Nigeria: History

Pre-20th-Century History

The earliest Nigerians were the Nok people, skilled artisans from around the Jos area. By the beginning of the second millennium the Nok had virtually disappeared and the state of Kanem-Borno, to the north east of Lake Chad, was flourishing. Much of Kanem-Borno was Islamic, as were the kingdoms around Kano and Katsina, and its wealth came from control of the trans-Saharan trade route from West Africa to the Mediterranean. These northern Islamic states remained untouched by Europeans until well into the 19th century. By contrast the southern states were dominated in the 14th and 15th centuries by a number of Yoruba empires with traditional Obas (kings) who cultivated European contact through the Portuguese spice trade.

At the end of the 18th century Fulani religious zealots in the north, sick of being dominated by the Islamic Hausa states, took over and created the single Islamic state of the Sokoto Caliphate. This original division between the Islamic government in the north and the Yoruba tribes in the south has never healed, and over the years intertribal fighting and civil wars have rubbed salt into the wounds. Even today Nigerian politics is riddled with tribal rivalries and ancient axes to grind.

After the bottom fell out of the spice trade, the Portuguese, and then the British, began a miserable trade in slaves, but by 1807 slavery had been banned and the British began to look for other ways to turn a buck - palm oil along the coast, and tin mining around Jos in the centre. The British also appointed chiefs in the southern Ibo communities to run the area but this was like hammering square pegs into round holes. These 'invented chiefs' had little in common with the people and simmering hostility and resentment was the usual result.

Modern History

In 1960 Nigeria declared independence. Unfortunately the British system of colonialism had done nothing to unify Nigeria or prepare it for independence. The historical conflicts between north and south, and other inter-regional fighting, made the idea of a unified republic unworkable. By 1966 the dream of a flourishing democracy was floundering amidst a series of massacres, inter-regional hostilities and, finally, a military coup that installed the first of a series of military governments. The Ibo responded by seceding from the federation and declaring the independent republic of Biafra, kick-starting an all-out civil war that lasted for nearly three years before federal Nigeria won and reintegrated Biafra. The war left behind nearly 1,000,000 dead and 'Biafra' as a byword in mass destruction and famine.

Given Nigeria's seesawing fortunes it was almost predictable that it would follow one of the world's worst famines with a champagne period of excessive prosperity. Rocketing oil prices provided the Nigerian government with a chance to go on a spending spree of reckless proportions and the country quickly became a hotbed of foreigners rushing to Nigeria with their dash (bribe) money. Corruption became de rigueur, crime rampant, and chaos spread like cancer. By the early 1980s the world recession sent oil prices plummeting again and plunged Nigeria into a cycle of massive debt, soaring inflation, large-scale unemployment and widespread corruption. In 1993 the country came under the iron-fisted rule of General Abacha.

Far from delivering on the promise of a US-style democracy, Abacha earned the wrath of human rights group and the censure of the Commonwealth nations for executing well-known playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others for seditious political activity. This and other despotic actions sparked rioting and civil unrest across Nigeria. In June 1998 Abacha died and was immediately replaced by Major General Abubakar. Abubakar promised a return to civilian rule. He kept his promise and in 1999 Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military leader and - until 1998 - a political prisoner, was elected president.

Recent History

Upon the election of Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerians were euphoric, as it seemed they were finally free from military rule. It was not long before things deteriorated as several rival groups (religious and tribal), no longer threatened by army intervention, settled down to protracted conflict. In one night of carnage during the Sharia'a riots (over full implementation of Islamic law) in February 2000, over 300 people were killed in hand-to-hand rioting between Igbo Christians and Hausa Muslims in Kaduna.

The emergency was exacerbated by fuel shortages and extended power blackouts that left the country in darkness for weeks. Little improved under the new democracy. Obasanjo consolidated Nigeria's position as West Africa's political heavyweight and a key player in the Commonwealth, but the country was still beset by ethnic and religious violence, especially in Lagos, the Central Plateau and the southern oilfields. In presidential elections in April 2003 Obasanjo claimed an overwhelming victory, although independent observers expressed reservations over irregularities and intimidation. The constitution prevents him standing for a third term, and many of the old political players are currently jockeying for a run at the top prize in the 2007 elections.

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