People and Politics Worldwide
Nigeria


Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon
Area:
total: 923,768 sq km
            land: 910,768 sq km
            water: 13,000 sq km
Area Comparative: slightly more than twice the size of California
Climate:
varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north
Terrain: southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north
Natural Resources:
natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, arable land

People
Population: 131,859,731 (most populous state in sub-Saharan Africa)
Age Structure: 0-14 years: 42.3%
                             15-64 years: 54.6%
                             65 years and over: 3.1%
Median Age: total: 18.7 years
                          male: 18.7 years
                         female: 18.6 years
Populations growth rate: 2.38%
Birth rate: 40.43 births/1,000 population
    average if 6 births per woman; 3% growth per year
Death rate: 16.94 deaths/1,000 population
Life Expectancy at birth:  total population: 47.08 years
                                                   male: 46.52 years
                                                  female: 47.66 years
Sex Ratio: total population: 1.02 male(s)/female
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 3.6 million
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 310,000
HIV/AIDS- prevalence of adults: 5.4%
Major Infectious Diseases: degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
aerosolized dust or soil contact disease
Lassa fever (2005)

Ethnic Groups:
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups; the following are the most populous and politically influential:
Hausa and Fulani 29%

Yoruba 21%

Igbo (Ibo) 18%

Ijaw 10%
Kanuri 4%
Ibibio 3.5%
Tiv 2.5%
hausa
Hausa Women  yoruba chief  Yoruba Chief igboIgbo people

Story on Census Conflict
Religions:
Muslim 50%
Christian 40%
indigenous beliefs 10%

Languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
                   total population: 68%
                   male: 75.7%
                   female: 60.6%

Economics
GDP (purchasing power parity): $132.9 billion
GDP (official exchange rate): $76.46 billion
GDP - real growth rate: 5.6%
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 26.8%
                                                          industry: 48.8%
                                                          services: 24.4%
Labor Force: 57.21 million
Labor force- by occupation: agriculture 70%, industry 10%, services 20%
Unemployment rate: 2.9%
Population below poverty line: 60%
Agriculture products: cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish
Industries: crude oil, coal, tin, columbite; palm oil, peanuts, cotton, rubber, wood; hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel, small commercial ship construction and repair


History
Colonized by the Portuguese, British (peanuts, cocoa, palm oil)

Allowed “indirect rule” - rule of emirs, chiefs; played against one another;

Legacy of colonialism
State boundaries for convenience of colonizers - plagued by ethnic conflict, military coups
 

Nigerian Ethnic Groups

250 ethnic/linguistic groups
3 largest comprise 2/3 of the pop.

North - Hausa-Fulani, Muslims, military and business elites

Southwest - Yoruba, Protestants, more tolerant, children sometimes raised in different faiths

Southeast - Ibo, Catholics, known for business skills, trading

Middle Belt - Nupe, Tiv, Edo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Ogoni
 

Political History

Independence from the British
October 1, 1960

First Republic 1960-1966
Modeled on British parliamentary system but with federal assemblies for the 3 regions

Elections rigged, thuggery, intimidation, imprisonment

Civil War 1966-1970
1967 E. Region secedes - Biafra
Nigerians supported by SU, E Eur, finally British

Military Government 1966-79

Second Republic 1979 - 1983
Civilian rule restored
Only 5 “national” parties allowed to compete in elections

Election irregularities in 1983
led to new military takeover

Military rule 1984-1999 (Abacha)

Party system again reorganized in 1990 after ban on political organizing lifted

Two parties allowed
Right - National Republican Convention

Left - Social Democratic Party

Trouble drawing up accurate voter register, attempted coups, more states created (now 36)

1993 elections finally held - Abiola wins but annulled by Babangida

 
February 1999 Presidential elections

Won by General Olusegun Obasanjo - who ruled as military dictator 1976-79
won 63% of the vote (irregularities again but not enough to alter outcome)

Obasanjo is a Yoruba, disliked by Yorubas, in with Hausas

Defeated Yoruba candidate Olu Falae

Re-election April 2003
Next elections:  April 2007


Government Today
Federal Republic
Capital:
Abuja
Legal System: based on English common law, Islamic Shariah law (in 12 northern states), and traditional law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Presidential system
obo
4-year term (two-term limit)

Legislative Branch: 
National Assembly


House of Reps (rep based on pop.)
360 seats; poplular vote; 4-year terms

Senate (equal rep for all states)
109 seats; 3 per state, plus one from Abuja; popular vote; 4 year term  

Judicial Branch:
Supreme Court (judges appointed by the President); Federal Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee)


Nigerian Economy

Oil rich - joined OPEC in 1971

Oil boom in the 1970s
government expenditures increased dramatically

Revenues used to enrich rulers, military

Growth without development

Per capita income declining ($320 per person in 1995 same as 1960 before oil exports)
Stagnation of other economic sectors (no longer self-sufficient in food production - although nearly 2/3 of the labor force works in agriculture)

Foreign reserves dropped from $7 bln to 3.4 bln in early 1999 - suspected expropriated by military

Indebted to IMF, World Bank, West
1996 $37 bln

Structural Adjustment Program
Devalue naira, privatization, restructuring agriculture, austerity

Negative impact on the poor

Environmental devastation - oil spills, oil exploration (esp. Niger Delta)
Story on the Niger River Delta