A/HRC/28/64/Add.2 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues visited Nigeria between 17 and 28 February 2014. She visited Abuja, where she conducted extensive consultations with senior federal government representatives, including the Minister of the Interior, senior officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Culture, the National Human Rights Commission and the Federal Character Commission. She visited Plateau and Kaduna States, where she consulted with State authorities as well as with the National Human Rights Commission branches in Jos and Kaduna. She travelled to Port Harcourt in Rivers State, where she met with authorities and local communities. She held numerous meetings with non-governmental organizations, minority communities, youth representatives, religious leaders, academics, journalists and representatives of United Nations bodies. She thanks the Government for its cooperation and thanks those organizations and individuals that provided valuable information and facilitated aspects of her visit. 2. Nigeria is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with over 350 ethnic groups and even more languages spoken within its territory. According to the most recent census, conducted in 2006, the population of Nigeria stood at 140 million people. According to the most recent data provided by the World Bank in 2014,1 the total population stands at 178.5 million, making Nigeria the most populated African country. 3. The three largest ethnic groups in the country are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Other large ethnic groups include the Ekoi, Edo, Fulani, Ibibio, Idoma, Igala, Ijaw/Izon, Itsekiri, Gwari, Jukun, Kanuri/Beriberi, Nupe, Urhobo and Tiv. Muslims constitute about 51 per cent of the population, while Christians comprise approximately 47 per cent and almost 1 per cent of the population professes traditional religions. There are no official data on the religious and ethnic composition of the population, but most Muslims constitute a majority in the northern states, while Christian populations are predominant in the southern states. The majority of Hausa and Fulani are Muslim, while Igbo are predominantly Christians and Yoruba present a varied religious composition. 4. Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, with the above-mentioned World Bank data putting its gross domestic product growth at 6.5 per cent in 2012, and with oil accounting for nearly 75 per cent of the country’s consolidated budgetary revenues. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Nigeria receives more foreign direct investment than any other country in Africa.2 Notwithstanding Nigeria’s strong macroeconomic performance, a number of human development indicators and socioeconomic statistics reveal profound deficits that must be addressed: the poverty rate has reached 48 per cent of the population, with stark disparities between regions; poverty is particularly concentrated in the northern regions, while the south-west has the lowest poverty rates;3 in 2011, almost 24 per cent of the population was unemployed;4 the infant under-five mortality rate ranks among the highest in the world, with 124 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2012;5 and the school attendance rate is low, with only 54 per cent of children 1 2 3 4 5 4 Available from www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, World Investment Report 2013 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.13.II.D.5) p.241. Available from http://unctad.org/en/publicationslibrary/wir2013_en.pdf. See World Bank, Nigeria Economic Report, 2013, pp. 8 and 9. National Bureau of Statistics, 2011 Socio-Economic Survey: Unemployment 2011. (Download available from www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pages/download/38.) United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria Basic Indicators, available from www.unicef.org/infobycountry/nigeria_statistics.html.