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The Federal Republic of Nigeria

Discover the fascinating facts about Nigeria, a populous African country with diverse ethnic and religious groups, a struggling economy, and a history of political development from precolonial era to present. Explore the challenges faced by the country, including its dependence on oil and social divisions, and learn about its rich cultural heritage.

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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: 177.2 million • Pop. Growth rate: 2.47% • Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani • System Type: Presidential Republic

  3. Quick Facts • Constitution: May 1999 • Head of Government & State: Goodluck Jonathan until May 29th, then becomes Muhamadu Buhari • GDP: $478.5 billion (with PPP) • Religions: 50% Muslim; 40% Christian; 10% traditional or 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 (new president) • 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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