During the latter part of the nineteenth century, European powers acquired large territorial areas in Africa. These territories ignored the boundaries of old African tribal kingdoms and the African modes of life, because the new countries were to serve as ‘common market’ areas supplying Europe with the wealth of the tropics. Nigeria is an example of the new superstructure which in operation fails to become a homogeneous entity after the assumption of political power by the Africans. There are problems of existing tribal kingdoms, of geographic distribution of ethnic groups and of traditional values. The British colonization of Nigeria also brought about regional distribution of Western ideas and differing attitudes among Nigerians. The problems, politically, sociologically and economically, are imbedded in present day Nigerian society. The British attempt to build Nigeria as an economic area has produced certain centripetal forces which are revealed in the growth of urbanization with resulting detribalization, means of communication with the concomitant social mobility, and the educational facilities with its new breed of Nigerians. The building of national consciousness and political stability are faced with centrifugal forces which are really problems of change introduced by the Europeans and accepted by the Africans. At the same time, the forces of change are challenged by traditional factors which still weigh on the Nigerian mind.