CURRENT AFFAIRS

Post-independence

2010-04-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom. The new republic incorporated a number of people with aspirations of their own sovereign nations
Newly independent, 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. The cultural and political differences between Nigeria's dominant ethnicities, 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 came about in 1965, the AG was outmanoeuvred for control of Nigeria's Western Region by the Nigerian National Democratic Party, an amalgamation of conservative Yoruba elements backed heavily by the Federal Government amid dubious electoral circumstances

Colonial Era

2010-04-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to begin trade in Nigeria in the port they named Lagos and in Calabar. The Europeans traded with the ethnicities of the coast and also negotiated a trade in slaves, to the detriment and profit of many Nigerian ethnicities.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior. Consequently many of the citizens of the former slave nations of the British Empire are descended from a Nigerian ethnic group.

In 1885 British claims to a West African sphere of influence received international recognition and in the following year the Royal Niger Company was chartered 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 January 1, 1901 Nigeria became a British protectorate, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time. Many wars against subjugation had been fought by the states of what later became Nigeria against the British Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Notably of those were the British Conquest of Benin in 1897 and the Anglo-Aro War from 1901—1902. The restraint or complete destruction of these states opened up the Niger area to British rule.

In 1914, the Niger area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the northern and southern provinces and Lagos colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since. Slavery was not finally outlawed in northern Nigeria until 1936.

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.

Influence of the Christian Missions

2010-04-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

Christianity was introduced at Benin in the fifteenth century by Portuguese Roman Catholic priests who accompanied traders and officials to the West African coast. Several churches were built to serve the Portuguese community and a small number of African converts. When direct Portuguese contacts in the region were withdrawn, however, the influence of the Catholic missionaries waned and by the eighteenth century had disappeared.

Although churchmen in Britain had been influential in the drive to abolish the slave trade, significant missionary activity was renewed only in the 1840s and was confined for some time to the area between Lagos and Ibadan. The first missions there were opened by the Church of England's Church Missionary Society (CMS). They were followed by other Protestant denominations from Britain, Canada, and the United States and in the 1860s by Roman Catholic religious orders. Protestant missionaries tended to divide the country into spheres of activity to avoid competition with each other, and Catholic missions similarly avoided duplication of effort among the several religious orders working there. Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo, the CMS among the Yoruba.

The CMS initially promoted Africans to responsible positions in the mission field, an outstanding example being the appointment of Samuel Ajayi Crowther as the first Anglican bishop of the Niger. Crowther, a liberated Yoruba slave, had been educated in Sierra Leone and in Britain, where he was ordained before returning to his homeland with the first group of missionaries sent there by the CMS. This was part of a conscious "native church" policy pursued by the Anglicans and others to create indigenous ecclesiastical institutions that eventually would be independent of European tutelage. The effort failed in part, however, because church authorities came to think that religious discipline had grown too lax during Crowther's episcopate but especially because of the rise of prejudice. Crowther was succeeded as bishop by a British cleric. Nevertheless, the acceptance of Christianity by large numbers of Nigerians depended finally on the various denominations coming to terms with local conditions and involved participation of an increasingly high proportion of African clergy in the missions.

In large measure, European missionaries were convinced of the value of colonial rule, thereby reinforcing colonial policy. In reaction some African Christian communities formed their own independent churches. British expansion accelerated in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The early history of Lagos Colony was one of repeated attempts to end the Yoruba wars. In the face of threats to the divided Yoruba states from Dahomey and the Sokoto Caliphate, as represented by the emirate of Ilorin, the British governor—assisted by the CMS—succeeded in imposing peace settlements on the interior.

Colonial Lagos was a busy, cosmopolitan port, reflecting Victorian and distinctively Brazilian architecture and the varied backgrounds of a black elite, composed of English-speakers from Sierra Leone and of emancipated slaves repatriated from Brazil and Cuba. Its residents were employed in official capacities and were active in business. Africans also were represented on the Lagos Legislative Council, a largely appointed assembly.

After the Berlin Conference, Britain announced formation of the Oil Rivers Protectorate, which included the Niger Delta and extended eastward to Calabar, where the British consulate general was relocated from Fernando Po. The essential purpose of the protectorate was to control trade coming down the Niger. Vice consuls were assigned to ports that already had concluded treaties of cooperation with the Foreign Office. Local rulers continued to administer their territories, but consular authorities assumed jurisdiction for the equity courts established earlier by the foreign mercantile communities. A constabulary force was raised and used to pacify the coastal area. In 1894 the territory was redesignated the Niger Coast Protectorate and was expanded to include the region from Calabar to Lagos Colony and Protectorate, including the hinterland, and northward up the Niger River as far as Lokoja, the headquarters of the Royal Niger Company. As a protectorate, it did not have the status of a colony but remained under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Office.

Continued expansion of the protectorate was accomplished largely by diplomatic means, although military force was employed to bring Ijebu, Oyo, and Benin into compliance with dictated treaty obligations. The conquest of Benin in 1897 completed the British occupation of southwestern Nigeria. The incident that sparked the expedition was the massacre of a British consul and his party, which was on its way to investigate reports of ritual human sacrifice in the city of Benin. In reprisal a marine detachment promptly stormed the city and destroyed the oba's palace. The reigning oba was sent into exile, and Benin was administered indirectly under the protectorate through a council of chiefs.

Although treaties were signed with rulers as far north as Sokoto by 1885, actual British control was confined to the coastal area and the immediate vicinity of Lokoja until 1900. The Royal Niger Company had access to the territory from Lokoja extending along the Niger and Benue rivers above their confluence, but there was no effective control, even after punitive expeditions against Bida and Ilorin in 1897. The clear intent was to occupy the Sokoto Caliphate, but for that purpose the Royal Niger Company was not deemed to be a sufficient instrument of imperialism. Consequently, on December 31, 1899, Britain terminated the charter of the company, providing compensation and retention of valuable mineral rights

Abolition of the Slave Trade

2010-04-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

In 1807 the Houses of Parliament in London enacted legislation prohibiting British subjects from participating in the slave trade. Indirectly, this legislation was one of the reasons for the collapse of Oyo. Britain withdrew from the slave trade while it was the major transporter of slaves to the Americas. Furthermore, the French had been knocked out of the trade during the French Revolution beginning in 1789 and by the Napoleonic wars of the first fifteen years of the nineteenth century.

Between them, the French and the British had purchased a majority of the slaves sold from the ports of Oyo. The commercial uncertainty that followed the disappearance of the major purchasers of slaves unsettled the economy of Oyo. Ironically, the political troubles in Oyo came to a head after 1817, when the transatlantic market for slaves once again boomed. Rather than supplying slaves from other areas, however, Oyo itself became the source of slaves.

British legislation forbade ships under British registry to engage in the slave trade, but the restriction was applied generally to all flags and was intended to shut down all traffic in slaves coming out of West African ports. Other countries more or less hesitantly followed the British lead. The United States, for example, also prohibited the slave trade in 1807 (Denmark actually was the first country to declare the trade illegal in 1792). Attitudes changed slowly, however, and not all countries cooperated in controlling the activity of their merchant ships. American ships, for instance, were notorious for evading the prohibition and going unpunished under United States law. It should be noted, moreover, that the abolition movement concentrated on the transatlantic trade for more than five decades before eventually becoming a full-fledged attack on slave trading within Africa itself.

The Royal Navy maintained a prevention squadron to blockade the coast, and a permanent station was established at the Spanish colony of Fernando Po, off the Nigerian coast, with responsibility for patrolling the West African coast. For several decades, as much as one-sixth of all British warships were assigned to this mission, and a squadron was maintained at Fernando Po from 1827 until 1844. Slaves rescued at sea were usually taken to Sierra Leone, where they were released. British naval crews were permitted to divide prize money from the sale of captured slave ships. Apprehended slave runners were tried by naval courts and were liable to capital punishment if found guilty.

Still, a lively slave trade to the Americas continued into the 1860s. The demands of Cuba and Brazil for slaves were met by a flood of captives taken in wars among the Yoruba and shipped from Lagos, while some Aro traders continued to supply the delta ports with slave exports through the 1830s. Despite the British blockade, almost 1 million slaves were exported from Nigeria in the nineteenth century. The risk involved in running the British blockade obviously made profits all the greater on delivery.

The campaign to eradicate the slave trade and substitute for it trade in other commodities increasingly resulted in British intervention in the internal affairs of the Nigerian region during the nineteenth century and ultimately led to the decision to assume jurisdiction over the coastal area. Suppression of the slave trade and issues related to slavery remained at the forefront of British dealings with local states and societies for the rest of the nineteenth century and even into the twentieth century.

Lagos, where the British concentrated activities after 1851, had been founded as a colony of Benin in about 1700. A long dynastic struggle, which became entwined with the struggle against the slave trade, resulted in the overthrow of the reigning oba and the renunciation of a treaty with Britain to curtail the slave trade. Britain was determined to halt the traffic in slaves fed by the Yoruba wars, and responded to this frustration by annexing the port of Lagos in 1861. Thereafter, Britain gradually extended its control along the coast. British intervention became more insistent in the 1870s and 1880s as a result of pressure from missionaries and liberated slaves returning from Sierra Leone. There was also the necessity of protecting commerce disrupted by the fighting. The method of dealing with these problems was to dictate treaties that inevitably led to further annexations.

Distribution Of The 2006 Population In Nigeria

2009-11-02T17:39:00.000-08:00

STATE	TOTAL	MALE	FEMALE
Abia	2,833,999	1,434,193	1,399,806
Adamawa	3,166,101	1,606,123	1,561,978
Akwa-Ibom	3,920,208	2,044,510	1,875,698
Anambra	4,182,032	2,174,641	2,007,391
Bauchi	4,676,465	2,426,215	2,250,250
Bayelsa	1,703,358	902,648	800,710
Benue	4,219,244	2,164,058	2,055,186
Borno	4,151,193	2,161,157	1,990,036
Cross River	2,868,966	1,492464	1,396,501
Delta	4,098,391	2,074,306	2,024,085
Ebonyi	2,173,501	1,040,984	1,132,517
Edo	3,218,332	1,640,461	1,577,871
Ekiti	2,384,212	1,212,609	1,171,603
Enugu	3,257,298	1,624,202	1,633,096
FCT	1,405,201	740,489	664,712
Gombe	2,353,879	1,230,722	1,123,157
Imo	3,934,899	2,032,286	1,902,613
Jigawa	3,348,649	2,215,907	2,132,742
Kaduna	6,066,562	3,112,028	2,954,534
Kano	9,383,682	4,844,128	4,539,554
Kastina	5,792,578	2,978,682	2,813,896
Kebbi	3,238,628	1,617,498	1,621,130
Kogi	3,278,487	1,691,737	1,586,750
Kwara	2,371,089	1,220,581	1,150,508
Lagos	9,013,534	4,678,020	4,335,514
Nasarawa	1,863,275	945,556	917,719
Niger	3,950,249	2,032,725	1,917,524
Ogun	3,728,098	1,847,243	1,880,855
Ondo	3,441,024	1,761,263	1,679,761
Osun	3,423,535	1,740,619	1,682,916
Oyo	5,591,589	2,809,840	2,781,749
Plateau	3,178,712	1,593,033	1,585,679
Rivers	5,185,400	2,710,665	2,474,735
Sokoto	3,696,999	1,872,069	1,824,930
Taraba	2,300,736	1,199,849	1,100,887
Yobe	2,321,591	1,206,003	1,115,588
Zamfara	3,259,846	1,630,344	1,629,502
TOTAL	140,003,542	71,709,859	68,293,683

Seal of the President of Nigeria

2009-10-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

The Seal of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the official symbol of the Nigerian President. It was first used in 1979 by President Shehu Shagari in the ill-fated second republic, and jettisoned by the successive military regimes from 1983 - 1999. The presidential seal returned to usage in the wake of the fourth republic in 1999, and it has remained in use till date.

The Seal of the President of Nigeria is based on the Nigerian Coat of Arms. The Coat of Arms of Nigeria has a black shield with two white stripes that come together, like the letter Y. These represent the two main rivers flowing through Nigeria: the Benue River and the Niger River. The black shield represents Nigeria's good earth while the two horses on each side represent dignity. The eagle represents strength, while the green and white bands on the top of the shield represent the rich agricultural land of the country. The yellow flower in the grass is the crocus, Nigeria's national flower. The yellow ribbon below has the motto of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, "UNITY AND FAITH, PEACE AND PROGRESS". The words "SEAL OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA" surround the seal in between two concentric green circles. This symbol is well respected by all and sundry in Nigeria.
The seal is most often seen:

*on official documents from the presidency.
*on the green lectern at presidential press conferences.
*on the sides of presidential transport vehicles (Presidential Air Fleet).
*on the circular rug in the Federal Executive Council chambers in the presidential villa Aso Villa.

Coups in Nigeria

2009-10-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

15th Jan., 1966: 1st Military coup led by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Kaduna Nzeogwu

29th July, 1966: 2nd Military coup led by Gen. Yakubu Gowon
29th July, 1975: 3rd Military coup led by Gen. Murtala Mohammed
13th Feb., 1976: 4th Military coup led by Col. Buka Suka
31st Dec., 1983: 5th Military coup led by Gen. Mohammed Buhari
27th Aug., 1985: 6th Military coup led by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida
1986: 7th Military coup sponsored by Maj. Gen. Mamman Vasta but failed
April, 1990: 8th Military coup led by Maj. Gen. Gideon Orkar but failed
17th Nov., 1993: Palace coup led by Gen. Sanni Abacha
1995: Phantom coup led by Gen. Shehu Musa Yar Adua, Gen Olusegun Obasanjo & others
21st Dec., 1997: Alleged coup led by Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya & 25 others

National Honours In Nigeria

2009-10-14T17:59:00.001-07:00

GCFR- Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic

CFR- Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic

OFR- Order of the Federal Republic

MFR- Member of the Order of the Federal Republic

GCON- Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger

CON- Commander of the Order of the Niger

MON- Member of the Order of the Niger

OON- Officer of the Order of the Niger

ONM- Order of the Niger Medal

FRM- Federal Republic Medal

Nigerian New National Anthem

2009-10-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

The present National Anthem was written by Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Odiase. Introduced on 1st October, 1978.

NIGERIAN NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM

1. Arise, O compatriots
   Nigeria’s call obey
   To serve our fathers land
   With love and strength and faith
The labour of our heroes past
Shall never be in vain
To serve with heart and might
One nation bound in freedom
Peace and unity.

2. Oh god of creation,
    Direct our noble cause
    Guide our leaders right
    Help our youths the truth to know
   In love and honesty to grow
And living just and true
Great lofty heights attain
To build a nation where peace
And justice shall reign.

THE NIGERIAN NTIONAL PLEDGE

   I pledge to Nigeria my country
To be faithful, loyal and honest
To serve Nigeria with all my strength
To defend her unity and uphold her
Honour and glory
So help me God

The Coat of Arms

2009-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

The shield, which is black, represents the good earth of Nigeria. The wavy bands of silver on the shield represent the River Niger and Benue, and their junction and confluence.

The supporters (two white horses) represent dignity. The ground on which the bearing stand is Cactus Spectabilis, which is a common wild flower throughout Nigeria.

The wreath is in Nigeria's national colors (green and white), and the eagle stands for strength. Unity and faith, peace and progress is the Nigerian motto.

The Nigeria Flag

2009-10-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

The flag of Nigeria was designed in 1959 and first officially hoisted on October 1, 1960. The green bands represent the forests and abundant natural wealth of Nigeria while the white band represents peace.

The national flag is an adaptation of the winning entry in a competition held in 1959. The original had a red sun with streaming rays placed at the top of the white stripe. This was removed by the judges and the flag has not been altered since.

Like Ghana, Nigeria has special flags for civil and naval vessels and at one time the states also had flags. The designer was a student from Ibadan, Michal Taiwo Akinkunmi.Taiwo Akinkunmi who hailed from Owu in Abeokuta, Ogun State was a Student of Norwich Technical College, England when he saw the advertisement in the national daily that the entry was going on for Nigerian National Flag.

Akinkunmi, who was a student of Agric Engineering then got the zeal to contribute to the independence of his fatherland quickly prepared his entry and sent it to Lagos where his entry was eventually picked in 1958 as the best and the flag was used to celebrate independent Nigeria on October 1, 1960 when the Union Jack (British Flag) was lowered for Nigeria Flag in the colour green white green to take its place on air.

Taiwo Akinkunmi though still living in penury believed that gradually Nigeria is gaining her image back as a sovereign state since 1999 when we switched back to democratic system of government. He further added that Nigeria can only gain a full stature of a democratic state if all joins hands together to fight corruption and elevate justice, equity and human right which are the bedrock of democracy.

Akinkunmi who have received numerous award from both individual and organizations is presently living in Ibadan and he’s looking forward to a day that Federal government would deem it fit to honor him with National Award.

Nigerian Old National Anthem

2009-10-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

The first National Anthem was written by Miss L. J. William (A British).

NIGERIAN OLD NATIONAL ANTHEM

1. Nigeria, we hail thee
     Our own dear native land
     Though tribe and tongue may differ
     In Brotherhood we stand
     Nigerians all are proud to serve
     Our sovereign mother land

2. Our flag shall be a symbol
     The truth and justice reign
     In peace or battle honoured and
     This we count as gain
     To hand unto our children
     A banner without stain

3. Oh God of all creation
     Grant this our one request
     Help us to build a nation
    Where no man is oppressed
    And so with peace and plenty
    Nigeria may be blessed.

The Name Nigeria

2009-10-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Nigeria as a name was given by Mrs. Flora Shaw in 1898; it came from the word Niger. The word Niger, itself comes from the word Nigger, which means black. Mrs. Flora Shaw later married to the first Governor General of Nigeria by name Sir Fredrick Lord Luguard. He came to Nigeria in 1912, joined the Northern and Southern Protectorate together in 1914 and died in 1945.

Motto: Unity, Faith, Peace and Progress.

Area: 356,669 sq mi (923,768 sq km)

Population: 140,003,542

Capital: Abuja

Other Cities: Lagos, Onitsha, Enugu, Jos, Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, Benin City, Ogbomosho.

Form Of Government: Federal Republic

Religion: Islam, Christianity, African traditional religion

Language: English and French

Currency: Naira

Independence: 1st October, 1960

Colonial Master: Britain

2006 Census Figure For Each Geo-Political Region

2009-10-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

2006 Census Figure For Each Geo-Political Region

North West	35,786,944
North Central	20, 266, 257
North East	18,971,965
South West	27,586,992
South East	16,381,729
South South	21,014,655