$Unique_ID{COW02626} $Pretitle{357} $Title{Nigeria Chapter 2A. The Society and Its Environment} $Subtitle{} $Author{Robert Rinehart} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{area population ethnic river plains groups meters states north northern} $Date{1981} $Log{Statue of Oya*0262601.scf Figure 14.*0262602.scf Modern National Theatre*0262603.scf } Country: Nigeria Book: Nigeria, A Country Study Author: Robert Rinehart Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1981 Chapter 2A. The Society and Its Environment [See Statue of Oya: Traditional goddess of rivers and a wife of Shango, legendary founder of the Yoruba nation] Nigeria's sheer size and heterogeneity-physical, social, religious, and linguistic-and the change that it continues to undergo make the contours and structures of its society difficult to define. Its large population-probably more than 80 million in 1980-is distributed in varying densities over land characterized by a range of features-from rain forest to several kinds of savanna to the semiarid Sahel. Nigerians speak well over 300 languages (many with dialects) and are divided into nearly as many ethnic groups, the more important of which comprise numbers of subgroups. The relevance of these subethnic entities to the lives and loyalties of their members is usually greater than that of the more comprehensive ethnolinguistic categories. The largest of these categories are the Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo, together constituting roughly 60 percent of the population. These more inclusive entities have played a considerable role in the ordering of political and social relations, but they are not so much primordial groups, ancient and permanently formed, as emergents in the course of historic political, economic, and social competition. Sometimes cutting across and sometimes supporting other cultural and social ties are the religious affiliations and commitments of Nigerians. A little less than half the people are professed Muslims-chiefly Sunni. Included are most Hausa, other important groups in northern and middle Nigeria, and roughly half the Yoruba. The identification with Islam is important to all of these people, but the range of conformity to orthodox Islam varies considerably as does the place of indigenous elements in their religious thought and ritual. Professed Christians constitute roughly 35 percent of the population-half the Yoruba, a substantial portion of the Ibo, and other groups in the south and in the middle of Nigeria. Here also the range of commitment, belief, and practice varies from full espousal of the form and content of the historic mission-related denominations to deep involvement in the pentecostal churches that have flowered in the twentieth century. Those who adhere fully to indigenous religions are a minority, but the world views generally characteristic of such religions also inform popular Islam and Christianity. During the colonial period Nigeria's ethnic and subethnic groupings came to be identified with differences in wealth, status, and power. This perception bore some resemblance to the distribution of the society's rewards, but internal differences within each ethnic group were substantial and became greater as independence neared and arrived. By that time an elite based in good part on command of education had emerged and gained access to positions in government, public corporations, and large-scale-often foreign-owned-private enterprises. Nigeria's relatively open economy also permitted the rise of a group of wealthy businessmen, chiefly in the commercial and services sector. An exception to the allocation of status and power based on education and enterprise was the ruling aristocracy in the northern emirates that dominated the Northern Region (later the northern states). In all but a few cases this aristocracy was of Fulani origin and Muslim (as were the Hausa over whom it ruled). Its members have by and large adapted to the new order, acquiring the necessary education in many cases and bringing nonaristocrats with Western skills and wealth into the modern ruling class. However this aristocracy has not retired to a purely traditional status. Despite coups, countercoups, and political rearrangements, this heterogeneous class and the social and economic order it rules have persisted. The members of the class may be said to share only a wish to remain at the top of the social, economic, and political hierarchies and a corresponding reluctance to preside over revolutionary change in the socioeconomic order. They do not care to diminish social mobility, if only because the expectation of mobility reduces the likelihood of violently expressed dissatisfactions. Within the class, interests, life-styles, and social bases differ. Whether these differences may overshadow their common interests cannot be foreseen. Most Nigerians, though divisible by occupation and income into socioeconomic strata, show few signs of sustained class consciousness. Three quarters are still farmers, although some also trade or engage in local crafts. They tend to be oriented to local (ethnic) or provincial notions of status. If they are disturbed by the behavior of governments or bureaucrats, they react to the immediate local problem and do not demonstrate a pan-Nigerian peasant consciousness. The much smaller urban working class may be said to have a similar short-run perspective. If they have a longer run approach, it is-with some exceptions-to abandon wage earning and go into business for themselves. Some skilled workers and others long committed to urban life may see wage work as permanent and themselves as part of a working class. The Physical Setting Nigeria, easternmost of the countries that face the Gulf of Guinea in the West African bulge, lies only a few degrees above the equator (see fig. 1). The country has a total area of 923,768 kilometers. The greatest east-to-west distance is somewhat over 1,120 kilometers, and the north-south distance is about 1,040 kilometers. The outstanding geographic feature is the basin of the Niger and Benue rivers, running east and west through the center of the country. The two rivers join and flow south to the Bight of Biafra. Geographic Regions Distinguishable geographic divisions stretch in generally east-west zones across the country. A low coastal zone characterizes the far south. North of this zone lies an area of hills and low plateaus. Through the middle of the country extends the great valley of the Niger and Benue rivers. Beyond it to the country's northern border is a broad plateau. Along the eastern border is found a distinct zone of mountainous country. Within these general divisions, geographic regions are demarcated by differences in landforms, drainage patterns, and variations in natural vegetation (see fig. 12). Generally, vegetation zones depend upon rainfall, and the density and height of trees and grasses vary with it, diminishing from south to north as rainfall declines (see fig. 13). The Low Plains are bordered on the Gulf of Guinea by a stretch of often swampy land interspersed with lagoons and creeks. The outer edge of the coast consists of sand spits in the west that change to mud as the coast nears the Niger delta. Behind the spits and lagoons, creeks form a continuous waterway from the western border to the Niger delta. On the mainland many smaller rivers lost themselves in the freshwater swamps that line the northern edges of the lagoons. The only major opening to the gulf is at Lagos, the capital. The plains rise gently northward from below 180 meters to altitudes up to 300 meters. To the south they are heavily forested and dissected, and erosion has produced low, relatively flat-topped hills. The area in the north is suitable for cocoa cultivation (see Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, ch. 3). In Bendel State the land consists of a sandy coastal plain with gentle slopes and low elevations. The central and western sections of this state contain extensive forest areas in protected reserves. The upper section of the Lower Niger Valley region comprises narrow gorges between which lie broader stretches bordered by low hills. In its central section the valley widens. A broad alluvial plain on the left bank is intensively farmed during low-water periods, as are the section's numerous sandbanks and islands. During the rainy season the water level inundates these features. Near Onitsha, the largest and most important port on the Niger, the river again narrows. Below this point it flows through an alluvial floodplain that stretches to the delta. Much of this area is also flooded at high water. The Niger delta, a great bulge of sedimentary material, covers an area of about 26,000 square kilometers. The water of the Niger flows through this delta in a series of streams. Behind the outer edge of the delta, fringed by sand spits and ridges, are mangrove swamps covering about 10,000 square kilometers, and further inland is an extensive area of freshwater swamps. Islands of solid ground are thickly settled. The delta is the site of Nigeria's large natural gas and oil deposits (see Oil and Gas, ch. 3). The southeastern scarp lands consist of a highly eroded plateau area characterized by prominent scarps. The region's chief features are the Udi and Igala plateaus at roughly 300 meters above sea level (with escarpments rising higher) and the deeply gullied Awka-Orlu uplands. Gullying of the scarps on the northern and eastern edges of the plateaus has exposed important coal-bearing formations. The western part of the region embraces the upper valley of the Anambra River and the valley of its major tributary, the Mamu River. Much of this area is a featureless plain about fifty to 100 meters above sea level, heavily forested in places. Alluvial materials have been deposited along the rivers and in the valleys of smaller tributary streams. The coastline of the Southeastern Lowlands, like that in the Low Plains area, is fringed with sandy spits and mangrove swamps but lacks longitudinal lagoons. The Southeastern Lowlands are divided into subregions-the first an oil palm belt lying east and northeast of the Niger delta; the second the Cross River basin. The oil palm belt's porous, leached soils are relatively infertile. Its earlier forest cover has been replaced by secondary vegetation, of which the oil palm is the dominant species. Elevations of the Cross River basin vary from about sixty meters in the south to 150 meters in the north. Large areas are relatively flat, and land along streams and rivers becomes swampy in the rainy season. Most of it is covered with parkland and grass; near the Eastern Highlands, however, heavy forests are found. The Cross River is the most important stream outside the Niger-Benue drainage system. The Western High Plains, or Plateau of Yorubaland, are broadest in the west where the land has a general elevation of more than 300 meters. The area is covered largely with savanna parkland and grass. The region's eastern section has two plateau surfaces-one has an elevation of about 225 meters and the other of about 360 meters. Drainage in the region is generally good, but many streams disappear in the dry period, and holes must be dug in streambeds to obtain water. Many streams running through the area flow directly to the Bight of Benin, but the northernmost ones are tributaries of the Niger. The combined valleys of the Niger and Benue rivers form a great east-west arc approximately across the middle of the country. Near the center the Benue joins the Niger, which then flows to the Gulf of Guinea. In the west the Niger valley between Yelwa and Jebba is characterized by open floodplains; between the plains are narrow, rocky stretches marked by rapids and falls. In the late 1960s the construction of a dam at Kainji above Jebba created the Kainji Reservoir in this part of the valley. Eastward from Jebba to the confluence of the two rivers, the valley broadens. At many points, extensive swampy plains are found. In other places the land consists of eroded hill country. All streams to the north of the Niger's west to east extension are that river's tributaries. For most of its distance the Benue River valley is broad, attaining a width of about 160 kilometers in some places. In the erosional low plains parallel to the river, some sections are undulating. In other areas flat-topped hills become a dissected sandstone plateau near the confluence of the two rivers. Navigation of the Benue River is affected only by shifting sandbars. During flood periods the Benue is navigable by flat-bottomed boats to Garoua in Cameroon. Most of the river's tributaries-which enter it from both the north and the south-are comparatively shallow and are characterized by sandbars and islands. The Northern High Plains comprise stepped plains that range from about 180 meters above sea level at the outer edge to roughly 1,000 meters in the area surrounding the Jos Plateau. Some levels are separated by prominent escarpments. The central section consists of undulating surfaces with occasional smooth, low ranges. At some points steepsided hills project above the countryside. Rivers and streams in these plains flow in broad, shallow valleys. The Northern High Plains in the Gongola River basin east of Bauchi are highly dissected, and the rivers and streams flow through deep, narrow valleys, paralleled by flat-topped hills. Much of the area is characterized by sandstone ridges. East of the Gongola River basin lies the Biu Plateau, an area of about 5,200 square kilometers. Its upper level is separated from the Northern High Plains by a pronounced scarp. Inactive volcanic cones are found in the northern part of the area. The features of the Jos Plateau, an area of about 8,000 square kilometers, are distinctive. Separated from the surrounding plains area by pronounced escarpments, the area has a general elevation of over 1,200 meters above sea level, and hills in its eastern part attain heights of over 1,700 meters. The plateau's cooler temperatures and difference in vegetation also set it apart from the Northern High Plains. The region is the site of tin and other ores that have made the region economically important (see Mining, ch. 3). The Jos Plateau is the source of many tributaries of the Niger and Benue rivers as well as of streams that flow to Lake Chad. The Sokoto Plains in the far northwest are generally monotonous in appearance. Erosion has left occasional table-like hills above the surrounding plain in the western part, which is characterized by trenchlike stream and river valleys. Water in the rivers is limited chiefly to the short rainy season. Retarded water flow and the resulting deposits have raised the level of some riverbeds above the surrounding valley floor, and floods sometimes damage crops. Many of the settlements that formerly lined the valleys have retreated to the higher plains. The Chad Basin in the far northeast consists of a broad plains area at about 300 meters above sea level. The land slopes gently eastward from the Northern High Plains to Lake Chad. The region is largely featureless except for fixed dune formations in the northern section, many of which are covered with trees and grass. Very low gradients affect river flow in the region. During much of the year the flood-plains are swampy, and the rivers disappear into them. During the rainy season the flat river valleys are flooded, but water supply becomes a problem in the dry period. Shallow wells and artesian sources are then used. A portion of Lake Chad lies within Nigeria's borders. Subject to great seasonal variations in area and water level, the lake alternately advances and recedes over considerable distances in the flat plains area on the Nigerian side. At its height, usually between December and January, it may cover up to 26,000 square kilometers; during the ensuing months it may diminish to less than half that area. The eastern boundary with Cameroon is characterized for about 800 kilometers by mountainous country. The northern part of the Eastern Highlands consists of several hill groups, having high points around 1,100 meters. To the south are the Mandara Mountains, extending to the Benue River valley and comprising a dissected plateau that has a general elevation of about 1,200 meters. The central part of the region consists of the Cameroon Highlands (formerly the Adamawa Highlands), discontinuous mountain ranges and high plateaus situated between the Benue River valley and the Donga River valley. They include the Atlantika Mountains along the border and, separated in the west by a lower plains area, the Shebshi Mountains. The Shebshi Mountains, at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,100 meters, are a dissected plateau with highly eroded lower slopes. They include the highest surveyed point in the country, Vogel Peak, an elevation of 2,042 meters. To the southwest of the Cameroon Highlands is the Nigerian section of the Bamenda Highlands, most of which lies in Cameroon. Westward extensions of these highlands are known as the Obudu Uplands and the Oban Hills. High points in the uplands reach more than 1,800 meters. Transportation is difficult, and both areas are sparsely populated. They are heavily forested except for the uppermost levels. Climate The climate is tropical, but considerable variation exists between the south and the north. Regional differences in the principal weather components-temperature, humidity, and rainfall-are governed mainly by the movement and interaction of the three air masses that affect all of West Africa. The harmattan, originating in the Sahara region, is hot, dry, and dust laden. The tropical maritime air mass that comes from the southwest across the Gulf of Guinea is composed of moist, relatively cool air. The third air mass consists of cool equatorial easterlies at higher altitudes. The movement of these air masses over Nigeria generates alternating wet and dry periods that mark the seasons. Above a line that usually runs north of the Niger and Benue river valleys, one rainy season and one dry season are relatively well defined. The rainy period occurs between April and October, usually starting in late April or early May along the dividing line and in June in the far north. Peak rains are ordinarily experienced in August. About mid-September harmattan winds bring dry, hot days and relatively cooler nights. By mid-October the rains have generally ceased in the area north of the Niger-Benue river valley and the harmattan continues to dominate until the start of the next rainy season. From the Niger-Benue river valley southward, four seasons are usually distinguishable. The long rainy season begins in February along the coast and moves gradually northward, reaching the Niger-Benue river valley region in April. Heavier rains continue through July. Rainfall slackens in August, quite noticeably in some years. Rains are again heavier from September to early November. By mid-November (December in the delta region and the southeast) the harmattan usually covers the area to the coast. The dry period continues until February or March. Annual rainfall decreases northward from the coast, ranging from more than 3,500 millimeters in parts of the Niger delta and the southeast to fewer than 500 millimeters in the far northeast (see fig. 13). The northern half of the country receives less than twenty millimeters of rainfall for periods of five to seven months during the dry season. Water shortages are often acute. Local streams and wells dry up in some areas, forcing villagers to travel considerable distances to obtain water and requiring cattle raisers to move their herds to better watered areas. Temperatures throughout the country are high at all times of the year, mean maximums increasing northward from the coastal area. Mean annual maximums at different points in the south show a range of about 30 degrees to 32C. In the northern savanna regions-excluding readings at places such as Jos-the range is about 33 degrees to 35C. The highest temperatures in the south occur in February and March during the dry season. In the north they occur in March and April. Mean monthly maximum temperatures in the coastal area decline in July and August when the rains slacken. They are lowest in the north in August at the height of the rainy season. There is little daily variation between mean maximum and minimum temperatures in the coastal areas, and little relief is obtained at night. Because of the high humidity, the climate is generally enervating. In the north, however, the range is wide. To a certain extent this is invigorating, but the extreme variations place a considerable strain on the population. The humidity varies considerably. High nighttime humidities characterize coastal regions and range between 95 and 99 percent throughout the year. During the rainy season midday humidities are above 70 percent; during the dry period they range from about 60 to 70 percent. In the north the humidity during the rainy period rises to about 90 percent at night and declines to 60 or 70 percent at midday. During the harmattan both daytime and nighttime humidities are quite low; wooden articles and furniture dry out and split, and painful cracking of the skin and lips also occurs. Population Estimates of the total 1980 population of Nigeria and of each of its major politico-administrative units (the states) vary widely, a consequence of projections on an inadequate demographic base. The United States Bureau of the Census, on the basis of one projection, estimated the 1979 population at 74.6 million, an estimate close to that of the United Nations (UN). At the bureau's postulated 3.2 percent annual rate of increase, the 1980 population may be estimated at roughly 77 million. The Population Reference Bureau, basing its estimates on figures (80.6 million in 1978) used by official agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria and on the advice of Nigerian and other demographers, provides a 1980 estimate of 85.6 million. Perhaps the highest estimate is that given by economist R.A. Davison of the University of Calabar. Basing his calculations on the 1963 census-the most recent one officially accepted-and on a series of explicit assumptions that may be challenged, he arrives at a population figure of more than 100 million in 1979 and well over 107 million in 1981. These disparities are related to significant differences in estimates of annual rates of growth, which range from the UN's and the United States Census Bureau's 3.2 percent to Davison's more than 3.7 percent. The inadequacy of the demographic data in part reflects the political and economic significance of the regional distribution of Nigeria's population. Demographers agreed that the first complete enumeration, undertaken in 1952 and 1953, undercounted the population by more than 10 percent. Among the obstacles to accuracy were the tendency of Nigerians to associate enumeration with taxation and with religious and other culturally related motives for dislike of the census. The first attempt at a second census in 1962 was thought deficient for a number of reasons (including an apparent overcount in some regions), and a second one was undertaken in 1963. The latter, also considered highly inflated (this time in other regions) by some demographers, was accepted by the federal government after some deflation (see table 2, Appendix). Although the deficiencies of the 1963 census have been recognized by many Nigerian officials and demographers, it has provided the base for most subsequent estimates. A third census was attempted in 1973. Despite the military government's emphasis on the purely administrative nature of the enumeration, public officials made much of its relevance to the allocation of representation in the federal parliament when civilian government was reinstituted, the formation of new states and the drawing of state boundaries, and the distribution of federal funds to the states for development and a variety of services. What seemed to many Nigerians to be a significant distortion of the data ensued. Regionalism-and the ethnic and religious differences associated with and reinforcing it-seems to have been responsible for both the distortion and the disputes that followed. The 1973 census was declared void. Even more problematic than the estimates of total population is a breakdown in terms of the nineteen states or of smaller entities. Estimates for the late 1970s do provide an indication of the range of absolute differences among the states. Except for Lagos, however, these estimates extrapolated from the 1963 census show in their proportions of the total little or no difference from those of 1963, although some change was expectable. Populations as ethnically and religiously varied as that of Nigeria do not ordinarily grow at a uniform rate-the assumption made for the purposes of extrapolation. Further, Nigeria is marked not only by rural-urban migration but also by migration from one rural area to another by persons in search of work or land. At least some migrants have crossed what, in 1976, came to be the state lines and have continued to do so. Moreover the consequences of the Biafran War for the distribution of population are not reflected in these estimates. Many Ibo returned from the north in the late 1970s, and others were killed or died as a consequence of the war (see Civil War, ch. 1). The low estimates of total population yielded an average density of eighty-three persons per square kilometer in 1980. Davison's high estimate for 1979 yielded an average density of 108. The distribution of densities varies considerably, but its precise dimensions cannot be determined because of the doubtful validity of estimates of the whole and of the states. Moreover an accurate picture would require precise data for much smaller units than the states. Nevertheless the materials available indicate the range of variation in densities-from fewer than twenty-five per square kilometer in Niger State to well over 600 per square kilometer in Lagos State (based on a total population of 78.6 million). Lagos State aside, the southeast and the southwest are the more densely settled portions of Nigeria followed closely by Kano State in the north (see fig. 14). The use of the states as units for density measurements masks the substantial internal variation in many of them. Thus in the north, e.g., Kano and Sokoto states, closely settled rural areas may have densities up to 300 per square kilometer whereas other areas in the same states may be nearly empty. Estimates of Nigeria's urban population and of trends in urbanization are subject not only to the shortcomings of the demographic base but also to ambiguities of definition. Estimates of the urban proportion of the population in the late 1970s and early 1980s vary from 20 to 30 percent. The latter figure yields an urban population of 24 million, assuming an estimated total of 80 million. In that instance settlements are considered urban if they include 20,000 persons or more, but not all estimates specify the minimum size of an urban area. Perhaps more important, some observers define urbanization in such a way that not all the inhabitants of an urban area are considered urban. For example, one source listing more than thirty cities and towns with populations of 100,000 or more in 1963 and again in 1980 considered all the inhabitants of only four of them to be fully urban. From 35 to 75 percent of the inhabitants of all others were so considered. The remainder were presumably farmers whose farmlands lie outside the city. In 1963 only a little more than half the population of these larger urban areas would have been truly urban. Writing in 1978, demographer Theophilus O. Fadayomi noted the lack of "precise . . . information on the volume and direction of migration in Nigeria." Nevertheless he suggested that "the excessive growth of large towns in comparison with rural and relatively small settlements . . . supports the current hypothesis of massive population redistribution in favor of urban areas." Even before the colonial era some of Nigeria's regions and ethnic groups were characterized by fairly large settlements. Most were politico-administrative (and in some cases religious) centers, but their population included a fairly wide range of craft specialists and their importance was enhanced by the fact that they were situated to control long distance trade. In the Yoruba case, nineteenth century warfare led to the destruction of smaller towns and the intensification of urban concentration. Extensive urbanization, however, began after World War II and became particularly rapid in the 1960s and 1970s. It reflected the growth of the nonagricultural economy (and perhaps the neglect of the agricultural one) and the proliferation of states to twelve after the civil war and to nineteen in the mid-1970s. New capitals were established, and secondary centers also became more important. [See Figure 14.: Population Densities by State] Of an estimated 24 million urban dwellers (whether or not truly urban), roughly one-third lived in the twenty largest cities-more than 40 percent of that third in Lagos alone. The remaining two-thirds live in some 200 urban areas of 20,000 or more inhabitants. In general these cities and towns have grown at a rate (7 to 8 percent in the 1970s) substantially exceeding that of the population as a whole. [See Modern National Theatre: Top: Lagos Bottom: Bridge crowded with traffic typifies one of Lagos' many environmental hazards. Courtesy UNITED NATIONS/Ramraka] Many migrants move not to urban but to other rural areas, often across regional (and present-day state) lines. Such movement was common during the colonial era and has continued as people have left landshort areas in search of farming opportunities. Permanent rural migration is to be distinguished from the seasonal circulation of farm labor, also common, particularly in the northern states. A transitional form, pertaining especially to cocoa and other cash crop areas in the southwest, occurs when migrant farm workers, thinking of themselves as temporary (but not seasonal) laborers, become tenant farmers and permanent residents of areas at some distance from their point of origin. Regionalism, Ethnicity, and Language Estimates of the number of ethnic groups and languages (often related but not necessarily coterminous) range from 250 to 400. Two independently developed listings of Nigerian languages published in the 1970s arrived at 368 and 395 languages (many with several dialects) respectively. The discrepancy is largely accounted for by the tentative decision of one authority to consider some tongues as separate (if closely related) whereas the other source treated them as dialects of a single language. Even more problematic is the number of ethnic groups, the defining characteristics of which are in good part subjective and have shifted historically and situationally. On the basis of self-definition used in the 1963 census, however, there were apparently almost as many ethnic groups as languages at that time. A civil war and the establishment of new states, providing a different framework for the political interaction of ethnic entities, may have altered the picture. The correspondence between language and ethnic group varies. In general, language serves as one of the criteria for both objective and subjective definitions of an ethnic group. There are cases, however, in which culturally similar entities speaking dialects of the same language have insisted on being separately defined and enumerated. In other cases speakers of distinct if closely related languages have come to be considered (and think of themselves) as members of a single group. Very few of Nigeria's ethnic groups are comprehended in a single political order (such as the Kanuri of Bornu). Political entities in other ethnic groups have a traditional history of derivation from a single source. That tradition may have entailed or justified the limited, usually ritual, authority of one kingdom over others of the same ethnic composition, but each political unit was essentially autonomous. A feature of some of Nigeria's more extensive polities has been the incorporation of culturally (and linguistically) diverse groups. Often such groups have been largely assimilated into the numerically dominant group, but in some cases they may still maintain (or be required to accept) a separate identity as a matter of social and political status. Despite the great number of ethnic groups, three-Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo-comprised nearly 60 percent of the Nigerian population in 1963, a proportion that has probably not changed in the aggregate. An additional fifteen made up another 30 percent (see table 3, Appendix). There were nearly twenty others, each of which included 100,000 or more persons in 1963, that were of local importance. But even if these are included, the list of large and medium-sized groups would come to no more than 10 percent of the number of distinguishable ethnic entities. British colonial policy and practice, the early organization of the federal republic into three (later four) regions, the differential accommodation of regionally localized ethnic groups to Western influence, and competition for access to economic and political power led to substantial regional rivalry, one consequence of which was the civil war of 1967-70 (see Civil War, ch. 1). There was also intra-regional competition. Each of the regions was dominated by one of the three largest ethnic groups-the north by the Hausa, the southwest by the Yoruba, and the southeast by the Ibo-but smaller groups were not prepared to accept the political and cultural domination of the larger groups. The formation of new states has established a different framework for ethnic rivalry. In ethnically mixed states, groups that were too small to have been politically significant in the old bigger regions or on the national level can now have an impact. If the states are ethnically homogenous or nearly so, sections of the ethnic group, often defined by locality, may become the competitive elements.