The official language of Nigeria is English. The country is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups. The main groups are Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), and Fulani. The area around Eku is a smaller group called Urhobo. Nigeria gain its independence from Great Britain on October 1, 1960.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa accounting for over half of West Africa’s population. Currently there are approximately 150 million people in Nigeria. The country is twice the size of Texas. The religious breakdown is about 50% Muslim, 40% Christian, and 10% Traditional beliefs.

Nigeria is comprised of 36 States and a Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. There government has a Federal, State, and Local component. Eku is located in the southern rural part of Nigeria on the west side of the Niger River near the city of Warri. It is located in the Delta State near the equator.

One of the major needs in Nigeria is for good healthcare services. Existing conditions are deplorable due to such factors as under-funding, dilapidated infrastructure, lack of modern equipment with trained technicians to maintain it, properly trained personnel, under staffing, and leadership. Another factor is the lack of healthcare practitioners to serve the rural areas where the majority of Nigerians live. The major infectious diseases that are to be treated are HIV/AIDS, lower respiratory, malaria, diarrhea, measles, and typhoid fever. This was a major reason to locate the Eku Baptist Hospital in Eku and is why the people of the region beg us “not to let the hospital die.”

Even though the country experiences limited healthcare, education, inefficient public infrastructure of electricity and water, geographic isolation, poverty, and limited public transportation, the nationals are very gracious, hospitable, and have a happy spirit.