Nigerians Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History == {{Further|History of Nigeria}} There have been several major historical kingdoms and states in Nigeria that have influenced Nigerian society through their kings and their legal and taxation systems, and the use of religion to legitimize the power of the king and to unite the people.<ref name="Toyin Falola 2001. pp. 15-16">Toyin Falola. ''Culture and Customs of Nigeria''. Westport, Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Press, 2001. pp. 15-16.</ref> [[Northern Nigeria]] has been culturally influenced by Islam, including several major historic Islamic states in the region.<ref name="Toyin Falola 2001. pp. 15-16"/> The [[Songhai Empire]], [[Kanem-Bornu Empire]] and the [[Sokoto Caliphate]] were major historical Islamic states in northern Nigeria.<ref name="Toyin Falola 2001. pp. 15-16"/> Southern [[Nigeria]] historically held several powerful states, including the [[Benin Empire]] and [[Oyo Empire]], and [[Aro Confederacy]].<ref name="Toyin Falola 2001. pp. 15-16"/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page