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[[File:Zuma_rock.jpg|thumb|left|500px|Road near Abuja with Zuma rock in the background]]

'''Nigeria''' is a country in [[Africa]]. It is bordered by Benin to the west, Niger to the north, Chad (via Lake Chad) to the extreme east, and Cameroon to the south. With a population of 167 million, approximately one in five Africans is Nigerian. This also means that one in five African criminals is Nigerian, a fact that has given them a fairly bad reputation for high crime and low safety in their country. The fact that Nigeria is often in the world news for negative reasons - whether the Biafra conflict, the struggle for oil in the Niger Delta (and the routine kidnapping of foreigners that resulted), government corruption, the current Boko Haram terrorist threat in Kano and other northern areas, or the worldwide Nigerian email scams - has extended the country's bad reputation worldwide. However if you are aware of the risks and a vigilant traveller, it is possible to have a wonderfully rewarding experience hitchhiking Nigeria.

== Finding Rides ==

[[File: view77.jpg|thumb|left|500px| The friendly ride people that gave hitchhiker [[user:notapalooka|Alyssa]] a ride to the Niger/Nigerian border. Rainy season in the desert.]]

In Nigeria, as is common throughout Africa, the long distance public travel system is a choice between big buses, or smaller vans or cars. Some collect passengers only at the bus stations in towns, but many will stop wherever there are passengers waiting for a ride. Thus unless you are willing to pay for a ride you must learn to distinguish these vehicles from personal ones, and not flag them down. Personal vehicles may also ask for money (sometimes more than at the station).

Mighty Lagos with its population of 8 million and all the congestion that goes along with any third-world megopolis. This city is huge and sprawls onwards for many kilometers. Getting from one end to the other can take many hours at any time of day. To hitch out the most practical way would be taking a cheap combi out of the main city to somewhere less populated and wait on the road there. Traffic can be backed to a crawl for hundreds of kilometers surrounding Lagos if construction is being done.

=== Abuja ===