More than 54.7% of the population (75 million people) live below the poverty line in a country where the life expectancy is 47.
Eight years after the introduction of the president's privatisation programmes, Nigerians are still waiting for a guaranteed electricity supply, running water, sewerage services, improved rail and road services and telephone facilities.
The capital, Abuja, is Nigeria's most expensive city, followed by the oil-rich Port Harcourt and then the largest city Lagos, the country's commercial capital. In May 2004, Mr Obasanjo introduced a home-grown economic reform programme named the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (Needs) which is
intended to promote fiscal discipline and due process in public procurement, reform the civil service and banking system and introduce privatisation and transparency
.
Human rights have improved considerably since 1999, though Nigeria still retains the death penalty. The Obasanjo government set up the Oputa Panel to investigate human rights abuses under the military, and established a Human Rights Commission.
There is a large and active civil society and a free and vibrant media. However, there are reports of torture, beatings and extra-judicial killing, largely blamed on ill-trained
Nigeria has some of the worst social indicators in the world: one in five
Kayode Fayemi, left, holding a microphone, a candidate
for governor of Ekiti state, campaigns for the nomination
of the Action Congress party.
Money and Violence Hobble Democracy in Nigeria
NYT 11/24/2006
By 10:30 a.m. in Oye, Nigeria, officials were unable to
process a single ballot
because voters had been kept away from the polling stations.
Millions Vote in Nigeria, but Intimidation Is Widespread
April 14 — Millions of Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday to choose state and local leaders in the first stage of what is to be a landmark election for Africa’s most populous nation.
The voting was marred by unrest and violence across the country, though in some areas the polls appeared to go smoothly. In the oil-rich Niger Delta, militants attacked police stations, burning three to the ground. In the volatile north, the military broke up demonstrations.
Nigeria’s Governing Party Takes Lead in
Elections
A man holding a ballot box was part of
a mob that chased a worker for the Nigerian election commission, which has been accused of
ballot rigging and other abuses, on Saturday in Ekiti State during state
elections.
ADO EKITI, Nigeria, April 15 — Violent protests broke out in several of Nigeria’s 36 states on Sunday as partial results from highly contested state elections appeared to hand most of the victories to the governing People’s Democratic Party. The police said 21 people had died in election violence, but local newspapers estimated that the toll was at least twice that number.
Allegations of vote rigging, ballot stealing and intimidation in several states in the first round of Nigeria’s landmark elections set off violence and raised fears that the country’s presidential voting, to be held later this week, could fail, according to candidates and independent observers. Of the 10 state governor races for which results were available, the
A mob of young men and boys, angry because they were not able to vote, burned tires and demolished signs during a riot in the town of Malumfashi
.
The rioters, supporters of the opposition ANPP party, accused the ruling PDP party of rigging the elections.
An absolute majority or at least 25% in two-thirds of the states is required for a candidate to be elected in the first round.
Check to see that last pres elections were more thatn 50%
Nigeria’s new president, Umaru
Yar’Adua, took office Tuesday in
Abuja. After a history of military
coups, Mr. Yar’Adua’s inauguration was the country’s first peaceful transition
of power between civilians
A First in Nigeria: A Peaceful Transition of
Power
ABUJA, Nigeria, May 29 (AP) — This time, the shots were fired in celebration.
ABUJA, Nigeria, April 23 — The governing party’s candidate for president, Umaru Yar’Adua, easily won the election in Nigeria, election officials here announced Monday. But his chief rivals for the office immediately rejected the results, and international observers said that the voting, which took place amid chaos, fraud and violence, was not credible. . . .
Mr. Yar’Adua, a 56-year-old governor of the remote northern state of Katsina, had been a
reclusive figure from a prominent political family. Under the unwritten rules of Nigerian politics, which dictate that the presidency alternate between the north and south, a northern Muslim like Mr. Yar’Adua would undoubtedly replace Mr. Obasanjo, a Yoruba Christian from the southwest. . . . .
Seldom seen outside his home state and rumored to have kidney disease, Mr. Yar’Adua was a surprise choice for the ruling party as a presidential candidate, leading to speculation that he was chosen as a weak stand-in for Mr. Obasanjo, who is limited to two terms as president by the Constitution.
But supporters of Mr. Yar’Adua say he is his own man, who plans to continue the reforms of Mr. Obasanjo’s government, but put his own stamp on the nation.
December 14, 2008
Legal Victory Can’t Erase Nigerian Leader’s Troubles
By WILL CONNORS
LAGOS,
Nigeria
— The last legal challenge to the legitimacy of
President
Umaru Yar’Adua
was quashed by the Supreme Court last
week, but he and Nigeria are far from out of the woods.
Although Mr. Yar’Adua, a former governor from a remote northern
state, finally has a firm mandate to take charge of Nigeria, Africa’s
most populous and oil-rich country, he has accomplished so little in
the 19 months since his flawed election that few believe that he can.
In its 4-to-3 decision on Friday in his favor, the Supreme Court did
little to inspire confidence in the president or in the circumstances
that brought him to power. While dismissing the suit brought by
opposition leaders to overturn the April 2007 elections, the court
conceded that widespread voting irregularities had occurred and
severely chastised the national electoral commission for
•
Nigeria Registers 67.8 Million Eligible
The People's Democratic Party is a centrist political party in Nigeria. It won the Presidential elections of , 2003, and 2007, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.
The PDP favors free-market policies which support economic liberalism, and limited government regulation.
In The PDP strives to maintain the status quo on oil revenue distribution.
Social issues
The PDP is against same sex relations, and favors social conservatism on
moral and religious grounds. In 2007, the PDP-dominated National
Assembly sponsored a bill to outlaw homosexual relations, making it
punishable by law for up to five years in prison
On the other hand, the PDP adopts a more leftist stance towards poverty
and welfare. In 2005, President Obasanjo launched Nigeria's first
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to ensure that every Nigerian
has access to basic health care services
The party is a moderate advocate of state-autonomy and religious
freedom for the Nigerian provinces. In the year 2000 the introduction of
Islamic law in some states in Northern Nigeria triggered sectarian
violence in Kaduna and Abia states. The PDP-led federal government
refused to bow to pressure from the southern, predominantly Christian
states to repeal the law, and instead opted for a compromise where
The
Action Congress
(AC) is a classical liberal Nigerian political party
formed via the merger of the Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party,
the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several other minor political
parties in September 2006
The party was formed in 2006 in order to form a larger political
opposition to the federally-dominant centrist People's Democratic Party
and the Northern-based All Nigeria Peoples Party
The party ran Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who defected from the
People's Democratic Party, as its presidential candidate in the 2007
presidential election. Abubakar was disqualified from the election by the
Independent National Electoral Commission, but the disqualification
was later overturned by the Supreme Court.[1] Currently, the party's
The ANPP
is the household party in the extreme north of
Nigeria, primarily due to its mass appeal. It is the strongest
opposition party, controlling seven of the nation's thirty-six
states.
The ANPP is a right-wing conservative party with mass appeal.
The party draws its strength from the predominantly radical
Nigeria moves to tighten gay laws
Wednesday, 14 February 2007, 18:57 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6362505.stm
Biafra war: Attacks,
_______ _________: a sudden shock to state policy involving
APRIL 1990 COUP D'ETAT SPEECH Fellow Nigerian Citizens,
On behalf of the patriotic and well-meaning peoples of the Middle Belt and the southern parts of this country, I , Major Gideon Orkar, wish to happily inform you of the successful ousting of the dictatorial, corrupt, drug baronish, evil man,
deceitful, homo-sexually-centered, prodigalistic, un-patriotic administration of
General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. We have equally commenced their trials for unabated corruption, mismanagement of national economy, the murders of Dele Giwa, Major-General Mamman Vasta, with other officers as there was no
attempted coup but mere intentions that were yet to materialise and other human rights violations.
The National Guard already in its formative stage is disbanded with immediate effect. Decrees Number 2 and 46 are hereby abrogated. We wish to emphasise that this is not just another coup but a well conceived, planned and executed revolution for the marginalised, oppressed and enslaved peoples of the Middle Belt and the south with a view to freeing ourselves and children yet unborn from eternal slavery and colonisation by a clique of this country.
General Abdusalami Abubakarer:
One of the most fragmented societies in the
world
:
•
Ethnicity
: Between
250-400 separate ethnic groups
(many have very little in common, different languages,
religions, etc…)
•
Religion
: Many arguments still exist over the preferential
treatment given to the Christians by the British, the role of
Islam’s religious law in the nation’s policymaking practices
are also a major concern
•
Region
: Nigeria was divided into
three federated regions
five years before independence, differences are still very
evident
•
Urban v. Rural
: Most organized protests occur in the
cities, as well as media outlets
•
Social Class
: Rich v. poor division runs deep. Elites
nearly a third of the population belongs of these three groups
Nigeria is home to some 250 ethnic groups
The broad characterisation of a Muslim Hausa-speaking north, and a Christian south made up of two dominant tribes - the Yoruba in the southwest and the Ibo in the southeast - is a vast over-simplification. In some states across central Nigeria, for example, it is possible to drive down a road, stopping at each tiny settlement, encountering a different language spoken in every single one.
And to further complicate this ethnic mix, over the decades and even centuries, people have moved around what is now modern day
Nigeria. A substantial minority of southern Christians now live in the north, as many northern Hausa Muslims have migrated south
Nigeria's Middle-Belt has hundreds of communities living side-by-side Reports of clashes in one part of Nigeria can lead to
CIA Factbook: Religions--Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous
beliefs 10% --statistics vary—remember the census?
Diversity has created significant problems for the consolidation
of democracy
each group to sees politics in zero-sum terms (an electoral victory by a Hausa candidate, for example, is viewed as a blow to the interests of the Yoruba, and vice-versa)
military leaders often played on the fears of ethnic conflict as a justification for authoritarianism, arguing that democracy only exacerbated these fault lines between regions and peoples.
In May 1967 the Igbo dominated Eastern Region seceded from Nigeria, declaring itself the Republic of Biafra. Although the Biafrans were
outnumbered and outgunned, they held off the Nigerian military for three years, helped in part by international support, which believed that the Nigerian
government was conducting a genocidal war against the Igbo. Azikiwe, who had been dismissed from his post by the military government, became a
prominent supporter of Biafran independence. Biafra was defeated in 1970. Although this did not lead to the Igbo extermination that many feared, the war itself exacted huge costs in terms of military and civilian life—estimates range from 500,000 to as high as three million
GO to:
Nigeria Turns From Harsher Side
of Islamic Law
KANO, Nigeria — Just last year, the morality police roamed these streets in dusky blue uniforms and black berets, brandishing cudgels at prayer shirkers and dragging fornicators into Islamic courts to face sentences like death by public stoning.
But these days, the fearsome police officers, known as the Hisbah, are little more than glorified crossing guards. They have largely been confined to their barracks and assigned anodyne tasks like directing traffic and helping fans to their seats at soccer games.
The Islamic revolution that seemed so destined to transform northern Nigeria in recent years appears to have come and gone — or at least gone in a direction few here would have expected.
When Muslim-dominated states like Kano adopted Islamic law after the fall of military rule in 1999, radical clerics from the Arabian peninsula arrived in droves to preach a draconian brand of fundamentalism, and
newly empowered religious judges handed down tough punishments like amputation for theft. Kano became a center of anti-American sentiment in one of the most reliably pro-American countries in Africa.
But since then, much of the furor has died down, and the practice of Islamic law, or Shariah, which had gone on for centuries in the private sphere before becoming enshrined in public law, has settled into a distinctively Nigerian compromise between the dictates of faith and the chaotic realities of modern life in an impoverished, developing nation.
Girls in Kano, Nigeria, attend a hybrid
school that combines Islamic
The United States Agency for International Development is so impressed
with the potential of these programs that one-third of the schools it
Since 1999 and the end of military rule
communal violence
has
risen
, as the
state no longer is able to suppress
the public as it
pleases and as the struggle for control over the state has returned
to the populace. Since the return to civilian rule in 1999, it is
estimated that such conflicts have taken over 12,000 lives and left
three quarters of a million displaced, This violence frequently has
economic motives
, with its origins in conflicts over access to state
funds, oil revenues, jobs or other resources. Moreover, it is
frequently asserted that
political elites capitalize
on these
conflicts as a way to build their base of support, even to the point
of inciting conflict through words and actions (such as paying
supporters to attack rival groups).
These conflicts also have a religious component. In recent years there has been a deepening fissure between Muslims, who are concentrated in the north, with Christians and animists in the south. The catalyst for this conflict has been the role of Sharia, or Islamic law. Under British rule Islamic law was preserved in the north and continued to serve an important, if limited, role. This practice was continued under independent Nigeria, but by the 1970s Islamic groups began to press the Babangida regime to allow for the expansion of Sharia’s use in the north as well as its use in higher courts, where it had no authority.
While the repression of the Abacha regime froze much of this activism, it quickly revived with the onset of civilian rule. Muslim leaders and publics saw the expansion of Sharia as a way to overcome the corruption of the military era and a way to reassert their rights in a democratic
system. Some political leaders also clearly saw the issue in a more cynical light as a way to garner public support.
Shortly after the 1999 elections a number of northern states made Sharia the primary law, extending it to criminal and other matters. This legal system included a severe provision for adultery and apostasy (leaving the
faith): death by stoning. The imposition of Sharia touched off some of the worst violence under civilian rule; in one incident in 2000, clashes between Christians and Muslims in the city of Kaduna left two thousand dead. This tension over Sharia also grabbed international attention when two women were sentenced to be stoned for adultery. Although eventually overturned by higher courts, the seeming
incompatibility between secular national law and an expansive regional use of Sharia remains a serious and potentially destabilizing issue
After the ruling Ms Ibrahim
thanked those who had
Women passed a destroyed house in Jos, Nigeria, on Monday. Life began to return to normal after
election-related violence.
A mosque in Onitsha was
Garba Shehu, a former Muslim from Dutse who converted to evangelical
Christianity, walks through a church that was burned and vandalized
Militants from the
Movement for the
Emancipation of the
Niger Delta patrolling the
delta.
Photographs by
Michael Kamber
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/junger200702
The
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
("MEND") is a militant indigenous people's movement
dedicated to armed struggle against the exploitation and
oppression of the people of Niger Delta and the degradation of
the natural environment by foreign multinational corporations
involved in the extraction of oil in the Niger Delta and the
FREE: American hostage Macon Hawkins was released by MEND militants last week. March 7 2006
New militia is potent force in Nigeria's oil-rich delta region
A well-organized rebel group has emerged to shut off more than one-fifth of Nigeria's oil output.
By Daniel Balint Kurti | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
WARRI, NIGERIA - Gunmen dressed in black balaclavas and camouflage flak jackets approach in a boat. As it draws alongside, their voices can be heard singing. The chorus fades and they introduce themselves.
"We are the security men of the Niger delta," says one of the men in the blue speedboat bristling with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. "Nobody is going to hurt you. We are everywhere in the Niger delta."
The singing militiamen are part of the newly organized Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and are the latest expression of local
resentment in a region of the country where tens of millions of dollars worth of oil are extracted each day, but most people live on only several hundred dollars each year. The MEND organization, whose leadership remains a matter of speculation, appears to be better organized, trained, and equipped
The Economist
has described the organization as one that "portrays
itself as political organisation that wants a greater share of
Nigeria’s oil revenues to go to the impoverished region that sits
atop the oil. In fact, it is more of an umbrella organisation for
5 Die in Violence Over Nigeria's Census
LAGOS, Nigeria, March 20 (Reuters) — Five people were killed and dozens injured in southwestern Nigeria in weekend clashes linked to this week's
national census, the police said Monday.
The census is the first attempt in 15 years by Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, to conduct a head count.
Estimates of Nigeria's population range from 120 million to 150 million, and the government says it needs more precise data.
Organizers have excluded ethnicity and religion from the census questionnaire to avoid the rigging and fighting by rival interest groups that discredited
previous censuses.
However, some communities are hoping to use the census to record their
claims to land or property. In southwestern Ondo State, fighting broke out
between the Ijaw and Ikale communities over ownership of the village of
Taribo.
"Five people were killed in the clashes," a police spokesman said by
telephone from Akure, the capital of Ondo State. "We recovered their
bodies from the bush."
The violence in Ondo was one of several incidents before the census,
which starts on Tuesday and runs until Saturday.
Census organizers have to deal with the logistical challenges of a vast,
chaotic, impoverished country with few decent roads, as well as rival
regions, religious communities and ethnic groups eager to assert their
numerical superiority.
The last census was carried out
14 years ago BBC March
Olusegun Obasanjo
(Former General):
regime change in 1999
• the officer who accepted the surrender of
Biafran forces in the 1967-70 civil war
• First became president of Nigeria in
1976, stepping in when then president Gen. Murtala Muhammad was
assassinated. In 1979, Obasanjo voluntarily stepped down after the election of President Shehu Shagari .
• A vocal opponent of Sani Abacha's
military dictatorship in the early 1990s, Obasanjo was jailed in 1995 and released after Abacha's death in 1998.
• He became leader of the People's
Democratic Party (PDP) and was elected president in 1999, ending 16 years of military rule.
• Reelected in 2003 (62% of vote) : the
third democratically elected executive to govern Nigeria and the only president to have been reelected to that office for a second term.
• . Obasanjo was born in Abeokuta in
1937.
In an effort to assure that the president serves with a national mandate, Nigeria’s constitution requires that the winning presidential candidate obtain both the
highest number of overall votes and at least 25 percent of the ballots cast in at least two-thirds of the states. This became an issue of contention in the 1979
election when the Supreme Court was called upon to determine what constituted two-thirds of Nigeria’s then only 19 states (now there are 36). Ultimately the court ruled that Shagari’s victory in 12 states—not the 13 demanded by the opposition— sufficed and Shagari was named president. The constitution holds that if no
candidate succeeds in reaching the two-thirds threshold in the first round, a second round of voting takes place a week later pitting top candidates against each other.
Elections
As in the United States, Nigerians directly elect their president and separately elect
members of both chambers of their legislature, the National Assembly.
But unlike the United States, presidents, senators, and representatives all serve four
All 360 seats in the House of Representatives are contested in single member voting districts divided roughly equally by population
The 109 members of the Senate are elected from Nigeria’s 36 states, with
each state comprising a 3-seat multi-member constituency district. The
federal district or “capital territory” of Abuja also elects one senator in a single seat constituency for the 109th seat.
Although the Senate’s multi-member districts with their smaller threshold for victory would seem to afford smaller parties a better chance of electing
candidates than the winner-take-all system used in the House, in fact only three parties are represented in the Senate, while four additional smaller
parties have managed to win either one or two seats in the House. The success of these smaller parties reflects the geographic concentration of ethnic
Nigerian Constitutions
–
1914 (
First
-written), 1999 (
Last
- written)
–
Since Independence, Nigeria has been governed by six
different constitutions (and four others during the colonial era).
-The problem for Nigerian political leaders has not been
coming up with rules of good governance, but rather abiding
by them:
–
Realities
of politics and government in Nigeria
are
NOT always reflected in the constitution and
formal structure of the government
.
–
The person in the executive office, military or
civilian, has created the regime as much as the
law.
In an effort to assure that the president serves with a national mandate, Nigeria’s constitution requires that the winning presidential candidate obtain both the
highest number of overall votes and at least 25 percent of the ballots cast in at least two-thirds of the states.
The Nigerian constitution also stipulates that the "federal character" must be reflected in every government appointment.
This means that the relative strengths of every ethnic and religious group must be taken into consideration in determining appointments in the civil service, the
armed forces and political institutions.
“Federal Character” Principle:
14.
(1) The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based
on the principles of democracy and social justice.
. . .
(3) The composition of the Government of the Federation or
any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be
carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal
The Executive Branch of Nigeria
•
Nearly thirty years of military rule is a major hint that the
Nigerian government is
VERY CENTRALIZED
•
Each military regime was different, but most ruled via a
“council” of mainly military men (i.e. the
GOWON and
BABANGIDA
regimes operated by
consensus
)
•
The
longer each regime lasted
the
smaller
, and
more
authoritative
the councils became
•
The
EXCEPTION
to this rule was the harsh
dictatorial
rule of Sani Abacha
•
Military councils usually were advised by a cabinet which
The Executive Branch of Nigeria
•
The First Republic
(1963-1979) was modeled after the
British Parliamentary system
. Thus the Chief Executive
was a
Prime Minister.
Many blamed the conflicts in this
time on the absence of one strong chief executive, and thus
the
Second
and
later
republics
substituted a popularly
elected president for the prime minister of the first
The Executive Branch
•
Popularly elected (like the US he chooses and runs with a VP);
•
Head of state
and
government (he and his ministers may
not
simultaneously
serve in the National Assembly);
•
Commander-in-chie
f of the armed forces;
•
Serves a four year FIXED term ( maximum of two terms);
•
Performs ceremonial duties of leadership;
•
Veto (subject to 2/3 override)
•
Oversees the daily administration of gov’t
•
Coordinates/ oversees armed forces;
•
Appoints gov’t ministers (confirmed by
Senate);
•
The President and his ministers make up a
L-R: President Jonathan, Senate
President David Mark and House
of Reps Speaker, Dimeji Bankole.
Nigeria:
Senate Approves N18,000 Nation
al Minimum Wage (news)
Vanguard
23 February 2011
The Senate has approved the
The President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua may veto the 2008 Appropriation Bill when it is passed into law by the National Assembly, THISDAY has learnt.
The President is said to be "very worried" about the "spending spree" built into the budget by the federal lawmarkers which has the potential to cause inflation and erode the economic gains of the past few years.
Although the President has the power to veto a bill, the National Assembly can override the veto with two-thirds vote.
Yesterday, barely 24 hours after the Senate and House passed the 2008 Appropriation Bill with varying final figures, the Senate announced an 11-member committee to harmonise the differences between it and the House over the bill.
The bill was presented to a joint sitting of the National Assembly by President Yar'Adua on November 7, 2007.
Two days ago, the Senate approved N2.898 trillion as 2008 budget while the House jacked the budget up to N2.944 trillion, representing about N46 billion more than the Senate figure.
The harmonisation committee is expected to have equal number of representatives from the two chambers of the National Assembly.
Yar'Adua May Veto Budget
This Day (Lagos)
14 February 2008
The Legislature
- Will it be an en an effective
check on the Executive branch?
• The National Assembly is bicameral (Senate & House of Representatives); • The Upper House is the Senate has 109 members ( three per 36 states/equal
representation, and one from the Federal Capital Territory, ABUJA
• The National Assembly (formerly the House of Representatives) has 360
members from single member districts, elected by plurality
• Both houses serve four year terms, and are popularly elected;
• The House and Senate must agree before any bill is passed as law, which in turn
must receive the President's assent. Should the President delay or refuse assent (veto) the bill, the Assembly may pass the law by two-thirds of both chambers and overrule the veto and the President's consent will not be required.
• Either House can originate legislation; but bills do not become laws until they
In spite of a more than two-thirds majority control of the Assembly by the ruling PDP)the PDP government led by Olusegun Obasanjo and the Assembly have been
known more for their disagreements than for their cooperation. President Obasanjo has been accused of interference in the Assembly's affairs while the Assembly's PDP
members have actively supported two impeachment attempts by opposition
legislators. The Senate also refused to amendmend the Constitution to allow double O to go 3 in a row.
While the Assembly has made strong and often popular efforts to assert its authority and independence against the executive, they are still viewed generally in a negative light by the media and a majority of population.
NOT divided government now: 2003 election results:
Senate - percent of
vote by party - PDP 53.7%, ANPP 27.9%, AD 9.7%; seats by party -
PDP 76, ANPP 27, AD 6; House of Representatives - percent of vote by
party - PDP 54.5%, ANPP 27.4%, AD 8.8%, other 9.3%; seats by party -
PDP 223, ANPP 96, AD 34, other 6; note - one seat is vacant
2007:
http://africanelections.tripod.com/ng.html#2007_National_Assembly_El
ection
Women in Politics
Country Rank *
Lower or Single House Upper House or Senate
Elections Seats Women % W Elections Seats Women % W
United States 71
11 2008
435 74 17.0 % 11 2008 100 17 17%
United Kingdom 60 05 2005 646 127 19.7% N/A 721 126 17.5%
Russia 82 12 2007 447 63 14% N/A 178 8 4.7%
China 52 03 2008 2987 637 21.3% --- --- ---
---Iran 129 03 2008 286 8 2.8% --- --- ---
---Mexico 43 07 2006 500 116 23.2% 07 2006 128 23 18%
The Judiciary
•
Interpret the laws;
•
Supreme Court is at the apex;
•
Court of Appeals and a Federal High Court;
•
The Capital of Abuja has a High Court, Sharia Court of
Appeal, and Customary Court of Appeal
•
Also
state courts
(federal system) which deal with most
criminal law
•
Legal system based on English common law, Islamic law
December 14, 2008
Legal Victory Can’t Erase Nigerian Leader’s Troubles
By WILL CONNORS
LAGOS,
Nigeria
— The last legal challenge to the legitimacy of
President
Umaru Yar’Adua
was quashed by the Supreme Court last
week, but he and Nigeria are far from out of the woods.
Although Mr. Yar’Adua, a former governor from a remote northern
state, finally has a firm mandate to take charge of Nigeria, Africa’s
most populous and oil-rich country, he has accomplished so little in
the 19 months since his flawed election that few believe that he can.
In its 4-to-3 decision on Friday in his favor, the Supreme Court did
little to inspire confidence in the president or in the circumstances
that brought him to power. While dismissing the suit brought by
opposition leaders to overturn the April 2007 elections, the court
conceded that widespread voting irregularities had occurred and
severely chastised the national electoral commission for
An appeals court has ruled Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo did not have the power to sack his vice-president for joining an opposition party.
The court in the capital, Abuja, ruled Atiku Abubakar should remain in his post despite his defection to the Action Congress for
presidential polls.
In December, President Obasanjo's spokesman announced Mr Abubakar had "technically
resigned" as a result.
He also asked the ruling People's Democratic Party to find a replacement.
"The president has no power under the
constitution... to declare the office of the vice-president vacant," Justice Umaru Abdullahi said in his ruling.
Nigerian VP 'cannot be removed‘
BBC Feb 20 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6378625.stm
Mr Abubakar's spokesman Garba Shehu
immediately hailed the verdict, describing it as "a huge relief and a demonstration of the fact that the judiciary works in Nigeria".
"The president should go and bury his head in
shame. He has lost all the cases he instituted against the vice-president."
The ruling is to be challenged in Nigeria's Supreme Court.
Nigeria court upholds Yar'Adua electoral victory
Tue Feb 26, 9:03 AM ET
A Nigerian court Tuesday upheld the April 2007 election of Umaru
Yar'Adua as Nigeria's president, dismissing two petitions requesting
a re-run on grounds of electoral fraud.
"Since the two consolidated petitions have failed, Umaru Yar'Adua
and Goodluck Jonathan remain validly elected as president and vice
president of Nigeria," presiding judge James Ogebe ruled.
Federalism
•
At independence, Nigeria had three states
•
The number of states grew to 19 in 1976, to 30 by 1991,
and since 1996, there have been
36 states
plus the Federal
Capital territory.
•
In 2003,
President Obasanjo
promised considering
adding more
– By adding states the government helps to defuse ethnic-based
political conflict
– The cost for increased numbers of governments has steadily
increased
– Competition for oil money is fierce amongst the states. What we
“Chop Chop” Politics
Chop
(as defined by the Babawilly Dictionary)1.
Food
2.
Income
3.
Bribe
4.
Embezzle money (e.g
Dat Oga
chop
belle-full bifor e
retire
).
“Chop-chop politics” refers to the basic log-rolling idea. If
I help you get your “chop,” you’ll help me get my
“chop.”
The Nigerian States (36)
•
Each of the 36 states is headed by a popularly elected
governor who serves a four year term;
•
Each state has a unicameral State House of Assembly
(comprised of popularly elected representatives from the
local government areas);
•
The number of House of Assembly members in each state
is comprised of three times the number of seats that it has
in the House of Representatives
•
There area total of 774 local government areas across
Centralization:
• national government control of the lion’s share of oil revenues has provided the
patrimonial glue that keeps the local regions dependent on the center. Put simply, the central government controls the purse strings, and the Nigerian purse depends almost completely on oil revenues. Not surprisingly, as oil revenues have
expanded, so has the public sector at all levels and the levels of corruption associated with this patronage. At the same time, it has led to increased disputes over the
percentage of these oil revenues—known as the “derivation formula”—that that should accrue back to the oil-producing localities.
Sharia was very popular in the north when
introduced
Twelve northern Nigerian states have introduced Sharia since the year 2000. The move initially heightened tensions between Muslims and Christians and led to clashes which left thousands dead. Many amputations sentences have not been carried out SHARIA LAW Safiya Husseini,
The authorities in the northern Nigerian state of Kano have imposed a ban on Muslim men and women
travelling together on public transport.
You have no excuse to carry a woman
who is neither your wife nor your mother on a motorcycle
In an effort to assure that the president serves with a national mandate, Nigeria’s constitution requires that the winning presidential candidate obtain both the
highest number of overall votes and at least 25 percent of the ballots cast in at least two-thirds of the states. This became an issue of contention in the 1979
election when the Supreme Court was called upon to determine what constituted two-thirds of Nigeria’s then only 19 states (now there are 36). Ultimately the court ruled that Shagari’s victory in 12 states—not the 13 demanded by the opposition— sufficed and Shagari was named president. The constitution holds that if no
candidate succeeds in reaching the two-thirds threshold in the first round, a second round of voting takes place a week later pitting top candidates against each other.
Elections
As in the United States, Nigerians directly elect their president and separately elect
members of both chambers of their legislature, the National Assembly.
But unlike the United States, presidents, senators, and representatives all serve four
All 360 seats in the House of Representatives are contested in single member voting districts divided roughly equally by population; wta
The 109 members of the Senate are elected from Nigeria’s 36 states, with
each state comprising a 3-seat multi-member constituency district. The
federal district or “capital territory” of Abuja also elects one senator in a single seat constituency for the 109th seat.
Although the Senate’s multi-member districts with their smaller threshold for victory would seem to afford smaller parties a better chance of electing
candidates than the winner-take-all system used in the House, in fact only three parties are represented in the Senate, while four additional smaller
parties have managed to win either one or two seats in the House. The success of these smaller parties reflects the geographic concentration of ethnic
Unions have existed in Nigeria for almost a century
Civil Society
Neither the British colonial government nor the series of military authoritarian regimes has been able to squelch
Nigeria’s rich tradition of activism and dissent. Even Abacha’s oppressive
dictatorship in the 1990s could not fully muzzle what one foreign observer referred to as Nigerian citizens’
The Nigerian Media
•
When compared to other like countries, it is
well
developed and independent,
a touch of Britain perhaps?
About 80 national and local papers are available in
English, but literacy is a major concern
•
BBC: Nigeria's media scene is one of the most vibrant in
Africa. State-run radio and TV services reach virtually all
parts of the country and operate at a federal and regional
level. All 36 states run their own radio stations, and most
of them operate TV services
General Abacha
acted out of the norm when he closed
newspapers and magazines in 1994.
•
Most of the media is ethnic based, and the more outspoken
sources generally are found in the south.
•
A lot of the media is also government run, but the private
5 Die in Violence Over Nigeria's Census
LAGOS, Nigeria, March 20 (Reuters) — Five people were killed and dozens injured in southwestern Nigeria in weekend clashes linked to this week's
national census, the police said Monday.
The census is the first attempt in 15 years by Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, to conduct a head count.
Estimates of Nigeria's population range from 120 million to 150 million, and the government says it needs more precise data.
Organizers have excluded ethnicity and religion from the census questionnaire to avoid the rigging and fighting by rival interest groups that discredited
previous censuses.
However, some communities are hoping to use the census to record their
claims to land or property. In southwestern Ondo State, fighting broke out
between the Ijaw and Ikale communities over ownership of the village of
Taribo.
"Five people were killed in the clashes," a police spokesman said by
telephone from Akure, the capital of Ondo State. "We recovered their
bodies from the bush."
The violence in Ondo was one of several incidents before the census,
which starts on Tuesday and runs until Saturday.
Census organizers have to deal with the logistical challenges of a vast,
chaotic, impoverished country with few decent roads, as well as rival
regions, religious communities and ethnic groups eager to assert their
numerical superiority.
The last census was carried out
14 years ago BBC March
Social Movements
Members of Movement for the Emancipation for the Niger Delta. Photo: George Osodi/AP
Initially as spokesperson, and then as President, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
(MOSOP), Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental damage associated with the operations of multinational oil companies, especially Shell.
Almost of all of Nigeria's current production of about 2.6/mbpd
comes from the onshore Niger Delta region shown here.
A Rentier State
A state that derives a substantial portion of its revenue on a regular basis from payments by foreign concerns in the form of rents: a subsystem of rentier
economy, which is an economy heavily supported by state expenditure, while the state itself continually receives rents from abroad.
Bonny, site of one of Shell's
main oil facilities in Nigeria
.
the capital-intensive oil sector provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange
A major oil exporter to the US
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/04/africa_fighting_for_nigeria0s_ oil/html/1.stm
These two-hundred foot tall pillars of flaming natural gas have been burning constantly since the 1970s.
From the CIA FACTBOOK:
Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management, is
undertaking some reforms under a new reform-minded administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from its
overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid
Corruption crack down May 2005: BBC Former police chief Tafa Balogun appeared in court in handcuffs
In the last year the government has begun showing the political will to implement the market-oriented
reforms urged by the IMF, such as to modernize the banking system, to curb inflation by blocking excessive wage demands, and to resolve regional disputes over the distribution of earnings from the oil industry. In 2003 the government began deregulating fuel prices,
announced the privatization of the country's four oil refineries, and instituted the National Economic
Empowerment Development Strategy, a domestically designed and run program modeled on the IMF's
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for fiscal and monetary management.
.
National Economic and Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). NEEDS has tackled several important areas. First, it has increased the transparency of its finances. This includes auditing the accounts of various levels of government to oversee how money is being spent and making these findings available to the public. Second, the government has begun to pursue actively corruption within the state and improve the rule of law, creating, for example, an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to pursue theft and money laundering (and seizing over a half billion dollars in the process).[i] NEEDS is also focusing on the poor infrastructure of the country, seeking to boost electricity production, improve transportation, increase
telecommunications, and expand access to sanitation and clean drinking water. The goal, then, is to both reform the both reform the state while expanding the provision of basic social
As of April 2006, Nigeria became the first African country to fully pay off its debt (estimated $30 billion) owed to the Paris Club.
The Paris Club is an informal group of financial officials from 19 of the world's richest countries, which provides financial services such as debt restructuring, debt relief, and debt cancellation to indebted countries and their creditors. Debtors are often recommended by the International Monetary Fund after alternative solutions have
failed. The permanent member-nations of the club are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
A man washed soot from his face Tuesday in Lagos, Nigeria, after a gas pipeline ruptured by thieves exploded. At least 260 people were killed in the blast, which spewed fire and
black smoke. It was the latest oil-industry disaster in Nigeria, Africa’s largest petroleum producer. Dec 27, 2006
DANGEROUS BUSINESS A Shell Oil pipeline caught fire in southern Nigeria last summer after an attack by gunmen.
In Ijegun, a suburb of Lagos, people tried to stop the spread of an oil-fed fire on Thursday.
100 Feared Dead in Nigerian Pipeline Fire
May 16, 2008 LAGOS, Nigeria — More than 100 people were feared dead on Thursday after a construction vehicle struck an oil pipeline on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city,
Moreover, human capital is underdeveloped—Nigeria ranked 151 out of 177 countries in the United Nations Development Index in 2004—and non-energy-related
infrastructure is inadequate
Coloured world map indicating Human Development Index
██ 0.950 and over ██ 0.900–0.949 ██ 0.850–0.899
██ 0.800–0.849 ██ 0.750–0.799 ██ 0.700–0.749
██ 0.650–0.699██ 0.600–0.649 ██ 0.550–0.599██ 0.500– 0.549██ 0.450–0.499██ 0.400–0.449
██ 0.350–0.399██ 0.300–0.349
██ under 0.300██ N/A
Nigeria ranked 154 out of 177 countries, in the 2008 Human
Development Index, missing the bottom by 23 places
2009 it ranks 158
Go to:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/
Corruption is a problem: Corruption Perceptions Index 2008
Nigeria’s Elite v. The Masses
•
The
Elite
are Politically
Active; Urban;
Educated; English
speaking; and involved
in a money economy.
They seek a
representative
government, honesty,
and civil liberties.
•
BUT the
masses
-urban and rural- are
subjects
and not politically
active except during some campaigns. They are more likely involved
in some kind of
patron-client
network. They are not well educated
(half the population is illiterate), do not speak English (except as a
Creole
or
pidgin
), and most are involved in
subsistence economy
•
Prebendalism: patronage but with money
Sadly, the most prominent form of governance in independent Nigeria has been
patrimonialism, in which the personal rule of an authoritarian leader has been
shored up by the economic privileges he bestowed upon a coterie of loyal followers. Not surprisingly, the divisiveness, corruption, and illegitimacy of this patrimonialism has meant the bullets of military coups, not the ballots of electoral democracy, have
far more frequently determined Nigerian regime shifts and changes in government. Each of these shifts has shared at least two things in common. All have come to power promising improved governance and each has largely failed to deliver on this promise. Whether military or civilian, authoritarian or democratic, no regime to date has worked particularly well in Nigeria. On a brighter note, the current Fourth Republic—ushered in with the transition to civilian democracy in 1999—has successfully sponsored three elections, kept the military in its barracks, and
survived longer than any of its democratic predecessors. Perhaps most important, the Nigerians seem very willing to keep trying. As one observer notes, “Although they have badly botched it up when they achieve democratic rule, Nigerians refuse to settle for anything less
