Nigeria's Portfolio: Stability Of The Country

NIGERIA’S PORTFOLIO Name Course Instructor Institution City Date NIGERIA’S PORTFOLIO There is a wind of change blowing across Sub-Saharan Africa which is a diverse region comprised of 47 countries that stretch from the Savannas of the Sahara desert to the coastal mountains and valleys of the Cape. In the cities and towns of these countries, prodemocracy activists have taken to the streets to protest against several injustices in the region. Most countries have experienced major reforms aiming at improving the relationships between the governments and citizens being championed by opposition parties to the ruling regime. However, besides these changes, majority of the Sub-Saharan Africa people lack basic civil liberties and human rights. Most critics and scholars have argued that Africa’s problems were partially contributed to the forces of colonialism. During the 19th century, the colonialists drew political boundaries that cut across indigenous cultural and territorial divisions something that increased social tensions in the region. Large tracts of land became the property of colonial administrators forcing the natives off their native land and became migrant workers. When the colonial era came to an end in the 1950s and 60s, the Sub-Saharan African countries remained with little infrastructures. There were exploitive policies that exploited resources in the region. Its economies were aimed at producing goods and services in the region as well. This paper evaluates various aspects ranging from the stability of the country to its relations with the international community. The ideal country for this paper is Nigeria. Conditions at which it was left Nigeria has a diverse population and endured a divide-and-rule strategy which was executed by the British whose aim was to worsen the existing differences. However, it experienced a peaceful transfer from the colonialists to its independence. The colonialists left overlapping cleavages that consisted of a population whose differences overlapped each other and coincided with the regional boundaries which have proved to be a potential threat to the country’s stability. This is affirmed by Okechukwu Iheduru who asserts that “Nigeria’s 250 ethnic groups, with their distinct (and mostly unintelligible) languages and cultural characteristics, are geographically separated.” Conversely, the lack of a common national history, inequality in resource distribution and the promotion of regionalism over national identity through certain political and economic policies (both before and after independence) have contributed to the development of a Nigeria whose stability is still at balance due to the regional completion and violence in the country. The fact that Nigeria was under a direct rule by its colonizers should not be underestimated. However, this rule was only applied to the southern parts while the northern region experienced an indirect rule and was left to the native rulers. The direct rule contributed much to the reinforcement and politicking the rifts in the country (COHN, 2013). The European powers drew the country’s boundaries without considering the existing tribes or geographic area which has been cause of the conflicts in Nigeria today. Therefore, the country had two differing systems (direct and indirect). The effects of this system on the country’s present political stability are adverse. The southern region strives to impose more secular laws while the North region maintains of the Sharia laws. Conversely, two voting systems are still present in the country, the Southern region allows all people to vote regardless of their gender while the Northern region allows only men to vote. Another difference between the two regions is evidenced in the fact that they received self-government different times. The Southern region received first in 1957 while the Northern side did not welcome the idea until 1959. Prior to independence, Nigeria underwent through a series of administrative reforms which foresaw the reorganization of the country into three regions (North West, and East). This reinforced the politicizing of regional differences by establishing the development of “new geographic identities” which set a foundation to the current ones. Such politicization and establishment of regional differences has largely contributed to the country’s stability. There is a stiff competition among the regions fighting for natural resources and has contributed to the weakening of the central government. There is a conflict in the country, even national leaders have been barred from controlling the whole nation. For instance, Ahmadu Bello, the founder and leader of Nigeria’s major parties National People’s Congress (NPC) declined to be the first Prime Minister of the country after independence but became the northern region’s premier. This act demonstrates that regions are more important than the country at large. Constitutional Transformations Nigeria was under the military rule for almost three decades. For more than 55 years of its independence, the country was under the military rule for 29 years. Nigeria became an independent country in 1960. The military took over after six years into its independence by taking over the political power in 1966 until 1979. It ruled for 13 years before handing over in 1979. The era of the new government ended in 1983 when the military again took over power of the country until 1990 when the third political regime begun. The new regime begun with local government officials and governors being elected but the military dictator General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the 1993 presidential elections. The fourth regime begun in 1999 when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was elected as the president of the country. The military rule eroded the country’s democratic dialogue and consensus building culture. Evidence demonstrates that the rule militarized various institutions such as family, education, community, religion, judiciary and the economy. The militarization of the family destroyed the relationships between men and women where the men assumed a militaristic command over women as well as children. This resulted in widespread domestic violence in the society. Men were dangerous to children and women, they beat them and some even died while the offenders were accountable to no one. Authoritarianism became the order of the education system where educational administrators banned staff and student unions. Traders used army officers to collect their debts. Transport companies begun hiring armed escorts to protect their passengers. This demonstrates the prolonged nature of military rule how it constricted democratic space of dialogue and consensus building, encouraged authoritarianism. However, the consequences of the military rule in Nigeria can be well understood from the perspective of scholars under the context of what they have termed as the “three waves of African governance” from the 1950s to the 90s. Political Coups Since its independence in 1960, there has been a number of failed and successful coups in the country. On January 1966, the first ever military coup that was being led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. This attempted coup failed and led to the death of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Northern region’s premier, Sire Abubakar Tafawa Belewa and other senior officials. The coup was not well structured hence its failure and this was attributed to tribalism in the country. People from the North accused Chukwuma and his fellow plotters for organizing an Igbo coup because most of the officers who died were from other regions (McGowan, 2003). This resulted in Major –General Johnson Thomas Ununakwe Aguiyi Ironsi being sworn in as the Military Head of State. Barely six months later, was a counter coup staged led by officers from the North. The...