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Nigeria is a country with a history full of events. The recorded history of some of the regions of Nigeria dates back to about 1000 AD. In the south central part of present-day Nigeria, as early as the 15th and 16th centuries, the Kingdom of Benin had developed an efficient army; an elaborate ceremonial court; and artisans whose works in ivory, wood, bronze, and brass are valued throughout the world today. |
In 1879, on the initiative of Sir George Goldie, the English societies established in the region purchased all the French and foreign trading stations of Lower Niger and in 1885 obtained a royal charter which constituted them the Royal Company of the Niger. The Royal Company developed rapidly and acquired immense territories, often at the cost of bloodshed.
In the 17th through 19th centuries, European traders established coastal ports for the increasing traffic in slaves destined for the Americas. Commodity trade, especially in palm oil and timber, replaced slave trade in the 19th century, particularly under anti-slavery actions by the British Navy. In the early 19th century the Fulani leader Usman dan Fodio brought most areas in the north under the loose control of an Islamic Fulani Empire centered on Sokoto.
Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior. In 1885, British claims to a sphere of influence in that area received international recognition and, in the following year, the Royal Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie. In 1900, the company's territory came under the control of the British Government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On January 1, 1901 Nigeria became a British protectorate.
Nigeria achieved full independence in October 1960, as a federation of three regions (northern, western, and eastern) under a parliamentary form of government constitution. The first post-independence National Government was formed by a conservative alliance of the NCNC and the NPC, with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a Hausa, becoming Nigeria's first Prime Minister.
In October 1963, Nigeria altered its relationship with the United Kingdom by proclaiming itself a Federal Republic. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the last Governor General, became the country's first President. From the outset, Nigeria's ethnic, regional, and religious tensions were magnified by the significant disparities in economic and educational development between the south and the north. The National Election of 1965 produced a major realignment of politics and a disputed result that set the country on the path to civil war. On January 15, 1966, a small group of army officers, mostly southeastern Igbos, overthrew the NPC-NNDP government and assassinated the federal prime minister and the premiers of the northern and western regions. The federal military government that assumed power under General Aguiyi-Ironsi, was unable to quiet ethnic tensions or produce a constitution accepted to all sections of the country. In a move that gave greater autonomy to minority ethnic groups, the military divided the four regions into 12 states. Finally, on May 29, 1967, Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, the military governor of the eastern region, declared the independence of the eastern region as the "Republic of Biafra." The ensuing Nigerian Civil War was bitter and bloody, ending in the defeat of Biafra in 1970.
A constituent assembly was elected in 1977 to draft a new constitution, which was published on September 21, 1978. On December 31, 1983, the military overthrew the Second Republic. Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the leader of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), the country's new ruling body. He charged the civilian government with economic mismanagement, widespread corruption, election fraud, and a general lack of concern for the problems of Nigerians. He also pledged to restore prosperity to Nigeria and to return the government to civilian rule but proved unable to deal with Nigeria's severe economic problems.
In August 1998, the Abubakar government appointed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections for local government councils, state legislatures and governors, the national assembly, and president. NEC successfully held these elections on December 5, 1998, January 9, 1999, February 20, and February 27, 1999, respectively. For the local elections, a total of nine parties were granted provisional registration, with three fulfilling the requirements to contest the following elections. The PRC disseminated a new constitution based largely on the suspended 1979 constitution, before the May 29, 1999 inauguration of the new civilian president.
The emergence of a democratic Nigeria in May 1999 ended 16 years of consecutive military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo became the steward of a country suffering economic stagnation and the deterioration of most of its democratic institutions. The new President took over a country that faced many problems, including a dysfunctional bureaucracy, collapsed infrastructure, and a military that wanted a reward for returning quietly to the barracks.
