Some Interesting Facts About Nigeria And Independence

30 FACTS ABOUT NIGERIA

Lord Lugard Amalgamated the northern and southern protectorates in the year 1914
Nigeria became formally independent on the first of Oct 1960.( independence)
Nigeria achieved a stable democracy in 1999.
Nigeria is inhabited by more than 250 ethnic groups with more than 500 distinct languages.
The official language of Nigeria is English.
Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa
Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa and it is the world’s 24^th largest economy according to the IMF (2020 estimate)

Nigeria’s human development index ranks 158^th in the world.
Nigeria is the found ing member of the Africa Union and member of many other international organizations,including the United Nations, Commonwealth of the Nation, the ECIWAS, and OPEC.
The name Nigeria was taken from flourish between 1,500BC and 200 AD.
There are three distinct systems of law in Nigeria , they are common law,customary law, and sharia law.
More than $400 billion was stolen from the treasury by Nigeria’s leaders between 1960 and 1999.
Nigeria has remained the key player in the international oil industry since 1971 and maintains membership within organization of the petroleum exporting countries OPEC.
It is estimated that over a million Nigerians have emigrated to the united states and constitute the Nigerian American populace.
Nigeria is divided into 36 states and one federal capital territory, which are further sub-divided into 774 local government areas.

Nigeria has five big cities with over a million population ( from largest to smallest) Lagos, Kano, Ibadan,Benin city, and portharcourt.
Lagos is the largest city in Africa, with a population of over 12 million in its urban area.
Nigeria is located on the Gulf of Guinea and it has a total area of 923,768 km(356,669)mi) making it the world’s 32^nd
It shares borders with Benin, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
The two main rivers in Nigeria are river Benue and river Niger
Nigeria is classified as a mixed economy emerging market.
It has reached lower middle-income status according to the world bank, with its abundant supply of natural resources.
Nigeria was ranked 21^st in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) in 2015
Nigeria is the 50^th largest export market for U.S goods and the 14^th largest exporter of goods to the U.S.
Nigeria made history in April 2006 by becoming the first African country to completely pay its debt (estimated ₦30 billion) owe to the pair club
Nigeria is trying to reach the sustainable development goal number 1, which is to end poverty in all forms by 2030

Prior to the Nigerian civil war, Nigeria was self-sufficient in food.
In Aug 2019 Nigeria closed its borders with Benin to stop rice smuggling into the country as part of an effort to boost the local production.
Nigeria’s national football team known as the super eagle has made the world cup on six occasions, 1994,1998,2002,2010,2014, and most recently in 2018.
The super eagles ranked 5^th in the FIFA world cup rankings, which is the highest-ranking achieved by the African football team.

There are more other interesting facts about Nigeria. This post is just to update you with the most important ones.