1.5: Nigerian Culture and History

Nigerian Culture

Nigeria, located on the western coast of Africa, is home to over 123 million people, including 250 ethnic tribes (Countries and Their Cultures). This country holds a diverse geography, but the most diversified element to Nigeria is its people. The three largest ethnic groups consist of the Hausa, Yourba, and Igbo peoples: “With regard to ethnic breakdown, the Hausa-Fulani make up 29 percent of the population, followed by the Yoruba with 21 percent, the Igbo with 18 percent” (Countries and Their Cultures). Prior to British colonization, the ethnic groups were separate and independent, but after independence they became a whole known as Nigeria. The official language of Nigeria is English, mainly due to the impact of European colonization. However, due to all the ethno-linguistic groups, there are many different languages that are used. For example, “The country's second language is Hausa. In northern Nigeria many people who are not ethnic Hausas speak both Hausa and their own tribal language. Hausa is the oldest known written language in West Africa, dating back to before 1000 C.E.” (Countries and Their Cultures). Because English is the most commonly used language, those who are not ethnic Yourbas or Igbos rarely speak their language (Countries and Their Cultures). Nigerians found a linguistic middle ground that combined both English and a mix of African languages called Pidgin that is common throughout southern Nigeria. Pidgin “uses English words mixed with Yoruban or Igbo grammar structures” (Countries and Their Cultures).

Each ethnic group in Nigeria “inhabits a territory that it considers to be its own by right of first occupancy and inheritance” (Britannica). Hausa, a northern group, combined itself with the smaller Fulanis, whose members conquered Hausaland in the early 19th century (Britannica). The majority of these two groups are Muslim, and “Islam is a key componenent of their ethnic identity and continues to inform their role in modern Nigerian society and politics. Their culture is deeply patriarchal and patrilineal” (PBS). Hausa and Fulani “have been politically dominant since Nigeria’s independence from Britain in 1960” (PBS). Another politically dominant group is Yoruba, in southwestern Nigeria: “Most Yoruba are farmers but live in urban areas away from their rural farmland. Each Yoruba subgroup is ruled by a paramount chief, or oba, who is usually supported by a council of chiefs.” (Britannica). Yoruba is one of Nigeria’s most urban ethnic groups, and they form the majority in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa (PBS).

The last major ethno-linguistic group are the Igbo, whose ancestral lands are located in southeastern Nigeria. In Igbo culture, “The largest political unit is the village, which is ruled by a council of elders (chosen by merit, not heredity) rather than by a chief” (Britannica). As the Igbo are one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria, “Under British colonial rule, many Igbo served in government and military roles and were later key players in Nigerian independence. [However,] over the last few decades the group has become less politically dominant” (PBS). Although these groups take up the majority of ethnic culture in Nigeria, there is a lot of tension between them. The ethnic clashes that happen in Nigeria cause many riots and attacks, and with these dangers, the major ethnic groups have formed militias to “protect their own interests and perpetrate violence on other groups” (PBS).

Colonial History and Civil War

Although the transatlantic slave trade brought Europeans to West Africa as early as the 1600s, Britain became interested ruling the the area that is now Nigeria in the early 1800s, after the slave trade was abolished. Gradually, interest and control over the area grew. In 1861, Britain annexed the island of Lagos, and soon afterwards the British started extending their influence to the adjacent mainland of Yorubaland (“Nigeria”). In 1887, British control over the eastern coast, which had been promoted since 1849 by consular agents, was regularized by the establishment of the Oil Rivers Protectorate. This too was gradually extended inland and became the Niger Coast Protectorate in 1894. Gradual growth over northern Nigeria, consolidated by a series of punitive expeditions culminating in the establishment of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria in 1900 (“Nigeria”). The three separate administrative units were finally amalgamated in 1914 into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, and the administrative individuality of the three separate regions—North, East, and West—was maintained. The chief characteristic of British rule in Nigeria was its system of local administration, known as indirect rule. Indirect rule depended on a system of centralized political units with local/native chiefs at the lowest rungs of the hierarchy. It functioned well in the North, with variable success in the West, and poorly in the East (“Nigeria”). Vast distances, differences of history and traditions, and ethnological, racial, tribal, political, social, and religious barriers all hampered the creation of a unified state ("Biafra/Nigeria").

After World War II, increasing pressures for self-government resulted in a succession of short-lived constitutions. The constitution of 1954 established a federal form of government, greatly extending the functions of the regional governments. A constitutional conference in May and June of 1957 decided upon immediate self-government for the Eastern and Western regions, the Northern to follow in 1959. The progression from self-government to independence moved quickly: on October 1, 1960, Nigeria became a fully independent member, and federation of three regions based on ethnic groupings, of the British Commonwealth; and on 1 October 1963, it became a republic (“Nigeria”).

Pressure for Igbo secession boiled over to resentment over the domination of the federal government by Northern elements and culminated in a military coup on January 15, 1966. On 29 July 1966, mutinous elements in the army, largely Northern army officers, staged a countercoup, killed Gen. Johnson Umunakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, and replaced him with Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon as head of the military government. The July coup led to the massacre of thousands of Easterners residing in the Northern Region and to the exodus of more than one million persons (mostly Igbos) to the Eastern Region. On May 28, 1967, Col. Gowon assumed emergency powers as head of the Federal Military Government and announced the division of the country into 12 states. The Northern Region was split into 6 states; the Midwest, Western, and Lagos areas each became separate states; and 3 states were formed from the Eastern Region. Rejecting the realignment, Eastern Region leaders announced the independent Republic of Biafra, with Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu as head of state, on May 30, 1967 (“Biafra/Nigeria”).

The Nigerian Civil War, spanning a thirty-month period, from May 30, 1967, to January 12, 1970, was precipitated by a combination of factors. Among the many reasons included the growing interethnic rivalry and suspicion between the three major ethnic groups (Hausa/Fulani in the north, Yoruba in the west, and Igbo in the south); agitations over alleged domination by one ethnic group to the exclusion of the others; a controversial 1963 federal census; and disputed post-independence elections in 1964 and volatile western regional elections in 1965, which resulted in prolonged political crisis, anarchy, and uncertainty (“Biafra/Nigeria”). These events triggered the first military coup on January 15, 1966, by predominantly young Igbo army officers led by Major Chukwuma "Kaduna" Nzeogwu, himself an Igbo from the eastern region. Although prominent northern politicians were killed in the process, there were no casualties in the East, reinforcing the belief in many quarters, especially in the northern region, that the coup was ethnically motivated to achieve domination by the Igbo over other ethnic groups (“Biafra/Nigeria”). Nzeogwu's coup failed, but a countercoup, led by another Igbo, Major General Ironsi, abolished the federal structure and introduced in its stead a unitary system of government. Consequently, on July 29, 1966, a "revenge coup" by largely northern officers led to the killing of the Nigerian head of state, Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi at Ibadan, while he was making an official visit to the western region (“Biafra/Nigeria”).

During this same period several Igbo officers and civilians were also killed in the north, and their properties looted or destroyed. By October 1966, over fifty thousand Igbos had lost their lives, several thousands more were maimed, and an estimated two million Igbos fled from other parts of Nigeria back to the east (“Biafra/Nigeria”). To reduce the political tensions that had engulfed the country, representatives of all concerned parties attended a summit of military leaders at Aburi, Ghana, beginning January 4, 1967 and agreed to a confederal system of government, but the agreement was never implemented. After several unsuccessful efforts to negotiate peace, Ojukwu unilaterally declared Biafra's independence from Nigeria on May 30, 1967, citing the Nigerian government's inability to protect the lives of Easterners and suggesting its culpability in genocide. Biafra derived its name from the Bight of Biafra and comprised the East-Central, South-Eastern, and Rivers states of Nigeria. The federal government of Nigeria responded to Biafra's declaration of independence with its own declaration of war (“Nigeria/Biafra”).

The Nigerian Civil War, fought almost entirely in the southeastern portion of that country, resulted in the death of millions of unarmed civilians and massive destruction of property. As the conflict progressed, the living conditions in Biafra deteriorated. The Biafrans, fighting against a numerically and materially superior force, were virtually encircled and isolated (“Nigeria/Biafra”). The Biafran armed forces made sporadic strategic incursions into federal territories, but limited means of support frequently forced a retreat. A combination of military operations—by land, air, and sea—and an economic blockade against Biafra and the destruction of its agricultural life by the Nigerian federal government led to the starvation, mass death, and displacement of Igbos. The Nigerian government blockaded the region from the sea, thus preventing the shipment of critical items and services to the east (“Nigeria/Biafra”). Furthermore, the government recaptured the Rivers state, cutting off the oil revenue with which Biafra had expected to finance the war; suspended telephone, telegraph, and postal services; and cancelled all air flights to the region, except those cleared by Lagos (“Nigeria/Biafra”). The enforcement of a comprehensive blockade led to severe shortages of food, medicine, clothing, and housing, precipitating heavy casualties among Biafran civilians. About three million Biafrans are believed to have lost their lives, an estimated one million of them as a result of severe malnutrition. More than three million Igbos became internally displaced persons or refugees. For a variety of reasons, including the national interests of most of its member states, the international community, except for limited humanitarian relief, left Biafrans to their fate (“Nigeria/Biafra”).

Biafra alleged genocide, fueling international sympathy. Although a team of observers found considerable evidence of famine and death as a result of the war, it uncovered no proof of genocide or the systematic destruction of property. Furthermore, although claims of starvation and genocide secured military and political support from some members of the international community and international organizations, they also helped to lengthen the war, thereby furthering the suffering in Biafra (“Nigeria/Biafra”). In December 1968 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimated that fourteen thousand people were dying each day in Biafra. Many civilians who had already survived the war reportedly died of starvation because the federal government obstructed direct access to relief agencies and ignored international pressure to allow mass relief operations entry into Biafra. The Biafran government’s rationale for prohibiting entry were a result of their accusations that relief agencies were concealing arms shipments with supplies from their humanitarian flights. The fall of Owerri, one of Biafra's strongholds on January 6, 1970, signaled the collapse of the resistance, leading to the flight of its leader, Ojukwu, to the Ivory Coast. On January 12, 1970, the Biafran chief of army staff, Major General Phillip Effiong, surrendered to the federal government (“Nigeria/Biafra”). The Nigerian head of state, Colonel Yakubu Gowon, accepted Biafra's unconditional surrender, declaring that there would be no victor and no vanquished.

After the war, the government developed a Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation program to resettle those who had been displaced from their homes and places of permanent residence; rehabilitate both troops and civilians alike; reconstruct damaged infrastructure and public institutions; and correct economic and social problems (“Nigeria/Biafra”). Furthermore, the federal government promised to provide food, shelter, and medicines for the affected population; hand over power to a civilian government on October 1, 1975; reorganize the armed forces; complete the establishment of the twelve states announced in 1967; conduct a national census; draft a new constitution; and hold elections (“Nigeria/Biafra”). Although some of these commitments were fulfilled—new states were created, a new constitution was implemented, the armed forces were scaled down in size, and power was handed over to a civilian government— other promises were left unfulfilled (“Nigeria/Biafra”).

Recent History and Contemporary Nigeria

After the Civil War, Nigeria went through a series of multiple national leaders, military coups, and changes to the constitution from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. In mid-November 1993, General Sani Abacha installed himself as the head of state. On November 18, 1993, he abolished all state and local governments and the national legislature. Abacha replaced many civilian officials with military commanders and banned political parties and all political activity. Abiola, the rightful president-elect of the 1993 elections proclaimed himself president on June 11, 1994 and went into hiding (“Nigeria”). Abacha arrested him later that month, citing massive protests from the Nigerian people, but the military violently repressed the demonstrators. Abiola pleaded not guilty to three counts of treason; the following day laborers went on strike to protest the Abacha regime. In the following months, millions of Nigerian workers walked out in support of Abiola and refused to attend scheduled government talks. Strikes and protests continued in support of the sanctity of the vote, and of Abiola's mandate (“Nigeria”). In August 1994, he banned several newspapers, declaring that his government had absolute power and would not give in to pro democracy demonstrators, one of the many processes Abacha took to control the government and Nigerian society. In April 1998, four of Nigeria's five major political parties nominated Abacha as their presidential candidate. Amid opposition accusations that the transition plan was designed to prolong Abacha's rule, legislative elections held on April 25 were heavily boycotted. Nigeria's political fortunes changed suddenly when Abacha died of an apparent heart attack. General Abdoulsalami Abubakar took charge and promised to continue Abacha's transition (“Nigeria”). On July 20, 1998, General Abubakar announced a new plan for return to civilian rule, as Abacha had gotten rid of civilian participation in many forms of the government, culminating in a transfer of power in May 1999.

Since the Abacha regime, Nigeria has since tried to return a more democratic government, working on restoring law and order, fighting corruption, and unifying the ethnically and religiously diverse people of Nigeria (“Nigeria”). Though those efforts have been hard to come by, as many violent ethnic and religious clashes occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Nigeria has continued to face governmental, ethnic, religious, health related, educational, economic, and other issues (“Nigeria”).