It goes beyond what you can see

Nigerian culture

I will use the iceberg method to select four aspects of Nigerian culture which will be developed. In case you did not know, the iceberg represents most aspects that allow differentiating one culture from another. It works as follows: At the top are the aspects that most people take into account when talking about culture but this does not mean that they are more important than those at the bottom, since these are the most close to people and based on feeling and experience.

The aspects selected in the above are food and language. Respectively in the part below religion and norms.

Food

Nigerian cuisine consists of dishes or food items from the hundreds of ethnic groups that comprise Nigeria. Like other West African cuisines, it uses spices and herbs with palm or groundnut oil to create deeply flavored sauces and soups. Nigerian feasts are colourful and lavish, while aromatic market and roadside snacks cooked on barbecues or fried in oil are in abundance and varied. If you go nigeria you cannot leave without having tried these three fantastic typical dishes.

• Pounded Jam

Yam, which is widely available, is boiled and pounded into a smooth mash. You’ll most likely find people eating pounded yam with Egusi, Banga, Ogbono or some other meal.

• Garri

Garri is prepared from cassava tubers that have been fermented, but the tubers must undergo peeling, washing and grating into a mash prior to being fermented. The product gotten from this is then locally dried (roasted) to form fine flour.

• Egusi Soup

This soup is widely consumed in Nigeria. Ingredients used in preparing the soup include melon seeds, red or any desired meat, seafood, fermented beans, a variety of green vegetables and onions. Egusi soup can be served alongside Garri, Pounded yam and fufu.

Language

There are over 500 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language of Nigeria is English, the former language of colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian English and Nigerian Pidgin were spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nigeria. Communication in the English language is much more popular in the country's urban communities than it is in the rural areas, due to globalization.


The major native languages, in terms of population, are Hausa , Yoruba, Igbo,  Fulfulde, Ibibio, Kanuri, Tiv, and approx. 2 to 3 million each of Edo, Igala, Nupe, Izon, Ekpeye, and Berom. Nigeria's linguistic diversity is a microcosm of much of Africa as a whole, and the country contains languages from the three major African languages families: Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger–Congo. 

Religion

At the beginning of the 20th century, most Nigerians were followers of traditional religions, but British colonial policies discouraged this to such an extent that by the time of independence in 1960 the great majority of the people were classified as Muslims or Christians. At the beginning of the 21st century, about half of the population was Muslim, slightly less than that was Christian, and only a small number claimed to follow traditional religions. However, many of those professing to be Muslims and Christians also openly performed certain rites or rituals of traditional religions that were no longer condemned as they had been during the colonial period. While a supreme god (called Olorun Olodumare in Yoruba, Chukwu in Igbo, Osalobua in Edo, and Abasi Ibom in Ibibio) is central to many of the traditional religions, the deity is worshipped through a number of intermediaries or lesser gods.

Religious freedom is guaranteed by the constitution, and Muslims and Christians live and work together, although there is continuing conflict between the two groups and between them and adherents of traditional religions. The greatest concentration of Muslims is in the northern states. There three-fourths of the people profess the religion of Islam, which also is the dominant faith in a few of the southern states. Christians make up more than three-fourths of the population in the eastern states.

The main established Christian groups are Roman Catholics, Methodists, Anglicans, and Baptists. A growing number of breakaway Christian churches, which embrace indigenous cultural traditions, are gaining popularity—a development perceived as a threat by the older established churches. The breakaway Christian churches often include drumming and dancing in their services, a practice since adopted by the established churches in an attempt to avoid losing members. Another issue has been how Islam and Christianity have chosen to incorporate the traditional practice of polygamy. Christianity has officially disallowed it, while Islam has allowed men to have up to four wives; however, breakaway Christian churches often have placed no limits on the practice.

Norms

The Nigerian legal and judicial system contains three codes of law: customary law, Nigerian statute law (following English law), and Sharīʿah (Islamic law). Customary laws, administered by native, or customary, courts, are usually presided over by traditional rulers, who generally hear cases about family problems such as divorce. Kadis (judges) apply Sharīʿah based on the Maliki Islamic code. Since 1999, several states have instituted Sharīʿah law. Although the states claim that the law applies only to Muslims, the minority non-Muslim population argues that it is affected by the law as well. Christian women, for example, must ride on female-only buses, and some states have banned females from participating in sports.

Nigerian statute law includes much of the British colonial legislation, most of which has been revised. State legislatures may pass laws on matters that are not part of the Exclusive Legislative List, which includes such areas as defense, foreign policy, and mining—all of which are the province of the federal government. Federal law prevails whenever federal legislation conflicts with state legislation. In addition to Nigerian statutes, English law is used in the magistrates’ and all higher courts. Each state has a High Court, which is presided over by a chief judge. The Supreme Court, headed by the chief justice of Nigeria, is the highest court.