A Brief History of Nigeria The Federal Republic of Nigeria, commonly referred to as Nigeria has a very rich history. The country is located in West Africa and shares borders with a number of countries. There is Cameroun and Chad to the East, Niger to the North, Benin to the West and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Before the arrival of the British Empire, as early as the 11, 000 BC, the region now known as Nigeria was inhabited by a number of ancient communities. Several empires were settled in the region and the largest as at the time was the Benin Empire ruled by the Oba of Benin. During the 11th and 15th century, the religion of Islam and Christianity were introduced respectively. In 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate after Lagos was invaded by the British forces in 1851. He year 1960 is very significant in the Nigeria History. It was the year the country finally gained her independence. October 1963, Nigeria became a republic after it proclaimed itself the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At the time, Governor General Nnamdi Azikiwe became the first president. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the founder of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka - a Nigeria University founded in 1955 and formally declared open in 1960. The country was hijacked by military rule in 1966. Then there was the civil war which in 1967 resulting from the creation of the Republic of Biafra. After the war, in 1979, the country became a republic again signifying the start of the second republic. During this period, a new constitution was drafted. The second republic lasted only four years before it was again hijacked by the military rule. In 1993, the third republic began which was hijacked again and finally the fourth republic began in 1999. The year 1999 was the beginning of Democracy in Nigeria. The first elected president was General Olusegun Obasanjo who was again re-elected in 2003. He was succeeded by Umaru Musa Yaradua in 2007 who died in 2010. In 2011, Dr Goodluck Jonathan was elected as president and was succeeded by Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. In the 2019 elections, President Muhammadu Buhari was re-elected again to continue his tenure as the president of Nigeria.

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