Nigeria has been characterized by political instability and 14 years of military rule. The Nigerian economy, while growing tremendously within the last decade, has also suffered from inflation, economic hardship for most Nigerians. Five percent of the population controls about 40 percent of the gross income. Available crime data, which do not reflect the entire population indicate that after a steady increase in crime from 1947 to 1951, the crime rate fell until 1954, after which the rate fluctuated. Nigerian police have effective jurisdiction over only a fraction of the population and geographic area of the country, and police activities are generally sporadic and ineffective. Deterrence has a prominent place in Nigerian sentencing, with mandatory death sentences, severe punishment for specific offenses, and minimum sentences characterizing the criminal code. Systematic interest in criminological research is recent. Criminological research is restricted to part-time activity in universities. Twenty-five notes and 30 annotated bibliographic listings are provided.