THE HISTORY OF BEER IN NIGERIA

THE  HISTORY OF  BEER IN NIGERIA

On July 14, 1949, Nigerian Brewery Limited produced Nigeria’s first locally brewed beer, Star Lager, at Iganmu, Lagos. Before this milestone, Nigeria depended entirely on imported beer, with 2,387,681 gallons brought in that year alone.

At the time, the country had little to no industrial production. Historian Simon Heap highlighted that in 1950, the manufacturing sector contributed a mere 0.45% of the Gross National Product (GNP)—the smallest percentage recorded globally among nations providing economic data (Heap, 1996, p. 70).