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The Federal Republic of Nigeria

The Federal Republic of Nigeria. Quick Facts. Capital: Abuja Size: more than 2x size of California Population: 135.7 million Pop. Growth rate: 2.3% Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani System Type: Presidential Republic. Quick Facts. Constitution: May 1999

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The Federal Republic of Nigeria

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  1. The Federal Republic of Nigeria

  2. Quick Facts • Capital: Abuja • Size: more than 2x size of California • Population: 135.7 million • Pop. Growth rate: 2.3% • Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani • System Type: Presidential Republic

  3. Quick Facts • Constitution: May 1999 • Head of Government & State: Goodluck Jonathan • GDP: $41.2 billion • Religions: 48% Muslim; 45% Christian; 7% traditional/indigenous

  4. Quick Facts • Young country struggling in face of ethnic & religious divisions • Has had both civilian & military gov’ts – authoritarian to progressive • Of particular interest to US – many trace roots to what is now Nigeria, supplies OIL, and 40% of heroin

  5. Quick Facts • Most populous African country • Current growth rate expected to double population within 25 yrs. • Little more than half are rural though urban pop. growing b/c of jobs • Large black market, very poor

  6. Quick Facts • Biggest problem is its dependence on oil, which accounts for 99% of exports • Entire economy driven by international market price of oil as are gov’t revenues • Most oil wealth has been squandered & stolen

  7. Quick Facts • Arguments over how balance should be spent have caused bitterness • Outspent itself during oil boom yrs. of 1970s & now has Africa’s largest debt - $32 billion • 4 critical social divisions

  8. Quick Facts • 1. ETHNICITY – Between 250 and 400 ethnic groups in country • Hausa-Fulani is biggest in north (28-30% of pop.) • Yoruba is in southwest (21%) and Igbo on southeast (18%) • None of these groups think of themselves as “Nigerian”

  9. Quick Facts • 2. RELIGION – Muslim north and non-Muslim south • Northern states support sharia – Islamic law • Widespread admiration for Bin Laden • Tensions have often turned violent

  10. Quick Facts • 3. REGION – north is dry and poor while south is better endowed in resources and basic services • Lagos alone has 9x elementary schools than north combined • Best agricultural lands is in heavily populated south while north is savanna or semi-desert • Oil mostly in southeast or off coast

  11. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12893448

  12. Quick Facts • 4. CLASS – Gov’t & business dominated by small educated elite • Wealthiest include new business class, landlords, traders, & self-employed professionals • Social advancement tied to jobs in gov’t & bureaucracy

  13. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Lack of settled & predictable patterns • Since 1960 independence, 3 civilian gov’t, 5 successful & several attempted military coups, civil war, & nearly 30 yrs. of military gov’t • Communal violence from 1999-2003 resulted in deaths of 10,000

  14. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • PRECOLONIAL ERA (900 BCE-1851 CE) • Series of emerging and declining states and kingdoms • Muslims arrived in 700 CE • 14th cent – dominated by kingdoms of Mali and Ghana • 16th cent – dominated by Songhai & Benin

  15. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Portuguese 1st Eur. to explore area • W/cooperation from Benin, set up slave trade to Americas • Fr., Brits, & Dutch arrived in 17th cent. – Brits biggest slave traders • When slave trade ended in 1807, interior opened up & Christian missionaries arrived

  16. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • COLONIAL ERA (1861-1960) • Britain annexed Nigeria, driven by concerns of French expansion • 1900 – Britain declared separate protectorates over Northern & Southern Nigeria & then combined them in 1914 into colony & protectorate of Nigeria

  17. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Still ruled Nigeria as 2 colonies w/different administrative systems • Indirect rule in north through traditional Muslim emirates and direct rule in south through advisory Legislative Council • Divisions deepened in 1939 when Brit. split Nigeria into 3 provinces

  18. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Provinces based on cash crops – peanuts in North, cocoa in West, and palm oil in East • Provinces roughly coincided with 3 major ethnic groups so encouraged to think regionally rather than nationally

  19. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Opposition to Brit rule as educated Nigerians railed against colonialism • 1920 – National Congress of British West Africa founded & Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe most active nationalist • He helped set up 1st political party – National Council of Nigeria & the Cameroons (NCNC)

  20. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • After WWII, 3 experimental constitutions – 3rd one created Nigerian Federation w/federal parliament (1/2 seats to North) • Regional elections contested w/ many regionally based parties • 1959 national elections produced 1st fully elected national government

  21. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Oct 1, 1960 – 1st PM was Muslim Hausa-Fulani named Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa • INDEPENDENCE & FIRST REPUBLIC (1960-1966) • Brit monarch was still head of state but in 1963, Nigeria cut remaining ties and created non-executive post of president filled by Dr. Azikiwe

  22. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Almost immediately, ethnic & religious divisions affected gov’t • Census an issue since allocation of seats in federal parliament based on # of people in each region • Political parties broken down along regional lines so each state dominated by single party

  23. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Squabbling among parties, workers’ strikes, charges of pol. corruption • 1964 Nat’l elections held amid charges of fraud and 1965 regional elections in west marred by civil unrest & riots • Military watched all this w/dismay

  24. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • MILITARY GOV’T I (1966-1979) • Jan 15, 1966 – 1st military coup, staged by group of Igbo officers led by Major Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi • Senior nat’l & regional leaders were murdered and federal system abolished • Northerners feared Igbos establishing hegemony & killed in unrest

  25. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Northern army officers staged 2nd coup, killed Ironsi & replaced him with Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon, a Christian from Nigeria’s central region (Middle Belt region) • Gowon restored federal structure & promised return to civilian rule but massacre of Igbos on north continue

  26. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Retaliation against northerners living in south • Tensions boiled over in July 1967 when Igbo-dominated eastern region declared independence as new state of BIAFRA; civil war broke out, pitting Nigerian fed. gov against Biafrans led by Ojukwu

  27. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • War dragged on for 27 months, Biafra rec’d financial support from sympathizers outside of Nigeria but recognized as sovereign state by only 4 other African government • Starved into submission by naval blockade –1-2 million deaths of Biafrans

  28. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • War ended Jan 1970, Ojukwu went into exile, Nigeria reunited • Gowon able to patch up some wounds but slow to return to civilian government & did too little to curb inflation, economic mismanagement, & squandering of profit from oil boom of 1970s

  29. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Gowon broke 4-region federation into 12 states to dilute power of “big three” ethic groups (increased to 19 by his successor) • Increased army from 10,000 to 250,000 – corruption widespread • Postponed return to civilian rule

  30. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • July 1975 – reform minded senior officers seized power in bloodless coup, replacing Gowon with Murtala Muhammad, Hausa-Fulani • Won praise by purging army, announcing 4-yr timetable for return to civilian rule, & dismissing 10,000 gov officials & 150 officers

  31. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Angered those who benefited from Gowon’s rule and was assassinated 7 months after taking over during an attempted coup by Gowon followers in 1976 • Coup failed and Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded Muhammad – 1st Yoruba head of state- promised civilian rule

  32. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • SECOND REPUBLIC (1979-1983) • Nigeria abandoned Westminster model and opted for US model w/directly elected executive, bicameral National Assembly, & separate Supreme Court • 1979 elections swept by Shehu Shagari & Nat’l Party of Nigeria

  33. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • He pardoned Ojukwu & Gowon & announced plans to move capital from Lagos to Abuja to promote national unity (exact center of country) • Unable to control corruption & econ weakened by fall of oil prices • Regional & ethnic polarization continued; factional infighting, declining public services

  34. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Won 2nd term in 1983 but parties again broke down regional & ethnic lines & elections marred by ballot-rigging charges

  35. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • MILITARY GOV’T II (1983-1999) • 3 months after elections, he was ousted in 4th coup led by Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim northerner • Welcomed at 1st but became authoritarian & ousted in 1985 in another coup • Replaced by Ibrahim Babangida, Muslim from Middle Belt

  36. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Political parties legalized in 1989, state gov’t & new Nat’l Assembly elected in 1990-1992, & final step in transition to new Third Republic was to have been presidential election of June 1993 • Won by Moshood Abiola of new Social Democratic Party

  37. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Babangida claimed election rigged & refused to reveal results • Outcry that followed persuaded him to step down in Aug & hand over power to transitional civilian government • 3 months later Sani Abacha ousted Abiola, who still claimed presidency • Abacha had Abiola jailed & wife killed (though claimed common criminals did it)

  38. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Abacha hated human rights • Sentenced Obasanjo to life imprisonment in 1995, charged for helping coup • Executed Ken Saro-Wiwa & 8 activists from Ogoni tribe of southeastern Nigeria (live in oil fields of Niger delta)

  39. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Ogonis wanted some oil $$ invested back in their land, which suffered environmental problems • 4 pro-gov’t Ogoni chiefs murdered at rally & Saro-Wiwa (novelist) was blamed, tried, & executed • Nigeria suspended from Commonwealth but Abacha won approval from Western gov’t for controlling public spending

  40. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Became clear Abacha manipulated return to civilian gov’t to ensure he would be elected president • But before he could carry out plan, died of heart attack in June 1998 (possibly from sex), Abiola took over but also suffered heart attack • Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar took over & quickly returned to civilian gov’t

  41. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • FOURTH REPUBLIC (1999 to now) • Series of elections 1998 & 1999 & military stepped down • Obasanjo called out of retirement to head government w/People’s Democratic party • Purged several military officers who had held office 1984-1999

  42. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Renegotiated Nigeria’s debt repayment schedule & repair relations w/trading partners (risk) • World Bank & IMF placed austere measures (cutback on gov spending) that might have undermined Obasanjo’s government when it needed public support

  43. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • At local level, community violence again w/ethnic groups • Within months of his inauguration, hundreds killed/wounded, mainly in south & con’t throughout 1st term • Needed to build strong political institutions, break power of elites, deal w/corruption & w/questions of nature of relationship b/t nat’l & local gov’t

  44. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • NIGERIA TODAY • 2nd set of elections held in April 2003 & surrounded by usual charges of fraud & violence • Obasanjo won 2nd term against Buhari, former military leader • Nigeria has ongoing econ problems, corruption still pervades, religious & ethnic violence as well, crime, sharia

  45. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Political leader running for re-election in liberal democracy with Obasanjo’s record would almost certainly lose – says something of quality of desperation in Nigerian politics (best option) • Was military leader (’76-’79) who proved to be least corrupt

  46. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • 2011 Presidential Elections – won by Goodluck Jonathan • Supporters of Muhammad Buhari accused him of rigging elections • Followed by violence, esp. in northern Nigeria • Religion being used as tool by politicians

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