NIGERIAN POLITICS

1.      NIGERIA: LAND AND PEOPLE

Africa's most populous state

Social cleavages:

- Ethnicity, religion, class

Pre-colonial Nigeria: Political patchwork

The "Slave Coast": 22000 slaves exported per year

British colonialism 1861-1960

- Indirect rule

- Regional gov'ts

1960: Independence

2.      ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS

Underdevelopment

The colonial economy: Agriculture (palm oil, cocoa, peanuts)

Oil boom and bust

Development strategies: Nationalization and industrialization

Floundering agriculture

Social and regional inequality

3.      POLITICAL HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE (1960-95)

First republic: Westminster democracy

- Parliamentary Government

- Concentration of Power

- Few Checks and Balances

Military intervention and instability (7 coups)

Civil war 1967-70: Biafran secession

Military rule: Benign corruption

- More freedom than fairness or efficiency

Second republic: US democracy

- Presidential Government

- Checks and Balances, Judicial Review

- Federalism, Greater Decentralization

The military returns (1983-95)

- Restoring efficiency

Third republic: Aborted Party reform (Social Democrats vs. Republicans)