The History of Nigeria can be traced to settlers trading across the middle East and Africa as early as 1100 BC. Numerous ancient African civilisations settled in the region that is known today as Nigeria, such as the Kingdom of Nri, the Benin Empire, and the Oyo Empire. Islam reached Nigeria through the Borno Empire between and Hausa States around during the 11th century, while Christianity came to Nigeria in the 15th century through Augustinian and Capuchin monks from Portugal. The Songhai Empire also occupied part of the region. The history of Nigeria has been crucially affected by the transatlantic slave trade, which started in Nigeria in the late 15th century. The first slave-trading post used by the British and Portuguese was Badagry, a coastal harbour. Local brokers provided them with slaves, escalating conflicts among the ethnic groups in the region and disrupting older trade patterns through the Trans-Saharan route.
An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Arabic or Islamic monarch-styled emir.
The Nigerian Civil War was a civil war in Nigeria fought between the government of Nigeria headed by General Yakubu Gowon and the secessionist state of Biafra led by Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu from 6 July 1967 to 15 January 1970. Biafra represented nationalist aspirations of the Igbo people, whose leadership felt they could no longer coexist with the Northern-dominated federal government. The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which preceded Britain's formal decolonization of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included ethno-religious violence and anti-Igbo pogroms in Northern Nigeria, a military coup, a counter-coup and persecution of Igbo living in Northern Nigeria. Control over the lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta also played a vital strategic role.
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was a Nigerian politician who was the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria.
Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, which voted to become a province within Northern Nigeria.
Chief Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá, otherwise known as S.L.A., was a Nigerian politician, lawyer, aristocrat and orator who was born in Ogbomosho, of the then Western Region. In addition to serving as one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria, he was also elevated to the position of Oloye Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of the Yoruba.
Ahmadu Ibrahim Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, knighted as SirAhmadu Bello, was a conservative Nigerian statesman who masterminded Northern Nigeria through the independence of Nigeria in 1960 and served as its first and only premier from 1954 until his assassination in 1966, in which capacity he dominated national affairs for over a decade.
The Action Group (AG) was a Nigerian political party established in Ibadan on 21 March 1951, by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The party was founded to serve as the platform for realizing his preliminary objective of mobilizing Western Nigerians to forestall the NCNC control of the Western Region and the subsequent aim of cooperating with other nationalist parties to win independence for Nigeria. It benefited immensely from the relationships developed in the Egbe Omo Oduduwa formed in Awolowo's days in London as a student.
Colonial Nigeria was the era in the History of Nigeria when the region of West Africa was ruled by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain annexed Lagos in 1861 and established the Oil River Protectorate in 1884. British influence in the Niger area increased gradually over the 19th century, but Britain did not effectively occupy the area until 1885. Other European powers acknowledged Britain's dominance over the area in the 1885 Berlin Conference.
The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution. The country's government was based on a federal Westminster system. The period between October 1, 1960, when the country gained its independence and January 15, 1966, when the first military coup d’état took place, is also generally referred to as the First Republic. The first Republic of Nigeria was ruled by different leaders representing their regions as premiers in a federation during this period. Leaders include Ahmadu Bello Northern Nigeria 1959 – 1966, Obafemi Awolowo Western Nigeria 1959 – 1960, Samuel Akintola Western Nigeria 1960 – 1966, Michael Okpara Eastern Nigeria 1960 – 1966, and Dennis Osadebay Mid-Western Nigeria 1964 – 1966.
The Niger Delta Congress (NDC) is a socio-political organization of the ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta region. The NDC was established on the 26th of December 2019 in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, to serve the purpose of uniting the minority nationalities of the Niger Delta region as a means to achieving political and economic autonomy for the peoples of the region. The NDC is under the leadership of an executive council that comprises representatives of the different nationalities that make up the region. The current executive of the NDC which is in acting capacity is led by Nubari Saatah as Acting President, and Adokiye Oyagiri as its Acting Spokesperson.
The Kano riot of 1953 refers to the riot, which broke out in the ancient city of Kano, located in Northern Nigeria, in May 1953. The nature of the riot were clashes between Northerners who were opposed to Nigeria's Independence and Southerners made up of mainly the Yorubas and the Igbos who supported immediate independence for Nigeria. The riot that lasted for four days claimed many lives of the Southerners and Northerners and many others were wounded.
Chief Victor Babaremilekun Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode, Q.C., SAN, CON (1921–1995) was a leading Nigerian politician, aristocrat, nationalist, statesman and lawyer. He was elected deputy premier of the Western Region of Nigeria in 1963 and he played a major role in Nigeria's legal history and politics from the late 1940s until 1995.
Northern People's Congress (NPC) is a political party in Nigeria. Formed in June 1949, the party held considerable influence in the Northern Region from the 1950s until the military coup of 1966. It was formerly a cultural organization known as Jamiyaar Mutanem Arewa.
The Potiskum Emirate is a traditional state in Nigeria, with headquarters in Potiskum, Yobe State. The emir holds the title "Mai".
Parliamentary elections were held in Nigeria on 30 December 1964, although they were not held until 18 March 1965 in some constituencies in Eastern Region, Lagos, and Mid-Western Region due to a boycott in December. The election saw most parties run as part of alliances, the Nigerian National Alliance and the United Progressive Grand Alliance.
The Kano Peoples Party was a Nigerian political party in the first republic. Formed in 1963, it soon became the second largest opposition party in Northern Nigeria overtaking the United Middle Belt Congress. In 1966, the Party was proscribed along with other political parties by the military.
General elections were held in Nigeria between October and December 1954. The Northern People's Congress emerged as the largest party, winning 84 of the 184 seats. However, the NPC only won seats in the Northern Region. Although the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons won the most seats in the Eastern and Western Regions, Action Group was the only party to win seats in all three regions.
Abdulkadir Dan Bawa was the 8th Fulani Emir of Ilorin. He succeeded his father, Shuaib Bawa as Emir in 1919. Bawa was appointed Emir on the recommendation of acting Provincial Resident in Ilorin, Kenneth Elphinstone. He reigned from 1920 to 1959, and witnessed most of the colonial constitutional reforms initiated after the founding of Nigeria in 1914.
Sa'adu Zungur was a Nigerian politician and poet who was among early scholars in Northern Nigeria to call for the reform of the society through education during colonial rule.
