Nigeria

A country study

The World in perspective

Africa• Area: 2nd largest continent• Population: 1 billion• Pop. Density: about 80/sq mi• Countries: 54 (and 2 disputed)• Languages: over 1,000 languages

spoken including native languages, English and French

• Religion: 45% Christians, 40% Arabic, 15% traditional beliefs

• Colonization began in the early 19th century but European settlers including the Portuguese, English, Dutch, German, French

Nigeria

Nigeria – The Heart of Africa• Federal Republic of

Nigeria• Capital: Abuja• Climate: Tropical

with some arid regions

• Population: 1.2 million

• Most populated country in Africa and 7th most populated in the world

• Ethnic Groups: 250-400 groups

Nigeria – The Heart of Africa• Religions: Muslim,

Christina, traditional• Languages: English is

the official language of the government and business

• Education: Universal primary education (K-6)

• Exports: Petroleum, cocoa

• Politics: federal republic modeled after the USA

• Became independence in 1960

Early History

• The Nok people• 4th century BC• Terra-cotta sculptures,

iron work• Found in northern

Nigeria• Disappeared around

300 AD

Early States Before 1500• Eastern:

Igbo/Nri Kingdom

• North: Hausa cities

• West: Yoruba Kingdom

• Edo Kingdom of Benin

• Nupe• Additional

small states

Igbo• Most scholars have argued

that Igbo society was “stateless” and that the Igbo region did not evolve centralized political institutions before the colonial period

• An individual’s fitness to govern was determined by his wisdom and his wisdom by his age and experience

Igbo• Villages are run by a council of the

most respected elders of the locality. Colonial administration created local headmen, or “warranted chiefs” who were never fully accepted and were finally replaced by locally elected councils.

• Open culture• “owners of land” hold higher status• “Achievement motivation”• Slaves or children of slaves are like

“untouchables”• Coastal communities

Igbo• Crops: Yams• Land, obtained by

inheritance, was the measure of wealth

• No chiefs, some had an order of priests

• Central deity: earth mother and fertility figure, Ala

• Nri Kingdom, cradle of Igbo culture

• Eastern Nigeria

European Slave Trade in West Africa

Slave Trade in West Africa

• Britain became the dominant slave power in the 18th century

• 2/5th of the slave trade• More than 3.5 million

slaves were shipped from Nigeria to the America’s.

• Most were Igbo and Yoruba

European Slave Trade in West Africa

• 1471 Portuguese land in the Niger River Delta

• Portuguese bought slaves for gold

• This coast provided 40% of the slaves shipped to the American during the transatlantic trade

• Next came the Dutch, then the French and the English

Britain Declared Slave Trade Illegal• 1807 declared slave

trade illegal• Did not end till the 1860s• Trade for palm oil• Shift in trade had serious

economic and political consequences

• 1787 Creation of Sierra Leone as a refuge for liberated slaves

Palm Oil• British trade palm oil and

palm kernels which were used in Europe to make soap and as a lubricants for machinery before petroleum products were developed for that purpose.

• Near the coastal regions, from Igbo land

• Locally: food, palm wine, fronds used were used for building material

Royal Niger Company• George Goldie, 1879• Father of Nigeria• Laid the basis of British claim• Blocked France and

Germany• Nigeria – named by British

journalist Flora Shaw in the 1890s

• She named it Nigeria to unite the area around the Niger River

Royal Niger Company

• Trade on the Niger Delta and Niger River increases

• Britain wants to maintain control of the region along the Niger River

• The Royal Niger Company : granted broad concessionary powers over “all the territories of the basin of the Niger”

Influence of the Christian Missions• Christianity was introduced in

the 15th century by Portuguese Roman Catholic priests who accompanied traders and officials to the West African coast.

• Catholic missionaries were particularly active among the Igbo

• European missionaries were convinced of the value of colonial rules, thereby reinforcing colonial policy.

Unification of Nigeria• British control over the region

increased as trade and British interests increased.

• The principle of indirect rule administered by traditional rulers was applied throughout Nigeria, and colonial officers were instructed to interfere as little as possible.

• In 1916, the formation of the Nigerian Council – 6 traditional leaders united under British leadership

• Unification meant only the losse affilication of three disticnct regional administrations into which Nigeria was subdivided nothern, western, southern.

Emergence of Nigerian Nationalism• British colonialism created

Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity.

• Its goal initially was not self-determination, but rather increased participation in the governmental process on the regional level

• The nationalists were critical of colonialism for its failure to appreciate the antiquity of indigenous cultures.

Nigerian Independence

• Nigeria becomes independent from British control in 1960

• After independence, the Igbo people also want to establish their freedom and so began the Biafran War 1967-1970

Religion in Nigeria• Islam dominated in the

North• Protestantism and

Christianity mostly in Yoruba land

• Catholicism predominated the Igbo land

• Christians missions brought schools and education in English

• Indigenous Beliefs

Indigenous Beliefs

In 1990, these indigenous beliefs were more or less openly practiced and adhered to among the many Christians and Muslims in various parts of the country.

• Tie family ghosts to the primordial spirits of a particular site

• Provide supernatural sanctions and legitimacy to the relationship between and the regulations governing, claiming on resources, especially agricultural land and house sites.

• Souls of the recently dead continued their interests in the living as they had when they were alive

• Spirits of place (trees, rocks, outcroppings, rivers)

• Both demand loyalty to communal virtues and to the authority of the elders in defending ancient beliefs and practices.

• Protect the people• Sorcery, witch craft, medicine men

Islam

• Came Northern regions of Nigeria in 11th century • Traveled via the trade routes • The origins of Islam date to Muhammad (the Prophet), a prosperous

merchant of the town of Mecca in Arabia• He began preaching his first revelations granted by God (Allah) in 610

AD• The term islam means submission to God, and the one who submits is

a Muslim• The Quran is the holy scripture of Islam, has sections from the Jewish

Torah and the Christian Bible• The collection of other saying and Muhammad's personal behavior

were written and collected and called the hadith or “sayings”

Islam

• The shahada: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet”

• His revelations are said to completed for all time the series of revelations that had been given earlier to Jews and Christians

• God is believed to have remained one and the same throughout time, but humans are seen as having misunderstood or strayed from God’s true teachings until set aright by Muhammad.

• Prophets and sages of the biblical tradition such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus are recognized as inspired vehicles of God’s will

• Accepts the concept of guardian angels, Judgment Day, resurrection, eternal life of the soul

• Five Pillars: shahada, daily prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage

Christianity

• The majority of Christians are found in the South• The Yoruba are traditionally has been Protestant and Anglican,

whereas Igboland has always been the area of greatest activity by the Roman Catholic Church

• Provided schools and health facilities• Africanized Christian churches blend indigenous symbols and

Christian Symbols• Interethnic conflicts generally has had a religious element.

Things Fall Apart

• Written by Chinua Achebe in 1958• Father of African literature• Tries to put a new perspective on African

history• Truth in fiction• Takes place in Nigeria during colonial period• Igbo culture

Group Work

• Break up into small groups of 5 (or less)• Read the article handed out to each group• Be prepare to share with the class the

information you have learned. • All other groups must write notes on what is

presented