Nigeria

Aba Women’s war of 1929

grassroots mobilization by Igbo women against British colonial rule, especially the rumored imposition of a poll tax on women following the introduction of a similar tax for men 2 yrs earlier

Sani Abacha

Nigeria’s brutal dictator from 1993-1998, infamous for corruption and for stashing up to 6 billion in foreign accounts, who died before actualizing plans to transform himself into a civilian president

Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi

a major-general and general officer commanding Nigerian Armed Forces during the first military coup in 1966; became Nigeria’s first military ruler and was killed in the July 29, 1966, anti-Igbo countercoup

amalgamation

the merging of previously separate administrative units into one for ease of administration. For example, the ____ of the protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria into one British Colony of Nigeria in 1914 by Sir Frederick Lugard

Amnesty Program

a program of forgiveness and rehabilitation (including salaries and stipends, skills acquisition in crafts, entrepreneurship, technical trades, and professional and further education domestically and abroad) implemented by the Nigerian government since 2009 for over 30,000 Niger Delta who agreed to surrender their weapons

austerity measures

structural adjustment program (SAP) to curtail public spending, especially on social services and subsides

Obafemi Awolowo

often called the father of opposition politics in Nigeria; leader and founder of the Action Group (AG); premier of the then Western Region, later imprisoned for sedition, and presidential candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the second republic

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe

often called the father of the Nigerian nationalist movement; leader and founder of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC); premier of the then Eastern Region, president of the First Republic of Nigeria, and presidential candidate of the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) in the Second Republic

Ahmadu Bello (Sadauna of Sokoto)

leader and founder of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) and premier of the then Northern Region, killed in the 1966 coup

Sovereign Independent Republic of Biafra

the ill-fated breakaway Eastern Region dominated by the Igbo ethnic group; collapsed on Jan 12, 1970

coinciding cleavages

these are cross-cutting ____ that tend to contribute to social stability because even the most committed demagogue would have difficulty pitting one group against the other. These tend to lead to political cultures of coalition-building and compromise.

Boko Haram

violent Islamist group that first emerged in 2002 demanding “full sharia” in 12 nothern states but which became increasingly disillusioned with these government for compromising the movement through corruption and materialism. The group has killed over 5,000 people, razed hundreds of churches and mosques, and escalated kidnappings and abductions, especially of female school children most of whom are sold into sex slavery

Decree no. 34 of 1966

introduced by General Ironsi’s regime to unify the federal bureaucracy and police forces; undermined national consensus on federalism

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

Nigeria’s anticorruption watchdog, which convicted over 500 persons from 2002-2013, but whose effectiveness has been weakened by corruption within the organization and by political interference

emirate political system

the islamic political system in the emirates defeated by the British in 1886, which became the model of British colonial adminstration in Nigeria- successful in the north, fairly successful in the west, but a colossal failure in the east

federalism

a power-sharing arrangement between the central government and the federating units; Nigeria is unusual in that the constitution includes local councils as a coequal third tier of power

federal character

Nigeria’s version of affirmative action, seeking to guarantee a proportionate share of federal positions for all states, especially to protect “educationally backward areas”

fiscal federalism

an arrangement by which all the federating units theoretically contribute to, and derive allocations from, federally collected revenue

Hausa-Fulani

the ethno-linguistic group that has historically dominated the politics and economy of northern Nigeria; also dominant in Nigeria’s politics and the armed forces since independence in contention with the Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria’s two other major ethnic groups)

Hisbah

a form of religious police (initially recruited from youth gangs) that enforces dress codes, a ban on the sale of alcohol, and male-driven motorbike taxis carrying women in the 12 sharia states in Northern Nigeria

Igbo

the ethno-linguistic group that has historically dominanted the politics and economy of eastern Nigeria; the nucleus of the ill-fated breakaway Republic of Biafra; often in contention with the Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba

Indigenization Policy Degree

sought to restrict ownership and management of 40-60% of the national economy to Nigerian nationals

indirect rule system

a system of rule by which the British governed conquered territories through existing “traditional” or “natural” political institutions and sought to disrupt the extant local institutions as little as possible

Joint Task Force (JTF)

a joint security force made up of the armed forces, state security services, civil defense, and police engaged in internal security operations

June 12

refers to the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by Yoruba business mogul Moshood K. Abiola but which was annulled by the military

Sir Frederick Lugard

British colonial officers (initially a captain) who conquered and ruled northern Nigeria from 1900-1914, the year he effected the amalgamation of the 2 protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria. became governor of colonial Nigeria, a policy still regarded by Nigerians today as the “mistake of 1914"

mistake of 1914

the British policy that merged or “amalgamated” the 2 protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914 under the governorship of Sir Frederick Lugard

Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)

founded by writer Ken SaroWiwa, who was hanged in 1995 for campaigning against the environmental degradation caused by oil drilling by Shell

Nagropreneurs

a term describing about 750,000 young Nigerians who are expected to embrace agriculture as a business and help the country become self-sufficient in food production by 2025

National You Service Corps (NYSC)

compulsory one-year national integration program to acquaint graduates of tertiary institutions with the immense diversity of their country as they prepare to assume national leadership positions

NEEDS

National Economic Empowerment, Development and Sustainability program initiated under President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002 but subsequently absorbed into the Transformation Agenda of the president Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2011

Olusegun Obasanjo

military ruler from 1976-1979, when he handed power back to a civilian regime; ruled again from 1999 to 2007 as elected civilian president

pogrom

massacre of more than a 100,000 innocent civilians and more than 200 army officers of Igbo origin in various parts of (especially northern) Nigeria, following the Jan 15, 1966 and July 29, 1966, militiary coups against the Igbo; sometimes referred to as a genocide

prebendalism

a form of corruption whereby state offices are appropriated by office-holders who use them to generate material benefits for themselves and their constituents and kin groups

protectorate

a colonial territory acquired through the signing (often under duress) of a “treaty of protection” between a European power and an African ruler or community

reinforcing cleavages

serious class, racial, ethnic, or religious divisions that feed on or reinforce one another. These, even in healthy democracies, tend to lead to much more competitive politics, where every election necessarily means one social group wins at the expense of the others

resource control

a continuation of the politics of revenue allocation whereby oil-producing states seek more local control of the revenue derived from the resource instead of the current lopsided control by the federal government

Royal Niger Company

British trading company granted a royal charter to administer areas along the River Niger, 1886-1900

Sabon Gari

“stranger quarters” or residential enclaves for non-Muslim migrants from southern Nigeria found in many cities in Northern Nigeria

Abubakar Shekau

leader of the Boko Haram Islamist terrorist group operating in northern Nigeria. He replaced Mohammed Yusef, a more moderate leader of the group who was killed in police custody in 2009

third-term plot

a plot by President Obasanjo to amend the constitution to allow him to seek a third term as civilian president, which was defeated by Parliament in response to domestic and external pressure

warrant chiefs

local rulers whose authority was modeled on the emirate system in northern Nigeria and imposed by the British on southern Nigeria, especially among the Igbo, who did not have a widespread tradition of kingship

Yoruba

the ethno-linguistic group that has historically dominated the politics and economy of western Nigeria; also dominant in Nigeria’s economy since independence