Nigeria’s other ethnic groups, sometimes called ‘minorities’, are found throughout the country but especially in the north and the middle belt. The traditionally nomadic Fulani can be found all over West and Central Africa. The Fulani and the Hausa are predominantly Muslim while the Igbo are predominantly Christian and so are the Efik, Ibibio, and Annang people. The Yoruba are equally likely to be either Christian or Muslim. Indigenous religious practices remain important to all of Nigeria’s ethnic groups, and frequently these beliefs are blended with Christian beliefs, a practice known as syncretism.

The Main Nigerian Ethnicities

Yoruba Culture

The Yorubas are located on the western region of Nigeria and their leadership is monarchial in nature. They have kings who are allowed to take as many wives as they want and chiefs and titled individuals. They also practice traditional worship, paying homage to gods like Sango; the god of thunder, Oya, Ogun; the god of iron…etc. The Yoruba people are very friendly and welcoming to people of other tribes and nationalities.

Efik-Ibibio Culture

The Efik-Ibibio culture of coastal southeastern Nigeria has made a significant contribution to the culture of Nigeria, especially the culture of the southern region.

Igbo Culture

The eastern part of Nigeria is the home of the Igbos, who are mostly Christians. Their traditional religion is known as Omenani. Socially they are led by monarchs known as Eze Igwes. These figures in turn are expected to confer subordinate titles upon men and woman that are highly accomplished. This is known as the Nze na Ozo title system. People of title are usually well-spoken, highly respected and well recognized in their communities.

Hausa-Fulani Culture

The Hausa-Fulani live in Northern Nigeria. Nigeria Consist of my Tribe and many Cultures, Hausa Fulani are the largest or is the most popular tribe in Nigeria, even though the Hausa and Fulani are different tribes but they are considered as one tribe due to the close relationship that exist between the two tribes. Hausa In Hausa land the their one culture that is always practice yearly by Hausa people known as Hawan Sallah.

Nigerian Literatur

Nigeria is famous for its English language literature. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, is an important book in African literature. With over eight million copies sold worldwide, it has been translated into 50 languages, making Achebe the most translated African writer of all time.

Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka described the work as “the first novel in English which spoke from the interior of the African character, rather than portraying the African as an exotic, as the white man would see him.”  Nigeria has other notable writers of English language literature. These include Femi Osofisan who first published a novel Kolera Kolej was in 1975; Ben Okri whose first work, The Famished Road was published in 1991 and Buchi Emecheta who wrote stories drawn from her personal experiences of gender inequity that promote viewing women through a single prism of the ability to marry and have children. Helon Habila, Sefi Atta , Flora Nwapa, Iquo DianaAbasi Eke, Zaynab Alkali and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie among others are notable Nigerian authors whose works are read widely within and outside the country.

Nollywood

Since the 1990s the Nigerian movie industry, sometimes called “Nollywood“, has emerged as a fast-growing cultural force all over Africa. Because of the movies, western influences such as music, casual dressing and methods of speaking are to be found all across Nigeria, even in the highly conservative north of the country

Food

Nigerian food offers a rich blend of traditionally African carbohydrates such as yam and cassava as well as the vegetable soups with which they are often served. Maize is another crop that is commonly grown in Nigeria. Praised by Nigerians for the strength it gives, garri is “the number one staple carbohydrate food item in Nigeria”[ a powdered cassava grain that can be readily eaten as a meal and is quite inexpensive. Yams are frequently fried either fried in oil or pounded to make a mashed potato-like yam pottage. Nigerian beans, quite different from green peas, are widely popular. Meat is also popular and Nigerian suya—a barbecue-like roasted meat—is a well-known delicacy. Bush meat, meat from wild game like antelope and giraffes, is also popular. Fermented palm products make a traditional liquor, palm wine, and also fermented cassava. Nigerian foods are spicy, mostly in the western and southern part of the country, even more so than in Indian cuisine.

Fashion

Historically, Nigerian fashion incorporated many different types of fabrics. Cotton has been used for over 500 years for fabric-making in Nigeria. Silk (called tsamiya in Hausa, sanyan in Yoruba, akpa-obubu in Igbo, and sapar ubele in Edo) is also used. Perhaps the most popular fabric used in Nigerian fashion is Dutch wax print, produced in the Netherlands. The import market for this fabric is dominated by the Dutch company Vlisco, which has been selling its Dutch wax print fabric to Nigerians since the late 1800s, when the fabric was sold along the company’s oceanic trading route to Indonesia. Since then, Nigerian and African patterns, color schemes, and motifs have been incorporated into Vlisco’s designs to become a staple of the brand.

Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups and as a result, a wide variety of traditional clothing styles. In the Yoruba tradition, women wear an iro (wrapper), buba (loose shirt) and gele (head-wrap). The men wear buba (long shirt), sokoto (baggy trousers), agbada (flowing robe with wide sleeves) and fila (a hat). In the Igbo tradition, the men’s cultural attire is Isiagu (a patterned shirt), which is worn with trousers and the traditional Igbo men’s hat called Okpu Agwu. The women wear a puffed sleeved blouse, two wrappers and a headwrap. Hausa men wear barbarigas or kaftans (long flowing gowns) with tall decorated hats. The women wear wrappers and shirts and cover their heads with hijabs (veils).