Population:
95,060,430 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.13% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
43.8 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
12.85 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
77.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
54.7 years
male:
53.54 years
female:
55.88 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.43 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Nigerian(s)
adjective:
Nigerian
Ethnic divisions:
north:
Hausa and Fulani
southwest:
Yoruba
southeast:
Ibos
non-Africans 27,000
note:
Hausa and Fulani, Yoruba, and Ibos together make up 65% of population
Religions: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
Languages:
English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
51%
male:
62%
female:
40%
Labor force:
42.844 million
by occupation:
agriculture 54%, industry, commerce, and services 19%, government 15%
note:
49% of population of working age (1985)
*Nigeria, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Federal Republic of Nigeria
conventional short form:
Nigeria
Digraph:
NI
Type:
military government since 31 December 1983; plans to turn over power to
elected civilians in August 1993
Capital:
Abuja
note:
on 12 December 1991 the capital was officially moved from Lagos to Abuja;
many government offices remain in Lagos pending completion of facilities in
Abuja
Administrative divisions:
30 states and 1 territory*; Abia, Abuja Capital Territory*, Adamawa, Akwa, Ibom, Anambra,
Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo,
Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Ondo,
Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe
Independence:
1 October 1960 (from UK)
Constitution:
1 October 1979, amended 9 February 1984, revised 1989
Legal system:
based on English common law, Islamic law, and tribal law
National holiday:
Independence Day, 1 October (1960)
Political parties and leaders:
Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alhaji Baba Gana KINGIBE, chairman; National
Republican Convention (NRC), Chief Tom IKIMI, chairman
note:
these are the only two political parties, and they were established by the
government in 1989
Suffrage:
21 years of age; universal
Elections:
President:
first presidential elections since the 31 December 1983 coup scheduled for
June 1993
Senate:
last held 4 July 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results - percent of vote
by party NA; seats - (total 84) SDP 47, NRC 37
House of Representatives:
last held 4 July 1992 (next to be held NA 1996); results - percent of vote
by party NA; seats - (total 577) SDP 310, NRC 267
Executive branch:
president, vice-president, cabinet
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Assembly consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower
house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Ibrahim BABANGIDA
(since 27 August 1985); Vice-President Admiral (Ret.) Augustus AIKHOMU
(since 30 August 1990)
*Nigeria, Government
Member of:
ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMO, IMF, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN,
UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNPROFOR, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Zubair Mahmud KAZAURE
chancery:
2201 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone:
(202) 822-1500
consulate general:
New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador William L. SWING
embassy:
2 Eleke Crescent, Lagos
mailing address:
P. O. Box 554, Lagos
telephone:
[234] (1) 610097
FAX:
[234] (1) 610257 branch office:
Abuja
consulate general:
Kaduna
Flag:
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green
*Nigeria, Economy
Overview:
Although Nigeria is Africa's leading oil-producing country, it remains poor
with a $300 per capita GDP. In 1991-92 massive government spending, much of
it to help ensure a smooth transition to civilian rule, ballooned the budget
deficit and caused inflation and interest rates to rise. The lack of fiscal
discipline forced the IMF to declare Nigeria not in compliance with an
18-month standby facility started in January 1991. Lagos has set ambitious
targets for expanding oil production capacity and is offering foreign
companies more attractive investment incentives. Government efforts to
reduce Nigeria's dependence on oil exports and to sustain noninflationary
growth, however, have fallen short because of inadequate new investment
funds and endemic corruption. Living standards remain below the level of the
early 1980s oil boom.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $35 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
3.6% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$300 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
60% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
28% (1992 est.)
Budget:
revenues $9 billion; expenditures $10.8 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Exports:
$12.7 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
oil 95%, cocoa, rubber
partners:
EC countries 43%, US 41%
Imports:
$7.8 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
consumer goods, capital equipment, chemicals, raw materials
partners:
EC countries 70%, US 16%
External debt:
$33.4 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
growth rate 5.5% (1991); accounts for 8.5% of GDP
Electricity:
4,740,000 kW capacity; 8,300 million kWh produced, 70 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries: crude oil and mining - coal, tin, columbite; primary processing industries -
palm oil, peanut, cotton, rubber, wood, hides and skins; manufacturing
industries - textiles, cement, building materials, food products, footwear,
chemical, printing, ceramics, steel
Agriculture:
accounts for 32% of GDP and half of labor force; inefficient small-scale
farming dominates; once a large net exporter of food and now an importer;
cash crops - cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, rubber; food crops - corn, rice,
sorghum, millet, cassava, yams; livestock - cattle, sheep, goats, pigs;
fishing and forestry resources extensively exploited
*Nigeria, Economy
Illicit drugs:
passenger and cargo air hub for West Africa facilitates Nigeria's position
as a major transit country for heroin en route from Southeast and Southwest
Asia via Africa to Western Europe and North America; increasingly a transit
route for cocaine from South America intended for West European and North
American markets (some of that cocaine is also consumed in Nigeria)
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $705 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3.0 billion;
Communist countries (1970-89), $2.2 billion
Currency:
1 naira (N) = 100 kobo
Exchange rates:
naira (N) per US$1 - 19.661 (December 1992), 17.298 (1992), 9.909 (1991),
8.038 (1990), 7.3647 (1989), 4.5370 (1988), 4.0160 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
*Nigeria, Communications