Nigeria

8000 B.C. – Creation of oldest currently known artifacts and stone shelters. Igboland mostly occupied by foragers, including Bantu ancestors.

3000–500 B.C. – Development of agriculture (probably including yam cultivation) and animal husbandry.

500 B.C. – A.D. 200 – Nok culture flourishes in Northern Nigeria.

400–100 B.C. – Ironworking develops around Opi, Nsukka

770 A.D. – Early Ijaw settlement.

800 – Mega-state at Igbo-Ukwu has complex social structure, produces copious artifacts including bronzes. Yoruba civilization already well established, based on thirteen farming villages centered at Ilé-Ifẹ̀.

900 – The reign of the Kingdom of Nri began.

1100 – The Islamic state of Borno was established.

1200 – Ilé-Ifẹ̀ becomes Yoruba metropolis.

1255 – Oba Ewedo comes to power in Benin Empire.

1450 – Beginning of European contact on the Atlantic coast.

1500 – The nominally Muslim Hausa Kingdoms were established in Northern Nigeria.

1700s - Transatlantic Slave Trade begins

1728 - Oyo Empire invades Kingdom of Dahomey.

1800 -Sokoto Caliphate, a Muslim state, established in Northern Nigeria; goes to war against the Yoruba states.

1807 - The British outlaw the Transatlantic Slave Trade

1851 - Jan. 1, the British sign the Treaty Between Great Britain and Lagos - an agreement between the United Kingdom and Oba Akitoye, the newly installed Oba of Lagos. This treaty outlawed the slave trade, ushering in the consular period in Lagos' history, wherein Britain provided military protection to Lagos.

1861 - Aug. 6 British annexes Lagos, with status of Crown Colony.

1880 - The conquest of Southern Nigeria by the British began.

1885 -Other European powers acknowledged British sovereignty over Nigeria at the Berlin Conference.

1892 - British raid uses maxim guns to defeat Ijebu Kingdom, thereby moving towards complete dominance in the southwest area surrounding Lagos.

1893 - British incorporate Yoruba lands in southwest into new protectorate.

1898 Beginning of Ekumeku Movement against British rule.

1900 - Jan. 1 All Nigeria now under Crown rule. Protectorate of Northern Nigeria created from Company holdings.

1901 - Anglo-Aro war begins between the Aro Confederacy in Eastern Nigeria, who opposed English rule and the spread of the Christian religion

1902 - Anglo-Aro war ends, the Aro Confederacy collapses

1914 - Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated into Nigeria. British Crown gained monopoly rights over mineral extraction. Nigerian soldiers fight under British command in World War I.

1920 - National Congress of British West Africa founded in Accra.

1928 - April British begin direct taxation.

1929 - New governor implements plans to expand taxation as a response, the women of Nigeria launched the "Women's War" or "The Aba Women's Riots of 1929". This insurrection was a strategically executed anti-colonial revolt organised by women to redress social, political, and economic grievances. The protest encompassed women from six ethnic groups (Ibibio, Andoni, Orgoni, Bonny, Opobo, and Igbo) During the events, many Warrant Chiefs were forced to resign and sixteen Native Courts were attacked, most of which were destroyed.

1937 - Shell D'Arcy Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (later Shell-BP) granted petroleum exploration rights.

1944 - National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons founded by Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe.

1945 -Countrywide general strike.

1946 -Nigeria entered a period of decolonization and growing Nigerian nationalism.

1950 -A conference of northern and southern delegates was held in Ibadan.

1951 - Yoruba-aligned Action Group founded; headed by Obafemi Awolowo.[1]

1953 - Northern vs. Southern violence breaks out in the Northern city of Kano.

1956 - Shell-BP expedition makes first discoveries of major petroleum deposits, at Olobiri and Afam.

1957 - Nigeria holds a Constitutional conference.

1959 - Nigeria holds its first national election to set up an independent government. Northern politicians won a majority of seats in the Parliament.

1959 - Petroleum Profits Tax Ordinance establishes 50–50 split of oil revenues between corporation and government. Socony Mobil receives offshore oil license.

1960 - October 1st Nigeria gains independence from Britain under Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa and President Nnamdi Azikiwe.

1962 Tennessee Nigeria receives offshore oil license.

1963 - October 1st Nigeria severs its remaining ties to Britain, marking the birth of the Nigerian First Republic.

Language & Ethnic Groups:

Nigeria is home to over 500 ethnic groups - the largest three being Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba - and there are 500+ languages spoken in the country but the official language of Nigeria is English.

Religion:

Per the 1953 census - 47.2% of Nigerians were Muslim, most practicing Shuni principles; 34.5% were Christian and 18.3% practiced a native/indigenous religion including Animism, Yoruba practices, etc.

Literature:

Nigerian literature after independence had what the western world would call a renaissance. Notable Nigerian writers include playwright Wole Soyinka, the first Black writer to win the Noble Prize of literature in 1986, novelist Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, John Pepper Clark, Gabriel Okara, and Abubakar Imam.

Sports:

Nigeria had its first appearance in the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952, and its first victory in 1954, when Emmanuel Ifeajuna won a gold medal in the high jump at the Commonwealth games in Cardiff. The most popular sport in Nigeria is football (soccer) with The Nigerian Football Federation having been created in 1945.

Historical Photos of Nigerian People