NIGERIA BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Standard 10

Cultural Mosaics of Nigeria

Ethnicity in Nigeria

The concept of a "cultural mosaic" helps us conceptualize the diversity of regional and global culture. To some degree, it is possible classify and differentiate one culture from another. This assertion ignores the problem of determining boundaries. While the natural landscape sometimes provides relatively influential cultural boundaries, there is often a great deal of interchange and mixing where cultures meet. The concept of a transitional region illustrates the fact that ethnic and cultural characteristics are constantly changing, some places much faster than others. Cultural dynamism applies to Nigerian and African cultures as well. The cultural complexes and systems of present-day Nigeria are not those of 500 years ago, nor are they those of 100 years ago. While it is convenient and perhaps even necessary to take a static view of culture for educational purposes, it is also important to keep in mind the changing nature of culture. This reminder is particularly pertinent in the study of African life and culture. At least since the European colonial period, westerners have tended to view African societies as static and unchanging. As this essay will show, this is far from the truth.

African peoples have been and continue to be in constant interaction with one another, as well as with those from outside the continent. The concept of "fictive kinship" illustrates this idea well. The concept refers to the phenomenon of outsider adoption by members of a lineage. Thus, "fictive" refers to the fact that the lineage members are not actually biological descendents of the particular lineage. The relationship of fictive kinship has been an important one throughout Nigerian and African history. This is particularly true when migrants would join a new community. If approved by the local lineage leaders, the migrants would acquire fictive kinship of one degree or another, thereby offering them enhanced rights and privileges within their new home. Historical examples of this phenomenon are found in the nineteenth century historical geography of the Jos Plateau. Numerous small groups of migrants were assimilated into small lineages and ethnic groups during this period. The addition of these migrants sometimes even stimulated the development of new ethnic groups. One of the key points from this discussion of ethnicity and kinship is that both can be highly fluid and flexible in nature.

A contemporary Nigerian example also illustrates this point well. In the northern half of the country, Hausa language, dress, and other customs have been spreading in recent years. One area where elements of Hausa culture have expanded the fastest is Borno in the northeast. Within this region, many people are either learning Hausa as a second or third language or are abandoning their native language altogether. This broad process of "Hausanization" is also evident in the Jos Plateau region, where many small minority languages are struggling to survive. From the geographer’s perspective, the cultural mosaic of today may be less diverse than that of half a century ago. Cultural change in northern Nigeria has diminished the distinctions between people of different cultural and ethnic background. While this is occurring, other processes of fragmentation are occurring within this same region. For example, new Sufi Muslim orders form, introducing new religious teachings and practices.

As indicated above, one important aspect of culture is language. Language is considered critical because it contains the collective histories and stories of its speakers. Whenever small minority languages become "extinct," much history and cultural richness is lost. Even with processes of cultural homogenization at work, Nigeria remains the most linguistically diverse country in all of Africa, if not the world. The continent as a whole has approximately 1,000 distinct languages. Nigeria alone has approximately 25 to 50 percent of these languages. West Africa in general has much more linguistic diversity than other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. One of the interesting questions that geographers ask about this situation is why such linguistic diversity is found in West Africa and Nigeria in particular.

The answer to this question is complex and multi-faceted. A partial answer is that Nigeria is a land of relatively ancient settlement. Since many scholars believe that the Nigerian-Cameroonian borderland is the source of the great Bantu migrations of two to three thousand years ago, there is evidence of long-term settlement in Nigeria. And, since the various political and social groupings of Nigeria were never united until the coming of the British, there were few bases for linguistic homogenization. Long-term settlement combined with favorable environments also influenced the growth of a relatively large population. This population was partly divided based on the same environmental diversity, however. We must be careful not to reduce human linguistic diversity to environmental arguments, though. In the end, it is people interacting with one another that determine cultural forms and processes. In the northern part of the country, language was strongly influenced by the coming of Islam and trade with Maghreb merchants. Both Hausa and Fulani languages exhibit the influence of Arabic in their vocabulary and structure. This example illustrates the fact that Nigeria is a meeting ground for three of Africa’s four major language groups, the Afro-Asiatic, the Niger-Congo, and the Nilo-Saharan group. The preceding section has focused on broad aspects of cultural change within Nigeria. The following section presents a brief case study, which provides greater depth of understanding. The study area is in northeast Nigeria, in a bordering area of Hausaland.

"Markers other than language [are] also used to define ethnicity. Speakers of Bura (a Chadic language closely related to Marghi) saw themselves traditionally as two ethnic groups, Bura and Pabir, a view not necessarily shared by others. Bura mostly adhered to Christianity or to a local indigenous religion, and a few were Muslims. They lived originally in small, autonomous villages of 100 to 500 persons that expanded and split as the population grew. The Pabir had the same local economy as the Bura, but they were Muslim, they lived in larger (originally walled) villages of 400 to 3,000 with more northerly architectural styles, they resisted splitting up into subgroups, and they recognized a central ruler (emir) in a capital town (Biu). There was a strong movement in the 1980s among many Bura speakers to unite the two groups based on their common language, location, and interests in the wider society. Given long-standing conflicts that separated them as late as 1990, however, their common ethnicity was open to question."

This case study illustrates that ethnicity and cultural identity are not rigid. It also illustrates the cultural complexity found in very small areas of Nigeria. In this case, two groups of people speak the same language and perform similar economic activities. Differences exist, however, in religion, political organization, and preferred settlement type. Thus, while some people might consider these two groups one ethnic group, there are good reasons to believe that they are not united. Religion is one of the major differences addressed in this case study. It forms the basis for the next section.

Islam, Christianity and Cultural Geography in Nigeria

Islam is one of the dominant social institutions within Nigeria. While there are different varieties of Islamic faith outside of the dominant Sunni Islam, most notably Sufi orders, this general discussion will discuss Islam in a broad way. Before the specific case of Nigeria is examined, it is important to place the country within the large African community of Islam.

While most people think of the Middle East when they hear the word Islam, Africa has become an important Islamic region in its own right (see map). Contemporary estimates indicate that approximately one in three Africans is Muslim. In this regard, Nigeria has a higher percentage of Muslims than Africa as a whole, with approximately 50 percent of its population Muslim. As the map indicates, Islam is most prominent in northern Africa and along the eastern coastal region. The geographic distribution of Islam is strongly related to key processes of diffusion, which are outlined in the section on historical geography (standard 17). On the map, however, there is a well-defined geographic pattern of Muslim majority areas. The region of Muslim majority generally coincides with the Sudanic strip that crosses the continent. On the map, the southern edge of the Muslim majority region approximately coincides with the 10-degree north latitude line. Significantly, this loose boundary cuts across many African countries, including Nigeria, the Sudan, Ivory Coast, and Chad. This distribution is interesting since the French and the British determined the borders of these countries in the age of colonialism. Hence, part of the legacy of colonialism is that religiously divided societies were created in this part of Africa. One of the important things to note from the map is that Nigeria is not the only African country with large Muslim and non-Muslim populations. The Sudan is an important example of a country that has experienced religious-based civil war in recent years.

Religious difference is an important social division within Nigeria. Religious division is particularly acute because Nigeria’s religious geography is strongly regionalized. Because of colonial legacies, Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern half of the country (see the section on historical geography, standard 17, for more detail); Muslims are heavily concentrated in the northern half of the country. While sizable populations of Christians and Muslims live in many large urban areas, there is a strong regionalization in the religious geography of Nigeria. Just as ethnic separatism is more vital when ethnic groups are concentrated in space, so are religious conflicts more troubling when they are accompanied by geographical concentration. One aspect of this concentration is the potential impact that religion has on government. The debate over sharia’a law is one example of a regional religious conflict.

The term sharia’a refers to the set of rules and regulations set forth in Islamic law. In the late 1990s, and particularly after the transfer of government to civilian rule in 1999, many Muslims have heightened their demand for the introduction of Islamic law. In the fall of 1999, the government of Zamfara State, a northern state, announced the introduction of sharia’a law. At the beginning of 2000, this legal change became official, even though Christians and more moderate Muslims protested. After the announcement in Zamfara State, other northern states considered the adoption of Islamic law. While the federal government has temporarily intervened in the issue, it is not clear what will happen in the future. While proponents of Islamic law claim that it will apply only to Muslims, it will have a potentially significant impact on non-Muslims as well. For example, most versions of sharia’a law call for the separate education of boys and girls, separate taxis and buses for men and women, and the outright ban on alcohol. These social changes would inevitably impact Christians and other non-Muslims. In mid-February of 2000, violent and deadly riots erupted in Kaduna State after the government’s announcement that it was strongly considering the introduction of Islamic law. Several hundred people were killed in the aftermath. The battle over sharia’a is not simply a reflection of conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims; it is also a battle over place. Within struggles like these, individual Nigerians are participating in the making of place. Religion is only one factor that influences the making of place. In the case of sharia’a law, however, it is of vital importance.

One important dimension of Islam is that it sometimes serves as a trans-national and a trans-ethnic source of identity for its followers. This aspect of the faith is highly relevant to the situation of Nigeria. Muslims in Nigeria have a connection with other believers around the world. This connection is often expressed materially in the cultural landscape. Mosques, for example, often have architectural similarities with mosques in the Middle East. Minarets are the most visible element of this commonality. While there is a definite influence of outside architectural influence, most Nigerian mosques exhibit design elements and styles that are uniquely Nigerian. For more information on Islamic architectural diversity, visit Harvard’s Baobab Project. Sometimes the link between Nigerian Muslims and those in other countries is extremely direct. Saudi Arabia is one country with direct ties to Nigeria. The Saudi government has been directly involved in the construction of several large and elaborate mosques in the country. Saudi judges would also have been involved in the training of northern judges in Islamic law. It should also be pointed out that Christianity can also serve as a trans-national and trans-ethnic form of cultural identity.

Beyond a trans-national identity, Islam is important because it pervades many everyday activities. This influence is important in shaping the geographies of everyday life. One concept that geographers use to talk about these everyday local geographies is "sense of place." Sense of place conveys the meanings, emotional associations, and unique characteristics that are associated with particular places. A simple event from a Nigerian journey conveys the sense of place of many northern, Islamic areas. The event occurred on Friday, the most important day of prayer for Muslims. Muslim men are expected to be at a mosque, and preferably the central mosque, for afternoon prayers. While I was aware of this practice before I arrived in Nigeria, I was unprepared for what I witnessed one Friday afternoon as our group traveled through the northern Nigerian countryside. As we were making our way from Kano to Jos, we came upon a massive human roadblock. These were not soldiers or angry militants. Instead, the participants were devout Muslims participating in Friday prayers. Centered on the small village mosque, the faithful had blocked the main national highway that we were traveling. It was an amazing sight to witness the prominence of religion in these people’s lives. The corollary to this is that they didn’t seem to mind that they were disrupting traffic on the highway. One can see parallels between this event and the recent calls for the introduction of sharia’a law in areas with sizable Christian minorities.

Another way that Islam pervades one’s sense of place in the North is through the call to prayer. Since the call to prayer is issued five times a day at regular times, the call is important in the establishment of the daily rhythms of life. The crier’s loud voice, usually broadcast over a public address system, is an ever-present reminder to Muslims and non-Muslims alike that Islam is a dominant social institution in that place.

The Nigerian Middle Belt region

The middle belt region is representative of the dynamic nature of Nigeria’s cultural mosaics. One dynamic of the Nigerian middle belt is that it is a region of intense religious competition between Muslim and Christian missionaries. While the term missionary is often associated with whites in the context of Africa, the reality is that most missionaries, both Christian and Muslim are African. Because of the religious competition evident in the middle belt region, this region is symbolic of larger social and cultural trends within Nigeria and Africa. While it has been noted that Nigeria is a country that is divided based on religion, it is important to note that the middle belt is a region of transition between these two broadly defined communities. This region is also representative of the continental boundary areas between the advance of Christianity and Islam, respectively. It is also important to note that the use of the concept of religious competition should be used in a cautious way. While many Muslims and Christians are fervent in their faith and their proselytizing, others are much more moderate and accepting of religious difference. It is also important to note that many religious adherents adopt a particular religion partly out of economic motives. Because people have different and conflicting motives for social affiliation like religion, it is important to keep in mind that people cannot be reduced to simple categories like "Christian" or "Muslim."

Web Resources on Islam and Cultural Geography

Local Mosaics

Ethnic groups of Nigeria, like those of many other sub-Saharan peoples, have strong social ties based on kinship and descent. While generalization is difficult, there are some basic commonalities that can be noted. First, most Nigerian groups trace descent through the male line. This is referred to as patrilineal social organization. Second, local social life is often based on relationship to the local line of descent. One of the most important aspects of kinship is access to land. In most areas where land is held communally, individual households have usufruct rights (i.e. use rights that do not include strict "ownership" of the land), which are regulated by the local community. In most cases, if a person or a household wants to sell a piece of land, this is not possible. Land is under the control of the local lineage. This social formation keeps outsiders from establishing themselves on a permanent basis within the local community. Because kinship governs an individual’s access to land, it is a tremendously important social institution. This simplified account only indicates the broad relationship between kinship and local geographies. Local and regional variation exists on this general pattern. Colonialism and other forces of change have altered land tenure patterns in certain parts of the country.

Another socio-cultural institution that is variably distributed throughout Nigeria is polygyny. This refers to the social practice of men marrying more than one wife. While polygyny likely existed in the region before the coming of Islam, the religion is closely related to the contemporary practice of polygyny in Nigeria. Unlike most forms of Christianity, the Islamic law in Nigeria allows a man to have up to four wives. Many adherents of indigenous religions also practice polygyny. This partly illustrates the fact that polygynous households are not simply sets of social relationships between a man and his wives. These relationships also have economic consequences. Particularly in the rural areas, the household is the fundamental unit of economic production. By having several wives, the head of the household gains access to the labor of both his children and his multiple wives, arguably facilitating a more efficient economic unit. While some African women actively oppose the practice of polygyny, the practice continues in the contemporary era. A rough estimate of the number of polygynous households is approximately 10 percent of total households.

Age is another important social criteria within Nigerian society. Every person is born into an "age set." These age-based groups facilitate social, educational, and developmental activities of their members. They also emphasize the rites of passage that individuals go through during their lives. The oldest age sets are generally the most respected and powerful within local social life. Persons usually achieve the highest age level of full adulthood between the ages of 40 and 50. There are many examples of the way that status based on age manifests itself in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan Africa more broadly. Two examples from the Igbo area provide insight into particular cultural practices influenced by age status. "When meat is divided among family members, the senior male always receives the head, the next eldest the neck, and so on, such that the hierarchy of age is mapped symbolically by the body of the animal itself." Another example is the assembly of Igbo men at the meetinghouse. In the meetinghouse, the men order themselves based on age, physically indicating the significance of age within their culture. Emphasis on age and generation is also indicated by the important role that ancestors play in traditional African religion and culture. In general, ancestors are revered as having gained supreme age status and passed on to another world. Traditional African religions, however, place a strong stress on interactions between the living and their ancestors. Many people continue to maintain shrines to ancestors and make sacrifices to the deceased, seeking both protection and enlightenment in this world. Another important aspect of "generational geographies" is that retired persons often return to their home villages. This is particularly important for those who lived in the city for much of their life. Many of these returnees maintain a house in their home area while they are semi-permanently away from their home area.

Important changes in the twentieth century have diminished the importance and the nature of some of these cultural, religious, and social norms. The coming of Christianity and the spread of Islam have been two of the most important developments impacting these socio-cultural institutions. Urbanization and modernization have also played important roles in these processes of change. The dynamism of the colonial and post-colonial periods, however, is not unique to the history and the geography of Africa. African societies, like those throughout the world, have continually undergone social and cultural change of one kind or another.

Gendered Geographies

Just as gender roles and relations vary between countries, they also vary within countries. Nigeria is an excellent example of a country with tremendous regional variation in gender relations. In contemporary Nigeria, one of the most important influences on gender relations and roles is that of religion. Here it is important to re-emphasize the fact that Nigeria is a tremendously religious society. One dimension of this religiosity is the fact that most Nigerians makes less distinction between the spiritual and the secular than many other countries of the world, including western Europe and the United States. Thus, it is not surprising that religion plays such an important part in shaping the roles and relations between men and women. Within Nigeria, Islam is the religion that undoubtedly has the most significant impact on the lives of women in particular. Most women of childbearing age have minimal presence in the public sphere outside of their homes. Like many other Muslim areas in the world, this practice of purdah impacts the nature of local and regional geography. At the local level, the most obvious consequence is that there are few public spaces where women of childbearing age are present. In cities like Katsina or Kano, only men, children (including young girls), and older women are seen throughout the city. Because of women’s public invisibility, the landscapes of cities are male-dominated. Not all people in northern Nigeria are Muslim, however. Because of this, it is relatively easy to pick out Christians, non-Muslim, or non-practicing women in northern cities. Gender relations flowing from religious influence may also be evident in the material landscape. Northern Nigerian cities are typical of what some have referred to as the "Islamic city." While there is a danger in thinking that Islamic cities are monolithic, the concept is useful. One commonality of many Islamic cities is that they were designed to reinforce the kinds of gender roles prescribed under Islamic law and practice. This is evident in the way that streets wind in and out, tracing irregular geometric networks. "Haphazard" street networks inhibit the vantages of male passers-by into urban houses where women reside. This intentional design pattern keeps men from more revealing vantage points. Christianity has also had a major impact on gender roles. This influence is more difficult to summarize, however, since there are so many branches of Christianity in the country, and other factors like western education have been strong influences in the dominantly Christian regions of the country.

Markets and Products

The study of culture can broadly divided into the study of material and non-material culture. Material culture encompasses a broad range of physical items, from clothing to cookware, housing materials to billboards. One aspect of Nigerian society that is vastly different from American society is commercial activity. Americans are accustomed to buying products in medium to large stores. What American is unfamiliar with a grocery store or a shopping mall? In Nigeria, however, the sites of commercial activity and the nature of retail activity take on a different nature. Most buying and selling of goods takes place in markets. The major characteristic of these markets is that they are composed of numerous small traders, like this mat trader, who engage in trading activities. While many urban markets are quite large, rural markets may be as small as a short strip of stalls along a roadside. Often, however, rural markets operate on a periodic basis. Nigerians make distinctions between markets based on their frequency. Larger markets operate daily. The smallest markets may only meet every two weeks. Because markets are composed mainly of independent small-scale traders, the variety of products available in Nigerian markets tends to be quite high. While there are certainly many mass-produced goods in the market, one can easily find products that were produced by small-scale artisans and producers. This method of production ensures that there is a high degree of diversity among material cultural products. For example, one can find a dizzying assortment of clothing styles and colors worn by Nigerians. This variety is partly due to most Africans, and particularly women’s preference for brightly colored clothing. This diversity is also influenced by the profusion of small-scale textile producers. While there is a large internal clothing industry, it is also true that foreign imports from Britain and other countries have garnered much of the market from domestic producers. Two examples of cities with rich traditions in indigo cloth dyeing are Kano and Abeokuta. Some of this indigo cloth is produced as art, but a substantial amount is still produced as clothing.

Another cultural aspect of marketing is gender roles. Gender roles for trading vary by region. In many parts of southern and central Nigeria, trading is principally carried on by women. For example, Yoruba women have a strong tradition as prominent and successful traders. In northern Nigeria, however, trading is almost exclusively a male occupation. Mainly due to the practice of female seclusion (i.e. purdah), women of childbearing age are rarely seen in public, and therefore, rarely serve as traders.

Trading style also varies by region. Hausa traders, some of the most prominent in Nigeria, are generally known for a distinct trading style. One example of this is the way that Hausa traders typically bargain for goods. Hausa traders allow the buyer to first offer a price. If the price is too low, the merchant will insist that the buyer offer another price. This process continues until the merchant achieves a price that is acceptable to him. The Hausa trader rarely quotes a high price that might serve as an opening bid. Traders in other parts of the country and of other ethnicities show patterns that differ from this pattern.

Other Web Resources on the Cultural Geography of Nigeria

Cultural Geography Food

Cultural Geography Art

Cultural Geography Music

Cultural Geography Miscellaneous