nigeria

• One of the largest countries in the world
• Vulnerable political system
• History of Nigeria

  • Tradition-based kingdoms
  • Colonialism
  • Military dictatorships
  • Disappointing steps towards democracy
• Legitimacy was hurt after fraudulent elections of 2007
• National question

  How should power be distributed and how should the government be structured?
• Constitutionalism

  The acceptance of a constitution as a guiding set of principles
• First constitution was written in 1914, but 8 more have been written
• Constitution established a basic operation of the government
• Military and civilians disobey and ignore the constitution
• Legitimacy


  The national question is the heart of the government's problems
• Fragmentation


  The tendency to fall apart along ethnic, regional, and religious lines
• Has a lot of conflict in ethnic, regional, economic, and military force
• Little trust from civilians
• Coming from differing political issues from Nigeria's past
• Military was used to enforce the leaders' authority
• Source of legitimacy is from sharia, or Islamic law, being used to keep up with cleanliness and lessen tensions between Christianity and Islam
• Political Traditions of Nigeria

  • Pre-colonial era (800-1860)
  • Colonial era (1860-1960)
  • Era since independence (1960-present)
• Pre-colonial era (800-1860)


  • Trade connections allowed trade between civilizations and North Africa
  • Early influence of Islam - trade allowed for Islamic influence in education and use of the sharia
  • Kinship-based politics was based around little to no organization on the village level and leaders conducted business with kinship ties
  • Complex political identities - small trading states emerged in the north, contrast between state and local governance is not clear-cut
  • Democratic impulses - accountability, leaders were representatives of the people, rulers sought advice, democratic ideals
• Colonial era (1860-1960)


  • Authoritarian rule - British ruled indirectly and left chiefs and other natives in charge, system was designed to support British economic interests
  • The interventionist state - expectation that citizens should passively accept the actions of their rulers because of colonials training chiefs to reach British economic goals
  • Individualism - idea made chiefs think about their own benefit while making decisions and not collectivism
  • Christianity - British brought it to Nigeria, influenced south and west the most
  • Intensification of ethnic politics - ethnic identities intensified in the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba groups, because the British pitted the groups against each other to manage the colony by giving awards to some groups and not others
• Era since independence (1960-present)


  • Parliamentary style government replaced by a presidential system - ethnic divisions made them switch to presidential
  • Intensification of ethnic conflict - Hausa-Fulani formed a coalition with the Igbo which caused resistance of the Yoruba
  • Military rule - coup that killed authoritarian ruler sparked Igbo to fight for independence of land (called Biafra)
  • Personalized rule/corruption - native leaders didn't use traditions anymore and individualism turned into corruption
  • Federalism - power was delegated to state and federal governments, didn't work under military regime
  • Economic dependence on oil - led to corruption by military rulers
• Elements of Nigeria's Political Culture

  • Patron-clientelism (prebendalism)
  • State control/rich civil society
  • Tension between modernity and tradition
  • Religious conflicts
• Patron-clientelism (prebendalism)


  Patron builds loyalty among clients and grants them favors. In Nigeria, in exchange for support a president grants his clients a portion of oil profits
• State control/rich civil society

  Nigeria has tried to control their civil societies and has never succeeded, could potentially form basis for democracy
• Tension between modernity and tradition

  Once Nigeria got independence they couldn't modernize, had to reestablish roots with pre-colonial roots
• Religious conflicts


  Christianity and Islam have deepened ethnic conflicts, Muslims want sharia, Christians don't
• Geographic Influences on Nigeria

  • Northwest predominantly Muslim, controlled by Hausa-Fulani
  • Northeast is Muslim, many smaller groups
  • Middle belt has a mix of Christians and Muslims, contains smaller groups
  • Southwest Yoruba dominate, 40% Muslim 40% Christian and 20% native
  • Southeast Igbo dominate, Roman Catholic with more Protestants
  • The southern zone people belong to various small minority groups
• How does Nigeria become independent after being dependent for so long?
• Pre-colonial era (800-1860)


  • Easy trade in Saharan Berber-northern Africa
  • Forested areas in the south didn't trade with Berbers
  • Diffusion of Islam happened gradually in the North
  • Fulani established Sokoto Caliphate (Muslim state that encompassed northwest, mid-north, and northeast)
  • Traded with Europeans and became colonized
  • Lived communally with Atlantic Ocean trade, contacted Europeans and were converted to Christianity, began slave trade
• Colonial era (1860-1960)


  • 1860 British used indirect rule to train natives into European style democracy
  • Nigeria became a trading outlet because of this (traded cheap labor and natural resources)
  • British influence was strongest in the south
  • Political hierarchies gave elites more power and allowed them to seek personal benefits
  • Divided north and south even more
  • Introduced western-style education through Christian missionaries who were directed by the British government
  • Created a literate population and reinforced cleavages because elites benefited more from the education and felt they were apart from the rest of the population
  • British schools were located in the south
• Modern Nigeria (1960-present)


  • British tried to prepare Nigeria to rule their own country
  • Began early because British trained the natives to join the bureaucracy
  • Education brought western values
  • Parliamentary government replaced by military dictatorship
  • Allowed for the government to set up coup d'etats
  • Created the possibility that Nigeria wouldn't survive on its own
  • Ethnic identities have become a big source of conflict, after British left competition for leadership was based on ethnicity
  • Corruption among political elite (brought about by General Ibrahim and General Sani)
  • Funds were allocated to elite because of the patron client system
  • Military leaders have promised change and transfer of power to civilians once the country was stabilized
• Issues Slowing Democratization in Nigeria

  • Large gap between rich and poor
  • Health issues - highest rates of AIDS/HIV, government made it a second priority
  • Literacy - 59.6%, gap between male and female literacy, male higher
  • Cleavages - ethnicity, religion, region, urban/rural difference, social class
  • Ethnic based civil wars
  • Competing religions - 50% Muslim, 40% Christian, and 10% native religions
  • International tensions and conflicts between Christians and Muslims
  • North is Muslim, south is Christian
  • Urban/rural differences - political organizations and interest groups are in cities
  • Divisions between elite and ordinary because of wealth, elites have maintained power and control
• Public opinion and political participation

  Citizens are subjects and not participants, but they do take place in civil society, president allows free press and interest groups
• Patron-clientelism (prebendalism)


  Extremely personalized system of rule in which all public offices are treated as personal fiefdoms
• Civil society - interest groups and other organizations seek political participation and encourage national unity, ethnic and religious issues create divisions
• Elections have not been stable, been very fraudulent and canceled, therefore voting behaviors are hard to track
• Many political parties
• Attitudes towards government


  Low level of trust, because of a lack of commitment to democracy from government officials, bad economic condition, no trust in police, negative perceptions of government are based in corruption evidence
• Transparency International - private organization compiles statistics about corruption in countries around the world, China, Nigeria, and Mexico all have patron-clientelism, all have low CPI (corruption perception index), a 1 is very corrupt
• Protests and political participation - ethnic and religious based movements have pressure the government to address their problems, protests are widely used and generally successful, protests target oil companies
• Government structure is largely federalist and democratic theoretically but doesn't operate as such