Home

Nigeria
Education, History, Language, and Culture

• Adire African Textiles (Dr. Duncan Clarke, London, UK)
  A commercial site that contains useful information on the history and manufacturing techniques of adire cloth and other textiles of western Nigeria; plus links.
  
  
• Africa Reparations Movement (UK): Campaign for Return of the Benin Bronzes (via ARC Net Ltd., UK)
  Warning: this site has not been updated since 2002.
  
  
• Africamovies.Com (Brooklyn, New York)
  This is a commercial site for mostly Nigerian video films.
  
  
• African Languages Technology Initiative--ALT-I (2003) (Ibadan, Nigeria)
  • "African Languages Technology Initiative (Alt-I) was set up to facilitate development of the necessary resources that will enable the engagement of information communication technologies (ICT) in African Languages. ...to appropriate various aspects of human language technology (HLT) such as speech synthesis, speech recognition, natural language understanding, machine translation and many others..."
  • Projects--corpus development, Yoruba keyboard, speech synthesis, etc.
  
  
• Benin City Bibliography by Charles Gore (via Direct Connection, UK)
  
  
• "Benin--Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria" Exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago, July 10--September 21, 2008 (Chicago, Illinois)
  
  
• Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training (CEDDERT), Zaria, Nigeria
  The site offers general information about the centre and numerous articles by its scholarly members---including Prof. Yusufu Bala Usman of the Department of History, Ahmadu Bello University and Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, CEDDERT Director. "The Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training, is established to promote and advance scientific research and training for the purpose of providing immediate and long-term solutions to the problems of the democratic, community, and national, development of the people of Nigeria, the rest of Africa, and the African diaspora."
  
  
• Cyprian Ekwensi
  • "Cyprian Ekwensi." (2001) (Charles R. Larson, American University, Washington, DC; Extracts from The ordeal of the African writer, pub. by Zed Books, 2001) BPN newsletter (Online); no. 29 (December 2001). -- Oxford, UK: Bellagio Publishing Network, 1994-
  • "What Cyprian Ekwensi meant to me." (2001) (Kole Omotoso, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa) BPN newsletter (Online); no. 29 (December 2001). -- Oxford, UK: Bellagio Publishing Network, 1994-
  
  
• EthnoAtlas Culture Summaries (Centre for Social Anthropology & Computing, University of Kent)
  • This collection of plain text files, created in January 1995, are based on information from old monographs and reference works published in the 1970s or earlier. The Nigerian ethnic groups included in the collection are:
    
  • Hausa
  • Kanuri
  • Tiv
  
  
• Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, 1938-1997:
  • New Museum of Contemporary Art: "Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti," July 11 -- September 28, 2003 Exhibition---Brief Summary (New York)
    
    
  • Africaman Original. (Carter Van Pelt)
    Originally appeared in The Beat, v. 5/6, 1997.
    
    
  • Special issue of NTAMA: Journal of African Music and Popular Culture on Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (September 1998) (Universität Hildesheim, Germany)
  
  
• Farafina. (Online) -- Lagos, Nigeria: Kachifo Ltd., 2004-
  The current issue of a bi-monthly political and cultural review magazine on Africa; plus excerpts from sample back issues. Note: access to the complete archive of back issues is available only with a subscription.
  
  
• Fula Language Acquisitions at Columbia University Libraries (2009) (New York)
  
  
• G.I. Jones' Photographic Archive of Southeastern Nigerian Art & Culture (Prof. John C. McCall, in cooperation with Ursula Jones, Dept. of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois)
  "This is an archive of digitized photographs depicting the arts and cultures of southeastern Nigeria. The collection includes examples from Ibibio, Igbo, Ijo and Ogoni speaking peoples. All of the photographs were taken in the 1930s by the late G.I. Jones, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge. The majority of the images are from the Igbo speaking regions where Jones conducted most of his research."
  
  
• Gumel.Com: Barka da zuwa filin Hausa (Mohammed Hashim Gumel, USA)
  A web site entirely in Hausa, with news from Nigeria (in English, from Nigerian newspapers or e-mail reports), Hausa radio program files, cultural information, and related links. See also: Hausa Language Resources on the Web below.
  
  
• Harriet Tubman Resource Centre on the African Diaspora (Department of History, York University, Toronto, Canada)
  • Areas of Research
    Includes basic information about: The Nigerian Hinterland Project (NHP) -- and -- Ports of the "Nigerian" Hinterland

    General information about the project and its individual and institutional participants. The NHP affiliated with the UNESCO Slave Route Project focuses on the development of the African diaspora stemming from the "Nigerian" hinterland during the era of the slave trade from approximately 1650 to 1900.
  • African diaspora newsletter. (Online) -- Toronto, Cananda : York University, Department of History, 2000-- (PDF files)
  • Conferences and seminars organized by the NHP and related projects around the world
  
  
• Hausa Language Resources on the Web
  • British Broadcasting Corporation World News Service on Radio in Hausa (and Links to BBC News in English) (London, UK)
    
    
  • Columbia University: Hausa Acquisitions at Columbia University Libraries (2009)
    
    
  • Deutsche Welle News Summaries and Radio Broadcasts in Hausa (Bonn, Germany)
    
    
  • Google Books -- Historical Hausa
    -- Dictionary of the Hausa language, vol. 1 Hausa-English (1913) by Charles Henry Robinson (Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge, 1913)
    -- Dictionary of the Hausa language, with appendices of Hausa literature (1876) by James Frederick Schön (London: Church Missionary House, 1876)
    -- Grammar of the Hausa language (1862) by Rev. J. F. Schön (London: Church Missionary House, 1862)
    -- Hausa grammar, with exercises, readings, and vocabularies (1905) by Charles H. Robinson & Maj. J. Alder Burdon (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1905)
    -- Hausa proverbs (1905) by Capt. G. Merrick (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1905)
    -- Magána Hausa: native literature or proverbs, tales, fables and historical fragments in the Hausa language (1885) by J.F. Schön (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1885)
    
    
  • Gumel.Com: Barka da zuwa filin Hausa (Mohammed Hashim Gumel, USA)
    A web site entirely in Hausa, with news from Nigeria (in English, from Nigerian newspapers or e-mail reports), Hausa radio program files, cultural information, and related links.
    
    
  • Hausa : basic course. (1963) By Carleton T. Hodge and Ibrahim Umaru. [Washington, DC: Foreign Service Institute, Department of State, 1963 ; 399 pages] (FSI Language Courses, USA)
    --Audio lessons
    
    
  • Hausa Home Page (University of California, Los Angeles)
    This site --still under construction-- offers basic information and links on Hausa language and culture, including an annotated bibliography, a section on Hausa writing, illustrations, audio files, and Hausar Baka Online--Videos for Hausa Language and Culture.
    
    
  • H-Hausa Discussion Network (H-Net, Humanities and Social Sciences OnLine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan)
    "H-Hausa is for the discussion of issues related to Hausa language, literature and culture."
    
    
  • K'ofar Hausa: The Online Dictionary (Franz Stoiber et al., Afrikanistik, Universität Wien, Austria)
    A searchable dictionary in Hausa, English or German, with frequent updates. As of October 2001, the authors claim to include about 9000 Hausa key-words.
    
    
  • Online Bargery Hausa-English Dictionary (1934) (via Bunkyo University, Tokyo, Japan)
    A searchable online "dictionary" (glossary) for Hausa-English, English-Hausa translation, based on the dictionary and vocabulary by Rev. George Percy Bargery, originally published in 1934, containing over 45,000 words.
    
    
  • United Nations. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Muhimmin Jawabin da Majalisar Dinkin Duniya ta bayyana game da Hakkokin Yan-adam Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (Geneva, Switzerland)
    
  
  
• Historical Society of Nigeria (University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria)
  
  
• Igbo on the Internet
  • Igbo Open Source Translation Project (USA)
    This site --under construction-- includes project-related links and contact information. "This project aims to translate popular software for the Linux operating system, including Gnome, KDE, Mozilla, Thunderbird and Open Office into Igbo."
    
    
  • IgboNet -- The Igbo Network (Igbo Heritage, Inc., USA)
    • A portal website --under construction-- for Igbo language and culture in the diaspora. The site includes:
    • Ahiajoku lecture series. (Online) -- Owerri, Nigeria: Imo State Ministry of Information and Culture, 1979-
    • Igbo Language Center -- Lessons 1-4
    • Igbo Language Forum
    
    
  • African Language Research Project: Electronic Lexicon (Igbo-English). Sponsored by the ALRP. (Department of English and Modern Languages, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland)
  
  
• Igbo Studies Association--6th International Conference on Igbo Studies, April 4-5, 2008: Howard University, School of Social Work, Washington, DC. Preliminary programme in PDF format
  
  
• International Bureau of Education = Bureau de l'Education International: Nigeria (UNESCO, Geneva, Switzerland)
  • Country report, September 2001 | part II. (Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Education. 46th Session of the International Conference on Education, Geneva, 5-8 September, 2001) PDF format.
  • Documents & resources on Nigeria (Reports and statistics)
  
  
• Islam in Nigeria
  • Islam in Nigeria -- Web Dossier and Bibliography Library, Documentation and Information Department (Afrikastudiecentrum=African Studies Centre, University of Leiden, The Netherlands)
    
    
  • The Library of Congress: "The State of Arabic Manuscript Collections in Nigeria" (2007) Report of a Survey Tour to Northern Nigeria, March 3-19, 2007. (Dr. Angel Batiste, Area Specialist, Sub-Saharan Africa; Washington, DC)
    
    
  • Saving Nigeria's Islamic Manuscript Heritage (2008-2009) (Michaelle Biddle, Head, Preservation Services, Wesleyan University Library, Middletown, Connecticut)
    A report on a 2008 research tour of Islamic manuscript collections in Northern Nigeria.
    --See also: "Modibbo Ahmadu Fufore collection" report and "Conservation in a Box: a Primer"
  
  
• JJJ Niger Movies (via Ohio, USA)
  This is a commercial site selling Nigerian video films.
  
  
• Kano: a bibliography by Sani Gwarzo (2002) (Dept. of Library Science, Bayero University, Kano; via KanoOnline.Com)
  A short bibliography on or about the state of Kano in Nigeria, concentrating on unpublished Ph.D. and Masters theses. Kano Online is a blog and forum for commentary on cultural and political affairs.
  
  
• Kanuri Studies Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany ; Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria)
  
  
• Mandara Mountains Homepage (S. Cattini-Muller and G. Muller-Kosack, Mandaras Publishing, London, UK)
  • A website highlighting the ethnographic literature and history of the peoples of the northern Mandara mountains in north Cameroon and northeast Nigeria.
  • Northern Mandaras bibliography
  
  
• Méga-Tchad (via Universität Bayreuth, Germany)
  • 'Depuis 1984, Méga-Tchad était un réseau international de recherches pluridisciplinaires sur l'histoire et l'évolution des sociétés dans le bassin du lac Tchad.'
  • Voir surtout, les numéros en ligne (depuis 1997) du bulletin du réseau: Méga-Tchad. (Online)
    -- Bayreuth, Germany: Universität Bayreuth, 1986-2007.
  • XIVème Colloque MEGA-TCHAD "L'Homme et la Santé dans le bassin du lac Tchad," Universität Bayreuth, Germany, 15–17 April 2010
  
  
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterhand: Individuality and Creativity among Yoruba Sculptors (1997-2000) (New York)
  See also, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (Permanent Collection).
  
  
• National Archives of Nigeria (Abuja)
  The site includes detailed information on all branches and archival finding aids for major collections around the country.
  
  
• National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, Nigeria (via COMSATS--Commission on Science and Technology For Sustainable Development in The South, Islamabad, Pakistan)
  
  
• National Museum of African Art Exhibitions, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC)
  • Oshogbo Art in the 1960s, January 23 - October 22, 2000.
  • "The Ancient West African city of Benin." (Permanent)
  • "Images of Power and Identity": Yoruba Peoples (Permanent)
  • "Olowe of Ise: a Yoruba sculptor to kings." (March-September 1998)
  • "The Poetics of Line: 7 Artists of the Nsukka Group." (October 1997-April 1998) -- The Igbo tradition of Uli and its modern interpretations.
  
  
• The National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution: "The Carver Among Us -- Lamidi Olonade Fakeye, Yoruba Master Sculptor Excerpt from Africa Voices. (Washington, DC)
  Images of the artist's work (wooden sculptures), plus helpful texts on Nigerian history and woodcarving.
  
  
• Nigeria International Book Fair: "The Book Chain and National Development", Lagos, Nigeria, May 2009 (Nigeria Book Fair Trust, Ikeja, Nigeria)
  -- Reports from previous book fairs and conferences
  
  
• NISER--Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria)
  The web site offers only an overview of the research agenda, contact information, and a listing of publications (none available online).
  
  
• "Nollywood Rising: Global Perspectives on the Nigerian Film Industry" Symposium and Gala, June 13-17, 2005, Los Angeles/Universal City, California (via Radio Afrodicia, USA)
  
  
• Northeast Nigeria Archaeological Research (Johann-Wolgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
  Since 1991 the Africa section of the Prehistory Department of the Johann- Wolfgang- Goethe- University at Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is engaged in research in Northeastern Nigeria, specifically Borno and Yobe States. The excavations have uncovered artifacts and data from the Late Stone Age onwards. This Web site includes colorful maps, photographs, illustrations, an environmental history of the region, and information about "Africa's oldest boat".
  
  
• Ben Okri, 1959--
  • Ben Okri, An Urhoboman, As a Literary Icon (Urhobo Waado, Urhobo Historical Society, Prof. Peter Ekeh, State University of New York, Buffalo)
  • Ben Okri Web Page (Robert Bennett, Department of English, University of California, Santa Barbara; via Prof. George P. Landow et al., Brown University, "Postcolonial and Postimperial Literature in English")
  
  
• Olaudah Equiano on the Internet
  • Equiano Foundation Online
    "The Equiano Foundation aims to provide a valuable educational vehicle through which to resurrect, restore, and celebrate the meaningful contribution of Olaudah Equiano to Western, African, and African American culture..."
  
  
• The Orishas in Music (Discography) (Ian Scott Horst, via AOL)
  This site consists of two lists of recordings and artists. "The Orishas are divine beings originally worshipped by the Yoruba people of West Africa. Their worship was carried to the New World in the holds of slave ships, and became well established in many countries of the western hemisphere. Music is a major element in the worship of the Orishas. ... Orishas have also insinuated themselves into the melting pot of popular culture, and songs celebrating their existence have come out of many musical genres, from jazz to salsa to disco."
  
  
• "Other Africas: Images of Nigerian Modernity" Exhibit, January 15--April 21, 2002, University Museum of Southern Illinois University (John C. McCall and Christey Carwile-Routon; Carbondale, Illinois)
  A "digital record" of an exhibit on fashion, popular poster art, and electronic media.
  
  
• Babawilly's Dictionary of Pidgin English Words and Phrases (Lagos Pidgin) (via NigeriaExchange.Com; Dearborn, Michigan and Lagos, Nigeria)
  
  
• Government Publications, Journals, and Newspapers from Nigeria: Sesan Dipeolu Library & Information Consultants (Lagos, Nigeria)
  
  
• "The Role of Universities in the Transformation of Societies: The Nigerian Case Study" (2003) by Alex Gboyega. PDF format. (CHERI--Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, Open University, London, UK)
  See also: the overall CHERI project on The Role of Universities in the Transformation of Societies.
  
  
• Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello (Arewa House, Ahmadu Bello University, Sokoto, Nigeria)
  
  
• Selected Images of Nigerian Art
  • Nigerian art is global on the Internet. Many electronic art exhibitions and online course materials include images of art and related texts on the artistic expressions of Igbo, Yoruba, and other Nigerian cultural groups. Look for them in the following web collections:
  • African Art: Aesthetics and Meaning, Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville. (Yoruba)
  • African Art, On and Off the Walls: an undergraduate course project (Prof. Cynthia Pakert Atherton and her students, Art Department, Middlebury College, Vermont) (Igbo, Yoruba)
  • "The Artist's Eye, The Diviner's Insight": African Divination Art from The Barry D. Maurer Collection, Mead Art Musuem, Amherst College, Massachusetts. (Yoruba)
  • Cutting to the Essence, Shaping for the Fire (Indiana University; Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences, Peoria, Illinois) (Yoruba)
  • Sub-Saharan Collection of the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. (Includes a few examples of Ibibio, Igbo, Ogoni, and Yoruba art)
  • Yoruba: Aguru Epa Dance Mask (Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
  
  
• Sharia implementation in northern Nigeria 1999-2006: a sourcebook. Compiled and edited by Philip Ostien. -- Ibadan, Nigeria: Spectrum Books, Ltd ; Bayreuth, Germany: Universität Bayreuth, 2007. 5 volumes in PDF format
  
  
• Sokari Douglas Camp
  • A woman artist from Nigeria who sculpts in steel and exhibits in England, the USA, and in Nigeria.
  • Sokari Douglas Camp -- Home Page (London, UK)
  • "Church Ede - A Tribute to Her Father - Alali/Festival".
    An exhibition held March 21 - June 20, 1999 at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
  
  
• Wole Soyinka, 1934--
  • Wole Soyinka, 1986 Nobel Laureate (Nobel E-Museum, Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden)
    A brief biographical sketch, Soyinka's Nobel lecture, and related links.
  • Stanford University, The Presidential Lectures and Symposia in the Humanities and Arts: Wole Soyinka, 1998 (Peter Blank et al., Website editors, Stanford University, California)
    This site includes excerpts from published works and the Fall 1998 Stanford lecture by Wole Soyinka, a contemporary Nigerian author and world public intellectual; plus biographical information, related links, and a bibliography.
  
  
• Nigerian State Websites (Nigerian Investment Promotion Centre, Abuja, Nigeria)
  A list of links to the websites of Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.
  
  
• National Universities Commission (2003--) (Abuja, Nigeria)
  • The website includes selected Nigerian publications in wide variety of disciplines, links to Nigerian newspapers, and information on Nigerian universities. "The National Universities Commission is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Education charged with the responsibilities of orderly development of universities in Nigeria."
  • Nigerian Virtual Library
  • Directory of Nigerian Universities
  
  
• Nigerian Universities on the Web
  • Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi
    
  • Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
  • Bayero University, Kano (via KanoOnline.Com)
    
  • Lagos Business School, Pan-African University (African Development Foundation, Lagos)
    
  • Lead City University, Ibadan
    
  • Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
    
  • Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt
    
  • University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State
    
  • University of Benin, Benin City
    
  • University of Ibadan
    
  • University of Jos
    
  • University of Lagos
    
  • University of Maiduguri
    
    
  • University of Nigeria, Nsukka
    • University of Nigeria, Nsukka -- Research Documents
      The university scans and makes available on the Internet hundreds of seminar and conference papers, journal articles, selected books published by UNN faculty, and UNN theses (primarily Masters' theses in various fields and some doctoral dissertations in the fields of Law or The Arts, from the 1980s to the present).
    
    
  • University of Port Harcourt
    
  
  
• Urhobo Waado: Web Site of the Urhobo Historical Society (USA)
  • This website offers an extensive collection of popular and scholarly historical summaries, images from art exhibitions, current news and information about about the Urhobo Historical Society itself and about Urhobo communities in Nigeria and elsewhere, and related links. "[Founded in August 1999 in New York City] ...the supreme aim of Urhobo Historical Society is to create a movement that will promote the preservation of historical records and the writing of diverse historical experiences among Urhobos."
  • Urhobo Historical Society Conferences (since 1999)
  
  
• Yoruba on the Web
  • Radio Abeokuta (Nigeria)
    The website for a regional radio station, with news, music files, and culture links.
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Yoruba Version (Switzerland)
    In HTML or downloadable PDF.
  • Yoruba -- Learn Yoruba Home Page (BIS BUS International, Ontario, Canada)
    This website offers a basic primer, with audio files and downloadable font; plus information on a publication Yoruba language learning = Yorùbá mõ ön kô, mõ ön ká to be ordered.