Like most countries and civilizations one stumbles upon, there are extremely rich and intriguing histories to be shared. Despite the rather uncommon knowledge of the Nigerians of West Africa, there is even more information to be found than what's on the simple surface.

Briefly, in the earliest moments of Nigeria's existence, there were many settlements made by many different tribes and cultures, but the most notable was the Yoruba settlement. The Yoruba were one of the largest ethnic groups, and still have a rather prevalent existence, spanning more than 20 million people as of recently (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1998). The Yoruba people, which later became known as the Nigerian people, were conquered by and ruled over by the British for a short period of time (Truly, who hasn't been?). However, surprisingly, considering the country's long history of wrongdoings, the British attempted to put a stop to the slave trade that was initiated between Nigeria and the Sakata Jihad, which was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. Eventually, the people of Nigeria experienced and underwent a civil war in the late 1900s.

Continuing on that, civil war in Nigeria was brought about by the military regimes that thrived there. The regime declared that there were to be 12 states, in an attempt to break up and destroy the power of the regions these states resided. A succession of three of the 12 states occurred, and the next two years succeeding were "marked by stiff resistance" (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Attempts at peace were made, but they remained ineffective, as the rebelling states received aid from international organisations. The war eventually subsided, as the states that attempted to declare their own republic grew extremely poor and its people began to suffer. In 1970, the representatives of the Biafran Republic, as it had come to be known by, surrendered.

More rebellion broke out in 2002, when Baka Haram, an Islamic sectarian movement formed. It wasn't until 2009 that the movement gained any sort of publicity, however, because of its new altercations which resulted in their attacks on police and government targets, which killed and injured many. The attacks grew in intensity and frequency as members of the movement continued to target government and military buildings, members of police forces, and even Christian schools and other buildings. By 2012, it was estimated that there were around 2800 people killed at the hands of the sectarian movement. Baka Haram is still a significant threat to the Nigerian people, even going as far as kidnapping almost 300 girls from their boarding school and posting a video on the internet a week afterward. Because of this, Nigeria still struggles with its fight against corruption. Many Nigerian citizens saw absolutely no relief from the increasing poverty rate, and in 2018, Nigerian earned the least coveted title of having the most people in extreme poverty in the entire world. This caused people to question whether or not the president at the time was truly fit to serve as that position in the Nigerian government. Although there was some progress in the fight against corruption, Baka Haram was still a significant issue among the Nigerian people. Despite the progress that the military made in defending against Baka Haram returned and resumed their attacks in 2016, which crushed the hopes that the militants would be eradicated.

Along with the important events that occurred throughout such a brief period of time in Nigeria, there are also some very important people that resided in the West African country.

Ibrahim Babangida assumed power and was able to retain it in 1985, after a bloodless coup was staged. The people of Nigeria wanted an end to military regimes, which Babangida outwardly supported. However, he worked relentlessly to undermine the process of demilitarisation in order to retain his power. Eventually, Babangida voided the presidential elections of 1992, banning all of the other candidates from running for this political position. After losing his power, he was replaced by somebody who promised the same things he did, but by also using excessive force to achieve them. Sani Abacha, Babangida's second in command, was responsible for plummeting the Nigerian people back under a military regime. He went so far as to fire a mass amount of the military, and even banned political activity of any kind. Arguably, one of Abacha's most despicable acts was when he oversaw the trials and the imprisonment of a writer who was merely concerned with the impact of environmental exploitation in their region. Years later, another president attempted to change the laws to allow himself a third term. However, this was rejected, and Yar' Adua was selected and declared winner in 2007, despite the amount of opposition he faced and the supposed voting irregularities and fraud. Eventually, Yar' Adua's health became subjected to rumours, and while he left the country for medical treatment, he left his vice president in power, despite the fact that he was not obligated to do so. Unfortunately, he never recovered from his ailments, and died just three years into his presidency.

Despite the evident terrible experiences of the people in Nigeria, many people still hang onto their roots in religious beliefs. Although there are Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, there are also some people who worship and believe in the original deities and tales revolving around them. There's a sort of hierarchy that the deities of ancient Nigeria, or Yoruba, pertain to. It is also rumoured that there are over four hundred minor deities; both major and minor gods were referred to as "Orishas," a different word for other typical civilisations' gods. There is also a central focus around the Supreme Being, Olodumare. It is believed that Olodumare was the owner of the source of creation. However, he is not directly involved in human affairs; he lets his sons and daughters, the Orisha, answer through the divination of prayers, possession, and sacrifice. There are many orishas which are responsible for things such as fertility and marriage, forge and fire, or rivers and lakes. Interestingly, there is an entire fantasy book series which is based around the Orisha of Yoruba culture, similar to the many, many books written pertaining to the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses (this book series was my inspiration). Yet again, interestingly, it is believed that the Yoruba religion is the inspiration behind both Santeria and Voodoo because of the slave trade into the United States and the Caribbean. Because of the Nigerian citizens who still worship the Orisha, there are three prominent religions that among the people: Yoruba, Christianity, and Islam. Because of the higher population of Muslims in Nigeria, holidays such as Eid al Fitr and the month long celebration of Ramadan are very prominent.

Alongside the Orisha, there are a small few creatures that the Yoruba people, as well as other West Africans believed in. There is a supposed creature called Emere, which is a sort of super child, which can travel between worlds at will. They're also considered to be beautiful and powerful creatures, named the Elves of West Africa. Alongside the Emere, there are Abiku dwarves. The dwarf-like cryptids are rumoured to eat and drink anything that a targeted child eats, and eventually moves on to another victim when that child dies. The Abiku are defined as the "children predestined for death," because of the combination of "abi,"or "that which is born," and "iku," or "death." Lastly, the Ikaki, which are rumoured to dwell most places in West Africa, are human-slaying water spirits who often take the form of an evil tortoise (Calbraith, 2013).

Similar to a vast majority of cultures found around the world, Nigerian people have their own tales and fables, such as how the tortoise got its shell. Just like in the stories that Native Americans told, Nigerian characters take up the names of animals which are spotted daily, such as Cheeta, Dog, and Hyena. Dog's mother stayed hidden in the sky, and Tortoise eventually found that he wanted to enjoy the heavens too. Tortoise tricked Dog's mother into letting down a rope which would allow for him to climb up into the sky. Because Dog was very punctual and never missed his opportunity to spend time with his mother, he witnessed Tortoise attempting to climb up the rope, leading to him yelling at his mother to cut down the rope. After the rope was cut, Tortoise fell back to Earth, which left his shell shattered. Ant attempted to put the tiny pieces of his shell back together, but it was not perfect as it was before. Because of Tortoise's deceit of Dog and his mother, Tortoise and all of his descendants would be made to live with the uneven and imperfect shells. Another story which appeared commonly in Nigeria was also about a tortoise, however this time about the turtle's gluttony when attempting to get into the heavens.

There were birds that were able to fly up there, but as Tortoise had no feathers and no wings, the birds had to help him get there. Before leaving for heaven, Tortoise had the idea of naming the two groups of creatures "all of us" and "all of you." However, Tortoise was the only creature underneath the name "all of you." Upon arriving, angels asked who each group was before inviting them for food. Tortoise asked one of the birds who the food is for, before being told "all of us." Tortoise then turned to one of the angels and asked again who the food was for, and the angel replied, "All of you." This caused Tortoise to proclaim that since the food was for "all of you," it was only for him because he was the only creature there sporting that name. After all of the birds left and abandoned Tortoise, he asked Dove if he could deliver a message to Mrs.

Tortoise, saying that she should collecting all of the soft objects in the house so that he could jump from heaven and land on a soft pile of objects. Dove saw his chance for revenge, and relayed the wrong information to Mrs. Tortoise; Dove told her to gather everything sharp.

Because of this, when Tortoise jumped from heaven back down to Earth, he landed on everything so sharp, and his shell and pride alike were splintered and ruined, never to be perfectly repaired again. Both of these fables illustrate that one should be truthful and to avoid deceiving a person, because there are always very grave consequences. However, maybe Nigerians really don't like tortoises (Yoruba Folktales, 2018).