Nigeria

Historical overview

The territory now known as Nigeria developed from many distinct societies, kingdoms and political systems. These included the Hausa city-states, the Kanem-Bornu Empire, the Oyo Empire, the Benin Kingdom, the Sokoto Caliphate and numerous Igbo communities with decentralised political institutions. Trans-Saharan trade, regional commerce and religious scholarship connected these societies with wider African and global networks.

Portuguese traders reached the coast in the fifteenth century. Over subsequent centuries, European commercial activity became deeply connected to the Atlantic slave trade, which forcibly displaced millions of Africans from the wider region. Nineteenth-century abolition movements and changing international trade patterns contributed to the expansion of commerce in palm oil and other products.

British colonial control developed through the annexation of Lagos in 1861, the establishment of the Oil Rivers Protectorate and later the Niger Coast Protectorate, and the creation of the Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorates. In 1914, the British administration amalgamated northern and southern Nigeria under one colonial administration. The arrangement joined territories with different political, economic, religious and administrative histories. nigeria-manila.orgConstitutional reforms during colonial rule gradually introduced limited political representation. The Clifford Constitution of 1922 introduced an electoral system with a very restricted franchise. The Richards Constitution of 1946 and Macpherson Constitution of 1951 expanded regional and representative institutions, although ultimate colonial authority remained with Britain.

Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960 under a federal parliamentary system. It became a republic on 1 October 1963. Political tensions, regional competition and military intervention culminated in the January 1966 coup. Subsequent violence against Igbo communities, particularly in northern Nigeria, contributed to the secession of the Eastern Region as the Republic of Biafra in May 1967. The Nigerian Civil War lasted until January 1970 and caused extensive civilian suffering, displacement and famine. Estimates of deaths vary substantially, and the archive should distinguish documented figures from disputed estimates. nigeria-manila.orgNigeria experienced further periods of military government, including the regimes of Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar. Civilian government returned in 1979 under the Second Republic, but another coup ended that government in December 1983. The annulment of the 12 June 1993 presidential election, widely regarded as having been won by Moshood Abiola, became a major constitutional crisis.

Following Abacha’s death in 1998, a transition programme led to the restoration of civilian government on 29 May 1999. The 1999 Constitution established the framework of the Fourth Republic. Nigeria remains a federal republic with three branches of government and a multi-party electoral system. Senate Committee on Constitution Review

Key historical timeline

1. Before 1800Major regional kingdoms and political systems flourish.
2. 1861Lagos annexed by Britain.
3. 1900British protectorates established in northern and southern Nigeria.
4. 1914Northern and Southern Nigeria amalgamated.
5. 1922Clifford Constitution introduces limited elected representation.
6. 1946Richards Constitution establishes regional structures.
7. 1951Macpherson Constitution expands representative government.
8. 1954Lyttleton Constitution strengthens federal arrangements.
9. 1 October 1960Nigeria gains independence.
10. 1 October 1963Nigeria becomes a republic.
11. January 1966First military coup.
12. May 1967Eastern Region declares the Republic of Biafra.
13. 1967–70Nigerian Civil War.
14. 1979Second Republic begins.
15. December 1983Military coup ends the Second Republic.
16. 12 June 1993Presidential election later annulled by the military government.
17. 1998Sani Abacha dies; transition to civilian rule begins.
18. 29 May 1999Fourth Republic begins.
19. 2007First transfer of federal power between elected civilian presidents.
20. 2010Goodluck Jonathan becomes president following Umaru Yar’Adua’s death.
21. 2015First opposition-party victory in a Nigerian presidential election.Important historical documents to digitiseSokoto Caliphate and regional kingdom records.British colonial treaties and administrative correspondence.Amalgamation Proclamation (1914).Clifford Constitution (1922).Richards Constitution (1946).Macpherson Constitution (1951).Lyttleton Constitution (1954).Nigerian Independence Constitution (1960).Republican Constitution (1963).Nigerian Civil War records, including Biafran and federal documents.1979 Constitution.Records concerning the 12 June 1993 election.Human-rights reports and records from military rule.Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999).Archives and research linksNational Archives of Nigeria – colonial records, newspapers, gazettes, official records and photographs.Senate Committee on Constitution Review – Constitutional history – constitutional timeline from 1914 onward.Embassy of Nigeria –

Archive notes

Historical overview – independence, civil war and military rule.

National Assembly of Nigeria – parliamentary and legislative records.

Nigerian Bar Association – legal and constitutional research resources.

Human-rights focus: Colonial dispossession, slavery and forced labour, civil-war civilian suffering, military repression, detention, restrictions on press freedom, the annulment of the 1993 election and the continuing struggle for accountable public institutions.