ESSENTIAL BACKGROUND: Nigeria has become overrun with challenges, making democratic consolidation extremely difficult for the struggling nation. The primary obstacles to democratic consolidation in Nigeria include:
• Ethno-religious divides make the formation of a common identity seem impossible.
• Widespread poverty has left a large portion of the population without the means to participate in the political process.
• An overwhelming national government limits the state’s powers and impedes the democratic process, contributing to:
• Mass corruption throughout all three levels of the government (national, state, and local) only serves to debilitate any development of the nation as a whole.
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the Nigerian government consider retaining the presidential election clause but that the indigene clause for the cabinet be abolished.
Abolishing the indigene clause would put an end to the ethno-religious divides that hinder development of a common identity. With 36 states currently struggling for roles in the government, the political process has become saturated with conflict and divisions. The indigene clause only serves to further divide the people of Nigeria. It makes sense to want to represent all ethnic groups in order to accurately represent the nation as a whole. However, the imbalance of socioeconomic development has made it impossible to have qualified people from each state in top government positions. For example, a candidate from the north might be chosen solely based on his geographical allegiance instead of any real intellect or relevant qualifications for the position. Having such a large number of ethnic groups makes creating one common identity tremendously problematic, and abolishing ...
... middle of paper ...
...ly stated, Nigeria is imbalanced in terms of socioeconomic development, and therefore allowing each group a say in the political arena tends to lead to incompetence and slowed development in the long run. For Nigeria to truly move forward and flourish, this clause needs to be thrown out.
The federal character principle and all of its provisions are a necessary evil for the time being. Nigerians must deal with any discomfort this principle causes because eventually it will lead to the great government they have always wanted. Nigeria is now in its fourth republic. Although not terribly different from the second republic, Nigeria is obviously attempting to learn from the past and move forward. Nigeria does not need to sit idly and deal with injustice for the time being. They can take action now and abolish the clauses that continue to hinder democratic consolidation.
In order to secure the protection of the people’s rights of freedom from the imprisonment of tyranny, a compound government was formed. Central and State government came together to form the compound government, which in other words means federalism. It is one of the many elements that make up the protection of freedom from tyranny, “Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people.” (Madison FP # 51) The states combined covered our need of protection, protection of the countries by the Central government and protection of the people by the States government. Also by joining themselves together, “The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” (Madison FP # 51)
It can be argued that event without the “hereditary orders,” a distinction of interests can be found and were discussed in several papers. Interests will vary from state to state, from the rural farmers to the businessmen of the cities. These distinctions were discussed in Federalist No. 10 as factions. While the hierarchy of such interests is not related to nobility as found in England, a faction is defined here as a number of citizens who are united and motivated by common interests adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the interests of the community. It is proposed that there are only two methods of curing the adverse effects of factions: by removing its causes or by controlling its effects. The intent of the proposed system of checks and balances seeks to cure selfish interest by the latter. Power to any one person or branch would be limited by the other branches, preventing any person, branch, or faction from gaining an excess amount of power and leverage towards their own interests rather than the collective interests of the people.
1. Janda, Kenneth. The Challenge of Democracy. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA. 1999. (Chapter 3 & 4).
Within the Constitution, there are many features that are absolutely vital to the success of not only the longevity but success of the government it established. Certain features prevent one aspect of government becoming tyrannical in its power, and some establish the role of constituent states in policy making. While each of these is different, each with a similar role, each must be examined for the reasoning behind their addition to the Constitution. These specific additions are checks and balances, the separation of power, and Federalism.
Political corruption can lead to the downfall of societies because when citizens find out, they won’t have any respect for their government/leaders because of the bad things they do. Lack of respect can cause riots/outbreaks in cities.
The first way the Ibo culture of Nigeria is civilized is through the government. The government takes care of issues in a fair way. After both sides were done speaking at the Egwugwu Ceremony, the Evil Forest said, “Our duty is not to blame this man or praise that, but to settle the dispute” (Chapter 10 pg.93) The Evil Spirits main goal was not trying to blame the person who did wrong, but to solve the problem in a fair manner to get it over with. Another example of how the Ibo culture is civilized through government is it is organized with rules. The government leaders made white men go back to their own land so they wouldn’t change the Ibo culture. As it says in the article Political Colonization, “They said the land had changed and that they were dying. And they demand that all white men go back to their own country so that the land might return to the way it was before the british came.” The government made that rule because it would help the Ibo culture stay alive and not transfer over to another culture. The last way the Ibo culture is civilized through government is
The runaway corruption in the country harms the business environment and causes collapse of various established institutions and industries.
Oghre, Ben. “Nigeria’s Population Is A Silent Killer .” Nigerians of America. N.p., 30 Sept. 2007. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
There are countries that are not as lucky as America, where people have their rights taken away from them, like in Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea has a very corrupt government. It has been said that the voting has been rigged so that the president will win the election as many times as he wants. Most of the power is in the executive branch, so the president has most of the power of the country and no one can say anything about what he wants to happen. He president will harass the opposing parties so that he will win (Williams). In the article Equatorial Guinea HRW (Human Rights Watch) says, “Corruption, poverty, and repression continue to plague Equatorial Guinea under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979”. The “...per capita gross domestic product...” for Equatorial Guinea is $30,000, but yet most of the people live in poverty. The “...Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE)...” rule the political system, you could say that it is a monopoly. The president of Equatorial Guinea will have a say in court cases. The court cases that are sensitive get brought to him and he gets asked what he wants to do (Equatorial...). We should care about Equatorial Guinea because arrest without reason, torture captives and give little rights to women.
Despite the numerous wealth generated on a daily basis from oil exportation over the years and the vast amount of untapped resources laying in commercial quantity, the country does not have a single or recognize means of directly addressing the welfare of its citizenry. Only the present democratic administration has promised to execute out a compulsory cash transfer of N5,000 to the poorest 25 million Nigeria (based on some conditions), pay graduating corp members some stipends for a year and design a one-meal a day for public primary school
In conclusion Nigeria has never been able to sustain a legitimate democracy. The legacies of British colonialism have created unstable political institutions that have been extremely susceptible to military coups. While ethnic tensions have lead to political party association and corruption, rent-seekers and continual economic decline have decreased support for the government. Although recently Nigeria has seen a shift away from military control as people have recognized its unsuccessfulness, questions still remain about the new democracy. Consider the last time this type of democracy was established, it only lasted four years. Given all these factors and the military history of OlusgunObasanjo, it is no wonder the new democracy is considered fragile.
The question to be answered in this paper is to what extent has the resource curse affected the Nigerian economy and government? Resource curse is a term that states the observation that countries that have a plethora of natural resources (e.g. oil, coal, diamonds etc.) usually have unstable political and economic structures (Sachs, 827). Nigeria is categorized as a nation that has succumb to the resource curse as it has an abundance of, and an overdependence on, oil, and a decreasing gross domestic product (GDP) (Samuels, 321-322). Nigeria is known for its specialization and overdependence on oil and according to Ross, nations of such nature tend to have high levels of poverty, large class gaps, weak educational systems, more corruption within the government, and are less likely to become democracies (Ross, 356). The political instability and regime change in Nigeria will be observed in this paper. The resource curse has greatly weakened Nigeria as it has led to the numerous regime changes, the hindering of the nation’s democratization, corruption in the government, as well as, civil conflict.
What is culture? Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving
Tripp, A, M, 2003. The Changing Face of Africa’s Legislatures: Women and Quotas. Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Available from: Quotaproject.org
Montesh, M. (n.d.). Conceptualizing Corruption: Forms, Causes, Types and Consequences. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from