Nigeria Facts
Nigeria is a West African country with 36 states and 1 federal capital, Abuja. It was established in 1914 through the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates by Lord Lugard and given its present name by his mistress, Flora Shaw.
Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and has had several military governments until 1999 when it became a democratic nation. With approximately 190 million people, it has the largest population in Africa and the seventh largest in the world. Nigeria is called the “Giant of Africa” because of its large population and economy.
The current president of Nigeria is Muhammadu Buhari who was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. With over 250 ethnic groups, it is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. Its three main ethnic groups are Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. Nigeria’s official language is English and its predominant religions are Christianity and Islam.
In terms of economy, as at 2015, it had the 20th biggest economy in the world with a value of over $500 billion in nominal GDP and over $1 trillion in purchasing power parity. It has been the largest economy in Africa several times with the No.1 position fluctuating between it and South Africa. Nigeria is listed among the “Next Eleven” economies soon to become the world’s biggest economies.
Nigeria Newspapers
Journalism in Nigeria has been active for over a century with the first newspaper called Iwe Irohin established by Christian missionary, Henry Townsend in 1859. Since then, several newspaper companies have emerged notable among which are Vanguard Nigeria, Punch Nigeria, Guardian Nigeria and so on.
Nigeria is also big on Radio and Television journalism with several news channels such as Channels, TVC, the national TV station – NTA, Rythm FM and several other hundreds of radio stations. International radio stations such as the BBC and VOA also have offices in Nigeria where they operate radio and television channels in English and local languages.
Internet-based journalism is also on the rise in Nigeria as most of the popular newspaper companies have an online presence with websites and social media pages where they deliver the latest news in Nigeria as it happens. There has been a meteoric rise in the number of individual blogs and websites publishing news leading to a lot of unverified information and fake news issues.
Brown envelope journalism is an issue in Nigerian journalism as some unethical journalists ask for or take bribes in order to write positive stories or to kill certain stories.
