Random Facts About Nigeria III

Here is another list of interesting facts about Nigeria. Expect something slightly different soon!

• Nigeria is one of a few countries (others are Afghanistan and Pakistan) where polio is still endemic. India was taken off the ‘endemic’ list early this year, though it has not been declared a polio free country yet. North and South America were declared polio-free in 1994. Europe was declared polio-free in 2002.
• The flowers on the base of the Nigerian Coat of Arm are those of Costus spectabilis. It was chosen because it is found throughout Nigeria.
• Nigeria is the second largest importer of rice after Indonesia. It imported 2.1 million tons in 2011.
• Kainji Dam across the Niger River in Nigeria is one of the longest dams in the world. It has a length of about 8 kilometers. Construction lasted 4 years and was completed in 1968. It was officially commissioned by Major General Yakubu Gowon in 1969.
• The Nigerian National Assembly has two chambers: The upper chamber, or Senate, which has 109 seats and the lower chamber, or House of Representative, which has 360 members.
• Kaduna was made the capital of the British colony of Northern Nigeria in 1913.
• Fela (the late Afrobeat singer) was sent to London to study medicine but he opted to study music instead at the Trinity College of Music.
• The National Honours Act No. 5 of 1964 instituted the Nigerian National Honours. Below is a list of the honours in decreasing order of importance:

                Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR)

                Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON)

                Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR)

                Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON)

                Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR)

                Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON)

                Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR)

                Member of the Order of the Niger (MON)

Random Facts About Nigeria II

• Historically, Lagos Island was where the majority of the slave trade returnees from Brazil settled.
• Niger State is the largest state in Nigeria. It has an area of 76,363 square kilometers and was created on 3 February 1976. The second largest is Borno with an area of 70,898 square kilometers.
• The appellation of Yobe State is no longer “The Young Shall Grow”; it is now “The Pride OfThe Sahel.”
• River Niger is the third longest river in Africa. It has a length of about 4,180km and its source is in southeastern Guinea.
• University of Ibadan was founded in 1948 as a college of the University of London and became autonomous in 1962. 
• Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth from 1995 to 1999 to protest human rights abuses and the slow rate of democratization by the Abacha government.
• One of Nigeria’s oldest archaeological sites (if not the oldest) is at Iwo Eleru near Akure in southwestern Nigeria. Stone tools and human remains at the site date from 9000 BC.
• British Cameroons was a British Mandate territory in West Africa and the territory was administered as two areas, Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Following a plebiscite on 11 February 1961, Northern Cameroons became a region of Nigeria on 31 May 1961, while Southern Cameroons became part of the Republic of Cameroon later on 1 October of the same year.
• A recent Supreme Court judgment ceded 76 oil wells to Akwa Ibom State, effectively removing Cross River State from the list of oil producing states.
• Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade-ekeinde hails from Ondo State.
• Maryam Babangida (now late) had a Hausa mother from Niger State and an Igbo father from Asaba, Delta State.
• The cattle market in Potiskum, Yobe State is one of the largest in West Africa. It was attacked by gunmen some months ago.
• Ovonramwen was the last king of the Benin Kingdom. After the British military operation against Benin in 1897 which led to the looting of the city and death of many inhabitants, Ovonramwen was exiled to Calabar with his two wives, and died there in 1914. 

Random Facts About Nigeria

                

• The Highest point in Nigeria is Chappal Waddi (a mountain located in Taraba State, near the border with Cameroun) at 2,419m. Dimlang(Vogel) Peak on Shebshi Mountains (in Adamawa State) comes a close second at 2,042m.

• Modibbo is the Fulani word for Professor.

• The founder of the Sokoto caliphate, Usman dan Fodio, wrote nearly 100 texts in Arabic.

• Julius Berger, the construction giant, built Eko Bridge (its first project in Nigeria), Third Mainland Bridge and Abuja Stadium.

• River Benue, longest tributary of River Niger, rises in northern Cameroon.

• Professor Andrew Jonathan Nok(of Ahmadu  Bello University, Zaria,) discovered the gene responsible for the creation of Sialidase (SD), an enzyme which causes sleeping sickness (Trypanosomiasis). 

• In 1969, while the civil war was still ongoing, General Yakubu Gowon got married to Ms. Victoria Zakari. This was considered distasteful by many, including war commanders.

• The Dufuna Canoe was discovered by a Fulani herdsman in May 1987, in Dufuna Village while digging a well. Radiocarbon dating tests conducted indicates that it is over 8,000 years old, thus making it the oldest in Africa and 3rd oldest in the World. Egypt's oldest known boat is 5,000 years old. The canoe measures 8.4 meters in length, 0.5cm wide and 5cm thick and both ends of the canoe are pointed. 

Pic of Dufuna Canoe

• The first nationwide census was conducted in 1921. Other censuses conducted before this one were not nationwide. Earlier ones were conducted in Lagos colony in 1866, 1871, 1881, 1901.

• Tai Solarin was an atheist. Tai Solarin once said that "black people hold onto their God just as the drunken man holds on to the street lamp post—for physical support only.” He established Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State in 1956. Visit here for an interesting biography of Tai Solarin.

• Taio cruz, the British singer, was born to a Nigerian father.

• Thing Fall Apart (by Chinua Achebe) has been translated into over 50 languages.