Nigerian Politics and Government

Abstract

Nigeria’s status as the “Giant of Africa” is not only an expression suggesting it has the largest population size in the region, but also implies the immense influence the Nigerian state has on African politics and society. It is arguable that a proper understanding of politics and government in Nigeria should provide a good understanding of African politics. Nigeria is a product of British colonialism and gained its independence in 1960. Being a plural society with multiple ethnic groups, the Nigerian political system is built on a three-tier federal system (federal, state, and local governments). Modeled after the American model of democracy, Nigeria operates a presidential system that produces a president exercising enormous executive power at the federal level and a governor as head of the executive in the thirty-six (subnational) states in the federation. The legislative system is bicameral at the federal level and unicameral at the state level. With an estimated 300 ethnic groups, Nigeria is often considered the most diverse society in Africa. Despite the multiple ethnic groupings, three major ethnic groups dominate the political space given their population and linguistic spread over other groups. The majority groups are the Hausa-Fulani (northern region), Yoruba (western region) and the Igbo (eastern region). Besides these majority groups, there are hundreds of minority groups spread across the different regions of the country. In addition to ethnicity, religion represents another significant component of Nigerian society and has a major influence on politics. Nigerians mostly identify with Christianity or Islam, while a few associate with the African Traditional Religion. In geographical spread, there are more Muslims in the northern region and more Christians in the southern region. Over the years, ethnicity and religion have been a major factor in Nigerian politics, determining access to power and distribution of values. These factors have become a major driver of politics and therefore feature prominently in any discourse about politics and government in Nigeria. Politics in Nigeria since independence has oscillated between civilian democracy and military rule. Democracy failed at three different periods before the present democratic regime, which began in 1999. The military interventions and abrupt end to democratic rules give room for the periodization of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Republics that is often employed as a framework of analysis in the study of Nigerian politics and government.