Nigeria By Savannah Phillips Mary Kate Higgins Jordan Laws

Nigeria’s newly elected President, Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria’s Flag

Areas to be covered:  Sovereignty, Authority, and Power  Political and Economic Change  Citizens, Society, and the State  Political Institutions  Public Policy

Structure  Parliamentary style government  Military dictatorship  Presidential system

Characteristics  Africa’s most populous state  Strong democracy movements, coupled with a susceptibility to totalitarian rule  Many natural resources  70% of people live in poverty  Divided by religious tensions

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power  Legitimacy - Military strongest source - Sharia law in north -Failure of leadership -Constitutionalism  National question- Will Nigeria survive as a unified state?

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Pre-Colonial ( )  Trade connections  Early influence of Islam  Kinship-based politics  Complex political identities  Democratic impulses Colonial ( )  Authoritarian rule  The interventionist state  Individualism  Christianity  Intensification of ethnic politics

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Independence:  Parliamentary style government replaced  Intensification of ethnic conflict  Military rule -Biafran Civil War  Personalized rule/corruption  Federalism  Economic dependence on oil

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Political Culture  Prebendalism - “loyalty pyramid” - patrimonialism  State control/rich civil society  Tension between modernity and tradition  Religious conflict -Islam vs. Christianity

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Political Culture cont.  Geographic Influences: 1. Northwest – Hausa-Fulani 2. Southwest- Yoruba 3. Southeast- Igbo

Political and Economic Change Pre-Colonial Nigeria  Ethnicity and religion main influence  North: -Sokoto Caliphate -Saharin berbers  South: -Christianity -Atlantic ocean trade

Political and Economic Change Colonial Nigeria  Establishment of southern schools  Enforced cleavages  Elite group of Nigerians  Exploitation by Britain

Political and Economic Change Modern Nigeria  Presidential system  Olusegun Obasanjo Corruption rank and score China100 th (score of 36) Iran136 th (score of 27) Mexico103 rd (score of 35) Nigeria136 th (score of 27) Russia136 th (score of 27) United Kingdom14 th (score of 78)

Citizens, Society, and the State  Poverty  Large gap between the rich and the poor  Health issues  Literacy

Citizens, Society, and the State Nigerian Literacy rates  Males: 72.1%  Females: 50.4% Mexican Literacy Rates  Males: 94.8%  Females: 92.8% Large gap between male and female literacy rate and also much lower than other comparative countries

Citizens, Society, and the State Cleavages:  Ethnicity  Religion  Region/ North vs. South  Urban/rural differences  Social class

Citizens, Society, and the State Public Opinion and Political Participations  Patron-Clientelism  Civil Society  Voting Behavior  Attitudes towards government  Protests and political participation

Political Institutions  Numerous regime types throughout history  Varied by area because of colonization  North and West  Well developed  Large States  Hereditary Monarchs  South  Small, communal  Kinship-based rule  Authoritarian rule by British  Today it is formally a federalist and democratic state.

Political Institutions Linkage Institutions  Political Parties -regionally or ethnically based -Post 2011, 2 parties supported presidential candidates  People’s Democratic Party (PDP)  The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)  Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) -not as strong as other parties in presidential election

Political Institutions Elections and Electoral  Presidential Elections -first in must receive majority or second ballot election may take place  Election of President must receive at least 25% of votes in 2/3 of the states

Political Institutions  Legislative Elections -Senate directly elected by popular vote -House of Representatives elected from single member districts by plurality *Election fraud elections elections elections

Political Institutions Interest Groups  Array of civil society organizations that cooperate with political parties  Labor unions -challenged gov. in colonial and post-colonial eras *Babangida regime

Political Institutions  Business Interest  Human Rights Groups  Mass Media  Institutions of the National government -3 branches of gov. -currently presidential system  Bureaucracy -put in place by British *corrupt and inefficient

Political Institutions  Para-statals -similar to Mexican organizations before1980’s -serve as contact points between gov. and business interests  State Corporatism -like Iran

Political Institutions Legislature  Bicameral- National Assembly  Representatives and senators serve four year renewable terms Judiciary  charged with interpretation of laws in accordance with constitution  Supreme court Military  One of strongest forces in policymaking (like Iran and China)

Public Policy  Years of military rule result in top-down policymaking process  Power concentrated in the presidency  “loyalty pyramid”  How to break the pattern?

Public Policy Economic Issues  Debt and poverty  Oil revenues  Distrust of the government

Public Policy Oil: a source of strength or weakness?  Rentier state, like Iran  Over reliance brings consequences  Stolen oil  Petroleum Industry Bill  Protests in the Niger Delta  Economy growing quickly *Structural Adjustment

Public Policy Federal Character  Federalism  “federal character” in the constitution -hasn’t promoted unity  Corruption within bureaucracy  Northern vs. southern view of federalism