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Achebe, Chinua

(Encyclopedia)Achebe, Chinua chĭnˈwä ächāˈbā [key], 1930–2013, Nigerian writer, b. Albert Chinualumogu Achebe. A graduate of University College, Ibadan (1953), Achebe, an Igbo who wrote in English, is one ...

Ogbomosho

(Encyclopedia)Ogbomosho ōbo͞oˈmôshô, ŏgbōmōˈshō [key], city (1991 pop. 644,000), SW Nigeria. It is the trade center for a farming region. Yams, cassava, corn, and tobacco are grown. Cotton is grown and us...

Iseyin

(Encyclopedia)Iseyin ēsāˈăN [key], town (1991 est. pop. 192,000), SW Nigeria. The city, located in a tobacco-growing region, has an important traditional textile industry. Iseyin was the capital of a small Yoru...

Jonathan, Goodluck Ebele

(Encyclopedia)Jonathan, Goodluck Ebele, 1957–, Nigerian politician, president of Nigeria (2010–). An Ijaw from the Niger delta region, he was educated as a zoologist (Ph.D. Univ. of Port Harcourt, 1995) and wor...

Akure

(Encyclopedia)Akure äko͞oˈrā [key], town (1991 est. pop. 143,000), S Nigeria. Timber is cut nearby and processed in Akure, which is also a cacao marketing center. Akure was a small independent Yoruba kingdom un...

savanna

(Encyclopedia)savanna or savannah both: səvănˈə [key], tropical or subtropical grassland lying on the margin of the trade wind belts. The climate of a savanna is characterized by a rainy period during the summe...

Opobo

(Encyclopedia)Opobo ōpōˈbō [key], town, SE Nigeria, in the Niger River delta. It is a palm-oil collection center and has fishing and boatbuilding industries. Opobo was founded in 1869 by a group of immigrants f...

Oyo

(Encyclopedia)Oyo ôyôˈ [key], city (1991 est. pop. 226,700), SW Nigeria. It is primarily a farming town, producing tobacco, yams, and cassava. Traditional artisans make textiles and leather goods and carve utens...

Kanem

(Encyclopedia)Kanem känēmˈ [key], former empire in Africa in the areas near Lake Chad that are now part of Chad and N Nigeria. The empire began in the 9th cent., when the Sefawa migrated to the area from the Sah...

Benue

(Encyclopedia)Benue bānwāˈ [key], river, W Africa, chief tributary of the Niger. It flows c.880 mi (1,416 km) W from Cameroon into the Niger River at Lokoja, Nigeria. The Benue, which carries much commercial tra...