| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 30,000 – 100,000[1][2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Throughout urban Nigeria In particularLagos,Kano,Kaduna,Ibadan,Jos,Abuja,Sokoto,Birnin Kebbi,Katsina,Potiskum,Damaturu,Maiduguri andPort Harcourt. | |
| Languages | |
| Predominantly Arabic (Lebanese) · English (Nigerian,Pidgin) Others French · Hausa · Yoruba in addition to otherNigerian languages | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Maronite,Greek Orthodox,Melkite, andProtestant) · Islam (Shia andSunni) · Druze | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lebanese diaspora (Lebanese Ghanaians,Lebanese Ivorians,Lebanese Senegalese,Lebanese Sierra Leoneans) |
| Part ofa series of articles on |
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Lebanese Nigerians (Arabic: نيجيريون لبنانيون) are Nigerians with Lebanese ancestry, including Lebanese-born immigrants to Nigeria. With a population approximated between 30,000 and 100,000, the group form one of the largest communities originally from outside Nigeria.[1][2]
Lebanese immigration to Nigeria started in the late nineteenth century, with migration fromOttoman Syria to the protectorates that later formedBritish Nigeria. The immigration — mainly fromLebanon but also from other parts of the Lebanese diaspora in West Africa — increased in the early twentieth century after the end of thefirst World War, being concentrated first inLagos then in other urban areas throughoutcolonial Nigeria.[3] While some Lebanese Nigerians have leftNigeria — either permanently or temporarily for education or work — and reduced the original community's size, the further waves of immigration to Nigeria occurring amid theLebanese Civil War and ongoingLebanese liquidity crisis have added to the community since the late twentieth century.[4][5][6]
During the first waves of Lebanese immigration to Nigeria (and West Africa more generally), modern-dayLebanon comprised part ofOttoman Syria and later theFrench mandate; due to this political situation, early Lebanese immigrants were grouped together with immigrants fromSyria and denoted as "Syrians" in colonial reports.[7] Additionally, immigrants from other parts of theArab world — includingLibya,Morocco, andYemen along withMizrahi Jews — often entered into the community. Later estimates from the 1960s approximate that 3% of the community originate from modernSyria with the remainder coming from eitherLebanon or other parts of theArab world.[8] By the mid-twentieth century, "Lebanese" replaced "Syrian" as the predominant identification term for the community. Alternatively, some communities (especially inFrench West Africa) used variants of "Libano-Syrian" as to include the Syrian community while other sources used and continue to use "Levantine" or "Syro-Lebanese" asumbrella terms.[3]
Additionally, research notes the relative lack of cohesion in the Lebanese community in the first half of the twentieth century, with internal divides based on sectarian, ideological, religious, and subethnic differences.[2] However, there were some collective organisations — such as the Lebanese Union of Nigeria, largely to lobby colonial officials on the community's behalf; these organisations became the precursors to modern Lebanese Nigerian civil society and identity.[2] In post-independence Nigeria, Lebanese identity formed amidracialization, communal tensions, and community-building.[9]
People fromLebanon first migrated toWest Africa in the 19th-century to flee oppression and economic crisis in theOttoman Empire.[8] Reportedly, the first Lebanese immigrant to Nigeria was Elias Khoury who migrated from the Lebanese village ofMiziara toLagos in 1890.[10] Later Lebanese migrants often originally intended to reachBrazil or theUnited States, but many were stranded in West Africa due to financial problems.[8] Other Lebanese migrants to West Africa mistakenly believed they had traveled to a vague geographic region called "Amerka" (misspelling of "America"), due to either their lack of education or deception by ship captains.[11] Nigeria received a significant amount of Lebanese settlers due to its coastal city ofLagos serving as a major point of transit between Lebanon andthe Americas.[8] Many of these early Lebanese migrants to Nigeria came from the villages ofMiziara andJwaya.[8] The two villages continue to rely on remittances from Lebanese Nigerians into the modern era.[10]
Nigeria continues to receive a significant influx of Lebanese immigrants seeking to escape political and economic turmoil in their homeland. It is estimated that more than 250,000 Lebanese live in West Africa majority in Ivory Coast.[5] In February 2022, the Nigerian government granted citizenship to 286 foreign nationals, 108 of whom were Lebanese.[12]
As typical with immigrant communities in Nigeria, Lebanese Nigerians often speak bothEnglish and the community's native language —Arabic (more specifically, theLebanese variety). However, many Lebanese Nigerians also speak indigenous Nigerian languages depending on the dominant language of their home regions. Additional research contends that this "linguistic adaptability" has been a key asset of the community for generations.[8]
Reports show that the Lebanese Nigerian community contains adherents of all three of Lebanon's largest religious sects —Maronite Catholicism,Shia Islam, andSunni Islam — in addition to much smaller communities of other Eastern Christians,Druze, and (historically)Lebanese Jews.[13][14][8] The two largest religious groups have long been the Maronite and Shia communities, with research from the 1960s estimating that Lebanese Nigerians were 60% Christian (mainly Maronite) along with 40% Muslim/Druze (mainly Shia).[8]
The Lebanese Maronite community has been crucial for the establishment ofEastern Christianity in Nigeria; notably,Ibadan hosts the eparchial seat of theMaronite Catholic Eparchy of the Annunciation — the Maronite eparchy that covers much ofSub-Saharan Africa.[13] The eparchy has four parishes in Nigeria — inAbuja,Ibadan,Lagos, andPort Harcourt — with several thousand attendees including bothMaronites and otherEastern Christians.[15] Similarly, the Lebanese Shia community has played a major role in the history and development ofShia Islam in Nigeria, particularly inKano.[16]
While the Lebanese Nigerian community itself consumes traditional Lebanese food, it has also introducedLebanese cuisine to Nigeria.[17] There are numerous Lebanese restaurants and food shops inLagos, primarily inVictoria Island. Additionally, there are also Lebanese cuisine options in other cities with sizable Lebanese populations likeKano andIbadan.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the main interactions between the Lebanese community and governments were various attempts by groups to lobby colonial administrators.[3][8] However, reports show a more direct role in politics being played by Lebanese community leaders by the late 1950s, with a notable incident in 1959 with the heavily disputed establishment of an "Oriental Branch" of theNorthern People's Congress by Lebanese, Syrian, and Yemeni community leaders inKano.[8] After independence, some individual Lebanese Nigerians took prominent roles in politics includingAbbas Hajaig — an engineer who unsuccessfully ran for Senate inJigawa State in 2007 — andGilbert Chagoury — a businessman known for his close connections to military Head of StateSani Abacha and PresidentBola Tinubu.[18][19][20]
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There is also involvement in Lebanese politics from the community withNasserism being a major ideology among Lebanese Nigerian youth in the mid-twentieth century.[8] In 2019, there were demonstrations inLagos in solidarity with the17 October Revolution.[21] Several thousands in the community are registered to vote inLebanon and on an individual level, there are various Lebanese Nigerians who later became politicians inLebanon, including former Member of ParliamentAnwar M. El-Khalil.[22]
Tinubu Square, an open space landmark in Lagos, was donated by the Lebanese community as a gift for Nigeria upon Nigerian independence in 1960.[23] TheLebanese Community School is a private school in Lagos operated by the Lebanese.
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