Nigeria
Religion:
Muslim: 50%
Christian: 40%
Indigenous beliefs: 10%
Overview: The Big Picture
System of Government: Presidential System Distribution of Power: Federal System Electoral System: Single Member District
Plurality Constitution: Constitution of 1999 Legislature: Bicameral—Senate and House of
Rep. Current Head of State: President Goodluck
Jonathan Head of Government: President Goodluck Jonathan Current Ruling Party: People’s Democratic Party
(PDP)
Major Political Parties: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Action Congress (AC)
No Cross Cutting Cleavages◦Ethnic, Regional, and Religious cleavages
coincide (graphic on next slide) No National Identity Nigeria is only 50 years old Boundaries arbitrarily created because of colonialism
Big Ideas to Remember
HAUSA-FULANINorth
Muslim
YORUBACentral
Both
IGBOSouth
Christian
Provides useful insights into the challenges of developing nations
Major challenges facing Nigeria◦Maintaining the balance of civil/military
relations
◦Managing ethnic diversity
◦Transitioning from autocratic/military rule to democracy
◦Exploiting natural resources for public good
◦Determining role of religion in politics
Why Study Nigeria?
Political Culture and Subculture
Ethnic IdentityHausa-Fulani
Mostly northern half of Nigeria
Predominately Muslim
Legacy of emirates
Indirect colonial rule
Subsistence farming, rural, generally undeveloped villages
YorubaSouthwestern Nigeria
Lagos—former capital
Fragmenting effect of multiple ethnic identities
Igbo (lbo)Southeastern part of Nigeria—OIL RICH REGION (tried to secede)
Predominantly Christian.
Responsive to western culture—Western educated
Developed for market agriculture
The importance of ethnicity, religion, and region in the political life of Nigerians cannot be underestimated.
Most contentious political issues influence and/or are influenced by these three identities.
Biafran Civil War 1967-1970◦Explicit ethnic overtones
◦Eastern Igbo attempted to secede from the country
Cleavages
Political Culture and Subculture
Democratic Norms and Values◦ Cycle of Rule:
1. Democracy
2. Military rule with promise to return to democracy
3. Majority party would pass policies very easily and “funnel” resources of the state to its own ethnic group.
4. This would lead to frustration, hostility, and frequently a coup by one or more opposing parties or ethnic groups.
◦ The Presidential system has been somewhat more successful b/c of separation of powers
◦ Most of educated in Nigeria hold democratic values and have faith in the political process
Political Culture and Subculture
Political Role of Women◦Position of women varies immensely
◦ Igbo and Yoruba allow women to hold jobs and elected office.
◦Hausa-Fulani restrict role of women (Islam) and have low rates of literacy and education and jobs
◦ In general Nigerian women vote in similar numbers as men but are underrepresented in government.
Political Corruption◦Major problem
◦All governments claim will change, but don’t (can’t)
Environmental Potential and Limitations
Agricultural Production & Sale of Commodities◦Colonialism had a huge impact on Nigerian
economy
◦British forced the production and export of certain goods
◦Peasant farmers pushed to grow and export goods chosen by the British
◦Nigeria became dependant on exports of commodities such as palm oil and cocoa
◦Nigeria is now a net importer of food!
Environmental Potential and Limitations
Disease◦Malaria is a disease that affects most Nigerians
◦HIV/AIDS: Pull on economy Population Growth
◦45% of Nigeria is under 15 years of age.
◦Children considered a valuable resource in agricultural societies
◦Population is growing rapidly
◦Sifting from rural to urban = smaller portion of labor force available for food production = drop in food production per capita
Environmental Potential and Limitations
Urbanization◦ Quickly becoming urban society◦ Urban infrastructure is strained as a result
Petroleum◦ The curse of oil!◦ Nigeria has relied on oil to finance imports and large scale
development projects, thus fluctuations in markets control the ability of Nigeria to pay its debts
◦ This has caused high rates of inflation◦ The location of the oil and the distribution of benefits have had
political consequences, most notably in Biafra◦ Biafra
Igbo population frustrated with central government for not distributing a greater share of oil wealth-thus their attempt to secede
Oil was main cause for Biafran Civil War 1967-1970
Political StructureParliamentary vs. Presidential
◦Fusion of power vs. separation of power◦British established a parliamentary system like their own
◦First Republic followed this pattern◦However, because parliamentary rule tends to yield easy results for the majority party and because stakes of losing are so high, parliamentary government led to massive conflict and ultimately failed
Political Structure◦Constitution of 1999
Calls for independently elected president Dual chamber of national assembly at the federal
level 3 Senators from each of 36 states, plus one from
Abuja Representatives determined by population All legislators elected to four year terms
◦KEY POINT! Nigerian pluralism; lack of trust by subcultures No institutional structure can overcome this
roadblock.
Executive Branch Popularly elected to four-year term with maximum of
two terms Head of Government Commander-in-Chief of armed forces Head of State Appoints government ministers (confirmed by Senate)
—must come from all 36 states Federal Executive Council: Ensures laws are properly
implemented President and ministers not allowed to serve in National
Assembly
National Assembly◦ Bicameral with Senate and House of Representatives
◦ Popularly Elected
◦ All bills must pass both houses and be signed by President
◦ Senate 109 members: 3 from each state and one from Abuja
◦ House of Representatives 360 members
Legislative Branch
Judiciary◦Constitution of 1999 Supreme Court Court of Appeal State and Federal High Courts Ten northern states maintain shari’a law courts
Overlapping system of judiciary has caused conflict
Governor who is popularly elected State House of Assembly
◦Unicameral
◦Comprised of popularly elected representatives from local government areas
◦The number of members in each state assembly is comprised of three times the number of seats in the federal House of Representatives
State Government
The Military You cannot study Nigerian politics without
recognizing the importance of the military in all aspects of political life.
A mix of ethnic groups Well disciplined, organized, with the ability to
make decisions efficiently and effectively One of only sources of national unity Armed forces also seen as more representative
than political parties and other institutions of government that are subject to ethnic-based patronage.
HOWEVER, ethnic cleavages are the backdrop to military/authoritarian rule
The Bureaucracy As with many “developing nations”, the
bureaucracy has been the source of employment for large numbers of people not engaged in trade or agriculture.
Major source of corruption due to political instability, lack of accountability, and massive cash from oil production.
Bureaucracy has maintained its power throughout military and civilian rule
The first political parties in Nigeria were, for the most part, ethnically based.
Little is done to reach out beyond ethnic power base◦Impact: ethnicizing and regionalizing the
national political process.
Parties
Interest Articulation Nigeria has an active civil society Two main sources:
◦ Organized Interest Groups and “Clientelism” Many formal associations have an ethnic base, but there
are numerous informal associations as well Professional organizations such as unions representing
petroleum workers and formal professional associations play a role in politics.
Ethnic and Religious Associations◦ MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People)
Spoke for those who owned land now occupied by oil rigs and has seen environmental destruction
Ken Saro-Wiwa Imprisoned and executed by Abache military dictatorship
Policy Formation and Implementation
Dealing with Debt and SAP◦ Borrowed heavily from foreign banks in 1970s◦ High interested caused debt trap◦ World Bank and IMF restructured much of the debt◦ Spending to repay debt highest item in annual budget◦ The problem of how to deal with debt is one of
highest items of priority
Nigerian debt collector