|
The earliest known inhabitants of what is now Nigeria were members
of the ancient Nok culture. The Nigeria-Cameroon border was home to peoples who spoke
the Bantu group of languages, which are spoken in most African countries south of the
Sahara Desert. Over 2,000 years, different kingdoms were established, including the northeastern kingdom of Kanem-Borno, the Hausa kingdoms of Katsina, Kano, Zaria and Gobir in northern-central Nigeria, the Yoruba kingdoms of Ife, Oyo and Ijebu in southwestern Nigeria, the southern kingdom of Benin, and the Ibo communities in the east. By the 11th century, the expansion of trading networks across the Sahara established links with North African societies. This led to the spread of Islam in the Kanem-Borno and Hausa states. |
|
|
Portuguese explorers arrived off the coast of modern-day Nigeria
in the 1470s. Other Europeans followed. They took slaves from Africa to North America
and the Caribbean. The slave trade continued from the 15th to the 19th century. After
the slave trade was abolished in the 19th century, West African trade in palm oil,
cocoa and peanuts flourished. Usman dan Fodio, a Muslim leader, established the Sokoto
Caliphate (an Islamic state) over the Hausa trading states. In 1861, Lagos, a city on the Atlantic coast, became a British protectorate. British influence spread to the Niger delta and northern Nigeria. In 1914 the British amalgamated the southern and northern protectorates. Present-day Nigeria was born. |
|
|
By 1939, Nigeria was divided into three regions, with one ethnic
group dominating in each: the Hausa-Fulani in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest and
the Ibo in the southeast. Rivalries among the groups persisted after Nigeria gained
independence from Britain in 1960. The civilian government formed after independence was toppled by a military coup in 1966. A three-year civil war broke out when the Ibo people in eastern Nigeria declared a separate Republic of Biafra. The war led to more than a million deaths. After the civil war, the division of Nigeria into smaller states ensured more representation for ethnic minorities. Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1979. Widespread discontent with the civilian regime brought in another period of military rule in 1983. An election was called in 1993. Chief Moshood Abiola, a business magnate and philanthropist, was named leader, but General Babangida, who had been head of the government since 1985, annulled the election. Since then, Nigeria has been under military rule, although attempts are being made to re-establish civilian rule. |