Nigeria had an eventful history. More than 2,000 years ago, the Nok culture in the present plateau state worked iron and produced experienced terracotta sculpture. The history of the northern cities of Kano and Katsina dates back to approximately 1000 A.D. In the following centuries, Hausa Kingdoms and the Bornu Empire became important terminals of north-south trade between North African Berbers and the forest people, exchanging slaves, ivory, and other products. The Yoruba Kingdom of Oyo …showed first 75 words of 922 total…

…showed last 75 words of 922 total…West Indies, where he died. Reforms in the late 1940s through the 1950s allowed Nigerians limited political representation, but southerners pushed for full autonomy. Yet northern political leaders, under the auspices of the Northern People's Congress (NPC), opposed a motion calling for independence by 1956, and agreed to support self-rule only after constitutional concessions were made to the North. On October 1, 1960, after years of constitutional conferences, Great Britain lowered the Union Jack, ushering in Nigerian independence.