History of Nigeria

Dem fi trace de **history of [[Nigeria]]** to de earliest inhabitants wey dema date remain at least 13,000 BC thru de early civilizations such as de Nok culture wich begin around 1500 BC. Chaw ancient African civilizations settle insyd de region wey be known today as Nigeria, such as de Kingdom of Nri, de Benin Kingdom, den de Oyo Empire. Na Islam reach Nigeria thru de Bornu Empire between (1068 AD) den Hausa Kingdom during de 11th century, while Christianity cam to Nigeria insyd de 15th century thru Augustinian den Capuchin monks from Portugal to de Kingdom of Warri. De Songhai Empire sanso occupy part of de region. Thru contact plus Europeans, early harbour towns such as Calabar, Badagry, den Bonny emerge along de coast after 1480, wich do business insyd de transatlantic slave trade, among oda things. Conflicts insyd de hinterland, such as de civil war insyd de Oyo Empire, mean say na dem constantly dey "supply" new enslaved people.

After 1804, Usman dan Fodio unify an immense territory insyd ein jihad against de superior buh quarrelling Hausa states of de north, wich na be stabilised by ein successors as de "Caliphate of Sokoto".

Insyd ein initial endeavour to stop de slave trade insyd West Africa, na de United Kingdom gradually expand ein sphere of influence after 1851, dey start from de tiny island of Lagos (3&nbsp;km2) den de port city of Calabar. De British follow expansive trading companies such as de RNC den missionaries such as Mary Slessor, wey advance into de hinterland, preach den found missionary schools, buh dem sanso take action against local customs such as de religiously induced killing of twins anaa servants of deceased village elders den against de Trial by ordeal as a means of establishing de legal truth. At de Berlin Congo Conference insyd 1885, de European powers demarcate dema spheres of interest insyd Africa widout regard to ethnic anaa linguistic boundaries den widout giving those wey be affected a say. Thereafter, na de British make increasing advances insyd de Niger region, wich na dem negotiate insyd Berlin, wey na dem ultimately defeat de Sokoto Caliphate. From 1903, Great Britain control almost de entire present-day territory of Nigeria, wich na be united under a single administration insyd 1914 (insyd 1919, na dem add a border strip of de former German colony of Cameroon to de territory of Nigeria).

Under de British colonial administration, purchasing cartels (of companies such as Unilever, Nestlé den Cadbury) keep de prices of cocoa, palm oil den peanuts artificially low, thereby damaging Nigerian agriculture, buh on de oda hand na dem sanso build ports den an extensive railway network. Na dem establish newspapers, political parties, trade unions den higher education institutions - rather against de wishes of de colonial rulers in order to control de oversized colony. Insyd de East African campaign of 1941, na Nigerian regiments achieve de first major success against de Axis powers plus de fastest military advance in history at de time. Insyd 1956, na dem discover oil fields insyd Nigeria. Since then, na vandalism, oil theft den illegal, unprofessional refining by local residents cause de contamination of de Niger Delta plus crude den heavy oil, particularly around disused exploratory boreholes.

Nigeria cam be independent insyd 1960. From 1967 to 1970, de "Biafra War" rage insyd de south-east - one of de worst humanitarian disasters of modern times. After three decades mostly of increasingly restrictive military dictatorships, Nigeria cam be a democratic federal republic wey base on de US model insyd 1999. Quadrennial elections be criticised as "non-transparent". Nevertheless, na changes of power insyd de presidential villa at Aso Rock take place peacefully insyd 2007, 2010, 2015 den 2023, wey dey make Nigeria one of de few stable democracies insyd de region - despite ein shortcomings. De Boko Haram revolt of 2014, wich receive much attention insyd de West, fall apart secof infighting den de united approach of Nigeria den ein neighbours. Na dem prevent de spread of de Ebola epidemic to de slums of Lagos insyd de same year by professional crisis management. Recent years see de rise of de Nigerian music den film industry den success insyd software programming plus five out of seven African tech unicorns. Plus large new refineries, de country attempts since January 2024 to process de extracted domestic crude oil on ein own den in a professional manner insyd de future (wey dey mean widout heavy oil as a waste product).

De biggest security problem be de numerous kidnappings, 38% of Nigerians personally know a kidnap victim. Secof de abrupt economic turnaround insyd 2023, 64% of Nigerians be hungry anaa dem no fi finance basic needs. 78% rate de work of Presido Tinubu as ‘poor’ anaa ‘very poor’.

## References


## Read further

* Abegunrin, Olayiwola. *Nigerian Foreign Policy under Military Rule, 1966–1999* (2003) online Archived 2020-11-24 at the Wayback Machine
* Akinola, Anthony A. *Party Coalitions in Nigeria: History, Trends and Prospects* (Safari Books Ltd., 2014).
* Burns, Alan C. *History of Nigeria* (3rd ed. London, 1942) .
* Daly, Samuel Fury Childs.  *A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and the Nigerian Civil War,* (Cambridge University Press, 2020) online review Archived 2021-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
* Dibua, Jeremiah I. *Modernization and the crisis of development in Africa: the Nigerian experience* (Routledge, 2017).
* Dike, K. Onwuka. *Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830-1885: An Introduction to the Economic and Political History of Nigeria* (1956) online Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine
* Eghosa Osaghae, E. *Crippled Giant: Nigeria since Independence.* (1998).
* Ekundare, R. Olufemi. *An Economic History of Nigeria, 1860–1960* (1973).
* Fafunwa, A. Babs. *History of education in Nigeria* (1974) excerpt Archived 2022-02-26 at the Wayback Machine.
* Falola, Toyin, and Matthew M. Heaton. *A History of Nigeria* (2008) online Archived 2020-11-26 at the Wayback Machine
* Falola, Toyin, Ann Genova, and Matthew M. Heaton. *Historical dictionary of Nigeria* (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) online Archived 2022-04-01 at the Wayback Machine.
* Falola, Toyin; and Adam Paddock. *Environment and Economics in Nigeria* (2012).
* Forrest, Tom. *Politics and Economic Development in Nigeria* (1995) online Archived 2019-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
* Hatch, John. *Nigeria: A History* (1971)
* Hodgkin, T. ed. *Nigerian Perspectives: An Historical Anthology* (1960).
* Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. *Nigeria: a country study* (U.S. Library of Congress. Federal Research Division, 1992) online free Archived 2020-11-05 at the Wayback Machine, comprehensive historical and current coverage; not copyright.
* Odeyemi, Jacob Oluwole. "A political history of Nigeria and the crisis of ethnicity in nation-building." *International Journal of Developing Societies* 3.1 (2014): 1–12. Online Archived 2016-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
* Ogbeidi, Michael M. "Political leadership and corruption in Nigeria since 1960: A socio-economic analysis." *Journal of Nigeria Studies* 1.2 (2012). Online
* Omu, Fred I. *Press and politics in Nigeria, 1880–1937* (1978)
* Rozario, S. I. Francis. *Nigerian Christianity and the Society of African Missions* (2012).
* Shillington, Kevin. *Encyclopedia of African History*. (U of Michigan Press, 2005) p.&nbsp;1401.
* Thurston, Alexander. *Boko Haram: the history of an African jihadist movement* (Princeton UP, 2017).

### Primary sources

* Hodgkin, Thomas, ed. *Nigerian Perspectives: An Historical Anthology* (Oxford University Press, 1960) online Archived 2020-11-27 at the Wayback Machine

## External links

*Le Roy, Alexandre (1911). . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). *Catholic Encyclopedia*. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
*BBC Timeline: Nigeria Archived 2011-09-06 at the Wayback Machine - Chronology of key events
*- Offers a view of one of the main sources of income for the country. Archived 2005-06-03 at the Wayback Machine