NIGERIAPart 1

• Africa’s most populous state• recently independent• history of

• tradition-based kingdoms• colonialism• military dictatorship• strong democracy movements coupled with

tendency to totalitarian military rule• vast resources, but tremendous poverty• religious, regional and ethnic tension:

• challenge to formation of national identity• legitimacy

• The Sources of Public Authority and Political Power• the ‘national question’:

• how should the country be governed?• should it be a single nation?

• constitutionalism : the acceptance of a constitution as a guiding set of principles• 9 constitutions since 1914

• legitimacy: • relative newness of country• history of

• ethnic and religious division and conflict • economic exploitation by elites• use of military force

• strong tendency toward fragmentation • rule of law vs. personalized authority of the strongman

• in North, sharia has served as a source of legitimacy, but religious law has not transformed society

• 2007 election widely seen as fraudulent– frustration and cynicism in electorate– international criticism– added challenges to legitimacy

Political traditions

• 3 eras: pre-colonial, colonial and independence

• pre-colonial: 800-1860– trade connections– early influence of Islam– kinship-based politics– complex political identities– democratic impulses

• the colonial era: 1860 – 1960– indirect authoritarian rule– interventionist state– individualism/personalization– Christianity– intensification of ethnic politics

• post-independence: 1960 to present– parliamentary-style government replace by a

presidential system– intensification of ethnic conflict– military rule– personalized rule/corruption– federalism– economic dependence on oil

Political Culture

• historic traditions -> complex modern political culture– ethnic diversity and conflict, corruption,

politically active military– democratic tradition, responsive leadership

• patron-clientelism (prebendalism)• prebendalism: the corrupt use of high-level government

position to gain personal wealth

• patron (political leader) builds loyalty among clients (lesser elites) by granting favors denied to others

• state control vs. a rich civil society• the sectors of society that lie outside of government

control

• political culture, cont.• tension between modernity and tradition• religious conflict• geography: 6 population zones

– NW: Hausa-Fulani, Muslim– NE: Kanuri and other smaller groups, Muslim– Middle Belt: many small groups, religious mix– SW: Yoruba, 40% Muslim, 40% Christian, 20%

other– SE: Igbo, Christian (RC and Protestant)– S: Niger River delta, many small groups

Political and Economic Change

• the Pre-Colonial era:– geography and political, social and economic development

• northern savannah vs. forested south -> cultural diffusion

– North:• 1808, Fulani established Muslim state (Sokoto

Caliphate)• succumbed to British colonial rule, but established

tradition of centralized, faith-based government

– South:• contact with Europeans

– Christianity– slave trade

Political and Economic Change, cont.

• the Colonial Era:

• 1860: the British imposed indirect rule– Nigerians (south) trained to fill Euro-style

bureaucracy– left northern government structures intact

• exacerbated regional division• encouraged elitism/prebendalism

– introduction of Western-style education• increased both literacy and cleavages

Political and Economic Change, cont.

• Modern Nigeria:• independence 1960 • 1966: parliamentary government replaced by military

dictatorship, cycle of coups d’etat – military leaders: a history of extraconstitutional and

nondemocratic rule

• elections plagued by fraud and violence• the “national question” would Nigeria survive as a

country?• heightened ethnic competition and conflict post-

independence• institutionalization of corruption among political elites

Leadership Transitions, 1960 - present

dates ruler type of govt transition

‘60 –’ 66 (First Republic)

Tafawa Balewa (PM) (Muslim Hausa-Fulani)

Republic Coup; Balewa assassinatied

1966 Johnson Aguyi-Ironsi (Christian Igbo)

Military Dictatorship

Coup; Ironsi assassinated

’66- ’75 Yakubu Gowon (Christian, middle belt)

Military Dictatorship

Coup; Gowon replaced

’75 – 76 Murtala Muhammed (Muslim, Hausa-Fulani)

Military Dictatorship

Coup; Muhammed assassinated

’76 – ‘79 Olusegun Obasanjo (Christian Yoruba)

Military Dictatorship

Democratic election

Leadership Transitions, 1960 - present

dates ruler type of govt transition

’79 – ’83 Shehu Shagari (Muslim Hausa-Fulani)

Presidential democracy

coup; Shagari replaced

’83 – ’85 Muhammed Buhari (Muslim Hausa-Fulani)

Military dictatorship

coup; Buhari replaced

’85 – ’93 Ibrahim Babangida (Muslim middle belt)

Military dictatorship

coup; Babangida resigned

’93 – ’98 Sani Abacha (Muslim, North)

Military dictatorship

Abacha died

’99 – ’07 Olesegun Obasanjo (civilian)

Presidential democracy

term limited

’07 - present Umru Yar’Adua Presidential democracy

Citizens, Society and the State

• Challenges of democratization:– poverty– unequal income distribution– health– literacy

Comparative literacy rates

China (2000 census) Males: 95.1% Females: 86.5%

Iran (‘02 est.) Males: 83.5% Females: 70.4%

Mexico (’03 est.) Males: 92.4% Females: 89.6%

Nigeria (‘02 census) Males: 75.7% Females: 60.6%

Russia (‘02 census) Males: 99.7% Females: 99.2%

UK (‘03 est.) Males: 99% Females: 99%

cleavages

• one of the world’s most fragmented societies• lack of cross-cutting cleavages• sub-national cleavage -> violent conflict• identity-based civil war• conflicts have undermined legitimacy and governance• sources of cleavage:

• ethnicity• religion• region• urban/rural• social class