Sneak Preview

Nigeria has finally emerged from the shadow of one of the most repressive military dictatorships the world has ever known—the regime of General Sani Abacha who was responsible for the execution of the distinguished Nigerian playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa. After many years, the country can heave a sigh of relief—a civilian government is in power, trying to put its troubled past littered with ethnic strife and military dictatorships behind it.

Nigeria is a country of amazing contrasts—there is a great economic divide between the beer-guzzling, ‘suited and booted’ corporate executives who drive foreign cars on the new super-smooth highways and control Nigeria’s most precious resource - oil; and those who are condemned to a grim existence in urban shanty towns or in a countryside impoverished by the almost total neglect of agriculture. All these facts need not be distressing--Nigeria can be a fascinating destination for the same reasons. The point is to read up a bit on its history and politics, tighten your seat belt on those highways, and plunge into this always-exciting country.

Interestingly, due to the combination of Islamic personal law in the Nigerian Constitution and certain matriarchal tribal traditions, there is fairly widespread polygamy. Feminists rejoice! It is almost equally acceptable for a woman to have more than one husband!

Historically Speaking

The present boundaries of Nigeria are quite recent, but the area north east of Lake Chad was home to the early kingdom of Kanem—a flourishing state with Islam as its official religion. Islam was also predominant in the various Hausa kingdoms that prospered in the cities of Kano, Katsina, Zaria and Nupe in the 11th and 14th centuries. The remaining set of kingdoms in this period were the Yoruba empires based in Ife, Oyo and Benin—these remained largely immune to Islam until the end of the 18th century, instead retaining their traditional religion. The southeast part of Nigeria was home to the Ibo, who governed themselves in loose confederations rather than empires.

The first Europeans to arrive in Nigeria were the Portuguese, in the 15th century. They traded with the Yoruba, initially in pepper and then in slaves. The next chapter in Nigeria’s history is bloodied with the misery of the slave trade carried on by the seafaring European nations. By one estimate, 40 million Africans ended up in the Americas during the 16th and 17th centuries. Apart from the obvious human tragedy, the disastrous political effects are there for all to see today—wars, instability and famine. In Nigeria, the coastal kingdoms had become partners in the slave trade and having utterly neglected alternative economic avenues like agriculture, they fell prey to British colonial designs. The British completed their military conquest of Nigeria and then ruled indirectly through puppet kings/chiefs.

Opposition to British rule grew after WWII. The British responded by attempting to fuse three diverse geographical and ethnic areas -- the Fulani/Hausa north, the Ibo east and the Yoruba west – into one country. Apart from a general prevailing atmosphere of distrust against any attempts at unification, there was also religious diversity to contend with. One would pity the task of the colonial authorities if one ignored the fact that they were almost wholly responsible for the situation. When Nigeria finally gained independence in 1960, it was actually three nations in the guise of one.

The political history of independent Nigeria is littered with military dictatorships, coups and assassinations. Political conflicts have been unfortunately polarized along ethnic lines--for example, the first Nigerian national government was brought down in a bloody coup by General Ironsi, a military leader belonging to the Ibo tribe, who was in turn assassinated by another group of northerners following anti-Ibo riots. The economic consequences of the continuing state of political crisis have been disastrous but most attempts to ‘clean up’ the system (by President Babangida for instance) have been cases of the medicine being more deadly than the disease. The military regime under military dictator General Abacha abandoned all pretensions of democratic procedure and flagrantly violated human rights--as was shown by the execution of eight members of the peaceful Ogoni tribe and most notable, distinguished novelist, peaceful political activist and playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. Currently, after years of repression, there is a civilian government in Nigeria led by Olesegun Obasanja. President Umaru Yar'Adua member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party is the 2nd President of Nigerian Fourth Republic. He was declared the winner in the election held in the year 2007, April.

Habitat

The northern part of Nigeria borders the Sahel desert and is dotted with low hills and grassland. The coast has unbroken sandy beaches and swampy lagoons, creeks and mangrove swamps. There are some mountains along the eastern border with Cameroon, and a plateau around the town of Jos in the middle of the country with some pretty scenery. On the whole, Nigeria does not boast any great variations in topography.