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Last year on Independence Day during a church program, a child asked her mother about Nigeria. The mother, momentarily stunned, asked, ‘What do you want to know? How hilarious lol. Obviously, nothing came to her mind but just to at least answer the child, she responded with another question before she finally said I will tell you when we get home. Even me, I can’t deny the fact that I would always struggle to come up with cool, amazing and fun facts about Nigeria and this applies to many parents as well. We have compiled some interesting facts about Nigeria to reel out to your kids
- The name “Nigeria” is said to originate from the Niger River that flows through the country. Many historians claim that the English journalist Flora Shaw came up with the name Nigeria in an article she wrote for the Times of London in 1897.
- The British colonised Nigeria in the late 19th century through to 1960 when Nigeria became independent
- Nigeria has a population of nearly 175 million people as of July 2013, making it the most populous country in Africa, and the 7th most populous country in the world. This means that one in every 7 African is a Nigerian.
- Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups, the three largest of which are the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo.
- Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of oil and the 8th largest exporter of crude oil. This is the main stay of our economy and accounts for almost 90% of our revenue.
- Nigeria has the biggest economy in Africa. The richest man in Africa is a Nigerian – Aliko Dangote and the richest woman in the world is also a Nigerian – Folorunso Alakija
- Nollywood – Nigeria’s Movie Industry is the second largest producer of movies in the world after Bollywood (India’s Movie Industry).
- Nigeria was the first African country to win gold medal for football in the Olympics. The national team has won the African Cup of Nations a total of three times.
- In the US, Nigerians are the most educated immigrant community. Not one of the most educated, the most educated.60% of Nigerians in the US have college degrees. This is far above the American national average of 30%.
- The designer of the famous car, Chevrolet Volt, Jelani Aliyu, is a super talented Nigerian from Sokoto State.
- The World’s fastest supercomputer was designed by a world-renowned inventor and scientist, Philip Emeagwali, a full-blown Nigerian whose patency was awarded in 2015. This means Nigeria has the patency to the world’s fastest computer: a Nigerian.
