GST 112: Nigeria People and Culture - Study Summary

Compiled from 1500+ Exam Questions (2025/2026 Test Compilation)

I. Nigerian History and Political Development

• Nigeria became a single entity in 1914 after the amalgamation.
• The major religious insurgency affecting Nigeria since 2009 was caused by the activities of the Boko Haram group.
• The religious crisis in Northern Nigeria in the early 1980s was caused by the Maitatsine group.
• The Nigerian civil war (Biafran War) saw Hassan Katsina capture Biafra Radio, and Gowon led with the slogan "One Nigeria".
• A major reaction of the Biafran delegation to the OUA suggestion of peaceful settlement in 1968 was to stage a walkout.
• The king of Lagos who ceded territory to the British in 1861 was Oba Dosunmu.
• The first military Head of State in Nigeria was Aguiyi Ironsi.
• The General Babangida Administration worked to foster the rights and image of Nigerian women.
• Before the 1930s, Abuja was not an urban centre (unlike Calabar, Lagos, Enugu).
• During colonialism, Enugu was primarily an administrative seat of power, commercial centre, and industrial base, but not a spiritual headquarter.
• Cities like Port Harcourt, Jos, and Sapele were directly influenced by colonial industrialisation/commercialisation efforts, but Oka-Akoko was not.
• The environmentalist and human rights activist Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa was executed on 10 Nov, 1995.

II. Culture and Society

A. General Cultural Aspects

• In pre-colonial times, several Nigerian communities comprised largely self-sufficient traditional communities.
• Amongst the forgotten aspects of Nigerian culture that may be useful today is chastity within and without marriage.
• Traditional education equipped individuals to fit usefully into their society workspace.
• Cultural heritage generally includes funeral, marriage, and naming ceremonies; however, matriculation ceremonies are not typically considered part of traditional cultural heritage.
• Gender roles over time have been influenced by globalization.
• Urban culture includes various practices, belief systems, social forms, etc. of city dwellers.
• A "City" is characterized by a large human settlement with extensive systems of utilities, transportation, housing, land use, and a huge demography.

B. Ethnic Groups and Traditions

• The bride exchange phenomenon is common among the Tiv.
• Most Nigerian languages are under the Kwa group.
• Among the Yoruba, honey is required in naming a child.
• The Yoruba ethnic group encouraged the groom's family to entertain both families at the point of marriage.
• In Hausaland, the people most often relegated to harvesting agricultural crops were women.
• The immediate consequence of adultery amongst the Hausa was divorce.
• The concept of "autochthones" or "stateless societies" was used by British colonial scholars to describe non-centralized political Nigerian communities.
• Traditional laws are generally considered favourable.

C. Colonialism and its Impact

• Colonialism freed women from domestic violence by introducing and enforcing laws at the district and provincial courts under the system of Indirect Rule.
• The establishment of Port Harcourt was to facilitate the export of coal.
• The "Obligation of the Princes" was written for Sarki Rumfa.
• Brazilian returnees settled mainly in Lagos and Abeokuta.

III. Religion

• Islamization in Sarki Rumfa facilitated the expansion of trade.
• The Islamization of Borno reached its peak during the reign of Mai Idris Alooma.
• Before the pre-jihad era in Hausaland, various practices existed, but Christian missionary activities were not widespread.
• The leadership of Kanem-Borno before the Shehu was called Mai.
• The functions of the Ulama included guardianship, legal support, and interpreting religious knowledge, but not conquest of the faithful.
• The development of Islam in Nigeria includes the fact that there was Islam in Nupe kingdom before the 18th century.
• During the introduction of Islam to West Africa, Borno and the Berber merchants/clerics had significant interactions.
• Factors like the emergence of Ilorin as a frontier emirate, wars in Yorubaland, and the influx of liberated slaves contributed to the spread of Islam in Yorubaland, but the installation of the Ooni in the 19th century did not.
• The introduction of Islam to Nigeria affected dress-code, religious life, and family life of believers, but did not affect the climate of the people.
• The first Christian missionaries visited Calabar.
• European and American missionaries re-introduced Christianity to Nigeria in the 19th century.
• Women could not be ordained as bishops/prophetesses in the Catholic Church of Nigeria.
• Profound socio-cultural western influences on Nigeria include religion and education.

IV. Economy and Social Issues

• The fight against corruption in Nigeria has been worsened by greed, ethnicity, and tribalism, but also by spiritual forces.
• A regime of quick and easy money in Nigeria did not encourage laziness, corruption, or deviousness; it did not encourage diligence.
• In traditional Nigerian society, those who engaged in corrupt acts were openly shamed.
• One effect of corruption in Nigeria is election rigging.
• The culture of corruption is established when a people accept corruption as a way of life.
• Nepotism, bribery, and corruption are social cankerworms; egalitarianism is not.
• When crude oil export replaced agriculture in Nigeria, the culture of corruption escalated.
• The economic status of a city is significantly determined by its financial health.
• The major challenge of the Better Life Programme was the neglect of rural women.
• Seclusion in purdah may curtail the freedom of women.
• The Miller Brothers company pioneered and facilitated rubber production in Sapele.
• The United African Company moved its base to Sapele in 1930.
• The United Nations decade for women (Q64) - Answer not provided in the document.