Nigeria
| Date | 01 April 2013 |
| Author | Pete Kingsley |
| DOI | 10.1111/2041-9066.12008 |
| Published date | 01 April 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Country Focus |
quotas. Getting the correct balance of re-
gion, religion, language and ethnicity in
any public body – from the Federal cabinet
to television newsreaders – is something of
a national obsession.
Such quotas are largely a function of a
clientelist state that disburses oil wealth
through political offices. Nigeria is often de-
scribed as having the world’s most expensive
legislature. Each Senator or Representative
Country Focus
Nigeria
‘Nigeria has no business with pov-
erty’, said Olusegun Obasanjo,
accepting his party’s presidential
nomination in February 1999. His com-
ments reflected a common sentiment that
Africa’s largest nation should have long ago
escaped mass poverty – not least because
of its significant oil reserves. Three months
later, Obasanjo – reprising a previous stint
as Head of State in the late 1970s – became
Nigeria’s first democratically elected Presi-
dent in 16 years.
Many hoped for a fresh start. Since inde-
pendence from the British in 1960, a string
of military dictatorships and weak civilian
governments left Nigeria directionless,
impoverished and beset by the particularly
pervasive form of corruption for which Ni-
geria is famous.
Yet the post-1999 democratic era has
perhaps been the keenest disappointment
of all. Accounts of Nigeria tend to empha-
sise what could be rather than what is – a
sleeping giant that never wakes, a potential
regional superpower forever postponed and
a hypothetical African powerhouse always
just a few years away.
By 1999, a dangerous set of political
and demographic processes was already
in motion that has locked Nigeria into a
pattern of political failure and economic
stagnation. Radical changes remain neces-
sary to move Nigeria on from ‘the business
of poverty’.
Political Failure
Nigeria is divided into a predominantly
Muslim North and a predominantly
Christian South. (This is only a rough
distinction as large minorities live in each
region.) Religious tensions have ebbed and
flowed throughout Nigerian history. Public
life often seems dominated by a game of
Since gaining independence in 1960, Nigeria has endured military dictatorships, weak civilian governments
and endemic corruption. As Pete Kingsley reports, Nigeria needs infrastructure investment and an end to
sectarian violence if it is to move on from ‘the business of poverty’.
is effectively a nobleman dispensing patron-
age in their own domain, a pattern mir-
rored at all levels of government.
A political system that emphasises build-
ing support amongst and looking after one’s
‘own people’ has consistently undercut
attempts at national progress. It has also
intensified religious and ethnic resentment,
expressed in acts as mundane as the restric-
tion of university scholarships to the ‘right’
Fact box
Head of State President Goodluck Jonathan
Form of state Federal Republic
National Legislature Bicameral, with a 360-seat House of Representatives and a 109-seat Senate.
Elections for both houses and the President are held every four years.
State government 36 states, each with governors and legislatures, plus Abuja, a territory
governed by a Federal Minister.
Local government 774 local government areas, each with a council and chairman – in theory
elected, but often de facto appointed by state governors.
Judicial Branch Based on British common law, mixed with Islamic law in twelve Northern states
and traditional law at a local level. The highest court is a Supreme Court of
fourteen members, appointed by the President and conrmed by the Senate.
Language English is the ocial language. Hausa (North), Yoruba (South-west) and Igbo
(South-east) each serve as lingua franca in their respective regions, and along
with Pidgin English are widely spoken nationally. Hundreds of other languages
are spoken in sub-regions and amongst ethnic groups.
Capital Abuja
Largest City Lagos
Population 170,123,740
Religion Muslim 50 per cent, Christian 40 per cent, indigenous/traditional beliefs 10 per
cent
Life expectancy 49.0 (male), 53.3 (female)
Age of population under 14 years (44 per cent); 15–64 (53 per cent); over 65 (3 per cent)
Fertility 5.38 live births per woman
Literacy 61.3 per cent
24
Political Insight
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