Nigeria

• soil degradation;
• rapid deforestation;
• desertification;
• recent droughts in north severely affecting marginal agricultural activities

party to :

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

Desertification

0-14 years:

45% (male 24,142,369; female 23,931,502)

15-64 years:

52% (male 28,502,597; female 27,432,816) 65 years and over : 3% (male 1,572,773; female 1,547,412) (July 1997 est.)

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years :

1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.02 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

total population:

54.65 years

male:

53.32 years

female :

56.03 years (1997 est.)

noun:

Nigerian(s)

adjective:

Nigerian

conventional long form :

Federal Republic of Nigeria

conventional short form:

Nigeria

• military government;
• Nigeria has been ruled by one military regime after another since 31 December 1983;
• on 1 October 1995, the present military government announced it will turn power over to democratically elected civilian authorities in October 1998

• Supreme Court, judges appointed by the Armed Forces Ruling Council;
• Federal Court of Appeal, judges are appointed by the federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee

• political party system, which was suspended after the military takeover of 17 November 1993, was reestablished by the Provisional Ruling Council on 30 September 1996 with the registration of five of 15 competing political parties;
• these were the United Nigeria Congress Party or UNCP [Isa MOHAMMED, chairman];
• National Center Party of Nigeria or NCPN [Magaji ABDULLAH, chairman];
• Grassroots Democratic Movement or GDM [Gambo LAWAR, chairman];
• Comittee for National Consensus or CNC [Abel UBEKU, chairman];
• Democratic Party of Nigeria or DPN [Sale HASSAN, chairman]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Wakili Hassan ADAMU

chancery:

1333 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 986-8400

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Walter C. CARRINGTON

embassy:

2 Eleke Crescent, Lagos

mailing address:

P. O. Box 554, Lagos

telephone :

[234] (1) 261-0097

• cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber ;
• cattle, sheep, goats, pigs;
• fishing and forest resources extensively exploited

total value :

$11.6 billion (f.o.b., 1995)

commodities:

petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber

partners :

US 52%, EU 34%

total value:

$10 billion (c.i.f., 1995)

commodities:

machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, food and animals

partners :

EU 50%, US 13%, Japan 7%

total:

3,557 km

narrow gauge:

3,505 km 1.067-m gauge

standard gauge:

52 km 1.435-m gauge (1995)

total:

32,105 km

paved:

26,005 km (including 2,044 km of expressways)

unpaved:

6,100 km (1994 est.)

note : many of the roads reported as paved may be graveled

• crude oil 2,042 km;
• petroleum products 3,000 km;
• natural gas 500 km

total :

30 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 353,422 GRT/600,389 DWT

ships by type:

bulk 1, cargo 12, chemical tanker 3, oil tanker 13, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1 (1996 est.)

total:

14

over 3,047 m:

1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m : 12 (1996 est.)

• demarcation of international boundaries in vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, is completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria;
• dispute with Cameroon over land and maritime boundaries in the vicinity of the Bakasi Peninsula has been referred to the ICJ

• facilitates movement of heroin en route from Southeast and Southwest Asia to Western Europe and North America;
• increasingly a transit route for cocaine from South America intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets NIUE (free association with New Zealand)