|
|
POPULATION
Population figures in Nigeria have never been reliable. They are usually estimated, and even these can differ. I have seen an estimate of 101 million people from the ABC Country Book, 114 million from the World Bank, 127 million from the United Nations estimate, all for the year 1995.
It has one of the highest population densities in the world (at one time, it had the third highest population densities), and roughly 1 out of every 4 Africans is a Nigerian.
There ARE plans to conduct another population census in the year 2001. In the meantime, this page prints two articles that I found on Nigeria's population and it's growth, and this page gives population figures/ratios from the US Census Bureau, and this page shows some additional figures.
RELIGION
To most Nigerians, religion and faith are important aspects of everyday life. It controls the laws, how you think and act, what you believe, what you value, and more. (Of course, in any 'religion', there are going to be hypocrites who claim to be what they are not.)
The religions in Nigeria are roughly 45% Christian, 45% Muslim, and about 10% 'everything else', including traditional religions and beliefs. Though the government supports the different religions, the past rulers have usually been Muslim.
Because it is difficult to 'summarize' the beliefs and history of a religion, and because this page is to give facts and not to preach, I try to give just the highlights of the religions below. For more information on the actual religion, you can find them in the books of the religion.
CHRISTIANITY
Deity God
Followers Christians
Book The Bible
Place of Worship The Church
'Main Prophet' Jesus Christ
ISLAM
Deity Allah
Followers Muslims
Book The Quran (spellings may differ)
Place of Worship The Mosque
Main Prophet Muhammed (spellings may differ
INFLUENCE
Outside influence from the missionaries of the different religions has influenced different parts of the culture in Nigeria. For instance, early Christian missionaries aided with getting printed matter, including vocabulary of the different languages, and teaching English to the people. Also, missionaries aided with Nigerian buildings and architecture, and with education and healthcare.
ETHNIC GROUPS
There are many many ethnic groups in Nigeria. The three most popular ones are Yoruba, Ibo (also spelled Igbo), and Hausa-Fulani, and I intend to have a lot more information in this section, especially about my own. For now though, here are some other links I found that MIGHT help (I haven't looked at them closely myself). Also, many of these ethnic groups have organizations worldwide.
Yoruba
Yoruba is the second largest language group in Africa, consisting of over 20 million people. The term "Yoruba" encompasses about twenty-five separate groups, each one culturally different from the next. Islam, Christianity, and the "traditional" Yoruba pantheon, the orisa, are all embraced in Yorubaland. The bond shared by all Yoruba peoples is the centrality of ritual to special occasions, as well as to everyday life.
Yoruba ritual is most remarkable in its transmutative quality. Not only can it alter itself to fit any circumstances, but it is rich with complex improvisation, to the point where distinguishing performers from spectators becomes an impossible task.
The Yoruba mentality, like that of the Mande people, can be traced backwards to their creation myths or cosmogony. This cosmogony is, in a sense, the basis for their rituals, social structureas well as their political activity. For instance, their notion of circularity and continuation is clearly represented in funerary and birth celebrations as the concept of the "otherworld" is often allude
IBO (or IGBO)
History: It is believed that the Igbo originated in an area about 100 miles north of their current location at the confluence of the Niger and Benue Rivers. They share linguistic ties with their neighbors the Bini, Igala, Yoruba, and Idoma, with the split between them probably occurring between five and six thousand years ago. The first Igbo in the region may have moved onto the Awka-Orlu plateau between four and five thousand years ago, before the emergence of sedentary agricultural practices. As this early group expanded, so too did the Igbo kingdom. The earliest surviving Igbo art forms are from the 10th century (Igbo Ukwu), and the fine quality of those copper alloy castings suggest that Igbo society had already achieved a level of technology rivaling contemporary Europeans.
Economy: The majority of Igbo are farmers. Their staple crop is yam, and its harvesting is a time for great celebration. They are able to produce yam efficiently enough to export it to their neighbors. With the assistance of migrant labor, they also harvest the fruit of the palm tree, which is processed into palm oil, and exported to Europe in large quantities, making it a fairly profitable cash crop.
Political Systems: The Igbo are a politically fragmented group, with numerous divisions resulting from geographic differences. There are also various subgroups delineated in accordance with clan, lineage, and village affiliations. They have no centralized chieftaincy, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs, as can be found among their neighbors. Instead, the responsibility of leadership has traditionally been left to the village councils, which include the heads of lineages, elders, titled men, and men who have established themselves economically within the community. It is possible for an Igbo man, through personal success, to become the nominal leader of the council.
Religion: As a result of regional and political fragmentation, which is mirrored in the several distinct languages traditionally spoken by the hundreds of different village groups, it would be reductionist to attempt to illustrate the traditional religious practices of the Igbo as a whole. Before the influence of Europeans and Christian missions, however, most Igbo practiced some form of ancestor worship, which held that in order to gain success in this world, one must appease of the spirits of the deceased. This might be accomplished in any number of ways. One of the primary ways of showing respect for the dead was through participation in the secret men's society, Mmo, which is the name used only in the northern part of Igbo land. In other parts, similar societies exist under different names. The second level of initiates was responsible for carrying out the funeral ceremonies for the deceased and inducting the departed spirits into the ebe mmo
Society-HAUSA
The Hausa consist of the Hausa-speaking, Muslim population of Northern
Nigeria and the adjacent areas of Niger, which have traditionally
been organized into large, centralized states. Originally, the name
"Hausa" referred only to the language of the Habe people of this area,
who were organized into 7 independent but closely related states called
Biram, Daura, Kano, Katsina, Gobir, Rano, and Zazzau or Zaria. Early
in the nineteenth century, the Habe states were conquered by the Fulbe
(Fulani, Peul), waging a jihad or Muslim "holy war" under the leadership
of Uthman dan Fodio. The Fulbe established the Sokoto Caliphate or
Empire, which ultimately incorporated some 15 states called emirates,
each headed by a ruling dynasty of Fulbe origin. The deposed Habe
dynasties of Zaria and Katsina set up new states at Abuja and Maradi
and a third Habe state was established at Argunga. In these states,
Habe customs survived largely unchanged by Fulbe influence.
The Fulbe rulers of the Hausa states progressively adopted the sedentary
life, language, and other customs of the subject Habe population,
partly through intermarriage. They are called the "Settled" or "Town"
Fulbe to distinguish them from the "Bush" or nomadic Fulbe. Thus the
term "Hausa" is now normally used to refer to both the original Habe
population and the settled, acculturated Fulbe ruling aristocracy.
It also extends to people of different ethnic origins, such as Tuareg
or Kanuri, where they have adopted the Hausa language and culture.
Scattered throughout the center of the Hausa area are Hausa-speaking
groups who have never converted to Islam. These "pagan" Hausa-speakers
are generally called Maguzawa.
The modern Hausa of Nigeria are mainly concentrated in the provinces
of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zaria. Their population probably numbers
between 6 and 8 million in Nigeria alone, and the Hausa language,
which belongs to the Chad branch of the Afro-asiatic language family,
is an important lingua franca in West Africa.
Most Muslim Hausa are part-time farmers and part-time occupational
specialists, while the pagan Hausa are for the most part full-time
subsistence agriculturalists. Agriculture is scheduled around the
May-October rainy season. Grain crops of millet, maize, Guinea corn,
and rice supply the bulk of the diet. A wide range of additional crops,
such as peanuts, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, cotton, sugarcane, bamboo,
tobacco, cassava, and other root crops are grown both for household
consumption and as cash crops. Uncultivated plants are exploited as
sources of fuel, thatch, food, and fiber. Livestock raising is another
important feature of economic activities, and the Hausa inventory
of domestic animals includes horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, and poultry.
A few cattle are raised, but for the most part the Hausa get cattle
and cattle products through trade with the pastoral Fulbe. Except
at the elite levels or where there is sufficient market demand, occupational
specialties are pursued on a part-time basis in conjunction with subsistence
agriculture.
Exchange of goods and services takes place within a cash economy.
A system of markets and traders links together constituent units of
the state and the state to outside groups. Small rural villages have
periodic markets, while larger settlements have daily markets. At
the top of the hierarchy is a central market, located in the administrative
center of the state. A series of market officials oversee the activities
and settle disputes within the marketplace.
Muslim Hausa social organization is characterized by a complex system
of stratification, based on occupation, wealth, birth, and patron-client
ties. Occupational specialties are ranked and tend to be hereditary,
to the extent that the first son is expected to follow his father's
occupation. Wealth gives its possessor a certain amount of prestige
and power, especially in forming ties of patronage. One's status is
also determined by the status of one's family. Finally, all Hausa
men are caught up in a network of patron-client ties that permeates
the society. Patron-client ties are used as means of access to favors
and power.
The pagan Hausa are organized into small villages of exogamous patrilineal
kin. The local organization of the Muslim Hausa is more complex. Here
the smallest social unit within a community is the compound. Minimally
a compound is occupied by a man, his wife or wives, and their children.
Frequently, it includes more than one such family, and, in such cases,
usually comprises a patrilocal extended family or a joint fraternal
family. Compound activities are under the direction of a male head,
and compound members cooperate in agriculture and share in its products.
Occupational specialties are pursued on a more individual basis.
By law, a Muslim man may have up to four wives and any number of concubines.
Nevertheless, divorces are common. The extent to which polygyny is
practiced depends on the ability of a man to support larger families.
Wives are ranked according to the order in which they were married.
Marriage between close kin, especially cousins, is the preferred pattern.
Family relations are marked by respect and avoidance behavior. Households
vary in the extent to which women are secluded among the elite, full
seclusion is the general rule. Partial seclusion or no seclusion also
occurs. In the household division of labor, men are responsible for
agriculture, collecting activities, marketing, sewing, laundry, building
repairs, and transport. Women cook, clean house, take care of children,
pursue their craft specialties, and sometimes engage in trade.
Residential clusters of wards or hamlets, each with a ward or community
head, are organized into villages under the direction of the village
head. In the past, groups of villages were held in fief by titled
officials living in the capital. Fiefs were attached to particular
tribes and were granted by the emir, or head of the state. Administration
on the local level was carried out by officials appointed by the fief
holder. The main local administrative official was the village chief,
whose duties included collection of tribute, recruiting men for military
service, organizing corvee labor, and acting in minor juridical matters.
The fief holder was the intermediate link between the village chief
and the state level.
British intervention led to changes in this system. At present, the
duties of village chiefs are limited to the disposition of unoccupied
village lands. The British imposed a system of districts in place
of fiefs, as an intermediate level in the political organization.
The districts encompass a larger number of subject villages (about
10-30 per district) than did the fiefs.
At the top of the political hierarchy the Hausa are organized into
states, or emirates, ruled by the emir. Emirs are selected from the
ruling lineages by a council of clerics (Mallamai). After British
intervention, the selection of an emir had to be approved by the British
government. Emirs have the ultimate power in administrative and judicial
functions of the state, and delegate lesser officials to carry out
these functions. Emirs had somewhat more power in the past than they
do today, however, when they appointed fief heads and more officials.
The British, by interposing a series of departments to handle state
affairs, spread out some of the powers that had formerly been reserved
to the emir. At present, many of the important decisions are made
by the emir in conjunction with senior department heads whom he chooses.
The emir, the top state bureaucrats, the two state priests, and the
central market are all located in a capital city.
The Islamic religion was introduced among the Hausa as early as the
1500s, but its predominance was not fully established until the Fulbe-led
jihad (holy war) of the early nineteenth century. Pilgrimages, daily
prayer, attendance at mosque ceremonies, adherence to Islamic law,
and the stress on Quaranic [Koranic--HRAF Note] learning are major
elements of the Islamic faith. Mallamai (men of Quaranic learning)
teach the faith and have relatively high status in Hausa society.
The Mallamai are ranked by degree of learning and status, with those
at the top of the hierarchy serving in state-level offices that combine
both religious and secular powers. Individual participation in Islam
is variable, the degree of adherence to Islamic practices being greater
among those of wealth and power than among the poorer, lower-status
groups. Further, the traditional Hausa religion continues to be followed
by the pagan Hausa. This religion is oriented around a variety of
spirits, both good and bad. Pagan ritual elements include sacrificial
offerings to the spirits and spirit possession. Most ritual is carried
out at the family level, but the pagan Hausa also have specialists
who divine and prescribe cures for illnesses. Among the Muslim Hausa,
participation in spirit possession cults, limited to women and members
of the lower strata, is indicative of the persistence of some of the
more traditional Hausa religious beliefs.
|
|