| Historic regions: 5th century BC - 20th century |
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Nigeria contains more historic cultures and empires than any
other other nation in Africa. They date back as far as the 5th century
BC, when communities living around the southern slopes of the Jos
plateau make wonderfully expressive terracotta figures - in a tradition
known now as the Nok culture,
from the Nigerian village where these sculptures are first unearthed.
The Nok people are neolithic tribes who have recently acquired the iron technology spreading southwards through Africa.The Jos plateau is in the centre of Nigeria, but the first extensive kingdoms of the region - more than a millennium after the Nok people - are in the north and northeast, deriving their wealth from trade north through the Sahara and east into the Sudan. |
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| During the 9th centurya trading empire grows up around Lake Chad.
Its original centre is east of the lake, in the Kanem region, but it
soon extends to Bornu on the western side. In the 11th century the ruler
of Kanem-Bornu converts to Islam. West of Bornu, along the northern frontier of Nigeria, is the land of the Hausa people. Well placed to control trade with the forest regions to the south, the Hausa develop a number of small but stable kingdoms, each ruled from a strong walled city. They are often threatened by larger neighbours (Mali and Gao to the west, Bornu to the east). But the Hausa traders benefit also from being on the route between these empires. By the 14th century they too are Muslim. |
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In the savanna grasslands and the forest regions west of the
Niger, between the Hausa kingdoms and the coast, the Yoruba people are
the dominant tribes. Here they establish two powerful states. The first is Ife, on the border between forest and savanna. Famous now for its sculpture, Ife flourishes from the 11th to 15th century. In the 16th century a larger Yoruba empire develops, based slightly further from the forest at Oyo. Using the profits of trade to develop a forceful cavalry, Oyo grows in strength during the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century the rulers of Oyo are controlling a region from the Niger to the west of Dahomey. |
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Meanwhile, firmly within the forest, the best known of all the
Nigerian kingdoms establishes itself in the 15th century (from small
beginnings in the 13th). Benin becomes a name internationally known for
its cast-metal sculpture, in a tradition inherited from the Ife (see Sculpture of Ife and Benin). In terms of extent Benin is no match for Oyo, its contemporary to the north. In the 15th century the region brought under central control is a mere seventy-miles across (people and places being harder to subdue in the tropical forest than on the savanna), though a century later Benin stretches from the Niger delta in the east to Lagos in the west. |
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| But Benin's fame is based on factors other than power. This is the coastal kingdom which the Portuguese
discover when they reach the mouth of the Niger in the 1470s, bringing
back to Europe the first news of superb African artefacts and of the
ceremonial splendour of Benin's oba or king. The kings of Benin are a story in themselves. In the 19th century they scandalize the west by their use of human sacrifice in court rituals. And they have stamina. At the end of the 20th century the original dynasty is still in place, though without political power. All in all, among Nigeria's many historic kingdoms, Benin has earned its widespread renown. |
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| The Fulani and Sokoto: 1804-1903 |
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| Living among the Hausa in the northern regions of Nigeria are a
tribe, the Fulani, whose leaders in the early 19th century become
passionate advocates of strict Islam. From 1804 sheikh Usman dan Fodio
and his two sons lead the Fulani in an immensely successful holy war
against the lax Muslim rulers of the Hausa kingdoms. The result is the establishment in 1809 of a Fulani capital at Sokoto, from which the centre and north of Nigeria is effectively ruled for the rest of the 19th century. But during this same period there has been steady encroachment on the region by British interests. |
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| British explorers: 1806-1830 |
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| From the death of Mungo Park
near Bussa in 1806 to the end of the century, there is continuing
interest in Nigeria on the part of British explorers, anti-slavery
activists, missionaries and traders. In 1821 the British government sponsors an expedition south through the Sahara to reach the kingdom of Bornu. Its members become the first Europeans to reach Lake Chad, in 1823. One of the group, Hugh Clapperton, explores further west through Kano and the Hausa territory to reach Sokoto. Clapperton is only back in England for a few months, in 1825, before he sets off again for the Nigerian coast at Lagos. |
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| On this expedition, with his servant Richard Lander, he travels on
trade routes north from the coast to Kano and then west again to Sokoto.
Here Clapperton dies. But Lander makes his way back to London, where he
is commissioned by the government to explore the lower reaches of the
Niger. Accompanied in 1830 by his brother John, Lander makes his way north from the coast near Lagos to reach the great river at Bussa - the furthest point of Mungo Park's journey downstream. With considerable difficulty the brothers make a canoe trip downstream, among hostile Ibo tribesmen, to reach the sea at the Niger delta. This region has long been familiar to European traders, but its link to the interior is now charted. All seems set for serious trade. |
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| SS Alburkah: 1832-1834 |
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After Lander's second return to England a company is formed by a group of Liverpool merchants, including Macgregor Laird, to trade on
the lower Niger. Laird is also a pioneer in the shipping industry. For
the present purpose, an expedition to the Niger, he designs an iron
paddle-steamer, the 55-ton Alburkah.Laird himself leads the expedition, with Richard Lander as his expert guide. |
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| The Alburkah steams south from Milford Haven in July 1832
with forty-eight on board. She reaches the mouth of the Niger three
months later, entering history as the first ocean-going iron ship. After making her way up one of the many streams of the Niger delta, the Alburkah progresses upstream on the main river as far as Lokoja, the junction with the Benue. The expedition demonstrates that the Niger offers a highway into the continent for ocean vessels. And the performance of the iron steamer is a triumph. But medicine is not yet as far advanced as technology. When the Alburkah returns to Liverpool, in 1834, only nine of the original crew of forty-eight are alive. They include a much weakened Macgregor Laird. |
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| Trade and anti-slavery: 1841-1900 |
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| The next British expedition to the Niger is almost equally
disastrous in terms of loss of life. Four ships under naval command are
sent out in 1841, with instructions to steam up the Niger and make
treaties with local kings to prevent the slave trade. The enterprise is
abandoned when 48 of the 145 Europeans in the crews die of fever. Malaria is the cause of the trouble, but major progress is made when a doctor, William Baikie, leads an expedition up the Niger in 1854. He administers quinine to his men and suffers no loss of life. Extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree, quinine has long been used in medicine. But its proven efficacy against malaria is a turning point in the European penetration of Africa. |
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| The British anti-slavery policy in the region involves boosting the
trade in palm oil (a valuable product which gives the name Oil Rivers to
the Niger delta) to replace the dependence on income from the slave
trade. It transpires later that this is somewhat counter-productive,
causing the upriver chieftains to acquire more slaves to meet the
increased demand for palm oil. But it is nevertheless the philanthropic
principle behind much of the effort to set up trading stations. At the same time the British navy patrols the coast to liberate captives from slave ships of other nations and to settle them at Freetown in Sierra Leone. |
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| From 1849 the British government accepts a more direct involvement. A
consul, based in Fernando Po, is appointed to take responsibility for
the Bights of Biafra and Benin. He undertakes direct negotiations with
the king of Lagos, the principal port from which slaves are shipped.
When these break down, in 1851, Lagos is attacked and captured by a
British force. Another member of the Lagos royal family is placed on the throne, after guaranteeing to put an end to the slave trade and to human sacrifice (a feature of this region). When he and his successor fail to fulfil these terms, Lagos is annexed in 1861 as a British colony. |
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| During the remainder of the century the consolidation of British
trade and British political control goes hand in hand. In 1879 George
Goldie persuades the British trading enterprises on the Niger to merge
their interests in a single United African Company, later granted a
charter as the Royal Niger Company. In 1893 the delta region is organized as the Niger Coast Protectorate. In 1897 the campaign against unacceptable local practices reaches a climax in Benin - notorious by this time both for slave trading and for human sacrifice. The members of a British delegation to the oba of Benin are massacred in this year. In the reprisals Benin City is partly burnt by British troops. |
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| The difficulty of administering the vast and complex region of
Nigeria persuades the government that the upriver territories, thus far
entrusted to the Royal Niger Company, also need to be brought under
central control. In 1900 the company's charter is revoked. Britain assumes direct responsibility for the region from the coast to Sokoto and Bornu in the north. Given the existing degree of British involvement, this entire area has been readily accepted at the Berlin conference in 1884 as falling to Britain in the scramble for Africa - though in the late 1890s there remains dangerous tension between Britain and France, the colonial power in neighbouring Dahomey, over drawing Nigeria's western boundary. |
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| British colonial rule: 1900-1960 |
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| The sixty years of Britain's colonial rule in Nigeria are
characterized by frequent reclassifying of different regions for
administrative purposes. They are symptomatic of the problem of uniting
the country as a single state. In the early years the Niger Coast Protectorate is expanded to become Southern Nigeria, with its seat of government at Lagos. At this time the rulers in the north (the emir of Kano and the sultan of Sokoto) are very far from accepting British rule. To deal with the situation Frederick Lugard is appointed high commissioner and commander-in-chief of the protectorate of northern Nigeria. |
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| Lugard has already been much involved in the colony, commanding
troops from 1894 on behalf of the Royal Niger Company to oppose French
claims on Borgu (a border region, divided in 1898 between Nigeria and
Dahomey). Between 1903 and 1906 he subdues Kano and Sokoto and finally
puts an end to their rulers' slave-raiding expeditions. Lugard pacifies northern Nigeria by ensuring that in each territory, however small, the throne is won and retained by a chief willing to cooperate. Lugard then allows these client rulers considerable power - in the technique, soon to be known as 'indirect rule', which in Africa is particularly associated with his name (though it has been a familiar aspect of British colonial policy in India). |
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| In 1912 Lugard is appointed governor of both northern and southern
Nigeria and is given the task of merging them. He does so by 1914, when
the entire region becomes the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. The First World War brings a combined British and French invasion of German Cameroon (a campaign not completed until early in 1916). In 1922 the League of Nations grants mandates to the two nations to administer the former German colony. The British mandate consists of two thin strips on the eastern border of Nigeria. |
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| The rival claims of Nigeria's various regions become most evident
after World War II when Britain is attempting to find a structure to
meet African demands for political power. By 1951 the country has been
divided into Northern, Eastern and Western regions, each with its own
house of assembly. In addition there is a separate house of chiefs for
the Northern province, to reflect the strong tradition there of tribal
authority. And there is an overall legislative council for the whole of
Nigeria. But even this is not enough to reflect the complexity of the situation. In 1954 a new constitution (the third in eight years) establishes the Federation of Nigeria and adds the Federal Territory of Lagos. |
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| During the later 1950s an African political structure is gradually
achieved. From 1957 there is a federal prime minister. In the same year
the Western and Eastern regions are granted internal self-government, to
be followed by the Northern region in 1959. Full independence follows rapidly, in October 1960. The tensions between the country's communities now become Nigeria's own concern. |
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| Independence and secession: 1960-1970 |
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| Regional hostilities are a feature of independent Nigeria from the
start, partly due to an imbalance of population. More than half the
nation's people are in the Fulani and Hausa
territories of the Northern region. Northerners therefore control not
only their own regional assembly but also the federal government in
Lagos. From 1962 to 1964 there is almost continuous anti-northern unrest elsewhere in the nation, coming to a climax in a rebellion in 1966 by officers from the Eastern region, the homeland of the Ibo. They assassinate both the federal prime minister and the premiers of the Northern and Western regions. |
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| In the ensuing chaos many Ibos living in the north are massacred. In
July a northern officer, Yakubu Gowon, emerges as the country's leader.
His response to Nigeria's warring tribal factions is to subdivide the
four regions (the Mid-West has been added in 1963), rearranging them
into twelve states. This device further inflames Ibo hostility, for one of the new states cuts their territory off from the sea. The senior Ibo officer, Odumegwu Ojukwu, takes the drastic step in May 1967 of declaring the Eastern region an independent nation, calling it the republic of Biafra. |
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| The result is bitter and intense civil war, with the federal army
(increasing during the conflict from 10,000 to 200,000 men) meeting
powerful resistance from the secessionist region. The issue splits the
west, where it is the first post-independence African war to receive
widespread coverage. The US and Britain supply arms to the federal
government. France extends the same facilities to Biafra. In any civil war ordinary people suffer most, and in small land-locked Biafra this is even more true than usual. By January 1970 they are starving. Biafra surrenders and ceases to exist. Ojukwu escapes across the border and is granted asylum in the Ivory Coast. |
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| From oil wealth to disaster: 1970-1999 |
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| General Gowon achieves an impressive degree of reconciliation in the
country after the traumas of 1967-70. Nigeria now becomes one of the
wealthiest countries in Africa thanks to its large reserves of oil
(petroleum now, rather than the palm oil
of the previous century). In the mid-1970s the output is more than two
million barrels a day, the value of which is boosted by the high prices
achieved during the oil crisis of 1973-4. But with this wealth goes corruption, which Gowon fails to control. When he is abroad, in 1975, his government is toppled in a military coup. Gowon retires to Britain. |
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| In the second half of the 1970s oil prices
plummet. Nigeria rapidly suffers economic crisis and political
disorder. Within a period of five years the average income per head
slumps by 75%, from over $1000 a year to a mere $250. Neither brief cilivian governments nor frequent military intervention prove able to rescue the situation. A regular response is to subdivide regional Nigeria into ever smaller parcels. The number of states is increased to nineteen in 1979 and to twenty-nine in 1991. By the end of the century it stands at thirty-six. Meanwhile the nation's foreign debt has been increasing in parallel, to reach $36 billion by 1994. |
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| In 1993 the military ruler (Ibrahim Babangida, in power from 1985)
yields to international pressure and holds a presidential election. When
it appears to have been conclusively won by Moshood Abiola, a chief of
the western Yoruba tribe, Babangida cancels the election by decree. This blatant act prompts Nigeria's first energetic movement for democracy, which comes to international attention when one of its leaders - the playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa - is among a group hanged in 1995 for the alleged murder of four rivals at a political rally in 1994. Saro-Wiwa has also been a campaigner for the rights of his Ogoni people, whose territory is ravaged - to no benefit to themselves - by the international companies extracting Nigeria's oil. |
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| The world-wide outcry at Saro-Wiwa's death, without any pretence of a
fair trial, prompts Nigeria's generals to offer new elections in 1999.
The presidential election is won by Olusegun Obasanjo, by now a civilian
but for three years from 1976 the military ruler of the country - and
therefore widely assumed to be the army's preferred candidate. His
People's Democratic Party wins a majority of seats in both the house of
representatives and the senate. Early reports suggest that under Obasanjo's government a ruthless disregard of civil liberties continues in Nigeria, with outbreaks of minority ethnic protest being brutally suppressed. |
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| The election of Obasanjo, a Christian from the south, brings new
tensions. As if in response, in November 1999, the predominantly Muslim
northern state of Zamfara introduces strict Islamic law, the sharia.
Other northern states discuss similar action. Local Christians take
alarm. Violent street battles between the two communities are a feature
of the early months of 2000. The future of Nigeria is problematic but of considerable importance to Africa. The nation's potential remains vast. With at least 115 million people (comprising some 200 tribes) it is the continent's most populous country. And as the world's fifth largest oil producer, it has the wherewithal to be one of the richest. | ||
A chronology of key events:
circa 800 BC - Jos plateau settled by Nok - a neolithic and iron age civilisation.circa 11th century onwards - Formation of city states, kingdoms and empires, including Hausa kingdoms and Borno dynasty in north, Oyo and Benin kingdoms in south.
1472 - Portuguese navigators reach Nigerian coast.
16-18th centuries - Slave trade: Millions of Nigerians are forcibly sent to the Americas.
1809 - Single Islamic state - Sokoto caliphate - is founded in north.
1830s-1886 - Civil wars plague Yorubaland, in the south.
1850s - British establish presence around Lagos.
1861-1914 - Britain consolidates its hold over what it calls the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, governs by "indirect rule" through local leaders.
1922 - Part of former German colony Kamerun is added to Nigeria under League of Nations mandate.
1960 - Independence, with Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leading a coalition government.
1962-63 - Controversial census fuels regional and ethnic tensions.
1966 January - Balewa killed in coup. Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi heads up military administration.
1966 July - Ironsi killed in counter-coup, replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon.
1967 - Three eastern states secede as the Republic of Biafra, sparking bloody civil war.
1970 - Biafran leaders surrender, former Biafran regions reintegrated into country.
1975 - Gowon overthrown, flees to Britain, replaced by Brigadier Murtala Ramat Mohammed, who begins process of moving federal capital to Abuja.
Obasanjo - first time round
1976 - Mohammed assassinated in failed coup attempt. Replaced by his deputy, Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo, who helps introduce American-style presidential constitution.1979 - Elections bring Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power.
1983 January - The government expels more than one million foreigners, mostly Ghanaians, saying they had overstayed their visas and were taking jobs from Nigerians. The move is condemned abroad but proves popular in Nigeria.
1983 August, September - Shagari re-elected amid accusations of irregularities.
1983 December - Major-General Muhammad Buhari seizes power in bloodless coup.
1985 - Ibrahim Babangida seizes power in bloodless coup, curtails political activity.
1993 June - Military annuls elections when preliminary results show victory by Chief Moshood Abiola.
1993 August - Power transferred to Interim National Government.
Abacha years
1993 November - General Sani Abacha seizes power, suppresses opposition.1994 - Abiola arrested after proclaiming himself president.
1995 - Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and campaigner against oil industry damage to his Ogoni homeland, is executed following a hasty trial. In protest, European Union imposes sanctions until 1998, Commonwealth suspends Nigeria's membership until 1998.
1998 - Abacha dies, succeeded by Major-General Abdulsalami Abubakar. Chief Abiola dies in custody a month later.
1999 - Parliamentary and presidential elections. Olusegun Obasanjo sworn in as president.
2000 - Adoption of Islamic, or Sharia, law by several northern states in the face of opposition from Christians. Tension over the issue results in hundreds of deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims.
2001 - Tribal war in Benue state, in eastern-central Nigeria, displaces thousands of people.
In October, army soldiers sent to quash the fighting kill more than 200 unarmed civilians, apparently in retaliation for the abduction and murder of 19 soldiers.
2001 October - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, South African President Mbeki and Algerian President Bouteflika launch New Partnership for African Development, or Nepad, which aims to foster development and open government and end wars in return for aid, foreign investment and the lifting of trade barriers to African exports.
Ethnic violence
2002 February - Some 100 people are killed in Lagos in clashes between Hausas from mainly-Islamic north and ethnic Yorubas from predominantly-Christian southwest.2002 November - More than 200 people die in four days of rioting stoked by Muslim fury over the planned Miss World beauty pageant in Kaduna in December. The event is relocated to Britain.
2003 12 April - First legislative elections since end of military rule in 1999. Polling marked by delays, allegations of ballot-rigging. President Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party wins parliamentary majority.
Obasanjo re-elected
2003 19 April - First civilian-run presidential elections since end of military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo elected for second term with more than 60% of vote. Opposition parties reject result. EU poll observers cite "serious irregularities".2003 July - Nationwide general strike called off after nine days after government agrees to lower recently-increased fuel prices.
2003 August - Inter-communal violence in the Niger Delta town of Warri kills about 100 people, injures 1,000.
2003 September - Nigeria's first satellite, NigeriaSat-1, launched by Russian rocket.
2004 January - UN brokers talks between Nigeria and Cameroon about disputed border. Both sides agree to joint security patrols.
2004 May - State of emergency is declared in the central Plateau State after more than 200 Muslims are killed in Yelwa in attacks by Christian militia; revenge attacks are launched by Muslim youths in Kano.
Trouble in the south
2004 August-September - Deadly clashes between gangs in oil city of Port Harcourt prompts strong crackdown by troops. Rights group Amnesty International cites death toll of 500, authorities say about 20 died.2005 July - Paris Club of rich lenders agrees to write off two-thirds of Nigeria's $30bn foreign debt.
2006 January onwards - Militants in the Niger Delta attack pipelines and other oil facilities and kidnap foreign oil workers. The rebels demand more control over the region's oil wealth.
2006 February - More than 100 people are killed when religious violence flares in mainly-Muslim towns in the north and in the southern city of Onitsha.
2006 April - Helped by record oil prices, Nigeria becomes the first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders.
2006 May - The Senate rejects proposed changes to the constitution which would have allowed President Obasanjo to stand for a third term in 2007.
Bakassi deal
2006 August - Nigeria cedes sovereignty over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to neighbouring Cameroon under the terms of a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling. A special transitional arrangement for the Nigerian civilian administration will be in place for five years.2006 October - Spiritual leader of Nigeria's millions of Muslims, the Sultan of Sokoto, is killed in a plane crash, the country's third major civilian air disaster in a year.
2007 April - Umaru Yar'Adua of the ruling People's Democratic Party is proclaimed winner of the presidential election.
2007 September - The rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) threatens to end a self-imposed ceasefire and to launch fresh attacks on oil facilities and abductions of foreign workers.
2007 November - Suspected Nigerian militants kill 21 Cameroon soldiers in Bakassi peninsula.
Nigerian senate rejects Nigeria-Cameroon agreement for hand-over of Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.
2007 December - Anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu is sidelined, but a high-profile graft-related arrest follows soon after.
Oil prices soar
2008 January - Oil trades at $100 a barrel for the first time, with violence in oil producing countries such as Nigeria and Algeria helping to drive up prices.2008 February - Mend leaders Henry Okah and Edward Atata extradited from Angola on suspicion of involvement in attacks on oil companies. Report that Okah was subsequently killed in custody proved to be untrue.
Tribunal upholds election of Umaru Yar'Adua as president following challenge by rivals who wanted the vote annulled because of vote rigging.
2008 April - Two former health ministers and a daughter of President Olusegun Obasanjo are among 12 top health officials charged with embezzling around 470m naira (4m dollars) of public health funds.
Oil production cut by about half as a result of strike action and attacks on pipelines by militants; problems in Nigeria help keep world oil prices at record highs.
2008 August - Following agreement reached in March, Nigeria finally hands over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, ending a long-standing dispute.
Iran agrees to share nuclear technology with Nigeria to help it increase its generation of electricity.
2008 September - Militants in the Niger Delta step up their attacks on oil installations, in response to what they describe as unprovoked attacks by the military on their bases.
Oil prices fall
2008 October - The government announces major budget cuts following steep falls in the price of oil.2008 November - At least 200 people are killed during clashes between Christians and Muslims in the central Nigerian town of Jos.
2009 January - The main militant group in Niger Delta, Mend, calls off four-month cease-fire after army attacks camp of an allied group.
2009 March - Nineteen opposition parties unite to form a "mega-party" to compete against the governing People's Democratic Party in elections due in 2011.
2009 May - Niger Delta militant group Mend rejects government offer of amnesty and declares offensive against Nigerian military.
2009 July - Hundreds die in northeastern Nigeria after the Boko Haram Islamist movement launches a campaign of violence in a bid to have Sharia law imposed on the entire country. Security forces storm Boko Haram's stronghold and kill the movement's leader.
Government frees the leader of the Niger Delta militant group Mend, Henry Okah, after he accepts an amnesty offer.
2009 August - Two-month offer of a government amnesty for Niger Delta militants comes into force.
2009 November - President Yar'Adua travels to Saudi Arabia to be treated for a heart condition. His extended absence triggers a constitutional crisis and leads to calls for him to step down.
Jos clashes
2010 January - At least 149 people are killed during two days of violence between Christian and Muslim gangs in the central city of Jos.2010 March - More than 120 people are killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians in the flashpoint city of Jos.
2010 May - President Umaru Yar'Adua dies after a long illness. Vice-president Goodluck Jonathan, already acting in Yar'Adua's stead, succeeds him.
2010 October - Nigeria marks 50 years of independence. Celebrations in Abuja marred by deadly bomb blasts.
2010 November - Nigeria intercepts arms shipment from Iran, reports find to UN Security Council.
2010 December - Christmas Eve bomb attacks near central city of Jos kill at least 80 people. Attacks claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram spark clashes between Christians and Muslims. Some 200 killed in reprisal attacks.
2011 March - Goodluck Jonathan wins presidential elections.
2011 July - President Jonathan says he will ask parliament to amend the constitution so that presidents will serve a single, longer term in office.
Government says it wants to start negotiating with the Boko Haram Islamist group blamed for a series of recent attacks across northern Nigeria.
2011 August - Suicide bomb attack on UN headquarters in Abuja kills 23 people. Radical Islamist group Boko Haram claims responsibility.
2011 November - At least 63 people are killed in bomb and gun attacks in north-eastern town of Damaturu. Boko Haram claims responsibility.
President Jonathan sacks the head of Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, saying that the body has failed to get to grips with graft during her tenure.
Christmas Day attacks
2011 December - Nearly 70 people are killed in days of fighting between security forces and Boko Haram militants in north-eastern states of Yobe and Borno.Christmas Day bomb attacks kill about 40 people. Boko Haram claims responsibility.
President Jonathan declares state of emergency to contain violence by Boko Haram.
2012 January - Fuel price strike causes major disruption. Unions suspend action when government reverses decision to drop fuel subsidies.
More than 100 killed in single day of co-ordinated bombings and shootings in Kano, shortly after Boko Haram tells Christians to quit the north.
2012 April - Chadian President Idriss Deby calls on countries neighbouring northern Nigeria to set up a joint military force to tackle Boko Haram militants as they continue their attacks. He warns of the danger of the Islamist group destabilising the whole Lake Chad basin area.
2012 June - Boko Haram claims responsibility for attacks on two churches in Jos city and Borno state, in which one person died and dozens of others were injured. An angry crowd kills six Muslims in Jos in retaliation.
2012 July - Nigeria signs a preliminary $4.5bn deal with US-based Vulcan Petroleum to build six oil refineries. Nigeria lacks refinery capacity and has to import most of its fuel needs, despite being a major oil producer.
2012 August - The army kills 20 Boko Haram fighters in a shootout in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. The government says it has started informal talks through "backroom channels" with Boko Haram to try to end attacks. Boko Haram ruled out peace talks shortly beforehand.
Maiduguri clashes
2012 October - Boko Haram bomb army bases in Maiduguri. The army says it kills 24 Boko Haram fighters in subsequent clashes.2012 November - At least 100 people are charged with treason after a march supporting independence for Biafra in the region's main town, Enugu.
2012 December - At least 20 Christians are killed in attacks by suspected Islamist militants in the northern states of Yobe and Borno over the Christmas/New Year period.
2013 May - Government declares state of emergency in three northern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa and sends in troops to combat the Boko Haram Islamist militants.
2013 July - Secondary schools close in Yobe state after a massacre of 22 pupils at a boarding school, which the government attributes to Boko Haram. The Islamist group has burned down several schools since 2010.
2013 September - Boko Haram Islamists murder more than 150 people in roadside attacks in the northeast. Separately, security forces fight Boko Haram armed insurgents in the capital Abuja.
2013 November - Six state governors defect from the governing People's Democratic Party (PDP) and merge with main opposition All Progressives Congress, leaving the PDP with fewer governors supporting it than the opposition.
Schoolgirls kidnapped
2014 April - Boko Haram kidnaps more than 200 girls from a boarding school. The US and Britain sends planes to help search for them and West African leaders agree to co-operate to fight the Islamists.2014 July - Nigeria and neighbours agree to form a joint military force to combat the growing regional threat posed by Boko Haram.
2014 August - Boko Haram proclaims a caliphate - an Islamic state - in the territory it controls in the northeast, a declaration dismissed by the government.
2014 October - Nigeria's military says it has agreed a ceasefire with Islamist militants Boko Haram, and that the schoolgirls the group abducted will be released. The group denies it has agreed a ceasefire and says the girls have been married off.
President Goodluck Jonathan says he will seek a second term in office in elections, but these are postponed from February 2015 because of the Boko Haram insurgency.
2014 November - Boko Haram launches a series of attacks in northeastern Nigeria, capturing several towns near Lake Chad and running raids into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon in early 2015. Hundreds of people in the north-east are killed and thousands more displaced.
2015 February-March - Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger form military coalition against Boko Haram, claim successes in pushing it back in all these countries.
Nigerian army captures Gwoza, which it believes is Boko Haram's main stronghold, in late March, leaving the armed group with only two towns under its control.
2015 March - Muhammadu Buhari wins the presidential election, becoming the first opposition candidate to so in Nigeria's history.
2015 June - Nigeria assumes command of a regional military force to counter Boku Haram, to include troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin.