Fraternity Manuals

Nigeria

From Open Encyclopedia

Federal Republic of Nigeria
Image:Flag of Nigeria.svg Image:Nigeriaarms22.PNG
(Flag) (Coat of Arms)
National motto: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress
Image:LocationNigeria.png
Official language English
Capital Abuja
Largest city Lagos
President Olusegun Obasanjo
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar
Area
 - Total
 - % water 		Ranked 31st
923,768 km²
1.4%
Population
 - Total (2005)
 - Density 		Ranked 9th
128,771,988
139/km² (53rd)
GDP (2004)
 - Total (PPP)
 - Total (Nominal)
 - GDP/capita (PPP)
 - GDP/capita (Nominal) 		 
$159.7 billion (46th)
$72.1 billion (50th)
$1,120 (171st)
$500 (143rd)
HDI (2004) 0.453 (158th) – low
Independence
 - Date 		From the United Kingdom
October 1 1960
Currency Naira
Time zone UTC +1
National anthem Arise O Compatriots, Nigeria's Call Obey
Internet TLD .ng
Calling Code +234

The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a country in West Africa. The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 after a sixteen-year-long interruption by a corrupt and brutal series of military dictators and counter-coups. Nigeria borders the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, Niger in the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the south. Major cities include the capital Abuja, the former capital Lagos, Ibadan, Osogbo, Calabar, Warri, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano, Kaduna, Onitsha, Jos, Ilorin, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Sokoto and Benin City.

The country's name first appeared in print in The Times in 1897 and was suggested by the paper's colonial editor Flora Shaw who would later marry Frederick Lugard, the first Govenor General of the Amalgamated Nigeria. The name comes from a combination of the words "Niger" (the country's longest river) and "Area". Its adjective form is Nigerian , which should not be confused with Nigerien for Niger.

Contents

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History

Main article: History of Nigeria
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Politics

Main article: Politics of Nigeria

Nigeria is a Federal Republic, comprising 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.

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States

Main articles: States of Nigeria

Nigeria is divided into 36 states and one territory. Each state has a unicameral House of Assembly and an elected Governor, who appoints an Executive Council.

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Geography

Image:Nigeria sm02.gif

Main article: Geography of Nigeria

Nigeria is located on the Gulf of Guinea. Its major cities are located in southern lowlands. The central part of the country contains hills and plateaus. The north consists of arid plains that border the Sahara. Its neighbouring countries are Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. ...

Forest and woodland occurs chiefly in the southern third of the country, which is affected by seasonal rains from the Atlantic which occur from June to September. As one progresses northward the country becomes drier and the vegetation more savanna in type. The northern third of the country forms part of the semi-arid sahel region on the fringes of the Sahara desert.

Nigeria is divided roughly in three by the rivers Niger and Benue, which flow through the country from north-east and north-west to meet roughly in the centre of the country near the new capital city of Abuja. From here the united rivers flow south to the sea at the Niger Delta. Its highest point is Chappal Waddi (2,419 m / 7,936 ft), on the Cameroonian border.

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Economy

Image:Market in Lagos, Nigeria.jpg

Main article: Economy of Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the poorest countries in the world. The oil-rich Nigerian economy, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, and poor macroeconomic management, is undergoing substantial economic reform under the new civilian administration. Nigeria's rulers stole or misused £220 billion. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, has since 1974, been a net importer of basic foodstuffs.

Mineral resources include petroleum, coal and tin. Agricultural products include groundnuts, palm oil, cocoa, citrus fruits, maize, millet, cassava, yams and sugar cane.

Right now the Nigerian economy is undergoing a massive reform. The Government is trying to improve the delivery of social services inclduing health and education. The public sector is being reformed. Procurement practises are being tightened up. The authorities are seeking to tackle corruption. Most moribund public utilities have either been privatized or in the last lap of being privatized.

Nigeria accumulated a significant foreign debt. However many of the projects financed by these debts were inefficient, bedevilled by corruption or failed to live up to expectations. Nigeria defaulted on its debt and over the years, arrears and penalty interest accumulated and increased the size of the debt.

After a long campaign by the Nigeria authorities, in October 2005 Nigeria and its Paris Club creditors reached an agreement that will see Nigeria's debt reduced by approximately 60%. Nigeria will use part of its oil windfall to pay the residual 40%. This deal will free up at least $1 billion annually for poverty reduction programmes.

Nigeria is infamous for being the source of scam e-mails sent to people all over the world requesting advanced payments in order to help the sender relocate funds (419 scam). Those who pay these fees never get any money themselves. A new (2006) law is currently being discussed that would punish such offenses with up to three years in jail.

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Public Health Issues

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Polio

One issue which has been complicated by political chaos has been the effort of the World Health Organization to eradicate polio worldwide. Northern Nigeria was the location of half of all documented polio cases in 2003, but Muslim clerics have repeatedly inveighed against the vaccine as an effort by Westerners to sterilise young Nigerian Muslim girls. The national vaccination program was suspended in several states in August of 2003, and the disease nearly quintupled in frequency (119 cases in first quarter 2004, vs. 24 in 2003). By May 2004, polio was reported to have spread from there to several other African nations which had previously been declared polio-free. On May 18, the state of Kano agreed to resume vaccination programmes using vaccines produced in Indonesia, not the US. [1]

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Other risks

There is a 'very high' risk of catching various diseases, including diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, malaria, meningococcal meningitis and lassa fever.

The prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS in the adult population was estimated at 5.4% in 2003. [1]

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Culture

Main article: Culture of Nigeria
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See also

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Culture and religion

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External links

Find more information on {{{1|Nigeria}}} by searching one of Wikipedia's sister projects:

Image:Wiktionary-logo-en.png [[wiktionary:Special:Search/{{{1|Nigeria}}}|Dictionary definitions]] from Wiktionary
Image:Wikibooks-logo.svg [[wikibooks:Special:Search/{{{1|Nigeria}}}|Textbooks]] from Wikibooks
Image:Wikiquote-logo.svg [[wikiquote:Special:Search/{{{1|Nigeria}}}|Quotations]] from Wikiquote
Image:Wikisource-logo.jpg [[wikisource:Special:Search/{{{1|Nigeria}}}|Source texts]] from Wikisource
Image:Commons-logo.svg [[commons:Special:Search/{{{1|Nigeria}}}|Images and media]] from Commons
Image:Wikinews-logo.png [[wikinews:Special:Search/{{{1|Nigeria}}}|News stories]] from Wikinews

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Government

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News




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Nigeria Television Online


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Pictures of Nigeria

*pictures of Lagos, pictures of Abuja, pictures of Ibadan and Kano
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Communities


Countries in Africa

Algeria | Angola | Benin | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Republic of the Congo | Côte d'Ivoire | Djibouti | Egypt | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | The Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Libya | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Morocco | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | São Tomé and Príncipe | Senegal | Seychelles | Sierra Leone | Somalia/Somaliland | South Africa | Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | Western Sahara/SADR | Zambia | Zimbabwe

Dependencies: France: Mayotte - Réunion | Spain: Canary Islands - Ceuta/Melilla | Portugal: Madeira Islands | UK: British Indian Ocean Territory - Saint Helena
af:Nigerië

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