FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT
SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
COURSE
TITLE: NIGERIA GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS II
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria
became independent on October 1, 1960. The period between this date and January
15, 1966, when the first military coup d’tat took place, is generally referred
to as the First Republic, although the country only become a republic on
October 1, 1963. After a plebiscite in February 1961, the Northern
Cameroon’s, which before then was administered separately within Nigeria, voted
to join Nigeria.
At independence Nigeria
had all the trappings of a democratic state and was indeed regarded as a beacon
of hope for democracy.
It had a federal constitution that guaranteed a large
measure of autonomy to three (later four) regions; it operated a parliamentary
democracy modeled along British lines that emphasized majority rule; the constitution
included an elaborate bill of rights; and, unlike other African states that
adopted one-party systems immediately after independence, the country had a
functional, albeit regionally based, multiparty system. These democratic
trappings were not enough to guarantee the survival of the republic because of
certain fundamental and structural weaknesses. Perhaps the most significant
weakness was the disproportionate power of the north in the federation. The
departing colonial authority had hoped that the development of national politics
of a regionalized party system in a country where political power depended on
population. The major political parties in the republic had emerged in the late
1940s and early as 1950s as regional parties whose main aim was to control
power in their regions. The Northern People’s Congress (NPC) and the Action
Group (AG), which controlled the Northern Region and the Western Region,
respectively, clearly emerged in this way. The National Council of Nigeria Citizens
(NCNC), which controlled the Eastern Region and the Midwestern Region (created
in 1963), began), began as a nationalist party but was forced by the pressures
of regionalism to become primarily an eastern party, albeit with strong pockets
of support elsewhere in the federation. These regional parties were based upon,
and derived their main support from, the major groups in their regions: NPC
(Hausa/Fulani), AG (Yoruba), and NCNC (Igbo). A notable and more
ideologically-based political party that never achieved significant power was
Aminu Kano’s radical Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), which opposed
the NPC in the north from its kano
base. There were also several political movements formed by minority groups to
press their demands for separate states. These minority parties also doubled as
opposition parties in the regions and usually aligned themselves with the party
in power in another region that supported their demands for a separate state. Ethnic
minorities therefore enabled the regional parties to extend their influence beyond
then regions. In the general election of 1959 to determine which parties would
rule in the immediate postcolonial period, the major one won a majority of
seats in their regions, but none emerged powerful enough to constitute a national
government. A coalition government was formed by the NPC and NCNC, the former having
been greatly favored by the departing colonial authority. The coalition
provided a measure of north-south consensus that would not have been the case
if the NCNC and AG had formed a coalition. Nnamdi Azikwe (NCNC) became the
governor general (and president after the country became a republic in 1963),
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (NPC) was named prime minister, and Obafefim Awolowo
(AG) had to settle for leader of the opposition. The regional premiers were
Ahmadu Bello (Northern Region, NPC), Samuel Akintola (Western Region, AG),
Michael Okpara (Eastern Region, NCNC), and Dennis Osadebey (Midwestern Region,
NCNC). Among the difficulties of the republic were efforts of the NPC, the
senior partner in the coalition government, to use the federal government’s
increasing power in favor of the Northern Region. The balance rested on the
premise that the Northern Region had the political advantage deriving from its
preponderant size and population, and the two southern regions (initially the
Eastern Region and the Western Region) had the economic advantage as sources of
most of the exported agricultural products, in addition to their control of the
federal bureaucracy. The NPC south to redress northern economic and bureaucratic
disadvantages. Under the First National Development Plan, many of the federal
government’s projects and military establishments were allocated to the north.
There was a “affirmative action” program by the government to recruit and train
northerners, resulting in the appointment of less qualified southerners. Actions
such as these served to estrange the NCNC from its coalition partner. The
reactions to the fear of northern dominance, and especially the steps taken by
the NCNC to counter the political dominance of the north, accelerated the
collapse of the young republic. The southern parties, especially the embittered
NCNC, had hoped that the regional power balance could be shifted if the 1962 census
favored the south. Population determined the allocation of parliamentary seats
on which the power of every region was based. Because population figures were
also used in allocating revenue to the regions and in determine the viability
of any proposed new region, the 1962 census was approached by all regions as a
key contest for control of the federation. This contest led to various illegalities:
inflated figures, electoral violence, falsification of results, manipulation of
population figures, and the like. Although the chief census officer found
evidence of more inflated figures in the southern regions, the northern region
retained its numerical superiority. As could be expected, southern leaders
rejected the results, leading to a cancellation of the census and to the holding
of a fresh census in 1963. This population count was finally accepted after a
protracted legal battle by the NCNC and gave the Northern Region a population
of 29, 758,975 out of the total of 55,620,268. These figures eliminated
whatever hope the southerners had of ruling the federation. Since the 1962-63
exercise, the size and distribution of the population have remained volatile
political issues (see Population, ch. 2). In fact, the importance and
sensitivity of a census count have increased because of the expanded use of population
figures for revenue allocations, constituency delineation, allocations under
the quota system of admissions into schools and employment, and the sitting of
industries and social amenities such as schools, hospitals, and post officers.
Another census in 1973 failed, even though it was conducted by a military government
that was less politicized than its civilian predecessor. What made the 1973
census particularly over power to civilians. The provisional figures showed an increase
for the states that were carved out of the former Northern Region with a combined
51.4 million people out of a total 79.8 million people. Old fears of domination
were resurrected, and the stability of the federation was again seriously threatened.
The provisional results were finally canceled in 1975. As of late 1990, no
other census had been undertaken, although one was scheduled for 1991 as part
of the transition to civilian rule. In the interim, Nigeria has relied on population
projections based on 1963 census figures. Other events also contributed to the
collapse of the First
Republic. In 1962, after
a split in the leadership of the AG that led to a crisis in the Western Region,
a state of emergency was declared in the region, and the federal government
invoked its emergency powers to administer the region directly. These actions
with other AG leaders, was convicted of treasonable felony. Awolowo’s former
deputy and premier of the Western Region formed a new party-the Nigeria
National Democratic Party (NNDP)-that took over the government. The federal
coalition government also supported agitation of minority groups for a separate
state to be excised from the Western Region. In 1963 the Midwestern Region was
created. By the time of the 1964 general elections, the first to be conducted
solely by Nigerians, the country’s politics had become polarized into a competition
between two opposing alliances. One was the Nigerian National Alliance made up of
the NPC and NNDC; the other was the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA)
composed of the NCNC, the AG, and their allies. Each of the regional parties openly
intimidated its opponents in the campaigns. When it became clear that the
neutrality of the Federal Election Commission could not be guaranteed, calls
were unfair to opponents of the regional parties, the NCNC was returned to
power in the east and Midwest, while the NPC
kept control of the north and was also in a position to form a federal
government on its own. The Western Region became the “theater of war” between
the NNDP (and the NPC) and the AG-UPGA. The rescheduled regional elections late
in 1965 were violent. The federal government refused to declare a state of
emergency and the military seized power on January 15, 1966. The First Republic
had collapsed. Scholars have made several attempts to explain the collapse.
Some attribute it to the inappropriateness of the political institutions and
processes and to their not being adequately entrenched under colonial rule,
whereas others hold the elite responsible. Lacking a political culture to
sustain democracy, politicians failed to play the political game according to
established rules. The failure of the elite appears to have been a symptom
rather than the cause of the problem. Because members of the elite lacked a
material based fro their aspirations, they resorted to control of state other
and resource. At the same time uneven take of development among the various
groups and regions invested the struggle for state power with a group
character. These factors gave importance to group, ethnic, and regional conflicts
that eventually contributed to the collapse of the republic. The final explanation
is closely related to all the foregoing. It holds that the regionalization of
politics and, in particular, of party politics made the stability of the
republic dependent on each party retaining control of its regional based. As
long as this was so, there was a rough balance between the parties, as well as
their respective regions. Once the federal government invoked its emergency powers
in 1962 and removed the AG from power in the Western Region, the fragile
balance on which the federation rested was disturbed. Attempts by the AG and
NCNC to create a new equilibrium, or at least to return the status quo ante, only
generated stronger opposition and hastened the collapse of the republic. The
first emergency stronger opposition and hastened the collapse of the republic.
The first emergency rule in Nigeria
was in 1962, when Dr. Moses Majekodunmi was appointed the Sole Administration
of the defunct Western Region is a way of resolving the crisis began when the
then premier, Chief S. L. A. Akintola, was removed by the Government of Western
Nigeria and Chief Dauda Adegbenro was installed as premier instead. The Western
House of Assembly had convened to pass a vote of confidence on Chief Adegbenro’s
government, when Chief Akintola’s supporter in the House allegedly created an
upon forcing the police to disperse members with tear gas. Because of the region,
the federal parliament, in exercise of its powers under the Constitution of
1960, declared a state of emergency in Western Nigeria
and approved appointment of Majekodunmi as administer of the region since its
return to civil rule in 1999, Nigeria’s
political history has been topsy-turvy. The country has experienced some security
challenges that threatened its peace and unity. Consequently, some of its past
leaders have been forced to invoke section 305 of the 1999 Constitution which empowers
a sitting president to declare emergency rule whenever the peace of the country
is threatened. Before President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of partial emergency
rule in some troubled states yesterday, plateau and Ekiti States were the only states
that have experienced emergency rule since this democratic dispensation began
in 1999. On Tuesday, May 18,
2004, former president Olusegun Obasanjo declared an emergency rule
in Plateau State, following a sectarian crisis that
claimed hundreds of lives and left many homeless. In an address to the nation,
the former president said the decision to impose a state of emergency in Plateau State was based on the collective desire
to strengthen the country’s democratic practice, institutions and values. “this
decision would without doubt enhance security as well as protect the stability
and corporate existence of our nation for which many have died. It is my hope
and prayer that this six-month period will be used by the administrator and all
peace loving people in and enshrine the values of transparency, accountability,
social justice, love, good neighborliness and good governance” Major General Cris
Alli, was directed to take over the affairs of the state for a period of six months
with a mandate to end the strife and restore order. Ekiti was the next state to
experience emergency rule. On Thursday,
October 19, 2006, President Olusegun Obasanjo, in an address to the
nation, said he was declaring a state of emergency in Ekiti State
in order to “ensure that peace and orderliness return to the state.” He said the
state House of Assembly had been suspended and retired Major General Tunji
Olurin was appointed the Administrator of Ekiti State.
CHAPTER TWO
INDEPENDENCE AND INTERNAL CONFLICT
With Nigerian independence scheduled for 1960,
elections were held in 1959. No party won a majority, and the NPC combined with
the NCNC to form a government. Nigeria
attained independence on Oct.
1, 1960, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of the NPC as prime minister
and Azikiwe of the NCNC as governor-general; when Nigeria became a republic in 1963,
Azikiwe was made president. The first years of independence were characterized
by severe conflicts within and between region. In the Western region, a bloc of
the Action Group split off (1962) under S. I. Akintola to form the Nigerian National
Democratic party (NNDP); 1963 the mid Western region (whose population was
mostly I do) was formed from a part of the Western region. National elections
late in 1964 were hotly contested; with an NPC-NNDP coalition (called the
National Alliance) emerging victorious. In Jan., 1966, Igbo army officers staged
a successful coup, which resulted in the deaths of Federal Prime Minister
Balewa, Northern Prime Minister Ahmadu bello,
and Western Prime Minister S. I. Akintola. Maj. Gen. Johnson T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi,
an Igbo, became head of a military government and suspended the national and
regional constitutions; this met with a violent reaction in the north. In July,
1966, a coup led by Hausa army officers ousted Ironsi (who was killed) and
placed Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon at the head of a new military regime. In Sept.,
1966, many Igbo living who were becoming increasingly fearful of their position
within Nigeria.
In May, 1967, the Eastern parliament gave Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka O. Ojukwu, the
region’s leader, authority to declare the region an independent republic. Gowon
proclaimed a state of emergency, and as a gesture to the Igbos, redivided Nigeria into 12
states (including one, the East-Central state that comprised most of the Igbo
people). However, on May 30, Ojukwu proclaimed the independent Republic of Biafra, and in July fighting broke out
between Biafra and Nigeria Biafra made some
advances early in the war, but soon federal forces gained the imitative. After
much suffering, Biafra capitulated on Jan.
1970, and the secession ended. The early 1970s were marked by reconstruction in
areas that were formerly part of Biafra, by
the gradual reintegration of the Igbo into national life, and by a slow return
to civilian rule.
Modern Nigeria
Spurred by the booming petroleum industry, the
Nigerian economy quickly recovered from the effects of civil war and made
impressive advances. Nonetheless, inflation and high unemployment remained, and
the oil boom led to government corruption and uneven distribution of wealth. Nigeria joined
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1971. the prolonged drought
that desiccated the Sahel region of Africa in the early 1970s had a profound effect on Nigeria,
resulting in a migration of peoples into the less arid areas and into the
cities of the south. Gowon’s regime was overthrown in 1975 by Gen: Murtala Muhammad
and a group of officers who pledged a return to civilian rule. In the mid –
1970s plans were approved for a new capital to be built at Abuja, a move that drained the nation
economy. Muhammad was assassinated in an attempted coup one year after taking
office and succeeded by Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. In a crisis brought on by
rapidly falling oil revenues, the government restricted public opposition to
the regime, controlled union activity and student movements, nationalized land,
and increased oil industry regulation. Nigeria sought Western support
under Obasanjo while supporting, African nationalist movements. In 19/9
elections were held under a new constitution, bringing Alhaji Shehu Shagari to
the presidency. Relations with the United States reached a new high in
1979 with a visit by President Jimmy Carter. The government expelled thousands
of foreign laborers in 1983, citing social disturbances as the reason. The same
year, Shagari was reelected president but overthrown after only a few months in
office. In 1985 a coup led by Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida brought a new regime
to power, along with the promise of a return to civilian rule. A new
constitution was promulgated in 1990, which set national elections for 1992.
Babangida annulled the results of that presidential election, claiming fraud. A
new election in 1993 ended in the apparent presidential victory of Moshood Abiola,
but Babangida again alleged fraud. Soon unrest led to Babangida’s resignation.
Ernest Shonekan, a civilian appointed as interim leader, was forced out after
three months by Gen. Sani Abacha, a long-time ally of Babangida, who became
president and banned all political institutions and labor unions. In 1994,
Abiola was arrested and charged with treason. In 1995, Abacha extended military
rule for three more years, while proposing a program for a return to civilian
rule after that period; his proposal was rejected by opposition leaders, but
five political parties were established in 1996. the Abacha regime drew
international condemnation in late 1995 when Ken Saro-Wiwa, a prominent writer,
and eights groups and led to Nigeria’s
suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations.
Also in 1995, a number of army officers, including former head of state General
Obasanjo, were arrested in connection with an alleged coup attempt. In 1996,
kudirat Abiola, an activist on behalf of her imprisoned husband, was murdered.
Abacha died suddenly in June, 1998, and was succeeded by Gen. Abdulsalam
Abubakar, who immediately freed Obasanjo and other political prisoners. Riots followed
the announcement that Abiola had also died unexpectedly in July, 1998, while in
detention. Abubakar then announced an election timetable leading to a return to
civilian rule within a year. All former political parties were disbanded and
new ones formed. A series of local, state, and federal elections were held
between Dec., 1998, and Feb., 1999, culminating in the presidential contest,
won by General Obasanjo. The elections were generally deemed fair by
international monitors. The People’s Democratic party (PDP; the centrist party
of General Obasanjo) dominated the elections; the other two leading parties
were the Alliance
for Democracy (a Yoruba party of the southwest, considered to be progressive),
and the All People’s party (a conservative party based in the north). Following
Obasanjo’s inauguration on May
29, 1999, Nigeria
was readmitted to the Commonwealth. The new president said he would combat past
and present corruption in the Nigerian government and army and develop the
impoverished Niger
delta area. Although there was some progress economically, government and
political corruption remained a problem. The country also was confronted with
renewed ethnic and religious tension. The latter was in part a result of the
institution of Islamic law in Nigeria’s
northern states, and led to violence that has been an ongoing problem since the
return of civilian rule. Army lawlessness was a problem as well in some areas.
A small success was achieved in Apr., 2002, when Abacha’s family agreed to
return billion to the government; the government had sought an estimated
billion in looted Nigerian assets. In Mar., 2003, the Ijaw, accusing the
ltsekiri, government; and oil companies of economic and political collusion against
them, began militia attacks against itsekiri villages and oil facilities in the
Niger delta, leading to a halt in the delta’s oil production for several weeks
and military intervention by the government. The presidential and earlier
legislative elections in Apr., 2003, were won by President Obasanjo and his
party, but the results were married by vote rigging and some violence. The
opposition protested the results, and unsuccessfully challenged the presidential
election in court. The Ijaw-Itsekiri conflict continued into 2004, but a peace
deal was reached in mid-June. The Ijaw backed out the agreement, however, three
weeks later. Christian-Muslim tensions also continued to be a problem in 2004,
with violent attacks occurring in Kebbi, Kano,
and Plateau states. Obasanjo’s government appeared to move more forcefully against
government corruption in early 2005. Several government ministers were fired on
corruption charges, and the senate speaker resigned after he was accused of
taking bribes. A U. S.
investigation targeted Nigeria’s
vice president the same year, and Obasanjo himself agreed to be investigated by
the Nigerian financial crimes commission when he was accused of corruption by
Orji Uzor Kalu, the governor of Abia and a target of a corruption
investigation. Ijaw militants again threatened Niger delta oil operations in Sept,
2005, and several times in subsequent years, resulting in cuts in Nigeria’s oil
production as large as 25% at times. Since early 2006 the Niger delta
area has seen an increase in kidnappings of foreign oil facilities allowed
criminal gangs to expand their influence in populated much of its foreign debt
at a discount, a process that was completed in Apr., 2006. The end of 2005 and
early 2006 saw increased contention over whether to amend the constitution to
permit the president and state governors to run for more than terms. The idea
had been rejected in July, 2005, by a national political reform conference, but
senators reviewing the conference’s proposals indicated they supported an end to
term limits. The change was opposed by Vic President Atiku Abubakar, but other
PDP leaders who objected were removed from their party posts. A census – a
contentious event because of ethnic and religious divisions in Nigeria – was
taken in May, 2006, but the head count was marred by a lack of resources and a
number of violent clashes, and many Nigerians were believed to have been left
uncounted. In May the Nigerian legislature ended consideration of a third
presidential term when it became clear that there was insufficient support for
amending the constitution. Nigeria
agreed in June, 2006, to turn over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon after
a two-year transition period; the region was finally ceded in Ag., 2008. In
July the vice president called for the Nigerian senate to remove the vice
president from office for fraud, based on an investigation by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The senate agreed to investigate the
charges, and the PDP suspended the vice president, blocking him from seeking the
part’s presidential nomination. Abubakar counter accused Obasanjo of
corruption. The EFCC was also investigating most of Nigeria’s state governors, but the
commission itself was tainted by charges that it was used for political
retaliation by Obasanjo and his allies. Several state governors were impeached
by legally unsound proceedings, moves that were seen as an attempt by Obasanjo
to tighten his control prior to the 2007 presidential election. When the vice
president accepted (Dec., 2006) the presidential nomination of a group of
opposition parties, the president accused him of technically resigning and
sought to have him removed, an action Abubakar challenged in court; the
government backed down the following month, and the courts later sided with Abubakar.
In Jan., 2007, the results of the 2006 census were released, and they proved as
divisive as previous Nigerian censuses. The census showed that the largely
Muslim north had more inhabitants than the south, and many southern political
leaders vehemently rejected the results.
RFERENCES
Nigeria Historyinfoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/encylopedia/world/nigeriahistory.hyml
http://www.inforplease.com/encyclopedia/world/nigeriahistory.html
http://www.mongabay.com/history/nigeriathetuslrepublichtml