Nigeria: Facts & Stats

CULTURE

Traditions:

The majority of Nigerian families are very large by Western standards. Many Nigerian men take more than one wife. In some ethnic groups, the greater the number of children, the greater a man's standing in the eyes of his peers. Family units of ten or more are not uncommon.

In most Nigerian cultures, the father has his crops to tend to, while his wives will have their own jobs, whether they are tending the family garden, processing palm oil, or selling vegetables in the local market. Children may attend school. When they return home, the older boys will help their father with his work, while the girls and younger boys will go to their mothers.

Cultural heritage is widely recognized as the most important input in defining the national and ethnic cultures in Nigeria. Nigeria inherits great cultures of the Benin plateau, but also an impressive body of plastic, music and literary arts. All Nigerian governments, notwithstanding their political backgrounds and developmental orientations, proclaimed their intention to preserve cultural heritage and allow for its full recognition. The National Archives, the National Museum, the National Library and all the existing universities have taken over the task to work on research, restoration and preservation of the cultural heritage. Both federal and a few state agencies working in this field are fully supported from the federal funds.

Celebrations:

Nigeria has many local festivals that date back to the time before the arrival of the major religions, and which are still occasions for masquerade and dance. The local festivals cover an enormous range of events, from harvest festivals and betrothal festivals, to the investing of a new chief and funerals.

Dubar

The Durbar festival dates back hundreds of years to the time when the Emirate (state) in the north used horses in warfare. During this period, each town, district, and nobility household was expected to contribute a regiment to the defense of the Emirate. Once or twice a year, the Emirate military chiefs invited the various regiments for a Durbar (military parade) for the Emir and his chiefs. The festival begins with each group racing across the square at full gallop, swords glinting in the sun. They pass just few feet away from the Emir, then stop abruptly to salute him with raised swords.

Arugungu Fishing Festival

This colorful annual festival takes place in Arugungu,("ar-GOON-goo"), a riverside town in Kebbi State, about 64 miles from Sokoto. The leading tourist attraction in the area, the festival originated in Aug. 1934, when the late Sultan Dan Mu’azu made an historic visit. In tribute, a grand fishing festival was organized. Since then, it’s become a celebrated yearly event held between Feb. and March. During the festival, hundreds of local men and boys enter the water, armed with large fishnet scoops. The festival marks the end of the growing season and the harvest.

Sharo/Shadi Festival

The Fulani culture presents a complex system, involving age-old initiations. The most important is the Sharo or Shadi (flogging meeting), believed to have originated among the Jaful Fulani, whose ranks are still considered the finest. The festival proceeds with lively drumming, singing, cheers and self-praises from both competitors and challengers. When the excitement is at a fevered pitch, it is the time for flogging.

Eyo Festival

Eyo Festival is unique to Lagos area, and it is widely believed that Eyo is the forerunner of the modern day carnival in Brazil. On Eyo Day, the main highway in the heart of the city (from the end of Carter Bridge to Tinubu Square) is closed to traffic, allowing for procession from Idumota to Iga Idunganran. Here, the participants all pay homage to the Oba of Lagos. Eyo festival takes place whenever occasion and tradition demand, but it is usually held as the final burial rites for a highly regarded chief.

Alcohol:

The legal drinking age for alcohol beverages is 18.

Sports and Hobbies:

Nigeria has made its mark in global sports competition. Its national soccer team, the Super Eagles, is adjudged the best in Africa and one of the best ten in the world. Nigeria won the first World Cup in the under-16 category in China in 1985 and came second in the same category two years later in Canada.

Its Under-20 soccer team won the bronze medal in the Junior World Cup competition in the Soviet Union in 1985 and the silver medal in Saudi Arabia in 1989. In the 1994 World Cup competition, Nigeria led its group to qualify for the second round.

In professional boxing, Nigeria has produced three world champions (Hogan "Kid" Bassey (featherweight, 1957-1959); Dick Tiger, (middleweight, 1962-1963) and Massachusetts resident, Bash Ali (cruiserweight, 1987).

Nigeria's athletes have also won Olympic medals in long jump, 400 x 4 relay and several other track and field events.

Dozens of Nigerians are today professional athletes in Europe and America. A Nigerian based in the US, Hakeem Olajuwon, is today roundly adjudged the best basketballer in the world.

moving to Nigeriamoving to another countrylocal movelong distance movemoving a car
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1 2012 2013
Zipcode Finder
-- select state -- AlabamaAlaska ArizonaArkansas CaliforniaColorado ConnecticutDelaware District of ColumbiaFlorida GeorgiaHawaii IdahoIllinois IndianaIowa KansasKentucky LouisianaMaine MarylandMassachusetts MichiganMinnesota MississippiMissouri MontanaNebraska NevadaNew Hampshire New JerseyNew Mexico New YorkNorth Carolina North DakotaOhio OklahomaOregon PennsylvaniaRhode Island South CarolinaSouth Dakota TennesseeTexas UtahVermont VirginiaWashington West VirginiaWisconsin Wyoming NIGERIA AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA AMERICAN SAMOA ANDORRA ANGOLA ANGUILLA ANTIGUA AND BARB. ARGENTINA ARMENIA ARUBA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BENIN BERMUDA BHUTAN BOLIVIA BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BOUVET ISLAND BRAZIL BRITISH IN. OCEAN TER. BRITISH VIRGIN IS. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BULGARIA BURKINA FASO BURMA BURUNDI CAMEROON CANADA CANTON AND ENDER. IS. CAPE VERDE CAYMAN ISLANDS CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. CHAD CHILE CHINA CHRISTMAS ISLAND COCOS (KEELING) IS. COLOMBIA COMOROS CONGO COOK ISLANDS COSTA RICA COTE D'IVOIRE CROATIA CUBA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DEM. KAMPUCHEA DEM. YEMEN DENMARK DJIBOUTI DOMINICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DRONNING MAUD ISLAND EAST TIMOR ECUADOR EGYPT EL SALVADOR ENGLAND EQUATORIAL GUINEA ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FAEROE ISLANDS FALKLAND IS.-MALVINAS FIJI FINLAND FRANCE FRENCH GUIANA FRENCH POLYNESIA FRENCH SOUTHERN TER. GABON GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GIBRALTAR GREECE GREENLAND GRENADA GUADALOUPE GUAM GUATEMALA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU GUYANA HAITI HEARD AND MCDONALD IS. HONDURAS HONG KONG HUNGARY ICELAND INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JOHNSTON ISLAND JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KIRIBATI KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LAOS LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYA LIECHTENSTEIN LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MACAU MACEDONIA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MARTINIQUE MAURITANIA MAURITIUS MEXICO MIDWAY ISLANDS MOLDOVA MONACO MONGOLIA MONTSERRAT MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA NAURU NEPAL NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS ANTILLES NEW CALEDONIA NEW ZEALAND NICARAGUA NIGER NIGERIA NIUE NORFOLK ISLAND NORTH KOREA NORWAY OMAN PACIFIC IS. TRUST TER. PAKISTAN PANAMA PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PERU PHILIPPINES PITCAIRN ISLANDS POLAND PORTUGAL PUERTO RICO QATAR REUNION ROMANIA RUSSIA RWANDA SAMOA SAN MARINO SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE SAUDI ARABIA SCOTLAND SENEGAL SEYCHELLES SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SOLOMON ISLANDS SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA ST. HELENA ST. KITTS-NEVIS-ANG. ST. LUCIA ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON ST. VINCENT AND THE GREN. SUDAN SURINAME SVAL. AND JAN MAYEN IS. SWAZILAND SWEDEN SWITZERLAND SYRIA TAIWAN TAJIKISTAN TANZANIA THAILAND TOGO TOKELAU TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUNISIA TURKEY TURKMENISTAN TURKS AND CAICOS IS. TUVALU U.S. PACIFIC ISLANDS U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED KINGDOM United States of America URUGUAY UZBEKISTAN VANUATU VATICAN CITY STATE VENEZUELA VIETNAM WAKE ISLAND WALES WALLIS AND FUTUNA IS. WESTERN SAHARA YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC YUGOSLAVIA ZAIRE ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

You need help with:
Your move DATE is:
Moving FROM Zip:
Moving TO State:
Moving TO City: