Development of the State Nigeria

What in the past has shaped today’s Nigerian politics? intro What in the past has shaped today’s Nigerian politics?

What makes it special? Nigeria

Nigeria Uniqueness Advantages Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa It’s projected to be the world’s third largest country by the end of the century In 2014 it passed South Africa to become Africa’s largest economy It has tremendous resource wealth, from oil to good farm land It provides an example of the possibilities & limits of state power & democracy under postcolonialism

For much of its independence, it has been under military rule Nigeria Uniqueness Problems Despite all these advantages, Nigerian rule has developed into a fragile state It’s plagued by political misrule, social unrest, economic inequality, & environmental problems For much of its independence, it has been under military rule It has always suffered from widespread corruption, especially under the military It earns billions exporting oil, but is one of the least developed in the world

Nigeria Uniqueness Emerging A fragile democratic system has taken hold since the end of military rule in 1999 They lack rule of law and are plagued by corruption in the government The state does not have a monopoly on violence The standard of living is very low – 80% live on less than $2 a day It’s federalist system is corrupt and keeps encouraging problems among the 250 different ethnic groups living there.

Nigeria Geography Geography The Niger-Benue river system divides the country into distinct regions The north is arid and full of grasslands while the south has tropical forests Almost a third of its land is arable Desertification in the north is hurting agricultural production there Topography has limited interactions between regions

Nigeria Geography Geography The Niger Delta is the 3rd largest wetland in the world Besides a range of plants & animals, it houses 30 million people People can rely on farming and fishing There are many ethnic groups there speaking more than 25 languages It has limited infrastructure & development, making it one of the poorest regions in the country

Nigeria Geography Geography The Niger Delta is the source of Nigeria’s oil – three fourths of its exports Oil contributes to national wealth but also to massive corruption It accelerates the environmental ruin It causes ethnic conflicts as groups fight each other for oil wealth

Nigeria Population Population It’s the largest population in Africa and seventh largest in the world Home to 250 ethnic groups, including Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba They perceive each other as benefitting disproportionately from the resources The country’s population has doubled in the last 20 years & will again by 2050 Nearly half of its population now is below the age of 14

Early Kingdoms Nigeria

Nigeria Sokoto Caliphate Precolonial Precolonial Nigeria was neither undeveloped or poorly organized The region had varying degrees political and social organization Around 1200CE the Hausa established city states in the northern regions In the southwest, the Yoruba kingdom grew wealthy through trade. In the southeast, the Igbo civilization was less centralized than the others

Nigeria Sokoto Caliphate Early Islam The first contact with people from outside the region came from the Middle East Islam spread into the Hausa region of northern Nigeria by the 1000s It reached the area via new trade routes that linked the region to North Africa Islam brought literacy and scholarship to the region – through Arabic The religion & its influences were mostly confined to the Hausa elite

Nigeria Sokoto Caliphate Usman don Fodio By the late 1700s, expanding contact through trade led to more conversions Usman don Fodio played the major role in spreading Islam among the Hausa and Fulani people He took the religion from the elites to the peasants, who embraced it His followers soon declared jihad against the Hausa states By 1808, they had overthrown the monarchs & established the Sokoto Caliphate - the largest empire in Africa at the time

European Imperialism Nigeria

Nigeria Europeans Early Slave Trade The south was exposed to Europeans in the same way the north was exposed to Islamic traders Europeans began trading for agricultural products and slaves in late 1400s They build several coastal ports to support the expanding slave trade & the UK was the major trading power by the 1800s By that time, more than 3 million people had been shipped to America from Nigeria as slaves

Nigeria Europeans British In 1807 the British declared the slave trade illegal & kept the navy off Nigeria’s coast to enforce that The decline in slave exports caused the Yoruba state to collapse This collapse allowed the British to move in and industrialize to meet its growing demand for resources Their demand changed the nature of agricultural production to products like palm oil, cocoa, and timber Christian missionaries also came with them & began spreading religion

Nigeria Europeans Scramble for Africa By 1861 the British had a full fledged colony at Lagos. The 1885 Berlin Conference recognized the UK’s “sphere of influence” To prevent the French & Germans from getting it, the British spread inland as far as they could They managed to gain control over both the northern & southern regions The entire Sokoto Caliphate was brought under British control, as well as the Yoruba & Igbo “states”

Nigeria Europeans British Rule The British used mostly indirect rule The leaders of Sokoto kept their positions & became part of the New British state bureaucracy British administration allowed Sharia to continue & prohibited Christians from proselytizing in the region This limited resistance, but gave some ethnic groups more power over others In 1914, all the areas under British control were given the name Nigeria

Nigeria Europeans Modernization Modern infrastructure including ports, railways, & roads encouraged economic development Western education was installed, especially in the regions were Christian missionaries were active Those that worked with the British developed into the new local elites Democratic institutions were developed with local elections taking lace for some colonial legislative councils These improvements disproportionately improved things in the South

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe started an independent newspaper Nigeria Europeans Resistance Exposure to Western education taught Nigerians new concepts like nationalism Following WWII, civil society organizations like political parties, ethnic movements, & labor unions expanded rapidly Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe started an independent newspaper His National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) advocated self government – but it was mostly supported by Igbo people Other parties formed: the Action Group Party (Yoruba) and the National Party Congress (Hausa)

Independence Nigeria

Nigeria Independence Democracy Developing British dealt with the emerging civil society by reforming Nigerian govt. They reformed the constitution, made regional assemblies, & turned imperial rule into a system of federalism Executive power stayed with the British governor, but power devolved to the regional assemblies By the late 1950s, independence was sweeping across Africa & Britain made arrangements to move Nigeria toward full independence.

Nigeria Independence Independence In 1960, Nigeria gained independence, creating the First Republic The system was federal, with 3 regions (Northern, Eastern, & Western) A House of Representatives was directly elected & a Senate was chosen by the regional assemblies. The House & Senate chose a prime minister & governor general who would be head of state. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe became the first governor general The new nation gained independence without violence

Nigeria Independence Conflict The first elections led to the NPC (Hausa) controlling half of the House They formed a coalition with the NCNC (Igbo) The AGP was left out of decision making & broke apart. The regional legislatures in the western region dissolved The central government imposed emergency rule over the region. Groups across Nigeria began demanding more decentralization and the creation of more states The NPC was against this since it was in the position of the most power

A group of Igbo military officers staged a coup d’etat Nigeria Independence Coup! Economic discrepancies contributed to ethnic tensions between the 3 groups Each group viewed the state as a means to siphon off wealth for its own people The 1965 elections led to an outbreak of violence in the west & deaths of 2000. A group of Igbo military officers staged a coup d’etat They assassinated the prime minister, the leaders of the other political parties, and military officials from the north They suspended the constitution & set up a unitary govt to end northern domination

Nigeria Independence Civil War The coup couldn’t impose order and a civil war broke out instead Northern Hausa troops fought the Igbo & killed the coup leaders May 1967 – Igbo eastern region seceded & declared itself Biafra For 3 years the Igbo held off the Nigerian military. In 1970 – the Igbo were defeated but the war had caused up to 3 million deaths

Military Rule Nigeria

The military claimed it would soon return power to civilian rule Nigeria Military Rule FMG The countercoup that fought the first Igbo military coup established the FMG – Federal Military Government The military claimed it would soon return power to civilian rule The FMG wasn’t dominated by any ethnic group. They wanted to weaken ethnic and regional power They broke Nigeria into many federal states and moved the economy away from agriculture to oil exporting

Nigeria Military Rule FMG The FMG was led by General Gowon, who began developing a clientelist system based on oil revenue In 1975, General Murtala Muhammad overthrew Gowon in a bloodless coup. He cracked down on corruption & began a transition to civilian rule He was assassinated in another failed coup attempt, which brought General Olusegun Obasanjo to power Obasanjo implemented the plans for a transition from military rule to civilian rule

Nigeria Military Rule Second Republic In 1979, a new constitution ushered in the Second Republic. The parliamentary system based on the British govt was replaced with a presidential system based off of the US Democratic elections were held & Obasanjo retired from politics & military Obasanjo began working with NGOs like the World Health Organization His respect for rule of law & his international role made him one of the most popular Nigerians

Nigeria Military Rule Second Republic In 1979, the elections resulted in northerner Shehu Shagari being president Several of the old ethnic based political parties reemerged & ethnic factions dominated politics In 1981 the price of oil fell drastically The recession that followed caused the govt to increase public spending which led to inflation & taking on much debt In 1983, Shagari tried to stay in power by rigging elections.

Nigeria Military Rule Military Rule! General Muhammadu Buhari led a coup to take Shagari out of power From 1983, Nigeria was under military rule for another 15 years General Ibrahim Babangida led the government. (He was Gwari & Muslim) He implemented a neoliberal structural adjustment program that made drastic cuts to the public spending The lives of the average Nigerians became much worse, but the economy was set up to improve

Nigeria Military Rule Third Republic General Babangida wanted to transition to civilian rule in the late 1980s He also packed the top of the military with northerners, increasing tensions He created new political parties & platforms to prepare for transition Elections for the Third Republic in 1993 were annulled by Babangida Babangida stepped down & installed a civilian “caretaker” government Three months later General Sani Abacha, a northerner, led a military coup!

Nigeria Military Rule Military Rule General Abacha’s govt used violence to control the public Political leaders & activists of the 1993 elections were arrested He created a Special Bodyguard Unit that was trained by North Korea to repress and murder critics of the regime Former president Obasanjo was arrested Environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed for criticism of the regime and of Shell Oil’s role in Nigeria His executed got Nigeria expelled from the Commonwealth of Nations

Free elections were held in 1999 Nigeria Military Rule Military Rule Abacha is estimated to have stolen as much as $6 billion from the states In 1998 he suddenly died of a heart attack (some think he was poisoned) General Abubakar succeeded him but rapidly carried out a democratic transition & released political prisoners Free elections were held in 1999 Obasanjo was elected president president & became head of state of the Fourth Republic

Fourth Republic Nigeria

Nigeria Fourth Republic Founding The ban on political activities was lifted and political prisoners were freed from prisons Elections were set for April 1999 and political parties were formed Obasanjo was elected as the nominee of the People’s Democratic Party He was popular for returning the government to civilian rule in 1979 He forced many of the military leaders to retire from their political positions

Nigeria Fourth Republic Obasanjo During his rule, human rights violations improved & political prisoners released Controls on the press were significantly reduced He negotiated with Western countries to get much of Nigeria’s debt forgiven He improved economic performance and fought corruption

Nigeria Fourth Republic Yar’Adua In 2007, Umara Yar’Adua was elected president with VP Goodluck Jonathan In 2009, he got sick & was flown to Saudi Arabia for medical attention There was no communication with him for more than 50 days In May 2010, Nigeria learned he died & Goodluck Jonathan had already begun serving as active president

He ran for election on his own in 2011 and won Nigeria Fourth Republic Goodluck Jonathan He was an Ijaw – selected because he’s from the south, not for any skill He upset the balance of the rotation of northern and southern leadership He ran for election on his own in 2011 and won His reelection bid in 2015 was spoiled by former military general Mohammadu Buhari which was the first peaceful transition of power in Nigeria’s history

Goodluck with this stuff Nigeria

Main Ideas Nigeria Goodluck’s Guidance <Military Rule Ethnic divisions Emerging Democratic Institutions Resource Trap & Clientelism Goodluck’s Guidance