COUNTRIES

Each section of the museum houses artifacts, currency, national costumes and panels containing information of the country

Nigeria


National Flag


Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic and is located in West Africa and shares borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. The capital city is Abuja. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom.


Emblem

Profile:

Official Name - Federal Republic of Nigeria


Nationality - Nigerian


Chief City - Abuja


Location - West Africa


Population - 1,48,000,000


Area - 923,768 km


Official Languages - English, Hausa, Igbo, Youbra


Government - Presidential Federal Republic


Currency - Nigerian naira (NGN)


Independence - 1st October 1960


Map


national anthem

Arise, O Compatriots" (1978-present)
Arise, O compatriots,
Nigeria's call obey
To serve our Fatherland
With love and strength and faith.
The labour of our heroes past
Shall never be in vain,
To serve with heart and might
One nation bound in freedom, peace
and unity.
O God of creation,
Direct our noble cause;
Guide our Leaders right:
Help our Youth the truth to know,
In love and honesty to grow,
And living just and true,
Great lofty heights attain,
To build a nation where peace and
justice reign.

"Nigeria We Hail Thee" (1960-1978)
Nigeria we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood we stand,
Nigerians all are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.
Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle honour'd,
And this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.
O God of all creation,
Grant this our one request,
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed,
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed.

TRANSLATION

"Land of the Rising Sun" (Biafra's anthem 1967-1970)
Land of the rising sun, we love and cherish,
Beloved homeland of our brave heroes;
We must defend our lives or we shall
perish,
We shall protect our hearts from all our
foes;
But if the price is death for all we hold
dear,
Then let us die without a shred of fear.
Hail to Biafra, consecrated nation,
Oh fatherland, this be our solemn pledge:
Defending thee shall be a dedication,
Spilling our blood we'll count a privilege;
The waving standard which emboldens
the free
Shall always be our flag of liberty.
We shall emerge triumphant from this
ordeal,

And through the crucible unscathed we'll pass;
When we are poised the wounds of battle to heal,
We shall remember those who died in mass;
Then shall our trumpets peal the glorious song
Of victory we scored o'er might and wrong.
Oh God, protect us from the hidden pitfall,
Guide all our movements lest we go astray;
Give us the strength to heed the humanist call:
'To give and not to count the cost"
each day;
Bless those who rule to serve with
resoluteness,
To make this clime a land of
righteousness




Durbar festival


Yoruba Drummers


geography

Nigeria's main rivers are the Niger and the Benue which empty into the Niger Delta which is the world's largest river deltas. Nigeria is also an important centre of biodiversity. The areas surrounding Calabar has largest diversity of butterflies. The drill monkey is only found in wild in Southeast Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon.

climate

The north has almost desert-like climate, rain is less than 20 inches per year. The rest of the country, is savannah, and rainfall is between 20 and 60 inches per year.

economy

Nigeria has petroleum, which is exported and has the 10th largest proven reserves. Nigeria also has a wide array of under exploited mineral resources which include natural gas, coal, bauxite, tantalite, gold, tin, iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead and zinc. Agriculture used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of Nigeria. Nigeria also exported groundnuts, cocoa, and palm oil and a significant producer of coconuts, citrus fruits, maize, pearl millet, cassava, yams and sugar cane. Nigeria's largest city is Lagos which has an estimated population of 15 million today.

ethno-linguistic groups

Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups. The largest ethnic groups are the Fulani/Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, accounting for 68% of population, while the Edo, Ijaw, Ibibio, Ebira Nupe and Tiv comprise 27%.

language

The official language of Nigeria is English, which was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country The major languages spoken in Nigeria are Yoruba, Igbo and the Hausa language which is Afro- Asiatic; and Kanuri in Borno State.



yoruba nigeria

Traditional Village Huts




Market Place

sports

Like many nations, football is Nigeria's national sport. Nigeria's national football team, known as the Super Eagles, has made the World Cup on three occasions 1994, 1998, and 2002.

music

Nigeria (naija) has been called "the heart of African music" which fuses native rhythms with other musics from the Congo, Brazil, Cuba.

cuisine

In Nigeria cuisine has different spices, herbs and flavourings used with palm oil or groundnut oil to create deeply- flavoured sauces and soups which are very hot with chilli & peppers.

religion

The main religions are Islam and Christianity and indigenous religions, most notably Yoruba Orisha