1. Civil Society and Cleavages in Nigeria
(and some good things happening in the country)

2. Cleavages Biggest cleavage— Ethnicity 400 different ethinc groups!
Hausa Fulani—25% of Nigeria
Yoruba—21%
Igbo—12%
Very little interaction between ethnic groups, all speak different languages, live in different regions

3. Religion 50% Muslim (mainly in North, mainly Hausa Fulani)
40% Christian
10% indigenous religions
British—preferential treatment to Christians
Dispute over role of sharia
Yemoja follower

4. Regional cleavage North—Primarily Muslim, Hausa Fulani, poorer
South—Primarily Christian, Igbo/Yoruba, wealthier
Crosscutting or coinciding cleavages so far?

5. Urban vs. rural divide Urban areas wealthier
More civil society in urban areas
Higher literacy rate, life expectancy, lower rate of natural increase
Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria

6. Social class Take a guess—who and where is wealthy in Nigeria?
How to get rich in Nigeria—Get a high-ranking government job or get control of resources
About 50% of country lives in extreme poverty
Gini coefficient—Measure of inequality in countries (the closer to 1.0, the more unequal the society)
Nigeria--.488
Mexico (highest OECD country)
China--.465
USA--.45
Iran--.445
Russia--.412
UK--.324

7. Other large problems Heath issues Literacy rates—61.3%
9% of global HIV/AIDS population
Life expectancy—53 years
Pollution—Air and sewage
Literacy rates—61.3%
Male—72%
Female—50.4%
Total fertility rate—5.59
HUGE population growth rate
NEGATIVE GDP growth rate
Transparency International govt transparency rating— Nigeria dropped from #136 in 2015 to 148 in 2017
Can’t reduce extreme poverty

8. Civil Society Lots of involvement!
Can act as a centripetal or centrifugal force
Trade unions—growing rapidly with political stability
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people— Fighting for economic and environmental improvement in the Niger Delta

9. Political parties and voting
Low voter turnout
About 2/3 in early 90’s (maybe)
Down to about 54% in recent elections (low faith in government, low literacy rates, lack of voting infrastructure)
Lots of turnover in political parties—change with rise and fall of charismatic leaders
People’s Democratic Party—
Neoliberal economically, conservative socially
Obajanjo, Yar’Adua, and Jonathan
Lost in 2015—GOOD!!!

10. Good things happening in Nigeria
Competitive, multi-party elections
Peaceful transfer of power!
Senate has checked presidential power
Independent media
Huge civil society
So much economic potential
Highest alcohol consumption per capita in Africa
Most cell phone subscriptions in Africa (not even close)
Longest bridge in Africa

11. Economic Structural Adjustment
With support of International Monetary Fund and the World Bank (what are those?), Nigeria set up a fund to diversify economy and reduce para-statals and government spending
Neoliberal economic approach
How did it do?

12. What is structural adjustment?
Why did Nigeria need a program like this?
What goals of structural adjustment do you think were most important?
What do you think are the most important conditions that Nigeria had to meet for its strucutural adjustment program?
How did the program turn out? Do you think Nigeria should have continued the program?