handed power back to civilian rule. Elections were held in 1979 and Alhaji Shehu Shagari was elected President. General Buhari, who contested the 2003 presidential elections against Obasanjo, overthrew President Shagari three months into his second term. When General Ibrahim Babangida, another northerner, overthrew Buhari in a bloodless coup in August 1985, there were significant changes, initially positive. He announced a timetable for return to civilian rule intended to lead to full democracy by October 1990. This was subsequently postponed until 1992. Elections were eventually held in June 1993. However when it became clear that Chief Moshood Abiola, a millionaire businessman from the south west, was poised to win, Babangida annulled the election. Babangida eventually surrendered power in August 1993 to Chief Ernest Shonekan, a prominent businessman from the south west, who was in turn ousted by General Sani Abacha in November of the same year.

The Abacha era

Abacha dismantled all democratic structures and imposed full military rule. When Abiola declared himself President in June 1994, Abacha had him arrested. In early 1995, the Government claimed that there had been a coup plot, and arrested about forty military officers, including Obasanjo. Abacha’s regime oversaw some of modern Nigeria’s worst abuses of human rights, including the execution of Ken Saro Wiwa, the Ogoni activist, and the wholesale looting of oil revenues. Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth from 1995 until 1999.

The Road to Democracy: 1998 - 2004

In June 1998 Abacha died and was succeeded by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, his Chief of Defence Staff. A month later the self-proclaimed winner of the 1993 Presidential election, Moshood Abiola, died whilst in detention. At the same time Abubakar released a number of political prisoners, including coup plotters (including General Obasanjo); repealed many of the military decrees which severely impinged on human rights; and announced a detailed plan leading to the restoration of a democratic, civilian government by 29 May 1999. Local elections were held in December 1998. The Presidential election followed in February 1999 and was won by Olusegun Obasanjo (PDP) with 62% of the vote. Local and international monitors witnessed irregularities in the poll, but judged that the result broadly reflected the view of the Nigerian people.

Obasanjo was re elected in April 2003 with 61.9% of the vote. His nearest challenger was the former military president, General Muhammadu Buhari (ANPP), with 31.2%. Despite some serious irregularities in the conduct of the elections, the British Government believed President Obasanjo had a clear mandate for his second term.

Obasanjo appointed his new cabinet in July 2003, this included a reform-minded and impressive economic team.

In December 2003 HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visit Nigeria for the first time since 1956. And Abuja hosted a successful Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

POLITICAL SYSTEM

The Federal Republic consists of 36 States, plus the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. The system of government is based on the US-model with three tiers: federal, state and local government. The three arms of the federal government are the executive, headed by the President and Commander-in-Chief, a bi-cameral National Assembly and the Judiciary. Ministers are appointed by the President. There are 360 seats in the House of Representatives, and 109 seats in the Senate. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) is the largest party, with approximately 60% of seats in both Houses. They also hold 21 of the State Governorships. The main opposition party is the All-Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP). Although 30 parties registered for the 2003 elections, only three were viable.

ECONOMY

Basic Economic Facts

GDP: US$35.1bn
GDP per head: US$314
Annual Growth: 3.7% (2003)
Inflation: 11.7% (2002 – est)
Major Industries: Oil, Agriculture
Major trading partners: US, UK, Spain, India, Germany, France
Aid & development: $204 million (1998 – bilateral and multilateral)
Exchange rate: £1 = N203 (May 2003)