NIGERIA ….

basics

Peshwa Acharya
Peshwa.telecom@gmail.com
Nigeria Overview
 Political Cleavages
• Ethnic

• Religious

• Regional
 Religion
• Major religions

– 50% Muslim

– 40% Christian

– 10% indigenous religions

 Ethnic Groups
• Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous
country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic
groups; the following are the most populous
and politically influential:

• Hausa and Fulani: 29%

• Yoruba: 21%
• Igbo (Ibo): 18%
 Languages
• English (official)
• Hausa
• Yoruba
• Igbo (Ibo)
• Fulani
 Socialization
• Family is important. Polygamy accepted in
various ethnic groups. Extended family as a
means of social security.
• Schools have expanded and the last twenty
years have seen large rises in enrolment.
English as the language of instruction for the
most part.
• Media are very active in Nigeria, although there
is the constant threat of government
punishment and censorship.
• Religion as a mobilizing political force in the
North
 Similarities to British System
(1960)
• Parliamentary democracy

• House of Representatives (patterned after

British House of Commons) elected in single
member districts

• Senate (patterned after British House of Lords)

with tribal chiefs and traditional leaders playing
a ceremonial role in the political process
Colonial
boundaries divided
people with a
common ethnic
heritage and threw
together disparate
ethnic groups
 Similarities to American System
(1960)
• Federal system developed by British during
colonial period retained

• Written constitution with powers of government

and rights of citizens (Bill of Rights)
promulgated

• Supreme Court created

Federalism
 Alternation Between Military
Rule and Attempts at Democracy
 Democratization
• Each attempt has been halted by a military
coup

• Present regime has successfully held two

competitive elections

• Regime is still plagued by corruption

 Oil
• The oil boom of the 1970’s led Nigeria to
neglect other industries such as agriculture and
light manufacturing in favor of oil.

• Oil accounts for 97% of export earnings and

80% of federal revenue.
 Economic Reform / Structural
Adjustment Program
• Abolition of most foreign exchange and import
controls
• Abolition of most price controls
• Privatization of some state-owned enterprises
• Abolition of dual exchange rate system, which
distorted budgets and encouraged corruption
• Liberalized rules for foreign investment
• Ended indirect fuel subsidies, allowing fuel
prices to double
 1963
• Nigeria became a republic

• Effectively, this meant that the British monarch

was no longer the head of state

• Nnamdi Azikiwe was first president and new

head of state

• Nigeria, nevertheless, remained a member of

the British Commonwealth
 Elections of 1964-1965
• Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who had been
elected Nigeria’s first Prime Minister (head of
government), led his Northern based party to
victory.

• Balewa formed a new government.

 1967-1970: Biafra Civil War
• Ironsi killed less than a year later in another
coup
• Lieutenant Yakuba Gowon named head of the
Federal Military Government, a northern
Christian
• Igbos, especially unhappy with his distribution
of eastern oil revenues, established the
independent Republic of Biafra under the
leadership of the region’s governor.
• Thousands of combat casualties and possibly
over a million civilian deaths
 Gowon and Muhammed
• Unpopular due to corruption, high inflation, and
poor economic planning of his rule during the oil
boom years
• Replaced by Murtala Muhammed, a Muslim
Hausa-Fulani from the north, in 1975
• Assassinated a year later and replaced by
Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian Yoruba, who
laid the groundwork for the Second Republic
Nigerian Regimes Since lndependence
Year Head of State Type of
Regime
1960-1966 Tafawa Balewa Republic

1966 J. T. U. Aguiyu lronsi Military

1966-1975 Yakubu Gowon Military

1975-1976 Murtala Muhammed Military

1976-1979 Olusegun Obasanjo Military

1979-1983 Shehu Shagari Republic

Nigerian Regimes Since lndependence
Year Head of State Type of
Regime
1984-1985 Muhammadu Buhari Military

1985-1993 lbrahim Babangida Military

1993 Ernest Shonekan Military

1993-1998 Sani Abacha Military

1998-1999 Abdulsalmi Abubakar Military

1999- Olusegun Obasanjo Republic

 1979: Second Republic
• Constitution based on U.S. Constitution
• 19-state federal republic
• Presidential system
• Designed to limit the impact of ethnicity on
politics:
– Obasanjo reasoned that 19 states would be less
easily manipulated than 3.
– The president was required to win a majority of the
popular vote with at least 25 percent of the vote in
12 of the 19 states.
 End of Second Republic
• 1983 coup led to rule of Major-General
Muhammed Buhari, a northern Muslim Hausa-
Fulani
• Replaced federal government with Supreme
Military Council
• Banned political parties
• Dissolved the legislature
• Overthrown in another coup in 1985 by lbrahim
Babangida, a Muslim from the middle of the
counry, who ruled under the banner of the
Armed Forces Ruling Council
 Third Republic
• 1992 new constitution written
• Two political parties chosen to contest in 1993
elections
• Elections for legislature and president held in
1993
• Babangida annulled the elections, when he lost
to Chief Mashood Kastumawo Olawale Abiola
• Riots in the cities, as a result, forced Babangida
to resign
 Fourth Republic
• Succeeded by General Sani Abacha
• Died in 1998 (heart attack) and replaced by
Abdulsalami Abubakar
• Abubakar held democratic elections in 1999
• Olusegun Obasanjo returned to power by
winning the presidential election
• Won reelection in contested elections in 2003
and has been in power ever since
Institutions of Government
today?
 Executive
• President is popularly elected, serving a
maximum of two four-year terms.
• President is head of government, head of state,
and commander-in-chief.
• President appoints government ministers, who
are confirmed by Senate
• Ministers must come from all 36 states
• President and ministers comprise the Federal
Executive Committee, which assures that
enacted laws are properly implemented.
 Legislative Branch
• Bicameral legislature

– Senate: 109 members (three from each state and

one from capital Abuja)
– House of Representatives: 360 members
– Members from both houses popularly elected
– Both houses serve four-year terms

• All laws must pass both houses and be signed

by the President
 Judiciary
• Court’s ensure actions and legislation passed by
other branches is in accordance with the
constitution
• Supreme Court is highest court in land; there is
also a Court of Appeal and a Federal High Court.
• For each of the 36 states and Abuja there is a
High Court, a Sharia Court of Appeal, and a
Customary Court of Appeal.
 The Military
• Not democratic by nature

• One of the few institutions that is national

in character

• More representative than political parties

and other government institutions, which
are subject to ethnic based patronage
Want to know more …write to
Peshwa.telecom@gmail.com