History

The history of Nigeria

From pre-colonial kingdoms to the republic of today, this is Nigeria's history told period by period. Each page covers what happened, why, and what came after, with the disputed parts of the story presented as disputed.

Published periods: 11Published periods
Timeline begins: c. 1000 BCETimeline begins
Published institutions: 15Published institutions

c. 1000 BCE – 1800s
Pre-Colonial Nigeria
Long before the territory known today as Nigeria existed as a single political unit, the region held empires, kingdoms, city-states and communities that governed themselves without centralised kingship. Their scale ranged from large tributary states in the savannah to town-based and lineage-based societies in the forest belt and the creeks of the Niger Delta.
8 states · 10 peoples
c. 9th century – 1860s
Trans-Saharan and Atlantic Trade
Two long-distance trading systems shaped the region: overland routes across the Sahara linking the savannah to North Africa, and Atlantic trade along the coast from the late fifteenth century, which came to include the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved people. Both altered wealth, politics and settlement patterns in the areas they touched.
7 states · 7 peoples
1861 – 1914
British Colonisation and the Scramble for Africa
British authority in the region expanded over roughly half a century, moving from consular influence and trading treaties to the annexation of Lagos, chartered company rule on the Niger, and the declaration of protectorates over the north and south. It was accomplished through a mixture of negotiation, treaty, blockade and military force.
6 states · 6 peoples
1914
The 1914 Amalgamation
On 1 January 1914 the British authorities merged the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria with the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, including the Colony of Lagos, into a single administrative entity called the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. It is the origin of Nigeria as one political unit.
3 states · 4 peoples
1914 – 1950s
Colonial Rule
For roughly four decades after the amalgamation, Nigeria was governed as a British dependency. Administration relied on existing rulers where they could be found and on appointed intermediaries where they could not; the economy was reoriented toward the export of agricultural commodities and minerals; and schooling, law, wage labour and urban growth changed daily life unevenly across the territory.
6 states · 5 peoples
1920s – 1960
The Nationalist Movement and the Path to Independence
Nigerian demands for self-government developed from petitions and newspaper campaigns in the 1920s into mass political parties competing in regional elections in the 1950s. Independence was reached through constitutional conferences rather than an armed struggle, and the terms agreed there set the shape of the federation.
5 states · 4 peoples
1960 – 1963
Independence, 1960
Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960 as a federation of three regions within the Commonwealth, with Elizabeth II as head of state represented by a Governor-General and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister. It became a republic on 1 October 1963, with Nnamdi Azikiwe as President.
3 states · 4 peoples
1960 – 1966
The First Republic
The First Republic covers Nigeria's first years of self-government under a parliamentary system, from independence in 1960 to the military intervention of January 1966. It was a period of institution building alongside escalating disputes over census figures, election results and control of the regions.
5 states · 5 peoples
1966 – 1970
Military Rule and the Nigerian Civil War
Between January 1966 and January 1970 Nigeria passed from parliamentary government to military rule, through two coups and large-scale violence against civilians, into a civil war fought between the federal government and the secessionist Republic of Biafra. Accounts of the causes, the conduct and the human cost of the war differ substantially between sources, and this page presents them as contested where they are contested.
7 states · 7 peoples
1970 – 1999
Post-War Nigeria and Military Governments
For most of the three decades after the civil war Nigeria was governed by the military, interrupted by the civilian Second Republic from 1979 to 1983. The period covers the oil boom and the debt crisis that followed it, repeated changes of government, the creation of many new states, the move of the capital to Abuja and the long, contested transitions back to civilian rule.
5 states · 5 peoples
1999 – present
The Fourth Republic
The Fourth Republic began on 29 May 1999, when elected civilian government was restored under the 1999 Constitution. It is the longest continuous period of civilian rule in Nigeria's history, and general elections have been held at four-year intervals since, including transfers of power between governing and opposition parties.
4 states · 5 peoples

Three places to start

c. 1000 BCE – 1800s

Pre-Colonial Nigeria

Long before the territory known today as Nigeria existed as a single political unit, the region held empires, kingdoms, city-states and communities that governed themselves without centralised kingship. Their scale ranged from large tributary states in the savannah to town-based and lineage-based societies in the forest belt and the creeks of the Niger Delta.

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Editorial illustration marking Nigerian independence in 1960

1960 – 1963

Independence, 1960

Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960 as a federation of three regions within the Commonwealth, with Elizabeth II as head of state represented by a Governor-General and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister. It became a republic on 1 October 1963, with Nnamdi Azikiwe as President.

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1966 – 1970

Military Rule and the Nigerian Civil War

Between January 1966 and January 1970 Nigeria passed from parliamentary government to military rule, through two coups and large-scale violence against civilians, into a civil war fought between the federal government and the secessionist Republic of Biafra. Accounts of the causes, the conduct and the human cost of the war differ substantially between sources, and this page presents them as contested where they are contested.

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How the timeline is built

Told period by period

Each era gets its own page: what happened, why, and what it led to. Follow the timeline in order or jump straight to the period you're after.

Contested parts marked as contested

Where sources disagree, especially around the civil war years, the page says so rather than picking a side.

Linked to who and where

Every period links to the states and peoples it shaped, so you can follow the thread into the rest of the site.

Some dates in Nigeria's early history are approximate, reconstructed from oral tradition, archaeology and colonial-era records rather than fixed documentation. Pages say so where relevant.