Nok communities produced terracotta sculpture and worked iron around the Jos Plateau. In later centuries, Ife and Benin developed major court traditions, Kanem–Borno and Hausa states linked northern trade networks, and Igbo communities developed varied local institutions. These societies overlapped; there was no single country or political system covering modern Nigeria.
Coastal trade connected the region to European merchants and the Atlantic slave trade. Badagry, Lagos and other ports became sites of forced movement and exchange.
Usman dan Fodio’s movement began in 1804 and reorganized much of the north into a caliphate of emirates centered on Sokoto. British conquest later ended its independent sovereignty.
Britain annexed Lagos in 1861. Company rule, protectorates and military conquest extended colonial authority inland; Benin was attacked in 1897, and Sokoto was conquered in 1903.
The northern and southern administrations were amalgamated in 1914 into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. The union created a single colonial administrative unit, with regional differences continuing beneath it.
Nigeria became independent under a federal parliamentary constitution. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was prime minister; the British monarch remained the formal head of state.
The 1963 Constitution made Nigeria a republic, with Nnamdi Azikiwe as president. The system remained parliamentary.
Coups ended the First Republic in 1966. Amid violence and broken regional trust, the Eastern Region seceded as Biafra; civil war lasted from 1967 to 1970.
Civilian rule returned in 1979 under a presidential constitution, with Shehu Shagari as president. A military coup ended the Second Republic in December 1983.
Military governments again ruled after 1983. An annulled presidential election in 1993 intensified political conflict. Civilian rule returned on 29 May 1999, with Olusegun Obasanjo as president.
Muhammadu Buhari took office after the 2015 election and a peaceful transfer of power from Goodluck Jonathan. The transition was an important test of electoral competition under the Fourth Republic.
Bola Tinubu took office in 2023 following a contested presidential election. The Fourth Republic continues under the 1999 Constitution; debates over electoral credibility, federalism and public accountability remain central.