Nigeria
Country in west Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, bounded north by Niger,
east by Chad and Cameroon, and west by Benin.
Government
The constitution was promulgated 1989 to take effect 1993. It provides
for an elected executive president and a popularly elected two-chamber
assembly, consisting of a 91-member Senate and a 593-member House of
Representatives, each serving a four- year term. In 1993 the constitution
was partly suspended and military rule imposed.
Nigeria is a federal republic of 30 states, each with its own governor.
There is also a coordinating federal body called the National Council
of States, which includes the president and all the state governors.
History
Nigeria is named after the River Niger, its chief physical feature;
the word means `great riverī. Nigeria has been inhabited since at least
700 BC. Many of the early inhabitants migrated across the Sahara Desert,
since the delta barring the entrance to the Niger and the mangrove swamps
and coastal forest belt made penetration from the sea difficult.
After World War II pressure for independence increased. Between 1946
and 1951 different constitutions were introduced, which gave Nigeria
first representative government and then responsible government. The
federal structure was first introduced in 1946, when the Northern, Eastern,
and Western Regions were established.
Regional self-government was achieved by the Eastern and Western Regions
in 1957 and by the Northern Region in 1959. In 1960 full independence
was granted to the federation, which became a member of the Commonwealth.
In 1963 Nigeria became a republic, retaining its federal structure so
as to accommodate the many different ethnic groups, which include the
Ibo, the Yoruba, the Aro, the Angas, and the Hausa.
In January 1966 Nigeria, which was generally considered to be the
most politically stable of the new African nations, suffered a military
coup by young army officers, mainly Ibos from the Eastern Region, which
had become richer after the discovery of oil there 1958. In the course
of the coup the prime minister, the premier of the North Region, and
several other political leaders and army officers were assassinated.
A military government was set up, led by Maj Gen Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi.
The revolt was sparked off by widespread suspicion that the recent general
elections had been rigged, and by revelations of political corruption.
A military government was set up comprising a Supreme Military Council
and a Federal Executive Council.
In July 1966 there was a another military coup by a mostly Christian
group from the north; several units of the army mutinied and a new head
of the military government was installed. The Ironsi regime had been
dominated by Ibo civil servants, and there had been a great deal of
anxiety especially about where power lay. After the coup the new head
of government was the army chief of staff, Lieut Col. (later Gen) Yakubu
Gowon. The military government released a number of political prisoners,
including chiefs Enaharo and Awolowo. The leaders of the coup stressed
that the military government was an interim measure to be followed by
free elections.
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