Nigeria (/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/  ny-JEER-ee-ə),^[a] officiallythe Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in WestAfrica. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf ofGuinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of 923,769square kilometres (356,669 sq mi), and with a population ofover 230 million, it is the most populous country in Africa, andthe world'ssixth-most populous country. Nigeria borders Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states andthe Federal Capital Territory, wherethe capital, Abuja, islocated. The largest city in Nigeria is Lagos, one ofthe largest metropolitan areas in the world and the second-largest in Africa.

Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms sincethe second millennium BC, with the Nok civilization in the 15th century BCmarking the first internal unification in the country. The modern stateoriginated with Britishcolonialization in the 19th century, takingits present territorial shape with the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate in1914 by Lord Lugard. TheBritish set up administrative and legal structures while practising indirectrule through traditional chiefdoms in the Nigeriaregion.^[9] Nigeriabecame a formally independent federation on 1 October 1960.It experienced a civil war from 1967 to 1970, followedby a succession of military dictatorships anddemocratically elected civilian governments until achieving a stable democracy inthe 1999 presidential election.The 2015 general election wasthe first time an incumbent president failed to be re-elected.^[10]

Nigeria is a multinational state inhabited by morethan 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages, all identifying with awide variety of cultures.^[11][12][13] Thethree largest ethnic groups are the Hausa in the north, Yoruba in the west,and Igbo in the east,together constituting over 60% of the total population.^[14] The officiallanguage is English, chosen to facilitate linguisticunity at the national level.^[15] Nigeria's constitution ensures freedom of religion^[16] andit is home to some of the world's largest Muslim and Christian populations.^[17] Nigeriais divided roughly in half between Muslims, who live mostly in the north,and Christians, wholive mostly in the south; indigenous religions, such asthose native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities,are in the minority.^[18]

Nigeria is a regional power in Africa and a middle and emergingpower in international affairs. Nigeria's economy is the largest in Africa,the 31st-largest in the world bynominal GDP, and 26th-largest by PPP. Nigeria is often referred to as the Giantof Africa owing to its large population and economy^[19] andis considered to be an emergingmarket by the World Bank. However, the country ranks verylow in the Human Development Index and remains one of the most corrupt nations inthe world.^[20][21] Nigeriais a founding member of the African Union and a member of manyinternational organizations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, NAM,^[22] the Economic Community of WestAfrican States, Organisationof Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. It is also a member of the informal MINT groupof countries and is one of the Next Eleven economies.

The name Nigeria was taken from the NigerRiver running through the country. This name was coined on 8January 1897, by the British journalist Flora Shaw, who later married Frederick Lugard, a Britishcolonial administrator. The neighbouring Republicof Niger takes its name from the same river. The origin of thename Niger, which originally applied to only the middle reaches ofthe Niger River, is uncertain. The word is likely an alteration of the Tuareg name egerew n-igerewen usedby inhabitants along the middle reaches of the river around Timbuktu before19th-century European colonialism.^[23][24]

Main articles: History of Nigeria and Timeline ofNigerian history

Prehistory and ancient history (before 1500)

Furtherinformation: Early history of Nigeria and History ofNigeria before 1500

Kainji Dam excavationsshowed ironworking by the 2nd century BC. The transition from Neolithic timesto the Iron Age wasaccomplished without intermediate bronze production. Others believeor suggest the technology moved west from the NileValley, although the Iron Age in the NigerRiver valley and the forest region appears to predate theintroduction of metallurgy in the upper savanna by more than 800 years.

The Nokcivilization of Nigeria thrived between 1,500 BC and AD 200. Itproduced life-sized terracotta figuresthat are some of the earliest known sculptures in Sub-Saharan Africa^{[25][26][27][28][29]} andsmelted iron by about 550 BC and possibly a few centuries earlier.^[30][31][32] Evidenceof iron smelting has also been excavated at sites in the Nsukka regionof southeast Nigeria: dating to 2000 BC at the site of Lejja^[33] andto 750 BC and at the site of Opi.

The KanoChronicle highlights an ancient history dating to around 999 AD ofthe Hausa Saheliancity-state of Kano, with other major Hausa cities (or HausaBakwai) of Daura, Hadeija, Kano, Katsina, Zazzau, Rano,and Gobir all having recorded histories dating backto the 10th century. With the spread of Islam from the 7th century AD, the areabecame known as Sudan oras Bilad Al Sudan (English: Land of the Blacks; Arabic: بلادالسودان). Since the populations were partially affiliated with the Arab Muslimculture of NorthAfrica, they began trans-Saharan trade and were referred toby the Arabic speakers as Al-Sudan (meaning "TheBlacks") as they were considered an extended part of the Muslimworld. There are early historical references by medieval Arab andMuslim historians and geographers which refer to the Kanem-Bornu Empire as the region's majorcentre for Islamic civilization.

The Kingdomof Nri of the Igbo people consolidated in the 10th century andcontinued until it lost its sovereignty to the British in 1911.^[34][35] Nriwas ruled by the Eze Nri, and the city of Nri isconsidered to be the foundation of Igbo culture. Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, arein the territory of the Umeuri clan. Members of the clan trace their lineagesback to the patriarchal king-figure Eri.^[36] InWest Africa, the oldest bronzes made using the lost waxprocess were from Igbo-Ukwu, a cityunder Nri influence.^[34]

The Yoruba kingdomsof Ife and Oyo insouthwestern Nigeria became prominent in the 12th^[37][38] and14th^[39] centuries,respectively. The oldest signs of human settlement at Ife's current site dateback to the 9th century,^[37] andits material culture includes terracotta and bronze figures.

Pre-colonial era (1500–1850)

In the 16th century, Portuguese explorers were the firstEuropeans to begin important, direct trade with the peoples of southernNigeria, at the port they named Lagos (formerly Eko) and in Calabar alongthe region Slave Coast.Europeans traded goods with peoples at the coast; coastal trade with Europeansalso marked the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade.^[40] Theport of Calabar on the historical Bight ofBiafra (now commonly referred to as the Bight of Bonny) becameone of the largest slave-trading posts in West Africa in the era of theAtlantic slave trade. Other major slaving ports in Nigeria were locatedin Badagry, Lagoson the Bight ofBenin, and BonnyIsland on the Bight of Biafra.^[40][41] Themajority of those enslaved and taken to these ports were captured in raids andwars.^[42] Usually,the captives were taken back to the conquerors' territory as forcedlabour; after time, they were sometimes acculturated and absorbed intothe conquerors' society. Slave routes were established throughout Nigerialinking the hinterland areas with the major coastal ports. Some of the moreprolific slave-trading kingdoms who participated in the Atlantic slave tradewere linked with the Edo's Benin Empire in the south, OyoEmpire in the southwest, and the Aro Confederacy in the southeast.^[40][41] Benin'spower lasted between the 15th and 19th centuries.^[43] Oyo,at its territorial zenith in the late 17th to early 18th centuries, extendedits influence from western Nigeria to modern-day Togo.

In the north, the incessant fighting amongst the Hausacity-states and the decline of the Bornu Empire gave rise to the Fulanipeople gaining headway into the region. Until this point, the Fulani, a nomadic ethnicgroup, primarily traversed the semi-desert Sahelian region north of Sudan withcattle and avoided trade and intermingling with the Sudanic peoples. At thebeginning of the 19th century, Usman dan Fodio led asuccessful jihad against the HausaKingdoms, founding the centralised SokotoCaliphate. This empire, with Arabic as its official language, grewrapidly under his rule and that of his descendants, whosent out invadingarmies in every direction.

The vast landlocked empire connected the east with the westernSudan region and made inroads down south conquering parts of the Oyo Empire(modern-day Kwara), andadvanced towards the Yorubaheartland of Ibadan, toreach the Atlantic Ocean. The territory controlled by the empire included muchof modern-day northern and central Nigeria. The sultan sent out emirs toestablish suzerainty overthe conquered territories and promote Islamic civilization; the emirs in turnbecame increasingly rich and powerful through trade and slavery. By the 1890s,the largest slavepopulation in the world, about two million, was concentrated in theterritories of the Sokoto Caliphate. The use of slave labour was extensive,especially in agriculture.^[44] Bythe time of its break-up in 1903 into various European colonies, the SokotoCaliphate was one of the largest pre-colonial African states.^[45]

A changing legal imperative (the outlawing of the Atlantic slave trade in 1807) andeconomic imperative (a desire for political and social stability) led mostEuropean powers to support the widespread cultivation of agricultural products,such as the palm, for use in European industry. European companies engaged inthe Atlantic slave trade until it was outlawed in 1807 by Britain, which upuntil that point had been the second largest actor in the trade. Theslave trade continued after the ban, as illegal smugglers purchased slavesalong the coast from native slavers. Britain's West Africa Squadron sought to interceptthe smugglers at sea. The rescued slaves were taken to Freetown, acolony in West Africa originally established by Lieutenant John Clarkson forthe resettlement of slaves freed by Britain in North America after the American Revolutionary War.

British colonization (1850–1960)

Mainarticle: Colonial Nigeria

Britain intervened in the Lagos kingship power struggle bybombarding Lagos in 1851, deposing the slave-trade-friendly ObaKosoko, helping to install the amenable Oba Akitoye and signing the Treatybetween Great Britain and Lagos on 1 January1852. Britain annexedLagos as a crowncolony in August 1861 with the Lagos Treaty of Cession. British missionariesexpanded their operations and travelled further inland. In 1864, Samuel Ajayi Crowther became the firstAfrican bishop ofthe Anglican Church.^[46]

In 1885, British claims to a West African sphere of influence received recognitionfrom other European nations at the BerlinConference. The following year, it chartered the Royal Niger Company under the leadershipof Sir George Taubman Goldie. By the late 19th andearly 20th centuries, the company had vastly succeeded in subjugating theindependent southern kingdoms along the Niger River, the British conquered Benin in1897, and, in the Anglo-AroWar (1901–1902), defeated other opponents. The defeat of thesestates opened up the Niger area to British rule. In 1900, the company'sterritory came under the direct control of the British government andestablished the Southern Nigeria Protectorate asa British protectorate and part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at thetime.

By 1902, the British had begun plans to move north into theSokoto Caliphate. British General Lord Frederick Lugard wastasked by the ColonialOffice to implement the agenda. Lugard used rivalries betweenmany of the emirs in the southern reach of the caliphate and the central Sokotoadministration to prevent any defence as he worked towards the capital. As theBritish approached the city of Sokoto,Sultan Muhammadu Attahiru I organized a quickdefence of the city and fought the advancing British-led forces. The Britishforce quickly won, sending Attahiru I and thousands of followers on a Mahdist hijra. In thenortheast, the decline of the Bornu Empire gave rise to theBritish-controlled Borno Emirate whichestablished Abubakar Garbai of Borno asruler.

In 1903, the British victory in the Battle of Kano gave them a logistical edgein pacifying the heartland of the Sokoto Caliphate andparts of the former Bornu Empire. On 13 March 1903, at the grand market squareof Sokoto, the last vizier of the caliphate officially concededto British rule. The British appointed Muhammadu Attahiru II as the new caliph.Lugard abolished the caliphate but retained the title sultan asa symbolic position in the newly organized Northern Nigeria Protectorate. Thisremnant became known as "Sokoto Sultanate Council".In June 1903, the British defeated the remaining forces of Attahiru. By 1906,resistance to British rule had ended. On 1 January 1914, the British formallyunited the Southern Nigeria Protectorate andthe Northern Nigeria Protectorate intothe Colonyand Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeriaremained divided into the Northern and Southern Protectorates and LagosColony. Inhabitants of the southern region sustained more interaction,economic and cultural, with the British and other Europeans owing to thecoastal economy.^[47] Following World WarII, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demandsfor independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British governmentmoved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasinglyfederal basis. By the middle of the 20th century, a great wave for independence wassweeping across Africa.

Christian missions established Western educational institutionsin the protectorates. Under Britain's policy of indirect rule and validation ofIslamic tradition, the Crown did not encourage the operation of Christianmissions in the northern, Islamic part of the country.^[48] Somechildren of the southern elite went to Great Britain to pursue highereducation. By independence in 1960, regional differences in modern educationalaccess were marked. The legacy, though less pronounced, continues to thepresent day. Imbalances between north and south were expressed in Nigeria'spolitical life as well. For instance, northern Nigeria did not outlaw slaveryuntil 1936 whilst in other parts of Nigeria, slavery was abolished soon aftercolonialism.^[49][41]

First Republic, Civil War and coups (1960–1977)

Mainarticles: First Nigerian Republic and Nigerian Civil War

Nigeria gained a degree of self-rule in 1954, and fullindependence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, as the Federation of Nigeria with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as its prime minister, whileretaining the British monarch, ElizabethII, as nominal head of state and Queen ofNigeria. Azikiwe replaced the colonial governor-general inNovember 1960. At independence, the cultural and political differences weresharp among Nigeria's dominant ethnic groups: the Hausa inthe north, Igbo in the east and Yoruba in the west.^[50] The Westminster system of government was retained,and thus the President's powers were generallyceremonial.^[51] Theparliamentary system of government had Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as PrimeMinister and Nnamdi Azikiwe as the ceremonialpresident.

The founding government was a coalition of conservative parties:the Northern People's Congress ledby Sir AhmaduBello, a party dominated by Muslim northerners, and the Igbo andChristian-dominated National Council of Nigeriaand the Cameroons led by NnamdiAzikiwe. The opposition consisted of the comparatively liberal Action Group, which was largely dominated bythe Yoruba andled by ObafemiAwolowo. An imbalance was created in the polity as the result ofthe 1961 plebiscite. Southern Cameroons opted to join the Republicof Cameroon while Northern Cameroons chose to join Nigeria. Thenorthern part of the country became larger than the southern part.

The disequilibrium and perceived corruption of the electoral andpolitical process led to two military coups in 1966. The first coup was in January 1966 andwas led mostly by soldiers under Majors EmmanuelIfeajuna (of the Igbo tribe) and Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu (Northerner of Eastern extraction) and AdewaleAdemoyega. The coup plotters succeeded in assassinating Sir AhmaduBello and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa alongside prominentleaders of the Northern Region and also Premier SamuelAkintola of the Western Region, but the coup plotters struggledto form a central government. Senate President Nwafor Orizu handed over government control tothe Army, underthe command of another Igbo officer, Major General^[52] Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. Later, the counter-coup of 1966,supported primarily by Northern military officers, facilitated the riseof YakubuGowon as military head of state. Tension rose between north andsouth; Igbos in northern cities suffered persecution andmany fled to the Eastern Region.^[53]

In May 1967, Governor of the Eastern Region Lt. Colonel Emeka Ojukwu declared the regionindependent from the federation as a state called the Republicof Biafra, as a result of the continuous and systematically plannedattacks against Igbos and those of Eastern Extraction popularly knownas 1966 pogroms.^[54][55] Thisdeclaration precipitated the Nigerian Civil War, which began as the officialNigerian government side attacked Biafra on 6 July 1967, at Garkem. The30-month war, with a long siege of Biafra and its isolation from trade andsupplies, ended in January 1970.^[56] Estimatesof the number of dead inthe former Eastern Region during the 30-month civil war range from one to threemillion.^[57] France,Egypt, the Soviet Union, Britain, Israel, and others were deeply involved inthe civil war behind the scenes. Britain and the Soviet Union were the mainmilitary backers of the Nigerian government, with Nigeria utilizing air supportfrom Egyptian pilots provided by Gamal Abdel Nasser,^[58][59] whileFrance and Israel aided the Biafrans. The Congolese government,under President Joseph-DésiréMobutu, took an early stand on the Biafran secession, voicing strongsupport for the Nigerian federal government^[60] anddeploying thousands of troops to fight against the secessionists.^[61][62]

Following the war, Nigeria enjoyed an oil boom inthe 1970s, during which the country joined OPEC and received huge oil revenues. Despitethese revenues, the military government did little to improve the standard of living of the population, helpsmall and medium businesses, or invest in infrastructure. As oil revenuesfuelled the rise of federal subsidies to states, the federal government becamethe centre of political struggle and the threshold of power in the country. Asoil production and revenue rose, the Nigerian government became increasinglydependent on oil revenues and international commodity markets for budgetary andeconomic concerns.^[63]

The coup in July 1975, led byGenerals Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and Joseph Garba, ousted Gowon,^[64] whofled to Britain.^[65] Thecoup plotters wanted to replace Gowon's autocratic rule with a triumvirate ofthree brigadier generals whose decisions could be vetoed by a Supreme Military Council. Forthis triumvirate, they convinced General MurtalaMuhammed to become military head of state, with General OlusegunObasanjo as his second-in-command, and General Theophilus Danjuma as the third.^[66] Together,the triumvirate introduced austerity measures to stem inflation, established aCorrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, replaced all military governors withnew officers, and launched "Operation Deadwood" through which theyfired 11,000 officials from the civil service.^[67]

Colonel Buka SukaDimka launched a February 1976 coup attempt, duringwhich General Murtala Muhammed was assassinated. Dimka lacked widespreadsupport among the military, and his coup failed, forcing him to flee.^[68] Afterthe coup attempt, General Olusegun Obasanjo was appointed military head ofstate.^[69] Ashead of state, Obasanjo vowed to continue Murtala's policies.^[70] Awareof the danger of alienating northern Nigerians, Obasanjo brought General ShehuYar'Adua as his replacement and second-in-command as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters completingthe military triumvirate, with Obasanjo as head of state and General Theophilus Danjuma as Chief of Army Staff, thethree went on to re-establish control over the military regime andorganized the military's transfer of power programme: statescreation and national delimitation, local government reforms andthe constitutional drafting committee fora new republic.^[71]