Nigeria History

Flora Shaw: Coined the Name Nigeria. Photo Credit : www.naijablog.co.uk

The name Nigeria was first coined by Flora Shaw the wife of former governor general of Nigeria Frederick Lord Lugard. Nigeria was named after the great Niger River (Niger Area).  It is officially called the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Structurally this beautiful country is divided distinctively into 36 states with a federal capital territory. Nigeria is located in the western part of Africa surrounded by the republic of Benin (West), Chad & Cameroon (East) and Niger (North). It has a beautiful coast that lies at the Gulf of Guinea in the south where the Atlantic Ocean is found. This multi lingual and multi racial country has 3 major tribes which are the Yorubas, Hausas and the igbos. Nigeria is divided sharply
into two major religions the Christians and the Muslims with a very small individuals still practicing the traditional region. Explorers from Portugal got to Nigeria first before the British. Lagos was coined after a Portuguese town by name Lagos. Nigerian till this day still bears Portuguese names. Nigeria became a British colony in 1901.  In the year 1914, the northern and the southern protectorate of Nigeria were amalgamated by the British. After world war II, Nigeria’s founding fathers starting fighting for the independence of Nigeria. Nigeria got her independence from the British in 1960 when the union jack was changed to the present day Nigerian Flag of green white green.