Religion: Muslim: 50% Christian: 40% Indigenous beliefs: 10%

 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

 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

Ethnic Identity Hausa-Fulani Mostly northern half of Nigeria Predominately Muslim Legacy of emirates Indirect colonial rule Subsistence farming, rural, generally undeveloped villages Yoruba Southwestern 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 ◦ Explicit ethnic overtones ◦ Eastern Igbo attempted to secede from the country

 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 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)

 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!

 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

 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

 Parliamentary 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

◦ 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.

 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

◦ 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

 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

 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.

 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

 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