Nigeria

Nigeria is a large oil-rich country in West Africa. It has land borders with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin.

Its capital is Abuja and the largest city is Lagos.

Colonial Nigeria

Nigeria was the most populous colony in Africa and one of the most prosperous, and it won its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. Tensions between ethnic groups - in part a legacy of the indirect rule model of imperialism - led to the Muslim Hausa-Fulani and Christian and animist Yoruba fighting a civil war with the Christian Ibo.

Modern Nigeria

Nigeria is the home to over 140 million people from different ethnicities and backgrounds. Having won its independence in 1960 Nigeria has continued to promote its sovereignty in the region, and assists its neighbors via the African Union or through supplying its neighbor’s power. Although Nigeria is considered a democracy, it suffers from government corruption. Political parties often hire rival gangs to influence Prebendalism refers to a specific type of corruption in Nigeria in which public offices or other state resources are distributed in a patron-client manner, or among "insider" lines. These can include ethnic and religious lines.

Nigeria continues to suffer from internal disunity, however, and this prompted one Nigerian nationalist to say, "Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression." One of the main splits is between Christians and Muslims - the nation is almost evenly split between the two.