Political Instability In Nigeria Research Articles

Retrospects and Prospects of Political Stability in Nigeria

The elusive and aggravating problem of instituting a viable political order based on effective, legitimate and authoritative government in Nigeria has no doubt become in recent times one of the most pressing and fundamental preoccupations of its decisionmakers and the public alike, as the ongoing political debate attests. This paper represents essentially an attempt to analyze and comprehend the social dynamics that generate the persistent syndrome of political instability in Nigeria, and on that basis to hazard a conjecturel about the future of the Nigerian state from past and current trends, as this might be shaped by systematic challenges. Stated differently, the primary objective of the present analysis (in terms of its explanatory and projective dimensions) is in response to the intriguing question of why a state once considered a showpiece of decolonizing Africa could then manage to plummet from such an apogee of grace (Kirk-Greene, 1976: 7) and come perilously close first to collapse, then to constitutional chaos and a bloody civil war, and finally to a rapid interchange between civilian and military regimes. The first section below is intended as a preliminary methodological note to the second and final sections: examination of extant theoretical perspectives on instability and political order in Nigeria, and a probabilistic projection of the future from past trends, respectively.

The Bases of Political Instability in Nigeria

Nigeria has been finding it difficult to establish and maintain a stable political culture and orderly political procedures. These have resulted in political and social instability that, in fact, would be the general rule for several years to come due to the absence of durable political orientations and national identification. An examination of the level of educational development, the complexity and divergence of ethnic groups, the character of the agents performing the function of political socialization in the Nigerian society, and the general attitude of the citizens toward political life will enable one to grasp the problem of political instability in Nigeria.'

Imperialism and Multinational Corporations

In Nigeria as elsewhere, the giant multinational corporations are the basic units of imperialism in its contemporary neocolonial stage. The analysis of these monopoly sharks is critical to the understanding of the mechanisms through which Third World countries are exploited, manipulated, and perpetuated as the collective wretched of the earth. This paper is essentially an attempt to document the character and role of these multinational agents of imperialism in Nigeria. In effect, it tries to provide empirical validation for the basic Marxist thesis that the serious problems of Third World countries like Nigeria can be traced directly to the operations of imperialist forces whose most powerful catalysts are the colossal multinational enterprises. These activities are closely coordinated with such other imperialist mechanisms as foreign investment, export-import trade, and foreign aid. They have generated and perpetuated the seemingly intractable problems of mass poverty, stifling foreign domination, savage exploitation, open starvation, debilitating disease, pervasive illiteracy, widening inequality, irrational waste, cultural degradation, and political instability in Nigeria and other Third World countries within the imperialist orbit. The historical origin of this collective malaise is nineteenthand twentieth-century colonialisation of Nigeria by British