53 things about Nigeria @ 53

As Nigeria celebrates her 53rd
Independence anniversary
today, Daily Times serves our readers
53 unique things about the nation.
Happy reading:
1. The most commonly spoken phrase
in Nigeria is "How far?”
2. Nigeria is home to seven percent
(7%) of the total
languages spoken on earth. Taraba
State alone has more
languages than 30 African countries.
3. The Walls of Benin (800-1400AD),
in present day Edo
State, are the longest ancient
earthworks in the world.
4. The Yoruba tribe has the highest
rate of twin births in
the world. Igbo-Ora, a little town in
Oyo state, has been
nicknamed ‘Twin capital of the World’
because of its
unusually high rate of twins that is put
as high as 158 twins per 1000 births.
5. Sarki Muhammad Kanta The Great
of Kebbi, was the only ruler who
resisted control by Songhai, West
Africa’s
greatest empire at that time. He
founded and ruled the Hausa city-state
of Kebbi around 1600 A.D.
6. Africa’s oldest known boat is The
Dufuna canoe, which was discovered
in Dufuna village, Yobe State, by a
Fulani Herdsman in May 1987, while
he dug a well.
7. Sungbo’s Eredo, a 160 km rampart
equipped with guard
houses and moats, is reputed to be the
largest single pre-colonial monument
(or ancient fortification if you like) in
Africa. It is located in present-day
Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
8. The Jos Plateau Indigobird, a small
reddish-brown bird, is found nowhere
else on the planet but Plateau State.
9. The Anambra waxbill, a small bird
of many beautiful
colours, is found only in Southern
Nigeria and nowhere else on earth.
10. The Niger Delta (which is the
second largest delta on the planet),
has the highest concentration of
monotypic fish families in the world,
and is also home to 60 percent of
Nigeria’s mangrove forests.
11. Nigeria’s mangrove forests are the
largest in Africa and
third largest on earth.
12. According to the World Resources
Institute, Nigeria is
home to 4,715 different types of plant
species, and over 550 species of
breeding birds and mammals, making
it one of the most ecologically vibrant
places of the planet.
13. Ile-Ife, in present day Osun State,
was paved as early as 1000AD, with
decorations that originated from
ancient America.
14. Though the country has three
dominant tribes, Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba
and the Ibo (Igbo), there are over 250
ethnic groups.
15. Nigeria derives her name from the
Niger River which is the largest and
the longest river in West Africa and is
about 4,180 kilometres long.
16. The Nigerian movie industry which
produces between
150-200 movies every week is known
as Nollywood – it is ranked as the
world’s second-largest producer of
movies and trails just behind the
Indian Bollywood industry.
17. Areas surrounding Cross State
River and Calabar towards the south of
Nigeria are home to the largest
diversity of butterflies in the world.
18. Sarki Abdullah Burja of Kano
(ruled 1438-1452 AD), the 18th ruler
of Ancient Kano, created the first
Golden Age in Northern Nigeria and
ushered in a period of great
prosperity. During his reign, Hausa
became the biggest indigenous
language spoken in Africa after
Swahili.
19. Two of the world’s rarest species
of animals live in the mysterious
Nigerian forests - the Drill monkey
that lives in the Afi Mountain ranges
and the lowland Gorilla.
20. Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets became
the first team from
Africa to win a FIFA competition when
they won the U16
(now U17) World Cup in China in
1985.
21. Nigeria is the first African nation
to have won the
football gold medal of an Olympics
achieving this feat at
Atlanta’96.
22. The 50,000-seater ‘Faith
Tabernacle” of Winners
Chapel Churches is the largest church
auditorium in the world. Its 2008
Guinness Book world record has not
been broken even in 2013.
23. The University of Nigeria was the
first full-fledged
indigenous and first autonomous
university in Nigeria. The
origins of the university are in Yaba
College, founded in 1932 in Yaba,
Lagos as the first tertiary educational
institute in Nigeria.
24. Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
Nigeria’s Finance Minister is
Forbes’ 83rd Most Powerful Woman in
the World.
25. Nigeria’s Mrs Esther Taiwo
Olukoya and Mrs Emily Kehinde
Olukoga-Ogunde, who looked almost
identical, are probably the third set of
twins in the world to hit the century
age and perhaps the first in Africa.
26. A Nigerian man, Aliko Dangote –
founder of Dangote
Group, is the richest man in Africa and
richest black man in the world.
27. The richest woman in Africa,
Folorunsho Alakija, is a
Nigerian. She is worth about $600
million (N97 billion).
28. Iwe–Irohin, Nigeria's first
newspaper was established by a
missionary, Henry Townsend in 1859.
29. It is on record that Daily Times
Nigeria is the only Nigerian
newspaper to attain a 500,000 copy
circulation with one title. The Daily
Times had emerged a colossus.
30. Nigerian terror sect, Boko Haram
carried out its first
known attack in Borno in January
2011.
31. A Nigerian university, Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile-
Ife, Osun State has the most beautiful
campus in Africa. It was founded in
1962.
32. The Igbos of Eastern Nigeria
launched a series of massive riots that
put paid to Colonialism in Nigeria.
This was led by the women of Aba,
protesting the heavy taxation of the
colonial lords. They marched on the
colonial offices and chased the
administrators away.
33. President Musa Yar'Adua is the
first democratically
elected president to die in office.
34. Okobaba Sawmil, situated at Ebute
Meta Lagos, Nigeria is the largest
sawmill in Africa.
35. The largest Christian gatherings in
the world have been held in Nigeria -
(Holy Ghost Festivals; Redeemed
Christian Church of God; 5 to 12
million People).
36. If you go to some areas in the
Niger-Delta and step firmly on the soil,
crude oil will gush out.
37. Goodluck Jonathan is the first
democratic president that was not
elected after assuming the mantel of
leadership with the death of President
Musa Yar’Adua in 2010. He went on to
win the Presidential election a year
later.
38. Late Musa Yar'dua was the first
president to declare his assets
according to the provision of 1999
constitution of Nigeria.
39. The pastor of the largest church in
the United Kingdom is a Nigerian;
Matthew Ashimolow of the Kingsway
International Christian Centre.
40. Since Nigeria made her first FIFA
World Cup finals
appearance at USA’94; she has gone
on to appear in three other finals but
has never gone beyond the second
round.
41. Liberty Stadium Ibadan Oyo State,
Nigeria is the first
stadium to be built in Africa. The
stadium was opened in
1960 during the tenure of Chief
Obafemi Awolowo as the
Premier of the Western Region.
42. Hubert Ogunde was the first
professional theatre man in Nigeria
who lived entirely by the art.
43. According to reports, the late MKO
Abiola sent $10m to Youeri Museveni
to help topple the despot, Idi Amin
Dada.
44. Nigerian pidgin (which uses a
primary English lexicon) is also a
common lingua franca. Roughly a third
of Nigeria's
population speak Pidgin English which
is a simplified form of the language.
45. Some traditional cultural
expressions are found in the
various masquerades of Nigeria, such
as the Eyo
masquerades, the Ekpe and Ekpo
Masquerades of the Efik/Ibibio/
Annang/Igbo peoples of coastal south-
eastern Nigeria, and the Northern Edo
Masquerades. The most popular
Yoruba wooden masks are the Gelede
masquerades.
46. The country is listed among the
"Next Eleven" economies, and is one of
the fastest growing in the world with
the International Monetary Fund
projecting growth of 9 per cent in
2008 and 8.3 per cent in 2009.
47.In Intercontinental Hotel, Nigeria
has the tallest hotel in
West Africa built at a cost of N30
billion located in Lagos,
with a 23-storey building containing
358 rooms and 37
suites and a Presidential suite.
48. Lagos is the second fastest
growing city in Africa and the seventh
fastest growing city in the world. The
newest reports of the Nigeria Census
estimate the population is now 21
million, making Lagos the largest city
in Africa.
49. Nigeria has the highest maternal
mortality rate in Africa. Nigeria
accounts for 10 per cent of maternal
deaths in the world, ranking the
second highest after India.
50. The Power Holding Company of
Nigeria (PHCN) generates only 3,200
megawatts while the nation needs at
least 8,000 megawatts.
51. Nigeriahas more writers and
authors than the rest of
West African combined. And in
Professor Wole Soyinka has the
region’s first Nobel Prize winner.
52. Nigeria has the 4th largest
number of doctors in the
world.
53. There are more Muslims in Nigeria
than there are in Saudi Arabia - 60
million v 20 million. In fact, there are
more Muslims in Nigeria than there
are in any other country in Africa.