Nigeria, Federal Republic of

Little is known about the history of Nigeria in ancient times, but archaeologists have discovered evidence that the Nok people lived southwest of the city of Jos in central Nigeria from about 500 BC to AD 200. Early States The northern part of the present territory of Nigeria was the site of organized states during the Middle Ages. By the 8th century, the region southwest of Lake Chad was part of the Kanem-Bornu Empire, which in 1086 adopted Islam. By about 1300 Bornu was a flourishing center of Islamic culture, rivaling Mali in the west. Bornu reached its zenith as an independent kingdom under Idris Alooma, who extended his rule over many of the eastern Hausa states that had existed in the area west of Kanem-Bornu since the 11th century; the western states fell under the sway of Songhai. Following the breakup of Songhai and the decline of Kanem-Bornu in the late 16th century, the Hausa states regained their independence and continued to flourish until the early 19th century. The Fulani, who then burst into prominence under Usuman dan Fodio, had been established throughout Hausaland since the late 16th century. In the southern part of the country, the Yoruba had their own states in the west, centering on Ife and Oyo; the Edo ruled in Benin in the present south-central parts; and the Ibo in the east, in and north of the Niger delta. All these people had functioning states before or around AD 1400. British Encroachment The Portuguese, English, and others established slave-trading stations in the Niger delta area in the 17th and 18th centuries. The interior was first penetrated by explorers seeking the source of the Niger River, notably the Scottish traveler Mungo Park in 1795 and 1796 and the British explorers Richard Lemon Lander and John Lander in 1830 and 1831. In the 19th century palm oil became such an important article of commerce that the delta region was known as Oil Rivers. A British consul was sent to Calabar and later to Lagos, where British traders were firmly established. In 1861 Great Britain took full possession of Lagos Island. After the conclusion of several treaties with native chiefs, the British Oil Rivers Protectorate was established in southern Nigeria. In 1886 the Royal Niger Company was granted a charter under which it governed the territory of the protectorate, raising an armed constabulary and establishing government services. The name of the protectorate was changed in 1893 to the Niger Coast Protectorate. The kingdom of Benin in the southwest was added to the area in 1897 and, after further expansion in the southeast, the region became the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria in 1900. The charter of the Royal Niger Company was revoked in the same year, and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria was proclaimed. The Protectorates Neither of the two protectorates was under full British control at the time of its establishment. The entire area of present Nigeria was, however, acknowledged to be British under agreements made between Great Britain, Germany, and France that divided much of Africa into so-called spheres of influence. British troops engaged in military conflicts with followers of Muslim emirs in the north and with Nigerian peoples who were still engaged in slave trade after it had been prohibited by the British in 1807. British domination became complete in 1914, when the two administrations were merged as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. For administrative purposes the country was divided into the Colony of Lagos and two groups of provinces in the protectorate, the Northern and Southern provinces. Frederick Dealtry Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard, was the first governor-general of united Nigeria. He left some local functions of government to the traditional tribal chiefs or councils, which acted under the supervision and with the assistance and advice of British administrators. In 1922 the League of Nations mandate of Cameroons was added, administratively, to the protectorate. In the same year the Nigerian legislative council, which had limited legislative authority over the Colony of Lagos and the Southern provinces, was inaugurated; the Northern provinces remained under the jurisdiction of a British governor. The former League of Nations mandate of Cameroons became a United Nations trust territory in 1946 and remained under British administration. Independence

Nigerian demands for self-government after World War II (1939-1945) resulted in a series of short-lived constitutions. The first, in 1947, established provincial legislatures with limited participation in the government by the indigenous peoples of Nigeria. By succeeding constitutional changes, Nigeria was provided with a federal type of government, and the provinces were consolidated into three regions (Eastern, Western, and Northern), each with a measure of autonomy. In 1954, in response to popular demand, and in recognition of the complex mix of racial and religious backgrounds within the country, Nigeria became a federation. Each region was given the option, dependent on certain safeguards for the federation, to assume a self-governing status. Internal self-government was granted to the Eastern and Western regions in 1957 and to the Northern Region in 1959. On October 1, 1960, Nigeria became independent within the Commonwealth of Nations. On October 7 it was admitted to membership in the United Nations. The first prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, headed a coalition government representing the major parties of the Northern and Eastern regions. The governorgeneral was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became president when Nigeria adopted a republican form of government on October 1, 1963. Meanwhile, on February 11 and 12, 1961, the northern section of the former British Cameroons voted to become a part of Nigeria. Internal Strains From the early days of independence, ethnic antagonisms and religious and political differences seriously strained the unity of the federation. In 1962 a major political crisis developed in the Western Region, which was dominated by the Yoruba and their political party, called the Action Group. The Action Group, which had constituted the chief opposition bloc to the ruling coalition in the federal parliament, split in two during the year. Its parliamentary leader, who had expressed fear of a federal plot to break the party's power, was indicted for treason in 1963 and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Meanwhile, as the result of a referendum held in mid-1963 in two districts of the Western Region where non-Yoruba peoples were a majority, a new Mid-West Region was formed. Civil War Political bickering and corruption that left young officers increasingly impatient finally culminated in a military coup in January 1966. Prime Minister Balewa and two regional premiers were killed. A military government was established by the army commander Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who abolished the federal system. In July Northern officers led a countercoup and killed Ironsi. His successor, Major General Yakubu Gowon, revived the federation. During this period many Ibo living in the north were killed or sought refuge in their homelands in the east. Relations between the federal government and the Ibo continued to deteriorate. In May 1967 the federal government announced its intention to split the Eastern Region into three states, which would leave the Ibo without access to the sea and cut them off from the region's oil-rich areas. The Eastern Region then seceded and proclaimed itself the Republic of Biafra. Civil war broke out in July and lasted for two and a half years before Biafran resistance was overcome in January 1970. Oil Wealth As life in the Eastern Region returned to normal, Nigeria enjoyed four years of rapid economic growth, fueled by expanding oil revenues, as the country became the fifth largest producer of petroleum in the world. Continued military rule, however, despite promises of return to a civilian government, led to renewed political instability. Gowon was ousted on July 29, 1975, in a bloodless coup led by Brigadier Murtala Ramat Muhammad. Muhammad was himself assassinated in an unsuccessful coup attempt on February 13, 1976. His successor, Lieutenant General Olusegun Obasanjo, presided over the preparations for return to civilian rule, which culminated in the promulgation of a new constitution and in the election of a new president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, in the summer of 1979. The Shagari government, like its predecessors, tried to use oil income to fund an ambitious development program; in addition, Shagari sought to implement a "green revolution" that would stimulate agricultural productivity and lessen the nation's increasing dependence on food imports. The weakening of the oil market in the early 1980s dealt a crippling blow to these efforts. Revenues from oil exports, which

exceeded $20 billion in 1980, declined to $10 billion in 1982, and Nigeria was unable to repay its short-term debts. With foreign exchange scarce, Nigeria could no longer afford essential imports, and the economy, already weakened by mismanagement and corruption, sank into severe recession. In January 1983 the government ordered the expulsion of all unskilled foreigners. At least 1 million people left, although many soon returned. That August, Shagari won reelection; his political organization, the National Party of Nigeria, also showed commanding strength in subsequent voting for the federal legislature and for state offices. Nigeria's economic position continued to worsen, and in 1983 Shagari was deposed in a coup led by Major General Muhammad Buhari. Buhari installed a rigid austerity program that alienated many people. In 1985 he was ousted in a bloodless coup led by Major General Ibrahim Babangida, who rescinded the most unpopular decrees. Babangida renegotiated some of Nigeria's debts and eased government controls over business, thus improving the economy. In early 1990 he thwarted a coup attempt. Local elections were held in 1990, parliamentary elections, in 1992. Elections for a civilian president were held in June 1993. Moshood Abiola, a millionaire businessman, was the apparent winner, but Babangida annulled the election results. In August Babangida stepped down as president, relinquishing power to an interim government. Nigeria's defense minister, General Sani Abacha, overthrew the transitional government in November and banned all political activity. Abacha's Government In May 1994 the government announced a plan for political reform and held elections for delegates to the National Constitutional Conference. The elections were boycotted by prodemocracy groups in an attempt to force General Abacha to transfer power to Moshood Abiola. In June, one year after the presidential elections, Abiola declared that he was the rightfully elected president. In response, the government arrested Abiola for treason. Abiola's arrest provoked widespread strikes in Nigeria's oil industry, disrupting the economy and resulting in oil shortages. The strikes ended in September after Abacha's regime arrested union leaders, closed down a newspaper, and declared that the government had absolute power over Nigeria. In June 1995 Abacha lifted the two-year-old ban on political parties, but directed party members to be cautious of making provocative statements. He also claimed that he would return Nigeria to civilian rule in 1998, though many opposition groups are skeptical. Political prisoners arrested during the earlier crackdown remained in custody. Despite international outcry, in November 1995 the Nigerian government hanged writer and dissident Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others. Saro-Wiwa, a member of the Ogoni ethnic group of southern Nigeria whose Niger River delta land has long been exploited for its oil deposits, had brought the plight of the Ogonis to the attention of the international media. He led protests demanding that proceeds from oil mining in the Ogoni homeland be used to help the Ogoni people, and calling on Royal Dutch/Shell Group oil corporation to clean up the environmental damage it had inflicted. Government pressure on Saro-Wiwa's group led to a split between Ogonis who wanted to work with the government and those, like Saro-Wiwa, who refused. Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogonis were charged with the May 1994 murder of four pro-government Ogoni activists. International human rights groups maintained that these charges were unfounded and that Saro-Wiwa was not allowed sufficient defense. The hangings brought further international pressure on the repressive government of General Abacha, including economic sanctions and the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations, an organization of former British colonies. Early in 1994 a border dispute arose between Nigeria and Cameroon when Nigerian troops invaded the petroleum-rich Bakasi Peninsula of Cameroon. The Nigerian government claims rightful ownership of the peninsula under a 19th-century treaty. The Cameroonian government filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice and the two nations entered into negotiations in March. However, fighting over the peninsula continued, while each side accused the other of being the aggressor. In late May 1996 both nations agreed to allow a UN fact-finding mission access to Bakasi to help settle the dispute. In mid-1997 the International Court of

Justice had not yet reached a decision on ownership of the oil-rich peninsula.