Nigeria
Alternative Title: Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigeria
- OFFICIAL NAME
- Federal Republic of Nigeria
- FORM OF GOVERNMENT
- federal republic with two legislative houses (Senate [109]; House of Representatives [360])
- HEAD OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT
- President: Muhammadu Buhari
- CAPITAL
- Abuja
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
- English
- OFFICIAL RELIGION
- none
- MONETARY UNIT
- Nigerian naira (₦)
- POPULATION
- (2016 est.) 186,053,000
- TOTAL AREA (SQ MI)
- 356,669
- TOTAL AREA (SQ KM)
- 923,768
- URBAN-RURAL POPULATION
- Urban: (2015) 47.8%
Rural: (2015) 52.2%
- LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH
- Male: (2015) 52 years
Female: (2015) 54.1 years
- LITERACY: PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION AGE 15 AND OVER LITERATE
- Male: (2015) 69.2%
Female: (2015) 49.7%
- GNI PER CAPITA (U.S.$)
- (2015) 2,820
Nigeria, country located on the western coast of Africa. Nigeria has a diversegeography, with climates ranging from arid to humid equatorial. However, Nigeria’s most diverse feature is its people. Hundreds of languages are spoken in the country, including Yoruba, Igbo, Fula, Hausa, Edo, Ibibio, Tiv, and English. The country has abundant natural resources, notably large deposits of petroleum and natural gas.
The new national capital is Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory, which was created by decree in 1976. Lagos, the former capital, retains its standing as the country’s leading commercial and industrial city.
Modern Nigeria dates from 1914, when the British Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria were joined. The country became independent on Oct. 1, 1960, and in 1963 adopted a republican constitution but elected to stay a member of the Commonwealth. The First Republic was replaced by the military, which ruled for 13 years. The Second Republic lasted from 1979 to 1983, followed by another 15 years of military rule.
Land
Nigeria is bordered to the north by Niger, to the east by Chad and Cameroon, to the south by the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west by Benin. Nigeria is not only large in area—larger than the U.S. state of Texas—but also Africa’s most populous country.
Relief
In general, the topography of Nigeria consists of plains in the north and south interrupted by plateaus and hills in the centre of the country. The Sokoto Plains lie in the northwestern corner of the country, while the Borno Plains in the northeastern corner extend as far as the Lake Chad basin. The Lake Chad basin and the coastal areas, including the Niger River delta and the western parts of the Sokoto region in the far northwest, are underlain by soft, geologically young sedimentary rocks. Gently undulating plains, which become waterlogged during the rainy season, are found in these areas. The characteristic landforms of the plateaus are high plains with broad, shallow valleys dotted with numerous hills or isolated mountains, called inselbergs; the underlying rocks are crystalline, although sandstones appear in river areas. The Jos Plateau rises almost in the centre of the country; it consists of extensive lava surfaces dotted with numerous extinct volcanoes. Other eroded surfaces, such as the Udi-Nsukka escarpment (seeUdi-Nsukka Plateau), rise abruptly above the plains at elevations of at least 1,000 feet (300 metres). The most mountainous area is along the southeastern border with Cameroon, where the Cameroon Highlands rise to the highest points in the country, Chappal Waddi (7,936 feet [2,419 metres]) in the Gotel Mountains and Mount Dimlang (6,699 feet [2,042 metres]) in the Shebshi Mountains.
Drainage
The major drainage areas in Nigeria are the Niger-Benue basin, the Lake Chad basin, and the Gulf of Guinea basin. The Niger River, for which the country is named, and the Benue, its largest tributary, are the principal rivers. The Niger has many rapids and waterfalls, but the Benue is not interrupted by either and is navigable throughout its length, except during the dry season. Rivers draining the area north of the Niger-Benue trough include the Sokoto, the Kaduna, the Gongola, and the rivers draining into Lake Chad. The coastal areas are drained by short rivers that flow into the Gulf of Guinea. River basin development projects have created many large man-made lakes, including Lake Kainji on the Niger and Lake Bakolori on the Rima River.
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The Niger delta is a vast low-lying region through which the waters of the Niger River drain into the Gulf of Guinea. Characteristic landforms in this region include oxbow lakes, river meander belts (seemeander), and prominent levees. Large freshwater swamps give way to brackish mangrove thickets near the seacoast.
Soils
Soils in Nigeria, and in Africa generally, are usually of a poorer quality than those in other regions of the world. However, over the centuries Nigerians have utilized agricultural techniques such as slash and burn, intercropping, and the use of shallow planting implements to cope with the shortcomings of the soil. In the precolonial period the country normally produced enough agricultural commodities to feed its population, and it even maintained a surplus for export.
Nigeria’s major soil zones conform to geographic location. Loose sandy soils consisting of wind-borne deposits and riverine sands are found in the northern regions, although, in areas where there is a marked dry season, a dense surface layer of laterite develops, making these soils difficult to cultivate. The soils in the northern states of Kano and Sokoto, however, are not subject to leaching and are therefore easily farmed. South of Kano the mixed soils contain locally derived granite and loess (wind-borne deposits). The middle two-thirds of the country, the savanna regions, contain reddish, laterite soils; they are somewhat less fertile than those of the north because they are not subject to as much seasonal drying, nor do they receive the greater rainfall that occurs in the more southerly regions. The forest soils represent the third zone. There the vegetation provides humus and protects it from erosion by heavy rainfall. Although these soils can readily be leached and lose their fertility, they are the most productive agriculturally. Hydromorphic and organic soils, confined largely to areas underlain by sedimentary rocks along the coast and river floodplains, are the youngest soil types.
Economy
The Nigerian economy is one of the largest in Africa. Since the late 1960s it has been based primarily on the petroleum industry. A series of world oil price increases from 1973 produced rapid economic growth in transportation, construction, manufacturing, and government services. Because this led to a great influx of rural people into the larger urban centres, agricultural production stagnated to such an extent that cash crops such as palm oil, peanuts (groundnuts), and cotton were no longer significant export commodities; in addition, from about 1975 Nigeria was forced to import such basic commodities as rice and cassava for domestic consumption. This system worked well as long as revenues from petroleum remained constant, but since the late 1970s the agricultural sector has been in continuing crisis because of the fluctuating world oil market and the country’s rapid population growth. Although much of the population remained engaged in farming, too little food was produced, requiring increasingly costly imports. The various governments (most of them military-run) have dealt with this problem by banning agricultural imports and by focusing, albeit briefly, on various agricultural and indigenization plans.
In the late 1990s the government began to privatize many state-run enterprises—especially in communications, power, and transportation—in order to enhance the quality of service and reduce dependence on the government. Most of the enterprises had been successfully privatized by the beginning of the 21st century, but a few remained in government hands.
At the turn of the 21st century, Nigeria continued to face an unsteady revenue flow, which the government attempted to counter by borrowing from international sources, introducing various austerity measures, or doing both at the same time. As a result, an ever-increasing share of the national budget was needed for debt repayment, which, with corruption dominating government operations, meant that very little of Nigeria’s income was being spent on the people and their needs. The country benefited from a 2005 debt-relief plan by which the majority of its debt to a group of creditor countries known as the Paris Club would be forgiven once it had repaid a certain amount; Nigeria successfully met this condition in 2006, becoming the first African country to settle its debt with the group. (For information on the role women have played in Nigeria’s economy and culture, seeSidebar: Nigerian Women.)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
Nigeria has no shortage of arable land overall, but there is an extreme shortage of farmland in the most densely settled areas of the southeastern states and around Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto. This has forced large numbers of land-hungry Igbo, Ibibio, and Hausa people to migrate to other parts of the country. Often, however, cultural traditions, such as the prohibition against selling family land, have restricted access to farmland in some localities that appear to have abundant cultivable land, and, in the far north, desertification has severely limited the land area available for cultivation.
About two-thirds of all Nigerians obtain a living from agricultural production. Most are small-scale subsistence farmers who produce only a little surplus for sale and who derive additional income from one or more cash crops and from the sale of local crafts. Farms are small, usually less than 2.5 acres (1 hectare) in the south and about 7.5 acres (3 hectares) in the open grassland areas of the north. Because the soil is not totally amenable to mechanized equipment, the hoe and matchet (machete) continue to be the dominant farm implements. The shortage of farmland in some localities and limited access to land in others are among the factors that restrict the size of farmland cultivated per family. Environmental deterioration, inferior storage facilities, a poor transport system, and a lack of investment capital contribute to low productivity and general stagnation in agriculture. With the population growing rapidly and urbanization accelerating, the food deficit continues to worsen despite government efforts to rectify the situation.
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Root crops—notably yams, taro, and cassava—are the main food crops in the south, while grains and legumes—such as sorghum, millet, cowpeas, and corn(maize)—are the staple crops of the drier north. Rice is also an important domestic crop. Trees—notably oil palm, cacao, and rubber trees—are the principal industrial crops of the south, while peanuts (groundnuts) and cotton are produced in the north. Small-scale farmers dominate the production of industrial crops, as they do with staple food crops. Cocoa beans, from the cacao tree, are the major agricultural export; production of other industrial crops has declined, owing to the general stagnation in agriculture.
In 1982, in the first major step taken to halt the decline in industrial crop production, the government disbanded the produce marketing boards, which paid prices set by the government. Many farmers have since been motivated to cultivate tree crops, and the federal and state governments have established plantations of oil palm, rubber, and cacao. Programs to alleviate the food shortage have featured the direct purchase and distribution of foodstuffs by government agencies and the production by government parastatals of various staples on large commercial farms. The Operation Feed the Nation program of 1976–80 sought to increase local food production and thereby reduce imports. Citizens were encouraged to cultivate any empty plot of land, urban dwellers being encouraged to garden undeveloped building plots. Since 1980 agricultural policies have focused on the small farmer.
The raising of sheep, pigs, and goats was underdeveloped at the beginning of the 21st century. The cattle-herding Fulani are still the main beef producers, although some of the cattle under the care of these nomads belong to settled farmers and city dwellers. However, the level of meat consumption in Nigeria, as in most African countries, does not approach that of the West.
Nigeria’s permanent forest reserves occupy less than one-fifth of the total land area. Outside these reserves, much of the forest cover has been destroyed through regular burning to prepare land for farming or to facilitate hunting. Forest destruction is most extensive in the more densely settled areas, such as the Niger delta, and in the drier savanna, where overgrazing, bush fires, and the great demand for fuelwood prevent normal regeneration of plants on fallow land. There are many large plantations of exotic species, such as gmelina and teak, established by the government to provide electric and telegraph poles and fuelwood. In the arid zone of Sokoto, Kano, and Borno states, forest belts have been established to help arrest the southward advance of the Sahara. Forest plantations have been established in many watersheds to protect water catchment areas of rivers and to reduce the incidence of soil erosion.
Fishing has assumed greater importance as a food source following the loss of thousands of head of livestock during the recurring drought in the Sahel since the early 1970s. The domestic catch supplies more than half of the fish demand. Lake Chad and the southern coastal waters are the main sources of fish, but large quantities are caught every year in pools in seasonal rivers of the northern states.
Resources and power
Nigeria has a variety of both renewable and nonrenewable resources, some of which have not yet been effectively tapped. Solar energy, probably the most extensive of the underutilized renewable resources, is likely to remain untapped for some time, and the vast reserves of natural gas produced with crude oil have yet to be fully exploited.
Resource extraction is the most important and the fastest-growing sector of the economy, reflecting the rise to prominence of crude oil output. Nigeria has been a member of OPEC since 1971. There are oil refineries at Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna. The petroleum industry remains dominant, and crude petroleum continues to account for virtually all export earnings. The most economically valuable minerals are crude oil, natural gas, coal, tin, and columbite (an iron-bearing mineral that accompanies tin). Petroleum, first discovered in 1956, is the most important source of government revenue and foreign exchange—its share of the gross domestic product rose from virtually nothing in the 1950s to about two-fifths in the late 1990s. Most of the oil output comes from onshore fields in the Niger delta, although an increasing proportion of the crude is produced at offshore locations. There are vast reserves of natural gas, but most of the gas produced is a by-product of crude oil; in the past this was burned off, as there was no market for it, but efforts have been made to utilize more of this commodity. Since 1984, oil companies have been required to reinject into the ground some of the natural gas produced in the course of pumping crude oil. Production has often been interrupted by protests, as the inhabitants of the oil-producing regions have demanded a larger share of the revenues.
Nigeria possesses significant reserves of coal, but these deposits are being developed gradually. Coal is used by the railroad, by traditional metal industries, and by power plants to generate electricity. Coal mining, initially concentrated around the city of Enugu and its environs, began in 1915. It declined after the late 1950s with the discovery of oil but subsequently increased. Substantial coal reserves of varying quality can be found in south-central states in a band that stretches from Benin to Cameroon. Deposits discovered more recently in the southwestern part of the country at Lafia-Obi are being developed for the Ajaokuta steel complex.
The Jos Plateau, where tin mining began in 1905, also contains columbite. By the early 21st century, the country’s tin-smelting capacity had not been reached, a result of diminished world demand in the late 1980s; production of columbite has also declined since the mid-1970s.
There are iron-ore deposits in the Lokoja area, which is close to the Ajaokuta steel complex in the lower Niger valley, and limestone occurs in many areas, where it is widely exploited for manufacturing cement and for use in the steel industry. Extensive iron-ore deposits found in Kwara state have been exploited since 1984. Construction of a plant to process the ore began in 1992 with the intention of supplying the Ajaokuta steel complex, whose river port was completed in 1995.
Other mined minerals include gypsum, kaolin, rock salt, baryte, phosphates, gold, sapphires, topazes, and aquamarines. Uranium deposits discovered in the northeastern part of the country have not yet been exploited.
About one-third of the country’s power is provided by hydroelectricity, although this source has the potential to provide an even greater amount of power. The main sources of hydroelectric power are the dams at Kainji, Shiroro (Niger state), and Jebba (Kwara state). Thermal plants fired with natural gas and coal are at Afam, Sapele, and Lagos and on the Oji River and supply about three-fifths of the country’s power. Demand, however, always exceeds supply. Fuelwood (firewood and charcoal) is still an important energy source for domestic use.
Manufacturing
Revenue from mining has enabled the federal government to establish such capital-intensive industries as the Ajaokuta and Aladja steel mills, pulp and paper mills at Oku Iboku and Iwopin, petrochemical plants at Kaduna, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, and an aluminum smelter at Ikot Abasi. In the past, large-scale manufacturing—dominated by the production of textiles, tobacco, beverages, and cement—was controlled by foreign investors. The government’s indigenization efforts have altered the ownership situation, although the management and effective control of most large factories have remained in the hands of expatriate representatives of multinational corporations. The greatest weakness of this sector has been its dependence on imported raw materials. That situation changed in 1987, when the import of a wide range of raw materials was prohibited, although the ban was later rescinded. Even so, imports were subject to some restrictions at the beginning of the 21st century, and manufacturers were encouraged to use raw materials from local sources. The highest concentration of large factories is in the Greater Lagos area. Each state capital has a number of large manufacturing industries, but a few major industries, such as paper mills and steel mills, are located in remote areas where new towns have grown up to serve the factories.
Traditional industries carried out in homes or in makeshift workshops include the making of iron implements such as hoes and hatchets, door hinges, bolts, and dane guns (firearms of obsolete design, originally of European manufacture). Traditional soap- and salt-making workshops appeared in large numbers after the near collapse of the Nigerian economy in 1983, when most wage earners were unable to pay for factory-made soap and imported table salt. These industries continued after the economy recovered, but they were concentrated in rural areas. Pottery making and wood carving are widespread, as are canework and the making of bags and mats from raffia.
Government And Society
Constitutional framework
Under the 1999 constitution, executive power is vested in a president who serves as both the head of state and the chief executive, is directly elected to a four-year term, and nominates the vice president and members of the cabinet. The constitution provides for a bicameral National Assembly, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each state elects 10 members to the House of Representatives for four-year terms; members of the Senate—three from each state and one from the Federal Capital Territory—also are elected to four-year terms.
Local government
There are two tiers of government—state and local—below the federal level. The functions of the government at the local level were usurped by the state government until 1988, when the federal government decided to fund local government organizations directly and allowed them for the first time to function effectively.
Nigeria is divided into 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the country’s capital, Abuja, is located; the constitution also includes a provision that more states can be created as needed. At independence the country was divided into three regions: Northern, Eastern, and Western. The Mid-West region was created out of the Western region in 1963. In 1967 Col. Yakubu Gowon, then the military leader, turned the regions into 12 states: 6 in the north, 3 in the east, and 3 in the west. Gen. Murtala Mohammed created an additional 7 states in 1976. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida created 11 more states—2 in 1987 and 9 in 1991—for a total of 30. In 1996 Gen. Sani Abacha added 6 more states.
Justice
The Nigerian legal and judicial system contains three codes of law: customary law, Nigerian statute law (following English law), and Sharīʿah (Islamic law). Customary laws, administered by native, or customary, courts, are usually presided over by traditional rulers, who generally hear cases about family problems such as divorce. Kadis (judges) apply Sharīʿah based on the Maliki Islamic code. Since 1999, several states have instituted Sharīʿah law. Although the states claim that the law applies only to Muslims, the minority non-Muslim population argues that it is affected by the law as well. Christian women, for example, must ride on female-only buses, and some states have banned females from participating in sports.
Nigerian statute law includes much of the British colonial legislation, most of which has been revised. State legislatures may pass laws on matters that are not part of the Exclusive Legislative List, which includes such areas as defense, foreign policy, and mining—all of which are the province of the federal government. Federal law prevails whenever federal legislation conflicts with state legislation. In addition to Nigerian statutes, English law is used in the magistrates’ and all higher courts. Each state has a High Court, which is presided over by a chief judge. The Supreme Court, headed by the chief justice of Nigeria, is the highest court.
Political process
The constitution grants all citizens at least 18 years of age the right to vote. The Action Group (AG) and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) were the major Nigerian parties when the country became independent in 1960. However, their regional rather than national focus—the AG represented the west, the NPC the north, and the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons the east—ultimately contributed to the outbreak of civil war by the mid-1960s and more than 20 years of military rule. Political parties were allowed briefly in 1993 and again starting from 1998, but only parties with national rather than regional representation were legal, such as the newly created People’s Democratic Party(PDP), the Alliance for Democracy, and the All Nigeria People’s Party. Since then, many other parties have been created, most notably the All Progressives Congress (APC), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and the Labour Party.
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Women have participated in the government since the colonial period, especially in the south. Their political strength is rooted in the precolonial traditions among particular ethnic groups, such as the Igbo, which gave women the power to correct excessive male behaviour (known as “sitting on a man”). Igbo women, showing their strength, rioted in 1929 when they believed colonial officials were going to levy taxes on women. Yoruba market women exercised significant economic power, controlling the markets in such Yoruba cities as Lagos and Ibadan. Some ethnic groups, such as the Edo who constituted the kingdom of Benin, also gave important political power to women; the mother of the oba (king) played an important part in the precolonial state. Women such as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (the mother of the musician Fela and human rights activist and physician Beko) actively participated in the colonial struggle, and several women have held ministerial positions in the government. Although Nigerian women may wield influence and political power, particularly at the familial and local level, this has not always been reflected at the federal level: in the early 21st century, women made up about 5 percent of the House of Representatives and the Senate. (For more information on the historical role of women in Nigerian politics and culture, see Sidebar: Nigerian Women.)
Security
The Nigeria Police Force, established by the federal constitution, is headed by the inspector general of police, who is appointed by the president. The general inefficiency of the force is attributable in part to the low level of education and the low morale of police recruits, who are poorly housed and very poorly paid, and to the lack of modern equipment. Corruption is widespread.
The federal military includes army, navy, and air force contingents. Nigerian troops have participated in missions sponsored by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) and by the United Nations(UN).
Health and welfare
The concentration of people in the cities has created enormous sanitary problems, particularly improper sewage disposal, water shortages, and poor drainage. Large heaps of domestic refuse spill across narrow streets, causing traffic delays, while the dumping of garbage along streambeds constitutes a major health hazard and has contributed to the floods that have often plagued Ibadan, Lagos, and other cities during the rainy season. Lower respiratory infections are one of the leading causes of death, as are malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Health conditions are particularly poor in the shantytown suburbs of Greater Lagos and other large cities, where domestic water supplies are obtained from wells that are often polluted by seepage from pit latrines. Rural communities also suffer from inadequate or impure water supplies. Some villagers have to walk as far as 6 miles (10 km) to the nearest water point—usually a stream. Because people wash clothes, bathe, and fish (sometimes using fish poison) in the same streams, the water drawn by people in villages farther downstream is often polluted. During the rainy season, wayside pits containing rainwater, often dug close to residential areas, are the main source of domestic water supplies. Cattle are often watered in the shallower pools, and this contributes to the high incidence of intestinal diseases and guinea worm in many rural areas.
Medical and health services are the responsibility of all levels of government. There are hospitals in the large cities and towns. Most of the state capitals have specialized hospitals, and many are home to a university teaching hospital. There are numerous private hospitals, clinics, and maternity centres. Medical services are inadequate in many parts of the country, however, because of shortages of medical personnel, modern equipment, and supplies.
Housing
Overcrowding in the cities has caused slums to spread and shantytown suburbs to emerge in most of the larger urban centres. Most houses are built by individuals, and, because banks do not normally lend money for home construction, most of these individuals must rely on their savings. A federal housing program provides funds for the construction of low-cost housing for low- and middle-income workers in the state capitals, local government headquarters, and other large towns.
House types vary by geographic location. In the coastal areas the walls and roofs are made from the raffia palm, which abounds in the region. Rectangular mud houses with mat roofs are found in the forest belt, although the houses of the more prosperous have corrugated iron roofs. In the savanna areas of the central region and in parts of the north, houses are round mud buildings roofed with sloping grass thatch, but flat mud roofs appear in the drier areas of the extreme north. Some mud houses are also covered with a layer of cement. Larger houses are designed around an open courtyard and traditionally contained barrels or cisterns in which rainwater could be collected.
During the colonial period, British officials lived in segregated housing known as Government Reserve Areas (GRA). After independence GRA housing became very desirable among the African population.
Education
Great Britain did little to promote education during the colonial period. Until 1950 most schools were operated by Christian missionary bodies, which introduced Western-style education into Nigeria beginning in the mid-19th century. The British colonial government funded a few schools, although its policy was to give grants to mission schools rather than to expand its own system. In the northern, predominantly Muslim area, Western-style education was prohibited because the religious leaders did not want Christian missionaries interfering with Islam, and Islamic education was provided in traditional Islamic schools.
Today primary education, free and compulsory, begins at age six and lasts for six years. Secondary education consists of two three-year cycles. Although federal and state governments have the major responsibility for education, other organizations, such as local governments and religious groups, may establish and administer primary and secondary schools. Most secondary schools, trade centres, technical institutes, teacher-training colleges, and colleges of education and of technology are controlled by the state governments.
Nigeria has more than 130 universities and colleges widely dispersed throughout the country in an attempt to make higher education easily accessible. Many of the universities are federally controlled, and the language of instruction is English at all the universities and colleges. At the time of Nigeria’s independence in 1960, there were only two established postsecondary institutions, both of which were located in the southwestern part of the country: University College at Ibadan (founded in 1948, now the University of Ibadan) and Yaba Higher College (founded in 1934, now Yaba College of Technology). Four more government-operated universities were established in the 1960s: University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1960), in the east; University of Ife (founded in 1961, now Obafemi Awolowo University) in the west; University of Northern Nigeria (founded in 1962, now Ahmadu Bello University) in the north; and University of Lagos (1962) in the south. In the 1970s and ’80s the government attempted to found a university in every state, but, with the ever-increasing number of states, this practice was abandoned. Numerous federal and state universities have since been established, especially during the 21st century. Attempts by individuals and private organizations, including various Christian churches, to establish universities did not receive the approval of the federal Ministry of Education until the 1990s. Since then, dozens of private postsecondary institutions have been established.
Cultural Life
Cultural milieu
Nigeria’s rich and varied cultural heritage derives from the mixture of its ethnic groups with Arabic and western European influences. The country combines traditional culture with international urban sophistication. Secret societies, such as Ekpo and Ekpe among the Igbo, were formerly used as instruments of government, while other institutions were associated with matrimony. According to the Fulani custom of sharo (test of young manhood), rival suitors underwent the ordeal of caning as a means of eliminating those who were less persistent. In Ibibio territory, girls approaching marriageable age were confined for several years in bride-fattening rooms before they were given to their husbands. A girl was well-fed during this confinement, with the intent of making her plump and therefore more attractive to her future husband; she would also receive instruction from older women on how to be a good wife. These and other customs were discouraged by colonial administrators and missionaries. Some of the more adaptable cultural institutions have been revived since independence; these include Ekpo and Ekong societies for young boys in parts of the southeast and the Ogboni society found in the Yoruba and Edo areas of southern Nigeria. (For information on the historical role of women in Nigerian society, see Sidebar: Nigerian Women.)
History
Early Nigerian cultures
The Nok culture
Evidence of human occupation in Nigeria dates back thousands of years. The oldest fossil remains found by archaeologists in the southwestern area of Iwo Eleru, near Akure, have been dated to about 9000 bce. There are isolated collections of ancient tools and artifacts of different periods of the Stone Age, but the oldest recognizable evidence of an organized society belongs to the Nok culture (c. 500 bce–c. 200 ce).
Named for the village of Nok, site of some of the finds, the ancient culture produced fine terra-cotta figurines, which were accidentally discovered by tin miners on the Jos Plateau in the 1930s. Initially Neolithic (New Stone Age), the Nok culture made the transition to the Iron Age. Its people raised crops and cattle and seem to have paid particular attention to personal adornment, especially of the hair. Distinctive features of Nok art include naturalism, stylized treatment of the mouth and eyes, relative proportions of the human head, body, and feet, distortions of the human facial features, and treatment of animal forms. The spread of Nok-type figures in a wide area south of the Jos Plateau, covering southern Kaduna state southeastward to Katsina Ala, south of the Benue River, suggests a well-established culture that left traces still identifiable in the lives of the peoples of the area today. Many of the distinctive features of Nok art can also be traced in later developments of Nigerian art produced in such places as Igbo Ukwu, Ife, Esie, and Benin City.
Igbo Ukwu
Bronzes, which have been dated to about the 9th century ce, were discovered in the 1930s and ’40s at Igbo Ukwu, near the southwestern city of Onitsha. (See alsoAfrican art.) They reveal not only a high artistic tradition but also a well-structured society with wide-ranging economic relationships. Of particular interest is the source of the copper and lead used to make the bronzes, which may have been Tadmekka in the Sahara, and of the coloured glass beads, some of which may have come from Venice and India, the latter via trade routes through Egypt, the Nile valley, and the Chad basin. It is believed that the bronzes were part of the furniture in the burial chamber of a high personage, possibly a forerunner of the eze nri, a priest-king, who held religious but not political power over large parts of the Igbo-inhabited region well into the 20th century.
Kingdoms and empires of precolonial Nigeria
Many indigenous polities emerged in Nigeria before the British took control in the late 19th century. In the north there were several large and developed systems, including the Hausa states of Kano, Katsina, Zaria, and Gobir; Kanem-Borno; and the Jukun states of Kwararafa, Kona, Pinduga, and Wukari. Smaller kingdoms included those of the Igala, Nupe, and Ebira. Notable in the south were the Yoruba states of Ife and Oyo, the Edo state of Benin, the Itsekiri state of Warri, the Efik state of Calabar, and the Ijo (Ijaw) city-states of Nembe, Elem Kalabari, Bonny, and Okrika.
Kanem-Borno
The history of Borno antedates the 9th century, when Arabic writers in North Africa first noted the kingdom of Kanem, east of Lake Chad. The lake was then much larger than the present-day body of water, and its basin attracted settlements and encouraged exchange. A pastoral group, ancestors of the Kanuri, established a centralized state over those referred to collectively as the Sao. Initially, trading links extended to the Nile valley of Egypt. There is some evidence that Kanem had made contact with the Christian kingdoms of Nubia before it was overrun by Muslims, who gained a foothold in the ruling family of Kanem in the 11th century. From Kanem the rulers tried to dominate the areas south and west of the lake as well. By the 12th century they had been compelled by attacks from the Sao to move their capital to the region west of Lake Chad, and they gradually lost control of most of the original Kanem.
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For a long time, Borno was the dominant power in the central Sudan, including much of Hausaland. The Bayajidda legend, concerning a mythical Middle Eastern ancestor of the Hausa, seems to suggest that the rise of a centralized political system in Hausaland was influenced from Borno. Though the rulers of Borno embraced Islam, the structure of the monarchy remained traditional, with the queen mother and other female officials exercising considerable power. The selection of the monarch, the coronation rites, and other bases of royal authority were dictated by pre-Islamic beliefs. The princes and other members of the royal family were granted fiefs and posted away from the capital to govern frontier zones, while people of slave origin were preferred for the royal guard and palace officials.
Hausaland
For centuries the Hausa have occupied the northern plains beyond the Jos Plateau, which were a crossroads open not only to Borno but also to the states of Mali and Songhai in the western Sudan, the trans-Saharan routes to northern Africa, and various trade routes to the forest areas of Borgu, Oyo, and Benin. Perhaps because of this strategic location, the Hausa developed a number of centralized states—such as Daura, Katsina, Kano, Zaria, Gobir, and, later, Kebbi—each with a walled city, a market centre, and a monarchical system of government. Islam, which was introduced from the Mali empire in the 14th century, strengthened both the monarchical system and the commercial contacts, but it remained predominantly an urban religion until the beginning of the 19th century. Even within the walled cities, however, some pre-Islamic rites remained part of the ceremonies that sustained monarchical authority. A considerable rivalry existed between the different states over agricultural land and the control of trade and trade routes, and Hausaland was periodically conquered by powerful neighbours such as Borno and Songhai.
Yorubaland and Benin
Ife, which flourished between the 11th and 15th centuries, emerged as a major power in the forested areas west of the Niger and south of Hausaland. Some of the characteristic features of Yoruba culture emerged during that time: a monarchical system based on city-states and nucleated villages; a pantheon of gods, a few of which were recognized widely but with several local variations; and divination centred on the deity Ifa, with its corpus of sacred chants. Ife is best known for its potsherd pavements and for the great artistry of its terra-cottas and bronzes, especially the naturalism of many of its bronze figures. (See also African art.) Ife’s influence on surrounding states is evident in the fact that all the monarchies of Yoruba states claim descent from Ife as a way of establishing legitimacy, sometimes borrowing regalia from Ife to use in coronation rites and sometimes sending remains of deceased rulers to Ife for burial.
Oyo, founded in the 14th century and located in the savanna to the north of the forest, gradually supplanted the older kingdom of Ife. After more than a century of struggle with nearby Borgu and Nupe, it established itself strategically as the emporium for exchanging goods from the north—rock salt, copper, textiles, leather goods, and horses—with products from the south—kola nuts, indigo, parrots, and cowries. By the 17th century it had built up a cavalry force with which it dominated people in western Yorubaland and in the dry gap to the coast; to the south, infestations of tsetse flies prevented kingdoms there from effectively utilizing horses.
When the Portuguese arrived in the kingdom of Benin in the 15th century, they found a monarchy, dating back many centuries, with a complex structure of chiefs and palace officials presiding over a kingdom that was expanding in all directions. In time, Benin dominated not only the Edo-speaking peoples to the north and south but also the area eastward to the Niger and, along the coast, to Lagos(which the Edo now claim to have founded) and even into present-day Ghana. It also exerted considerable influence on eastern Yorubaland and maintained trading connections with Oyo. Benin art, which began to flourish in the 15th century, was characterized by naturalistic bronze sculptures and bronze door panels that covered the outside of the royal palace.
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