Federal Republic of Nigeria: Citizens, Society, and State By Scott Yu "Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress"

Lots of Diversity… Between 250 and 400 separate ethnic groups with own customs, languages, and religions ◦ Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5% Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani ◦ 521 languages

Lots of People… Around 150 million ◦ 8 th most populous (after China, India, US, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) One out of every four Africans Nigerian Young population ◦ 0-14 years: 41.5% ◦ years: 55.5% ◦ 65 years and over: 3.1% ◦ Median age: 19 years

And still growing 2% population growth rate (61 st ) ◦ Compared to Russia’s negative rate ◦ In Nigeria, each woman bears an average of 5.49 children in her lifetime Rate of urbanization: 3.8% ◦ Compared to PRC’s 2.7% 48% of total population urban ◦ million land-line telephones ◦ million cell phone users ◦ 11 million internet users

Impact on Society More children ◦ Dependency ratio steadily rising since 1960s because of urbanization ◦ Burden on welfare and education Positive population growth rate, negative per capita GDP growth rate Urban planning ◦ 2002: Abuja at 4 million (compared to 1.5 million)

Public Challenges Poverty ◦ 60% below poverty line ◦ Enormous income gap HIV/AIDS ◦ One of every eleven HIV/AIDS sufferers lives in Nigeria ◦ 2.6 million living with AIDS, 170,000 deaths per year ◦ Prevalence lower but larger population ◦ Government initiatives

Public Challenges Public Health ◦ Economic implications ◦ Life expectancy is 47 years ◦ 1987 Bamako Initiative  Increased accessibility via community-based healthcare and user fees ◦ “Brain Drain”  21,000 Nigerian doctors in US alone

Literacy

Schooling Public education, no compulsory attendance ◦ Secondary school rate of attendance 32 percent for males and 27 percent for females ◦ Nigerian National Planning Commission: “dysfunctional” (2004) 8 years average ◦ Males higher than females.9% GDP devoted to education ◦ 180 th in world

Cleavages Cumulative Ethnic, regional, religious, urban/rural, social class ◦ Undermine basic legitimacy of government

Ethnicity Cleavage Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba ◦ Cultural and language barrier ◦ Regionally separated and virtually no contact between groups : Nigerian-Biafran War ◦ Igbo secession  Compare to ongoing Russia-Chechnya conflict  Economic interests

ReligionCleavage Many competing religions 50% Muslim, 40% Christian, remaining 10% native religions Bitterness from British preferential treatment of Christians Debate about role of sharia in policymaking ◦ 95% of Nigerian Muslims Sunni (95%), but a significant Shia minority

Region Cleavage 1955: Division into Three Federated Regions Regions  election and legislative procedures, political party affiliations ◦ East/Igbo/ANPP ◦ West/Yoruba/AC ◦ North/Hausa-Fulani/PDP

Urban v. Rural Cleavage Political organizations, interest groups, newspapers, and media in cities ◦ Activities suppressed by annulment of 1993 election and execution of rights activist and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 ◦ Most organized protests in cities Black gold in underdeveloped south

Social Class Cleavage Elite control state and country’s resources Elite divided between personal and national interests

Political Participation Long history of rich civil society but citizens subjects rather than active participants Free press and interest group membership even under military rule but restrictions still exist Much political participation in patron-client system ◦ Special brand of clientelism known as “prebendalism” from Max Weber’s concept of an extremely personalized system of rule in which all public offices are treated as personal fiefdoms ◦ Kinship ties important since polygamy permitted

Civil Society Many formal interest groups and informal voluntary associations 1999: formal associations strengthened Trade unions/professional organizations: National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG) Formal associations for legal, medical, and journalism

Voting Behavior Patterns difficult to track since many elections canceled, postponed, nullified, or fraudulent Political parties numerous and fluid, formed around charisma of leadership ◦ Party loyalty is imperfect reflection of voter attitudes Political participation in 1990s decreased after Babangida’s annulment of 1993 election 1999 and 2003 large turnout (2/3 of eligible voters in 2003 says one estimate)

Attitudes toward Government Distrustful: 1998 “a coup from heaven” Attitudes more favorable and national identification in early days of independence 2006 Afrobarometer survey of 18 countries ◦ 6 in 10 Africans: democracy best form of government Satisfaction with democracy: 58 to 45% in 2001 Transparency International’s 2006 “Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index” ◦ 142 nd out of 146 countries

Protests, Participation, and Social Movements International oil companies major targets July 2002: Ijaw encounter with ChevronTexaco Others crushed by violent suppression by Obasanjo government ◦ MOSOP, MOSSOB 2006: increase in protests and unrest occurred ◦ Armed rebels attacks  MEND ◦ Production repercussions

But they’re still happy!