NIGERIA

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Population:

• 126,635,626

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)

Net migration rate:

• 0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:

• at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female
• total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

• 73.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

• total population: 51.07 years
• male: 51.07 years
• female: 51.07 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:

• 5.57 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Nationality:

• noun: Nigerian(s)
• adjective: Nigerian

Ethnic groups:

• Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups; the following are the most populous and politically influential: Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%

Religions:

• Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%

Languages

• English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani

Literacy:

• definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 57.1%
• male: 67.3%
• female: 47.3% (1995 est.)

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Country name:

• conventional long form: Federal Republic of Nigeria
• conventional short form: Nigeria

Government type:

• military government; Nigeria has been ruled by one military regime after another since 31 December 1983; on 1 October 1995, the present military government announced it will turn power over to democratically elected civilian authorities on 1 October 1998

National 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:

• 36 states and 1 territory*; Abia, Abuja Federal Capital Territory*, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara

Independence:

• 1 October 1960 (from UK)

Republics and Regimes Since Independence

National holiday:

• Independence Day, 1 October (1960)

Constitution:

• 1979 constitution still partially in force; plan for 1989 constitution to take effect in 1993 was not implemented; draft 1995 constitution has not been published; the military government rules by decree

Legal system:

• based on English common law, Islamic law, and tribal law

Suffrage:

• 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

• chief of state:  President Olusegun OBASANJO (since 29 May 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Olusegun OBASANJO (since 29 May 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
• cabinet: Federal Executive Council (chaired by the Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council)
• elections: president is elected by popular vote for no more than two four-year terms; election last held 27 February 1999 (next to be held NA 2003)
election results: Olusegun OBASANJO (PDP) elected president; percent of vote - Olusegun OBASANJO 62.8%, Olu FALAE (APP-AD) 37.2%

Legislative branch:

bicameral National Assembly consists of Senate (109 seats, three from each state and one from the Federal Capital Territory; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and House of Representatives (360 seats, members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 20-24 February 1999 (next to be held NA 2003); House of Representatives - last held 20-24 February 1999 (next to be held NA 2003)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - PDP 58%, APP 23%, AD 19%; seats by party - PDP 65, APP 24, AD 20; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PDP 58%, APP 30%, AD 12%; seats by party - PDP 215, APP 75, AD 70

Election Report From The Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

Judicial branch:

• Supreme Court, judges appointed by the Provisional Ruling Council; Federal Court of Appeal, judges are appointed by the federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee

Political parties and leaders:

All People's Party or APP [Alhaji Yusuf ALI]; Alliance for Democracy or AD [Yusuf MAMMAN]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Barnabas GEMADE]

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Jibril AMINU
chancery: 1333 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone: [1] (202) 986-8400
FAX: [1] (202) 775-1385
consulate(s) general: Atlanta and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Howard Franklin JETER
embassy: 7 Mambilla Drive, Abuja
mailing address: P. O. Box 554, Lagos
telephone: [234] (1) 261-0050, -0078
FAX: [234] (1) 261-0257

Government Information Server

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Economy—overview:

• The oil-rich Nigerian economy, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, and poor macroeconomic management, is undergoing substantial economic reform under the new civilian administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now must import food.

 

Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in August 2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the Paris Club and a $1 billion loan from the IMF, both contingent on economic reforms. Increases in foreign investment and oil production combined with high world oil prices should push growth over 4% in 2001-02.

GDP:

• purchasing power parity: $117 billion (2000 est.)
• real growth rate: 3.5% (2000 est.)
• per capita: purchasing power parity—$950 (2000 est.)
• composition by sector: agriculture: 40% industry: 40% services: 20% (1999 est.)

Inflation rate—consumer price index:

• 6.5% (2000 est.)

Labor force:

• total:  66 million (1999 est.)
• by occupation: agriculture 70%, industry 10%, services 20% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:

• 28% (1992 est.)

Budget:

• revenues: $3.4 billion
• expenditures: $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Exports:

• total value: $22.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
• commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber
• partners: US 36%, India 9%, Spain 8%, Brazil 6%, France 6%, (1999)

Imports:

• total value: $10.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
• commodities: machinery, chemicals, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food and animals
• partners: UK 11%, Germany 10%, US 9%, France 8%, China 6% (1999)

Debt—external:

• $32 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid:

• recipient: ODA $250 million (1998)

Currency:

• 1 naira (N) = 100 kobo

Exchange rates:

• naira (N) per US$1—110.005 (January 2001), 101.697 (2000), 96.261 (October 1999), 99 (1999), 21.886 (1998), 21.886 (1997), 21.895 (1995)

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Military branches:

• Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Police Force

Military manpower—military age:

• 18 years of age

Military manpower—availability:

• males age 15-49: 29,940,922 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures—dollar figure:

• $360 million (FY00)

Military expenditures—percent of GDP:

• 10% (FY00)

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Disputes—international:

• Demarcation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, is completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria
• dispute with Cameroon over land and maritime boundaries around the Bakasi Peninsula is currently before the ICJ
• Maritime boundary dispute with Equatorial Guinea because of disputed jurisdiction over oil-rich areas in the Gulf of Guinea

Illicit drugs:

• facilitates movement of heroin en route from Southeast and Southwest Asia to Western Europe and North America; increasingly a transit route for cocaine from South America intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets