Chapter 12: The Federal Republic of Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria

is a federal state with thirty-six states governed from Abuja since the Fourth Republic (1999–present).

Northwest

This region is populated by the Hausa-Fulani people, who are predominantly Islamic.

Northeast

While also predominantly Islamic, the northeast is populated by many smaller ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Kanuri, who only make up about 6 percent of the population of Nigeria.

Middle belt

This region is highly mixed ethnically and religiously, particularly among Muslims and Christians.

Southwest

This region is dominated by the Yoruba people, who make up about 21 percent of Nigeria’s population.

Southern Delta

The Niger Delta of the Niger River is located here, and a large number of small groups populate this area.

Southeast

This region is dominated by the Igbo (or Ebo, Ibo, historically), who make up about 18 percent of Nigeria’s population.

Patron-Clientelism

While many of the countries of study in Comparative Government have themes of patron-clientelism running through their political culture, none has them to the extent of Nigeria.

Ethnic and Religious conflict

While ethnic conflict had always had a long tradition in Nigeria, when the British created an economic system that gave out benefits based on “competitions” among the ethnic groups for production, the rivalry and conflict among them was further intensified.

Modern independent Nigeria

has experienced a great deal of political turmoil, with four separate attempts at republican government, regularly interrupted by military coups, and counter-coups in some cases.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell

commercial explorers found large crude oil deposits in the Niger Delta around this time.

Northern military

forces defected and staged a counter-coup against the new military government, installing a new northern Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Nigerian military government

imposed a trade blockade on Biafra and invaded to reclaim oil operations.

Biafra

starved for years due to its inability to fund an armed conflict.

General Olusegun Obasanjo

succeeded northerner General Murtala Muhammad after his assassination in 1976.

Second Republic

followed the American constitution's federalism and presidential system to reduce ethnic tensions and make it more likely that a president could win a nationwide election.

First Republic

followed the British parliamentary system.

General Muhammadu Buhari

overthrew the government in 1983, citing corruption and administrative incompetence.

Third Republic

was the shortest lived of all, lasting not even three months.

Ethnic

Nigerians rarely interact.

Wealthy and educated

Nigerians speak English, while others speak one of over 500 local languages.

Islam

in the precolonial northern empires and Christianity introduced by the British, who did most of their business in the south along the coast and in cities, caused this divide.

Shari'ah law

is valued in the north.

Amina Lawal

exemplified the divide.

Kaduna

a northern state, sentenced Amina Lawal to death by stoning for getting pregnant out of wedlock as Lagos prepared to host the Miss World contest.

appellate court

overturned the sentence, but the divide remains.

north

is located in dry highlands, with a mostly rural agrarian economy and culture.

south

is where most of the oil is located, and it benefited the most from British education and economic development.

Alliance for Credible Elections and Gender and Development Action

have tried to foster a more inclusive Nigerian national identity and address common issues.

Boko Haram

an Islamic jihadist group that translates to "against Western education," has used terrorism and kidnapping to stop women and girls from getting education and economic opportunities.

Freedom House

calls Nigeria "partly free."

Transitional democracy

may best describe Nigeria's current regime.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP)

was formed in 1998 just after the transition away from military rule into democracy was announced.

PDP

won House elections from 1999 to 2011, but the APC won in 2015 and 2019.

Labor unions

Workers in Nigeria have been members of organized unions since the early 1900s, and labor interest groups are often a driving force in pushing for the concerns of ordinary Nigerians.

Business interest

Business interests were complicit in the military rule of Babangida and Abacha, helping give legitimacy to their rule while getting many of their policy preferences enacted—particularly those regarding privatization, the opening of trade, and structural adjustment.

Human rights and democracy

Many groups emerged during military rule in the 1980s and 1990s demanding democratic reforms and the restoration of civil liberties, and they continue to push for reforms today.

House of Representatives and Senate

are elected to four-year terms in the same election as the president.

legislature

is functionally and structurally bicameral because both houses must approve legislation.

Senate

confirms the president's cabinet and high-court nominees and impeaches judges and executive commissions (after the president recommends it).

Voters

directly elect state governors and legislatures, who have constitutional authority over many local issues.

federal system

makes sense given Nigeria's regional ethnic divisions.

Common law

precedent interprets laws in the British-style system of lower courts that can appeal to higher courts.

Military rule

weakened the judiciary, which was well-trained and independent during British colonial rule and after independence.

Military cronies

were appointed judges without legal training.

Court officials

frequently request bribes to speed up trials or give favorable rulings.

MEND

claims that its cause is to deliver the benefits of oil revenues to the localized community that actually lives on top of the oil in the Niger Delta, and to secure reparations from the government for the environmental damage related to the industry’s operations.

Federalism

hasn't really worked as a true division of power in Nigeria for most of its history, either because of repressive military rulers who made states meaningless or because of the president's patron-client network's massive federal wealth, which gave him enormous influence over state policymakers.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

was created in 1998 to oversee the elections that would bring Nigeria into the Fourth Republic, and has been in charge of elections ever since.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

is a union of fifteen West African countries who have agreed to create a free-trade zone and explore further opportunities for economic integration.

West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ)

which aims to unify monetary policy among its six members, and create a common currency, usually referred to as the eco.