Nigeria

HDI ranking: ranked 148 out of 173 countries
The UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) measures a country’s achievements in terms
of life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income.

Nigeria is a country of diverse cultures, traditions and social experience. The population of
Nigeria is estimated at 130million making it Africa’s most populous and diverse country. It is
home to around 250 different ethnic groups including a predominantly Christian population
in the South and a largely Muslim community in the North of the country. Immense wealth
and opulence exist against a backdrop of poverty and the absence of basic amenities.
However, Nigeria aims to secure a common national identity through uniting its people
around the democratic process. The move to a democratically elected government in 1999
signalled an important milestone ending military dictatorship and a decade of political and
economic upheaval. General Obasanjo's inauguration as the democratic President of
Nigeria, has led to an air of openness, respect for human rights and civil society. While it
maybe argued that the political liberalisation in Nigeria has also allowed militants from
religious and ethnic groups to express their deep-rooted frustrations more freely, and
sometimes violently, the ensuing sense of freedom and optimism that come with democratic
rule has been welcomed.

The government has managed to stabilise the economy but, Nigeria still faces many
challenges: mass unemployment, poverty, social insecurity plus, a reluctance of former
associates of the previous military government to retire from political life. Progress to tackle
the deep-rooted corruption that haunts Nigerian life has been slow, however, public
expectations of the new democracy remain high. Infection rates of HIV and AIDS in Nigeria
although on the increase, are not as extreme as in other parts of Africa.

Nigeria's economy depends heavily on oil, which accounts for around 80% of government
revenue and 90% of foreign exchange earnings. Although the government earns billions of
US dollars a year from crude oil sales, the health of the economy is closely interlinked with
world oil prices. Recent budgetary action taken by the government has yet to ameliorate the
heavy burden of people struggling to feed their families or the inflationary constraints and
operational difficulties faced by local companies.

16 years of military rule has led to the deterioration of facilities, infrastructure and services
such as health, education, housing and sanitation. Many Nigerians still do not have access
to primary health care, basic education, adequate housing, electricity or water. The under-five
mortality rate is unusually high for a sub-Saharan African country and about 40% of the
population is not literate. All social indicators are markedly worse for women than for men.
Yet Nigeria holds enormous promise and potential for committed and able personnel willing
share their skills and experience.

Due to the dominance of the oil sector, capacity for productive economic activity has suffered
dramatically. The country lacks the technical and business skills needed to diversify the
economy and develop income-generating opportunities. This has been exacerbated by an
urban drift of young people from the rural areas in search for work and a better life.
Consequently, the lack of investment in agriculture, together with the encroaching desert and
restricted marketing opportunities, has made the need for alternative viable livelihoods
increasingly urgent.

Nigeria is keen to attract foreign investment and skilled human resources. In October 2001,
President Obasanjo helped to engineer the New Partnership for African Development
(NEPAD). It calls on the world to be a partner in Africa's development and commits African
states to instituting open government, respect for human rights and efforts to end wars in
return for more aid, foreign investment and a lifting of trade barriers that impede African
exports. The government has introduced economic reforms, including state enterprise
privatisation and exchange rate management. The World Bank has also approved loans to
assist with the implementation of these economic reforms; Key targets for privatisation are
infrastructure related, including electrical utilities and telecommunications. Nigeria’s
fledgling reforms anticipate a more robust and dynamic economic and social order.
However, pivotal to Nigeria’s success, will be the skills and dedication of individuals sharing
their knowledge and experience with local communities in an environment characterised by
challenge and opportunity.

Average Temperatures

Lagos January 27.2° C July 25.6°

Kano January 21.1° C

July 26.1° C

Average Annual Precipitation

Lagos 1,836 mm (72 in)

Kano 869 mm (35 in)

		FULL COUNTRY NAME: Federal
		Republic of Nigeria.
		FEDERATION UNIT: 36 states and
		Abuja, the Federal Capital.
		AREA: 350,000sq Miles. (560,000sq
		Kilometers)
		POPULATION: Over 120 million
		CAPITAL CITY: (Federal Capital Territory
		– (FCT): Abuja
		OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: English
		MAJOR LOCAL LANGUAGES: Yoruba,
		Igbo, Hausa, Edo, Efik, Kanuri.
		GOVERNMENT: Bicameral Presidential
		System of Government.
		PRESIDENT: Olusegun Obasanjo
		GDP: US $143.5 billion
		GDP PER HEAD: US $ 1380
		MAJOR INDUSTRIES: Crude Oil,
		Natural gas, Coal, Palm oil, Cocoa, Peanuts, Cotton
		MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS: USA, EU
		& Japan
		MONEY: Naira (N) and Kobo (kobo)
		TIME: GMT/UTC
		ELECTRIC CURRENT: 220 Volts, 50
		Cycles A/C
		RELIGION: Foreign religions include
		Christianity, Islam, Eckanka etc. Local Religions: Veneration of deities, Ancestral spirits, membership of cults still exist. However, the main object of worship still remains "Olodumare", God in Yoruba belief, "Chukwu and Chineke" in Igbo belief, "Obangidi" amongst the Hausas.
		MAJOR MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION:
		Motor vehicles, motorcycle, aircraft, train, canoe, speedboat.
		NIGERIA’S MOTTO: Unity and Faith,
		Peace and Progress.
		THE FLAG: The Flag is divided vertically
		into 3 equal parts. The central part is white and the 2 outer parts are green. The green of the flag represents agriculture and the white, unity and peace.

The VSO Nigeria country strategic plan for 2004-2009 is being implemented presently.
Through our strategy, we aim at consolidating VSO Nigeria’s programmatic work, build
stronger partnerships, actively utilise learning to ensure improvement in performance and
attain improved outcomes; engage more at federal (policy) and state levels but maintaining
its unique comparative advantage of being in touch at a grass roots level through
participatory approach VSO in Nigeria focuses on three Programme Areas

		Secure livelihoods,
		Education
		HIV/AIDS

Gender is a cross cutting theme.

Volunteer Community VSO has worked in Nigeria since 1958. Volunteers work at both federal and state government levels, as well as with non-government organisations (NGOs),
community and private sector organisations. Volunteer support includes sharing skills,
helping to build organisational capacity and developing sustainable programmes that meet
the needs of disadvantaged people. In addition to standard volunteer placements, VSO is
also involved in the Global exchange Programme partnering with British Council including an
implementing partner here in Nigeria; Youth Development placements (YD); Business
Partnership scheme and Short term Assignments made more effective with our merger with
BESO.

Presently there are 50 volunteers working in various states in Nigeria. Nigeria is a large
country with 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As a result of the long
distances from one part of the country to another, volunteer networking is managed by
dividing the country into 4 patches for convenience. These patches are the South East patch
(SE), South West patch (SW), North East (NE) and North West (NW) patches. Each patch is
made up of a cluster of states where VSO volunteers may be found and there is a volunteer
representative for each patch. Volunteers in each of the patches have a Volunteer
Representative (VR) and hold a Volunteer Patch Meeting (VPM) twice in a year including one
meeting held during the annual volunteer conference. New volunteers will be introduced to
the representatives in their patches when they arrive in country.

Nigeria has a very rich culture which is reflected in our dress sense, music, literature,
language, art, dance, folklore, film and more.

This culture reflects African, and in some instances, Islamic influences. In the north, the
principal inspiration for the architecture and calligraphy has been Islam. Because Islam
frowns on the representation of people and animals, art forms such as ceremonial carvings
are virtually absent in the north. In the south and non-Muslim parts of the north, indigenous
peoples produced their own works of art long before Europeans arrived, and still do!

Notwithstanding the colonial experience, Nigerian art and culture been enriched by its
engagement with Europeans.

Languages spoken include Hausa; Yoruba; Igbo; Pidgin and about 300 other languages.
The official language is English.

Traditional Dress
Because of the diverse peoples and traditions in Nigeria, each particular ethnic group has its
own unique traditional dress style. However, you may find cutting across all tribes some
particular dress style from one or two ethnic groups which have become popular and are
worn by all ethnic groups especially for special occasions. These include-
• buba - a loose neck blouse, usually long sleeves, and usually long enough to go a little
past the waist.
• iro - the bottom part of the outfit. Unfolded, it looks like a plain rectangular sheet, but when
worn it is wrapped around the waist, and folded to stay in place.
• gele - this is the headpiece. Unfolded, this also looks like a smaller plain rectangular
sheet, but it can be folded or tied in a variety of different ways. For example, the following
pictures are from the exact same piece of cloth:
• iborun or ipele - this is an extra 'scarf piece', which can either be tied around the neck, or
can be tied so that it goes diagonally across the body.
• kaba - this is a one-piece dress that can range between many many different styles.

For men, there are the following pieces of clothing:
• buba - this is also a loose neck shirt, usually long enough to go halfway down the thighs.
• sokoto - these are the lower part of the men's clothing, the pants, or the trousers, or
whatever you want to call them.
• fila - this is the round cap that is slid on the head.
• abeti-aja - this is another kind of cap, where the sides of the cap are made longer into a
triangular shape, and then folded up. (Translated to English, this name means "like the ears
of a dog".)
• agbada - on really festive occasions, men wear this over their buba and sokoto. It is a wide
armed piece of clothing, usually with a V-shaped neck, and long enough to reach the floor.
The arms are so long that they need to be bunched together when worn.

Food
Nigerians like to have a good meal and may have a heavy or light meal in the mornings.
However, no matter what we eat, one major ‘heavy meal’ is usually eaten once a day. Staple
foods are usually starchy and Nigerians love to cook with a lot of pepper and spices
especially those from the southwest and southeast. It must also be noted here that each
ethnic group in Nigeria have their own special delicacies peculiar to them. Continental
dishes are also prepared as well. Lots of vegetables and fruits are found as well in our
markets. The link below will tell more about Nigerian food http://www.settlement.
org/cp/english/nigeria/eating.html