This is the West African contribution to a series of regional studies, some twenty years in the making, on the history of irrigation, commissioned by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage. It demonstrates that although Nigeria did not produce such old and elaborate hydralic structures as those in the Nile and Euphrates-Tigris valleys, its people nevertheless devised systems of irrigation and flood control early on in their history. It further shows that the history of agricultural development is inseparable from the social history of the people. Contents: pre-colonial period to 1900; colonial period 1900-1906; Kware irrigation scheme 1925-1963; irrigation development besides Kware 1925-1959; irrigation development 1960-1999; evolution of the federal ministry of water resources and irrigation administration in Nigeria; concept and evolution of river basin development; floods and droughts in Nigeria; drainage of agricultural lands; irrigation research, extension and training; land tenure, water laws, rights and customs; international organisations, treaties and agreements; and current problems of irrigation, drainage and flood controls in Nigeria.