| Year | Date | Event |
|---|
| 1901 | | Anglo-Aro war: The war began. TheAro Confederacy began to decline. (to 1902) |
| 1902 | | Anglo-Aro war: The war ended. |
| 1903 | January | Capture of Kano |
| TheBritish conquered most ofNorthern Nigeria, including theSokoto Caliphate. |
| 1905 | | TheBritish conquest of Southern Nigeria ended. |
| 1906 | 1 May | Colonial Office amalgamates Lagos Colony withSouthern Nigeria Protectorate. |
| 1908 | | German-owned Nigerian Bitumen Company began searching for petroleum off coast.[11] |
| Protests against water fees in Lagos, encouraged by nationalistic journalism ofHerbert Macaulay.[2] |
| 1912 | | LordFrederick Lugard, Governor ofNorthern Nigeria, established a system ofindirect rule. Creation of Southern Nigeria Civil Service Union; later, Nigerian Civil Servants' Union.[2] |
| 1914 | January | Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated into Nigeria. British Crown gained monopoly rights over mineral extraction. |
| Nigerian soldiers fight under British command inWorld War I.[2] |
| 1918 | | TheAdubi War is fought inEgba Land. |
| 1920 | | National Congress of British West Africa founded in Accra. |
| 1922 | | Clifford Constitution. |
| 1925 | | West African Students' Union. |
| 1928 | April | British begin direct taxation. |
| 1929 | 14 October | New governor implements plans to expand taxation. |
| November | "Women's War": Widespread revolt against taxation. |
| 1931 | | Founding ofNigeria Union of Teachers.[2] |
| 1936 | | Founding of Nigeria Youth Movement.[2] |
| 1937 | | Shell D'Arcy Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (later Shell-BP) granted petroleum exploration rights.[11] |
| 1944 | | National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons founded byNnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe.[2] |
| 1945 | | Countrywidegeneral strike.[2] |
| Adoption of first Ten Year Plan for economic development.[2] |
| 1946 | | Nigeria entered a period of decolonization and growing Nigerian nationalism. |
| 1950 | | A conference of northern and southern delegates was held inIbadan. |
| 1951 | | MacPherson Constitution. |
| Yoruba-alignedAction Group founded; headed byObafemi Awolowo.[2] |
| 1953 | 1 May | Northern vs. Southern violence breaks out in the Northern city ofKano. |
| 1956 | | Shell-BP expedition makes first discoveries of major petroleum deposits, at Olobiri and Afam.[11] |
| 1957 | | Nigeria held a Constitutional conference. |
| 1959 | | Nigeria holds its first national election to set up an independent government.Northern politicians won a majority of seats in the Parliament. |
| 1959 Petroleum Profits Tax Ordinance establishes 50–50 split of oil revenues between corporation and government. Socony Mobil receives offshore oil license.[11] |
| 1960 | | The period of nationalism and decolonization ended. |
| Tiv uprising. |
| 1 October | Nigeria gained independence fromBritain under Prime MinisterTafawa Balewa andPresidentNnamdi Azikiwe. |
| 1961 | 11 February | Areferendum is held in theBritish Cameroons, resulting in the Northern Cameroons joining Nigeria and the Southern Cameroons joining Cameroon. |
| 1962 | | Tennessee Nigeria receives offshore oil license. |
| 1963 | 1 October | Nigeria severed its remaining ties toBritain, marking the birth of the Nigerian First Republic. |
| Amoseas and Gulf receive offshore oil licenses.[11] |
| 1964 | 1 December | Nationalparliamentary election. |
| SAFRAP and AGIP receive offshore oil licenses. |
| Another Tiv uprising heavily suppressed by police. |
| 1965 | | Elections held in Western Region. |
| Autumn | Refinery completed atPort Harcourt; owned 60% by Federal Government, 40% by Shell-BP.[11] |
| 1966 | 15 January | A militarycoup deposed the government of the First Republic.Balewa, Premier of Northern NigeriaAhmadu Bello, andFinance MinisterFestus Okotie-Eboh, were assassinated. |
| 16 January | The Federal Military Government was formed, with GeneralJohnson Aguiyi-Ironsi acting as head of state and Supreme Commander of the Federal Republic. |
| 23 February | Isaac Adaka Boro declared the secession of the "Niger Delta Republic". The secession was crushed by Ojukwu and 159 men were killed. |
| 29 July | A counter-coup by military officers of northern extraction deposed the Federal Military Government.Aguiyi-Ironsi andAdekunle Fajuyi, Military Governor of theWestern Region, were assassinated. GeneralYakubu Gowon becamePresident. |
| 1967 | | Killings of people of Eastern Nigerian origin claimed the lives of many thousands mostlyChristianIgbo people. This was carried out by theMuslimHausa andFula people. This triggered a migration of the Igbo back to the East. |
| 27 May | Gowon announces further subdivision of Nigeria, into twelve states. These include subdivision of the Eastern Region which will undermine its political power. |
| 30 May | Nigerian-Biafran War: GeneralChukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor ofEastern Nigeria, declared his province an independent republic calledBiafra. |
| 1970 | 8 January | Ojukwu fled into exile. His deputyPhilip Effiong became acting President ofBiafra |
| 15 January | Effiong surrendered to Nigerian forces.Biafra was reintegrated into Nigeria. |
| 1971 | | Nigeria joinsOrganization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.[2] |
| 1973 | 22 January | A plane crashed inKano, Nigeria, killing 176 people. |
| 1975 | 29 January | GeneralYakubu Gowon was overthrown in a bloodlesscoup. GeneralMurtala Mohammed became Head of State. |
| 1976 | 13 February | Mohammed was assassinated on his way to work. His deputy, Lieutenant-GeneralOlusegun Obasanjo, became Head of State and set a date to end military rule. |
| 1979 | | Shehu Shagari won election to theExecutive Presidency of theAmerican-style Second Republic. |
| 1 October | Shagari was sworn in asPresident. |
| 1983 | | Shagari won reelection. |
| 31 December | Shagari's government was ejected from power in apalacecoup, marking the end of the Second Republic. GeneralMuhammadu Buhari became Head of State and Chairman of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeria. |
| 1984 | 17 April | TheBuhari regime promulgated Decree No. 4, the "Public Officer's Protection Against False Accusation" Decree, which made it an offence to ridicule the government by publication of false information. |
| 1985 | August | Buhari was overthrown in a palacecoup. GeneralIbrahim Babangida became Head of State and President of theArmed Forces Ruling Council of Nigeria. |
| 1990 | April | Middle BeltChristian officers, led by MajorGideon Orkar, attempt to overthrowBabangida in an unsuccessfulcoup. |
| 1992 | | Two political parties, theSocial Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC) were established byBabangida in an attempt to return to civilian rule. |
| 1993 | 12 June | Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola won a presidential election.Babangida annulled the results. |
| 26 August | Babangida stepped down due to pressure from the Armed Forces Ruling Council.Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan assumed power as Interim Head of State. |
| 17 November | Shonekan was forced to resign from office.Defence MinisterSani Abacha became Head of State and established the Provisional Ruling Council of Nigeria. |
| 1995 | 13 March | TheAbacha administration arrestedObasanjo for allegedly supporting a secretcoup plot. |
| 10 November | Human and environmental rights activistKen Saro-Wiwa was hanged with eight others. |
| 1998 | 8 June | Abacha died from a heart attack.Abdusalami Abubakar became Head of State and Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council of Nigeria and lifted the ban on political activity. |
| 15 June | Obasanjo was released from prison. |
| 1999 | 10 February | Obasanjo was electedPresident. |
| 29 May | Obasanjo was sworn in, ushering in the Fourth Republic. |
| 19 December | Obasanjo ordered theNigerian Armed Forces to raid the town ofOdi in theNiger Delta, in response to the murder of twelve policemen by local militia. |
| 2000 | 27 January | Sharia was established in the predominantlyMuslim state ofZamfara. |
| May | Religious riots erupted inKaduna over the implementation ofsharia. |
| 5 June | TheObasanjo administration established theNiger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to tackle human and ecological issues in theNiger Delta region of Southern Nigeria. |
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