The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now imports a large quantity of its food products.

For a handful of heavily populated, impoverished countries, whose economies were largely dependent on oil – including Mexico, Nigeria, Algeria, and Libya – governments and business leaders failed to prepare for a market reversal, the price drop placed them in wrenching, sometimes desperate situations.

The party was in control of two states in and largely influential amongst the igbo ethnic area of Nigeria.

The Kanuri people ( Kanouri, Kanowri, also Yerwa and several subgroup names ) are an African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Bornu Empire: Bornu state in northeastern Nigeria, southeast Niger, western Chad and northern Cameroon.

Within each of the three regions the dominant ethnic groups ; the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo respectively formed political parties that were largely regional and based on ethnic allegiances: the Northern People's Congress ( NPC ) in the North ; the Action Group in the West ( AG ): and the National Conference of Nigeria and the Cameroons ( NCNC ) in the East.

These parties were not exclusively homogeneous in terms of their ethnic or regional make-up ; the disintegration of Nigeria resulted largely from the fact that these parties were primarily based in one region and one tribe.

He never returned to Africa but instead devoted himself largely to the development of trade with West Africa and especially to the opening up of the countries then forming the British protectorates of Nigeria.

The Gotel and Mambila Mountains at the border with Nigeria are largely composed of granite, which gives way to crystalline and metamorphic rock such as mica, schists, and gneiss.

Taraba State lies largely within the middle of Nigeria and consists of undulating landscape dotted with a few mountainous features.

The decision was reportedly made at a meeting on 2 July 2006 and The Vanguard newspaper of Nigeria reported the decision to secede.

Nigeria began to withdraw its forces, comprising some 3, 000 troops, beginning 1 August 2006, and a ceremony on 14 August marked the formal handover of the northern part of the peninsula.

The plain is densely forested including areas of Central African mangroves especially around Douala and in the estuary of the Cross River on the border with Nigeria.

Our Man in ... featured episodes on monkeywrenching in American logging and 419 scams in Nigeria.

Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East and the third-most populous on the African continent ( after Nigeria and Ethiopia ).

The WHO estimated that an additional 10 – 20 babies die per 1, 000 deliveries as a result of FGM ; the estimate was based on a 2006 study conducted on 28, 393 women attending delivery wards at 28 obstetric centers in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.

After the takeover in November 1993 by General Sani Abacha as the new Nigerian head of state, Ghana and Nigeria continued to consult on economic, political, and security issues affecting the two countries and West Africa as a whole.

There are more than 125 Campus Lions clubs in the world including nearly 2, 500 members on college and university campuses in Australia, Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, United States, Venezuela, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ghana-Lions KNUST.

Niger relies on the port at Cotonou ( Benin ), and to a lesser degree Lomé ( Togo ), and Port Harcourt ( Nigeria ), as its main route to overseas trade.

A feasibility study on has been carried out by consultants Team ( Nig ) Ltd of Nigeria ; the only obstacle now is the lack of funds.

Nigeria is already using gauge convertible sleepers on the Onne line, and would presumably use them on the Niger Extension, so that initially 1067mm gauge would be used with easy conversion to at a later date.

Nigeria maintains close relations with the Republic of Niger, in part because both nations share a large Hausa minority on each side of their 450-mile ( 1500 km ) border.

Niger relies on its neighbors, especially Benin and Nigeria for seaports which provide access to world markets.

Niger relies on the port at Cotonou, and to a lesser degree Lomé ( Togo ), and Port Harcourt ( Nigeria ), as its main route to overseas trade.

The earliest identified iron-using Nigerian culture is that of the Nok culture that thrived between approximately 900 BC and 200 AD on the Jos Plateau in northeastern Nigeria.

The Arochukwu kingdom which emerged after the Aro-Ibibio wars from 1630 – 1720, and went on to form the Aro Confederacy which economically dominated parts of midwestern and eastern Nigeria with pockets of influence in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon.

Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British Government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis.

On 27 October 1958 Britain agreed that Nigeria would become an independent state on 1 October 1960.

The Federation of Nigeria was granted full independence on the 1st October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions.

* Upper and Lower Nigeria-Article from the historic Catholic Encyclopedia on Nigeria.

The Tropical savanna climate or Tropical wet and dry climate, is extensive in area and covers most of Western Nigeria to central Nigeria beginning from the Tropical rainforest climate boundary in southern Nigeria to the central part of Nigeria, where it exerts enormous influence on the region.

Cameroon pointed to the Anglo-German treaty of 1913, which defined spheres of control in the region, as well as two agreements signed in the 1970s between Cameroon and Nigeria.

After earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Nigeria from a London University through correspondence, he went to the UK where he earned a law degree from London School of Economics.

The Eastern Region was one of Nigeria's federal divisions, dating back originally from the division of the colony Southern Nigeria in 1954.

Blacks from Mali, Nigeria and Senegal are mostly Sunnite Muslims, but do not make up more than 1-2 % of the population.

It was Kuti who coined the term " afrobeat " upon his return from a U. S. tour with his group Nigeria ' 70 ( formerly Koola Lobitos ).

Afrobeat originated from the southern part of Nigeria in the 1960s where Kuti experimented with many different forms of contemporary music of the time.

* West African Agricultural Market Observer / Observatoire du Marché Agricole ( RESIMAO ), a project of the West-African Market Information Network ( WAMIS-NET ), provides live market and commodity prices from fifty seven regional and local public agricultural markets across Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d ' Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo, and Nigeria.

Another is the 1988 Koko case in which 5 ships transported 8, 000 barrels of hazardous waste from Italy to the small town of Koko in Nigeria in exchange for $ 100 monthly rent which was paid to a Nigerian for the use of his farmland.

Highlights of the African collection include the Benin Bronzes, a magnificent brass head of a Yoruba ruler from Ife, Nigeria ; Asante goldwork from Ghana and the Torday collection of Central African sculpture, textiles and weaponry.

It is currently ruled by Cameroon following the transfer of sovereignty from neighbouring Nigeria as a result of a judgment by the International Court of Justice.

However, the area has aroused considerable interest from oil companies in the light of the discovery of rich reserves of high grade crude oil elsewhere in Nigeria.

Bordered by Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon, Lake Chad currently covers only 1350 square kilometers, down from 25, 000 square kilometers in 1963.

Several Arab states supported Libyan territorial claims to the Strip, among the most outspoken of which was Algeria, which provided training for anti-Habré forces, although most recruits for its training programs were from Nigeria or Cameroon, recruited and flown to Algeria by Libya.

The osu class systems of eastern Nigeria and southern Cameroon are derived from indigenous religious beliefs and discriminate against the " Osus " people as " owned by deities " and outcasts.

Congo was settled in the 7th and 8th centuries A. D. by Bantus from present-day Nigeria.

There is also a considerable number from outside Europe, particularly China and Nigeria.

International flights operate from here to Nigeria, Gabon, Benin, Ethiopia, Spain, Germany and France.

* West African Agricultural Market Observer / Observatoire du Marché Agricole ( RESIMAO ), a project of the West-African Market Information Network ( WAMIS-NET ), provides live market and commodity prices from fifty seven regional and local public agricultural markets across Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d ' Ivoire, Guinea, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo, and Nigeria.

They may also have disappeared from Angola, Mali, and Nigeria, but have been introduced to Rwanda and Swaziland.

* 1970 – Nigerian Civil War: After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.

Under international pressure, President Sirleaf requested in March 2006 that Nigeria extradite Charles Taylor, who was then brought before an international tribunal in Sierra Leone to face charges of crimes against humanity, arising from events during the Sierra Leone civil war ( his trial was later transferred to The Hague for security purposes ).

Originating from Nigeria ( specifically the Yoruba speaking tribes ) this nanchon includes many of the Ogoun spirits.

They are found in coastal marine and estuarine habitats, and in freshwater river systems along the west coast of Africa from the Senegal River south to the Kwanza River in Angola, including areas in Gambia, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Côte d ' Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Comprising 25 albums, the series includes music from regions that span the globe, including Sudan, Nigeria, Tibet, Indonesia, Latvia and Brazil.