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Nigeria
Stages in Nigerian History
• Pre-Colonial Period (800-1900)
• Colonial Period (1860-1960)
– British
• 1st Republic (1960-1966)
• 2nd and 3rd Republics and Predatory
Military Rule (1979-1999)
Pre-Colonial
• Geography encouraged
growth of centralized
states
• Early states and
kingdoms
– Kanem-Bornu –
northeast region
– Hausa states – northwest
region
– Junkun kingdom
• Tributary of the Bornu
Empire by the end of the
1600’s
Trade Routes Lead to Islam
• Trade routes across
the Sahara with
northern Africa
– Arabic education
– Islam
– Wealth
• Replace traditional
political and social
practice
• Tribal groups to the
south (Tiv) maintain
tribal culture
Islamic Empire
• Sokoto Caliphate (Islamic
Empire established 1808)
– The Fulani brought jihad
from land to the west of
Nigeria (led by Uthman dan
Fodio)
– Brought groups together
with Islam
• Language (Hausa)
• Islamic (Qur’anic) Law
– Governed the northern
regions until British Colonial
authority in 1900
Colonial Era
• British Control – (1860-1960)
• Indirect governance
– Installed tribal chiefs and natives
at heads of governments and
strengthened their power
– System of government designed
to support British economic
interests
– In the north the British left the
Islamic governmental structure in
place but strengthened the
positions of the elite
Impact of British Colonialism
• Created Nigeria in 1860
• Installment of governmental
system
– Democratic institutions but an
authoritarian political culture
• Strengthening Division
– Fostered political competition
among ethnic groups
• British played off ethnic and
social division
• Division of Nigeria into three
regions
– Becomes basis for ethnoregional
conflict
Impact of British Colonialism
• Western Education
– Christian Missionaries funded by the British
Gov’t set up schools for elementary education
higher education established in the 1930’s
and 40’s
• Created a literate population
• Created more separation between the elites and
the people
• Division between north and south – most British
Christian schools were located in the south – the
north had primarily Islamic education
Adapting to Independence
• 1960-1966 – Republic – elected parliamentary
government (Westminster model)
– Tafawa Balewa – Prime Minister
• Assassinated – government overthrown by a military
coup
• Political parties
– Northern Peoples Congress (NPC)
• Hausa-Fulani elites
• Dominated the federal government soon after
independence
• Policy of northernization puts them in conflict with the
southern groups the Yoruba and Igbo
Adapting to Independence
• The Yoruba dominated
Action Group (AG) had an
internal conflict
– NCP seizes the opportunity to
subdivide the Western Region
• Weakens Yoruba political power
• NCP – engages in
widespread political
corruption
– Causes unrest and violence
Military Rule and Civil War
• January 1966 – group of Igbo officers
seize power
– Highest ranking officer Aguiyi Ironsi became
head of state
• Ironsi killed in July 1966 in a second coup
– Yakuba Gowon – middle belt Christian head
of state put in power by the non-Igbo coup
plotters
• Igbo Persecution persists
• Eastern Igbo areas attempt to secede in 1967 to
form their own country
Military Rule Civil War
• Military led government in the northern
and western region focusing on unity
• War in eastern region lasts 3 years
– Takes over 1 million lives
• After war Gowon breaks the four region
federation into 12 states
– Later becomes 19 states
• Increase in military
• Gowon overthrown in 1975 by Murtala
Muhammad
– Gowon refused to relinquish military control
Emergence of the 2nd Republic
• Muhammad committed to
restoring democratic rule
– Assassinated in 1976
• Emergence of General
Olusegun Obasanjo
– Obsanjo cedes power to a
civilian government in
1979 beginning the 2nd
Republic
Short lived 2nd Republic
• Widespread corruption
causes the government to
loose legitimacy
– National Party of Nigeria (NPN)
a spin off of the first Republic’s
NPC gained outright majorities
in 1983 state and national
elections through fraud
– Within months the military
seized power under General
Muhammadu Buhari
– Buhari refused to restore
democratic rule and failed to
restore the economy
Military Rule
• By 1985 General Ibrahim Babangida had
seized power
– Announced a program for restoring democratic
gov’t but stalled heavily
• In 1993 he annulled the presidential election
– Babangida resigns in 1993 and appoints his
successor Ernest Shonekan
• General Sani Abacha (minister of defense)
seizes power from Shonekan in Nov. 1993
Rule under Abacha
• Abacha promised to restore
democracy but often delayed
– Very oppressive
– Corrupt
• Dies June 1998
– Death is celebrated in the streets
• Successor quickly handed
over power to civilian gov’t
headed by Olusegun
Obasanjo and the (PDP) in
1999
The Fourth Republic
• Obasanjo was a Yoruba
candidate that people in the
north could trust
• WHY?
• Retires all military officers that
held a political position under
any military government
• Initiates reform of the oil industry
• Cracked down on corruption
– Forced resignation of a Speaker of
the House and two Senate
Presidents
Obasanjo Is Not Perfect
• Still surrounded by the corrupt
– Wanted reelection and nomination from party
• Didn’t get along with the National Assembly
– Two unsuccessful motions to impeach him
• Wins reelection in 2003
– Through widespread voter malpractice and rigged
election
– Public confidence falls
• National Political Reform Conference 2005
– Review the constitution and structure of the
government and boost political legitimacy