document_title: History of Nigeria

question_text: prior to independence nigeria was ruled as a colony of

question_tokens: prior to independence nigeria was ruled as a colony of

text: History of Nigeria

text: Early history[edit]

text: Archaeological research, pioneered by Charles Thurstan Shaw has shown that people were already living in south-eastern Nigeria (specifically Igbo Ukwu, Nsukka, Afikpo and Ugwuele) 100,000 years ago. Excavations in Ugwuele, Afikpo and Nsukka show evidences of long habitations as early as 6,000 BC. However, by 9th Century AD, it seemed clear that the Igbos had settled in Igboland. Shaw's excavations at Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria revealed a 9th-century indigenous culture that created highly sophisticated work in bronze metalworking, independent of any Arab or European influence and centuries before other sites that were better known at the time of discovery.

text: The earliest known example of a fossil human skeleton found anywhere in West Africa, which is 13,000 years old, was found at Iwo-Eleru in western Nigeria and attests to the antiquity of habitation in the region.[1]

text: Microlithic and ceramic industries were also developed by savanna pastoralists from at least the 4th millennium BC and were continued by subsequent agricultural communities. In the south, hunting and gathering gave way to subsistence farming around the same time, relying more on the indigenous yam and oil palm than on the cereals important in the North.

text: The stone axe heads, imported in great quantities from the north and used in opening the forest for agricultural development, were venerated by the Yoruba descendants of neolithic pioneers as "thunderbolts" hurled to earth by the gods.[1]

text: Iron smelting furnaces at Taruga dating from around 600 BC provide the oldest evidence of metalworking in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kainji Dam excavations revealed iron-working by the 2nd century BC. The transition from Neolithic times to the Iron Age apparently was achieved indigenously without intermediate bronze production. Others suggest the technology moved west from the Nile Valley, although the Iron Age in the Niger River valley and the forest region appears to predate the introduction of metallurgy in the upper savanna by more than 800 years. The earliest identified iron-using Nigerian culture is that of the Nok culture that thrived between approximately 900 BC and 200 AD on the Jos Plateau in north-eastern Nigeria. Information is lacking from the first millennium AD following the Nok ascendancy, but by the 2nd millennium there was active trade from North Africa through the Sahara to the forest, with the people of the savanna acting as intermediaries in exchanges of various goods.

text: Hausa Kingdoms[edit]

text: The Hausa Kingdoms were a collection of states started by the Hausa people, situated between the Niger River and Lake Chad. Their history is reflected in the Bayajidda legend, which describes the adventures of the Baghdadi hero Bayajidda culmulating in the killing of the snake in the well of Daura and the marriage with the local queen Magajiya Daurama. while the hero had a child with the queen, Bawo, and another child with the queen's maid-servant, Karbagari.[2]

text: Sarki mythology[edit]

text: According to the Bayajidda legend, the Hausa states were founded by the sons of Bayajidda, a prince whose origin differs by tradition, but official canon records him as the person who married the last Kabara of Daura and heralded the end of the matriarchal monarchs that had erstwhile ruled the Hausa people. Contemporary historical scholarship views this legend as an allegory similar to many in that region of Africa that probably referenced a major event, such as a shift in ruling dynasties.

text: Banza Bakwai[edit]

text: According to the Bayajidda legend, the Banza Bakwai states were founded by the seven sons of Karbagari ("Town-seizer"), the unique son of Bayajidda and the slave-maid, Bagwariya. They are called the Banza Bakwai meaning Bastard or Bogus Seven on account of their ancestress' slave status.

text:
Zamfara (state inhabited by Hausa-speakers)
Kebbi (state inhabited by Hausa-speakers)
Yauri (also called Yawuri)
Gwari (also called Gwariland)
Kwararafa (the state of the Jukun people)
Nupe (state of the Nupe people)
Ilorin(was founded by the Yoruba)

text: Hausa Bakwai[edit]

text:
The Hausa Kingdoms began as seven states founded according to the Bayajidda legend by the six sons of Bawo, the unique son of the hero and the queen Magajiya Daurama in addition to the hero's son, Biram or Ibrahim, of an earlier marriage.
The states included only kingdoms inhabited by Hausa-speakers:

text:
Daura:
Kano:
Katsina
Zaria (Zazzau)
Gobir
Rano
Biram:

text:
Since the beginning of Hausa history, the seven states of Hausaland divided up production and labor activities in accordance with their location and natural resources. Kano and Rano were known as the "Chiefs of Indigo." Cotton grew readily in the great plains of these states, and they became the primary producers of cloth, weaving and dying it before sending it off in caravans to the other states within Hausaland and to extensive regions beyond. Biram was the original seat of government, while Zaria supplied labor and was known as the "Chief of Slaves." Katsina and Daura were the "Chiefs of the Market," as their geographical location accorded them direct access to the caravans coming across the desert from the north. Gobir, located in the west, was the "Chief of War" and was mainly responsible for protecting the empire from the invasive Kingdoms of Ghana and Songhai.
Islam arrived to Hausaland along the caravan routes. The famous Kano Chronicle records the conversion of Kano's ruling dynasty by clerics from Mali, demonstrating that the imperial influence of Mali extended far to the east. Acceptance of Islam was gradual and was often nominal in the countryside where folk religion continued to exert a strong influence. Nonetheless, Kano and Katsina, with their famous mosques and schools, came to participate fully in the cultural and intellectual life of the Islamic world. The Fulani began to enter the Hausa country in the 13th century and by the 15th century they were tending cattle, sheep, and goats in Borno as well. The Fulani came from the Senegal River valley, where their ancestors had developed a method of livestock management based on transhumance. Gradually they moved eastward, first into the centers of the Mali and Songhai empires and eventually into Hausaland and Borno. Some Fulbe converted to Islam as early as the 11th century and settled among the Hausa, from whom they became racially indistinguishable. There they constituted a devoutly religious, educated elite who made themselves indispensable to the Hausa kings as government advisers, Islamic judges, and teachers.

text: Zenith[edit]

text: The Hausa Kingdoms were first mentioned by Ya'qubi in the 9th century[citation needed] and they were by the 15th century vibrant trading centers competing with Kanem-Bornu and the Mali Empire.[3] The primary exports were slaves, leather, gold, cloth, salt, kola nuts, animal hides, and henna. At various moments in their history, the Hausa managed to establish central control over their states, but such unity has always proven short. In the 11th century the conquests initiated by Gijimasu of Kano culminated in the birth of the first united Hausa Nation under Queen Amina, the Sultana of Zazzau but severe rivalries between the states led to periods of domination by major powers like the Songhai, Kanem and the Fulani.

text: Fall[edit]

text: Despite relatively constant growth, the states were vulnerable to aggression and, although the vast majority of its inhabitants were Muslim by the 16th century, they were attacked by Fulani jihadists from 1804 to 1808.  In 1808 the Hausa Nation was finally conquered by Usuman dan Fodio and incorporated into the Hausa-Fulani Sokoto Caliphate.[4]

text: Yoruba[edit]

text: Historically the Yoruba people have been the dominant group on the west bank of the Niger. Their nearest linguistic relatives are the Igala who live on the opposite side of the Niger's divergence from the Benue, and from whom they are believed to have split about 2,000 years ago. The Yoruba were organized in mostly patrilineal groups that occupied village communities and subsisted on agriculture. From approximately the 8th century, adjacent village compounds called ile coalesced into numerous territorial city-states in which clan loyalties became subordinate to dynastic chieftains. Urbanization was accompanied by high levels of artistic achievement, particularly in terracotta and ivory sculpture and in the sophisticated metal casting produced at Ife.

text: The Yoruba paid tribute to a pantheon composed of an impersonal Supreme Deity, Olorun. The Olorun is now called God in the Yoruba language. There are 400 lesser deities who perform various tasks. According to the Yoruba, Oduduwa is regarded as both the creator of the earth and the ancestor of the Yoruba kings. According to one of the various myths about him, he founded Ife and dispatched his sons and daughters to establish similar kingdoms in other parts of what is today known as Yorubaland. The Yorubaland now consists of different tribes from different states which are located in the Southwestern part of the country, states like Oyo State, Ondo State, Ekiti State, Ogun State, among others.

text: Igbo Kingdom[edit]

text: Nri Kingdom[edit]

text: The Kingdom of Nri is considered to be the foundation of Igbo culture, and the oldest Kingdom in Nigeria.[5] Nri and Aguleri, where the Igbo creation myth originates, are in the territory of the Umueri clan, who trace their lineages back to the patriarchal king-figure, Eri.[6] Eri's origins are unclear, though he has been described as a "sky being" sent by Chukwu (God).[6][7] He has been characterized as having first given societal order to the people of Anambra.[7]

text: Archaeological evidence suggests that Nri hegemony in Igboland may go back as far as the 9th century,[8] and royal burials have been unearthed dating to at least the 10th century. Eri, the god-like founder of Nri, is believed to have settled the region around 948 with other related Igbo cultures following after in the 13th century.[9] The first Eze Nri (King of Nri), Ìfikuánim, followed directly after him. According to Igbo oral tradition, his reign started in 1043.[10] At least one historian puts Ìfikuánim's reign much later, around 1225.[11]

text: Each king traces his origin back to the founding ancestor, Eri. Each king is a ritual reproduction of Eri. The initiation rite of a new king shows that the ritual process of becoming Ezenri (Nri priest-king) follows closely the path traced by the hero in establishing the Nri kingdom.

text: Nri and Aguleri and part of the Umueri clan, a cluster of Igbo village groups which traces its origins to a sky being called Eri, and, significantly, includes (from the viewpoint of its Igbo members) the neighbouring kingdom of Igala.

text: The Kingdom of Nri was a religio-polity, a sort of theocratic state, that developed in the central heartland of the Igbo region.[9] The Nri had a taboo symbolic code with six types. These included human (such as the birth of twins), animal (such as killing or eating of pythons),[13] object, temporal, behavioral, speech and place taboos.[14] The rules regarding these taboos were used to educate and govern Nri's subjects. This meant that, while certain Igbo may have lived under different formal administration, all followers of the Igbo religion had to abide by the rules of the faith and obey its representative on earth, the Eze Nri.[13][14]

text: Decline of Nri kingdom[edit]

text: With the decline of Nri kingdom in the 15th to 17th centuries, several states once under their influence, became powerful economic oracular oligarchies and large commercial states that dominated Igboland. The neighboring Awka city-state rose in power as a result of their powerful Agbala oracle and metalworking expertise. The Onitsha Kingdom, which was originally inhabited by Igbos from east of the Niger, was founded in the 16th century by migrants from Anioma (Western Igboland). Later groups like the Igala traders from the hinterland settled in Onitsha in the 18th century. Western Igbo kingdoms like Aboh, dominated trade in the lower Niger area from the 17th century until European penetration. The Umunoha state in the Owerri area used the Igwe ka Ala oracle at their advantage. However, the Cross River Igbo state like the Aro had the greatest influence in Igboland and adjacent areas after the decline of Nri.

text: The Arochukwu kingdom emerged after the Aro-Ibibio Wars from 1630 to 1720, and went on to form the Aro Confederacy which economically dominated Eastern Nigerian hinterland. The source of the Aro Confederacy's economic dominance was based on the judicial oracle of Ibini Ukpabi ("Long Juju") and their military forces which included powerful allies such as Ohafia, Abam, Ezza, and other related neighboring states. The Abiriba and Aro are Brothers whose migration is traced to Ekpa Kingdom in East of Cross River; their exact take of location was at Ekpa (Mkpa) east of the Cross river. They crossed the river to Urupkam (Usukpam) west of the Cross river and founded two settlements: Ena Uda and Ena Ofia in present-day Erai. Aro and Abiriba cooperated to become a powerful economic force.

text: Igbo gods, like those of the Yoruba, were numerous, but their relationship to one another and human beings was essentially egalitarian, reflecting Igbo society as a whole. A number of oracles and local cults attracted devotees while the central deity, the earth mother and fertility figure Ala, was venerated at shrines throughout Igboland.

text: The weakness of a popular theory that Igbos were stateless rests on the paucity of historical evidence of pre-colonial Igbo society. There is a huge gap between the archaeological finds of Igbo Ukwu, which reveal a rich material culture in the heart of the Igbo region in the 8th century, and the oral traditions of the 20th century. Benin exercised considerable influence on the western Igbo, who adopted many of the political structures familiar to the Yoruba-Benin region, but Asaba and its immediate neighbors, such as Ibusa, Ogwashi-Ukwu, Okpanam, Issele-Azagba and Issele-Ukwu, were much closer to the Kingdom of Nri. Ofega was the queen for the Onitsha Igbo.Igbo imabana

text: Early states before 1500[edit]

text: The early independent kingdoms and states that make up present-day British colonialized Nigeria are (in alphabetical order):

text:
Benin Kingdom
Borgu Kingdom
Fulani Empire
Hausa Kingdoms
Kanem Bornu Empire
Kwararafa Kingdom
Ibibio Kingdom
Nri Kingdom
Nupe Kingdom
Oyo Empire
Songhai Empire
Warri Kingdom

text: Oyo and Benin[edit]

text: During the 15th century Oyo and Benin surpassed Ife as political and economic powers, although Ife preserved its status as a religious center. Respect for the priestly functions of the oni of Ife was a crucial factor in the evolution of Yoruban culture. The Ife model of government was adapted at Oyo, where a member of its ruling dynasty controlled several smaller city-states. A state council (the Oyo Mesi) named the alafin (king) and acted as a check on his authority. Their capital city was situated about 100 km north of present-day Oyo. Unlike the forest-bound Yoruba kingdoms, Oyo was in the savanna and drew its military strength from its cavalry forces, which established hegemony over the adjacent Nupe and the Borgu kingdoms and thereby developed trade routes farther to the north.

text: The Benin Empire (1440–1897; called Bini by locals) was a pre-colonial African state in what is now modern Nigeria. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey.

text: Northern kingdoms of the Sahel[edit]

text: Trade is the key to the emergence of organized communities in the sahelian portions of Nigeria. Prehistoric inhabitants adjusting to the encroaching desert were widely scattered by the third millennium BC, when the desiccation of the Sahara began. Trans-Saharan trade routes linked the western Sudan with the Mediterranean since the time of Carthage and with the Upper Nile from a much earlier date, establishing avenues of communication and cultural influence that remained open until the end of the 19th century. By these same routes, Islam made its way south into West Africa after the 9th century.

text: By then a string of dynastic states, including the earliest Hausa states, stretched across western and central Sudan. The most powerful of these states were Ghana, Gao, and Kanem, which were not within the boundaries of modern Nigeria but which influenced the history of the Nigerian savanna. Ghana declined in the 11th century but was succeeded by the Mali Empire which consolidated much of western Sudan in the 13th century.

text: Following the breakup of Mali a local leader named Sonni Ali (1464–1492) founded the Songhai Empire in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan and took control of the trans-Saharan trade. Sonni Ali seized Timbuktu in 1468 and Djenné in 1473, building his regime on trade revenues and the cooperation of Muslim merchants. His successor Askia Muhammad Ture (1493–1528) made Islam the official religion, built mosques, and brought Muslim scholars, including al-Maghili (d.1504), the founder of an important tradition of Sudanic African Muslim scholarship, to Gao.[15]

text: Although these western empires had little political influence on the Nigerian savanna before 1500 they had a strong cultural and economic impact that became more pronounced in the 16th century, especially because these states became associated with the spread of Islam and trade. Throughout the 16th century much of northern Nigeria paid homage to Songhai in the west or to Borno, a rival empire in the east.

text: Kanem-Bornu Empire[edit]

text: Borno's history is closely associated with Kanem, which had achieved imperial status in the Lake Chad basin by the 13th century. Kanem expanded westward to include the area that became Borno. The mai (king) of Kanem and his court accepted Islam in the 11th century, as the western empires also had done. Islam was used to reinforce the political and social structures of the state although many established customs were maintained. Women, for example, continued to exercise considerable political influence.

text: The mai employed his mounted bodyguard and an inchoate army of nobles to extend Kanem's authority into Borno. By tradition the territory was conferred on the heir to the throne to govern during his apprenticeship. In the 14th century, however, dynastic conflict forced the then-ruling group and its followers to relocate in Borno, where as a result the Kanuri emerged as an ethnic group in the late 14th and 15th centuries. The civil war that disrupted Kanem in the second half of the 14th century resulted in the independence of Borno.

text: Borno's prosperity depended on the trans-Sudanic slave trade and the desert trade in salt and livestock. The need to protect its commercial interests compelled Borno to intervene in Kanem, which continued to be a theater of war throughout the 15th century and into the 16th century. Despite its relative political weakness in this period, Borno's court and mosques under the patronage of a line of scholarly kings earned fame as centers of Islamic culture and learning.

text: De-colonial states, 1800–1948[edit]

text: Savanna states[edit]

text: During the 16th century, the Songhai Empire reached its peak, stretching from the Senegal and Gambia rivers and incorporating part of Hausaland in the east. Concurrently the Saifawa Dynasty of Borno conquered Kanem and extended control west to Hausa cities not under Songhai authority. Largely because of Songhai's influence, there was a blossoming of Islamic learning and culture. Songhai collapsed in 1591 when a Moroccan army conquered Gao and Timbuktu. Morocco was unable to control the empire and the various provinces, including the Hausa states, became independent. The collapse undermined Songhai's hegemony over the Hausa states and abruptly altered the course of regional history.

text: Borno reached its pinnacle under mai Idris Aloma (ca. 1569–1600) during whose reign Kanem was reconquered. The destruction of Songhai left Borno uncontested and until the 18th century Borno dominated northern Nigeria. Despite Borno's hegemony the Hausa states continued to wrestle for ascendancy. Gradually Borno's position weakened; its inability to check political rivalries between competing Hausa cities was one example of this decline. Another factor was the military threat of the Tuareg centered at Agades who penetrated the northern districts of Borno. The major cause of Borno's decline was a severe drought that struck the Sahel and savanna from in the middle of the 18th century. As a consequence Borno lost many northern territories to the Tuareg whose mobility allowed them to endure the famine more effectively. Borno regained some of its former might in the succeeding decades, but another drought occurred in the 1790s, again weakening the state.

text: Ecological and political instability provided the background for the jihad of Usman dan Fodio. The military rivalries of the Hausa states strained the region's economic resources at a time when drought and famine undermined farmers and herders. Many Fulani moved into Hausaland and Borno, and their arrival increased tensions because they had no loyalty to the political authorities, who saw them as a source of increased taxation. By the end of the 18th century, some Muslim ulema began articulating the grievances of the common people. Efforts to eliminate or control these religious leaders only heightened the tensions, setting the stage for jihad.[15]

text: According to the Encyclopedia of African History, "It is estimated that by the 1890s the largest slave population of the world, about 2 million people, was concentrated in the territories of the Sokoto Caliphate. The use of slave labor was extensive, especially in agriculture."[16]

text: Akwa Akpa[edit]

text:
The modern city of Calabar was founded in 1786 by Efik families who had left Creek Town, farther up the Calabar river, settling on the east bank in a position where they were able to dominate traffic with European vessels that anchored in the river, and soon becoming the most powerful in the region.[17]
Akwa Akpa became a center of the slave trade, where slaves were exchanged for European goods.[18]
Most slave ships that transported slaves from Calabar were English, and around 85% of these ships being from Bristol and Liverpool merchants.[19]
The main ethnic group taken out of Calabar as slaves were the Igbo, although they were not the main ethnicity in the area.[20]

text:
With the suppression of the slave trade, palm oil and palm kernels became the main exports.
The chiefs of Akwa Akpa placed themselves under British protection in 1884.[21]
From 1884 until 1906 Old Calabar was the headquarters of the Niger Coast Protectorate, after which Lagos became the main center.[21]
Now called Calabar, the city remained an important port shipping ivory, timber, beeswax, and palm produce until 1916, when the railway terminus was opened at Port Harcourt, 145 km to the west.[22]

text: A British sphere of influence[edit]

text: Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior. In 1885, British claims to a West African sphere of influence received international recognition; and in the following year, the Royal Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie. In 1900, the company's territory came under the control of the British Government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On 1 January 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time.

text: In 1914, the area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the Northern and Southern Provinces and Lagos Colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since. Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British Government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative and increasingly federal basis. On 1 October 1954, the colony became the autonomous Federation of Nigeria. By the middle of the 20th century, the great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa. On 27 October 1958 Britain agreed that Nigeria would become an independent state on 1 October 1960.

text: Independence[edit]

text: The Federation of Nigeria was granted full independence on 1 October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. From 1959 to 1960, Jaja Wachuku was the First Nigerian Speaker of the Nigerian Parliament, also called the "House of Representatives." Jaja Wachuku replaced Sir Frederick Metcalfe of Britain. Notably, as First Speaker of the House, Jaja Wachuku received Nigeria's Instrument of Independence, also known as Freedom Charter, on 1 October 1960, from Princess Alexandra of Kent, The Queen's representative at the Nigerian independence ceremonies.

text: The Federal government was given exclusive powers in defense, foreign relations, and commercial and fiscal policy. The monarch of Nigeria was still head of state but legislative power was vested in a bicameral parliament, executive power in a prime minister and cabinet, and judicial authority in a Federal Supreme Court. Political parties, however, tended to reflect the make up of the three main ethnic groups. The Nigerian People's Congress (NPC) represented conservative, Muslim, largely Hausa and Fulani interests that dominated the Northern Region. The northern region of the country, consisting of three-quarters of the land area and more than half the population of Nigeria.[23] Thus the North dominated the federation government from the beginning of independence. In the 1959 elections held in preparation for independence, the NPC captured 134 seats in the 312-seat parliament.[23]

text: Capturing 89 seats in the federal parliament was the second largest party in the newly independent country the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC). The NCNC represented the interests of the Igbo- and Christian-dominated people of the Eastern Region of Nigeria.[23] and the Action Group (AG) was a left-leaning party that represented the interests of the Yoruba people in the West. In the 1959 elections the AG obtained 73 seats.[23]

text: The first post-independence national government was formed by a conservative alliance of the NCNC and the NPC. Upon independence, it was widely expected that Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto, the undisputed strong man in Nigeria[24] who controlled the North, would become Prime Minister of the new Federation Government. However, Bello chose to remain as premier of the North and as party boss of the NPC, selected Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a Hausa, to become Nigeria's first Prime Minister.

text:
The Yoruba-dominated AG became the opposition under its charismatic leader Chief Obafemi Awolowo. However, in 1962, a faction arose within the AG under the leadership of Ladoke Akintola who had been selected as premier of the West. The Akintola faction argued that the Yoruba peoples were losing their pre-eminent position in business in Nigeria to people of the Igbo tribe because the Igbo-dominated NCNC was part of the governing coalition and the AG was not.[23] The federal government Prime Minister, Balewa agreed with the Akintola faction and sought to have the AG join the government. The party leadership under Awolowo disagreed and replaced Akintola as premier of the West with one of their own supporters.
However, when Western Region parliament met to approve this change, Akintola supporters in the parliament started a riot in the chambers of the parliament.[25] Fighting between the members broke out. Chairs were thrown and one member grabbed the parliamentary Mace and wielded it like a weapon to attack the Speaker and other members. Eventually, the police with tear gas were required to quell the riot. In subsequent attempts to reconvene the Western parliament, similar disturbances broke out.[25] Unrest continued in the West and contributed to the Western Region's reputation for, violence, anarchy and rigged elections.[26] Federal Government Prime Minister Balewa declared martial law in the Western Region and arrested Awolowo and other members of his faction charged them with treason. Akintola was appointed to head a coalition government in the Western Region. Thus, the AG was reduced to an opposition role in their own stronghold.[25]

text: First Republic[edit]

text: In October 1963 Nigeria proclaimed itself the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and former Governor General Nnamdi Azikiwe became the country's first President. From the outset Nigeria's ethnic and religious tensions were magnified by the disparities in economic and educational development between the south and the north. The AG was maneuvered out of control of the Western Region by the Federal Government and a new pro-government Yoruba party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), took over. Shortly afterward the AG opposition leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was imprisoned to be without foundation. The 1965 national election produced a major realignment of politics and a disputed result that set the country on the path to civil war.[27] The dominant northern NPC went into a conservative alliance with the new Yoruba NNDP, leaving the Igbo NCNC to coalesce with the remnants of the AG in a progressive alliance. In the vote, widespread electoral fraud was alleged and riots erupted in the Yoruba West where heartlands of the AG discovered they had apparently elected pro-government NNDP representatives.

text: First period of military rule[edit]

text: On 15 January 1966 a group of army officers (the Young Majors) mostly south-eastern Igbos, overthrew the NPC-NNDP government and assassinated the prime minister and the premiers of the northern and western regions. However the bloody nature of the Young Majors coup caused another coup to be carried out by General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. The Young Majors went into hiding. Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna fled to Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana where he was welcomed as a hero.[28] Some of the Young Majors were arrested and detained by the Ironsi government. Among the Igbo people of the Eastern Region, these detainees were heroes.[29] In the Northern Region, however, the Hausa and Fulani people demanded that the detainees be placed on trial for murder.[29]

text:
The federal military government that assumed power under General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was unable to quiet ethnic tensions on issue or other issues. Additionally, the Ironsi government was unable to produce a constitution acceptable to all sections of the country. Most fateful for the Ironsi government was the decision to issue Decree No. 34 which sought to unify the nation.[30] Decree No. 34 sought to do away with the whole federal structure under which the Nigerian government had been organized since independence. Rioting broke out in the North.[31] The Ironsi government's efforts to abolish the federal structure and the renaming the country the Republic of Nigeria on 24 May 1966 raised tensions and led to another coup by largely northern officers in July 1966, which established the leadership of Major General Yakubu Gowon.[32] The name Federal Republic of Nigeria was restored on 31 August 1966. However, the subsequent massacre of thousands of Ibo in the north prompted hundreds of thousands of them to return to the south-east where increasingly strong Igbo secessionist sentiment emerged.
In a move towards greater autonomy to minority ethnic groups the military divided the four regions into 12 states. However the Igbo rejected attempts at constitutional revisions and insisted on full autonomy for the east.

text: The Central Intelligence Agency commented in October 1966 in an CIA Intelligence Memorandum that:[33]

text: "Africa's most populous country (population estimated at 48 million) is in the throes of a highly complex internal crisis rooted in its artificial origin as a British dependency containing over 250 diverse and often antagonistic tribal groups. The present crisis started" with Nigerian independence in 1960, but the federated parliament hid "serious internal strains. It has been in an acute stage since last January when a military coup d'état destroyed the constitutional regime bequeathed by the British and upset the underlying tribal and regional power relationships. At stake now are the most fundamental questions which can be raised about a country, beginning with whether it will survive as a single viable entity.

text: The situation is uncertain, with Nigeria, ..is sliding downhill faster and faster,  with less and less chance unity and stability. Unless present army leaders and contending tribal elements soon reach agreement on a new basis for association and take some effective measures to halt a seriously deteriorating security situation, there will be increasing internal turmoil, possibly including civil war.

text: On 29 May 1967, Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, the military governor of the eastern region who emerged as the leader of increasing Igbo secessionist sentiment, declared the independence of the eastern region as the Republic of Biafra on 30 May 1967.[34] The ensuing Nigerian Civil War resulted in an estimated 3.5 million deaths (mostly from starving children) before the war ended with Gowon's famous "No victor, no vanquished" speech in 1970.[35]

text: Following the civil war the country turned to the task of economic development. The U.S. intelligence community concluded in November 1970 that "...The Nigerian Civil War ended with relatively little rancor. The Igbos were accepted as fellow citizens in many parts of Nigeria, but not in some areas of former Biafra where they were once dominant. Iboland is an overpopulated, economically depressed area where massive unemployment is likely to continue for many years.[36]

text: The U.S. analysts said that "...Nigeria is still very much a tribal society..." where local and tribal alliances count more than "national attachment. General Yakubu Gowon, head of the Federal Military Government (FMG) is the accepted national leader and his popularity has grown since the end of the war. The FMG is neither very efficient nor dynamic, but the recent announcement that it intends to retain power for six more years has generated little opposition so far. The Nigerian Army, vastly expanded during the war, is both the main support to the FMG and the chief threat to it. The troops are poorly trained and disciplined and some of the officers are turning to conspiracies and plotting. We think Gowon will have great difficulty in staying in office through the period which he said is necessary before the turnover of power to civilians. His sudden removal would dim the prospects for Nigerian stability."

text: "Nigeria's economy came through the war in better shape than expected." Problems exist with inflation, internal debt, and a huge military budget, competing with popular demands for government services. "The petroleum industry is expanding faster than expected and oil revenues will help defray military and social service expenditures... "Nigeria emerged from the war with a heightened sense of national pride mixed with anti-foreign sentiment, and an intention to play a larger role in African and world affairs." British cultural influence is strong but its political influence is declining. The Soviet Union benefits from Nigerian appreciation of its help during the war, but is not trying for control. Nigerian relations with the US, cool during the war, are improving, but France may be seen as the future patron. "Nigeria is likely to take a more active role in funding liberation movements in southern Africa." Lagos, however, is not perceived as the "spiritual and bureaucratic capital of Africa"; Addis Ababa has that role...."

text: Foreign exchange earnings and government revenues increased spectacularly with the oil price rises of 1973-74. On July 29, 1975 Gen. Murtala Mohammed and a group of officers staged a bloodless coup, accusing Gen. Yakubu Gowon of corruption and delaying the promised return to civilian rule. General Mohammed replaced thousands of civil servants and announced a timetable for the resumption of civilian rule by 1 October 1979. He was assassinated on 13 February 1976 in an abortive coup and his chief of staff Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo became head of state.

text: Second Republic[edit]

text: A constituent assembly was elected in 1977 to draft a new constitution, which was published on 21 September 1978, when the ban on political activity was lifted. In 1979, five political parties competed in a series of elections in which Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was elected president.[37] All five parties won representation in the National Assembly.

text: During the 1950s prior to independence, oil was discovered off the coast of Nigeria. Almost immediately, the revenues from oil began to make Nigeria a wealthy nation. However, the spike in oil prices from $3 per barrel to $12 per barrel, following the Yom Kipur War in 1973 brought a sudden rush of money to Nigeria.[38] Another sudden rise in the price of oil in 1979 to $19 per barrel occurred as a result of the lead up to the Iran–Iraq War.[38] All of this meant that by 1979, Nigeria was the sixth largest producer of oil in the world with revenues from oil of $24 billion per year.[37]

text: In August 1983, Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory with a majority of seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were marred by violence and allegations of widespread vote rigging and electoral malfeasance, leading to legal battles over the results.[39]

text: On December 31, 1983 the military overthrew the Second Republic. Major General Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the leader of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), the country's new ruling body. The Buhari government was peacefully overthrown by the SMC's third-ranking member General Ibrahim Babangida in August 1985. Babangida (IBB) cited the misuse of power, violations of human rights by key officers of the SMC, and the government's failure to deal with the country's deepening economic crisis as justifications for the takeover. During his first days in office President Babangida moved to restore freedom of the press and to release political detainees being held without charge. As part of a 15-month economic emergency plan he announced pay cuts for the military, police, civil servants and the private sector. President Babangida demonstrated his intent to encourage public participation in decision making by opening a national debate on proposed economic reform and recovery measures. The public response convinced Babangida of intense opposition to an economic recession.

text: The abortive Third Republic[edit]

text: Head of State Babangida promised to return the country to civilian rule by 1990 which was later extended until January 1993. In early 1989 a constituent assembly completed a constitution and in the spring of 1989 political activity was again permitted. In October 1989 the government established two parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP); other parties were not allowed to register.

text: In April 1990 mid-level officers attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow the government and 69 accused plotters were executed after secret trials before military tribunals. In December 1990 the first stage of partisan elections was held at the local government level. Despite low turnout there was no violence and both parties demonstrated strength in all regions of the country, with the SDP winning control of a majority of local government councils.

text: In December 1991 state legislative elections were held and Babangida decreed that previously banned politicians could contest in primaries scheduled for August. These were canceled due to fraud and subsequent primaries scheduled for September also were canceled. All announced candidates were disqualified from standing for president once a new election format was selected. The presidential election was finally held on 12 June 1993, with the inauguration of the new president scheduled to take place 27 August 1993, the eighth anniversary of President Babangida's coming to power.

text: In the historic 12 June 1993 presidential elections, which most observers deemed to be Nigeria's fairest, early returns indicated that wealthy Yoruba businessman M. K. O. Abiola won a decisive victory. However, on 23 June, Babangida, using several pending lawsuits as a pretense, annulled the election, throwing Nigeria into turmoil. More than 100 were killed in riots before Babangida agreed to hand power to an interim government on 27 August 1993. He later attempted to renege this decision, but without popular and military support, he was forced to hand over to Ernest Shonekan, a prominent nonpartisan businessman. Shonekan was to rule until elections scheduled for February 1994. Although he had led Babangida's Transitional Council since 1993, Shonekan was unable to reverse Nigeria's economic problems or to defuse lingering political tension.

text: Sani Abacha[edit]

text: With the country sliding into chaos Defense Minister Sani Abacha assumed power and forced Shonekan's resignation on 17 November 1993. Abacha dissolved all democratic institutions and replaced elected governors with military officers. Although promising restoration of civilian rule he refused to announce a transitional timetable until 1995. Following the annulment of the June 12 election the United States and others imposed sanctions on Nigeria including travel restrictions on government officials and suspension of arms sales and military assistance. Additional sanctions were imposed as a result of Nigeria's failure to gain full certification for its counter-narcotics efforts.

text: Although Abacha was initially welcomed by many Nigerians, disenchantment grew rapidly. Opposition leaders formed the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which campaigned to reconvene the Senate and other disbanded democratic institutions. On 11 June 1994 Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola declared himself president and went into hiding until his arrest on 23 June. In response petroleum workers called a strike demanding that Abacha release Abiola and hand over power to him. Other unions joined the strike, bringing economic life around Lagos and the southwest to a standstill. After calling off a threatened strike in July the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) reconsidered a general strike in August after the government imposed conditions on Abiola's release. On 17 August 1994 the government dismissed the leadership of the NLC and the petroleum unions, placed the unions under appointed administrators, and arrested Frank Kokori and other labor leaders.

text: The government alleged in early 1995 that military officers and civilians were engaged in a coup plot. Security officers rounded up the accused, including former Head of State Obasanjo and his deputy, retired General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. After a secret tribunal most of the accused were convicted and several death sentences were handed down. In 1994 the government set up the Ogoni Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal to try Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and others for their alleged roles in the killings of four Ogoni politicians. The tribunal sentenced Saro-Wiwa and eight others to death and they were executed on 10 November 1995.

text: On 1 October 1995 Abacha announced the timetable for a three-year transition to civilian rule. Only five political parties were approved by the regime and voter turnout for local elections in December 1997 was under 10%. On 20 December 1997 the government arrested General Oladipo Diya, ten officers, and eight civilians on charges of coup plotting. The accused were tried before a Gen Victor Malu military tribunal in which Diya and five others- Late Gen AK Adisa, Gen Tajudeen Olnrewaju, Late Col OO Akiyode, Major Seun Fadipe and a civilian Engr Bola Adebanjo were sentenced to death to die by firing squad. Abacha enforced authority through the federal security system which is accused of numerous human rights abuses, including infringements on freedom of speech, assembly, association, travel, and violence against women.

text: Abubakar's transition to civilian rule[edit]

text: Abacha died of heart failure on 8 June 1998 and was replaced by General Abdulsalami Abubakar. The military Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) under Abubakar commuted the sentences of those accused in the alleged coup during the Abacha regime and released almost all known civilian political detainees. Pending the promulgation of the constitution written in 1995, the government observed some provisions of the 1979 and 1989 constitutions. Neither Abacha nor Abubakar lifted the decree suspending the 1979 constitution, and the 1989 constitution was not implemented. The judiciary system continued to be hampered by corruption and lack of resources after Abacha's death. In an attempt to alleviate such problems Abubakar's government implemented a civil service pay raise and other reforms.

text: In August 1998 Abubakar appointed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections for local government councils, state legislatures and governors, the national assembly, and president. The NEC successfully held elections on 5 December 1998, 9 January 1999, 20 February, and 27 February 1999, respectively. For local elections nine parties were granted provisional registration with three fulfilling the requirements to contest the following elections. These parties were the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the All People's Party (APP), and the predominantly Yoruba Alliance for Democracy (AD). Former military head of state Olusegun Obasanjo, freed from prison by Abubakar, ran as a civilian candidate and won the presidential election. The PRC promulgated a new constitution based largely on the suspended 1979 constitution, before the 29 May 1999 inauguration of the new civilian president. The constitution includes provisions for a bicameral legislature, the National Assembly consisting of a 360-member House of Representatives and a 109-member Senate.

text: Fourth Republic[edit]

text: The emergence of democracy in Nigeria on May 1999 ended 16 years of consecutive military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo inherited a country suffering economic stagnation and the deterioration of most democratic institutions. Obasanjo, a former general, was admired for his stand against the Abacha dictatorship, his record of returning the federal government to civilian rule in 1979, and his claim to represent all Nigerians regardless of religion.

text: The new President took over a country that faced many problems, including a dysfunctional bureaucracy, collapsed infrastructure, and a military that wanted a reward for returning quietly to the barracks. The President moved quickly and retired hundreds of military officers holding political positions, established a blue-ribbon panel to investigate human rights violations, released scores of persons held without charge, and rescinded numerous questionable licenses and contracts left by the previous regimes. The government also moved to recover millions of dollars in funds secreted to overseas accounts.

text: Most civil society leaders and Nigerians witnessed marked improvements in human rights and freedom of the press under Obasanjo. As Nigeria works out representational democracy, conflicts persist between the Executive and Legislative branches over appropriations and other proposed legislation. A sign of federalism has been the growing visibility of state governors and the inherent friction between Abuja and the state capitals over resource allocation.[40]

text: Communal violence has plagued the Obasanjo government since its inception. In May 1999 violence erupted in Kaduna State over the succession of an Emir resulting in more than 100 deaths. In November 1999, the army destroyed the town of Odi, Bayelsa State and killed scores of civilians in retaliation for the murder of 12 policemen by a local gang. In Kaduna in February–May 2000 over 1,000 people died in rioting over the introduction of criminal Shar'ia in the State. Hundreds of ethnic Hausa were killed in reprisal attacks in south-eastern Nigeria. In September 2001, over 2,000 people were killed in inter-religious rioting in Jos. In October 2001, hundreds were killed and thousands displaced in communal violence that spread across the states of Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa. On 1 October 2001 Obasanjo announced the formation of a National Security Commission to address the issue of communal violence. Obasanjo was reelected in 2003.

text: The new president faces the daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement. Additionally, the Obasanjo administration must defuse longstanding ethnic and religious tensions if it hopes to build a foundation for economic growth and political stability.  Currently there is conflict in the Niger Delta over the environmental destruction caused by oil drilling and the ongoing poverty in the oil-rich region.

text: A further major problem created by the oil industry is the drilling of pipelines by the local population in an attempt to drain off the petroleum for personal use or as a source of income. This often leads to major explosions and high death tolls.[41] Particularly notable disasters in this area have been: 1) October 1998, Jesse, 1100 deaths, 2) July 2000, Jesse, 250 deaths, 3) September 2004, near Lagos, 60 deaths, 4) May 2006, Ilado, approx. 150-200 deaths (current estimate).[42]

text: Two militants of an unknown faction shot and killed Ustaz Ja'afar Adam, a northern Muslim religious leader and Kano State official, along with one of his disciples in a mosque in Kano during dawn prayers on 13 April 2007. Obasanjo had recently stated on national radio that he would "deal firmly" with election fraud and violence advocated by "highly placed individuals." His comments were interpreted by some analysts as a warning to his Vice President and 2007 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.[43]

text: In the 2007 general election, Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, both of the People's Democratic Party, were elected President and Vice President, respectively. The election was marred by electoral fraud, and denounced by other candidates and international observers.[44][45]

text: Yar'Adua's sickness and Jonathan's successions[edit]

text: Yar'Adua's presidency was fraught with uncertainty as media reports said he suffered from kidney and heart disease. In November 2009, he fell ill and was flown out of the country to Saudi Arabia for medical attention. He remained incommunicado for 50 days, by which time rumours were rife that he had died. This continued until the BBC aired an interview that was allegedly done via telephone from the president's sick bed in Saudi Arabia. As of January 2010, he was still abroad.

text: In February 2010, Goodluck Jonathan began serving as acting President in the absence of Yaradua.[46] In May 2010, the Nigerian government learned of Yar'Adua's death after a long battle with existing health problems and an undisclosed illness. This lack of communication left the new acting President Jonathan with no knowledge of his predecessor's plans. Yar'Adua's Hausa-Fulani background gave him a political base in the northern regions of Nigeria, while Goodluck does not have the same ethnic and religious affiliations. This lack of primary ethnic support makes Jonathan a target for militaristic overthrow or regional uprisings in the area. With the increase of resource spending and oil exportation, Nigerian GDP and HDI (Human Development Index) have risen phenomenally since the economically stagnant rule of Sani Abacha, but the primary population still survives on less than $2 USD per day. Goodluck Jonathan called for new elections and stood for re-election in April 2011, which he won.[47][48] However, his re-election bid in 2015 was truncated with the emergence of former military ruler General Muhammadu Buhari, mainly on his inability to quell the rising insecurity in the country. General Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner of the 2015 presidential elections. General Muhammadu Buhari took over the helm of affairs in May 2015 after a peaceful transfer of power from the Jonathan led administration.

text: Historiography[edit]

text: The Ibadan School dominated the academic study of Nigerian history until the 1970s. It arose at the University of Ibadan in the 1950s and remained dominant until the 1970s. The University of Ibadan was the first university to open in Nigeria, and its scholars set up the history departments at most of Nigeria's other universities, spreading the Ibadan historiography. Its scholars also wrote the textbooks that were used at all levels of the Nigerian education system for many years. The school's output appears in the "Ibadan History Series."[49]

text: The leading scholars of the Ibadan School include Saburi Biobaku, Kenneth Dike, J. F. A. Ajayi, Adiele Afigbo, E. A. Ayandele, O. Ikime and Tekena Tamuno. Foreign scholars often associated with the school include Michael Crowder, Abdullahi Amith, J. B. Webster, R. J. Gavin, Robert Smith, and John D. Omer-Cooper. The school was characterized by its overt Nigerian nationalism and it was geared towards forging a Nigerian identity through publicizing the glories of pre-colonial history. The school was quite traditional in its subject matter, being largely confined to the political history that colleagues in Europe and North America were then rejecting. It was very modern, however, in the sources used. Much use was made of oral history and throughout the school took a strongly interdisciplinary approach to gathering information. This was especially true after the founding of the Institute for African Studies that brought together experts from many disciplines.

text: The Ibadan School began to decline in importance the 1970s. The Nigerian Civil War led some to question whether Nigeria was in fact a unified nation with a national history. At the same time rival schools developed. At Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, the Islamic Legitimist school arose that rejected Western models in favour of the scholarly tradition of the Sokoto Caliphate and the Islamic world. From other parts of Africa the Neo-Marxist school arrived and gained a number of supporters. Social, economic, and cultural history also began to grow in prominence.

text: In the 1980s Nigerian scholarship in general began to decline, and the Ibadan School was much affected. The military rulers looked upon the universities with deep suspicion and they were poorly funded. Many top minds were co-opted with plum jobs in the administration and left academia. Others left the country entirely for jobs at universities in the West. The economic collapse of the 1980s also greatly hurt the scholarly community, especially the sharp devaluation of the Nigerian currency. This made inviting foreign scholars, subscribing to journals, and attending conferences vastly more expensive. Many of the domestic journals, including the Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, faltered and were only published rarely, if at all.[50]


document_title: The Nativity Story

question_text: who played king herod in the nativity story

root

text: The Nativity Story

text: Plot[edit]

text: The plot begins with the portrayal of the Massacre of the Innocents in the Nativity. The remainder of the movie portrays the annunciation (conception) and birth of Jesus Christ to explain why King Herod the Great ordered the murder.

tag: p

text: One year before the massacre, Zachariah, a rabbi in Jerusalem, is making an offering, when he is told in a vision by the Archangel Gabriel that his wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son. Zachariah does not believe him, stating that he is too old, and Gabriel tells him that he will be unable to speak until the boy is born. In Nazareth, 12 year old Mary is farming when soldiers come to collect taxes. One man, unable to pay, has a third of his land seized and his daughter pressed into debt slavery. Mary, betrothed to marry Joseph of Judaea, is visited by Archangel Gabriel and told that she will become pregnant with God's son, whom she is to name "Jesus". He tells her that God has blessed her cousin Elizabeth with a child despite her old age. Mary visits her before the harvest, where she witnesses the birth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth and Zechariah, who regains his speech. Mary returns from the visit pregnant, to the shock of Joseph and her parents, who fear that Joseph will accuse her of fornication, a sin punishable with death by stoning according to the Torah. At first Joseph does not believe Mary's religious explanation, but decides not to accuse her. Still shocked and angry, Joseph is later visited in a dream by the Archangel Gabriel, who tells him of God's plan for Mary's son. Finally believing, he is ashamed of his earlier doubts.

text: Meanwhile, Roman emperor Caesar Augustus has demanded that every man and his family across the Roman Empire return to his place of birth for the census. A direct descendant of King David, Joseph is forced to travel 110 kilometers (68 mi) across Palestine's rocky terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the place of his birth. With Mary on a donkey laden with supplies, it takes the couple nearly four weeks to reach Bethlehem. Upon arriving in town, Mary goes into labour, and Joseph frantically seeks a place for her to deliver. There is, however, no room in any inn or home because of the crowds arriving for the census, but at the last minute an innkeeper offers his stable for shelter.

text: Meanwhile, three Magi—Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar—travel towards Judaea after having previously discovered that three planets will align to form a great star. This Star of Bethlehem appears before the Magi, after a visit by the Archangel Gabriel. The Magi visit Herod and reveal to him that the Messiah is still a child and he will be a Messiah"for the lowest of men to the highest of kings." Shocked by this, Herod asks that they visit the newborn Messiah and report the child's location back to him, under the pretence that he, too, would like to worship him, while in fact he plans to kill the baby for fear of a new king taking his throne. The Magi arrive at the stable where Mary is giving birth to Jesus, and they present the Infant with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

text: Suspicious of his intentions, the Magi avoid Herod, returning home via a different route. Herod realises that the Magi have tricked him and orders the death of every boy in Bethlehem under the age of two. Joseph is warned in a dream of the danger and flees to Egypt with Mary and Jesus as the film ends.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary
Oscar Isaac as Joseph
Hiam Abbass as Anna
Shaun Toub as Joachim
Ciarán Hinds as King Herod
Shohreh Aghdashloo as Elizabeth
Stanley Townsend as Zechariah
Alexander Siddig as The Angel Gabriel
Eriq Ebouaney as Balthazar
Alessandro Giuggioli as Antipas

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Filming began on May 1, 2006, in Matera, Italy, and Ouarzazate, Morocco. Other scenes were shot in Craco, a ghost town in the Italian region of Basilicata, and Cinecittà, Rome.[3]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The Nativity Story opened to a modest first weekend at the domestic box office by grossing $7.8 million,[4] with a 39% increase over the extended Christmas weekend.[5] After its initial run, the film closed out with about $37.6 million in domestic gross and $8.8 million in foreign gross, resulting in a worldwide total of almost $46.4 million on a reported $35 million budget.[6]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The movie received mixed reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 38% of 128 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.3 out of 10.[7] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 52 based on 28 reviews.[8]

text: A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film a positive review saying, "At its best, The Nativity Story shares with Hail Mary an interest in finding a kernel of realism in the old story of a pregnant teenager in hard times. Buried in the pageantry, in other words, is an interesting movie."[9] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post concluded a positive review of the film stating, "The most intriguing thing about The Nativity Story transpires during the couple's extraordinary personal journey, advancing a radical idea in an otherwise long slog of a cinematic Sunday school lesson: that Jesus became Who He was not only because He was the Son of God, but because He was the son of a good man."[10]

text: Conversely, many critics felt that the film did not take the story to new cinematic heights. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly noted, "The Nativity Story is a film of tame picture-book sincerity, but that's not the same thing as devotion. The movie is too tepid to feel, or see, the light."[11] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "This is not a chance to 'experience the most timeless of stories as you've never seen it before' but just the opposite: an opportunity, for those who want it, to encounter this story exactly the way it's almost always been told."[12]

text: Incidents[edit]

text: Keisha Castle-Hughes became pregnant during filming and received a lot of media attention.[13]

text: Music[edit]

text: Mychael Danna's score of the film was released as an album on December 5, 2006. The album was nominated for a Dove Award for Instrumental Album of the Year at the 39th GMA Dove Awards.[14]

text: An album of songs inspired by the film was also released under the title The Nativity Story: Sacred Songs. It featured music by artists like Point of Grace, Amy Grant, Jaci Velasquez, and others.[15]


document_title: List of Jimmy Neutron characters

question_text: who is goddard from jimmy neutron named after

question_tokens: who is goddard from jimmy neutron named after

text: List of Jimmy Neutron characters

text: Main characters[edit]

text: Jimmy Neutron[edit]

text: Voiced by: Debi Derryberry

text: Jimmy Neutron is an extremely intelligent and brave young boy who uses scientific knowledge and inventions to solve problems, most of which he causes himself. He is 10 years old in the first season, 11 in the second season, and 12 in the third and final season. He is the son of Judy and Hugh Neutron. His best friends are Sheen Estevez, Carl Wheezer, and his robot dog Goddard. He and Cindy Vortex have a dislike for each other, although it is revealed in later episodes that they secretly like each other.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

text: Jimmy is usually seen wearing a red T-shirt with his yellow trademark atom symbol on it, blue jeans, and white Chuck-Taylor Converse All-Star sneakers, but blue shorts and brown shoes in the film. He has blue eyes and huge brown hair that is considered "anti-gravity" and is in a whipped-up form, earning him many nicknames from classmates (especially Cindy), such as "Whippy-Dip" from his clone Evil Jimmy, and "Señor Fudge-Head" and "Buzz Adams" (from Cosmo in The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour). In addition to his parents, several of his other relatives have also appeared on the show.[7][8]

text: Sheen Estevez[edit]

text: Voiced by: Jeffrey Garcia

text: Sheen Estevez is Jimmy's slightly older, hyperactive, addled best friend, characterized by his unhealthy obsession with the fictional superhero "UltraLord" and the television series, video games, and merchandising inspired by the character. Sheen, who wears an UltraLord T-shirt, has amassed a collection of UltraLord memorabilia and also created a website dedicated to the superhero. Sheen lives with his father and grandmother.[citation needed] Sheen's father makes a brief appearance in season one, although his face is not shown.[9]

text: Sheen is noted for his extreme, constant bouts of hyperactivity, which he demonstrates multiple times per episode, along with his misdirected intelligence and short attention span, to the annoyance of his peers. Alongside UltraLord, Sheen also appears to be interested in superheroes in general and in typical masculine subjects such as wrestling, and is strongly infatuated with Libby Folfax, becoming her boyfriend by the time of the program's conclusion.

text: Sheen would later star in his own spin-off show, Planet Sheen, which premiered in 2010. In this series, he goes into Jimmy's lab and steals his new rocket ship, which crash lands on the planet Zeenu. Due to the series being short-lived, he is never shown returning to Earth. However, in "The Tomorrow Boys", a 2005 episode of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius that involves time travel, Sheen is shown to be living on Earth in the future.

text: Sheen's full name is a pun on the last names of both stage name and real names of father-son actors Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, and Emilio Estevez.

text: Carl Wheezer[edit]

text: Voiced by: Rob Paulsen, Wally Wingert (2002 PS2 game only)

text: Carl Wheezer is a bespectacled dim-witted boy and one of Jimmy's best friends. Carl and his parents have numerous allergies, at times even to things that are incapable of triggering allergic reactions. He passionately loves llamas, and his passion for them is often used as a running gag throughout the series. He is also a bit cowardly and developed a crush on Jimmy's mom. An extraterrestrial character named Doppy, with similarities to Carl, is a main character in Planet Sheen.

text: His extreme obsession for the llama originated when his parents expanded their cable lineup and he became devoted to a show called Llama Boy The Super Hero. Since his obsession began he has gone to great lengths to express his love for them, going as far as to join a fan club called, The Llama Love Society.

text: Cindy Vortex[edit]

text: Voiced by: Carolyn Lawrence

text: Cindy is a blonde-haired girl with green eyes, wears a fading-green shirt with stripes and wears her hair in a pony tail with her trademark bangs. In her debut, she wore a pink shirt with black jeans and pink sneakers and wore her hair in pigtails. She is very good at tai-chi. Her close friend is Libby. She has a dog named Humphrey, who is seen in many episodes, usually accompanying her. She is Jimmy Neutron's rival but in the 2006 episode, "Lady Sings the News", Jimmy and Cindy officially start dating, which was predicted in earlier episodes like "Win Lose and Kaboom!". In "The Tomorrow Boys", Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl traveled to the future, where future Jimmy revealed he and Cindy were married. It is unclear whether this is the true future since the gang changed the past by the end of the episode. In The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour trilogy, Cindy has a relationship with Timmy Turner.

text: Cindy's mother, who was born in France and loves French food,[citation needed] has high standards for Cindy and expects her to follow in her footsteps. Her mother is an accountant.[citation needed] Cindy's father makes an appearance in the episode "Make Room for Daddy-O."

text: Libby Folfax[edit]

text: Voiced by: Crystal Scales

text: Libby Folfax is Cindy's sassy, wealthy close friend for whom Sheen has been shown to possess an infatuation. She is African American and has black hair that is always styled accordingly. Early in the series, Libby dislikes Jimmy and his friends and often sides with Cindy, but as the series continued, both Libby and Cindy become more attached to Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen. Libby later became Sheen's girlfriend, much to his glee. In one episode, Libby mentions that her ancestor was the fictional Queen Hasabataslapya ("how's about I slap ya?") of Egypt, who died at a young age. During the episode, Libby was forced to masquerade as the queen in order to distract a group of revived mummies (as the ancient portrait of the queen strongly resembles Libby). For the rest of the series, Libby kept her new hairstyle, and her wardrobe also changed. She adores popular music and dancing, and lusts for it as soon as it has been taken away from her for any reason.

text: Libby's father appears in the episodes "Make Room For Daddy-O", "Men At Work", and "Win Lose and Kaboom". He has also made cameo appearances in several episodes. Libby's mother (also voiced by Scales) appears in "Journey to the Center of Carl"[9] and "The N-Men".[10]

text: Goddard[edit]

text: Voiced by: Frank Welker

text: Goddard is Jimmy Neutron's robotic dog that Jimmy invented himself. He was named after the famous American engineer, Robert H. Goddard.

text: Hugh Neutron[edit]

text: Voiced by: Mark DeCarlo

text: Jimmy Neutron's father, Hugh Neutron is portrayed as a clueless, dimwitted, but good-natured, and fatherly person who frequently offers advice to Jimmy. Ducks are Hugh's favorite hobby; he enjoys collecting figurines of ducks and displaying them around the house. Hugh also loves the pies that are baked by his wife Judy. In one episode, Hugh invented a holiday called "Pule" (a combination of Pie and Yule) when Jimmy accidentally causes Christmas to be replaced by messing with Santa's atoms.

text: Judy Neutron[edit]

text: Voiced by: Megan Cavanagh

text: Judy Neutron, Jimmy's mother and Hugh's wife, is a housewife. She has auburn hair in a 1950s style hairdo and green eyes. She wears a green sleeveless dress with small pink polka-dots, along with a white pearl necklace, high-heel dress shoes, red lipstick, and has a mole on the left side of her face.

text: Recurring characters[edit]

text: Betty Quinlan[edit]

text: Voiced by Kath Soucie

text: Jimmy's first crush. She is nice to him, and has the unintentional ability to make him do things he normally would not do. Betty told Cindy that she is fully aware of Jimmy and Cindy's feelings for each other, and to "Just relax and keep out of my face. He's all yours".

text: Bolbi Stroganovsky[edit]

text: Voiced by Phil LaMarr

text: Also known as the "boy from fairy-tale land" or the "boy with the funny name", Bolbi is the strange resident exchange student from Backhairistan. He normally speaks broken English, but is shown to have a surprisingly good Shakespearean acting voice when auditioning for a play. He dresses in stereotypical Eastern European garb and has an accent of indeterminate origin, and joins Jimmy, Carl, Sheen, Cindy, and Libby to the game show in "Win, Lose, and Kaboom!" He states that "Super-Kabobby Man" is the most famous hero of Backhairistan. It is known that he has a blond sister who looks just like him in "Crouching Jimmy, Hidden Sheen." He has a musical pet goat named Yurri.

text: Miss Winfred Fowl[edit]

text: Voiced by Andrea Martin

text: The teacher for Jimmy and his friends, who frequently squawks like a chicken when speaking. In an episode of the first season, Jimmy inadvertently turned Miss Fowl into a giant plant monster after he revived a 64-million-year-old plant. Because of Jimmy, Fowl was later shrunk down to normal.[11]

text: Nick Dean[edit]

text: Voiced by: Candi Milo

text: Nick Dean is the "cool" child at school who is often seen on a skateboard, doing dangerous tricks. He does not participate in his school's show and tell activities and sometimes arrives at school five minutes before dismissal. Nick is obsessed with styling his hair, and is considered very handsome by all girls in the school. He is of Brazilian American descent, and his mother speaks Portuguese and English. Nick sometimes breaks his leg while riding his skateboard; when he does so, he usually lets out a high pitched girl-like scream. Nick was originally going to be part of the regular group of characters, similar to his role in the film. He is one of the towns' wealthiest children, living in a 92-room mansion, with a bowling alley, maids' quarters, a screening room, and a soda parlor. He can also sing operatic German, and can style his hair without using his hands. In the movie, he was almost always seen with a purple lollipop in his mouth. He is very strong; in one episode, he was able to beat up Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen and throw them all into a dumpster. However, he can be a coward at times and even a wimp as in the movie when he confronted Poultra, he ran away screaming like a girl. He wore a sleeves jacket for the first half of the series then switched to a leather jacket.

text: Principal Willoughby[edit]

text: Voiced by Rob Paulsen

text: The flamboyant, Broadway-loving Principal at Lindbergh Elementary School. He is also somewhat overweight. He directed Macbeth in Space and was extremely giddy about it. He shows fierce anger when one of his shows are ruined. However, he is a truly good person, albeit forgetful at times. He is energetic and enthusiastic. He seems to genuinely care about his scholars, and has clearly taken the time to get to know each and every one. He has a sister named Eunice who looks like Albert Einstein, and comments on always getting them confused. He appears a handful of times.

text: Sam Melvick[edit]

text: Voiced by Billy West

text: The disgruntled and hot-tempered owner of the Candy Bar, an ice cream shop in Retroville where Jimmy and his friends often meet. He frequently says "Yeah!" at the end of his sentences.[12][10]

text: UltraLord[edit]

text: Voiced by Jim Cummings, Rob Paulsen (PC 2001 video game)

text: A superhero for whom Sheen has an unhealthy obsession and who stars in a TV series of the same name. His main enemy is Robo-Fiend (also voiced by Cummings). Sheen has the largest UltraLord action figure collection and is offended when other characters call them "Dolls". In the film, Sheen is tricked by Cindy into showing his school class a rare, never-to-be-seen condition Ultralord action figure when Cindy asks how Sheen knew it was in the condition box. Also in the film, Sheen meets an UltraLord impersonator at Retroland and gets an "Ultra-mask" from him. Sheen has been seen wearing the Ultra-Mask throughout the show.

text: Villains[edit]

text: Beautiful Gorgeous[edit]

text: Voiced by Wendie Malick

text: An evil villainess who is the daughter of Jimmy's enemy, Professor Calamitous. Her childhood dream was to become the person who "puts those little plastic things on the ends of shoelaces". She appears in "Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion", "My Big Fat Spy Wedding", and "The League of Villains", and is a playable character in the 2008 video game SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom.

text: Buford Lee Stormshuckle[edit]

text: Voiced by Bill Farmer

text: The Southern American warden of a correctional facility who framed Jimmy for a bank heist. He never reveals why he framed Jimmy. He taunts Jimmy by pseudo-offering him a glass of ice cold lemonade. When Sheen and Carl unsuccessfully tried to free Jimmy, he arrested them too. However, Jimmy and his friends blinded him, allowing them to escape. Buford puts out a $10,000 reward for their capture. He was fired from his job and arrested after Jimmy proved to the police that he was the real bank robber. As punishment, Buford must clean up trash. After Jimmy taunts Buford, he vows to get revenge on Jimmy. Buford appears only in "Who Framed Jimmy Neutron?"

text: Dr. Sydney Orville Moist[edit]

text: Voiced by Jeff Bennett

text: A paranoid dance-crazy scientist who works in a secret underwater lair in the Bahama Quadrangle, making evil henchmen out of algae. He appears in the episode "The Evil Beneath" and collaborated with Professor Calamitous in "The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2: When Nerds Collide" briefly before being betrayed and ejected.

text: Evil Jimmy[edit]

text: Evil Jimmy was one of several clones created by Jimmy to do his chores while he harvested moon rocks. The clones are frozen by Jimmy using ice crystals after they cause trouble, although Evil Jimmy escapes and later returns in "The Trouble with Clones", in which Jimmy attempts to convert him into a nice person to have him do chores. Evil Jimmy creates an evil clone of the Earth, causing the real Earth to disappear. The original Jimmy travels to the evil Earth and reverses the effects, with the cloned Earth and Evil Jimmy being sucked into the Dark Matter Dimension.

text: Grandma Taters[edit]

text: Voiced by Edie McClurg

text: A sweet-seeming old lady who is actually a hostile alien. Through a television series starring herself, she tried to hypnotize the citizens of Retroville into behaving as cheerful zombies. Featured in "One of Us" and "The League of Villains".

text: Junkman[edit]

text: Voiced by Charlie Adler

text: The Junkman is a filthy extraterrestrial creature who deals in fixing up and selling refuse products throughout the galaxy.[13] He first appears in the second season, when he attempts to recycle Brobot's parents and sell their parts for profit.[13] He has a dog named Roxy, whom Goddard has a crush on.[13] The Junkman later returns in several additional episodes.

text: King Goobot V[edit]

text: Voiced by Patrick Stewart (film); S. Scott Bullock (series); Joe Whyte (video game)

text: The Yokian King who appears in the 2001 film and the episodes "The Eggpire Strikes Back" and "League of Villains". He had his armada kidnap all the parents in Retroville and attempted to sacrifice them to the Yokian god, Poultra, a giant monstrous chicken. He was stopped by Jimmy and all the other children.

text: Nanobots[edit]

text: (Daran Norris (orange, large) and Tom Kenny (red, thin); appear in episode Safety First, Return of the Nanobots, and Fundemonium)

text: Ooblar[edit]

text: Yokian sidekick and younger brother of King Goobot (in the original film by Martin Short, in the series by Paul Greenberg). He no longer serves as Goobot's assistant because in the League of Villains, Goobot said he was traded for sulfur butter.

text: Poultra[edit]

text: A chicken-like monstrosity whom the Yolkians worship as a goddess. She only appears in the original film and in the hour-long TV episode "The Eggpire Strikes Back". Her name is a play on the word "poultry."

text: Professor Crank[edit]

text: (Dan Castellaneta; appears in the episode Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion)

text: Professor Finbarr Calamitous[edit]

text: Voiced by Tim Curry

text: Ms. Fowl's former student and Beautiful Gorgeous's father. He is Jimmy's nemesis and, due to his popularity with fans, eventually becomes the show's main antagonist. Professor Finbarr Calamitous was once a brilliant boy who could never finish anything, not even a sentence. The only thing he could finish was a robotic suit, although he did not consider it finished since he did not put a bathroom into it. He later overcomes this to some extent, and Finbarr Calamitous is heard completing sentences as seen in "Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion", "The Great Egg Heist",[14] and "The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2: When Nerds Collide". However, he still has a habit of not finishing his plans, or more specifically, he is able to carry out his plans but does not plan on what he is going to do after that. He has also been the main antagonist in the video games Nicktoons Unite! (2005) and Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots (2007) where he faced Jimmy Neutron, Timmy Turner, Danny Phantom, SpongeBob SquarePants, and other Nicktoon characters.

text: In two separate episodes, Calamitous used disguises that initially fooled Jimmy and the other children.[14][15] In the second season, Calamitous disguised himself as Princess Guan Qi "Peggy" Tsu (voiced by Ming-Na).[14] In the third season, Calamitous disguised himself as Quentin Smithee (voiced by Rob Paulsen), a demanding film director who cast Jimmy and the other children in a film. During production, Calamitous made several failed attempts to kill the children.[15]

text: Shirley[edit]

text: Voiced by Jeff Garlin

text: A villain created by Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner in The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour III. He is created out of boredom of defeating the same, easy villains in the hopes of having a more difficult, challenging one to fight. Although he is the main villain of the movie, he at first acts humble, polite, and even dimwitted. It is only when Jimmy and Timmy abandon him at a mall that he becomes evil.

text: Zix[edit]

text: (Maurice LaMarche; leader of T and Travoltron, appears in episode A Beautiful Mine, Men at Work, The Incredible Shrinking Town and The League of Villains).

text: Travoltron[edit]

text: (Jeff Bennett; the second of three alien claim-jumpers, appears in episode A Beautiful Mine, Men at Work, The Incredible Shrinking Town and The League of Villains).

text: Tee[edit]

text: (Voiced by Maurice LaMarche and Kevin Michael Richardson) is one of the three alien claim-jumpers. He appears with his friends in the episodes A Beautiful Mine, Men at Work, The Incredible Shrinking Town, and The League of Villains. He turns towards good with the other space bandits in The League of Villains. He enjoys hugging, and dreams of opening a dress shop. Tee also hates it when people call him stupid, and though he was originally mute, he became known for exclaiming "Fool!" after his sentences when he was given spoken dialogue in "The Incredible Shrinking Town."

text: Twonkie[edit]

text: Voiced by Frank Welker

text: A species of small, puff ball-like aliens. One is found on a comet, and it multiplies once Jimmy brings it back to Earth. Its offspring are kept as pets by the people of Retroville until their dark secret is discovered: they turn into vicious monsters every time they hear music. Sheen's terrible singing voice, however, lulls them to sleep. The Twonkies can combine themselves into a large eight-foot tall seemingly invincible monster that can only be subdued by Sheen's bad singing. Jimmy manages to capture most of the Twonkies, and sends the merged beast back to its comet; but he forgets Sheen's, which escapes and reproduces asexually. As a recurring gag, the Twonkie's offspring are seen throughout the show but unnoticed by the characters, such as in a student's locker, in a chair at Jet Fusion's wedding, and behind Carl after he is prosecuted.

text: Yokian Fleet Commander[edit]

text: Voiced by Rob Paulsen

text: The Fleet Commander of Goobot's forces who only appears as the main antagonist in the PC version of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. He pays homage to Darth Vader, thanks to his mannerisms and armor.

text: Other characters[edit]

text: Other characters in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius are listed below:

text: April the Gorlock[edit]

text: Voiced by Alyssa Milano

text: April is a Gorlock, a race of alien creatures that have green skin and tusks. The Gorlocks belong to one of four participating groups on Intergalactic Showdown; they usually win challenges with the use of brute strength and force. April made one appearance on the show in the episode "Win, Lose, or Kaboom!". In fear of her planet's safety, she had performed a seal of trust with Jimmy which resembled a kiss. Cindy had observed this and was jealous. Jimmy's hormones had kicked in after that, and he had hoped for another kiss from her when the adventure was over. He and April would send messages via space rock after that. Her real name is Chee Aaaaaaaaaah Doik!, but she hates this name and threatens anyone who calls her by it.

text: Britney[edit]

text: Voiced by Candi Milo

text: A friend of Cindy and Libby, who is also a back up dancer with them. She wears a pink and white tank top with her stomach exposed, a pink jacket, pink pants, and light brown shoes. Her hair is braided in pigtails and her eyes are bluish gray. Britney usually appears as a background character but occasionally hangs around with Cindy and Libby.

text: Brobot[edit]

text: Voiced by Paul Greenberg

text: Brobot is a robotic brother that Jimmy created after feeling lonely. However, Jimmy quickly became annoyed with Brobot. Although Brobot irritates Jimmy, it is shown that he cares about Brobot; when Jimmy disconnects him, he cries "What have I done?"[16] Jimmy decides to send Brobot to live on the moon with robotic parents, Popbot (voiced by Jim Cummings) and Mombot.[16][13] Brobot and his parents return in an episode of the second season, when Popbot and Mombot are kidnapped by the Junkman, who plans to recycle them and sell their parts for a profit.[13] Brobot later returns in "The League of Villains".

text: Butch[edit]

text: Voiced by Rob Paulsen

text: A slightly slack jawed bully. Butch may have a softer side as he is seen in one episode clearing his anger with stacking sticks. In the beginning of the episode "Jimmy Goes To College," Jimmy uses sophisticated words to describe his unstable molecules and Butch holds his head, saying, "Big words! They hurt! They hurt!"

text: Cap'n Betty[edit]

text: Voiced by Jim Cummings

text: An odd sailor who knows about a monster that Jimmy is trying to reveal to be false. He appears in "Monster Hunt", "My Big Fat Spy Wedding", and has numerous cameos throughout the series, many of them well-hidden. He is a parody of Quint from Jaws.[citation needed]

text: Commander Baker[edit]

text: Voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan

text: An African American who is the Big Top Secret Organization commander. It is stated in "My Big Fat Spy Wedding" he did something illegal when he implanted a tracking chip inside Beautiful Gorgeous's head. He is also at a constant upset by all the embarrassing pictures of him when he is showing Jimmy his mission. He appears in the episodes "Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion" and "My Big Fat Spy Wedding".

text: Corky Shimatzu[edit]

text: Voiced by Billy West

text: A famous Japanese big-shot television producer, whose catchphrase is "Super Fantastic!"

text: Eustace Strytch[edit]

text: Voiced by Rob Paulsen

text: A rich, snobby boy seen in "Billion Dollar Boy", "King of Mars", "The League of Villains", and "The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators". He had a cameo appearance in "Attack of the Twonkies". He is the bitter rival of Jimmy, and has an extremely annoying laugh.

text: Ernest Abercrombie[edit]

text: Voiced by Mark DeCarlo

text: Ernest Abercrombie[11] is a military general who appears in two episodes.[11][10] In the first season, he is shown as having a lack of knowledge about the military as Retroville faces the threat of Miss Fowl, who has become an overgrown monster, inadvertently because of Jimmy.[11] His second appearance occurs in the third season, when he detains Jimmy and his friends after they obtain superhero powers and are mistaken by Retroville citizens as mutants.[10]

text: Flippy[edit]

text: Hugh's dummy and a semi-villain. He was used as firewood to ward off the Twonkies in the season-three premiere episode, "Attack of the Twonkies". He also appears in "Flippy".

text: Hank McSpanky[edit]

text: The founder of a chain of fast food restaurants named McSpanky's. It is said that he is Scottish. He once met Jimmy's father, with whom he almost went into business.

text: Jet Fusion[edit]

text: Voiced by Christian Slater

text: A spy who is admired by Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen. He appears in the episodes "Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion" and "My Big Fat Spy Wedding".

text: Malcolm X[edit]

text: (appears in episode Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion)

text: Neutron family[edit]

text: Aunt Amanda[edit]

text: Jimmy's wealthy great-aunt and Hugh's aunt. Amanda originally hates Jimmy because he "brings danger to the town". She reconciled with him after he revealed his baby cousin Eddie's evil plan to harm the family. Amanda appears only in the 2005 episode "Clash of the Cousins".[8]

text: Aunt Kari Neutron[edit]

text: Voiced by Tress MacNeille

text: Jimmy's aunt, Hugh's sister and Baby Eddie's mother. Like the rest of Jimmy's cousins and aunts, she hates him for "nearly destroying the town". She was completely horrified and fainted when Jimmy attacked Baby Eddie. When she woke up, she was shocked to discover her baby speaking full sentences. She reconciles with Jimmy and apologizes to him and his parents for little Eddie trying to destroy them all. She appears only in the episode "Clash of the Cousins". [8]

text: Baby Edward "Eddie" Neutron[edit]

text: Voiced by Mark DeCarlo

text: Jimmy's infant evil genius cousin, whom looks identical to Granny Neutron as an infant. He planted bombs inside gifts and a cake during a Neutron family reunion and birthday party in an attempt to kill the family and inherit their money. Eddie believes that he is much smarter than Jimmy. Eddie appears in "Clash of the Cousins"[8] and "The League of Villains".

text: Cousin Annabelle[edit]

text: Voiced by Tress MacNeille

text: Jimmy's paranoid, insane, and brown-haired cousin. She suffers from many phobias. This was evident when Carl touched and talked to her when she was sorting toothpicks. Annabelle appears only in the episode "Clash of the Cousins".[8]

text: Cousin Gomer[edit]

text: Jimmy's cousin who is extremely stupid and plays ping pong with a ball that is covered in saliva and is known as his "spit ball". Gomer appears only in "Clash of The Cousins".[8]

text: Granny Neutron[edit]

text: Voiced by Phyllis Diller (season 1); Rose Marie (season four)

text: Hugh's mother and Jimmy's paternal grandmother. Jimmy once turned her into a baby in "Granny Baby".[7]

text: Newton "Newt"[edit]

text: Jimmy's uncle and a seemingly, mild-mannered, semi middle aged man who is Eddie's father. Like Jimmy's other cousins and aunts, he hates Jimmy for nearly destroying the town. He has black-brown hair. Only appears in "Clash of the Cousins".[8]

text: VOX[edit]

text: Voiced by Megan Cavanagh

text: Jimmy's computer, rarely heard in later seasons.

text: Mr. and Mrs. Wheezer[edit]

text: Both voiced by Rob Paulsen

text: Carl's parents who are very over protective and share many of Carl's allergies and hypochondria. In one episode Mr. Wheezer stated that he was allergic to ice; this would lead to an allergy to water. In "The Mighty Wheezers," Mr. and Mrs. Wheezer also happen to be allergic to almost every kind of food (including salt), eating an edible substitute matter instead. At night, they do stretches while making weird noises before dinner, participate in a "good family gargle before bedtime," and instead of watching television, they (along with their son) sit on the couch and sing "sitting and singing" numerous times before bed.