Nigeria

The countryside in the southwestern plains of Nigeria is heavily forested, while along the coastal region there are swamps and lagoons. Here, a fisherman in traditional dress prepares his nets in Lekki Lagoon. It is usual for such catches to be taken to market in nearby Lagos.

Northern Nigeria is dry desert and savannah, with frequent droughts. The farmers still use traditional methods. This woman is winnowing: as she lets the grain fall, the light wind blows away the dry and unwanted chaff.

Country in west Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, bounded north by Niger, east by Chad and Cameroon, and west by Benin.

Government

Nigeria is a federal republic, with a multiparty political system and a presidential executive. Its president serves of head of state and government and is popularly elected for a four-year term, renewable once. There is a two-chamber legislature or National Assembly, comprising an upper house, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. The Senate has 109 senators, elected for four-year terms, with three members returned from each state along with one from the capital region of Abuja. The House has 360 members, elected in single member constituencies through a first-past-the-post system also for four-year terms.

Nigeria is a federal republic of 36 states, each with its own elected governor, and the federal capital territory of Abuja. The country's political history has been dominated by competition for power between the country's three largest ethnic groups – the Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo – and by the prominent role the military has played, as well as by government corruption and vote-rigging in elections.

History

Nigeria is named after the River Niger, its chief physical feature; the word means ‘great river’. Nigeria has been inhabited since at least 700 BC. Many of the early inhabitants migrated across the Sahara Desert, since the delta barring the entrance to the Niger and the mangrove swamps and coastal forest belt made penetration from the sea difficult.

Early African states

Trade, culture, and the Muslim religion also found their way over the caravan routes from Egypt and the Arab countries into northern Nigeria, especially around Bornu. The Hausa people in the northwest adopted Islam in the 13th century, and formed a number of city states at around the same time. In the 15th century the Yoruba people of the southwest established powerful city states. The Hausa and Yoruba states possessed complex administrative structures, headed by kings regarded as divine, superimposed on small agricultural communities. The influence of Islam helped preserve this hierarchical structure.

The remarkable medieval kingdom of Benin (covering an area of southwest Nigeria) was an offshoot of the Yoruba states. It was visited by the Portuguese in 1486 and by the English in 1553, who found there a prosperous, well-organized society with well-developed art and culture.

European contact

Portuguese and British slave traders started to raid the coastal regions of Nigeria in the 15th and 16th centuries (see slavery). The 17th and 18th centuries were a period of decline brought about by wars, political dissensions, famines, and the slave trade.

British interest in the area increased in the later 18th century, and exploration began as a preliminary to the development of commerce. Mungo Park reached the Niger in 1796, Hugh Clapperton penetrated to Sokoto in 1823, and Richard and John Lander traced the course of the Niger in 1830. The British abolition of slavery in 1807 was a stimulus to legitimate trade and also to the missionaries who followed the explorers, and by the middle of the century they had reached Abeokuta, Ibadan, and Calabar.

From the late 18th century the Hausa states suffered an invasion by the Fulani, an Islamic people originating from the upper Nile valley, who overran more than 259,000 sq km/10,000 sq mi of territory and further weakened the country.

The establishment of British rule

Infiltration by the British also began with the purchase by British traders of Lagos in 1861 from a native chief. In 1866 Lagos was placed under the government of Sierra Leone and later administered as part of the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) until 1886, when a separate colony and protectorate of Lagos was founded.

In 1885 a British claim to a protectorate over Nigeria was recognized by the Berlin Conference, and the southern part of the country, apart from the Lagos territories, was named the Oil Rivers Protectorate, later renamed the Niger Coast Protectorate. The northern part of the country, formerly chartered to the United African Company, was brought under government control in 1900, the northern part of its territories becoming the Northern Nigeria Protectorate and the southern part, together with the Niger Coast Protectorate, becoming the Southern Nigeria Protectorate, to which Lagos was added in 1906. In 1914 the north and south were united to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

Towards independence

After World War II pressure for independence increased. Between 1946 and 1951 different constitutions were introduced, which gave Nigeria first representative government and then responsible government. The federal structure was first introduced in 1946, when the northern, eastern, and western regions were established.

The northern part of the former trusteeship territory of the Cameroons was administered by the northern region until 1961, when by a referendum it opted to become a part of the Region itself, while in the same referendum the southern part of the Cameroons territory, which had hitherto functioned as a Region of the federation, now elected to join the Cameroon Republic. The present midwestern region split off from western region after a referendum in 1963.

Regional self-government was achieved by the eastern and western regions in 1957 and by the northern region in 1959. In 1960 full independence was granted to the federation, which became a member of the Commonwealth. In 1963 Nigeria became a republic, retaining its federal structure so as to accommodate the many different ethnic groups, which include the Ibo, the Yoruba, the Aro, the Angas, and the Hausa.

Democracy overthrown

Nigeria's first president was Dr Nnami Azikiwe, an Ibo; he was a banker and proprietor of a newspaper group, and had played a leading part in the movement for independence. His chief rival was Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who was prime minister from 1957.

In January 1966, Nigeria, which was generally considered to be the most politically stable of the new African nations, suffered a military coup by young army officers, mainly Ibos from the eastern region, which had become richer after the discovery of oil there 1958. In the course of the coup the prime minister, the premier of the north region, and several other political leaders and army officers were assassinated. A military government was set up, led by Maj Gen Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. The revolt was sparked off by widespread suspicion that the recent general elections had been rigged, and by revelations of political corruption. A military government was set up comprising a Supreme Military Council and a Federal Executive Council.

Gowon seizes power

In July 1966 there was a another military coup by a mostly Christian group from the north; several units of the army mutinied and a new head of the military government was installed. The Ironsi regime had been dominated by Ibo civil servants, and there had been a great deal of anxiety especially about where power lay. After the coup the new head of government was the army chief of staff, Lieut Col (later Gen) Yakubu Gowon. The military government released a number of political prisoners, including chiefs Enaharo and Awolowo. The leaders of the coup stressed that the military government was an interim measure to be followed by free elections.

Biafra secedes

While discussions on a future federal government structure were taking place in Lagos, open fighting and rioting broke out in northern Nigeria, the principal victims of murder and looting being Ibo civilians. In May 1967, Lt Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the military governor, declared the eastern region's secession from Nigeria and the establishment of an independent state of Biafra. Gowon had sought, but failed, to secure a last-minute compromise by proposing a new federal structure for Nigeria, to ease Ibo fears of dominance by the north. But the Ibo were attracted by the prospect of securing a higher share of oil revenues, as an independent state, and had experienced northern brutality, with tens of thousands having been killed.

The Biafran War

Initially Gowon's federal government sought to deal with the Biafran secession using civil police. But in Julyl 1997, after Ibo secessionists had collaborated with Ibo officers in the Nigerian army to invade the Midwest, the Nigerian army was mobilized and attacked Biafra. The civil war lasted 30 months and warfare and famine claimed 1 million lives and caused severe economic damage. But the numerical and technical superiority of the federal forces eventually began to tell, especially after the opening up of new fronts in Bonny and Calabar. Ibo resistance was stubborn, but the war was concluded finally in January 1970, with the Biafran surrender after Ojukwu had fled to the Côte d'Ivoire.

Oil revenue and development

The federal military government was anxious that there should be no recriminations after the civil war, and Gowon hoped that Nigeria would emerge as a stronger, united nation. The government used oil revenues to finance national development plans and provide financial support to states. The federal government claimed an increasingly larger stake in the oil industry, largely through the Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC). Nigeria also became a member of the Arab-dominated Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and benefited from the 1970s surge in global oil prices. Oil revenue, channelled through the federal government to the regional governments, gave the central government increased power and influence, but much was also squandered through political corruption.

The overthrow of Gowon

In 1972 Gen Gowon declared that the army would relinquish power, and the country return to civilian rule by 1976; but when he made the 14th independence anniversary speech on 1 October 1974, this deadline had been postponed, and Gowon announced that the army would continue to govern indefinitely, although it was stressed that the policy of a return to civilian rule had not been abandoned. The military government's justification for this was that a national consensus did not exist on an appropriate civilian government system for Nigeria. But in July 1975 Gowon was overthrown in a military coup while he was attending the Organization of African Unity (OAU; later African Union) Conference in Uganda.

Military rule under Muhammad and Obasanjo, 1975–79

Nigeria's new head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces was Brig Murtala Ramat Muhammad. He justified his takeover by claiming that Gowon had headed a regime that survived on nepotism and corruption. He made immediate changes in the military leadership, and ‘retired’ all former members of the government, state governors, civilian federal commissioners, and all administrators of East Central State. New military governors were appointed for Nigeria's 12 states.

Muhammad established the Federal Council of States, which was given the brief of examining the suitability of Lagos as the federal capital, and which recommended the creation of seven new states, giving a total of 19. But in February 1976 Gen Muhammad was killed in an attempted coup by a group of Lagos-based officers, led by Lieut Col Dimka. They were swiftly arrested and later executed, and a new military government was formed, headed by Lt Gen Olusegun Obasanjo.

Brief return to democracy

Obasanjo oversaw a return to civilian rule in 1979, when the leader of the National Party of Nigeria, Shehu Shagari, was elected president. However, Shagari's government was corrupt and ineffective and, in December 1983, with the economy suffering from falling oil prices, he was deposed in a bloodless military coup, led by Maj Gen Muhammadu Buhari. In 1985 another peaceful coup replaced Buhari with a new military government, led by Maj Gen Ibrahim Babangida, the army chief of staff, who pledged to restore civilian rule by 1990.

Babangida's reforms

Babangida launched a series of reforms on different fronts. In an effort to curb corruption, he banned former and existing government officials from any future civilian administration. In May 1989 political activity was legalized, but only two official parties were allowed, one to the left and one to the right of the political spectrum. In August 1991, nine new states were created (bringing the total to 30) in a move towards the decentralization of power. In December 1991 the ban prohibiting existing government officials running for office in a new government was lifted, and the federal government was moved from Lagos to Abuja, the new federal capital. He also instituted structural economic reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ease the servicing of the country's high level of international debt.

First free presidential election declared void

Assembly elections were delayed until July 1992. They were won by Babangida's Social Democratic Party (SDP). A free and fair presidential election was held in June 1993 and was won by the SDP candidate, Moshood Abiola (1938–1998). But the result was declared null and void by Babangida, leading to several weeks of mass protests and violence. Babangida promised fresh elections but later persuaded the SDP and the main opposition party, the National Republican Convention, to agree to talks aimed at establishing an interim government, excluding Abiola. In August 1992 Babangida postponed the talks and stepped down, nominating Ernest Shonekan, a civilian, as his successor.

Military rule restored

Shonekan headed an interim administration which lasted until November 1993, when he was replaced by the defence minister, Gen Sani Abacha (1943–1998), who established a brutal and corrupt military government which lasted until his death in 1998.

Abacha moved to quickly ban all political parties and Abiola was arrested and charged with treason in June 1994. This triggered an escalation of protests by the pro-democracy movement. In October 1994 the High Court ruled that Abiola's detention was illegal, but Abiola remained under house arrest until his death, reportedly from a heart attack, in July 1998. In 1995 there was mounting international concern over human-rights abuses by the military regime. Some 100 human-rights activists were arrested, and in November 1995 Ken Saro-Wiwa, an environmentalist and leading spokesperson for the Ogoni people, was executed along with eight of his colleagues. World leaders pleas for clemency went unheeded, and following the executions, Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth.

In 1997 Abacha announced that presidential elections would be held in late 1998. But in April 1998 he engineered a crucial vote which would allow him to stand unopposed in these elections. Nigeria's main opposition group, the United Action for Democracy, organized a boycott of the April 1998 assembly elections, resulting in a low turnout. Then Abacha died suddenly on 8 June 1998. He had left no obvious successor, but the military government chose Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar, a former chief of defence staff, to become the head of state.

In August 1998 three new parties were formed: the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the People's Democratic Congress, and the Liberal Democratic Party. The PDP performed strongly in local councils in January 1999 and in February 1999 won more than half of the seats in the Senate. In March 1999 Olusegun Obasanjo was elected president, although there were claims of ballot fraud.

Obasanjo heads civilian regime

Nearly 16 years of military rule ended in Nigeria in May 1999 when Gen Abubakar handed over to Olusegun Obasanjo, and Nigeria rejoined the Commonwealth from which it was banned in 1995. Obasanjo, a Yoruba who was a born-again Christian, had been a military ruler 1976–79. But he was respected for returning the government to civilian rule in 1979 and for speaking out against the Abacha dictatorship.

He inherited a stagnating economy in a country which had wasted its oil wealth and he faced problems of endemic corruption and ethnic divisions. He moved quickly to retire military officers holding political positions and seized hundreds of millions of dollars of wealth stolen by the allies of the late dictator Sani Abacha. He also set up a panel to investigate human rights abuses and released people being held without charge. In October 1999 he also cracked down on multinational oil companies based in the Niger Delta, giving them six weeks to produce plans to clean up environmental damage which was causing unrest and violence.

During Obasanjo's presidency there were continuing ethnic problems in Nigeria's regions. In July 1999 fighting between Hausas and Yorubas, in the southwest, caused many deaths. In Zamfara state, in the north, over 1,000 died in ethnic and religious violence following the introduction, in January 2000, of strict Islamic sharia law. In May 2000 a curfew was imposed upon the northern city of Kaduna after at least 200 people were killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians. In October 2000 over 100 were killed in violence between militant Yorubas and Hausas in Lagos. In June 2001, the killing of a traditional ruler of the Azara people of central Nigeria sparked off fighting with the neighbouring Tivs which claimed hundreds of lives. In September 2001, around 500 were killed in a week of fighting between Christians and Muslims in the city of Jos in central Nigeria. In response, in October 2001 Obasanjo announced the formation of a National Security Commission to look at the issue of communal violence.

Obasanjo was re-elected president in 2003, with 62% of the vote, although again there were some voting irregularities. He polled strongly in the south but lost support in the north. During his second term he continued a crackdown against corruption, involving the prosecution of corrupt governors and officials. He also appointed technocrats to the government to improve economic planning, and the economic growth rate doubled to 6% a year.

New president

Obasanjo was succeeded as president in May 2007 by his chosen heir Umaru Yar'Adua, of the ruling centrist PDP, which also maintained its majority in the National Assembly. The April 2007 presidential election, won by Yar'Adua with 70% of the vote, was again marred by claims of electoral fraud. And there were concerns that the new president might be a ‘puppet’ controlled by Obasanjo, who was debarred constitutionally from running for a third term. But Yar'Adua also had a reputation as a politician not tainted by corruption scandals and who, as a governor of Katsina in 2000, had made the state the fifth in the north to adopt Islamic sharia law. After the election he formed a government of national unity, which included members of the opposition parties.

Nigeria (redirected from Niberia)