Abuja - City of Nigeria

Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria in the Federal Capital Territory. Abuja is a planned city, as it was mainly built in the 1980s and officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing the role of the previous capital Lagos.

Abuja's geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre monolith left by water erosion. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the town extend to the south of the rock. "Aso" means "victorious" in the language of the Asokoro.

In light of the ethnic and religious divisions of Nigeria, plans had been devised since Nigeria's independence to have its capital in a location deemed neutral to all parties. The location was eventually designated in the centre of the country in the early 1970s as it signified neutrality and national unity. Another impetus for Abuja came because of Lagos' population boom that made that city overcrowded and conditions squalid. The logic used was similar to how Brazil planned its capital Brasília. Construction broke ground and was dedicated in the late 1970s, but due to economic and political instability, the initial stages of the city were not complete until the late 1980s.

Most countries relocated their embassies to Abuja and many maintain their former embassies as consulates in Lagos, still the commercial capital of Nigeria.

Abuja is the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. It also has the regional headquarters of OPEC.

National Assembly building in AbujaAbuja and the FCT have experienced huge population growth; it has been reported that some areas around Abuja have been growing at 20 to 30% per year. Squatter settlements and towns have spread rapidly in and outside the city limits. Tens of thousands of people have been evicted since former FCT Minister Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai started a demolition campaign in 2003.

The FCT experiences three weather conditions annually. This includes a warm, humid rainy season and a blistering dry season. In between the two seasons, there is a brief interlude of harmattan occasioned by the North East Trade Wind, with the main feature of dust haze, intensified coldness and dryness.

Abuja was bidding head to head with Glasgow, Scotland to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014. If successful Abuja would have become the first African city to host the event. However, Glasgow was declared the winning city. Former Nigerian military ruler and now head of Nigeria's bid team, General Yakubu Gowon, called for all Nigerians to support the games for the "glory of Nigeria". He suggested Nigeria would be a prime location for the games because of its unity, serenity, topography and availability of standard sporting facilities. In 2003, Abuja hosted the All-Africa Games, the African regional version of the Olympics, for which it constructed an Olympic style stadium and games village. It was a more or less successful tournament with more than 7,000 athletes; however, many problems, especially logistical ones, demonstrated that Nigeria was not quite ready to host something as large as the Commonwealth Games.