Nigeria

**WELCOME TO NIGERIA!**



**Personal Response:** I chose Nigeria as my culture group because my mother is Nigerian and my father is Togolese, and their cultures are similar. Nigerian culture plays a big part in my life and I wanted to learn a little bit more about it.

**Stereotypes:** Most stereotypes about Nigerians and pretty much the rest countries in Africa are that we are uneducated, mud hut living, grass wearing, cricket eating people that go through life without any sort of technology. Of course that is not the case. The truth is that we are very educated people that have regular homes made from concrete and are advance and advancing in technology. People also think that you can speak African, that's like saying can you speak South American, it's a continent not a country several different languages spoken.

**Dress** In the North, Hausa dress is very common throughout Nigeria, and in some parts of west Africa. Men wear long robes with little hand woven caps. Woman wear simple blouses and long around their hips. In the Southwest, the agbada is everyday wear for men. Agbada is a gown made from lace and cotton, and are worn over the buba and sokoto. It is loose, flowing garment with patterns on the front. Men also wear dansiki which is a loose tunic with matching trousers. On special/festive occasions, women wear two pieces of brightly colored aso oke cloth. One piece is tied as a turban, and the other is draped over the shoulder or tied around the hips. In the Southeast, the Igbo clothing of both men and women is the lappa, which is a cloth wound around the waist and twisted and tucked in the front for men and at the back side for women. Some men wear a shirt with shirttails hanging from the lappa, and women wear the lappa with lace blouses. Traditional men's and womens dress. **Music** Music has a long history in Nigeria and the rest of western Africa. In the ancient past, the cylindrical igbin drum and the dundun drum were traditionally played by skilled drummers for a king or deity. Other instruments included horns, bells, and lutes. In the 1970's, Fela Kuti introduced Afro-beat to Nigeria. His music was socially and politically motivated, which encouraged people to stand up for their rights. Nigerians listen to a variety of musical styles like the juju, highlife, hip-hop, rap, jazz, and gospel.

Fela Kuti preforming. **Cuisine** Food is a very important part of Nigerian culture. The main foods used are tapioca, millet, corn, yams, rice, beans, plantain, chili peppers, and spices. Some snacks include, fried yam chips, roasted peanuts, akara (a fried snack made from beans), kulikulli (a small ball of peanut taste), chin-chin, puff-puff, and suya, which is a spicy, fully meat kabob. There are also many dishes of rice, but the most common is jellof rice. Jellof rice is rice that is cooked with tomato stew and meat. Other types of rice include coconut rice, and fried rice. Nigerians also eat many different types of beans, but the most common are black beans. A lot of the time black beans are grounded, mixed with spices and small pieces of meat, then steamed into a dish called moyin-moyin. Yams can be eaten boiled, fried, or pounded, and then be eaten with stew. Egusi soup is a favored dish made with meat or fish, red peppers, onions, dried shrimp, crushed melon seeds, and spinach. Okra soup is made the same way but uses okra instead of crushed melon seeds and spinach, othe soups are bitter leaf soup, peanut soup and pepa soup, which is very hot and spicy. Jellof rice with beans and chicken.

There are several different languages spoken in Nigeria (approximately 521), it depends on the area in which you live in where the language would be spoken. The official languages are Edo, Efik, Adamawa, Fulfulde, Hausa, Idoma, Igbo, Central Kanurl, Yoruba, and English. map of languages spoken throughtout the country. In the Nigerian edcational system, school runs from January to December with one month breaks in between qauters. The levels of schooling are nursery school, primary school, which is equivalent to elementary and runs for 6 years. After primary school students take the Common Interest Examination to be admitted into junior secondary school, which last 3 years, then will have to take JSSE (junior secondary school exam) to be admitted into senior secondary school. SSS (senior secondary school) also consist of 3 years, and after you take to exams to leave and go to college. Nigeria's governed under the constitution of 1999. The president, Umaru Yar'Adua, is the head of state and the head of government. The president is popularly elected a four year term and can serve a second term.
 * Language**
 * Institution**

Nigeria has been greatly influence by the European culture. It has been influenced by clothing, language, and religion. European culture has influenced clothing by certain type of styles, for instance t-shirts and jeans. A way how the Europeans influenced Nigeria is with language. One of Nigerian's most spoken languages is in fact English. A major way how it's also been influence is through religion. When the European travelers came they brought Christianity with them. Christianity is one of the most practiced religion in Nigerian and west Africa.
 * Cultural Diffusion**

Nigeria lies north of the equator, so the climate varies from north to south. Southern Nigeria has warm, moist winds. Temperatures average at about 80 degrees, with rainfall at its heaviest during the summer months, which is about 70 in. annually, and 150 in. in the coastal parts. Nigeria is a land of plains, hills and plateaus. Near the coast are narrow lowland sandy beaches, mangrove swamps, lagoons, and interconnected rivers.
 * Physical Geography**

Nigeria has many different religious views. In the North, Muslims dominate, while the rest of the country's vary tending to the different groups. Christianity aside from Muslims is the most practiced religion. 47% percent of Nigerians are Muslim, 37% are Christian and18% other. There shows to be a 13% rise in Christianity and a 4% rise in Muslim and a decline in other beliefs. The southeast tend to be Christian and the southwest Yoruba. Ismal, Yinka. //Countries of the world: Nigeria.​// Times Media Private limited, 2001.
 * Beliefs**
 * Bibliography**

"All about Nigeria" []. Jan 5, 2010. "Nigeria" []. Jan 5, 2010.

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