History of Nigeria

Introduction

Nigeria, with an estimated population of 126,635,626 is the largest black nation in the world.  The Federal Republic of Nigeria, as it is officially known, covers an area of 356,669 square miles on the coast of West Africa.  Its borders are contiguous with the Federal Republic of Cameroon to the east, Niger Republic to the north and Benin Republic to the east.  In the northeast, Nigeria has a 54-mile long border with the Republic of Chad, while its Gulf of Guinea coastline stretches for more than 500 miles from Badagry in the west to Calabar in the east, and includes the Bights of Benin and Biafra.  Today, Nigeria is divided administratively into thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja (CIA World Factbook, 2001).

Like Africa as a whole, Nigeria is physically, ethnically, and culturally diverse.  This is partly due to the fact that Nigeria is today inhabited by a large number of tribal groups, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, an estimated 250 of them speaking over four hundred languages, many with dialects.  Muslims and Christians comprise more than 80 percent of the population while the rest are identified with indigenous religions.  However, Nigeria’s greatest diversity is in its people.  These peoples have so much culture and history that it is imperative to chronicle this history as it relates to their current economic and political struggles.  Dating back to the kingdoms and empires of the early seventeenth century, from their involvements in the Atlantic slave trade to its entire merger, this extensive history has blended down to what is currently Nigeria and is thus necessary in order to understand what has become of this once fruitful and promising state.

 History & Evolution

Nigeria only came into being in its present form in the year 1914 when Sir Frederick Lugard, the Royal governor of the protectorates, amalgamated the two protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria.  Sixteen years earlier, Flora Shaw, who later married Lugard, first suggested in an article for The Times that the several British Protectorates on the Niger be known collectively as Nigeria (Crowder, 21).  Basically, the entire Niger-area under British control became Nigeria.

 It was in 1861 that the British first annexed any part of Nigeria as a colony, and attached it successively to West African Settlements, including Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast colony.  The annexing of Lagos, a coastal town and now the largest city in Africa, led to the establishment of a Southern protectorate in Nigeria, and by 1906 both regions were united and designated a British colony.  However, as Michael Crowder in his Story of Nigeria states, “it would be an error to assume that the people of Nigeria had little history before its final boundaries were negotiated by Britain, France and Germany at the turn of the twentieth century.”

In fact, the story of Nigeria as it is known today goes back more than two thousand years.  Within Nigeria’s frontiers were a number of great kingdoms that had evolved complex systems of government independent of contact with Europe.  These included the kingdoms of Ife and Benin, whose art had become recognized as amongst the most accomplished in the world; the Yoruba Empire of Oyo, which had once been the most powerful of the states of the Guinea coast.  In the north, there were the great kingdoms of Kanem-Borno, with a known history of more than a thousand years; the Fulani empire which for the hundred years before its conquest by Britain had ruled most of the savannah of Northern Nigeria.[2]  And finally, there were the city states of the Niger Delta, which had grown in response to European demands for slaves and later palm-oil; as well as the politically decentralized but culturally homogenous Ibo peoples of the Eastern region and the small tribes of the Plateau.  All these state structures grew tremendously through some form of trade, either internally or externally with foreigners.  One of the most profitable of such trades being the trade with Europeans in humans, popularly known as the Atlantic slave trade.

Post-independence

On 1 October 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Nigeria's government was a coalition of conservative parties: the Nigerian People's Congress (NPC), a party dominated by Northerners,  and also the Southern dominated National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became Nigeria's maiden Governor-General in 1960. Forming the opposition was the comparatively liberal Action Group (AG), which was largely dominated by the Yoruba and led by Obafemi Awolowo. The cultural and political differences among Nigeria's dominant ethnic groups: the Hausa ('Northerners'), Igbo ('Easterners') and Yoruba ('Westerners'), were sharp.

An imbalance was created in the polity by the result of the 1961 plebiscite. Southern Cameroon opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while northern Cameroon chose to remain in Nigeria. The northern part of the country was now far larger than the southern part. The nation parted with its British legacy in 1963 by declaring itself a Federal Republic, with Azikiwe as its first president. When elections were held in 1965, the Nigerian National Democratic Party came to power in Nigeria's Western Region.

For detailed information about the History of Nigeria visit the Press Club blog site on www.pispressclub.blogspot.com

President / Head Of State       Duration Of Term

Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa      1960 - 1966

Chief Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe      October 1, 1963 - January 16, 1966

Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi Ironsi  January 16, 1966 - July 29, 1966

General Yakubu Gowon          August 1, 1966 - July 29, 1975

General Murtala Ramat Mohammed July 29, 1975 - February 13, 1976

General Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Matthew Obasanjo February 13, 1976 - October 1, 1979

Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari   October 1, 1979 - December 31, 1983

Major-General Muhammadu Buhari December 31, 1983 - August 27, 1985

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida       August 27, 1985 - August 27, 1993

Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan        August 26, 1993 - November 17, 1993

General Sani Abacha     November 17, 1993 - June 8, 1998

General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar (rtd.)       June 9, 1998 - May 29, 1999

General (rtd.) Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Matthew Obasanjo  May 29, 1999 - May 29, 2007

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua 29 May 2007 - 5 May 2010

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan ( Acting President)  9 February 2010 - 6 May 2010

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan   6 May 2010 - Present

Premier Cultural Day Comes up on the 28th of September

The cultural day of Premier International School will be coming up on friday the 28th of September. Both teachers and students are to dress in their native attires on that day to represent their diverse cultures.


Nigerian culture is as multi-ethnic as the people in Nigeria. The people of Nigeria still cherish their traditional languages, music, dance and literature. Nigeria comprises of three large ethnic groups, which are Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani and Igbo. However there are other ethnic groups as well. Thus culture in Nigeria is most positively multi-ethnic.

Culture of Nigeria gives a lot of value to different types of arts, which primarily include ivory carving, grass weaving, wood carving, leather and calabash. Pottery, painting, cloth weaving and glass and metal works.

There are more than 250 languages spoken in Nigeria. English is considered to be the official language. However, it is notable that not more than about 50% of the population are able to speak in English.
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IBB Group Buys Shiroro Plant

Transcorp  yesterday won the bid for the sale of 100 per cent share of Thermal Generation Company at Ugheli with a bid price of $300 million, while Amperion Power Distribution Company emerged the reserved bidder with a bid price of $252 million.
Transcorp and Wood Rock is a  consortium of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, Symbion Power Plc of USA , Medea Development S.A of Luxemburg, PSL Engineering and Control of Nigeria and Thomassen Services and Contracting Company of Oman . Also, CMEC/EURAFRIC Energy which is equally a consortium of  China Machine Engineering Corporation, Eurafic Energy Limited of Nigeria.
British Power International,  First Bank Nigeria Plc and Aetex Solicitors and Arbitrators of Nigeria won the bid for the purchase of 100 per cent shares in Sapele Power plc with a price of $201 million, while JBN- Nestoil Services Limited, comprising Nestoil Plc Nigeria, Julius Berger Investment Limited, Babcock Borsig Steinmuller of Germany, Steag Energy Services of Germany, Quantum Power of Israel and Harith Fund of South Africa emerged the reserved bidder with $106 million which is the reserved bid for the enterprise.
In the case of Geregu  Power plc,  Amperion Power Distribution Limited,  emerged the preferred bidder with a bid price of $128.5 million  for 51 per cent of the company shares. Kainji Power plc (which has a 15 years  concession) was won by   Mainstream Energy Solutions, with a bid price of $50.76 million . Mainstream is a consortium of RusHydro International and RusHydro JSC of Russia, Col.Sani Bello , a Nigerian businessman , Amni International Petroleunm Development Company of Nigeria, NIGELEC of Niger, Pqcqua Energy Limited, Confluence Cable Netwotk Limited, Crust Energy, TAK and Anchorage Holdings (all from Nigeria).
However, North- South Power which has XS Energy Limited of Nigeria, BP Investment Limited, Urban Shelter Limited of Nigeria, Transatlantic Development and Investment Company of USA, China International Water Electric, China Three Gorges Corporation, Niger State Government and Roads Nigeria Plc in the consortium emerged the sole winner for fifteen years concession of Shiroro Power plc with a bid price of $111.7 million.
In his opening remarks on the occasion, Chairman of the Technical Committee of ncp, Mr Atedo Peterside, said that in  December 2010, the NCP advertised for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from prospective core investors interested in acquiring successor thermal generation companies (“Thermal Gencos”) and concessionaires interested in managing the hydro generation companies (“Hydro Gencos”.)
According to him, both  the Thermal  GENCOS and the Hydro GENCOS were  companies created out of the unbundling of NEPA, as required by the Electricity Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005. And by March 4, 2011, the deadline for the submission of Expression of Interest (EOIs), 204 applications were received for the four Thermal Gencos and 67 applications were received for the two Hydro Gencos.
That is, a total of 271.??”Following the evaluation of the applications, 87 applications for the Thermal Gencos and 40 applications for the Hydro Gencos were shortlisted. The shortlisted bidders were requested to pay $20,000 to purchase the Request for Proposals (RFP), have access to the data room and proceed to the next phase of the transaction. At the deadline for the payment of the data room access fees, 56 out of the 87 shortlisted bidders for the Thermal Gencos and 35 out of the 40 shortlisted bidders for the Hydro Gencos had each paid $20, 000.
The shortlisted bidders that paid the sum of $20, 000 are those that the BPE refers to as pre-qualified bidders” he said.??Peterside recalled how Nigerians have craved for better electricity service for three over decades now, giving insufficient allocation of resources to the sector as a reason. “As you all know, for upwards of three decades, Nigerians have been embarrassed and inconvenienced by epileptic and inadequate electricity supply to their homes and businesses. For much of this period, there was an insufficient allocation of resources by the Government to its Power Sector Holding Company (PHCN) which operated like a monopoly producer and distributor and so PHCN could not undertake the required investment expenditure.
Meanwhile, low electricity tariffs also ensured that the consumers could not augment the shortfall in PHCN’s funding needs. These two factors combined to reinforce a LOW EQUILIBRIUM TRAP that ensured that the quantum of electricity generated and delivered to the consumer typically fluctuated between 2,000 and 3,000 mega watts, that is, after adjusting for system losses.?
The fastest way to break out of this Low Equilibrium Trap is to introduce cost-reflective tariffs immediately which will help to restore a healthy value chain that adequately rewards private investors who could come in and invest in well-defined segments of a well-regulated sector”he said. But the Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises(BPE), Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa  gave the hope that Nigerians will soon begin to reap the  efforts geared towards improving the electricity supply in the country.
“Today, we begin to reap the efforts of over a decade of reform and privatisation of the Nigerian power sector. A lot has been happening, a lot has been achieved, and a lot more are in the works and the end result will significantly improve the lives of Nigerians.?”In September 2001, the Federal Executive Council approved the National Electric Power Policy (NEPP). The NEPP sets out the policy framework for re-designing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), privatizing and liberalizing entry into the industry, attra