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

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Nigeria

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

Page 1: Religion: Muslim: 50% Christian: 40% Indigenous beliefs: 10%

Nigeria

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Religion:

Muslim: 50%

Christian: 40%

Indigenous beliefs: 10%

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Overview: The Big Picture

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)

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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

Big Ideas to Remember

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HAUSA-FULANINorth

Muslim

YORUBACentral

Both

IGBOSouth

Christian

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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

Why Study Nigeria?

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Political Culture and Subculture

Ethnic IdentityHausa-Fulani

Mostly northern half of Nigeria

Predominately Muslim

Legacy of emirates

Indirect colonial rule

Subsistence farming, rural, generally undeveloped villages

YorubaSouthwestern 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

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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 1967-1970◦Explicit ethnic overtones

◦Eastern Igbo attempted to secede from the country

Cleavages

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Political Culture and Subculture

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

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Political Culture and Subculture

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)

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Environmental Potential and Limitations

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!

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Environmental Potential and Limitations

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

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Environmental Potential and Limitations

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 1967-1970

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Political StructureParliamentary 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

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Political Structure◦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.

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Executive Branch 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

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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

Legislative Branch

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Judiciary◦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

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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

State Government

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The Military 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

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The Bureaucracy 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

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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.

Parties

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Interest Articulation 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

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Policy Formation and Implementation

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