Location

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Hotel Location in Enugu

Presidential Hotel Limited Enugu

Presidential Road, Enugu

The Presidential Hotel Limited Enugu in Enugu, Nigeria situated Presidential Road can be contacted by phone +234 42 337472. Here it is unfortunately not yet possible to book online.
This accommodation Presidential Hotel Limited Enugu would be glad to welcome you soon. The correct data depends on the update of the information through the management and cannot be guaranteed. more...

Green Hotel

Enugu

The Green Hotel in Enugu, Nigeria . Here it is unfortunately not yet possible to book online.
This accommodation Green Hotel would be glad to welcome you soon. The correct data depends on the update of the information through the management and cannot be guaranteed.

Modotel Hotel

Opara Ave, Enugu

The Modotel Hotel in Enugu, Nigeria situated Opara Ave. Here it is unfortunately not yet possible to book online.
This accommodation Modotel Hotel would be glad to welcome you soon. The correct data depends on the update of the information through the management and cannot be guaranteed. more...

Nike Late Resort Nigeria

(Formerly Protea Hotel Nike Lake Resort)

Nike Lake Road, Abakpa-Nike, Enugu, Nigeria

The word “Nike” means “With Power” and it is well known that the Igbo people lived up to this name. The city’s main street “Okpara Avenue” runs through the main town from the North East to the South West, offering all the usual attractions of typical in-land Nigeria, which includes street traders, shops, fashion & clothing boutiques, banks, markets, post offices, garages, eateries and The State’s Stadium.

ACCOMMODATION: It has 216 well appointed and furnished rooms & suites, suitable for all tastes and budgets. All the rooms & suites have either a garden or lake view and each room provides the ultimate in comfort and luxury that you can expect from an African Sun hotel.

THE VILLAS
Nike Lake Resort prides itself on being able to cater for any type of guest that stays the night, with any request never being too much. The hotel property houses ten (10) self catering villas comprising of 5 Bedroom Duplexes and 5 Bedrooms bungalows all tastefully furnished and fully equipped.

OTHERS

Zodiac Hotel

NONDON INTERNATIONAL HOTELS LIMITED

2 Ikuku Street, New Haven

Jook Hotels

Chime Avenue, Enugu 2.4 km E

Modotel Hotel

Enugu 2.1 km W

Hotel De Brunt

Enugu 1.8 km S

University Guest House

Ogui, Braithewaite Avenue, Énúgwu 3.4 km S

Cunic Hotels

2/4 Third Avenue, É

De Hotel Enugu

Quest House

The Name: Enugu State

Located in the southeast of the country and covering an area of approximately 8,730km2, Enugu stretches from the states of Kogi and Benue to the north, Ebonyi to the east, Abia and Imo to the south and Anambra to the west.

Meaning "top of the hill" and nicknamed "the Coal City" in the early 1900s, Enugu became a major mining center when coal was discovered by Albert Kitson. The Biafran war brought widespread devastation and production was severely hampered by equipment damage and destruction. Nowadays, only small quantities of coal are railed to Port Harcourt for export. A visit to the coal mines can be a most interesting outing.

Enugu is a geographically diverse region. Its physical features change gradually from tropical rain forest to open wood-land and then to Savannah. Apart from a chain of low hills, the rest of the state is predominantly low land divided by several streams and small rivers.

Many goods are available at the countless open markets or from craftsmen along the roadside. The most popular markets in Enugu are Ogbete Market, Artisan Market and New Market where shoppers can purchase local foods, produce, clothing and fabrics, as well as handmade crafts and jewelry.

Visitors will find many interesting and diverse activities to enjoy here. Beautiful lakes, caves, springs, waterfalls and forests lie just outside the city. Visitors can enjoy spectacular panoramic views from the Udi and Awgu Hills. Several historical sites and shrines are nearby. The New Yam and Mmanwu festivals are enjoyed by visitors and locals annually.

History of Enugu State - Nigeria

Enugu is the capital of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in the southeastern area of Nigeria and is largely populated by members of the Igbo, an ethnic group in Nigeria. The city has a population of 722,664 according to the 2006 Nigerian census.^[6] The name Enugu is derived from the two Igbo words Enu and Ugwu meaning "top of the hill" or Hill top, denoting the city's hilly geography.
Since the 17th century the location of present day Enugu has been settled by the Nike) subgroup of the Igbo people; one of Enugu's neighbourhoods still retains the village's old name Ogui. In 1900 the Southern Nigeria Protectorate was established by the colonial administration of the British Empire. The discovery of coal by the colonialists led to the building of a railway to carry coal from the inland city to the port of Port Harcourt, a city created for this purpose located 150 miles (240 km) south of Enugu.^[10] Enugu was then renamed simply Enugu. By 1958 Enugu had over 8,000 coal miners. Today there is no significant coal mining left in the city.
Enugu became the capital of the Eastern Region after Nigeria's independence; a succession of territory adjustments led to Enugu becoming the capital of what is now Enugu State. On May 30, 1967, Enugu was declared the capital of the short-lived Republic of Biafra; for this Enugu is known as the "capital of Igboland." After Enugu was captured by Nigeria, the Biafran capital was moved to Umuahia.
Industries currently in the city include the urban market and bottling industries. Enugu has become a preferred filming location for directors of the Nigerian movie industry, dubbed as Nollywood. Enugu's main airport is the Akanu Ibiam International Airport which is being upgraded to accommodate large aircraft. The main educational establishment in the city is the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria based in Nsukka, a town north of Enugu and in the same state.

History

Early history

The first settlement in the Enugu area was the small Nike village of Ogui which was present since the era of the Atlantic Slave Trade.^[1] The people inhabiting the Enugu area established major trading with the Aro people from Arochukwu in the south and the Hausa people who came from the north. The Nike people were allied to the Aro who formed the Aro Confederacy (1690—1901),^[11] an Igbo organisation that controlled slave trading in the Enugu area.^[12] The Hausa traders provided horses to the Nike which were used for rituals by the Igbo. Both groups migrated back and forth to what is now the City of Enugu and were considered foreigners to the area.^[13] Nike in the Igbo language means "with strength or power."^[2] It was through slave raiding that the Nike people acquired most of their lands, which, however, were mostly unsettled. The Nike used slaves for a defence strategy where they would place slave camps at the edge of their territories so that it was harder for an enemy to access the free born.^[14]

Industrialisation

In 1903 the British/Australian geologist Albert Ernest Kitson led an exploration of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate to search for especially valued mineral resources under the supervision of the Imperial Institute, London. By 1909 coal was found in the Udi and Okoga areas and by 1913 the coal was confirmed to be in quantities that would be viable commercially. After this discovery, the Enugu Ngwo area as it was known then,^[2] became a major coal mining area and the only significant one in West Africa.^[13] The first coal mine in the Enugu area was the Udi mine opened in 1915 which was shut down two years later and replaced with the Iva Valley mine.^[15][16] By 1914 the colonial government had already merged the Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorate to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.
In 1915 the British began talks with the owners and indigenous people of the land that would become Enugu about its acquisition in order for the railway and the rest of what is now Enugu city to be established. The first houses built in what is now Enugu were in a temporary settlement consisting of Igbo traditional mud housing inhabited by a W.J. Leck and some other Europeans on Milliken Hill. Another settlement known as Ugwu Alfred (Igbo: Alfred's Hill) or "Alfred's Camp", inhabited by an Alfred Inoma (a leader of indigenous labourers from Onitsha) and his labourers, was located on a hillside.^[13][18] After the land acquisition by the British, Frederick Lugard, the Governor-General of Nigeria at the time, named the site at the bottom of the Udi Hills Enugu Coal Camp.^[2] A railway connecting Enugu with the Port Harcourt seaport was completed in 1916 in order to export the coal.^[15] Enugu became one of the few cities in West Africa created out of contact with Europeans.^[1]
By 1916 parts of Enugu reserved for Europeans had been set up by the colonial government. The area now known as the GRA (Government Reserved Area) had become the European Quarters located north of the Ogbete River; alongside this was a section developed for African residents located south of the river. The built-up area of Enugu comprised these two areas, and by 1917 the city officially gained township status. On the African side of the city a rapid influx of migrant workers sparked the development of squatter camps on the Udi Hills near the coal mines and the Iva Valley.^[18]
In 1938 Enugu became the administrative capital of the Eastern Region. The number of employed coal miners in Enugu grew from 6,000 (of mostly Udi men) in 1948 to 8,000 in 1958. Enugu's population rose sharply with its industrialisation; the population of the city reached 62,000 in 1952.^[16] Mining in Enugu was sometimes turbulent, as demonstrated by the events of November 18, 1949, when 21 striking miners were shot and killed by police under British governance. The massacre that came to be known as 'The Iva Valley Shooting'^[19] fuelled nationalist or "Zikist" sentiments among most Nigerians.^[2][16][20]

Geography

Satellite image of Enugu and other communities neighbouring it. The Enugu escarpment can be seen on the left where it has a lighter colour; the Nyaba River can be seen on the bottom.

Enugu is positioned by hills as indicated by its name meaning Hill top in the Igbo language.^[1][2] Enugu is located in the Benue trough and has the best developed coal here.^[30] Precambrian basement rock in this region is overlaid with sediments bearing coal from the Cretaceous and Tertiary age.^[31] Coal seams in the Enugu coal district measure between 1 and 2 metres (3.3 and 6.6 ft) in thickness and the reserves have been estimated to be more than 300 million tonnes.^[30]
Despite its name, Enugu does not lie on a hill; the city lies on the plains at the foot of an escarpment^[15] located in the Cross River basin.^[32] The Ekulu, Asata, Ogbete, Aria, Idaw and Nyaba rivers are the six main rivers located in the city and have all had layouts in their locations named after them.^[33] The Ekulu River is the largest body of water in Enugu urban,^[34] and its reservoir contributes to part of the city's domestic water supply.^[35]
Enugu's hills at the extreme may reach an elevation of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). Highlands surrounding Enugu for the most part are underlain by sandstone, while lowlands are underlain by shale. Much of the escarpment stretching from Enugu to Orlu has been ravaged by soil and gully erosion.^[35] Other geological features in Enugu include the Nike Lake near which the Nike Lake Hotel has been built.^[2]

Climate

Enugu is located in a tropical rain forest zone with a derived savannah.^[36][37] The city has a tropical savanna climate. Enugu's climate is humid and this humidity is at its highest between the months of March and November.^[37] For the whole of Enugu State the mean daily temperature is 26.7 °C (80.1 °F).^[36] As in the rest of West Africa, the rainy season and dry season are the only weather periods that recur in Enugu. The average annual rainfall in Enugu is around 2,000 millimetres (79 in), which arrives intermittently and becomes very heavy during the rainy season.^[38] Other weather conditions affecting the city include Harmattan, a dusty trade wind lasting a few weeks in the months of December and January.^[15] Like the rest of Nigeria, Enugu is hot all year round.

Cityscape

The tallest building in the City of Enugu is the African Continental Bank (ACB) tower located in the Enugu Central Business District (CBD) in Ogui; it has six stories and a height of 750 metres (2,460 ft).^[40] The tower was built in the late 50s for the African Continental Bank Limited which was founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe who became the first president of Nigeria after the country's independence from the United Kingdom on October 1960.^[41] The opening of the building took place on April 30, 1959.^[42] Other tall buildings include the Hotel Presidential opened on August 1963. The seven story building contains 100 rooms and is located in the Independence Layout. Hotel Presidential cost $2.5 million to build and was commissioned by the government of what was then the Eastern Region to serve visiting businessmen, officials and tourists.^[43] In the middle of Enugu is the Michael Okpara Square, dedicated to the premier of the former Eastern Region Michael Okpara. Beside the square is located the Enugu State Government House, Enugu State House of Assembly and Enugu State Judiciary Complex.^[44][45]

Enugu's coal mines are dotted around on the outskirts of the city. The Colliery Camp mines are located in the Iva Valley which is near the neighbouring town of Ngwo and Hilltop of Enugu.^[18] The Iva Valley coal mine is accessed through the Iva Valley road linking Enugu with Ngwo.^[46] Other coal mines are located in the Ogbete and Coal Camp layouts; these mines are located on the periphery of the city near the Iva Valley as well.^[18]
Architectural design in Enugu's early years was in the hands of the British colonial administration; Enugu's architecture was consequently very European. English cottage housing and Victorian houses were used for housing Europeans and Nigerian colonial civil servants in the early 20th century until Europeans started trying to adapt their architecture to the tropical climate.^[47] Some other examples of these European styles are visible in churches of the colonial era, such as the Holy Ghost Cathedral with its Greco-Roman stained glass windows depicting Europeans. Enugu's roads were reflective of its British rule; much of the cities narrow roads in the GRA have been preserved dating back to the incorporation of the city itself.^[48] Low rent one bedroom flats in Enugu and other Nigerian cities are known as 'Face-me-I-face-you' for the way a group of flats face each other and form a square where a compound entrance is lead into.^[49][50]

Government

Enugu city covers three local government areas: Enugu East, Enugu North and Enugu South. A Local Government Council exists for each of these seats that manages sectors including primary education and health; an elected Executive Chairman and a group of elected Councillors form the Local Government Council that heads each Local Government Area.^[51][52] Enugu South is split between its rural and urban parts when electing an Executive Chairman. The Executive Chairmen include Paul Ogbe for Enugu South Urban, Theresa Egbo for Enugu South Rural, Emeka Nnamani for Enugu North, and Christopher Ugwu for Enugu East; these chairmen represent their LGA's in the Enugu State House of Assembly.^[53] The Ministry of Lands, Survey and Town Planning (at the state level) and the Local Planning Authority (at the local government level) are responsible for the administration of urban lands and town planning.^[51] Government House, Enugu is where the government of the state is based. On the federal level, the City of Enugu is split between two congressional areas; Enugu North/South represented by Chukwuegbo Ofor and Enugu East represented by Gilbert Nnaji; both representatives are in the People's Democratic Party (PDP) as is Sullivan Chime, the governor of Enugu State.^[54]

Culture

As a Northern Igbo territory, Enugu shares cultural traits with its neighbouring towns. Two important Igbo traditional festivals take place in Enugu annually; the Mmanwu festival and the New yam festival. The Mmanwu festival takes place in November and features various types of masquerades that each have a name. This festival is held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium as a parade of carnival-like masquerades that are accompanied by music and it is supported by the Enugu Council of Arts and Culture.^[73][74][75] The second important Igbo festival, the New yam festival known as 'iwa ji', is held between the months of August and October marking the harvesting and feasting of the new yam. The yam is a root vegetable that is the staple crop and a cultural symbol for the Igbo people.^[73][74] Recently created festivals include the Enugu Festival of Arts which is managed by the Enugu Council of Arts and Culture. The festival highlights African culture and traditions and it is here that the Enugu Council of Arts and Culture included the Mmanwu parade as part of the events. The Enugu Festival of Arts was started in 1986; it has modernised the Mmanwu festival by transferring it from its traditional village surroundings to the urban setting of Enugu.^[75] Diana, Princess of Wales was a notable spectator of Enugu's cultural shows when she visited the city in 1990.^[76]
The tourism industry in Enugu, managed by the Enugu State Tourism Board (ESTB), is small; however, the state government recognises a variety of historic and recreational sites. These sites include places like the Udi Hills, from which the majority of Enugu city can be viewed. The Polo amusement park is a funfair that is among the first generation of public parks in the city;^[73][77] other parks in the city include the Murtala Muhammed Park.^[78] Enugu's former coal mines, Onyeama and Okpara, are open to public visits.^[73] Some other spots include: The Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Sculptural Garden and Art Gallery, the Eastern Region Parliamentary Building, the Old Government Lodge,^[73] and Enugu Golf course. Enugu Zoo is another attraction in the city. It is divided into the botanical garden and the zoological section.^[79] A National Museum is located near Enugu at its north, although it receives few visitors.^[2] It is managed by National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). Other galleries include the Bona Gallery.^[80]

Media

Among the city's television and radio stations are the Nigerian Television Authority's network affiliate (NTA Enugu) headquarters located at Independence Layout; and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) network affiliate station (Radio Enugu) which broadcasts in English, Igbo, Efik, Ijaw and Tiv.^[88] Enugu State Broadcasting Service Television (ESBS-TV) is a state owned television broadcasting company which offers 18 hours of continuous broadcasting on weekends.^[89]
Enugu, after Lagos is a preferred city for shooting films in Nigeria and a film production centre in the East.^[90][91] In 2007, Enugu hosted the first-ever film festival in the state, the Enugu International Film Festival. Held at Hotel Presidential, the festival's intent was to highlight Enugu as a "film making hub" in Africa including movie premiers and prizes for different film categories.^[92]

Sports

The Enugu Rangers, a first-division professional league association football team, is Enugu's home team that plays in the Nigerian Premier League and are based in the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Former Rangers players include Jay-Jay Okocha and Taribo West.^[93][94] Enugu's main sports centre is the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, named after Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria. The stadium remained the centre of sports for the whole of the Eastern Region until the Nigerian-Biafran War broke out. At the war's end the stadium was refurbished.^[94] Enugu was a host for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup games (24 October – 15 November) alongside Calabar and five other Nigerian cities with matches taking place at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium.^[93] Its hosting of the FIFA U-17 World Cup benefited Enugu through the renovation of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, having had such things as a new artificial surface laid.^[93]

Economy

Nicknamed the Coal City,^[1] Enugu's economy in the early 20th century depended on coal mining in the Udi plateau; this industry was the pushing force towards the city's growth.^[95] The Nigerian Coal Corporation has been based in Enugu since its creation in 1950 where it controlled coal mining.^[96] With the creation of the Enugu-Port Harcourt railway, Enugu was connected with the sea via Port Harcourt to its south and later connected to the city of Kaduna to Enugu's north.^[97] The Biafran war brought widespread devastation that forced a decline in coal production from damage or destruction of equipment. As of 2005^[update], coal mining is no longer the major source of income and mines lay unused.^[98] Other minerals mined in Enugu include iron ore, limestone, fine clay, marble, and silica sand.^[5]
In Enugu most goods are sold in open markets or by street hawkers; a significant number of street hawkers in Nigeria are children. As of 2003^[update], around 44 under-16-year-olds (equally boys and girls) hawk on every street on every hour in Enugu.^[99] There are three main urban markets in Enugu: Ogbete Market, Awkunanaw Market and New Market. New Market is a major market for the sale of garri.^[100] Ogbete market is patronised by merchants from all over the surrounding area, including merchants from cities like Onitsha, Aguleri, Abakaliki and Aba. In Ogebete market non-food goods are also sold.^[101] Textile manufacturing, food processing, lumbering, soft-drink bottling, brewing, and furniture manufacturing are among other industries in the city.^[5] For a period of time Sosoliso Airlines had its head office on the grounds of Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.^[102]
The former Eastern Region was once famed for producing half the world's total output of palm kernels.^[103] Since the Nigerian-Biafran War production has markedly declined largely because the plantations and processing equipment were either damaged or destroyed.^[104] The production of other important cash crops such as cocoa, groundnut and groundnut oil, rubber, cassava, cotton and cotton seed and timber tumbled after the civil war and the subsequent oil boom years.^[105] Consequently, the area called Enugu State as well as the rest of Nigeria, which was once a self-sufficient net exporter in agricultural produce, must import food.^[106]

Education

Enugu has three main tertiary institutions: the Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT); the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC); and the Institute of Management & Technology (IMT). The city is also home to Our Saviour Institute of Science and Technology, a polytechnic. Some notable secondary schools in Enugu include the College of the Immaculate Conception (CIC) built in 1940, Holy Rosary College (HRC) built in 1943,^[107] Colliery Comprehensive Secondary school, Queen's Secondary School, Federal Government College and the University of Nigeria Secondary school. University Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu, under the university of Nigeria, is another university located in the city.^[108]

Healthcare

In Enugu, health care services can be obtained at several institutions including the ESUT (Enugu State University of Science and Technology) Teaching Hospital; University of Nigeria, Enugu, Teaching Hospital (UNTH); Park Lane General Hospital in the GRA; PMC (Peenok Medical Center) located on Ziks Avenue in Uwani; Hansa Clinic on Awolowo Street in Uwani; Niger Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Centre on Presidential Close in the Independence Layout; and the Ntasi Obi Ndi no n'Afufu Hospital organization located on Enuguabor Street in the Trans-Ekulu layout, among others.^[109] Some of the specialist hospitals in Enugu include the Psychiatric Hospital Enugu and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Enugu (NOHE).^[110]
Many of the hospitals in Enugu are privately run. The UNTH and the National Orthopaedic Hospital are among some of the government controlled hospitals in the city.^[110] The medical equipment for the UNTH was upgraded in 2009 as well as parts of the hospital which were renovated in the same year. Most hospitals in the city suffer from a poor standard of medical facilities available to them;^[111] many of the cities citizens travel abroad for medical care.^[112] However, hospitals have been aided by foreign organisations and by Enugu's community at home and abroad who have donated medicine and other medical equipment.^[113][114] The most developed government hospital in Enugu is the Park Lane Hospital.^[110] Nigeria's emergency telephone number is 199;^[115] the governor has said that the state has bought some ambulance service vehicles in March 2010.^[116] Enugu State has established free medical care for pregnant women and for all children under 5 years of age in the state. The child healthcare programme, founded under the District Health System (DHS), was added to the states 2008 budget.^[117] Enugu State has a HIV/AIDS prevalence of 6.5%, one of the highest in the country.^[118]

Transport

Enugu is located on a narrow-gauge railway line from the city of Port Harcourt; the Enugu train station is by the side of the National Stadium; dating back to its coal-mining origins, it is located on Ogui Street. The main forms of transportation in the city are taxi cabs and buses.^[78] Okada (motorcycles), once served as public transportation in the city until the state government banned them from this use in April 2009.^[119] Most transport enters and leaves the city through Enugu's Ogbete Motor Park,^[2] Garki Motor Park serves as a transport pick-up point as well.^[78] Unregistered taxis are known as Kabu Kabu and are differentiated with registered ones through the lack of yellow paint on the unregistered vehicles.^[120] In 2009, Enugu introduced a taxi job scheme under 'Coal City Cabs' to help in the eradication of poverty in the city.^[121][122] 200 registered Nissan Sunny taxis, provided by the state government; and 200 registered Suzuki taxis, provided by the Umuchinemere Pro-Credit Micro Finance Bank, were given out on loan to unemployed citizens in the city who will operate as taxi drivers and will own the vehicles after payments are completed.^[123][124] 20 buses with the capacity for 82 passengers seated and standing were introduced as Coal City Shuttle buses on March 13, 2009 to run as public transport for Enugu urban.^[119]

The main airport in the state is the Akanu Ibiam International Airport which can be accessed by buses and taxis.^[78] Renovations began on November 30, 2009, to upgrade it to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft. These plans include extending the 2,400-metre (7,900 ft) runway by 600 metres (2,000 ft) to make it 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long; the runway will be widened from 45 to 60 metres (148 to 200 ft). It is estimated that the project will cost ₦4.13bn^[125] (27.3 million US Dollars As of 26 June 2010).^[126]
The A3, or the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway, was opened in the 1970s and links the two cities together by passing through Aba, a major urban settlement.^[127][128] The A3 goes further on past Enugu's north to link to the city of Jos via Makurdi.^[128] Two more highways, the A232 from Benin City, Asaba and Onitsha to Enugu's east^[129] and the A343 from Abakaliki to Enugu's west,^[130] makes Enugu the site of a major junction

Nigeria

Nigeria is located in Western Africa, and borders the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin on the west and Cameroon on the east. It has a compact area of 923,768 square kilometers (356,376 square miles). The country's land mass extends from the Gulf of Guinea in the south to the Sahel (the shore of the Sahara Desert) in the north. Comparatively, Nigeria is slightly more than twice the size of California, or the size of California, Nevada, and Arizona combined. Abuja, the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, replaced the former capital city, Lagos, in December 1991, because of its more central location, among other reasons. Lagos remains Nigeria's commercial capital. Other major Nigerian cities include Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, Maid-uquri, Jos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, and Aba.

POPULATION.

Accurate population counts for Nigeria are difficult to obtain because such figures are tied directly to representation in the National Assembly and distribution of national wealth; therefore, they are often skewed by groups vying for political or economic advantage. In the absence of an accurate census, it is impossible to determine how many people live in Nigeria beyond rough estimates. The population of Africa's largest country was estimated at 123,337,822 in 2000. This figure represents an increase of 39.36 percent over the 1991 population census figure of 88.5 million, which was hotly debated and widely believed to have been an undercount. In the year 2000, the birth rate was estimated at 40.12 per 1,000, while the death rate was estimated at 13.72 per 1,000. With a projected annual population growth rate of 2.67 percent between 2000 and 2015, Nigeria's population is expected to increase to 156,269,020 in the year 2015. Excess mortality due to AIDS, lower life expectancy, and higher infant mortality and death rates might reduce this projected figure.
The density of population in Nigeria is among the highest in Africa. It ranges from 100 persons per square kilometer in the northeastern and west-central regions to more than 500 persons per square kilometer in the south and northwestern regions. The population is largely young. According to a 2000 estimate of the age structure, the largest segment of the population (53 percent) comprised individuals who are between 15 and 64 years old. This percentage included 33,475,794 males and 32,337,193 females. The second largest segment (44 percent) were between 0 and 14 years old and included 27,181,020 males and 26,872,317 females. The smallest segment (3 percent) were individuals 65 years and older, including 1,729,149 males and 1,722,349 females. The estimated sex ratio of the total population in 2000 was 1.02 males to 1 female while life expectancy at birth for the total population was 51.56 years: 51.58 years for males, and 51.55 years for females. The government hopes that the expansion of education, especially among women, and the availability of birth control information, including family planning, will help to control the population growth. Nigeria has received assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop and implement its

programs on family planning and child survival. In 1992, Nigeria added an HIV/AIDS prevention and control program to its existing health activities.
Nigeria is a plural or multinational state, with 250 ethnic or nationality groups. The most populous and politically influential of the nationality groups include the Hausa-Fulani (29 percent) in the north, the Yoruba (21 percent) in the southwest, the Igbo (18 percent) in the southeast, and the Ijaw (10 percent) in the Niger Delta. This characteristic ethnic composition gives Nigeria a rich diversity in customs, languages, religious and cultural traditions. It also compounds Nigeria's political and economic problems. Although the people are primarily rural dwellers, Nigeria, like other post-colonial African countries, has been urbanizing rapidly. In the year 2000, nearly 25 percent of the Nigerian population were urban dwellers. At least 24 cities have populations of more than 100,000. Lagos, the largest city, had a population of 9.8 million in 1995, 12.5 million in 2000, and is projected to have a population of 25 million in 2015.

INLAND WATERWAYS.

Inland waterways totaling 8,575 kilometers, (5,329 miles) and consisting of Niger and Benue Rivers and smaller rivers and creeks, provide Nigeria's third internal transportation network. Water transportation of goods and services using boats and canoes is essential and common in riverine areas of Nigeria where road construction is difficult. In the 1980s the government invested funds in building river ports, hoping that increased passenger traffic on the nation's inland waterways would relieve the strained highway system. A major problem involves the fluctuations in the water level during the dry season, which hinder the movement of canoes.

PORTS.

Ports provide facilities for exports and imports. The port in Lagos handles the majority of cargo flowing in and out of the country by ship; other important ports include Port Harcourt, Calabar, and the delta port complex of Warri, Sapele, Koko, and Alesa Eleme. In addition to these port complexes, 2 specialized tanker terminals at Bonny, near Port Harcourt, and Burutu, near Warri, handle crude oil exports.

AIR TRAVEL.

Nigeria has 72 (1998 estimate) airports, 36 of which have paved runways. Three major international airports—Murtala Muhammad International at Lagos, Aminu Kano International at Kano, and another at Port Harcourt—offer regularly scheduled international flights. Nigeria Airport Authority manages the airports. Nigeria Airways provides domestic service between the international airports and other Nigerian cities. On 26 August 2000, Nigeria and the United States signed an "Open Skies Agreement" to expand and enhance the overall aviation partnership between the 2 countries. Among others, the agreement provides for a direct flight between Lagos and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. It is hoped that the direct flight will boost Nigeria's tourism sector and develop Lagos as a gateway to Africa.

ELECTRICAL POWER.

Electrical power for industrial and household purposes is supplied by Nigeria's National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). The state-owned corporation, nicknamed "Never Expect Power Always" by Nigerians, is very unreliable, with daily shortages and blackouts. In 1998 its production of 14.75 billion kilowatts from fossil fuel (61.69 percent) and hydropower (38.31 percent) was highly inadequate to meet the nation's industrial and household needs. As a consequence, businesses and manufacturers operate well below capacity, while thousands of Nigerians in urban centers and rural areas buy their own power generators.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS.

Telecommunications services provide high quality links internally and to the rest of the world. The government is pursuing an ambitious telecommunications expansion program. It plans to increase Nigeria's mobile and wire lines from year 2000 numbers of 700,000 to over 4 million functional telephone lines by 2002. Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) was the nation's sole carrier until 1993 when 8 private firms were approved to be connected to its switching system so as to provide services to various Nigerian zones.
Virtually all Nigerian localities receive broadcasts from one of 65 AM radio stations, and more than a dozen cities from FM radio stations. Shortwave broadcasts from overseas and 6 local transmitters are received throughout the country. Television services are available to most urban areas as well as rural areas with rural electrification. According to World Development Indicators (2000), 223 per 1,000 Nigerians owned radios (1997), while 66 per 1,000 owned television sets (1998). While there were 5 Internet service providers, less than 20 percent of the Nigerian urban population used the Internet in 1999.