165-775: The Kanem–Bornu Empire existed in areas which are now part of Nigeria , Niger , Cameroon , Libya and Chad . It was known to the Arabian geographers as the Kanem Empire from the 8th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu (the Bornu Empire ) until 1900. The Kanem Empire (c. 700–1380) was located in the present countries of Chad, Nigeria and Libya . At its height, it encompassed an area covering not only most of Chad but also parts of southern Libya ( Fezzan ) and eastern Niger , northeastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon . The Bornu Empire (1380s–1893)
330-673: A Mahdist hijra . In the northeast, the decline of the Bornu Empire gave rise to the British-controlled Borno Emirate which established Abubakar Garbai of Borno as ruler. In 1903, the British victory in the Battle of Kano gave them a logistical edge in pacifying the heartland of the Sokoto Caliphate and parts of the former Bornu Empire. On 13 March 1903, at the grand market square of Sokoto,
495-549: A megacity 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. This waste management problem is also attributable to unsustainable environmental management lifestyles of Kubwa community in the Federal Capital Territory, where there are habits of indiscriminate disposal of waste, dumping of waste along or into
660-691: A scorched earth policy if necessary for the conquest of fortified towns and other strongholds. Ribāts were built on frontiers, and trade routes to the north were secure, allowing relations to be established with the Pasha of Tripoli and the Turkish empire . Between 1574 and 1583, the Borno sultan had diplomatic relations with the Ottoman sultan Murad III, as well as with the Moroccan sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, in
825-535: A 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.2/10, ranking it 82nd globally out of 172 countries. In the year 2010, thousands of people were inadvertently exposed to lead-containing soil from informal gold mining within the northern state of Zamfara. While estimates vary, it is thought that upwards of 400 children died of acute lead poisoning , making this perhaps the largest lead poisoning fatality outbreak ever encountered. Trans-Saharan slave trade The trans-Saharan slave trade , also known as
990-535: A November 2017 slave auction in Libya, a human trafficker told Al-Jazeera (a Qatari TV station with interests in Libya) that hundreds of migrants are bought and sold across the country every week. Migrants who have gone through Libyan detention centres have shown signs of many human rights abuses such as severe abuse, including electric shocks , burns, lashes and even skinning, stated the director of health services on
1155-618: A West African sphere of influence received recognition from other European nations at the Berlin Conference . The following year, it chartered the Royal Niger Company under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie . By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the company had vastly succeeded in subjugating the independent southern kingdoms along the Niger River , the British conquered Benin in 1897, and, in
1320-471: A civilian government but not before appointing Ernest Shonekan head of an interim national government . Babangida's regime has been considered the most corrupt and responsible for creating a culture of corruption in Nigeria. Shonekan's interim government, the shortest in the political history of the country, was overthrown in a coup d'état of 1993 led by General Sani Abacha , who used military force on
1485-407: A diffusionist ideology. This theory was criticized by the scientific community as it seriously lacks direct and clear evidence. Lange connects the creation of Kanem–Bornu with the departure from the collapsed Neo-Assyrian Empire c. 600 BC to the northeast of Lake Chad. He also proposes that the lost state of Agisymba (mentioned by Ptolemy in the middle of the 2nd century ) was the antecedent of
1650-575: A fortified capital at Ngazargamu , to the west of Lake Chad (in present-day Nigeria ), the first permanent home a Sayfawa mai had enjoyed in a century. So successful was the Sayfawa rejuvenation that by the early 16th century Mai Idris Katakarmabe (1507–1529) was able to defeat the Bulala and retake Njimi , the former capital. The empire's leaders, however, remained at Ngazargamu because its lands were more productive agriculturally and better suited to
1815-454: A large cage for a wild animal, with vertical wooden bars." Mai Hummay began his reign in 1075, and formed alliances with the Kay, Toubou, Dabir, and Magumi. He became the first Muslim king of Kanem, having been converted by his Muslim tutor Muhammad Mānī . They remained nomadic until the 11th century, when they fixed their capital at Nijmi . Humai's successor, Dunama I (1098–1151), performed
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#17327766236121980-544: A population of more than 230 million, it is the most populous country in Africa , and the world's sixth-most populous country . Nigeria borders Niger in the north , Chad in the northeast , Cameroon in the east , and Benin in the west . Nigeria is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory , where its capital, Abuja , is located. The largest city in Nigeria
2145-476: A pretext to enslave blacks, including black Muslims. In the late 14th century, a black king of Bornu wrote a letter to the sultan of Egypt complaining of the continual slave raids perpetrated by Arab tribesmen, which were devastating his lands and resulting in the mass enslavement of the black Muslim population of the region. In Al-Andalus , the area of medieval Iberia under Islamic control, black Muslims could be legally held as slaves. This all occurred despite
2310-441: A regular occurrence in the ancient Nile Valley and Africa. During times of conquest and after winning battles, the ancient Nubians were taken as slaves by the ancient Egyptians. The Garamantes relied heavily on slave labor from sub-Saharan Africa. They used slaves in their own communities to construct and maintain underground irrigation systems known to Berbers as foggara . Ancient Greek historian Herodotus recorded in
2475-406: A result of administrative disorganization, regional particularism, and attacks by the militant Waddai Empire to the east. The decline continued under Umar's sons. In 1893, Rabih az-Zubayr led an invading army from eastern Sudan and conquered Bornu. Rabih's invasion led to the deaths of Shehu Ashimi , Shehu Kyari , and Shehu Sanda Wuduroma between 1893 and 1894. The British recognized Rabih as
2640-432: A river system. The river system of the northeast is also a major river system. In addition, Nigeria has numerous coastal rivers. Over the last million years, Lake Chad in the far north-east of Nigeria has dried up several times for a few thousand years and just as often growing to many times its current size. In recent decades its surface area has been reduced considerably, which may also be due to humans taking water from
2805-484: A stable government in the 1999 Nigerian presidential election , with the election of Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party . However, the country frequently experiences electoral fraud , and corruption is rampant in various levels of Nigerian politics. Nigeria is a multinational state inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups speaking 500 distinct languages , all identifying with
2970-572: A triumvirate of three brigadier generals whose decisions could be vetoed by a Supreme Military Council . For this triumvirate, they convinced General Murtala Muhammed to become military head of state, with General Olusegun Obasanjo as his second-in-command, and General Theophilus Danjuma as the third. Together, the triumvirate introduced austerity measures to stem inflation, established a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, replaced all military governors with new officers, and launched "Operation Deadwood" through which they fired 11,000 officials from
3135-596: A very important part in Bornu politics, as eunuchs did in many Muslim courts". During the 17th century and 18th century, Bornu became a centre for Islamic learning. Borno sultans developed a political legitimacy based on their religious charisma, in the context of the rise of Sufism in Sahel. Islam and the Kanuri language was widely adopted, while slave raiding propelled the economy. Around this time, Fulani people invading from
3300-706: A wide scale to suppress the continuing civilian unrest. In 1995, the government hanged environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa on trumped-up charges in the deaths of four Ogoni elders, which caused Nigerian's suspension from the Commonwealth . Lawsuits under the American Alien Tort Statute against Royal Dutch Shell and Brian Anderson, the head of Shell's Nigerian operation, settled out of court with Shell continuing to deny liability. Several hundred million dollars in accounts traced to Abacha were discovered in 1999. The regime came to an end in 1998 when
3465-514: A wide variety of cultures. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausa in the north , Yoruba in the west , and Igbo in the east , together constituting over 60% of the total population. The official language is English , chosen to facilitate linguistic unity at the national level. Nigeria's constitution ensures de jure freedom of religion , and it is home to some of the world's largest Muslim and Christian populations. Nigeria
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#17327766236123630-525: Is Lagos , one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and the largest in Africa . Nigeria has been home to several indigenous pre-colonial states and kingdoms since the second millennium BC, with the Nok civilization in the 15th century BC marking the first internal unification. The modern state originated with British colonialization in the 19th century, taking its present territorial shape with
3795-480: Is a major exit point for African migrants heading to Europe. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a report in April 2017 showing that many of the migrants from West Africa heading to Europe are sold as slaves after being detained by people smugglers or militia groups. African countries south of Libya were targeted for slave trading and transferred to Libyan slave markets instead. According to
3960-460: Is also a member of the informal MINT group of countries and is one of the Next Eleven economies. The name Nigeria derives from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined on 8 January 1897, by the British journalist Flora Shaw . The neighboring Republic of Niger takes its name from the same river. The origin of the name Niger , which originally applied to only
4125-647: Is difficult to test the truth of such an assertion as, in any case, the traffic is carried on secretly". At Kufra , the Egyptian traveller Ahmed Hassanein Bey found out in 1916 that he could buy a girl slave for five pounds sterling while in 1923 he found that the price had risen to 30 to 40 pounds sterling. Another traveler, the Danish convert to Islam Knud Holmboe , crossed the Italian Libyan desert in 1930, and
4290-465: Is divided roughly in half between Muslims , who live mostly in the north part of the country, and Christians , who live mostly in the south; indigenous religions , such as those native to the Igbo and Yoruba ethnicities, are in the minority. Nigeria is a regional power in Africa and a middle power in international affairs. Nigeria's economy is the fourth-largest in Africa , the 53rd-largest in
4455-564: Is plains of tall grass interrupted by trees. Sudan savannah is similar but with shorter grasses and shorter trees. Sahel savannah consists of patches of grass and sand, found in the northeast. Nigeria is divided into two main catchment areas - that of Lake Chad and that of the Niger. The Niger catchment area covers about 63% of the country. The main tributary of the Niger is the Benue, whose tributaries extend beyond Cameroon into Cameroon into Chad and
4620-657: The Anglo-Aro War (1901–1902), defeated other opponents. The defeat of these states opened up the Niger area to British rule. In 1900, the company's territory came under the direct control of the British government and established the Southern Nigeria Protectorate as a British protectorate and part of the British Empire . By 1902, the British had begun plans to move north into the Sokoto Caliphate. British General Lord Frederick Lugard
4785-513: The Arab slave trade , was a slave trade in which slaves were mainly transported across the Sahara . Most were moved from sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa to be sold to Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations; a small percentage went the other direction. Estimates of the total number of black slaves moved from sub-Saharan Africa to the Arab world range from 6 to 10 million, and
4950-522: The Atlantic slave trade in 1807) and economic imperative (a desire for political and social stability) led most European powers to support the widespread cultivation of agricultural products, such as the palm, for use in European industry. The slave trade continued after the ban, as illegal smugglers purchased slaves along the coast from native slavers. Britain's West Africa Squadron sought to intercept
5115-666: The Eastern Region . In May 1967, Governor of the Eastern Region Lt. Colonel Emeka Ojukwu declared the region independent from the federation as a state called the Republic of Biafra , as a result of the continuous and systematically planned attacks against Igbos and those of Eastern extraction popularly known as 1966 pogroms . This declaration precipitated the Nigerian Civil War , which began as
Kanem–Bornu Empire - Misplaced Pages Continue
5280-599: The Firman of 1857 , this law was never enforced, and continued in practice at least until the 1890s. In Tripoli, G. F. Lyon recorded that from 4,000 to 5,000 slaves were processed annually with raids to areas like Kanem-Bornu providing sources of captives. As a witness to the behavior of the slave dealers, Lyon described their behavior in Libya: None of the owners were ever without their whips which were in constant use...no slave dares to be ill or unable to walk, but when
5445-717: The Hajj three times before drowning at Aidab . At this time, the army included 100,000 horsemen and 120,000 soldiers. Kanem's expansion peaked during the long and energetic reign of Mai Dunama Dabbalemi (1210–1259). Dabbalemi initiated diplomatic exchanges with sultans in North Africa , sending a giraffe to the Hafsid monarch and arranged for the establishment of a madrasa of al-Rashid in Cairo to facilitate pilgrimages to Mecca. During his reign, he declared jihad against
5610-580: The Kanem–Bornu Empire as the region's major centre for Islamic civilization. The Kingdom of Nri of the Igbo people consolidated in the 10th century and continued until it lost its sovereignty to the British in 1911. 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
5775-645: The Kanuri , which included the Ngalaga , Kangu, Kayi, Kuburi, Kaguwa, Tomagra, and Tubu. Kanem is mentioned as one of three great empires in the Sudan region , by Ya'qubi in 872. He describes the kingdom of "the Zaghāwa who live in a place called Kānim", which included several vassal states . "Their dwellings are huts made of reeds and they have no towns." Living as nomads , their cavalry gave them military superiority. In
5940-512: The Muslim culture of the Middle Ages, blackness became increasingly identified with slavery. This was justified by appeals to a specific interpretation of the biblical story of Curse of Ham that posited Ham had been cursed by Noah in two ways, the first, the turning of his skin black, and the second, that his descendants would be doomed to slavery. Muslim slave traders would use this as
6105-564: The Nigerian Political Bureau which made recommendations for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic. In 1989, Babangida started making plans for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic. Babangida survived the 1990 Nigerian coup d'état attempt , then postponed a promised return to democracy to 1992. Babangida legalized the formation of political parties and formed the two-party system with
6270-560: The Social Democratic Party and National Republican Convention ahead of the 1992 general elections . He urged all Nigerians to join either of the parties, which Chief Bola Ige referred to as "two leper hands". The 1993 presidential election held on 12 June was the first since the military coup of 1983. The results, though not officially declared by the National Electoral Commission, showed
6435-518: The trans-Saharan trade , especially in slaves, as there was a constant demand for slaves in the eastern Arab nations and Constantinople . The Muslim slave traders distinguished themselves from the peoples on the other side of the Sahara, referring to these African populations as Zanj or Sudan meaning "black". Arabs would routinely acquire slaves through violent raiding, followed by capturing them and sending them on dangerous forced marches across
6600-567: The 'Sultan of Borno', until the French killed Rabih on 22 April 1900 during the Battle of Kousséri . The French then occupied Dikwa , Rabih's capital, in April 1902, after the British had occupied Borno in March. Yet, based on their 1893 treaty, most of Borno remained under British control, while the Germans occupied eastern Borno, including Dikwa, as 'Deutsch-Bornu'. The French did name Abubakar ,
6765-511: The 10th century, al-Muhallabi mentions two towns in the kingdom, one of which was Mānān . Their king was considered divine, believing he could "bring life and death, sickness and health". Wealth was measured in livestock , sheep, cattle, camels and horses. From al-Bakri in the 11th century onwards, the kingdom is referred to as Kanem . In the 12th century Muhammad al-Idrisi described Mānān as "a small town without industry of any sort and little commerce". Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi describes Mānān as
Kanem–Bornu Empire - Misplaced Pages Continue
6930-676: The 16th century Saadian invasion of the Songhai Empire . In Central Africa during the 16th and 17th centuries, slave traders continued to raid the region as part of the expansion of the Saharan and Nile River slave routes. It is estimated that, in the 17th and 18th centuries, 1.4 million slaves were forced to make the trek through the Sahara Captives were enslaved and shipped to the Mediterranean coast, Europe, Arabia,
7095-419: The 16th century Andalusian writer Leo Africanus wrote that traders from Morocco would bring horses, European cloth, clothing, sugar, books, and brass vessels to Sudan in order to exchange them for slaves, civets and gold. According to Africanus, the sultan of Bornu would accept payment for slaves only in horses, with an exchange rate of up to one slave per twenty horses. The range of tasks given to slaves
7260-586: The 2007 general elections, Umaru Yar'Adua of the People's Democratic Party came to power. The international community, which had observed the Nigerian elections to promote a free and fair process, condemned these elections as seriously flawed. Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010, and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan had been sworn in by the Senate three months earlier as acting president to succeed Yar'Adua. Jonathan won
7425-449: The 2011 presidential election; the polls went smoothly and with relatively little violence or electoral fraud. Jonathan's tenure saw an economic recovery that made Nigeria the leading economic power in Africa. The Jonathan administration also saw an increase in unparalleled corruption, with as many as 20 billion US dollars said to have been lost to the Nigerian state through the national oil company. Above all, however, Jonathan's tenure saw
7590-637: The 2nd century BC. The transition from Neolithic times to the Iron Age was accomplished without intermediate bronze production. Some have suggested the technology moved west from the Nile Valley . But the Iron Age in the Niger River valley and the forest region appears to predate the introduction of metallurgy in the upper savanna by more than 800 years, as well as predating it in the Nile Valley. More recent research suggests that iron metallurgy
7755-657: The 5th century BC that the Garamantes enslaved cave-dwelling Ethiopians, known as Troglodytae , chasing them with chariots. In the early Roman Empire , the city of Lepcis established a slave market to buy and sell slaves from the Bantu African interior. In the 5th century AD, Roman Carthage was trading in black slaves brought across the Sahara. The empire imposed customs tax on the trade of slaves. Black slaves seem to have been valued as household slaves for their exotic appearance. Some historians argue that
7920-656: The 7th century AD, the area became known as Sudan or as Bilad Al Sudan (English: Land of the Blacks). Since the populations were partially affiliated with the Arab Muslim culture of North Africa , they began trans-Saharan trade and were referred to by the Arabic speakers as Al-Sudan (meaning "The Blacks") as they were considered an extended part of the Muslim world . There are early historical references by medieval Arab and Muslim historians and geographers which refer to
8085-464: The 9th century, and its material culture includes terracotta and bronze figures. In the 16th century, Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to begin important, direct trade with the peoples of southern Nigeria, at the port they named Lagos (formerly Eko) and in Calabar along the region Slave Coast . Europeans traded goods with peoples at the coast; coastal trade with Europeans also marked
8250-606: The Berber explorer Ibn Battuta would record accompanying a trade caravan to Morocco which carried 600 black female slaves who were to be used as domestic servants and concubines . When Battuta visited the ancient African kingdom of Mali he recounted that the local inhabitants vied with each other in the number of slaves and servants they had, and was himself given a slave boy as a "hospitality gift." The routes taken by slave caravans transporting slaves depended on their destination. Slaves headed to Egypt would be carried by boat down
8415-670: The British formally united the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria . Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the Northern and Southern Protectorates and Lagos Colony . Inhabitants of the southern region sustained more interaction, economic and cultural, with the British and other Europeans owing to the coastal economy. Christian missions established Western educational institutions in
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#17327766236128580-467: The British government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. By the eve of independence in 1960, regional differences in modern educational access were marked. The legacy, though less pronounced, continues to the present day. The balance between north and south was also expressed in Nigeria's political life. For instance, northern Nigeria did not outlaw slavery until 1936 whilst in other parts of Nigeria, slavery
8745-456: The Bulala forced Mai Umar b. Idris to abandon Njimi and move the Kanembu people to Bornu on the western edge of Lake Chad. But even in Bornu, the Sayfawa dynasty's troubles persisted. During the first three-quarters of the 15th century, for example, fifteen Mais occupied the throne. Then, around 1460 Ali Gazi (1473–1507) defeated his rivals and began the consolidation of Bornu. He built
8910-763: The Chad Basin, where the course of the El Beid River forms the border with Cameroon, from the Mandara Mountains to Lake Chad. The Komadugu Yobe river system gives rise to the internationally important Hadejia-Nguru wetlands and Ox-bow lakes around Lake Nguru in the rainy season. Other rivers of the northeast include the Ngadda and the Yedseram, both of which flow through the Sambisa swamps, thus forming
9075-603: The Fulani people to gain headway into the region. Until this point, the Fulani, a nomadic ethnic group, primarily traversed the semi-desert Sahelian region north of Sudan with cattle and avoided trade and intermingling with the Sudanic peoples. At the beginning of the 19th century, Usman dan Fodio led a successful jihad against the Hausa Kingdoms , founding the centralised Sokoto Caliphate . This empire, with Arabic as its official language, grew rapidly under his rule and that of his descendants , who sent out invading armies in every direction. The vast landlocked empire connected
9240-463: The Italian island of Lampedusa to Euronews . A Libyan group known as the Asma Boys have antagonized migrants from other parts of Africa from at least as early as 2000, destroying their property. Nigerian migrants in January 2018 gave accounts of abuses in detention centres, including being leased or sold as slaves. Videos of Sudanese migrants being burnt and whipped for ransom, were released later on by their families on social media. In June 2018,
9405-435: The Kanem Empire. Climate change ensured the rise of the early Kanem–Bornu Empire, as desertification that increased the spread of the Sahara made some areas around Lake Chad unlivable, causing nomadic peoples from that area to navigate to the places where the empire would eventually be centralized. Kanem was connected via a trans-Saharan slave trade route with Tripoli via Bilma in the Kawar . Slaves were imported from
9570-472: The Kwankwassiya of Rabiu Kwankwaso , former governor of Kano State in the Northwest. Bola Tinubu , of the ruling party, won the disputed election with 36.61% of the vote, but both runners-up claimed victory and litigation is ongoing in an election tribunal. Bola Tinubu's inauguration was held on 29 May 2023. Problems with widespread kidnapping in Nigeria continued. On 29 May 2024, Tinubu signed into law an act readopting Nigeria, We Hail Thee , which
9735-641: The Mira, Zaghawa , Maruwa, and other black races who are near to them and whom they capture. I hear that the black kings sell blacks, without pretext and without war. Indeed, few African rulers would resist the slave trade, while many chiefs would become middlemen in the trafficking, rounding up members of nearby villages to be sold to visiting merchants. The 12th century Arab geographer al-Idrisi noted that black Africans would also participate in slave raiding stating that: The people of Lemlem are perpetually being invaded by their neighbors, who take them as slaves... and carry them off to their own lands to sell them by
9900-540: The Niger and the Cross Rivers has lost most of its forest because of development and harvesting by increased population and has been replaced by grassland . Everything in between the far south and the far north is savannah (insignificant tree cover, with grasses and flowers located between trees). Rainfall is more limited to between 500 and 1,500 millimetres (20 and 60 in) per year. The savannah zone's three categories are Guinean forest-savanna mosaic , Sudan savannah, and Sahel savannah. Guinean forest-savanna mosaic
10065-420: The Nigerian government, with Nigeria utilizing air support from Egyptian pilots provided by Gamal Abdel Nasser , while France and Israel aided the Biafrans. The Congolese government, under President Joseph-Désiré Mobutu , took an early stand on the Biafran secession, voicing strong support for the Nigerian federal government and deploying thousands of troops to fight against the secessionists . Following
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#173277662361210230-466: The Nile and slaves headed to Arabia would be sent to ports on the Red Sea such as Suakin and Assab . Slaves headed to North Africa would have to take the Saharan trade routes which had been in use since around 1000 BC. These include routes such as the ones from Tripoli – Ghadames – Ghat – Hoggar – Gao connecting modern-day Libya to Nigeria, the Tripoli- Fezzan -Bornu route, connecting Libya to areas of what are today Chad , Niger , and Cameroon , and
10395-438: The Pachalik of Tripoli at that time. About two million slaves traveled this route to be traded in Tripoli, the largest slave market in the Mediterranean. As Martin Meredith states, "Wells along the way were surrounded by the skeletons of thousands of slaves, mostly young women and girls, making a last desperate effort to reach water before dying of exhaustion once there." Most of the successors of Idris Alooma are only known from
10560-401: The Sahara between the years 650 AD and 1500 AD. The trans-Saharan slave trade, established in Antiquity , continued during the Middle Ages . Following the early 8th-century conquest of North Africa , Arabs, Berbers, and other ethnic groups ventured into Sub-Saharan Africa first along the Nile Valley towards Nubia , and also across the Sahara towards West Africa. They were interested in
10725-608: The Sahara to slave markets where they would be treated as chattel i.e. as personal property that can be bought and sold. In North Africa, the main slave markets were in Morocco , Algiers , Tripoli and Cairo . Sales were held in public places such as souks . During the era of the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), the majority of slaves were Europeans taken along European beaches during conflicts. Aside from raiding, slaves could also be obtained by purchasing them from local black rulers. The 9th century Arab historian Ya'qubi states: They [the Arabs] export black slaves...belonging to
10890-456: The Sahara. Sometimes slaves were castrated after purchase in North African slave markets. Conditions within the mining industry were notoriously harsh especially the salt mines of Basra where tens of thousands of black slaves toiled in extremely miserable conditions living on insufficient amounts of food. This poor treatment led to the bloody Zanj Rebellion or "black revolution". Ya'qubi records that both male and female slaves were employed in
11055-512: The Sharie catchment area. In the Sahel region, rain is less than 500 millimetres (20 in) per year, and the Sahara Desert is encroaching. In the dry northeast corner of the country lies Lake Chad , on a shared water boundary delimitation with Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The Chad Basin is fed from the north-eastern quarter of Nigeria. The Bauchi Plateau forms the watershed between the Niger/Benue and Komadugu Yobe river systems. The flat plains of north-eastern Nigeria are geographically part of
11220-518: The Shehu of Dikwa Emirate , until the British convinced him to be the Shehu of the Borno Emirate. The French then named his brother, Sanda, Shehu of Dikwa. Shehu Garbai formed a new capital, Yerwa , on 9 January 1907. After World War I , Deutsch-Bornu became the British Northern Cameroons . Upon Shehu Abubakar's death in 1922, Sanda Kura became Shehu of Borno. Upon his death in 1937, his cousin, Shehu of Dikwa Sanda Kyarimi , became Shehu of Borno. As Vincent Hiribarren points out, "By becoming Shehu of
11385-434: The Trans-Saharan slave trade from Nigeria to North Africa. In 1937, the report to the Advisory Committee of Experts on Slavery , both France and Spain assured that they actively fought the slave raids from the Trans-Saharan slave traders, and in 1938, the French claimed that they had secured control over the border areas alongside Morocco and Algeria and effectively prevented the trans-Saharan slave trade in that area. Slavery
11550-429: The Umeuri clan. Members of the clan trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure Eri . In West Africa, the oldest bronzes made using the lost wax process were from Igbo-Ukwu , a city under Nri influence. The Yoruba kingdoms of Ife and Oyo in southwestern Nigeria became prominent in the 12th and 14th centuries, respectively. The oldest signs of human settlement at Ife's current site date back to
11715-428: The United Nations applied sanctions against four Libyans (including a Coast Guard commander) and two Eritreans for their criminal leadership of slave trade networks. According to professor Ibrahima Baba Kaké, there were four main slavery routes to North Africa, from east to west of Africa, from the Maghreb to the Sudan , from Tripolitania to central Sudan and from Egypt to the Middle East. Caravan trails, set up in
11880-636: The Western Hemisphere, or to the slave ports and factories along the West and North Africa coasts or South along the Ubanqui and Congo rivers. 1.2 million slaves are estimated to have been sent through the Sahara in the 19th century. In the 1830s, a period when slave trade flourished, Ghadames was handling 2,500 slaves a year. Even though the slave trade was officially abolished in Tripoli by
12045-585: The Zaghawa dynasty led a group of nomads called the Magumi. This desiccation of the Sahara resulted in two settlements, those speaking Teda-Daza northeast of Lake Chad, and those speaking Chadic languages west of the lake in Bornu and Hausaland . The origins of Kanem are unclear. The first historical sources tend to show that the kingdom of Kanem began forming around 700 under the nomadic Tebu-speaking Kanembu. The Kanembu were supposedly forced southwest towards
12210-466: The Zaghawa in the 9th century , as did ibn al-Nadim in his Al-Fihrist in the 10th century. Kanem comes from anem , meaning "south" in the Teda and Kanuri languages, and hence a geographic term. During the first millennium , as the Sahara underwent desiccation , people speaking Kanembu migrated to Kanem in the south. This group contributed to the formation of the Kanuri . Kanuri traditions state
12375-632: The amenable Oba Akitoye and signing the Treaty between Great Britain and Lagos on 1 January 1852. Britain annexed Lagos as a crown colony in August 1861 with the Lagos Treaty of Cession . British missionaries expanded their operations and travelled further inland. In 1864, Samuel Ajayi Crowther became the first African bishop of the Anglican Church . In 1885, British claims to
12540-657: The beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade . The port of Calabar on the historical Bight of Biafra (now commonly referred to as the Bight of Bonny) became one of the largest slave-trading posts in West Africa in this era. Other major slaving ports were located in Badagry , Lagos on the Bight of Benin , and Bonny Island on the Bight of Biafra. The majority of those taken to these ports were captured in raids and wars. Usually,
12705-552: The border with Cameroon , where the montane land is part of the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon. The far south is defined by its tropical rainforest climate , where annual rainfall is 1,500 to 2,000 millimetres (60 to 80 in) per year. In the southeast stands the Obudu Plateau . Coastal plains are found in both the southwest and the southeast. Mangrove swamps are found along the coast. The area near
12870-593: The border with Cameroon close to the coast is rich rainforest and part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion , an important centre for biodiversity . It is a habitat for the drill primate , which is found in the wild only in this area and across the border in Cameroon. The areas surrounding Calabar , Cross River State, also in this forest, are believed to contain the world's largest diversity of butterflies. The area of southern Nigeria between
13035-477: The canals, sewerage systems that are channels for water flows, and the like. Haphazard industrial planning, increased urbanisation, poverty and lack of competence of the municipal government are seen as the major reasons for high levels of waste pollution in major cities of the country. 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 . In 2005, Nigeria had
13200-522: The capital of the Kanem kings in the 13th century and Kanem as a powerful Muslim kingdom. Kanuri-speaking Muslims gained control of Kanem from the Zaghawa nomads in the 9th century during a period of ethnic conflict . Kanuri legend states that Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan founded the Sayfawa dynasty . The new dynasty controlled the Zaghawa trade links in the central Sahara with Bilma and other salt mines . Yet,
13365-568: The captives were taken back to the conquerors' territory as forced labour ; they were sometimes gradually acculturated and absorbed into the conquerors' society. Slave routes were established throughout Nigeria linking the hinterland areas with the major coastal ports. Some of the more prolific slave-trading kingdoms who participated in the Atlantic slave trade were linked with the Edo's Benin Empire in
13530-565: The civil service. Colonel Buka Suka Dimka launched a February 1976 coup attempt , during which General Murtala Muhammed was assassinated. Dimka lacked widespread support among the military, and his coup failed, forcing him to flee. After the coup attempt, General Olusegun Obasanjo was appointed military head of state. Obasanjo vowed to continue Murtala's policies. Aware of the danger of alienating northern Nigerians, Obasanjo brought General Shehu Yar'Adua as his replacement and second-in-command as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters completing
13695-643: The coast of Tripolitania across the Sahara to Lake Chad transported foremost circus animals, gold, cabochon and raw material for food processing and perfume manufacture, but also slaves; the African slave trade was however likely limited prior to the Islamic period, and African slaves appeared to have been few in the Roman Empire, where they were viewed as exotic luxury slaves. Paul Lovejoy estimates that around 6 million black slaves were transported across
13860-453: The context of political tensions in the Sahara. The Borno sultan allied with the Moroccan sultan against the Ottoman imperialism in the Sahara. Ibn Furtu called Alooma Amir al-Mu'minin , after he implemented Sharia , and relied upon large fiefholders to ensure justice. The Lake Chad to Tripoli route became an active highway in the 17th century, with horses traded for slaves. An intense diplomatic activity has been reported between Borno and
14025-490: The copper mines of Upper Egypt . The Qarmatian Republic of eastern Arabia is said to have employed 30,000 blacks slaves to perform all difficult labor. Some black slaves served in the military forces of North Africa. For example, the Zirid dynasty used black slaves imported from Sudan via Zawila. In some instances, Christians in Africa would acquiesce to Muslims demands that they be provided with slaves. In 641 AD during
14190-490: The cultural and political differences were sharp among Nigeria's dominant ethnic groups: the Hausa in the north, Igbo in the east and Yoruba in the west. The Westminster system of government was retained, and thus the President 's powers were generally ceremonial. The parliamentary system of government had Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister and Nnamdi Azikiwe as the ceremonial president. The founding government
14355-570: The dictator died in the villa. He looted money to offshore accounts in Western European banks and defeated coup plots by arresting and bribing generals and politicians. His successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar , adopted a new constitution on 5 May 1999, which provided for multiparty elections. On 29 May 1999, Abubakar handed over power to the winner of the 1999 presidential election, former military ruler General Olusegun Obasanjo , as President of Nigeria. Obasanjo had been in prison under
14520-516: The dictatorship of Abacha. Obasanjo's inauguration heralded the beginning of the Fourth Nigerian Republic, ending a 39-year period of short-lived democracies, civil war and military dictatorship. Although the elections that brought Obasanjo to power and allowed him to run for a second term in the 2003 presidential elections were condemned as unfree and unfair, Nigeria made significant progress in democratization under Obasanjo. In
14685-552: The dozens to the merchants. Every year great numbers of them are sent off to the Western Maghreb . Al-Idrisi would also describe the different methods Muslim merchants would use to enslave blacks, recording that some would "steal the children of the Zanj using dates ...lure them with dates and lead them from place to place, until they seize them, take them out of the country and transport them to their own countries". In 1353,
14850-561: The duo of Moshood Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe of the Social Democratic Party defeated Bashir Tofa and Sylvester Ugoh of the National Republican Convention by over 2.3 million votes. However, Babangida annulled the elections, leading to massive civilian protests that effectively shut down the country for weeks. In August 1993, Babangida finally kept his promise to relinquish power to
15015-598: The east with the western Sudan region and made inroads down south conquering parts of the Oyo Empire (modern-day Kwara ), and advanced towards the Yoruba heartland of Ibadan , to reach the Atlantic Ocean. The territory controlled by the empire included much of modern-day northern and central Nigeria. The sultan sent out emirs to establish suzerainty over the conquered territories and promote Islamic civilization;
15180-474: The east–west route connecting Egypt to Ghana , Mali , and Songhai . Kanem–Bornu– Zawila was another route to North Africa as the Kanem–Bornu Empire in the eastern part of Niger was an active part of the trans-Saharan slave trade for centuries, and the trade formed the basis of the empire's prosperity. Passage through the Sahara required the expertise of ethnic groups whose lifestyles were uniquely adapted for survival in scorching, arid environments, namely
15345-792: The emergence of a wave of terror by the Boko Haram insurgency , such as the Gwoza massacre and Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in 2014. Ahead of the general election of 2015 , a merger of the biggest opposition parties in Nigeria – the Action Congress of Nigeria , the Congress for Progressive Change , the All Nigeria Peoples Party , a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and
15510-547: The emirs in turn became increasingly rich and powerful through trade and slavery. By the 1890s, the largest slave population in the world, about two million, was concentrated in the territories of the Sokoto Caliphate . The use of slave labour was extensive, especially in agriculture. By the time of its break-up in 1903 into various European colonies, the Sokoto Caliphate was one of the largest pre-colonial African states. A changing legal imperative (the outlawing of
15675-693: The empire until the mid-17th century when its power began to fade. By the late 18th century, Bornu rule extended only westward, into the land of the Hausa of modern Nigeria . The empire was still ruled by the Mai who was advised by his councilors ( kokenawa ) in the state council or nokena . The members of his Nokena council included his sons and daughters and other royalty (the Maina) and non-royalty (the Kokenawa, "new men"). The Kokenawa included free men and slave eunuchs known as kachela . The latter "had come to play
15840-769: The establishment of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1839 to fight slave trading in the Mediterranean, Ahmad I ibn Mustafa , Bey of Tunis , agreed to outlaw exporting, importing, and selling slaves in 1842, and he made slavery illegal in 1846. In 1848, France outlawed slavery in Algeria . Despite the British outlawing the slave trade in 1833, Turco-Egyptian troops of Muhammad Ali of Egypt continued to export approximately 20,000 slaves annually from Sudan. Merchant princes such as Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur , appointed khedive in 1873, controlled trade in Bahr el Ghazal and
16005-663: The fertile lands around Lake Chad by political pressure and desiccation in their former range. The area already possessed independent, walled city-states belonging to the Sao civilisation . Under the leadership of the Duguwa dynasty , the Kanembu would eventually dominate the Sao, but not before adopting many of their customs. War between the two continued up to the late 16th century. One scholar, Dierk Lange, has proposed another theory based on
16170-522: The first time since the return of democracy, no former military ruler ran for president, marking a strengthening of democracy and faith in the multiparty constitution . The election also saw the rise of metonymic supporters of the new candidates, the Obidient movement of Peter Obi , previously governor of Anambra State, widely appealed to young, urban voters and has his core base in the Southeast; and
16335-476: The forest zone's most southerly portion, especially around the Niger River and Cross River deltas, is mangrove swamp . North of this is a freshwater swamp, containing different vegetation from the saltwater mangrove swamps, and north of that is a rainforest. The savannah zone's three categories are divided into Guinean forest-savanna mosaic , made up of plains of tall grass which are interrupted by trees,
16500-584: The frontier'. Civil discord was said to follow his opening of the sacred Mune. By the end of the 14th century, internal struggles and external attacks had torn Kanem apart. War with the Sao brought the death of four Mai: Selemma , Kure Ghana es-Saghir , Kure Kura al-Kabir , and Muhammad I , all sons of 'Abdullāh b. Kadai . Then, war with the Bulala resulted in the death of four Mai in succession between 1377 and 1387: Daud Nigalemi , Uthmān b. Dawūd , Uthmān b. Idris , and Abu Bakr Liyatu . Finally, around 1387
16665-591: The highest rate of deforestation in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . That year, 12.2%, the equivalent of 11,089,000 hectares, had been forested in the country. Between 1990 and 2000, Nigeria lost an average of 409,700 hectares of forest every year equal to an average annual deforestation rate of 2.4%. Between 1990 and 2005, in total Nigeria lost 35.7% of its forest cover or around 6,145,000 hectares. Nigeria had
16830-843: The independent state of Nigeria. A remnant of the old kingdom was (and still is) allowed to continue to exist, in subjection to the various Governments of the country as the Borno Emirate . Nigeria Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria , is a country in West Africa . It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south in the Atlantic Ocean . It covers an area of 923,769 square kilometres (356,669 sq mi). With
16995-407: The inlets to irrigate agricultural land. Nigeria is covered by three types of vegetation: forests (where there is significant tree cover), savannahs (insignificant tree cover, with grasses and flowers located between trees), and montane land (least common and mainly found in the mountains near the Cameroon border). Both the forest zone and the savannah zone are divided into three parts. Some of
17160-487: The last vizier of the caliphate officially conceded to British rule. The British appointed Muhammadu Attahiru II as the new caliph. Lugard abolished the caliphate but retained the title sultan as a symbolic position in the newly organized Northern Nigeria Protectorate . This remnant became known as " Sokoto Sultanate Council ". In June 1903, the British defeated the remaining northern forces of Attahiru. By 1906, all resistance to British rule had ended. On 1 January 1914,
17325-604: The late 16th century, access to slaves in the areas of the former Songhai Empire in West Africa were cut off due to the anarchy in the area caused by the Moroccan armies' invasion of Songhai headed by al-Mansur . This necessitated the substitution of the former Songhai route with the Benghazi – Wadai route and others through Sudan. After Europeans had settled in the Gulf of Guinea , the trans-Saharan slave trade became less important. Arabs were sometimes made into slaves in
17490-638: The local Berber tribes and the foreign Bedouins from Arabia . For example, the Tuareg and others who are indigenous to Libya facilitated, taxed and partly organized the trade from the south along the trans-Saharan trade routes . Various nomadic peoples played critical roles as guards, guides, and camel drivers. As a result, they were granted autonomy and treated as allies by governments of North Africa. Oases were vital waystations for caravans and those such as Awjila , Ghadames, and Kufra in Libya allowed both north–south and east–west travel. Even with expert help
17655-476: The location of a large area of Central African mangroves . Nigeria's most expansive topographical region is that of the valleys of the Niger and Benue river valleys (which merge and form a Y-shape). To the southwest of the Niger is a "rugged" highland . To the southeast of the Benue are hills and mountains, which form the Mambilla Plateau , the highest plateau in Nigeria. This plateau extends through
17820-589: The majority of slaves were Muslims who should have been exempt from slavery because of their religious status. Slaves were marched in shackles from across the Sahara via the Trans-Saharan slave trade to the Nile, while dying from exposure and swollen feet. Adolf Vischer wrote in an article published in 1911 that: "...it has been said that slave traffic is still going on on the Benghazi– Wadai route, but it
17985-508: The market three or four had either died or escaped. Cold could also kill in the desert as the explorer Heinrich Barth relayed a story that the vizier of Bornu had lost forty slaves in a single night in Libya. A British account described one hundred skeletons. By 1858, the British consul in Tripoli had recorded that more than 66% of the value shipped across the Sahara was made up by slaves. The British Consul in Benghazi wrote in 1875 that
18150-521: The meagre information provided by the Diwan . Some of them are noted for having undertaken the pilgrimage to Mecca , others for their piety. In the eighteenth century, Bornu was affected by several long-lasting famines. The Sultanate of Agadez was independently operating the Bilma salt mines by 1750, having been a tributary since 1532. The administrative reforms and military brilliance of Aluma sustained
18315-458: The merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914. The British set up administrative and legal structures while practicing indirect rule through traditional chiefdoms . Nigeria became a formally independent federation on 1 October 1960. It experienced a civil war from 1967 to 1970, followed by a succession of military dictatorships and democratically elected civilian governments until achieving
18480-486: The middle reaches of the Niger River, is uncertain. The word is likely an alteration of the Tuareg name egerew n-iger ewen used by inhabitants along the middle reaches of the river around Timbuktu before 19th-century European colonialism . Before Flora Shaw suggested the name Nigeria , other proposed names included Royal Niger Company Territories , Central Sudan , Niger Empire , Niger Sudan , and Hausa Territories . Kainji Dam excavations showed ironworking by
18645-418: The military triumvirate, with Obasanjo as head of state and General Theophilus Danjuma as Chief of Army Staff , the three went on to re-establish control over the military regime and organized the military's transfer of power programme: states creation and national delimitation , local government reforms and the constitutional drafting committee for a new republic. The military carefully planned
18810-403: The most common across the country; Sudan savannah, with short grasses and short trees; and Sahel savannah patches of grass and sand, found in the northeast. 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. Waste management presents problems in
18975-539: The new PDP (a faction of serving governors of the ruling People's Democratic Party) – formed the All Progressives Congress led by current president Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At the time, it was the most expensive election ever to be held on the African continent (being surpassed only by the elections of 2019 and 2023 ). The new mega-opposition party chose as their candidate for the election former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari's campaign in 2015
19140-527: The oases of Cyrenaica and the interiour of Sanusiya, the Trans-Saharan slave trade had been erased in parallel with Italian conquest, during which 900 slaves had been freed in the Kufra slave market. In 1936, the report to the Advisory Committee of Experts on Slavery from the French, British and Italian stated that they all surveyed the water sources along the caravan routes in the Sahara to combat
19305-516: The official Nigerian government side attacked Biafra on 6 July 1967, at Garkem. The 30-month war, with a long blockade of Biafra and its isolation from trade and international relief, ended in January 1970. Estimates of the number of dead in the former Eastern Region during the 30-month civil war range from one to three million. Britain and the Soviet Union were the main military backers of
19470-498: The orthodox Muslim jurist position that no Muslim, regardless of race, could be enslaved. Even as late as the 19th century, many of the common people in Islamic society still believed that enslavement based on skin color, rather than based on religion, was approved by the religious laws of Islam. In 1416, al-Maqrizi told how pilgrims coming from Takrur (near the Senegal River ) brought 1,700 slaves with them to Mecca . In
19635-520: The passage could still prove deadly to merchants and slaves. Sometimes whole caravans of thousands of people could disappear without a trace. The goods exchanged in the trans-Saharan slave trade varied. In the 10th century, the Muslim scholar Mutahhar ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi described the trade between the Islamic world and Africa as consisting of food and clothing being imported into Africa while slaves, gold, and coconuts were exported out of Africa. Later,
19800-713: The people traded by the Arabs, with the trade being practised throughout the Arab world , primarily in Western Asia, North Africa, East Africa, and Europe. Records of slave trading and transportation in the Sahara date as far back as the 3rd millennium BC during the reign of the Egyptian king Sneferu who crossed the fourth cataract of the Nile into what is today modern Sudan to capture slaves and send them north. These raids for prisoners of war, who subsequently became slaves, were
19965-516: The plotters struggled to form a central government. Senate President Nwafor Orizu handed over government control to the Army , under the command of another Igbo officer, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi . Later, the counter-coup of 1966, supported primarily by Northern military officers, facilitated the rise of Yakubu Gowon as military head of state. Tension rose between north and south; Igbos in northern cities suffered persecution and many fled to
20130-651: The poor sufferer dies the master suspects there must have been "something wrong inside" and regrets not having liberally applied the usual remedy of burning the belly with a red hot iron" thus reconciling to themselves their cruel treatment of these unfortunate creatures. Other 19th-century European explorers recorded their perilous experiences traveling through the Saharan Desert alongside slave caravans. The explorer Gustav Nachtigal reported finding numerous bones at desert springs that had run dry. Nachtigal estimated that for every one slave that successfully arrived at
20295-495: The principal trade commodity was slaves. Tribes to the south of Lake Chad were raided as kafirun , and then transported to Zawila in the Fezzan, where the slaves were traded for horses and weapons. The annual number of slaves traded increased from 1000 in the 7th century to 5000 in the 15th. According to Richmond Palmer , it was customary to have "the Mai sitting in a curtained cage called fanadir, dagil, or tatatuna ...
20460-495: The protectorates. Under Britain's policy of indirect rule and validation of Islamic legitimist tradition, the Crown did not encourage the operation of Christian missions in the northern, Islamic part of the country. By the mid-20th century following World War II , a wave for independence was sweeping across Africa, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by
20625-429: The raising of cattle. Ali Gaji was the first ruler of the empire to assume the title of Caliph. Bornu peaked during the reign of Mai Idris Alooma (c. 1564–1596), reaching the limits of its greatest territorial expansion, gaining control over Hausaland, and the people of Ahir and Tuareg. Peace was made with Bulala, when a demarcation of boundaries was agreed upon with a non-aggression pact . Military innovations included
20790-536: The return to civilian rule putting in place measures to ensure that political parties had broader support than witnessed during the first republic. In 1979, five political parties competed in a series of elections in which Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was elected president. All five parties won representation in the National Assembly. On 1 October 1979, Shehu Shagari
20955-606: The routes to Kordofan and Darfur . In 1929, the Sanusi center of Kufra in the Sahara was pointed out as a center of the (Trans-Saharan) slave trade. The Italians reported to the Advisory Committee of Experts on Slavery in the 1930s that all former slaves in Italian Tripolitania - slavery in Libya was since long formally abolished - were free to leave their former Arab owners if they wished, but that they stayed because they were socially depressed; and that in
21120-457: The scale of slave trade in this period may have been higher than medieval times due to the high demand for slaves in the Roman Empire. However the slave trade through the Sahara in antiquity may have been small and rare as Saharan trade didn't reach large dimensions until the Arabs and Berbers introduced large numbers of camels into the desert. The Ancient Garamantian caravan trade route between
21285-587: The separatist Ambazonia ) 1,690 km or 1,050 mi. Its coastline is at least 853 km (530 mi). Nigeria lies between latitudes 4° and 14°N , and longitudes 2° and 15°E . The highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi at 2,419 m (7,936 ft). The main rivers are the Niger and the Benue , which converge and empty into the Niger Delta . This is one of the world's largest river deltas and
21450-400: The site of Lejja and to 750 BC and at the site of Opi . The Kano Chronicle highlights an ancient history dating to around 999 AD of the Hausa Sahelian city-state of Kano , with other major Hausa cities (or Hausa Bakwai ) of Daura , Hadeija , Kano , Katsina , Zazzau , Rano , and Gobir all having recorded histories dating back to the 10th century. With the spread of Islam from
21615-501: The slave trade had reached an enormous scale and that the slaves who were sold in Alexandria and Constantinople had quadrupled in price. This trade, he wrote, was encouraged by the local government . By the mid 19th century, it's possible that nearly 10,000 slaves were being transported to North Africa yearly. The Muslim historian Ahmad ibn Khalid an-Nasiri bemoaned the "unlimited enslavement of blacks" in 19th century North Africa "where men traffic them like beasts or worse" and where
21780-404: The smugglers at sea. The rescued slaves were taken to Freetown , a colony in West Africa originally established by Lieutenant John Clarkson for the resettlement of slaves freed by Britain in North America after the American Revolutionary War . Britain intervened in the Lagos kingship power struggle by bombarding Lagos in 1851, deposing the slave-trade-friendly Oba Kosoko , helping to install
21945-409: The south along this route. In the 16th-century, Turkish musketeers where imported to Bornu, and in the 17th-century, European slaves are noted to have been imported to Bornu from the Barbary slave trade in Tripoli in Libya. Kanuri tradition states Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan established dynastic rule over the nomads around the 9th century through divine kingship . For the next millennium, the Mais ruled
22110-400: The south, Oyo Empire in the southwest, and the Aro Confederacy in the southeast. Benin's power lasted between the 15th and 19th centuries. Oyo, at its territorial zenith in the late 17th to early 18th centuries, extended its influence from western Nigeria to modern-day Togo . In the north, the incessant fighting amongst the Hausa city-states and the decline of the Bornu Empire allowed
22275-410: The surrounding tribes and initiated an extended period of conquest with his cavalry of 41,000. He fought the Bulala for seven years, seven months, and seven days. After dominating the Fezzan, he established a governor at Traghan and delegated military command amongst his sons. As the Sayfawa extended control beyond Kanuri tribal lands, fiefs were granted to military commanders, as cima , or 'master of
22440-403: The threshold of power in the country. As oil production and revenue rose, the Nigerian government became increasingly dependent on oil revenues and international commodity markets for budgetary and economic concerns. The coup in July 1975 , led by Generals Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and Joseph Garba , ousted Gowon, who fled to Britain. The coup plotters wanted to replace Gowon's autocratic rule with
22605-431: The title of Shehu within Bornuan society and quickly supplanted the rule of the Mais who became figurehead monarchs. In the year of 1846, the last mai , in league with the Ouaddai Empire , precipitated a civil war, resulting in the death of Mai Ibrahim, the last mai. It was at that point that Kanemi's son, Umar , became Shehu, thus ending one of the longest dynastic reigns in international history. By then, Hausaland in
22770-425: The trans-Saharan slave trade. In Mecca, Arab women were sold as slaves according to Ibn Butlan , and certain rulers in West Africa had slave girls of Arab origin. According to al-Maqrizi , slave girls with lighter skin were sold to West Africans on hajj . Ibn Battuta met an Arab slave girl near Timbuktu in Mali in 1353. Battuta wrote that the slave girl was fluent in Arabic, from Damascus, and her master's name
22935-420: The trans-Saharan trade routes conveyed a significant number of this total, with one estimate tallying around 7.2 million slaves crossing the Sahara from the mid-7th century until the 20th century when it was abolished. The Arabs managed and operated the trans-Saharan slave trade, although Berbers were also actively involved. Alongside Black Africans , Turks , Iranians , Europeans and Berbers were among
23100-403: The treaty known as the Baqt was signed establishing an agreement between the Nubian Christian state of Makuria and the new Muslim rulers of Egypt, in which the Nubians agreed to give Muslim traders more privileges of trade in addition to sending 442 slaves every year to Cairo as tribute. This treaty remained intact for 600 years all while the slave trade within Nubia continued unimpeded. In
23265-401: The use of mounted Turkish musketeers, slave musketeers, mailed cavalrymen, footmen and feats of military engineering as seen during the siege of the fortified town of Amsaka. This army was organized into an advance guard and a rear reserve while often using shield wall methods as well. The Bornu army was transported via camel or large boats and fed by free and slave women cooks, and often employed
23430-508: The victims, the price is higher for migrants with skills like painting and tiling. Slaves are often ransomed to their families and in the meantime until ransom can be tortured, forced to work, sometimes to death and eventually executed or left to starve if they can't pay for too long. Women are often raped and used as sex slaves and sold to brothels and private Libyan clients. Many child migrants also suffer from abuse and child rape in Libya. After receiving unverified CNN video of
23595-413: The war, Nigeria enjoyed an oil boom in the 1970s, during which the country joined OPEC and received huge oil revenues. Despite these revenues, the military government did little to improve the standard of living , help small and medium businesses, or invest in infrastructure. As oil revenues fueled the rise of federal subsidies to states, the federal government became the centre of political struggle and
23760-502: The waters of this country". In August 1983, Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory, with a majority of seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were marred by violence, and allegations of widespread vote-rigging and electoral malfeasance led to legal battles over the results. There were also uncertainties, such as in the first republic, that political leaders may be unable to govern properly. The 1983 military coup d'état
23925-447: The west were able to make major inroads into Bornu during the Fulani War . By the early 19th century, Kanem–Bornu was clearly an empire in decline, and in 1808 Fulani warriors conquered Ngazargamu . Usman dan Fodio led the Fulani thrust and proclaimed a jihad (holy war) on the irreligious Muslims of the area. His campaign eventually affected Kanem–Bornu and inspired a trend toward Islamic orthodoxy. Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi , who
24090-408: The west, was lost to the Sokoto Caliphate , while the east and north were lost to the Wadai Empire . Although the dynasty ended, the kingdom of Kanem–Bornu survived. Umar eschewed the title mai for the simpler designation shehu (from the Arabic shaykh ), could not match his father's vitality, and gradually allowed the kingdom to be ruled by advisers ( wazirs ). Bornu began a further decline as
24255-426: The whole of Borno, Sanda Kyarimi reunited under his rule a territory which had been divided since 1902. For 35 years two Shehus had co-existed." In 1961, the Northern Cameroons voted to join Nigeria, effectively rejoining the territories of the kingdom of Bornu. The lands of the Bornu state were thus absorbed into the new Northern Nigeria Protectorate , in the sphere of the British Empire , and eventually became part of
24420-496: The world by nominal GDP , and 27th-largest by PPP . Nigeria is often referred to as the Giant of Africa owing to its large population and economy , and is considered to be an emerging market by the World Bank . Nigeria is a founding member of the African Union and a member of many international organizations, including the United Nations , the Commonwealth of Nations , NAM , the Economic Community of West African States , Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC . It
24585-410: Was Farbá Sulaymán. Besides his Damascus slave girl and a secretary fluent in Arabic, Arabic was also understood by Farbá himself. The West African states also imported highly trained slave soldiers. Under the Saadi dynasty , Morocco's sugar industry was dependent on black African slave labor. According to Paul Berthier, the need for slave labor on Moroccan sugar plantations was a major reason for
24750-408: Was a coalition of conservative parties: the Northern People's Congress led by Sir Ahmadu Bello , a party dominated by Muslim northerners, and the Igbo and Christian-dominated National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons led by Nnamdi Azikiwe . The opposition consisted of the comparatively liberal Action Group , which was largely dominated by the Yoruba and led by Obafemi Awolowo . An imbalance
24915-498: Was a state in what is now northeastern Nigeria, in time becoming even larger than Kanem, incorporating areas that are today parts of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The early history of the empire is mainly known from the Royal Chronicle, or Girgam , discovered in 1851 by the German traveller Heinrich Barth . Remnant successor regimes of the empire, in form of Borno Emirate and Dikwa Emirate , were established around 1900 and still exist today as traditional states within Nigeria. Kanem
25080-425: Was abolished soon after colonialism. Nigeria gained a degree of self-rule in 1954, and full independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, as the Federation of Nigeria with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as its Prime Minister , while retaining the British monarch , Elizabeth II , as nominal head of state and Queen of Nigeria . Azikiwe replaced the colonial governor-general in November 1960. At independence,
25245-403: Was coordinated by key officers of the Nigerian military and led to the overthrow of the government and the installation of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as head of state. The military coup of Muhammadu Buhari shortly after the regime's re-election in 1984 was generally viewed as a positive development. In 1985, Ibrahim Babangida overthrew Buhari in a coup d'état. In 1986, Babangida established
25410-412: Was created in the polity as the result of the 1961 plebiscite . Southern Cameroons opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while Northern Cameroons chose to join Nigeria. The northern part of the country became larger than the southern part. The disequilibrium and perceived corruption of the electoral and political process led to two military coups in 1966. The first coup was in January 1966 and
25575-435: Was developed independently in sub-Saharan Africa . The Nok civilization thrived between 1,500 BC and AD 200. It produced life-sized terracotta figures that are some of the earliest known sculptures in sub-Saharan Africa and smelted iron by about 550 BC and possibly a few centuries earlier. Evidence of iron smelting has also been excavated at sites in the Nsukka region of southeast Nigeria: dating to 2000 BC at
25740-404: Was led mostly by soldiers under Majors Emmanuel Ifeajuna (of the Igbo tribe), Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu ( Northerner of Eastern extraction) and Adewale Ademoyega (a Yoruba from the West). The coup plotters succeeded in assassinating Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa alongside prominent leaders of the Northern Region and Premier Samuel Akintola of the Western Region , but
25905-444: Was located at the southern end of the trans-Saharan trade route between Tripoli and the region of Lake Chad . Besides its urban elite, it also included a confederation of nomadic peoples who spoke languages of the Teda – Daza group, the Toubou people or Berber people In the 8th century , Wahb ibn Munabbih used Zaghawa to describe the Teda-Tubu group, in the earliest use of the ethnic name. Al-Khwarizmi also mentions
26070-506: Was not abolished in Mauritania until 1981. In the 1980s, during the Second Sudanese Civil War , there was a resurgence of the Sudanese slave trade under the National Islamic Front and groups such as the Baqqara and Rizeigat . Since the beginning of the Libyan Civil War of 2011, that saw the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi 's regime by NATO -backed anti-Gaddafi forces , Libya has been plagued by instability and migrants with little cash and no papers have become vulnerable. Libya
26235-411: Was of mixed Kanuri and Shuwa Arab heritage from Fezzan contested the Fulani incursions into Bornu. Al-Kanemi was a Muslim scholar who had put together an alliance of mostly Shuwa Arabs , and Kanembu within the region. He eventually built in 1814 a capital at Kukawa (in present-day Nigeria). After the creation of his capital at Kukawa, Al-Kanemi quickly amassed a large following within Bornu and adopted
26400-418: Was popular and built around his image as a staunch anti-corruption fighter—he won the election by over two million votes. Observers generally praised the election as being fair. The election marked the first time an incumbent president had lost re-election in Nigeria. In the 2019 presidential election , Buhari was re-elected. Four candidates vied for the presidency in the 2023 presidential election . For
26565-440: Was sworn in as the first President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Obasanjo peacefully transferred power to Shagari, becoming the first head of state in Nigerian history to willingly step down. The Shagari government became viewed as corrupt by virtually all sectors of Nigerian society. In 1983, the inspectors of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation began to notice "the slow poisoning of
26730-483: Was tasked by the Colonial Office to implement the agenda. Lugard used rivalries between many of the emirs in the southern reach of the caliphate and the central Sokoto administration to prevent any defence as he worked towards the capital. As the British approached the city of Sokoto , Sultan Muhammadu Attahiru I organized a quick defence of the city and fought the advancing British-led forces. The British force quickly won, sending Attahiru I and thousands of followers on
26895-501: Was the country's national anthem from 1960 to 1978, as its national anthem, replacing Arise, O Compatriots . Nigeria is located in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and has a total area of 923,768 km (356,669 sq mi), making it the world's 32nd-largest country . Its borders span 4,047 kilometres (2,515 mi), and it shares borders with Benin (773 km or 480 mi), Niger (1,497 km or 930 mi), Chad (87 km or 54 mi), and Cameroon (including
27060-489: Was told that slavery is still practiced in Kufra and that he could buy a slave girl for 30 pounds sterling at the Thursday slave market . According to James Richardson 's testimony, when he visited Ghadames, most slaves were from Bornu . According to Raëd Bader, based on estimates of the Trans-Saharan trade, between 1700 and 1880 Tunisia received 100,000 black slaves, compared to only 65,000 entering Algeria, 400,000 in Libya, 515,000 in Morocco and 800,000 in Egypt. After
27225-682: Was varied and included servile labor utilized for " irrigation , pastoralism , mining , transport , public works , proto-industry , and construction ." In general black slaves were used as laborers, servants and eunuchs . Some female slaves could be used for labor, but most would be used for domestic chores and concubinage. Eunuchs, who were around seven times more expensive than non-castrated males could be used as harem guards, administrators, tutor, secretaries, commercial agents, and even concubines. Due to strictures within Islamic law, slaves would not usually be castrated within Muslim territory and therefore would be castrated before being sent across
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