Nigeria

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, comprises peoples from hundreds of different cultures who were united under common political rule only in 1914.  Achieving unity is an ongoing political project, given that Nigerian peoples’ identities as members of particular ethnic groups remain strong. Though use of the English language helps unite an increasingly modern country, Nigerians also speak hundreds of distinct languages and dialects in many of their daily encounters, and work to honor many of the traditional cultural practices of their ancestors. 

The religious context of Nigeria varies from place to place. Roughly half of the population is Muslim, and half is Christian. Only a little over a century since Christianity began to be accepted in Nigeria (Islam has a longer presence in the north), just a tiny fraction of the population identifies exclusively or primarily with an indigenous traditional religion. Still, as the articles here show, traditional beliefs continue to shape the practice of Catholicism in Nigeria in distinctive ways. 

In the north, among the Hausa-Fulani peoples, Islam is a dominant force, whereas in the south, Christianity is the dominant religio-cultural force. That division creates one of the most troubling fault lines in the country today.

The majority of Christians in Nigeria belong to Protestant and African Independent Churches. Nonetheless, given its huge overall population, Nigeria is home to some 29 million Catholics, the twelfth largest population of Catholics in the world, and the second largest population of Catholics in Africa.

The entries on the Catholics & Cultures site at present explore the religious lives of members of the Igbo ethnic group, particularly those who live in and around the city of Enugu, in south-central Nigeria. Enugu, like the rest of Igboland, is a Catholic stronghold, home to the largest Catholic seminary in the world. 

Nigeria is a young country demographically. Its relatively small proportion of elderly people and large proportion of children and young people contribute to the sense of vibrancy that is evident in the Church and in other facets of life. Read more...

    Religious Affiliation
    Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
    Total Population
    195,875,237 1
    Urban
    50.30% 1
    Rural
    49.70% 1
    Immigrants as % of Population
    0.7% 2
    Homicides
    9.79 per 100,000 people (global median 6.9) 3
    Level of Public Corruption
    136 (1=lowest, 176=highest corruption) 4
    Gender Equality in the Economy, Health, Education and Politics
    118 (1=most equal, 144=least equal) 7
    Fertility Rate
    5.59 births per adult woman 5
    Children Who Do Not Live to Age 5
    10.90% 5
    Life Expectancy at Birth
    53 years 5
    Adult Literacy Rate
    51.08% 5
    Internet Users
    43% 5
    Gross National Income per Capita
    US$2,970 5
    Population Living Below US$1.90 per Day
    53.5% 5

    These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.

    Baptized Catholics
    32,576,000
    Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
    14.82
    Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
    376,062
    Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
    130,479
    First Communions per Year
    299,822
    Confirmations per Year
    194,458
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
    515,699
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
    366,063
    Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
    19,076
    Church Marriages per Year
    65,177
    Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
    61,628
    Priests
    9,509
    Women Religious (Nuns & Sisters)
    6,630
    Catholics per Priest
    3,426
    Parishes
    4,406
    Mission Stations (no resident priests)
    12,051
    Catholic Hospitals
    305
    Homes for Aged, Handicapped, Invalids
    46
    • 1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
    • 2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
    • 3 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
    • 4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
    • 5 UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2016.
    • 6 Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022).
    • 7 World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report, 2016.