The Federal Republic of Nigeria

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north.Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religion.Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery

The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE.The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BCE and the 2nd millennium.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery

The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, aBritish colonial administrator, in the late 19th century.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the seventh most populous country in the world, and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is black. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery

It is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. The IMF further projects a 8% growth in the Nigerian economy in 2011.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery

Early history

The Nok people of central Nigeria produced the earliest terracotta sculptures found in the country.A Nok sculpture resident at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts portrays a sitting dignitary wearing a "Shepherds Crook" on the right arm and a "hinged flail" on the left. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery

These are symbols of authority associated with ancient Egyptian pharaohs and the god Osiris and suggests that an ancient Egyptian style of social structure, and perhaps religion, existed in the area of modern Nigeria during the late Pharonic period.

In the northern part of the country, Kano and Katsina has recorded history dating back to around 999. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

Hausa kingdoms and the Kanem-Bornu Empireprospered as trade posts between North and West Africa. At the beginning of the 19th century under Usman dan Fodio the Fulani led the centralizedFulani Empire which continued until 1903 when the Fulani population and land were divided into various European colonies. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery

Between 1750 and 1900, between one to two-thirds of the population of the Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves.

The Yoruba kingdoms of If? and Oyo in southwestern Nigeria became prominent in the 12th and 14th century respectively.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery

However, Yoruba mythology states that Ile-Ife is the source of the human race and that it pre-dates any other civilization, although the oldest signs of human settlement dates back to the ninth century.If? produced terracotta and bronze figures, and ?y? once extended from western Nigeria to Togo. Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery

The Kingdom of Benin is located in southwestern Nigeria. Benin's power lasted between the 15th and 19th century. Their dominance reached as far as the city of Eko (an Edo name later changed to Lagos by the Portuguese) and further.

The Kingdom of Nri of the Igbo people started in the 10th century until it lost its sovereignty to the British in 1911. Sony VAIO VPCEA20 Battery

It is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria.Nri was ruled by the Eze Nri, and the city of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture. Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umeuri clan who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure Eri.Sony VAIO VPCEB10 Battery

The oldest pieces of bronzes made out of the lost-wax process in West Africa were from Igbo Ukwu, a city under Nri influence.

Colonial era

Spaniard and Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to begin trade in Nigeria in the port they named Lagos and inCalabar.Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM Battery

The Europeans traded with the ethnicities of the coast and also negotiated a trade in slaves, to the detriment and profit of many Nigerian ethnicities. Consequently many of the citizens of the former slave nations of the British Empire are descended from a Nigerian ethnic group. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/BI Battery

Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807 and, following the Napoleonic Wars, established the West Africa Squadronin an attempt to halt the international traffic in slaves.

In 1885, British claims to a West African sphere of influence received international recognition, and in the following year the Royal Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/T Battery

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, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/WI Battery

Many wars against subjugation had been fought by the states of what later became Nigeria against the British Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Notably of those were the British Conquest of Benin in 1897 and the Anglo-Aro War from 1901—1902. The restraint or complete destruction of these states opened up the Niger area to British rule.Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX Battery

In 1914, the Niger area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the northern andsouthern provinces and Lagos Colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since.Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/BI Battery

Slavery was not finally outlawed in northern Nigeria until 1936.

Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/T Battery

By the middle of the 20th century, the great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa.

Post-independence

On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Newly independent, Nigeria's government was a coalition of conservative parties: Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/WI Battery

the Nigerian People's Congress (NPC), a party dominated by Northerners and those of the Islamic faith, and the Igbo and Christian dominated National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became Nigeria's maiden Governor-General in 1960. Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX Battery

Forming the opposition was the comparatively liberal Action Group (AG), which was largely dominated by the Yoruba and led by Obafemi Awolowo. The cultural and political differences between Nigeria's dominant ethnicities, the Hausa ('Northerners'), Igbo ('Easterners') and Yoruba ('Westerners'), were sharp.Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/BI Battery

An imbalance was created in the polity by the result of the 1961 plebiscite. Southern Cameroon opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while northern Cameroon chose to remain in Nigeria. The northern part of the country was now far larger than the southern part. Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/T Battery

The nation parted with its British legacy in 1963 by declaring itself a Federal Republic, with Azikiwe as its first president. When elections came about in 1965, the AG was outmanoeuvred for control of Nigeria's Western Region by the Nigerian National Democratic Party.Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/WI Battery

Nigerian-Biafran War

The disequilibrium and perceived corruption of the electoral and political process led in 1966 to several back-to-back military coups. The first was in January and led by a collection of young leftists under Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX Battery

It was partially successful; the coup plotters murdered Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Premier Ahmadu Belloof of the Northern Region and Premier Ladoke Akintola of the Western Region. Despite this, they could not set up a central government.Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BI Battery

President Nwafor Orizu was then pressured to hand over government to the Nigeria Army, under the command of General JTU Aguyi-Ironsi.

The coup was counter-acted by another successful plot, supported primarily by Northern military officers and Northerners who favoured the NPC,Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BIC Battery

it was engineered by Northern officers, which allowed Lt Colonel Yakubu Gowon to become head of state. This sequence of events led to an increase in ethnic tension and violence. The Northern coup, which was mostly motivated by ethnic and religious reasons was a bloodbath of both military officers and civilians, especially those of Igbo extraction.Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T Battery

The violence against the Igbo increased their desire for autonomy and protection from the military's wrath. By May 1967, the Eastern Region had declared itself an independent state called the Republic of Biafra under the leadership of Lt Colonel Emeka Ojukwu in line with the wishes of the people.Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX Battery

The Nigerian Civil War began as the Nigerian (Western and Northern) side attacked Biafra (South-eastern) on July 6, 1967 at Garkem signalling the beginning of the 30 month war that ended in January 1970.Estimates in the former Eastern Region of the number of dead from hostilities, disease, and starvation during the thirty-month civil war are estimated at between 1 million and 3 million.Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/BI Battery

Military era

During the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria joined OPEC, and billions of dollars generated by production in the oil-rich Niger Delta flowed into the coffers of the Nigerian state. The northern military clique benefited from the oil boom to the detriment of the Nigerian people and economy.Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/T Battery

As oil revenues fueled the rise of federal subventions to states and precariously to individuals, the federal government soon became the centre of political struggle and the centre became the threshold of power in the country. As oil production and revenue rose,Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/WI Battery

the Nigerian government created a dangerous situation as it became increasingly dependent on oil revenues and the international commodity markets for budgetary and economic concerns eschewing economic stability. That spelled doom to federalism in Nigeria.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM Battery

Beginning in 1979, Nigerians participated in a brief return to democracy when Obasanjo transferred power to the civilian regime of Shehu Shagari. The Shagari government was viewed as corrupt and incompetent by virtually all sectors of Nigerian society, Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/BI Battery

so when the regime was overthrown by the military coup ofMuhammadu Buhari shortly after the regime's fraudulent re-election in 1984, it was generally viewed as a positive development by most of the population.Buhari promised major reforms, but his government fared little better than its predecessor, and his regime was overthrown by yet another military coup in 1985.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/T Battery

The new head of state, Ibrahim Babangida, promptly declared himself president and commander in chief of the armed forces and the ruling Supreme Military Council and also set 1990 as the official deadline for a return to democratic governance.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/WI Battery

Babangida's tenure was marked by a flurry of political activity: he instituted the International Monetary Fund's Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) to aid in the repayment of the country's crushing international debt, which most federal revenue was dedicated to servicing. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX Battery

He also inflamed religious tensions in the nation and particularly the south by enrolling Nigeria in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

After Babangida survived an abortive coup, he pushed back the promised return to democracy to 1992. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/BI Battery

When free and fair elections were finally held on 12 June 1993, Babangida declared that the results showing a presidential victory for Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola null and void, sparking mass civilian violence in protest which effectively shut down the country for weeks and forced Babangida to keep his promise to relinquish office to a civilian run government.Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/T Battery

Babangida's regime is adjudged to be at the apogee of corruption in the history of the nation as it was during his time that corruption became officially diluted in Nigeria.

Babangida's caretaker regime headed by Ernest Shonekan survived only until late 1993 when General Sani Abacha took power in another military coup. Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/WI Battery

Abacha proved to be perhaps Nigeria's most brutal ruler and employed violence on a wide scale to suppress the continuing civilian unrest. Money had been found in various western European banks traced to him. He avoided coup plots by bribing army generals. Several hundred million dollars in accounts traced to him were discovered in 1999.Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX Battery

The regime came to an end in 1998 when the dictator was found dead amid dubious circumstances. Abacha's death yielded an opportunity for return to civilian rule.

Recent history

Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 when it elected Olusegun Obasanjo, the former military head of state, Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/B Battery

as the new President of Nigeria ending almost 33 years of military rule (from 1966 until 1999) excluding the short-lived second republic (between 1979 and 1983) by military dictators who seized power in coups d'état and counter-coups during the Nigerian military juntas of 1966-1979 and 1983-1998.Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/G Battery

Although the elections which brought Obasanjo to power in 1999 and again in 2003 were condemned as unfree and unfair, Nigeria has shown marked improvements in attempts to tackle government corruption and to hasten development.

Umaru Yar'Adua of the People's Democratic Party came into power in the general election of 2007 – an election that was witnessed and condemned by the international community as being severely flawed.Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/L Battery

Ethnic violence over the oil producing Niger Delta region and inadequate infrastructures are some of the current issues in the country.

Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010. Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was sworn in as Yar'Adua's replacement on 6 May 2010,Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/P Battery

becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State, while his vice,a former Kaduna stategovernor, Namadi Sambo, an architect,was chosen on 18 May 2010,by the National Assembly following President Goodluck Jonathan's nomination for Sambo to be his Vice President.Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W Battery

Goodluck Jonathan served as Nigeria's president till April 16, 2011,when a new presidential election in Nigeria was conducted. Goodluck Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was declared the winner on 19 April 2011,having won the election by a total of 22,495,187 of the 39,469,484 votes cast to stand ahead of Muhammadu Buhari from the main opposition party, Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX Battery

the The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which won 12,214,853 of the total votes cast. The international media reported the elections as having run smoothly with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous elections. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/B Battery

Government and politics

Nigeria is a Federal Republic modelled after the United States, with executive power exercised by the president and with overtones of the Westminster System model in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the bicameral legislature. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/G Battery

The current president of Nigeria is Goodluck Jonathan, who succeeded Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to the office in 2010. The president presides as both Head of State and head of the national executive and is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two four-year terms.Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L Battery

The president's power is checked by a Senate and a House of Representatives, which are combined in a bicameral body called the National Assembly. The Senate is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from the capital region of Abuja; members are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/P Battery

The House contains 360 seats and the number of seats per state is determined by population.

Ethnocentrism, tribalism, religious persecution, and prebendalism have played a visible role in Nigerian politics both prior and subsequent to independence in 1960. Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/W Battery

Kin-selective altruism has made its way into Nigerian politics and has spurned various attempts by tribalists to concentrate Federal power to a particular region of their interests.Nationalism has also led to active secessionist movements such as MASSOB, Nationalist movements such as Oodua Peoples Congress, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and a civil war. Sony VAIO VPCEB190X Battery

Nigeria's three largest ethnic groups (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) have maintained historical preeminence in Nigerian politics; competition amongst these three groups has fuelled corruption and graft.

Because of the above issues, Nigeria's current political parties are pan-national and irreligious in character (though this does not preclude the continuing preeminence of the dominant ethnicities).Sony VAIO VPCEB19FX Battery

The major political parties at present include the ruling People's Democratic Party of Nigeria which maintains 223 seats in the House and 76 in the Senate (61.9% and 69.7% respectively); the opposition All Nigeria People's Party has 96 House seats and 27 in the Senate (26.6% and 24.7%). Sony VAIO VPCEB19GX Battery

There are also about twenty other minor opposition parties registered. The immediate past president,Olusegun Obasanjo, acknowledged fraud and other electoral "lapses" but said the result reflected opinion polls. In a national television address he added that if Nigerians did not like the victory of his handpicked successor they would have an opportunity to vote again in four years.Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX Battery

Like in many other African societies, prebendalism and extremely excessive corruption continue to constitute major challenges to Nigeria, as vote rigging and other means of coercion are practised by all major parties in order to remain competitive. In 1983, it was adjudged by the policy institute at Kuru that only the 1959 and 1979 elections witnessed minimal rigging.Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX/B Battery

Law

There are four distinct systems of law in Nigeria:

• English law which is derived from its colonial past with Britain;
• Common law, a development of its post colonial independence; Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX Battery
• Customary law which is derived from indigenous traditional norms and practice, including the dispute resolution meetings of pre-colonial Yorubaland secret societies and the Èkpè and Okónkò ofIgboland and Ibibioland; Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX/BI Battery
• Sharia law, used only in the predominantly Muslim north of the country. It is an Islamic legal system which had been used long before the colonial administration in Nigeria but recently politicised and spearheaded in Zamfara in late 1999 and eleven other states followed suit. Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX Battery
• These states are Kano, Katsina, Niger, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Gombe, Sokoto, Jigawa, Yobe, and Kebbi.

The country has a judicial branch, the highest court of which is the Supreme Court of Nigeria.Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX/BI Battery

Foreign relations

Upon gaining independence in 1960, Nigeria made the liberation and restoration of the dignity of Africa the centrepiece of its foreign policy and played a leading role in the fight against the apartheidregime in South Africa.Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX Battery

One notable exception to the African focus of Nigeria's foreign policy was the close relationship the country enjoyed with Israel throughout the 1960s, with the latter country sponsoring and overseeing the construction of Nigeria's parliament buildings.Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX/BI Battery

Nigeria's foreign policy was soon tested in the 1970s after the country emerged united from its own civil war and quickly committed itself to the liberation struggles going on in the Southern Africa sub-region. Though Nigeria never sent an expeditionary force in that struggle, Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX Battery

it offered more than rhetoric to the African National Congress (ANC) by taking a committed tough line with regard to the racist regime and their incursions in southern Africa, in addition to expediting large sums to aid anti-colonial struggles. Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX/BI Battery

Nigeria was also a founding member of the Organisation for African Unity (now theAfrican Union), and has tremendous influence in West Africa and Africa on the whole. Nigeria has additionally founded regional cooperative effortSony VAIO VPCEB1EGX Batterys in West Africa, functioning as standard-bearer forECOWAS and ECOMOG, economic and military organizations respectively.

With this African-centred stance, Nigeria readily sent troops to the Congo at the behest of the United Nations shortly after independence (and has maintained membership since that time); Nigeria also supported several Pan African and pro-self government causes in the 1970s, Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX/BI Battery

including garnering support for Angola's MPLA, SWAPO in Namibia, and aiding anti-colonial struggles in Mozambique, andZimbabwe (then Rhodesia) military and economically.

Nigeria retains membership in the Non-Aligned Movement, and in late November 2006 organized an Africa-South America Summit in Abuja to promote what some attendees termed "South-South" linkages on a variety of fronts. Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX Battery

Nigeria is also a member of the International Criminal Court, and the Commonwealth of Nations, from which it was temporarily expelled in 1995 under the Abacha regime.

Nigeria has remained a key player in the international oil industry since the 1970s, and maintains membership in Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC which it joined in July, 1971. Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX/BI Battery

Its status as a major petroleum producer figures prominently in its sometimes vicissitudinous international relations with both developed countries, notably the United States and more recently Chinaand developing countries, notably Ghana, Jamaica and Kenya.Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX Battery

Millions of Nigerians have emigrated at times of economic hardship to Europe, North America and Australia among others. It is estimated that over a million Nigerians have emigrated to the United States and constitute the Nigerian American populace. Of such Diasporic communities include the "Egbe Omo Yoruba" society.Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX/BI Battery

Military

The Nigerian Military are charged with protecting The Federal Republic of Nigeria, promoting Nigeria's global security interests, and supporting peacekeeping efforts especially in West Africa.

The Nigerian Military consist of an Army, a Navy and an Air Force. Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX Battery

The military in Nigeria have played a major role in the country's history since independence. Various juntas have seized control of the country and ruled it through most of its history. Its last period of rule ended in 1999 following the sudden death of former dictator Sani Abacha in 1998, with his successor,Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX/BI Battery

Abdulsalam Abubakar, handing over power to the democratically elected government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.

Taking advantage of its role as Africa's most populated country, Nigeria has repositioned its military as an African peacekeeping force. Since 1995, Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX Battery

the Nigerian military through ECOMOG mandates have been deployed as peacekeepers in Liberia (1997), Ivory Coast (1997–1999), Sierra Leone 1997–1999, and presently in Sudan's Darfur region under an African Union mandate.

Geography

Nigeria is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and has a total area of 923,768 km2 (356,669 sq mi), making it the world's 32nd-largest country (after Tanzania).Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/B Battery

It is comparable in size to Venezuela, and is about twice the size of California. It shares a 4,047 kilometres (2,515 mi) border with Benin (773 km), Niger (1497 km), Chad (87 km), Cameroon (1690 km), and has a coastline of at least 853 km. Nigeria lies between latitudes 4°and 14°N, and longitudes 2° and 15°E.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/G Battery

The highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft). The main rivers are the Niger and the Benue River which converge and empty into the Niger Delta, one of the world's largest river deltas and the location of a large area of Central African Mangroves.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/L Battery

Nigeria is also an important center for biodiversity. It is widely believed that the areas surrounding Calabar, Cross River State, contain the world's largest diversity of butterflies. The drill monkey is only found in the wild in Southeast Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/P Battery

Nigeria has a varied landscape. The far south is defined by its tropical rainforest climate, where annual rainfall is 60 to 80 inches (1,524 to 2,032 mm) a year. In the southeast stand the Obudu Plateau. Coastal plains are found in both the southwest and the southeast.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/W Battery

This forest zone's most southerly portion is defined as salt water swamp, also known as a mangrove swamp because of the large amount of mangroves in the area. North of this is fresh water swamp, containing different vegetation from the salt water swamp, and north of that is rain forest.Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX Battery

Nigeria's most expansive topographical region is that of the valleys of the Niger and Benue River valleys (which merge into each other and form a "y" shape). To the southwest of the Niger there is "rugged" highland, and to the southeast of the Benue are hills and mountains which forms the Mambilla Plateau,the highest Plateau in Nigeria.Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/B Battery

This plateau extends to the border with Cameroon, thismontane land is part of the Bamenda Highlands in Cameroon. The area near the border with Cameroon close to the coast is rich rainforest and part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion, Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/W Battery

an important centre for biodiversity including the drill monkey which is only found in the wild in this area and across the border in Cameroon. It is widely believed that the areas surrounding Calabar, Cross River State, also in this forest, contain the world's largest diversity of butterflies. Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX Battery

The area of southern Nigeria between the Niger and the Cross Rivers has seen its forest more or less disappear to be replaced by grassland (see Cross-Niger transition forests).

Everything in between the far south and the far north, is savannah (insignificant tree cover, with grasses and flowers located between trees), and rainfall is between 20 and 60 inches (508 and 1,524 mm) per year.Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/BI Battery

The savannah zone's three categories are Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, plains of tall grass which are interrupted by trees and the most common across the country: Sudan savannah, similar but with "shorter grasses and shorter trees; and Sahel savannah, comprised patches of grass and sand, found in the northeast.Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/WI Battery

To the north is the Sahel with its almost desert-like climate, where rain is less than 20 inches (508 mm) per year and the Sahara Desert is encroaching. In the dry north-east corner of the country lies Lake Chad, which Nigeria shares with Niger, Chad andCameroon.Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX Battery

Environmental issues

Nigeria's Delta region, home of the large oil industry, experiences serious oil spills and other environmental problems. See Environmental issues in the Niger Delta for more details, and Conflict in the Niger Delta about strife which has arisen in connection with those issues.Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX/BI Battery

Waste management including sewage treatment, the linked processes of deforestation and soil degradation, and climate change or global warming are the major environmental problems in Nigeria.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX Battery

Waste management presents problems in a mega city like Lagos and other major Nigerian cities which are linked with economic development, population growth and the inability of municipal councils to manage the resulting rise in industrial and domestic waste.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/B Battery

Haphazard industrial planning, increased urbanization, poverty and lack of competence of the municipal government are seen as the major reasons for high levels of waste pollution in major Nigerian cities. Some of the 'solutions' have been disastrous to the environment, resulting in untreated waste being dumped in places where it can pollute waterways and groundwater.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/L Battery

In terms of global warming, Africans contribute only about one metric ton of carbon dioxide per person per year. It is perceived by many climate change experts that food production and security in the northern sahel region of the country will suffer as semi-arid areas will have more dry periods in the future.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/P Battery

Subdivisions

Nigeria is divided into thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory, which are further sub-divided into 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The plethora of states, of which there were only three at independence, reflect the country's tumultuous history and the difficulties of managing such a heterogeneous national entity at all levels of government.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/W Battery

Nigeria has six cities with a population of over 1 million people (from largest to smallest: Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Benin City). Lagos is the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of over 8 million in its urban area alone. Population of Nigeria's cities over a million are listed below.Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX Battery

Economy

Nigeria is classified as a mixed economy emerging market, and has already reached middle income status according to the Worldbank,with its abundant supply of natural resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport sectors and stock exchange (the Nigerian Stock Exchange), which is the second largest in Africa.Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX/B Battery

Nigeria is ranked 37th in the world in terms of GDP (PPP)as of 2007. Nigeria is the United States' largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa and supplies a fifth of its oil (11% of oil imports). It has the seventh-largest trade surplus with the U.S. of any country worldwide. Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX Battery

Nigeria is currently the 50th-largest export market for U.S. goods and the 14th-largest exporter of goods to the U.S. The United States is the country's largest foreign investor.

February 2011: According to Citigroup, Nigeria will get the highest average GDP growth in the world between 2010–2050. Nigeria is one of two countries from Africa among 11 Global Growth Generatorscountries.Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI Battery

Previously, economic development had been hindered by years of military rule, corruption, and mismanagement. The restoration of democracy and subsequent economic reforms have successfully put Nigeria back on track towards achieving its full economic potential. Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX Battery

It is now the second largest economy in Africa (following South Africa), and the largest economy in the West Africa Region.

During the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria accumulated a significant foreign debt to finance major infrastructural investments. Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI Battery

With the fall of oil prices during the 1980s oil glut Nigeria struggled to keep up with its loan payments and eventually defaulted on its principal debt repayments, limiting repayment to the interest portion of the loans. Arrears and penalty interest accumulated on the unpaid principal which increased the size of the debt.Sony VAIO VPCEB20 Battery

However, after negotiations by the Nigeria authorities, in October 2005 Nigeria and its Paris Club creditors reached an agreement in which Nigeria repurchased its debt at a discount of approximately 60%. Nigeria used part of its oil profits to pay the residual 40%, freeing up at least $1.15 billion annually for poverty reduction programmes. Sony VAIO VPCEC20 Battery

Nigeria made history in April 2006 by becoming the first African Country to completely pay off its debt (estimated $30 billion) owed to the Paris Club.

Key sectors

Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world and the 8th largest exporter, and has the 10th largest proven reserves.Sony VAIO VPCEE20 Battery

(The country joined OPEC in 1971). Petroleum plays a large role in the Nigerian economy, accounting for 40% of GDP and 80% of Government earnings. However, agitation for better resource control in the Niger Delta, its main oil producing region, has led to disruptions in oil production and currently prevents the country from exporting at 100% capacity.Sony VAIO VPCEF20 Battery

Nigeria has one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world, major emerging market operators (like MTN, Etisalat, Zain and Globacom) basing their largest and most profitable centres in the country.The government has recently begun expanding this infrastructure to space based communications.Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery

Nigeria has a space satellite which is monitored at the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency Headquarters in Abuja.

The country has a highly developed financial services sector, with a mix of local and international banks, asset management companies, brokerage houses, insurance companies and brokers, private equity funds and investment banks.Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery

Nigeria also has a wide array of underexploited mineral resources which include natural gas, coal, bauxite, tantalite, gold, tin, iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead andzinc.Despite huge deposits of these natural resources, the mining industry in Nigeria is still in its infancy.Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery

Agriculture used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of Nigeria.At one time, Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of groundnuts, cocoa, and palm oil and a significant producer of coconuts, citrus fruits, maize, pearl millet, cassava, yams and sugar cane. Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery

About 60% of Nigerians work in the agricultural sector, and Nigeria has vast areas of underutilized arable land.

It also has a manufacturing industry which includes leather and textiles (centred Kano, Abeokuta, Onitsha, and Lagos), car manufacturing (for the French car manufacturer Peugeot as well as for the English truck manufacturer Bedford, Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery

now a subsidiary of General Motors), t-shirts, plastics and processed food.

The country has recently made considerable amount of revenue from home made Nigerian Movies which are sold locally and Internationally. These movies are popular in other African countries and among African immigrants in Europe.Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery

Science and technology

Three satellites have been launched by the Nigerian government into space. The Nigeriasat-1 was the first satellite to be built under the Nigerian government sponsorship. The satellite was launched from Russia on 27 September 2003. Nigeriasat-1 was part of the world-wide Disaster Monitoring Constellation System.Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery

The primary objectives of the Nigeriasat-1 were: to give early warning signals of environmental disaster; to help detect and control desertification in the northern part of Nigeria; Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery

to assist in demographic planning; to establish the relationship between malaria vectors and the environment that breeds malaria and to give early warning signals on future outbreaks of meningitis using remote sensing technology; to provide the technology needed to bring education to all parts of the country through distant learning; and to aid in conflict resolution and border disputes by mapping out state and International borders.Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery

NigeriaSat-2, Nigeria's second satellite, was built as a high-resolution earth satellite by Surrey Space Technology Limited, a United Kingdom-based satellite technology company. It has 2.5-metre resolution panchromatic (very high resolution), 5-metre multispectral (high resolution, NIR red, green and red bands),Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery

and 32-metre multispectral (medium resolution, NIR red, green and red bands) antennas, with a ground receiving station in Abuja. The NigeriaSat-2 spacecraft alone was built at a cost of over £35 million.[citation needed] This satellite was launched into orbit from a military base inChina.Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery

NigComSat-1, a Nigerian satellite built in 2004, was Nigeria's third satellite and Africa's first communication satellite. It was launched on 13 May 2007, aboard a Chinese Long March 3B carrier rocket, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China. The spacecraft was operated by NigComSat and the Nigerian Space Agency, NASRDA. Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery

On November 11, 2008, NigComSat-1 failed in orbit after running out of power due to an anomaly in its solar array. It was based on the Chinese DFH-4 satellite bus, and carries a variety of transponders: 4 C-band; 14 Ku-band; 8 Ka-band; and 2 L-band. It was designed to provide coverage to many parts of Africa, and the Ka-band transponders would also cover Italy.Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery

On 10 November 2008 (0900 GMT), the satellite was reportedly switched off for analysis and to avoid a possible collision with other satellites. According to Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, it was put into "emergency mode operation in order to effect mitigation and repairs".The satellite eventually failed after losing power on 11 November 2008.Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery

On March 24, 2009, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, NigComSat Ltd. and CGWIC signed a further contract for the in-orbit delivery of the NigComSat-1R satellite. NigComSat-1R was also a DFH-4 satellite, and is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2011 as a replacement for the failed NigComSat-1.Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery

Demographics

Population in Nigeria increased from 1990 to 2008 with 57 million and 60 % growth in population. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa but exactly how populous is a subject of speculation. The United Nations estimates that the population in 2009 was at 154,729,000, distributed as 51.7% rural and 48.3% urban, and with a population density of 167.5 people per square kilometer.Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery

National census results in the past few decades have been disputed. The results of the most recent census were released in December 2006 and gave a population of 140,003,542. The only breakdown available was by gender: males numbered 71,709,859, females numbered 68,293,08.Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery

According to the United Nations, Nigeria has been undergoing explosive population growth and one of the highest growth and fertility rates in the world. By their projections, Nigeria is one of eight countries expected to account collectively for half of the world's total population increase from 2005–2050.Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery

By 2100 the UN estimates that the Nigerian population will be no less than 730 million.In 1950, Nigeria had only 33 million people.

According to current data, one out of every four Africans is Nigerian.Presently, Nigeria is the seventh most populous country in the world, and even conservative estimates conclude that more than 20% of the world's black population lives in Nigeria. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery

2006 estimates claim 42.3% of the population is between 0–14 years of age, while 54.6% is between 15–65; the birth rate is significantly higher than the death rate, at 40.4 and 16.9 per 1000 people respectively.

Health, health care, and general living conditions in Nigeria are poor. Life expectancy is 47 years (average male/female) and just over half the population has access to potable water and appropriate sanitation;Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery

the percentage is of children under five has gone up rather than down between 1990 and 2003 and infant mortality is 97.1 deaths per 1000 live births. HIV/AIDS rate in Nigeria is much lower compared to the other African nations such asKenya or South Africa whose prevalence (percentage) rates are in the double digits.Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery

In 2003, the HIV prevalence rate among 20 to 29 year-olds was 5.6%. Nigeria suffers from periodic outbreaks ofcholera, malaria, and sleeping sickness. It is the only country in Africa to have never eradicated polio, which it periodically exports to other African countries.Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery

A 2004 vaccination drive, spearheaded by the W.H.O. to combat polio and malaria, met with some opposition in the north, but polio was cut 98% between 2009 and 2010.

Education is in a state of neglect. After the 1970s oil boom, tertiary education was improved so that it would reach every subregion of Nigeria. Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery

Education is provided free by the government, but the attendance rate for secondary education is only 29% (32% for males, 27% for females). The education system has been described as "dysfunctional" largely because of decaying institutional infrastructure. 68% of the population is literate, and the rate for men (75.7%) is higher than that for women (60.6%).Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B Battery

Nigeria's largest city is Lagos. Lagos has grown from about 300,000 in 1950 to an estimated 15 million today, and the Nigerian government estimates that city will have expanded to 25 million residents by 2015.

Ethno-linguistic groups

Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups, with varying languages and customs, creating a country of rich ethnic diversity. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D Battery

The largest ethnic groups are the Fulani/Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, accounting for 68% of population,(Quote Source) while the Edo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Ebira Nupe and Tiv comprise 27%; other minorities make up the remaining 7%.[84] The middle belt of Nigeria is known for its diversity of ethnic groups, including the Pyem, Goemai, and Kofyar. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G Battery

The official population count of each of Nigeria's ethnicities has always remained controversial and disputed as members of different ethnic groups believe the census is rigged to give a particular group (usually believed to be northern groups) numerical superiority.Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P Battery

There are small minorities of British, American, East Indian, Chinese (est. 50,000), white Zimbabwean, Japanese, Greek, Syrianand Lebanese immigrants in Nigeria. Immigrants also include those from other West African or East African nations. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W Battery

These minorities mostly reside in major cities such as Lagos and Abuja, or in the Niger Delta as employees for the major oil companies. A number ofCubans settled in Nigeria as political refugees following the Cuban Revolution.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, a number of ex-slaves of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian descent and emigrants from Sierra Leone established communities in Lagos and other regions of Nigeria.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B Battery

Many ex-slaves came to Nigeria following the emancipation of slaves in the Americas. Many of the immigrants, sometimes called Saros (immigrants from Sierra Leone) and Amaro (ex-slaves from Brazil) later became prominent merchants and missionaries in these cities.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D Battery

Language

The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in Nigeria is 521. This number includes 510 living languages, two second languages without native speakers and nine extinct languages. In some areas of Nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than one language. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G Battery

The official language of Nigeria, English, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. The choice of English as the official language was partially related to the fact that a part of the Nigerian population spoke English as a result of British colonization that ended in 1960.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P Battery

The major languages spoken in Nigeria represent three major families of African languages – the majority are Niger–Congolanguages, such as Yoruba, Igbo, the Hausa language is Afro-Asiatic; and Kanuri, spoken in the northeast, primarily Borno State, is a member of the Nilo-Saharan family.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W Battery

Even though most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages, English, being the official language, is widely used for education, business transactions and for official purposes. English as a first language, however, remains an exclusive preserve of a small minority of the country's urban elite, and it is not spoken at all in some rural areas. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B Battery

With the majority of Nigeria's populace in the rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country remain indigenous languages. Some of the largest of these, notably Yoruba and Igbo, have derived standardized languages from a number of different dialects and are widely spoken by those ethnic groups. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B Battery

Nigerian Pidgin English, often known simply as 'Pidgin' or 'Broken' (Broken English), is also a popular lingua franca, though with varying regional influences on dialect and slang. The pidgin English or Nigerian English is widely spoken within the Niger Delta Regions, predominately inWarri, Sapele, Port Harcourt, Agenebode, Ewu, and Benin City.Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/D Battery

Religion

Nigeria is home to a variety of religions which tend to vary regionally. This situation accentuates regional and ethnic distinctions and has often been seen as a source of sectarian conflict amongst the population. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/D Battery

Even though, Nigeria is apparently divided equally between Islam and Christianity between north and south, it is evident that across Nigeria there is widespread belief, albeit suppressed for political reasons, in traditional religious practices.

Based on a 2009 World Religious survey (Mapping out the Global Muslim Population) 50.4% of Nigeria's population were Muslims,Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/G Battery

48.2% were Christian (15%Protestant, 13.7% Catholic, and 19.6% other Christian), and followers of other religions were 1.4%. The core north is largely Muslim, there are large numbers of both Muslims and Christians in the Middle Belt, including the Federal Capital Territory. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/G Battery

In the west of the country, especially in the Yorubaland, the population is said to be evenly divided between Muslims and Christians, while in the southeastern regions are predominantly Christians with widespread traditional beliefs,Catholics, Anglicans, and Methodists are the majority with few traditional beliefs, while the Niger Delta region is mainly Christian.Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/P Battery

The majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunni, but a significant Shia and Sufi minority exists (see Shia in Nigeria) and a small minority of Ahmadiyya. Some northern states have incorporated Sharia law into their previously secular legal systems, which has brought about some controversy.Kano State has sought to incorporate Sharia law into its constitution.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/P Battery

Christian Nigerians are about evenly split between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Leading Protestant churches are the Church of Nigeria, of the Anglicancommunion, Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria, Redeemed Christian Church of God, the Nigerian Baptist Convention and The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/W Battery

The Yoruba area contains a large Anglican population, while Igboland is predominantly Catholic and the Edo area is predominantly Assemblies of Godwhich was introduced into Nigeria by Gabrial Ojemekele Oyakhilome and his associates at Enugu.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/W Battery

Across Yorubaland in the west many people are adherents to Yorubo/Irunmole spirituality with its philosophy of divine destiny that all can become Orisha (ori, spiritual head; sha, is chosen: to be one with Olodumare (oni odu, the God source of all energy; ma re, enlighthens / triumphs).Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/B Battery

Other minority religious and spiritual groups in Nigeria include Hinduism, Judaism, The Bahá’í Faith, and Chrislam (a syncretic faith melding elements of Christianity and Islam).Further, Nigeria has become an African hub for the Grail Movement and the Hare Krishnas.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/D Battery

Literature

Nigerian citizens have authored many influential works of post-colonial literature in the English language. Nigeria's best-known writers are Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel Laureate in Literature, and Chinua Achebe, best known for the novel, Things Fall Apart and his controversial critique of Joseph Conrad. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/G Battery

Other Nigerian writers and poets who are well known internationally include John Pepper Clark, Ben Okri, Cyprian Ekwensi, Buchi Emecheta, Helon Habila,Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Ken Saro Wiwa, who was executed in 1995 by the military regime. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/P Battery

Nigeria has the second largest newspaper market in Africa (after Egypt) with an estimated circulation of several million copies daily in 2003.

Music and film

Nigeria has a role in the development of West African highlife, afrobeat, and palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from theCongo, Brazil, Cuba, and elsewhere.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/W Battery

Many late 20th century musicians such as Fela Kuti have famously fused cultural elements of various indigenous music with American Jazz and Soul to formAfrobeat.JuJu music which is percussion music fused with traditional music from the Yoruba nation and made famous by King Sunny Adé, is also from Nigeria.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC Battery

There is also fuji music, a Yoruba percussion style, created and popularized by Mr. Fuji, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. The is also the Afan Music invented and popularized by the Ewuborn poet and musician Umuobuarie Igberaese.

There is a budding hip hop movement in Nigeria. Kennis Music, the self-proclaimed number-one record label in Africa, and one of Nigeria's biggest record labels, has a roster almost entirely dominated by hip hop artists.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/B Battery

Some famous musicians that come from Nigeria are Fela Kuti, Dele Sosimi, Adewale Ayuba, Ezebuiro Obinna, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, King Sunny Adé, Ebenezer Obey, Umobuarie Igberaese,Femi Kuti, Lagbaja, Dr. Alban, Sade Adu, Wasiu Alabi, Bola Abimbola,Zaki Adze, Tuface Idibia, D Banj and P Square.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/D Battery

In November 2008, Nigeria's music scene (and that of Africa) received international attention when MTV hosted the continent's first African music awards show in Abuja.

The Nigerian video-film industry is known as Nollywood, which is now the second-largest producer of movies in the world. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/G Battery

Many of the film studios are based in Lagos and Enugu, and the industry is now a very lucrative income for these cities.

T.B. Joshua's Emmanuel TV, originating from Nigeria, is also one of the most viewed television stations across Africa.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/G Battery

Cuisine

Nigerian cuisine, like West African cuisine in general, is known for its richness and variety. Many different spices, herbs and flavourings are used in conjunction with palm oil or groundnut oil to create deeply flavoured sauces and soups often made very hot with chili peppers.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/P Battery

Nigerian feasts are colourful and lavish, while aromatic market and roadside snacks cooked on barbecues or fried in oil are plentiful and varied.

Sport

Football is Nigeria's national sport and the country has its own Premier League of football. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/W Battery

Nigeria's national football team, known as the Super Eagles, has made the World Cup on four occasions1994, 1998, 2002, and most recently in 2010. They won the African Cup of Nations in 1980 and 1994, and also hosted the Junior World Cup. They won the gold medal for football in the 1996 Summer Olympics (in which they beat Argentina).Sony VAIO VPCP115KG Battery

The nation's cadet team to Japan '93 produced some international players notably Nwankwo Kanu, a two-time African Footballer of the year who won the European Champions League with Ajax Amsterdam and later played with Inter Milan (Italy), Arsenal FC (London, UK), West Bromwich Albion (UK) and Portsmouth F.C. (UK).Sony VAIO VPCP116KG Battery

Other players that graduated from the Junior teams are Celestine Babayaro (of Newcastle United, UK), Wilson Oruma and Taye Taiwo (of Marseille, France).

According to the official May 2010 FIFA World Rankings, Nigeria was the second top-ranked football nation in Africa and the 21st highest in the world. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/B Battery

Nigeria is also involved in other sports such asbasketball, cricket and track and field. Boxing is also an important sport in Nigeria; Dick Tiger and Samuel Peter are both former World Champions.

Societal issues

Despite its vast government revenue from the mining of petroleum, Nigeria is faced by a number of societal issues due primarily to a history of inefficiency in its governance.Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/D Battery

Human rights

Nigeria's human rights record remains poor and government officials at all levels continue to commit serious abuses.

According to the U.S. Department of State, the most significant human rights problems are: extrajudicial killings and use of excessive force by security forces; impunity for abuses by security forces;Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/G Battery

arbitrary arrests; prolonged pretrial detention; judicial corruption and executive influence on the judiciary; rape, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners, detainees and suspects; harsh and life?threatening prison and detention center conditions; human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution and forced labor;Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/P Battery

societal violence and vigilante killings; child labor, child abuse and child sexual exploitation; female genital mutilation (FGM); domestic violence; discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, region and religion; restrictions on freedom of assembly, movement, press, speech and religion; infringement of privacy rights; and the abridgement of the right of citizens to change the government.Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/W Battery

Under the Shari'a penal code that applies to Muslims in twelve northern states, offenses such as alcohol consumption, homosexuality, infidelity and theft carry harsh sentences, including amputation, lashing, stoning and long prison terms.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC Battery

Strife and sectarian violence

Because of its multitude of diverse, sometimes competing ethno-linguistic groups, Nigeria prior to independence has been faced with sectarian tensions and violence. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/B Battery

This is particularly a major issue in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, where both state and civilian forces employ varying methods of coercion in attempts gain control over regional petroleum resources. Some of the ethnic groups like the Ogoni, have experienced severe environmental degradation due to petroleum extraction.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/P Battery

Since the end of the civil war in 1970, some ethnic violence has persisted. There has subsequently been a period of relative harmony since the Federal Government introduced tough new measures against religious violence in all affected parts of the country.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/W Battery

In 2002, organizers of the Miss World Pageant were forced to move the pageant from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to London in the wake of violent protests in the Northern part of the country that left more than 100 people dead and over 500 injured. The rioting erupted after Muslims in the country reacted in anger to comments made by a newspaper reporter.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/B Battery

Rioters in Kaduna killed an estimated 105 men, women, and children with a further 521 injured taken to hospital.

Health issues

Nigeria has been reorganizing its health system since the Bamako Initiative of 1987 formally promoted community-based methods of increasing accessibility of drugs and health care services to the population, in part by implementing user fees.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/D Battery

The new strategy dramatically increased accessibility through community-based healthcare reform, resulting in more efficient and equitable provision of services. A comprehensive approach strategy was extended to all areas of health care, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and improvement in health care efficiency and cost.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/G Battery

The Nigerian health care system is continuously faced with a shortage of doctors known as 'brain drain' due to the fact that many highly skilled Nigerian doctors emigrate to North America and Europe.In 1995, it was estimated that 21,000 Nigerian doctors were practicing in the United States alone, Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/P Battery

which about the same as the number of doctors working in the Nigerian public service. Retaining these expensively trained professionals has been identified as one of the goals of the government.

Education

Nigeria provides free, government-supported education, but attendance is not compulsory at any level, and certain groups, such as nomads and the handicapped, are under-served.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/W Battery

The education system consists of six years of primary school, three years of junior secondary school, three years of senior secondary school, and four years of university education leading to a bachelor’s degree. The rate of secondary school attendance is 32% for males and 27% for females. Sony VAIO VPCP119JC Battery

In 2004 the Nigerian National Planning Commission described the country’s education system as “dysfunctional.” Reasons for this characterization included decaying institutions and ill-prepared graduates.

Crime

Nigeria is home to a substantial network of organized crime, active especially in drug trafficking. Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery

Nigerian criminal groups are heavily involved in drug trafficking, shipping heroin from Asian countries to Europe and America; and cocaine from South America to Europe and South Africa. . The various Nigerian Confraternities or "campus cults" are active in both organized crime and in political violence as well as providing a network of corruption within Nigeria. Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery

As confraternities have extensive connections with political and military figures, they offer excellent alumni networking opportunities. The Supreme Vikings Confraternity, for example, boasts that twelve members of the Rivers State House of Assembly are cult members.Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery

On lower levels of society, there are the "area boys", organized gangs mostly active in Lagos who specialize in mugging and small-scale drug dealing. According to official statistics, gang violence in Lagos resulted in 273 civilians and 84 policemen killed in the period of August 2000 to May 2001. Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery

Internationally, Nigeria is infamous for a crime dubbed 419, a type of advance fee fraud (named after Section 419 of the Nigerian Penal Code) along with the "Nigerian scam", a form of confidence trickpracticed by individuals and criminal syndicates.Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery

In 2003, the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (or EFCC) was created to combat this and other forms of organized financial crime.

There is also some Piracy in Nigeria, with attacks mainly directed at smaller ships shuttling employees and materials belonging to the oil companies with any involvement in oil exploration in the Niger Delta. Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery

From January 1, 2007 to October 29, 2007, twenty-six pirate attacks were recorded.

The economy of Nigeria is a middle income, mixed economy emerging market with well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport, and entertainment sectors. Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery

It is ranked 31st in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) as of 2009, and its emergent, though currently underperforming manufacturing sector is the second-largest on the continent, producing a large proportion of goods and services for the West African region.Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery

Previously hindered by years of mismanagement, economic reforms of the past decade have put Nigeria back on track towards achieving its full economic potential. Nigerian GDP at purchasing power parity more than doubled from $170.7 billion in 2005 to $374.3 billion in 2010, Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery

although estimates of the size of the informal sector (which is not included in official figures) put the actual numbers closer to $520 billion. Correspondingly, the GDP per capita doubled from $1200 per person in 2005 to an estimated $2,500 per person in 2009 (again, with the inclusion of the informal sector, it is estimated that GDP per capita hovers around $3,500 per person).Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery

It is the largest economy in the West Africa Region, 3rd largest economy in Africa (behind South Africa and Egypt), and on track to becoming one of the top 30 economies in the world in the early part of 2011.

Although much has been made of its status as a major exporter of oil, Nigeria produces only about 3.3% of the world's supply, and though it is ranked as 15th in production at 2.2 million barrels per day (350,000 m3/d) (mbpd),Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery

the top 3 producers Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Statesproduce 10.7 Mbbl/d (1,700,000 m3/d) (17%), 9.8 Mbbl/d (1,560,000 m3/d) (15%), and 8.5 Mbbl/d (1,350,000 m3/d) (13%)respectively, collectively accounting for 63.6 Mbbl/d (10,110,000 m3/d) (45%) of the world's total production. Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery

To put oil revenues in perspective: at an estimated export rate of 1.9 Mbbl/d (300,000 m3/d), with a projected sales price of $65 per barrel in 2011, Nigeria's anticipated revenue from petroleum is about $52.2 billion. This accounts for less than 14% of official GDP figures (and drops to 10% when the informal economy is included in these calculations). Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery

Therefore, though the petroleum sector is important, it remains in fact a small part of the country's overall vibrant and diversified economy.

The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now imports some of its food products.Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery

In 2006, Nigeria successfully convinced the Paris Club to let it buy back the bulk of its debts owed to the Paris Club for a cash payment of roughly $12 billion (USD).

Overview

Nigeria’s economy is struggling to leverage the country’s vast wealth in fossil fuels in order to displace the crushing poverty that affects about 57 percent of its population. Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery

Economists refer to the coexistence of vast wealth in natural resources and extreme personal poverty in developing countries like Nigeria as the “resource curse”.Although "resource curse" is more widely understood to mean an abundance of natural resources which fuels official corruption resulting in a violent competition for the resource by the citizens of the nation.Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery

Nigeria’s exports of oil and natural gas—at a time of peak prices—have enabled the country to post merchandise trade and current account surpluses in recent years. Reportedly, 80 percent of Nigeria’s energy revenues flow to the government, 16 percent cover operational costs, and the remaining 4 percent go to investors.Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery

However, the World Bank has estimated that as a result of corruption 80 percent of energy revenues benefit only 1 percent of the population. In 2005, Nigeria achieved a milestone agreement with the Paris Club of lending nations to eliminate all of its bilateral external debt. Under the agreement, Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery

the lenders will forgive most of the debt, and Nigeria will pay off the remainder with a portion of its energy revenues. Outside of the energy sector, Nigeria’s economy is highly inefficient. Moreover, human capital is underdeveloped—Nigeria ranked 151 out of 177 countries in the United Nations Development Index in 2004—and non-energy-related infrastructure is inadequate.Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery

From 2003 to 2007, Nigeria attempted to implement an economic reform program called the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS). The purpose of the NEEDS was to raise the country’s standard of living through a variety of reforms, including macroeconomic stability, deregulation, liberalization, privatization, transparency, and accountability.Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/P Battery

The NEEDS addressed basic deficiencies, such as the lack of freshwater for household use and irrigation, unreliable power supplies, decaying infrastructure, impediments to private enterprise, and corruption. The government hoped that the NEEDS would create 7 million new jobs,Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/PC Battery

diversify the economy, boost non-energy exports, increase industrial capacity utilization, and improve agricultural productivity. A related initiative on the state level is the State Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (SEEDS).

A longer-term economic development program is the United Nations (UN)-sponsored National Millennium Goals for Nigeria. Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/T Battery

Under the program, which covers the years from 2000 to 2015, Nigeria is committed to achieve a wide range of ambitious objectives involving poverty reduction, education, gender equality, health, the environment, and international development cooperation.Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/W Battery

In an update released in 2004, the UN found that Nigeria was making progress toward achieving several goals but was falling short on others. Specifically, Nigeria had advanced efforts to provide universal primary education, protect the environment, and develop a global development partnership. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXP Battery

However, the country lagged behind on the goals of eliminating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child and maternal mortality, and combating diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and malaria.Sony VAIO VPCW111XXT Battery

A prerequisite for achieving many of these worthwhile objectives is curtailing endemic corruption, which stymies development and taints Nigeria’s business environment. President Olusegun Obasanjo’s campaign against corruption, which includes the arrest of officials accused of misdeeds and recovering stolen funds, has won praise from the World Bankcitation?. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXW Battery

In September 2005, Nigeria, with the assistance of the World Bank, began to recover US$458 million of illicit funds that had been deposited in Swiss banks by the late military dictator Sani Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. However, while broad-based progress has been slow, these efforts have begun to become evident in international surveys of corruption.Sony VAIO VPCW115XG Battery

In fact, Nigeria's ranking has consistently improved since 2001 ranking 147 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index and placed 108 out of 175 countries in the World Bank’s 2006 Ease of Doing Business Index.Sony VAIO VPCW115XGP Battery

Macro-economic trend

For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US Dollar is exchanged at 75.75 Nigerian Naira only.

Current GDP per capita of Nigeria expanded 132% in the Sixties reaching a peak growth of 283% in the Seventies. Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/P Battery

But this proved unsustainable and it consequently shrank by 66% in the Eighties. In the Nineties, diversification initiatives finally took effect and decadal growth was restored to 10%.

Due to inflation, per capita GDP today remains lower than in 1960 when Nigeria declared independence.Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/T Battery

About 57 percent of the population lives on less than US$1 per day. In 2005 the GDP was composed of the following sectors: agriculture, 26.8 percent; industry, 48.8 percent; and services, 24.4 percent.

In 2005 Nigeria’s inflation rate was an estimated 15.6 percent. Nigeria’s goal under the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) program is to reduce inflation to the single digits.Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/W Battery

In 2005 Nigeria’s central government had expenditures of US$13.54 billion but revenues of only US$12.86 billion, resulting in a budget deficit of 5 percent. Nigerian tax authorities face the challenge of widespread tax evasion, which is motivated by complaints about corruption and the poor quality of services.Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/P Battery

Mean wages were $1.11 per manhour in 2009.

Agriculture

Nigeria ranks twenty fifth worldwide and first in Africa in farm output.

Agriculture has suffered from years of mismanagement, inconsistent and poorly conceived government policies, and the lack of basic infrastructure. Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/T Battery

Still, the sector accounts for over 26.8% of GDP and two-thirds of employment. Nigeria is no longer a major exporter of cocoa, groundnuts (peanuts), rubber, and palm oil. Cocoa production, mostly from obsolete varieties and overage trees, is stagnant at around 180,000 tons annually; 25 years ago it was 300,000 tons. Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/W Battery

An even more dramatic decline in groundnut and palm oil production also has taken place. Once the biggest poultry producer in Africa, corporate poultry output has been slashed from 40 million birds annually to about 18 million. Import constraints limit the availability of many agricultural and food processing inputs for poultry and other sectors. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ Battery

Fisheries are poorly managed. Most critical for the country's future, Nigeria's land tenure system does not encourage long-term investment in technology or modern production methods and does not inspire the availability of rural credit.

Agricultural products include cassava (tapioca), corn, cocoa, millet, palm oil, peanuts, rice, rubber, sorghum, and yams.Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/P Battery

In 2003 livestock production, in order of metric tonnage, featured eggs, milk, beef and veal, poultry, and pork, respectively. In the same year, the total fishing catch was 505.8 metric tons. Roundwood removals totaled slightly less than 70 million cubic meters, and sawnwood production was estimated at 2 million cubic meters. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/W Battery

The agricultural sector suffers from extremely low productivity, reflecting reliance on antiquated methods. Although overall agricultural production rose by 28 percent during the 1990s, per capita output rose by only 8.5 percent during the same decade.Sony VAIO VPCW11AXJ Battery

Agriculture has failed to keep pace with Nigeria’s rapid population growth, so that the country, which once exported food, now relies on imports to sustain itself.

Industry

Nigeria ranks 44th worldwide and third in Africa in factory output.Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/P Battery

The oil boom of the 1970s led Nigeria to neglect its strong agricultural and light manufacturing bases in favor of an unhealthy dependence on crude oil. In 2000, oil and gas exports accounted for more than 98% of export earnings and about 83% of federal government revenue.Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/T Battery

New oil wealth, the concurrent decline of other economic sectors, and a lurch toward a statist economic model fueled massive migration to the cities and led to increasingly widespread poverty, especially in rural areas. A collapse of basic infrastructure and social services since the early 1980s accompanied this trend. Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/W Battery

By 2000, Nigeria's per capita income had plunged to about one-quarter of its mid-1970s high, below the level at independence. Along with the endemic malaise of Nigeria's non-oil sectors, the economy continues to witness massive growth of "informal sector" economic activities, estimated by some to be as high as 75% of the total economy.Sony VAIO VPCW121AX Battery

Nigeria's proven oil reserves are estimated to be 35 billion barrels (5.6×109 m3); natural gas reserves are well over 100 trillion cubic feet (2,800 km3). Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and in mid-2001, its crude oil production was averaging around 2.2 million barrels per day (350,000 m3/d).Sony VAIO VPCW126AG Battery

The types of crude oil exported by Nigeria are Bonny light oil, Forcados crude oil, Qua Ibo crude oil and Brass River crude oil. Poor corporate relations with indigenous communities, vandalism of oil infrastructure, severe ecological damage, and personal security problems throughout the Niger Delta oil-producing region continue to plague Nigeria's oil sector. Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/P Battery

Efforts are underway to reverse these troubles. In the absence of government programs, the major multinational oil companies have launched their own community development programs. A new entity, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has been created to help catalyze economic and social development in the region.Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/T Battery

Although it has yet to launch its programs, hopes are high that the NDDC can reverse the impoverishment of local communities. The U.S. remains Nigeria's largest customer for crude oil, accounting for 40% of the country's total oil exports; Nigeria provides about 10% of overall U.S. oil imports and ranks as the fifth-largest source for U.S. imported oil.Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/W Battery

The United Kingdom is Nigeria's largest trading partner followed by the United States. Although the trade balance overwhelmingly favors Nigeria, thanks to oil exports, a large portion of U.S. exports to Nigeria is believed to enter the country outside of the Nigerian government's official statistics, due to importers seeking to avoid Nigeria's excessive tariffs. Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/WZ Battery

To counter smuggling and under-invoicing by importers, in May 2001, the Nigerian government instituted a full inspection program for all imports, and enforcement has been sustained. On the whole, Nigerian high tariffs and non-tariff barriers are gradually being reduced, but much progress remains to be made. Sony VAIO VPCW12AAJ Battery

The government also has been encouraging the expansion of foreign investment, although the country's investment climate remains daunting to all but the most determined. The stock of U.S. investment is nearly $7 billion, mostly in the energy sector. Exxon Mobil and Chevron are the two largest U.S. corporations in offshore oil and gas production.Sony VAIO VPCW12AKJ Battery

Significant exports of liquefied natural gas started in late 1999 and are slated to expand as Nigeria seeks to eliminate gas flaring by 2008.

Oil dependency, and the allure it generated of great wealth through government contracts, spawned other economic distortions.Sony VAIO VPCW12AVJ Battery

The country's high propensity to import means roughly 80% of government expenditures is recycled into foreign exchange. Cheap consumer imports, resulting from a chronically overvalued Naira, coupled with excessively high domestic production costs due in part to erratic electricity and fuel supply, pushed down utilization of industrial capacity to less than 30%. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P Battery

Many more Nigerian factories would have closed except for relatively low labor costs (10%–15%). Domestic manufacturers, especially pharmaceuticals and textiles, have lost their ability to compete in traditional regional markets. However, there are signs that some manufacturers have begun to improve competitiveness.Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/T Battery

In April 2006, Nigeria became the first African country to fully pay off its debt owed to the Paris Club. However, this was structured as a debt writeoff of approximately $18 billion and a cash payment of approximately $12 billion. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/W Battery

In the light of highly expansionary public sector fiscal policies in 2001, the government sought ways to head off higher inflation, leading to the implementation of stronger monetary policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and underspending of budgeted amounts. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/L Battery

As a result of the CBN's efforts, the official exchange rate for the Naira has stabilized at about 112 Naira to the dollar. The combination of CBN's efforts to prop up the value of the Naira and excess liquidity resulting from government spending led the currency to be discounted by around 20% on the parallel (non-official) market. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/P Battery

A key condition of the Stand-by Arrangement has been closure of the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates. The Inter Bank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) is closely tied to the official rate. Under IFEM, banks, oil companies, and the CBN can buy or sell their foreign exchange at government influenced rates.Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/T Battery

Much of the informal economy, however, can only access foreign exchange through the parallel market. Companies can hold domiciliary accounts in private banks, and account holders have unfettered use of the funds.

Expanded government spending also has led to upward pressure on consumer prices. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/W Battery

Inflation which had almost disappeared in April 2000 reached 14.5% by the end of the year and 18.7% in August 2001. In 2000, high oil prices resulted in government revenue of over $16 billion, about double the 1999 level. State and local governments demanded access to this "windfall" revenue,Sony VAIO VPCW215AG/L Battery

creating a tug-of-war between the federal government, which sought to control spending, and state governments desiring augmented budgets, preventing the government from making provision for periods of lower oil prices.

Services

Nigeria ranks 63rd worldwide and fifth in Africa in services' output. Low power and telecom density has crippled the growth of this sector.Sony VAIO VPCW217JC Battery

Since undergoing severe distress in the mid-1990s, Nigeria's banking sector has witnessed significant growth over the last few years as new banks enter the financial market. Harsh monetary policies implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria to absorb excess Naira liquidity in the economy has made life more difficult for banks, Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/L Battery

some of whom engage in currency arbitrage (round-tripping) activities that generally fall outside legal banking mechanisms. Private sector-led economic growth remains stymied by the high cost of doing business in Nigeria, including the need to duplicate essential infrastructure, the threat of crime and associated need for security counter measures,Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/P Battery

the lack of effective due process, and nontransparent economic decisionmaking, especially in government contracting. As of 2007, 29% of Nigerians in urban areas did not own bank accounts. Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/T Battery

While corrupt practices are endemic, they are generally less flagrant than during military rule, and there are signs of improvement. Meanwhile, since 1999 the Nigerian Stock Exchange has enjoyed strong performance, although equity as a means to foster corporate growth remains underutilized by Nigeria's private sector.Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/W Battery

Transport

Nigeria's publicly owned transportation infrastructure is a major constraint to economic development. Principal ports are at Lagos (Apapa and Tin Can Island), Port Harcourt, and Calabar. Docking fees for freighters are among the highest in the world. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC Battery

Of the 80,500 kilometers (50,000 mi.) of roads, more than 15,000 kilometers (10,000 mi.) are officially paved, but many remain in poor shape. Extensive road repairs and new construction activities are gradually being implemented as state governments, in particular, spend their portions of enhanced government revenue allocations. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/L Battery

The government implementation of 100% destination inspection of all goods entering Nigeria has resulted in long delays in clearing goods for importers and created new sources of corruption, since the ports lack adequate facilities to carry out the inspection. Four of Nigeria's airports—Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja--currently receive international flights. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/P Battery

Government-owned Nigeria Airways ceased operations in December 2002. Virgin Nigeria Airways started operations in 2005 as a replacement and serves domestic and international routes. There are several domestic private Nigerian carriers, and air service among Nigeria's cities is generally dependable.Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/T Battery

The maintenance culture of Nigeria's domestic airlines is not up to internationally accepted standards.

Labour force

In 2005, Nigeria had a labour force of 57.2 million. In 2003, the unemployment rate was 10.8 percent overall; urban unemployment of 12.3 percent exceeded rural unemployment of 7.4 percent. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/W Battery

According to the latest available information from 1999, labor force employment by sector was as follows: 70 percent in agriculture, 20 percent in services, and 10 percent in industry. Labor unions, which have undergone periods of militancy and quiescence, reemerged as a force in 1998 when they regained independence from the government.Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/L Battery

Since 1999, the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC), a union umbrella organization, has called six general strikes to protest domestic fuel price increases. However, in March 2005 the government introduced legislation ending the NLC’s monopoly over union organizing. In December 2005, the NLC was lobbying for an increase in the minimum wage for federal workers. Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/P Battery

The existing minimum wage, which was introduced six years earlier but has not been adjusted since, has been whittled away by inflation to only US$42.80 per month.

According to the International Organization for Migration, the number of immigrants residing in Nigeria has more than doubled in recent decades – from 477,135 in 1991 to 971,450 in 2005. Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/W Battery

The majority of immigrants in Nigeria (74 per cent) are from neighbouring Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and that this number has increased considerably over the last decade, from 63 per cent in 2001 to 97 per cent in 2005.Sony VAIO VPCW21AAJ Battery

In spite of Nigeria's importance as a destination for migrants in the region, more people are emigrating from, than immigrating to, Nigeria with the negative net migration rate (per 1,000 people) steadily increasing in recent years, from -0.2 in 2000 to -0.3 in 2005, and this trend is expected to continue. Sony VAIO VPCW21AKJ Battery

According to recent estimates, the net migration rate could reach -0.4 in 2010.

Gradual reform

The Obasanjo government supports "private-sector" led, "market oriented" economic growth and has begun extensive economic reform efforts. Sony VAIO VPCW21AVJ Battery

Although the government's anti-corruption campaign has so far been disappointing, progress in injecting transparency and accountability into economic decisionmaking is notable. The dual exchange rate mechanism formally abolished in the 1999 budget remains in place in actuality. Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery

During 2000 the government's privatization program showed signs of life and real promise with successful turnover to the private sector of state-owned banks, fuel distribution companies, and cement plants. However, the privatization process has slowed somewhat as the government confronts key parastatals such as the state telephone company NITEL and Nigerian Airways. Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery

The successful auction of GSM telecommunications licenses in January 2001 has encouraged investment in this vital sector.

Although the government has been stymied so far in its desire to deregulate downstream petroleum prices, state refineries, almost paralyzed in 2000, are producing at much higher capacities. Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery

By August 2001, gasoline lines disappeared throughout much of the country. The government still intends to pursue deregulation despite significant internal opposition, particularly from the Nigeria Labour Congress. To meet market demand the government incurs large losses importing gasoline to sell at subsidized prices.Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery

Investment

Although Nigeria must grapple with its decaying infrastructure and a poor regulatory environment, the country possesses many positive attributes for carefully targeted investment and will expand as both a regional and international market player.Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery

Profitable niche markets outside the energy sector, like specialized telecommunication providers, have developed under the government's reform program. There is a growing Nigerian consensus that foreign investment is essential to realizing Nigeria's vast but squandered potential. Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery

European investments are increasing, especially since Belgian consultancy companies such as Genco are exploring the Nigerian market.

Companies interested in long-term investment and joint ventures, especially those that use locally available raw materials, will find opportunities in the large national market. Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery

However, to improve prospects for success, potential investors must educate themselves extensively on local conditions and business practices, establish a local presence, and choose their partners carefully. The Nigerian Government is keenly aware that sustaining democratic principles, Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery

enhancing security for life and property, and rebuilding and maintaining infrastructure are necessary for the country to attract foreign investment.

The stock market capitalisation of listed companies in Nigeria was valued at $97.75 billion on February 15, 2008 by the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery

Foreign economic relations

Nigeria’s foreign economic relations revolve around its role in supplying the world economy with oil and natural gas, even as the country seeks to diversify its exports, harmonize tariffs in line with a potential customs union sought by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and encourage inflows of foreign portfolio and direct investment. Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery

In October 2005, Nigeria implemented the ECOWAS common external tariff, which reduced the number of tariff bands. Prior to this revision, tariffs constituted Nigeria’s second largest source of revenue after oil exports. Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery

In 2005 Nigeria achieved a major breakthrough when it reached an agreement with the Paris Club to eliminate its bilateral debt through a combination of write-downs and buybacks. Nigeria joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in July 1971 and the World Trade Organization in January 1995.Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

External trade

In 2005, Nigeria imported about US$26 billion of goods. In 2004 the leading sources of imports were China (9.4 percent), the United States (8.4 percent), the United Kingdom (7.8 percent), the Netherlands (5.9 percent), France (5.4 percent), Germany (4.8 percent), and Italy (4 percent).Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery

Principal imports were manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, and food and live animals.

In 2005, Nigeria exported about US$52 billion of goods. In 2004, the leading destinations for exports were the United States (47.4 percent), Brazil (10.7 percent), and Spain (7.1 percent).Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery

In 2004 oil accounted for 95 percent of merchandise exports, and cocoa and rubber accounted for almost 60 percent of the remainder.

In 2005, Nigeria posted a US$26 billion trade surplus, corresponding to almost 20 percent of gross domestic product. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery

In 2005, Nigeria achieved a positive current account balance of US$9.6 billion. The Nigerian currency is the naira (NGN). As of mid-June 2006, the exchange rate was about US$1=NGN128.4.

In recent years, Nigeria has expanded its trade relations with other developing countries such as India.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery

Nigeria is the largest African crude oil supplier to India — it annually exports 400,000 barrels per day (64,000 m3/d) to India valued at US$10 billion annually.India is the second largest purchaser of Nigeria's oil which fulfills 20 to 25 percent of India's domestic oil demand.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery

Indian oil companies are also involved in oil drilling operations in Nigeria and have plans to set up refineries there.

Remittances

According to the International Organization for Migration, Nigeria witnessed a dramatic increase from USD 2.3 billion in 2004 to 17.9 billion in 2007, representing 6.7 per cent of GDP.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

The United States accounts for the largest portion of official remittances, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Spain and France. On the African continent, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and South Africa are important source countries of remittance flows to Nigeria, while China is the biggest remittance-sending country in Asia.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery

Debt

In 2008, Nigeria’s external debt was an estimated US$3.3 billion.

Foreign investment

In 2007, Nigeria received a net inflow of US$5.2 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI), much of which came from Nigerians in the diaspora. Most FDI is directed toward the energy and banking sectors.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery

Swiss Banks to return Abacha Funds

The Swiss foreign ministry says it has done all it can to ensure that funds stolen by the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha were used properly in his homeland. The authorities were responding to allegations that $200 million (SFr240 million) of $700 million handed back by the Swiss Banks to Nigeria had been misappropriated. Sony VAIO VPCZ110 Battery

Economic assistance

As of October 2005, World Bank assistance to Nigeria involved 19 active projects with a total commitment value of about US$1.87 billion. Since Nigeria joined the World Bank in 1961, the World Bank has assisted it on 120 projects.Sony VAIO VPCZ110GB/BI Battery

In October 2005, the International Monetary Fund approved a two-year “policy support instrument” designed to promote the growth of the non-oil sector and to reduce poverty.

The United States assisted with Nigeria's economic development from 1954 through June 1974, when concessional assistance was phased out because of a substantial increase in Nigeria's per capita income resulting from rising oil revenue. Sony VAIO VPCZ112GD/S Battery

By 1974, the United States had provided Nigeria with approximately $360 million in assistance, which included grants for technical assistance, development assistance, relief and rehabilitation, and food aid. Disbursements continued into the late 1970s, bringing total bilateral economic assistance to roughly $445 million.Sony VAIO VPCZ112GX/S Battery

The sharp decline in oil prices, economic mismanagement, and continued military rule characterized Nigeria in the 1980s. In 1983, USAID began providing assistance to the Nigerian Federal and State Ministries of Health to develop and implement programs in family planning and child survival. Sony VAIO VPCZ114GX/S Battery

In 1992, an HIV/AIDS prevention and control program was added to existing health activities. USAIDcommitted $135 million to bilateral assistance programs for the period of 1986 to 1996 as Nigeria undertook an initially successful Structural Adjustment Program, but later abandoned it. Sony VAIO VPCZ115 Battery

Plans to commit $150 million in assistance from 1993 to 2000 were interrupted by strains in U.S.-Nigerian relations over human rights abuses, the failed transition to democracy, and a lack of cooperation from the Nigerian Government on anti-narcotics trafficking issues.Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/B Battery

By the mid-1990s, these problems resulted in the curtailment of USAID activities that might benefit the military Government. Existing health programs were re-designed to focus on working through grassroots Nigerian non-governmental organizations and community groups. Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/S Battery

As a response to the Nigerian military government's plans for delayed transition to civilian rule, the Peace Corps closed its program in Nigeria in 1994.

In response to the increasingly repressive political situation, USAID established a Democracy and Governance (DG) program in 1996. Sony VAIO VPCZ116 Battery

This program integrates themes focusing on basic participatory democracy, human rights and civil rights, women's empowerment, accountability, and transparency with other health activities to reach Nigerians at the grassroots level in 14 of Nigeria's 36 states.Sony VAIO VPCZ116GX/S Battery

The sudden death of General Sani Abacha and the assumption of power by General Abdulsalami Abubakar in June 1998, marked a turning point in U.S.-Nigerian relations. USAID provided significant support to the electoral process by providing some $4 million in funding for international election observation, Sony VAIO VPCZ117 Battery

the training of Nigerian election observers and political party polling agents, as well as voter education activities. A Vital National Interest Certification was submitted to Congress in February 1999 by President Clinton to lift restrictions on U.S. Government interaction with and support to the Government of Nigeria.Sony VAIO VPCZ117FC/B Battery

Since that time, USAID has supported Nigeria to sustain democracy and to improve governance by providing training on the roles and responsibilities of elected officials in a representative democracy for newly elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels prior to their installation in May 1999 and assisting with conflict prevention and resolution in the Niger Delta,Sony VAIO VPCZ118 Battery

civil military relations, civil society, and political party development. In the economic area USAID supports programs in strengthening economic management and coordination, encouraging private sector development and economic reform, Sony VAIO VPCZ118GC/B Battery

helping Nigeria reap the benefits of AGOA, improved agricultural technology and marketing and smallscale and microenterprise development. In addition, health assistance, focusing on HIV/AIDS, nutrition, and immunization, education, transportation and energy infrastructure, are priorities for bilateral assistance.Sony VAIO VPCZ118GX/S Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ119 Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ119FJ/S Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ119GC/X Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ119L Battery