History
Nigerians have formed long-established communities in London, Liverpool and other industrial cities. The earliest known Nigerian presence in London occurred over 200 years ago as a direct result of the transatlantic slave trade. Olaudah Equiano, born in what is now Nigeria, was involved in the debate that occurred in Britain over the abolition of the slave trade.
Prior to Nigeria's independence from Britain, gained in 1960, many Nigerians studied in the UK along with other countries such as France and the United States, with the majority returning to Nigeria upon completion of their studies. In the 1960s, civil and political unrest in Nigeria contributed to many refugees migrating to Britain, along with skilled workers. Nigerians migrated in larger numbers in the 1980s, following the collapse of the petroleum boom. This wave of migration has been more permanent than the pre-independence wave of temporary migration. Asylum applications from Nigerians peaked in 1995, when the repression associated with the military dictatorship of Sani Abacha was at its height.
Read more about this topic: British Nigerian
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History has neither the venerableness of antiquity, nor the freshness of the modern. It does as if it would go to the beginning of things, which natural history might with reason assume to do; but consider the Universal History, and then tell us,—when did burdock and plantain sprout first?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)
“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)