Dr. D. S. Dauda

Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. Nigeria is composed of various ethnic groups and cultures and the term Nigerian refers to a citizenship-based civic nationality. Nigerians derive from over 250 ethnic groups and languages.

Though there are multiple ethnic groups in Nigeria, economic factors result in significant mobility of Nigerians of multiple ethnic and religious backgrounds to reside in territories in Nigeria that are outside their ethnic or religious background, resulting in the mixing of the various ethnic and religious groups, especially in Nigeria’s cities.

The English language is the lingua franca of Nigerians. 50.6% of Nigerians are Muslims and about 47.9% are Christians. Considering the ever increase in the population of the country, it is now believed that the two major religions (Christianity and Islam) will soon be contending for figure supremacy in years to come.