Did You Know
Did You Know
Explore Hidden Facts About Nigeria
25
Famous Nigerian lawyer Adeyemo Alakija’s family changed their surname from the Afro-Brazilian surname Plasido in 1913.
26
The Kanem-Bornu Empire, of which the Kanuri people were a part, is believed to have been the first state founded in the area occupied by Nigeria. Its history goes back to the eighth century AD.
27
The first Nigerian national census took place in 1952-53. The population at that time was estimated to be 31.6 million.
28
Josiah Ransome-Kuti, Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s grandfather, was also a musician. A clergyman, he composed hymns in Yoruba for his church.
29
55 women were killed during the famous Women's War against colonial taxation in 1929.
30
King Sunny Ade was the first Nigerian to receive a Grammy Award nomination for his 1983 album Synchro System.
31
The Fulani people migrated to Nigeria in the thirteenth century from the Senegal River Valley.
32
The National Youth Service Corps was inaugurated on May 22, 1973.
33
Fela Kuti's home - the Kalakuta (a corruption of Calcutta) Republic, was named after the notorious police cell block in which he was detained in 1974.
34
Holy Trinity Primary School in Lokoja, Kogi State, is the oldest primary school in Northern Nigeria. It was founded in 1865.
35
Plateau State’s striking hills and mountains were created by volcanic activity over 50 million years ago.
36
Mungo Park, who is believed to be the first Westerner to have explored the central region of the River Niger, is buried in Jebba, Kwara State.
37
The colonisation of Nigeria took over forty years for Britain to complete.
38
Nigeria first participated in the Olympic Games in 1952.
39
Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna State is the second largest university in Africa.
40
In 1858, William Broughton Davies became the first Nigerian to qualify as a medical doctor.
41
The River Niger is called orimili/orimiri (meaning "great water") in Igbo and Oya in Yoruba.
42
The British Government gave the Royal Niger Company (later the United Africa Company, and now part of Unilever) £895,000 in exchange for revoking the trade charter it held from 1886 to 1900, essentially giving the British control of Nigeria.
43
Nigeria is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the Osun-Osogbo Grove in Osun State and the Sukur Cultural Landscape in Adamawa State).
44
Nnamdi Azikiwe served as a spokesperson for Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War.
45
Nigeria currently has the most internet users in Africa.
46
Zungeru in Niger State was the site at which the Northern and Southern Protectorates were amalgamated to form present-day Nigeria in 1914.
47
Dame Shirley Bassey, the famous British singer known for her James Bond theme song “Diamonds Are Forever,” is half Nigerian.
48
Nigeria's population is expected to surpass that of the USA by 2050.
