Nigerian History

Brief History of Nigeria

The first inhabitants of what is now Nigeria were thought to have been the Nok people (500 B.C. to A.D. 200). The Kanuri, Hausa, and Fulani peoples subsequently migrated there. Islam was introduced in the 13th century, being a result of influences from North Africa across the Sahara desert. This was the religion of a few elite until the nineteenth century. The empire of Kanem controlled the area from the end of the 11th century to the 14th. The Fulani empire ruled the region from the beginning of the 19th century.

Nigeria as a modern nation was created by the British colonial empire. Deriving the name from the second longest river in Africa, the 'Niger', a coupling of the many diverse peoples of the North and South of the river and its tributary- the Benue- a modern nation was born.

From the late 15th Century, Europeans, coming in from the south, began frequenting the Bights of Benin (now the Bights of Bonny), in search of tropical products and slaves. At a point in the eighteenth century, the southern ports of Nigeria's coastlines were major centres of trans-Atlantic slave trade. These were namely; Lagos, Brass, Bonny and Old Calabar.
Trade routes from these ports extended through the communities of the South to the Hausa States. But the industrial revolution and the advent of the machine made the trade unnecessary and unprofitable. The aftermath was an increased interest in palm oil trade.

In 1849, the British Government appointed John Beecroft as the Governor of Bights of Benin and Bonny. In 1861, Lagos was proclaimed crown colony.
At this time the northern part of what is to later become Nigeria was administered by an amalgamation of several British firms formed by George Goldie in 1879. In 1899 the British Government took over the administration of this area under the name "Protectorate of Northern Nigeria".

In 1914, the two British administrations merged to form a single territorial entity known as Nigeria. This territory was administered by the British until October 1 1960 when the Union Jack was lowered and the Nigerian flag took its place. She became a republic on October 1, 1963. The capital city was Lagos.
Nigeria became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and joined the United Nations. The first independent government was formed by a coalition of northern and eastern political parties, with Nnamdi Azikiwe as the president and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as prime minister. Organized as a loose federation of self-governing regions, the independent nation faced an overwhelming task of unifying a country with about 250 ethnic and linguistic groups.
Political tension led to disturbances in parts of the country, particularly the Western Region, and in January 1966 the Nigerian armed forces seized power.
The new federal military government, headed by Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi suspended the constitution of the republic. In May 1966 Ironsi was assassinated in a second military coup in July and was succeeded by Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon who restored the federal system.

The Muslim Hausas in the north massacred the predominantly Christian Ibos from the east, many of whom had been driven from the north. Thousands of Ibos took refuge in the eastern region, which declared its independence as the Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967. Civil war broke out. In Jan. 1970, after 31 months of civil war, Biafra surrendered to the federal government. Gowon reorganized the four existing regions into twelve states.

Gowon's nine-year rule was ended in 1975 by a bloodless coup that made Army Brig. Muritala Rufai Mohammed the new head of state. Murtala Mohammed reversed some of General Gowon's unpopular policies, set a date for the return to civilian rule and increased the number of states from twelve to nineteen. In February 1976 Mohammed was assassinated in an abortive coup attempt, and his deputy General Olusegun Obasanjo replaced him, continuing many of his policies and taking responsibility for the final stages of Nigeria's return to civilian rule.

The return of civilian leadership was established with the election of Alhaji Shehu Shagari as president in 1979. An oil boom in the 1970s buoyed the economy and by the 1980s Nigeria was considered an exemplar of African democracy and economic well being.

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