"text":"British influence and control over what would become Nigeria and Africa's most populous country grew through the 19th century. A series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater autonomy. After independence in 1960, politics were marked by coups and mostly military rule, until the death of a military head of state in 1998 allowed for a political transition. In 1999, a new constitution was adopted and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. The government continues to face the daunting task of institutionalizing democracy and reforming a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. In addition, Nigeria continues to experience longstanding ethnic and religious tensions. Although both the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections were marred by significant irregularities and violence, Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian rule since independence. The general elections of April 2007 marked the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's history and the elections of 2011 were generally regarded as credible. The 2015 election is considered the most well run in Nigeria since the return to civilian rule, with the umbrella opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, defeating the long-ruling People's Democratic Party that had governed since 1999."
"text":"soil degradation; rapid deforestation; urban air and water pollution; desertification; oil pollution - water, air, and soil; has suffered serious damage from oil spills; loss of arable land; rapid urbanization"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"the Niger River enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in the Gulf of Guinea"
"text":"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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2016 est.)"
"text":"Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups; the most populous and politically influential are: Hausa and the Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%"
},
"Languages":{
"text":"English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages"
},
"Religions":{
"text":"Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%"
"text":"Nigeria’s population is projected to grow from more than 186 million people in 2016 to 392 million in 2050, becoming the world’s fourth most populous country. Nigeria’s sustained high population growth rate will continue for the foreseeable future because of population momentum and its high birth rate. Abuja has not successfully implemented family planning programs to reduce and space births because of a lack of political will, government financing, and the availability and affordability of services and products, as well as a cultural preference for large families. Increased educational attainment, especially among women, and improvements in health care are needed to encourage and to better enable parents to opt for smaller families. Nigeria needs to harness the potential of its burgeoning youth population in order to boost economic development, reduce widespread poverty, and channel large numbers of unemployed youth into productive activities and away from ongoing religious and ethnic violence. While most movement of Nigerians is internal, significant emigration regionally and to the West provides an outlet for Nigerians looking for economic opportunities, seeking asylum, and increasingly pursuing higher education. Immigration largely of West Africans continues to be insufficient to offset emigration and the loss of highly skilled workers. Nigeria also is a major source, transit, and destination country for forced labor and sex trafficking."
"text":"named for the Niger River that flows through the west of the country to the Atlantic Ocean; from a native term \"Ni Gir\" meaning \"River Gir\""
"text":"President Maj. Gen. (ret.) Muhammadu BUHARI (since 29 May 2015); Vice President Oluyemi \"Yemi\" OSINBAJO (since 29 May 2015); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"President Maj.Gen. (ret.) Muhammadu BUHARI (since 29 May 2015); Vice President Oluyemi \"Yemi\" OSINBAJO (since 29 May 2015)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Federal Executive Council appointed by the president"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"president directly elected by 'qualified' majority popular vote and at least 25% of the votes cast in 24 of Nigeria's 36 states; president elected for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 28-29 March 2015 (next to be held in February 2019)"
"text":"bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (109 seats - 3 each for the 36 states and 1 for Abuja; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) and the House of Representatives (360 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"Senate - last held on 28-29 March 2015 (next to be held in February 2019); House of Representatives - last held on 28-29 March 2015 (next to be held in 2019)"
"text":"Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - APC 60, PDP 49; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - APC 225, PDP 125, other 10"
"text":"Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and 15 justices)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judges appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, a 23-member independent body of federal and state judicial officials; judge appointments confirmed by the Senate; judges serve until age 65"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Court of Appeal; Federal High Court; High Court of the Federal Capital Territory; Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory; Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory; state court system similar in structure to federal system"
"text":"Accord Party or ACC [Mohammad Lawal MALADO] ++ All Progressives Congress or APC [John Odigie OYEGUN] ++ All Progressives Grand Alliance or APGA [Victor C. UMEH] ++ Democratic Peoples Party or DPP [Biodun OGUNBIYI] ++ Labor Party or LP [Alhai Abdulkadir ABDULSALAM] ++ Peoples Democratic Party or PDP [Ahmed MAKARFI]"
"text":"Academic Staff Union for Universities or ASUU ++ Campaign for Democracy or CD ++ Civil Liberties Organization or CLO ++ Committee for the Defense of Human Rights or CDHR ++ Constitutional Right Project or CRP ++ Human Right Africa ++ National Association of Democratic Lawyers or NADL ++ National Association of Nigerian Students or NANS ++ Nigerian Bar Association or NBA ++ Nigerian Labor Congress or NLC ++ Nigerian Medical Association or NMA ++ Universal Defenders of Democracy or UDD",
"text":"Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive, Central District Area, Abuja"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"P. O. Box 5760, Garki, Abuja"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[234] (9) 461-4000"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[234] (9) 461-4171"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green; the color green represents the forests and abundant natural wealth of the country, white stands for peace and unity"
"text":"Following an April 2014 statistical \"rebasing\" exercise, Nigeria has emerged as Africa's largest economy, with 2015 GDP estimated at $1.1 trillion. Oil has been a dominant source of income and government revenues since the 1970s. Following the 2008-9 global financial crises, the banking sector was effectively recapitalized and regulation enhanced. Nigeria’s economic growth over the last five years has been driven by growth in agriculture, telecommunications, and services. Economic diversification and strong growth have not translated into a significant decline in poverty levels, however - over 62% of Nigeria's 170 million people still live in extreme poverty. ++ ++ Despite its strong fundamentals, oil-rich Nigeria has been hobbled by inadequate power supply, lack of infrastructure, delays in the passage of legislative reforms, an inefficient property registration system, restrictive trade policies, an inconsistent regulatory environment, a slow and ineffective judicial system, unreliable dispute resolution mechanisms, insecurity, and pervasive corruption. Regulatory constraints and security risks have limited new investment in oil and natural gas, and Nigeria's oil production has contracted every year since 2012. ++ ++ Because of lower oil prices, GDP growth in 2015 fell to around 3%, and government revenues declined, while the nonoil sector also contracted due to economic policy uncertainty. President BUHARI, elected in March 2015, has established a cabinet of economic ministers that includes several technocrats, and he has announced plans to increase transparency, diversify the economy away from oil, and improve fiscal management. The government is working to develop stronger public-private partnerships for roads, agriculture, and power. The medium-term outlook for Nigeria is positive, assuming oil output stabilizes and oil prices recover."
"text":"fixed-line subscribership remains only about 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular services growing rapidly, in part responding to the shortcomings of the fixed-line network; multiple cellular providers operate nationally with subscribership base over 80 per 100 persons"
"text":"country code - 234; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) (2015)"
"text":"nearly 70 federal government-controlled national and regional TV stations; all 36 states operate TV stations; several private TV stations operational; cable and satellite TV subscription services are available; network of federal government-controlled national, regional, and state radio stations; roughly 40 state government-owned radio stations typically carry their own programs except for news broadcasts; about 20 private radio stations; transmissions of international broadcasters are available (2007)"
"text":"the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea as high risk for piracy and armed robbery of ships; in 2014, 18 commercial vessels were boarded or attacked compared with 31 attacks in 2013; crews were robbed and stores or cargoes stolen; Nigerian pirates have extended the range of their attacks to as far away as Cote d'Ivoire"
"text":"Nigerian Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force (2013)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2012)"
},
"Military expenditures":{
"text":"0.89% of GDP (2012) ++ 0.98% of GDP (2011) ++ 0.89% of GDP (2010)"
}
},
"Transnational Issues":{
"Disputes - international":{
"text":"Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phaseout of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues; the ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River all contribute to the delay in implementation; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries; location of Benin-Niger-Nigeria tripoint is unresolved"
"text":"2,093,030 (Boko Haram attacks and counterinsurgency efforts in northern Nigeria; communal violence between Christians and Muslims in the middle belt region, political violence; flooding; forced evictions; cattle rustling; competition for resources) (2016)"
"text":"a transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets; consumer of amphetamines; safe haven for Nigerian narcotraffickers operating worldwide; major money-laundering center; massive corruption and criminal activity; Nigeria has improved some anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in June 2006; Nigeria's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF"
