Nigeria operates a federal system of government that gives power to an executive that is elected by the people.
Nigeria is comprised of 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, which is the seat of government of the country. Nigeria also has three arms of government, the executive we also have the judiciary and we have the legislators.
Nigeria has a total of 360 House of Representatives members (green chamber) and 109 senators in the red chamber.
Is Nigeria a country or a province?
Some people have asked this question and I feel it’s time for me to delve into whether Nigeria is a country or a province.
Nigeria is an independent country of its own. It is not a province of any other country. Now the issue of the division of a country into provinces happens in some countries and I can give you a first example in China where the country is divided into 23 provinces.
It also has what it called five autonomous regions like Inner Mongolia and Tibet and furthermore, China is divided into four municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing, and also two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
That is China. China divides its land according to what it wants but Nigeria is only divided into states and there are 36 of those states and those states also are further divided into 774 local governments. So, Nigeria is not a province. Nigeria is a country. It is not a province of another country.
Under which region is Nigeria?
Nigeria is a country in Africa. It is the most populous country in Africa. It also has the biggest GDP in Africa and Nigeria is in the west of Africa. Nigeria is a West African country. West Africa is a region of Africa that is governed by a regional body called the ECOWAS.
ECOWAS has 15 member countries and Nigeria’s president of Bola Tinubu is the current head of the ECOWAS region of West Africa.
What are the three regions in Nigeria?
Upon the independence of Nigeria in October 1960, the federation was divided into three regions. We have the northern, western, and eastern regions.
Basically, the northern region consists of a group of people called the Hausas. The western region is controlled mainly by the Yorubas and the eastern Nigeria or the eastern region is controlled by the Igbos.
So, these are the three regions that exist in Nigeria. But in the modern-day Nigeria, Nigeria has been split into geopolitical zones, and not the northern, western, and eastern regions anymore.
We now have six geopolitical zones in the country. These geopolitical zones are the north-central, the northeast, the north west, the southwest, the south east, and the south-south.
Author
Abbey Johnson has a Masters degree as an engineer and has over 3 years of teaching and research experience. He is happiest when on a bike and is also interested in electric energy and computer Science.