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11 Facts You Should Know About Nigeria as It Celebrates 60 Years of Independence

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Global Citizen’s mission to end extreme poverty by 2030 and ultimately fulfil Global Goal 1 for zero poverty includes our work in Nigeria, where almost 50% of the population live in extreme poverty. Global CItizen is already supporting Nigeria’s vulnerable people through the Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF) – join us to support disadvantaged Nigerians by taking action here.

On Oct. 1, Nigeria celebrates its Diamond Jubilee — marking 60 years since the country became an independent nation with the end of colonial rule…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

With an estimated population of about 204 million people, Nigeria today is the most populous Black nation on Earth and the seventh most populous country in the world.

There is so much to learn about Nigeria, its people, and its cultures. With so much history and cultural richness, there are many lessons to be learned from Nigeria’s impact on the African continent and the world at large. Global Citizen celebrates the resilience and ingenuity of the Nigerian people on this historic and important day.

Here are 11 historical facts you should know about the country often referred to as the “Giant of Africa”:

1. Nigeria was formed in 1914.

The land area known today as Nigeria was formed in 1914 when colonial authorities merged the Northern and Southern Protectorates of Nigeria, to form the amalgamated Protectorate and Colony of Nigeria.

This merger brought together over 400 ethnic groups and tribes into what was then the largest British colony in the world. The name “Nigeria” is also derived from colonial sources.

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2. Nigeria gained independence from colonial rule in 1960.

Nigeria gained independence from the British empire in 1960, initially adopting a British style of government with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the first Nigerian head of government (prime minister). The country then had a population of over 45 million people.

3. Nigeria has been ruled by military leaders for a combined 29 years.

On Jan. 15 1966, a group of young, idealistic, UK-trained army majors overthrew Nigeria’s democratic government in a violent military coup — the country’s first.

A succession of increasingly repressive military governments ruled Nigeria for 29 of the next 33 years, until the restoration of democracy in 1999.

Some of the blowback effects of this coup include:

  • the secessionist Biafra movement;
  • it propelled a group of young military officers onto the national stage and they still wield enormous influence in Nigerian politics;
  • corruption — the military decreed that all natural resources be controlled by the state, which has entrenched the do-or-die nature of Nigerian politics;
  • the army’s politicised past means that Nigerians live with the (real or imagined) fear that a coup is a possible outcome of any political crisis.

4. The Nigerian civil war started in 1967. 

In 1967, following two coups and turmoil that led to about a million Igbos (one of Nigeria’s most-populous ethnic groups primarily from the Eastern region of the country) returning to the south-east of Nigeria, the Republic of Biafra seceded.

The Nigerian government declared war and after 30 months of fighting, Biafra surrendered. On Jan. 15 1970, the conflict officially ended.

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5. Nigeria’s oil boom began in the 1970s.

Oil profitability in Nigeria was greatest during the 1970s, when it became the wealthiest country in Africa.

Within two years, state profit increased by almost 50%, to an all-time high of N5.3 billion in 1976. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Nigeria bolstered profits when it joined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1971, and the discovery of oil is widely believed to have influenced the course of the civil war.

6. A Nigerian was the first African recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. 

Wole Soyinka was the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he won in 1986, and he is also a prominent social critic and political activist.

As an activist, he has been a voice for justice, freedom, and the end of tyranny. He has risked his life again and again to articulate the principles that provide the foundation for human rights, both in his native Nigeria and around the world.

7. Nigeria won its first Olympic gold medal in 1996.

Nigeria’s most successful Olympic outing was the 1996 Olympics, with the men’s football team winning Gold, and Chioma Ajunwa also winning a Gold medal in the women’s long jump event.

In total that year, Nigeria won two Gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals.

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8. Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.

The 1999 transition of Nigeria from military to civilian, democratic government, was a defining moment in Nigerian history, representing the beginning of the longest, uninterrupted government since Independence in 1960.

The presidential election took place in February 1999, and Olusegun Obasanjo, who as head of state in 1976–79 had overseen the last transition from military rule, was declared the winner.

9. Nigerian model Agbani Darego was the first African woman to win the Miss World pageant

Rivers State-born Agbani Darego was the first African woman to win the Miss World pageant — entering the history books with her victory in 2001.

Darego has worked with top brands such as Avon, Christian Dior, Sephora, Target, and Macy’s and appeared in world famous magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire, Allure, Trace, Stitch, Cosmopolitan, and Essence. She remains Nigeria’s most famous beauty queen.

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10. Nigeria became Africa’s largest economy in 2013/4.

In April 2014 — looking back at the previous financial year — the statistics bureau of Nigeria confirmed the rebasing of the Nigerian economy’s gross domestic product (GDP) to $509.9 billion.

This placed it well above South Africa’s nominal GDP of $322 billion and elevated Nigeria to the position of the largest economy in Africa.

11. Nigerians became the first Africans to qualify for the Olympics bobsledding event in 2018.

Three Nigerian-American women — Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere, and Akuoma Omeoga — made history and their Olympic dreams come true by being the first-ever African bobsled team to qualify for the Olympics. They were also the first Nigerian athletes to compete in a Winter Olympics event.


Nigeria is home to the greatest number of people living in extreme poverty in the world — meaning that efforts to tackle extreme poverty and its systemic causes in the country are vital to the Global Goals’ mission to end extreme poverty by 2030. You can join the movement to empower and protect vulnerable Nigerians by taking action here.

 

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Woman mourned the death of her husband at his funeral ‘only to find him at her doorstep 4 days later’!

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The unfortunate woman, Victoria, told local news outlets that she ended the year with a tragedy. During a visit to the local hospital, she was told by hospital staff that her husband, Julio, passed away from c0ronavirus.

She reportedly identified the body that she was shown in the hospital morgue, after which the medical staff released the corpse to the grieving wife.

Making arrangements to pay the last respects to her husband, Victoria, arranged to have Julio’s body be taken 30 miles away from the hospital to her village in Honduras.

She then spent one entire night surrounded by distressed relatives as they had an all-night wake before his final burial the next day…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

On the day of the funeral, Julio’s children saw the open coffin and found something amiss. They took a look at the body and wondered whether it was really that of their father’s.

But despite their doubts, the relatives reportedly went ahead with the ceremony and the man was laid to rest in a funeral that Victoria spent more than $430.

In the days that followed, Victoria continued grieving for her husband until, out of nowhere, she saw Julio himself arrive back at their house on the fourth day since the funeral was held.

“That wasn’t my husband who died, because I have my husband here now. I recognised him,” the wife said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

It was only after her husband returned home that Victoria discovered he had been missing for a few days because he went for a walk and fell over at a spot in the neighboring municipality.

Unable to get up, the man spent several days there, surviving without anything to drink or eat. He was later found injured in a field before his return home. Although her husband was back, it also meant that she buried a complete stranger in her village and her family has no idea who they were grieving for. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

“I would like them to give me back some of what I spent, because they gave me the body of someone I don’t know,” Victoria shared.

“The authorities at the morgue should have properly examined him to see if it was really him.”

But on the other hand, the hospital said that the wife was to blame for misidentifying the man as her husband. They confirmed that the man arrived with Covid-19, and because of his serious condition, he didn’t survive in the hospital for more than a few hours.

The hospital staff had a look at the picture Victoria was carrying of her husband, and they found him to resemble the body of the man in the morgue. In addition to this, Victoria herself recognized the body at the time as that of her husband’s.

The hospital director reportedly said, “The logical thing was to bring the body back so we could investigate.

But later the relatives called back and said he was the right person after all and they were going to bury him.

We have everything documented. We even have an apology from one of the children, if this becomes a lawsuit.”

 

 

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A Girl Rushed Out Of McDonald’s Bathroom Crying, Then Her Mom Saw Something Wrong On Her Legs

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The restaurant was packed with hungry customers busy eating at their tables when the customers’ attention shifted to a four-year-old girl named Kayla running towards her mom. Kayla’s face was filled with tears, and she was hysterically crying when she reached her mom’s arm. While Kayla’s mom, Nicole, was comforting her daughter, she asked her daughter what was wrong. Kayla was still crying and couldn’t speak; she continued sobbing like she was in deep pain. That was when Nicole started scanning her daughter’s body and saw what was wrong.

There was something on Kayla’s leg. Hello, wonderful people! I’m Jamie Buck from Wonderbot, and here is a story about a girl who rushed out of a McDonald’s bathroom crying. Then her mom saw something wrong on her legs. Before we begin, make sure you smash the like button, subscribe to our channel, and click the notification bell for more amazing videos…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

It was during New Year’s Day when Nicole and her daughter Kayla decided to spend their day at the park and buy some food at McDonald’s. It was Kayla’s favorite fast food. The two were so excited to spend time together and bond at the park. While Nicole was closing their front door, she turned to Kayla and asked her if she was ready to have fun. Kayla nodded her head with excitement, having no idea what was about to come to them.

When Nicole and Kayla arrived at the park, the piercing sun was shimmering down on them. It was a perfect bright day to spend at the park. Kayla immediately ran towards the roundabout and asked her mom to spin her. You could hear Kayla’s giggle throughout the playground while her mom was spinning her. Nicole’s phone started ringing, and she turned around to answer the call while Kayla got off the roundabout to go to the slides.

While Nicole was busy talking on her phone, she suddenly heard a scream. Nicole quickly ended her call when she realized it was Kayla. The moment Nicole got off the phone, she turned around to find Kayla had fallen from the slide and scratched her head. She was so worried about what had happened and continued comforting her daughter while she was sobbing. After a while, when Kayla had finally calmed down, she asked her mom if she could get food already.

Nicole immediately stood up and told her daughter, “Yes, of course, dear.” The two left the park and drove off to the nearest McDonald’s, which was about 10 minutes away from where they were. Little did Nicole know that it would have been better if they just ate somewhere else. When Nicole and Kayla arrived at McDonald’s and walked into the restaurant, they noticed that the place was filled with people. Nicole’s attention was caught by a group of teenagers that were seated in the corner of the restaurant.

The group was listening to music while sipping on their soda. Two of the teenagers suddenly turned their look at Nicole and her daughter and sniggered. What could those two be thinking? It was mentioned earlier the restaurant was packed, so it’s no surprise that the line was long too. After what seemed like forever standing in line, it was finally Nicole’s turn to order.

While she was ordering their food, she asked Kayla to sit at the table in the corner and wait there while she was ordering food. Kayla politely followed her mom’s instructions and sat at the table while watching a video on YouTube on her mom’s phone. But then suddenly, a scream was heard throughout the restaurant. A scream came from the teenager that was sitting in the corner of the restaurant. The group started a fight and were yelling at each other.

Nicole immediately walked over to Kayla and comforted her, trying to drive her attention away from the battle by making her watch YouTube videos. Staff from the restaurant quickly went to the group to break up the fight and kick them out of the place. While the group was kicked out, two teenage girls from the circle were still sitting at the table. It was finally time to eat. The smell of burgers and fries lingered in the air as Nicole and Kayla started digging into their well-deserved lunch.

Kayla was eating a Happy Meal while Nicole was eating her chicken burger and some fries. In the middle of their mealtime, Kayla suddenly looked at her mom with a stern but innocent look. “Mommy, I need to use the toilet,” Kayla whispered as she finished the last bite of her cheeseburger. Kayla wiped her hands and got up to go to the toilet. When she walked over, she noticed the lock was shut.

There must be someone in there, she thought. She looked back at her mom, who smiled at her. Suddenly, she heard something. It was coming from inside the toilet. Giggles and laughs could be heard while Kayla was patiently waiting outside the toilet. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

After a couple of minutes remaining, the door opened, and the two teenage girls from earlier went out of the bathroom together with a smirk on their faces. Nicole was intimidated by the girls as she watched them walk past Kayla. Nicole then signaled her daughter to enter the toilet and assured Kayla that she’ll stay outside and wait for her. While Nicole was patiently waiting for Kayla at her table, she heard a scream coming from the toilet. “Mom!

Kayla screamed while running out of the bathroom with tears streaming down her face. Nicole immediately stood up from her seat, not minding her bag that fell onto the floor. As a mother, one thing that you never want to hear is the sound of your kid screaming. Kayla ran into her mom’s arms, sobbing. In the toilet, she says, Nicole immediately went to the toilet to check what was wrong.

She scanned the whole room and thought there was nothing wrong there, so she continued studying to see what could be the reason behind her daughter’s outburst. She saw that there were a few toilet paper rolls rolled out on the floor, and the faucet was dripping. Nicole checked the toilet seat, and that is when she figured the reason for her child’s outburst. When she went to the toilet seat, she noticed that it looked like the chair was covered with a white sticky substance. But as Nicole got closer to inspect, she realized that it was glue.

The toilet seat was smothered with super glue. She then realized that someone did this on purpose. Nicole stormed out of the toilet while her heart was pounding and yelled to call the manager and all employees in the restaurant. Nicole went over to her daughter, who was still crying and yelling in pain. She checked on Kayla to see what was wrong and saw that her daughter’s skin was peeled off at the back of her legs.

While Kayla was still crying in her mother’s arms, Kayla was terrified of what happened, and her mother was furious. Nicole yelled out for help in the crowd while stopping her tears from falling out of her eyes. Joanna, the assistant manager at McDonald’s, thought that she had seen it all, from small fights over a Big Mac to a drunk customer and misbehaving teens. She was trained and was already used to handling heated situations. She knew what to do to solve problems, but in her 15 years in the industry, it was the first time to see and experience something like this.

She had never seen anything like this. The moment Nicole asked for help, Joanna and her co-employees all gathered around Kayla and provided medical assistance. The staff helped in cleaning the wound and bandaging her up while Kayla was crying in her mom’s chest. After that, Nicole decided to go to the nearest hospital, so she called a family member to come and get them. But the assistance that was given to them was not enough for Nicole.

She knew that there was something that she needed to do. Nicole took the matter to her social media account and shared on her personal Facebook what happened, hoping that this would bring the pranksters to justice. On her post, Nicole wrote, “To the two young blonde girls that thought it would be hilarious to put super glue on the disabled and baby changing toilet in McDonald’s, I just want you to know that I still have to console my four-year-old daughter who was unfortunate enough to use the toilet after your little prank. She is hoping that the two teenage girls who played the prank on her daughter would be found and punished. Kayla is just an innocent little girl and does not deserve all of this.

After some investigations, the two teenage girls were finally found and were interviewed by the police officers. The two girls immediately admitted what they did and sincerely apologized to Nicole and Kayla. The two girls said they were regretting what they did and that it was a prank gone wrong. But was the apology enough for Nicole and daughter Kayla? Imagine Kayla, a four-year-old who would have to live her life with this terrible memory marked in her mind.

After hearing that the police had taken appropriate action against the two teenage girls, Nicole felt relieved. It’s been weeks since the incident happened, and the things that happened that day are still fresh in her mind. She watches as her daughter peacefully plays with her dolls. Some justice finally, she thought to herself. She takes a sip of her cup of coffee before smiling to herself and watching her brave daughter playing.

Such a story right? This story just proves to show that pranks can be a fun way to trick your friends, but it can result in a bad scenario. Hopefully, Nicole and Kayla’s experience will remind those people who love doing pranks and tricks on their friends to think twice about the people they would upset all for the sake of a laugh. So next time you want to play a prank on someone, make sure to think about it first and that no one will get hurt.

 

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The bus driver picked up the children early in the morning as usual, and the parents found out they were not at school

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Black ice (a thin layer of new ice on a road) is dangerous. If you have ever tried to walk or ride it then you know.

This is why the parents of Shelby County were not surprised when they were informed that school would start late because they had to wait for the ice on the road to melt.

Unfortunately, bus driver Wayne Price did not receive the message on time. He had already collected all the children, and knew that returning them to their homes
would only increase the chance of an accident. So instead, he did something completely different…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

Instead of parking the bus and letting the kids play on the smartphone for two hours, he knew he needed to do something to keep them busy.

His actions may not have been according to the book, but they also did not surprise elementary school principals in Montevallo, Alabama.

Understand, they know Wayne. They know he is capable of doing such a ‘trick’.

But the children did not know what to expect. When they stopped at a local McDonald’s branch they must have wondered if Wayne had lost it. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Turns out he just wanted to buy all the kids breakfast, and paid for everyone’s breakfast instead of the breakfast they were supposed to eat at school.

To put things in perspective, there were between 40 and 50 kids on Wayne’s bus, so you can imagine how much the bill came out. School principals responded to the
gesture on Facebook and wrote: “Mr. Price, one of our bus drivers, really demonstrated the holiday spirit! On Tuesday, when school started late because of ice on the
road and we could not serve breakfast, he bought breakfast at McDonalds for all the kids who were on the bus! What a wonderful gesture that the students will
remember forever!”

After hearing every good deed of the bus driver, people from all over the world flooded Wayne with messages of support and encouragement.

What a beautiful thing to do, and what a wonderful way to do above and beyond for kids who he so obviously care about!

If you think Wayne Price’s deed is commendable, share the article with your friends and family!

 

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