Clothing

Nigerians wear a variety of clothes including western clothing and traditional attires. In the North, mostly Nigerian attire is worn to work, official and social meetings but in the South, western clothing is commonly worn to work and casually.

While the traditional clothing common for ceremonial events such as marriages, funerals as well as attending church on Sundays.
In general for cultural, ceremonial, semiformal or religious functions, colourful traditional outfits are usually preferred. However, nowadays more and more young people sport western casuals or trendy Nigerian outfits.

Commonly used terms for each part of clothing (Yoruba):

Fila – Hat (men)
Gele – Headwrap (women)
Buba - Shirt (men and women)
Iborun – Shawl (women)
Agbada - Loop Top (Men)
Iro/Rappa - Wrap Skirt (although Igbo men also where rappas)
Sokoto – Trousers

Music

Nigeria has been called "the heart of African music" because of its role in the development of West African highlife and palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the Congo for the development of several popular styles that were unique to Nigeria, like apala, fuji, jùjú, and Yo-pop. Nigerian music were traditionally played in groups and bands, highly instrumental including the likes of drums, brass, flutes, fiddles and xylophones.

Music in Nigeria was (still in some parts and cultures) used to mark occasions such as marriages and funerals, used as work songs, maintain royal traditions e.g. waking the chief, communicating meal times and other information. Traditional Nigerian music is rhythmic and spiritual in nature devoted to the Orisha, while the men played away on their instruments and bellow chants and choruses, women would dance as if in a trance, claimed to be possessed by some character. Nigerian musicians are now more diverse and have created their own styles of U.S hip-hop and Jamaican reggae.

Nigeria's musical output has achieved international acclaim not only in the fields of folk and popular music including the likes of King Sunny Ade & the African Beats, 2face Idibia, but also Western art music written by composers such as Fela Sowande.

Oyo

Ife was at one time considered the most senior Yuruba state. But by the 17th century it was eclipsed by Oyo. Lying further north, Oyo had the military advantage of a cavalry, and the right agricultural conditions to grow cereal. In the 18th century Oyo reached its peak, largely by profits of the slave trade. With the abolition of slavery its power waned. Today Ife continues to be regarded as the spiritual centre for all Yoruba, and the Ooni of Ife has considerable influence in the country.

Benin

The kingship of Benin is closely related to Ife. The first king, or Oba, of Benin is traditionally supposed to be a descendant of Oduduwa, the founder of Ife. The most distinctive examples of Benin craftsmanship are the bronze plaques, which adorned the palace walls. As in the artwork of Ife, the craftsmen of Benin produced bronze and copper heads celebrating the power of the Oba. The capital of Benin (not to be confused with the modern state of Benin, formerly Dahomey) was south west of Ife. One of the few early written accounts of this centre of power and trade is given by a Portuguese slave trader Joao Afonso Aveiro, who was astounded by what he described as the 'great city of Benin'. Over a hundred years later, a Dutch visitor compared it favourably with Amsterdam. Most of the art was looted by the British in 1897.

Ile Ife

In Yoruba mythology, Ife was founded by a senior deity Oduduwa, acting on the order of the supreme deity Olorun (also known as Oludmare). Oduduwa became the first ruler, or Ooni, of Ife.We know little of how these early Ooni exercised power or how their territory was administered, or precisely when the kingship started. We know that the landscape out of which Ife (and Benin) emerged consisted of a mixture of tropical forests and savannah land, affording very fertile soil and a high rainfall.

Oduduwa

Hero of the Yoruba People and common Ancestor.

Obatala is sometimes known as Oduduwa (in Ife).

Oduduwa the first Oni if Ife, fathered sixteen sons who founded the sixteen original kingdoms of the Yoruba, regarded in Ife as the Orisa who created dry land and performed feats elsewhere attributed to Obatala.


The oral history of the Yoruba describes an origin myth, which tells of God lowering a chain at Ile-Ife, down which came Oduduwa, the ancestor of all people. The empire of Oyo arose at the end of the 15th century aided by Portuguese guns. Expansion of the kingdom is associated with the acquisition of the horse. At the end of the 18th century civil war broke out at Oyo, the rebels called for assistance to the Fulani tribe, but the latter ended up conquering all of Oyo by the 1830s. The Fulani invasion pushed many Yoruba to the south where the towns of Ibadan and Abeokuta were founded. In the late 1880s, with the help of a British mediator, a treaty was signed between the various warring factions. Yorubaland was officially colonized by the British in 1901, but a system of indirect rule was established that mimicked the structure of Yoruba governance.

The opposing theory

The Bini believe that he is a Benin prince called EKALADERHAN who was banished by his father, the Ogiso of Benin. His name, the Binis claim, is derived from 'Idoduwa", a Bini word meaning fortune's path, symbolizing the painful exile from his ancestral home. In support of this, they claim, Oduduwa's son Oranmiyan later returned to Benin to rule the Empire around 1,000 AD. Oduduwa is believed to have had several sons (16 in number) who later became powerful traditional rulers of Yoruba land, most notably Alafin of Oyo, Oni of Ife, Oragun of Ila, Owa of Ilesha, Alake of Abeokuta and Osemawe of Ondo. Yoruba tradition holds that Oduduwa fled from Mecca to Ile-Ife, bringing with him the Ifa religion which was under persecution in Mecca. He established it firmly in Ile-Ife and founded the Ogboni cult to protect the ancient customs and institutions of his people. The Oduduwa shrine is still worshipped today in Ile-Ife as the cradle of Yoruba culture.

Obatala - brother of Oduduwa

Orishas, he's a Creator God who didn't get a chance to create.
He was issued with the task of building the Earth by Sky God Olorun, who gave him blueprints, a handful of mud, a chain, a five-toed chicken, and detailed instructions. Unfortunately, on his way to perform this important task, Obatala accidentally gatecrashes a God party and spent the rest of the evening roaring drunk on palm wine. Seeing the chance for fame and glory, his younger brother pinched the holy building materials and attempted to jerry-build the Earth himself. Advised by a friendly chameleon, he lowered the chain over the edge of heaven, climbed down, and tossed the lump of mud into the primeval sea. The chicken hopped onto the mud and began scratching it in all directions. Pretty soon there was a decent size landscape and thus was the Earth born. Olorun was so pleased with Oduduwa that he promoted him to God of the Earth, while the disgraced and boozy Obatala was put to work making mankind as punishment. If you ever wondered why humans aren't quite as perfect as they should be, here's the answer: he was drunk at the time. So now you know! Obatala eventually learned the error of his ways and became the Great White God of mankind, specialising in white wine, laundry and refrigerators. He's also God of the North, although in what capacity (Pole? Wind? Star?) is yet to be ascertained.

Introduction

Full name: The Federal Republic of Nigeria
Population: 140 million (Census, March 2006)

Population growth rate: 2.4 (% as of 2006)
Currency: Naira
Capital: Abuja
Biggest city: Lagos
Area: 920,773 sq km (355,376 sq miles)
Language: English and local languages including Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Fulani
Religions: Islam, Christianity, indigenous beliefs
President: Olusegun Obasanjo - transfering to Umaru Musa Yar’adua in May 2007

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Its neighbors are Benin, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. The lower course of the Niger River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea.

British influence and control over what would become Nigeria grew through the 19th century. A series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater autonomy; independence came in 1960. Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since independence. The recent elections (April 2007) marks the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in Nigeria’s history.