Key events in the post-independence history of Nigeria, which is scheduled to hold a presidential election on February 14:
- 1960: Independence from Britain
- 1966: The first of a long series of military coups.
- 1967-70: Biafra, the oil-rich southeast of the country, home of the Igbo people, attempts to secede, sparking a civil war that leaves over one million dead and causes widespread famine and devastation.
- 1975: President Murtala Muhammad lays plans to move the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja, a new city in central Nigeria. The change finally becomes effective in 1991.
- 1983: The military overthrows the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari.
- 1993: New political crisis when coup leader Ibrahim Babangida cancels an election viewed as free and fair and believed to have been won by billionaire businessman Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, eventually leading to Sani Abacha taking power.
- 1995: Abacha's military government tries and executes Ken Saro-Wiwa, an activist and writer who agitated on behalf of his Ogoni people, fighting for a share of the oil wealth drawn from their region in the Niger Delta.
Violence has regularly broken out in the region ever since.
- 1999: Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military leader, becomes president in elections marking a return to civilian rule. He is re-elected in 2003.
- 2007: Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is elected president. He dies in 2010 and is replaced by his vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan.
- 2009: Followers of Islamic preacher Mohammed Yusuf, who led a group known as Boko Haram, launch an uprising in northeastern Nigeria, sparking days of clashes and a brutal offensive by the military.
- 2010: Boko Haram re-emerges with a deadly insurgency.
- April 16, 2011: Goodluck Jonathan wins presidential elections.
- April 6, 2014: Nigeria announced as Africa's largest economy.
- February 14, 2015: Jonathan scheduled to bid for a second term against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.
Key events in the post-independence history of Nigeria, which is scheduled to hold a presidential election on February 14:
– 1960: Independence from Britain
– 1966: The first of a long series of military coups.
– 1967-70: Biafra, the oil-rich southeast of the country, home of the Igbo people, attempts to secede, sparking a civil war that leaves over one million dead and causes widespread famine and devastation.
– 1975: President Murtala Muhammad lays plans to move the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja, a new city in central Nigeria. The change finally becomes effective in 1991.
– 1983: The military overthrows the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari.
– 1993: New political crisis when coup leader Ibrahim Babangida cancels an election viewed as free and fair and believed to have been won by billionaire businessman Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, eventually leading to Sani Abacha taking power.
– 1995: Abacha’s military government tries and executes Ken Saro-Wiwa, an activist and writer who agitated on behalf of his Ogoni people, fighting for a share of the oil wealth drawn from their region in the Niger Delta.
Violence has regularly broken out in the region ever since.
– 1999: Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military leader, becomes president in elections marking a return to civilian rule. He is re-elected in 2003.
– 2007: Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is elected president. He dies in 2010 and is replaced by his vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan.
– 2009: Followers of Islamic preacher Mohammed Yusuf, who led a group known as Boko Haram, launch an uprising in northeastern Nigeria, sparking days of clashes and a brutal offensive by the military.
– 2010: Boko Haram re-emerges with a deadly insurgency.
– April 16, 2011: Goodluck Jonathan wins presidential elections.
– April 6, 2014: Nigeria announced as Africa’s largest economy.
– February 14, 2015: Jonathan scheduled to bid for a second term against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.
