Land and People of Nigeria

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In today’s class, we will be talking about land and people of Nigeria. Enjoy the class!

Land and People of Nigeria

History of Nigeria up to 1800

There was no political entity named Nigeria before 1914. However, the landmass and the various ethnic groups were in existence from the earliest times and there was mutual interaction between the ethnic groups. The British seized the opportunity of the mutual interaction between the peoples around the rivers Niger and Benue to create a political entity named Nigeria in 1914. Furthermore, the history of Nigeria before 1800 was that of city-states, kingdoms and clannish units with the political structure of King, Chiefs, Warriors and Subjects.

Land and peoples of Nigeria

Nigeria, with about 200 million people, has the largest black population of any country in the world. It is also the richest country of topical Africa with a Gross National Product of about 61 billion Naira. There are many different peoples such as Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, Hausa, Fulani, Nupe, Jukun etc. The largest of these groups are the Hausa and Fulani in the North, Yoruba in the Southwest and Igbo in the southeast. English is our official language.

Within Nigeria, which measures 1,000 kilometres from North to South and over 1,200 kilometres from West to East, there are great regional variations. These regions can be divided into four: the coastal, forest, semi-savannah and savannah.

Geographical zones

The Geography of any country means the physical features of the atmosphere that affects human activity and distribution of population and resources. There are Four main geographical zones in Nigeria. They include

1. Coastal region: This is a long piece of lowland from Lagos in the west to Calabar in the east. It is characterised with features like Lagoon, Creeks, and the Niger Delta.
2. Forest region: There is heavy rainfall in this region and this results in thick vegetation. Big trees like lroko, Obeche, walnut etc can be found in the forest zone. This is mostly Southern part of Nigeria which includes Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Kwara, Ekiti, Cross-River, Enugu, Imo and Abia
3. Semi-savannah: This zone is an area between the forest region and savannah. There are trees and tall grasses in this zone and the rainfall is lighter than that of the forest zone.
4. Savannah: In this zone, with its open woodlands and grasslands, movement, especially for horses, has always been easier than in the forest region. Also, corps which grow in the savannah are different from those that grow in the forest zone.

The impact of geography on people’s activities

• Occupations and products:

The effect of geography on the peoples of Nigeria is enormous. On the lagoon shores and sea coast, fishing and exploitation of the coconut palm provided the basis of the livelihood of the inhabitants.

1. Mangrove swamps in the Niger Delta: The people there do fishing and panning of salt from the saltwater creeks which they supplied in-exchange for agricultural produce and iron tools from the hinterland.
2. Forest Zone: Here the lack of grazing and the prevalence of the tsetse-fly meant that it was difficult to keep horses and cattle. Also, the movement was more difficult than in the open savannah.

• Movement and means of transportation:

In the coastal region, people travel on boats and canoes along the rivers, creeks, Lagoon and delta. While people in the forest region move on footpaths. The people in the savannah travelled on horses, camels, and donkeys.

Traditions of origin

The majority of the traditions of the origin or different Nigerian peoples which rested on oral traditions legend, myth and folklores Lay claim to migrations from the middle-east. However, the various traditions of the origin of Nigerian peoples can be highlighted as follows:

• The Yoruba:

The creation tradition claims that God sent down Oduduwa from heaven through a rope to earth and the place where he landed was named Ile-Ife and from there life started. The migration legend states that the Yoruba people under the leadership of Oduduwa migrated from Mecca to Ile-Ife where they began to spread over Yorubaland.

• The Edo:

The Edo people came from Egypt according to oral tradition. They migrated through North Africa to Western Sudan and moved further southwards until they founded Benin between 800 – 900 A. D.

• The Kanuri:

They originated from the Arab and Berber peoples of North Africa. The Kanuri migrated southwards to the zone around Lake chad and absorbed the native people. They established the Kanembu empire and instituted the Sefawa dynasty. The second Kanuri empire was founded on the western side of Lake Chad.

• The Hausa:

They originated from Bayajida who came from the royal house of Baghdad. Bayajida and his entourage moved to Borno, stayed for some time and later arrived Daura in Hausaland. Bayajida killed a snake in Daura and married the queen who bore him a son, (Bawo). Bawo in the turn gave birth to seven sons who established the seven legitimate Hausa States and Seven Illegitimate Hausa States.

• The Igbo:

They migrated from the Jews in the middle-east and moved southwards through North Africa to Western Sudan and settled first in the place called Awka and Orlu from where they spread over the eastern part of Nigeria.

General evaluation

1. Mention the four geographical regions in Nigeria and the major ethnic groups in each region.
2. What type of occupation and products did the coastal people do?
3. Trace the traditions of origin of the Yorubas.

Assignment

1. Draw the map of Nigeria, highlighting the geographical zones.

 

In our next class, we will be talking about Early Man in Nigeria.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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