Did You Know
Did You Know
Explore Hidden Facts About Nigeria
1
Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther travelled the length of the Niger River every year for 20 years until he turned 84.
2
The four countries which border Nigeria (Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin) are all French-speaking.
3
Nigerian novelist Ben Okri was once the literary editor of the famous West Africa magazine.
4
The Fulani people migrated to Nigeria in the thirteenth century from the Senegal River Valley.
5
Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Kaduna State is the second largest in Africa after Cairo University, Egypt.
6
The ChannelsTV mobile app is the 16th most downloaded app in Africa.
7
The National Youth Service Corps was inaugurated on May 22, 1973.
8
King Sunny Ade was the first Nigerian to receive a Grammy Award nomination for his 1983 album Synchro System.
9
Fela Kuti's home - the Kalakuta (a corruption of Calcutta) Republic, was named after the notorious police cell block in which he was detained in 1974.
10
5 Nigerian heads of state were at one time pupils of Barewa College in Zaria, Kaduna State.
11
There is a place called 'Sabo' in every state in Nigeria.
12
The Kanem-Bornu Empire, of which the Kanuri people were a part, is believed to have been the first state founded in the area occupied by Nigeria. Its history goes back to the eighth century AD.
13
Author Mabel Segun was one of the first Nigerian women to play table tennis. She participated in men’s tournaments while a student at the University of Ibadan in the late 1940s/early 1950s.
14
Hogan 'Kid' Bassey was the first Nigerian to win a world boxing title. He defeated Cherif Hamia of Algeria to become the world featherweight champion in 1957.
15
The first man to purchase a car in Nigeria was Herbert Macaulay.
16
55 women were killed during the famous Women's War against colonial taxation in 1929.
17
Paul McCartney of the Beatles recorded his solo album Band on the Run at a music studio on Wharf Road in Apapa, Lagos
18
Burna Boy's grandfather Benson Idons was the manager of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.
19
The first election to form a legislative assembly in Nigeria was held in 1922.
20
The first Nigerian speaker of the Nigerian parliament prior to independence was Jaja Wachuku, an Ngwa royal prince and lawyer.
21
Nigeria covers 3% of Africa's land mass but is home to nearly 20% of its population.
22
Plateau State’s striking hills and mountains were created by volcanic activity over 50 million years ago.
23
The first Nigerian national census took place in 1952-53. The population at that time was estimated to be 31.6 million.
24
Broad Street Prison in Lagos Island was initially built from mud and grass thatch in 1882. It was rebuilt using bricks imported from England in 1885 as anti-colonial activists kept setting it on fire.