Indigenous Groups in Nigeria

There are more than 250 ethnic tribes in Nigeria. Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo (pronounced ee-bo) are the three largest and most dominant ethnic groups. However, there include other smaller groups like the Fulani, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, Tiv, and Edo. Prior to their conquest by Europeans, these ethnic groups had separate and independent histories.

Their grouping together into a single entity known as Nigeria was a construct of their British colonizers. These various ethnic groups never considered themselves part of the same culture. This general lack of Nigerian nationalism coupled with an ever-changing and often ethnically biased national leadership, have led to severe internal ethnic conflicts and a civil war. Today bloody confrontations between or among members of different ethnic groups continue.