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Nigeria Travel Guide

Nigeria has an image problem

Nigeria is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south. The name Nigeria was created from a portmanteau of the words Niger and Area, taken from the River Niger running through Nigeria.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the eighth most populous country in the world, and with a population of over 148 million it is the most populous 'black' country in the world. It is a regional power, is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Lagos is the largest and wildest city in Africa; taste the nightlife, the ''go slows'' or traffic jams and explore the economic and cultural powerhouse of Nigeria.

With a gross national product larger than that of South Africa and a population that accounts for one in four black Africans, Nigeria dominates West Africa economically, culturally and politically, but it has an image problem. Ask people what they think of Nigeria, and most will come up with words like corruption, violence and scams. As newly independent African countries suffered from instability, this Nigeria was one of the shakiest, enduring six coups and three presidential assassinations since independence in 1960. As tribal pressures strained Africa's new nations, Nigeria was torn by the continent's most violent tribal conflict - the Biafra War of 1967 to 1970, in which about a million people died.

As development became the new religion, Nigeria put its faith in oil, earning $100 billion in a decade. But oil prices crashed, and Nigeria found itself bankrupt, with an urban population dependent on foreign imports and a rural population that could no longer feed the nation. Nigeria has embarked on two courses that, once again, are being watched with interest across Africa. Both involve controlled liberalization - one in politics, the other in economics. Nigeria continues being a country of extremes, with great richness and great need.

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Guide of Nigeria Travel Guide