by

Nat P.

NATIONAL FLAG OF NIGERIA

LOCATION:

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NIGERIA

            In the 1900's Nigeria was taken over by Great Britain .Great Britain established a   northern protectorate and a southern protectorate in 1906. In 1914 the two regions were combined to become the colony and protectorate of Nigeria.  Before being colonized by Britain, the countries history was filled with infighting and other countries trying to overrule Nigeria. The British shared their government with Nigerian leaders instead of throwing them to the side.

Colonization helped the native people. The British built railroads and roads and grew crops like palm nuts and cocoa. Cities grew in size and population, like Lagos, Ibadan, and Kano. Still most Nigerians, especially in the southern region did not have any real power.

            Nigeria won its independence on October 1, 1960.  Before its independence, Britain encouraged Nigeria to develop a constitution that gave Nigerians greater power. One group did not like the constitution, so they wrote another one in 1951. One of the leaders of this group was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who eventually became president in 1963.   

            After becoming independent, Nigeria faced many problems. The biggest problem was the constant conflicts among different groups in the country, leading to the Biafran war in 1967. Post civil war Nigeria was slow to build back up and become peaceful again. Lots of fighting among different groups continued to happen through the 1970s to present time. Today Nigeria still has a lot of political problems, especially with oil being its biggest resource. This has left poor people working hard and getting very little pay, and the government is always in turmoil.

            If Nigeria had not been colonized I think that there might have been less fighting among different groups because Great Britain tried to make people with different religions and cultures in Nigeria work together and keep peace. Before Great Britain colonized Nigeria, there was fighting, but most of the groups stuck together and kept to themselves. Colonization forced people to work together who did not like each other.

Works Cited

InfoPlease. http://www.infoplease.com/

Lonely Planet. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/

Levy, Patricia. Cultures Of The World, Nigeria.