Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and largest Black Nation in the world. One out of every four Africans and one out of every five persons of African origin is Nigerian.

The present day country called Nigeria was a creation of the British - as were many other African countries during the colonial era. But archeological evidence suggests the existence of multiple communities and habitations in this part of West Africa for well over 4000 years. More than 250 ethnic tribes call Nigeria home; with the three largest and most dominant being the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba tribes. Some of the other tribes include the Edo, Efik, Fulani, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Kanuri, Ibibio, Nupe and Tiv. Nigeria is also one of the most linguistically diverse countries with over 500 languages. Before the Nigerian construct, these ethnic groups had different identities and independent histories - albeit, with some similarities and overlaps amongst neighbouring groups.

At 923,768 km², Nigeria is slightly more than twice the size of the US State of California, or almost four times the size of the UK. Coupled with its sheer number of people from such a diverse pool of tribes and traditions, it is easy to see how Nigeria grew its cultural influence across the Black diaspora. Today, there are communities of people with Nigerian ancestry mostly in Barbados, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica, who have retained elements of their ancestral beliefs and traditional religions.

Arts and Culture

Nigeria is best experienced through arts and culture. Although equally endowned with lush forests and picture perfect savannah vegetations, unlike the leading tourist destinations in Africa, Nigeria is not big on wildlife, nor on curating its many natural wonders.

Given the dizzying array of tribes and traditions within its borders, it's no surprise that Nigeria is a hotpot of various art forms. Ranging from sculptures to literature, religion to architecture, music to theatre, Nigeria overtime has developed a distinct cultural image - one hewn from its collective identity and plurality. You can see this expressed through major life events (such as marriage ceremonies, age grade rites, funerals, etc), food, fashion, music, dance and films.

A good starting place is always the city of Lagos - the vibrant, pulsating heart of Nigeria, home to about 20 million Nigerians of every tribe and tongue. No other place in Africa can lay claim to the sheer breadth and diversity of cultural experiences on offer here. What doesn't happen in Lagos does not yet exist!

BOOK A LAGOS TOUR TO EXPLORE YOUR NIGERIAN ANCESTRY:

Why many African Americans have Nigerian Ancestry

During the period of the transatlantic slave trade, an estimated 12.5 million persons were shipped from Africa to the Americas, with about 3.5 million of them from Nigeria. But these figures alone do not explain the preponderance of Nigerian genetic ancestry in many African Americans.

In the largest DNA Study of people of African ancestry in the Americas, which is linked here, researchers found an overrepresentation of Nigerian genetic ancestry in the United States and Latin America compared to the proportion of enslaved people shipped to these places from regions within modern day Nigeria. While the finds from the genetic study were largely supported by established narratives and historic records of the transatlantic slave trade, there were also some inconsistencies.

Previous genetic studies have shown that African Americans in the US have more African ancestry from populations that lived near present-day Nigeria than from populations that lived elsewhere in Atlantic Africa (Western and west central Africa). In agreement, this study showed Nigerian as the most common ancestry within the US, the French Caribbean, and the British Caribbean. This is despite the fact that nearly half of enslaved Africans who landed in the United States were coming from Senegambia (Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal) and West-Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Angola), a considerable number of the remaining half had their origins in Ghana as well as Ivory Coast. The genetic data was analyzed against historical records of over 36,000 transatlantic slave trade voyages that happened between 1492 and the early 19th century.

"The overrepresentation of Nigeria ancestry reported was found to be a result of the later intra-American slave trade between the British Caribbean and the mainland Americas".

Learn more about the study by clicking here.