Capital of: Nigeria
Location: Almost exactly the centre of Nigeria
Population:
just under 1 million people, though if one includes the suburban
areas its population is around 3 million.
Government
Minister for Federal Capital Territory (in which Abuja resides):
Bala Mohammed
Possible
English meanings: Abu (the name of the founder) the Fair one or red
one
Significant
sights, or sites: Being a relatively new city, most buildings are
quite modern, including the National Mosque of Nigeria and National
Church of Nigeria, the National Bank building, the National Defence
(the Ship House) building, there is also something of an Ayers Rock
look alike called Zuma Rock. It does not appear to be much of a
tourism hotspot.
Religious
demographics of Nigeria: Muslim
50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
Public
Transportation: Not too much apparently, thanks to the slow pace of
road building.
Airport:
Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport (named after Nigeria's first President)
North
American Sister city: Detroit, Michigan
Founding
and brief history: Abuja was founded in the earlier 1800s and was
something of commercial hub before becoming a quieter backwater in
colonial and statehood Nigeria. Until 1976, that is, when it was
decided that Lagos could no longer be the capital due to its
overpopulation and poor city planning. Abuja, being in the centre of
the seemed like a good compromise to the wide variety of ethnicities
and religious groups in Nigeria. The construction then started and
is still ongoing to this day, but it was not for another 15 years
that Abuja fully became the administrative capital of the country.
When
I first realized existed: I believe I first realized Abuja existed
around 2 years ago, while I was listening to the news, which
mentioned something about Nigeria. I forget what the story was in
all honesty, but I do remember being surprised to learn (when it was
mentioned) that Abuja was the capital of the country.
One
interesting fact about Nigeria: I recently finished listening to
Countdown, Alan Weisman's book on overpopulation. In it, the author
visits a few African countries, one of which is Nigeria, though he
spends more time in Niger. While he sees the situation for the
people of Nigeria as possibly manageable, it is hard not to note the
size of the population, which is the largest in Africa, at almost
175,000,000, almost half of which were under the age 14. While there
is hope in both Nigeria and Niger (which has one of the fastest
growing populations in the world) to get their populations under
control, Weisman's chapter on the area definitely portrays an uphill
struggle.
The
last time Western media mentioned Nigeria not in the context of
terrorism: A few months ago when President Goodluck Jonathan signed
into law a series of regressive anti-gay laws.
References:
Countdown,
by Alan Weisman (2013)
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