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 Women 
Yoruba Chief 
Igbo
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
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