Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
successor immediately announced elections and, in February 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo, a
former military leader, was returned as president.
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Culture
With nearly 165 million people, Nigeria has a huge and expanding population. The main
ethnic groups are the Yoruba (in the southwest), Hausa (north) and Igbo (southeast), each
making up around a fifth of the population, followed by the northern Fulani (around
10%). It's thought that up to 250 languages are spoken in Nigeria.
Ordinary Nigerians struggle against systematic corruption through the natural entre-
preneurship of one of Africa's better-educated populations.
American-style evangelical mega-churches have sprouted up everywhere, though in vil-
lages many traditional belief systems remain intact. The north is predominantly Muslim.
Chinua Achebe
(Things Fall Apart)
was probably Nigeria's most famous author; he
died in March 2013. Equally acclaimed writers from Nigeria include the Nobel Laureate
Wole Soyinka, Booker Prize-winner Ben Okri
(The Famished Road)
and Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
(Half a Yellow Sun)
.
Some of Africa's best-known musicians have been Nigerian. Two styles have tradition-
ally been dominant, Afrobeat and
juju,
with their respective masters being the late Fela
Kuti and King Sunny Ade.
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Food & Drink
Nigerians like their food ('chop') hot and starchy. The classic dish is a fiery pepper stew
('soup') with a little meat or fish and accompanied by starch - usually pounded yam or
cassava (
garri, eba,
or the slightly sour
fufu
). Another popular dish is
jollof
- peppery
rice cooked with palm oil and tomato. Cutlery isn't generally used - the yam or cassava is
used to soak up the juices of the stew. As in most of Africa, you only eat with your right
hand.
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Environment