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Geography
Geographicallly, Nigeria can be divided into the Northern highlands,
flanked by the Sokoto Basin in the West and
 the
Chad Basin in the East and limited to the South by the major rivers
Niger and Benue, the South Western highlands North of Ibadan, the
Niger Delta and the Mambila Mountains in the East on the border
with Cameroon.
The climate is equatorial in the South, tropical in the Middle Belt
and arid in the North. The average maximum temperature in the South
is about 30ºC, in the North 35ºC. The rainy season in
the coastal region is from March to October with a rain-break in
August.
History
Mesolithic tools indicate early settlements some 30,000 years ago.
The discovery of the Nok terracotta in 1936 give evidence of the
existence of highly skilled craftsmen about 500 BC in the area of
the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers.
The expansion of Islam since the 7th century was of crucial importance
for the social and political development of the North and led to
the establishment of the first organized administrative and political
structures probably around 850 AD and to the Hausa kingdoms in the
11th century. The history of the South is mainly based on legends
but it is believed that the Yorubas had the first administrative
structures in form of town governments (kingdoms) already in the
10th or 11th century.
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| Lagos
in the 19th century |
In
1472, the first Portuguese arrived at neighbouring Benin (now Edo
State). Portugal considered Benin as one of the most important kingdoms
on the coast. Life changed with the arrival of the Portuguese. The
first trade links between Nigeria and Europe were established. Colonial
rule started formally in 1861, when the Oba (King) of Lagos resigned
and the first British governor was installed. Nigeria became independent
on 1 October 1960. Since then, Nigeria had three civilian (some
counted the time when M.K.O. Abiola declared himself President after
an election in 1993, which was annulled by a biased court, as the
third civilian government) and eight military governments and passed
through various political turmoil. The actual Head of State, Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo, democratically elected on 27 February 1999, committed
his administration to privatisation, poverty alleviation, economic
diversification and economic recovery.
Population
Nigeria
is a multi-ethnic society with over 300 distinguishable ethnic
groups. The major ethnic groups,
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Typical
market scene in Lagos
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Hausa/Fulani,
Youruba and Igbo make up together an estimated 65% of the population.
The population growths rapidly by 2.2% and is estimated to have reached
111,6 million in 2000. The density of population is about 8 inhabitants
per km2. Major cities are: Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt,
Benin City, Kaduna and Kano.
The majority of ethnic groups in Northern Nigeria is of Muslim belief
while the majority of people in the South-East are Christians. In
the South-West of the country the two major religions are equally
distributed. Here even within the same family, both religions might
be found.
Physical
infrastructure
Nigeria has a relatively good road-network with over 30,000 km of
paved highways and over 3,500 km railways, presently under rehabilitation.
14 airports (five international and nine national) out of which
actually 11 are served by the national carrier Nigeria Airways.
Several private airlines on regular schedules provide frequent flights
to all major cities in Nigeria. Furthermore, Nigeria has over 8,500
km of waterways. Electrical power is generated by two hydro-electrical
power stations (Kainji and Shiroro) and several thermo-electrical
power stations.
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Third
Mainland Bridge in Lagos, the longest bridge in West Africa
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The
telecommunication system is under rapid expansion. Most of the more
important cities have already digital exchanges, others are presently
undergoing the digitalisation of their systems. However, it is a
matter of fact that Nigeria with about 5 lines per 1,000 population
is rather located at the lower end of global telecommunication density.
Some remedy came with the auction of four GSM-licences which was
held on 17 January 2001. Thwo of the winners meanwhile commenced
full operation and about 350,000 lines are subscribed as of February
2002.
Economy
The Nigerian economy is mainly depending on the production and export
of crude oil and natural gas. Over 50% of government income of the
proposed budget for 2002 is expected from gas and oil. Agricultural
products, mainly cocoa and rubber, constitute the second largest
income earner in exports, while the contribution of manufactured
goods is negligible.
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|
Typical
oil rig
in the Niger Delta
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At
present, external reserves of Nigeria are estimated at US$ 9.91
billion at the end of 2000 while external debt stands at US$ 28,496
billion. The Nigerian government was able in 2000 to negotiate a
debt moratorium of three years with the Paris Club of creditors,
the major creditor countries. Inflation rates have increased from
6.7% in 1999 to 6.9% in 2000, to (estimated) 14.7% in 2001 and and
a forecast of 13.0% in 2002.
GDP growth has increased from 1.0% in 1999 to 3.8% in 2000, and
3.0% in 2001, while 4.3% is predicted 2002. A series of political
measures, such as de-regularisation of interest rates, liberalisation
of the economy and the actual beginning of privatisation of state-owned
key industries might be pivotal for this positive outlook.
Since 1995 there are no more equity limits for foreign investors
in Nigeria. Two principal statutes came into force to promote foreign
investment in Nigeria. They are:
- The
Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act No 16 of 1995.
- The Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act No 17 of 1995.
Approvals
for foreign exchange transfers in and out of Nigeria are not required
but have to be channelled through banks.
Politics
After
16 years of military rule, Nigeria returned to democracy in May
1999. In free and fair democratic election, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
emerged as the new civilian president.
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|
Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo,
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
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The
last military regime registered three political parties: Alliance
for Democracy (AD), All Peoples Party (APP), and Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP). These parties were the only elegible political formations
during the elections in 1999.
The Nigerian constitution of 1999 is based on a bi-cameral system
of the National Assembly (House of Representatives, 360 seats, and
Senate, 109 seats). The president of the republic is both Head of
State and Head of Government. At present (February 2002) the distribution
of seats at the National Assembly is as follows: Senate - PDP 67,
APP 23, AD 19; House of Representatives - PDP 221, APP 70, AD 69.
The President is a member of PDP. The next elections at federal
level are planned for the first quarter 2003.
As all parties in Nigeria are rather dominated by political personalities
than by political ideologies, FNF Lagos Office does not maintain
special co-operations with any of the political parties.
Background
Statistics
| Area |
923,773
km2 |
| Population |
118.3
million (2001) |
| Population
growth rate |
2.2%
(1998-2015) |
| Currency |
Naira
(NGN), US$ 1 = 133 NGN (July 2002) |
| Inflation
(consumer prices) |
18.9
% (2001) |
| Official
Language |
English |
| Value
of exports |
US$
billion 20.268 (2001) |
| Value
of imports |
US$
billion 13.749 (2001) |
| Budget
deficit |
2.9%
of GDP (2000) |
| Main
exports |
Crude
oil (92,15%), non-oil (1,23%) (2001) |
| GDP |
US$
billion 39.2 (2001) |
| GDP
per capita |
US$
331 (2001) |
Source: UNDP, Human Development
Report 2000; The Economist Intelligence Unit, Aug 2002; Central Bank
of Nigeria, Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, 2000
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