Citizens / Society State

1. Jennifer, Kirsten, and Amy Citizens / Society State

2. Cleavages • Nigeria has one of the most fragmented societies in the world. • Nigeria is similar to Russia in that both countries have had to contend with ethnic-based civil wars. • The ethnic cleavages present in Nigeria undermine the basic legitimacy of the government.

3. Cleavages: Ethnicity • Nigeria has between 250 and 400 separate ethnic groups with their own customs, languages, and religions. • The three largest groups are: Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba. • The ethnicities live in their own enclaves and make no contacts with the other groups.

4. Yoruba Igbo Hausa-Fulani

5. Cleavages: Religion • Nigeria’s political culture is complex by its competing religions. • 50% - Muslim • 40% - Christian • 10% - native religions • The sharia and its role in the nation’s policymaking practices reflect the significance of religious cleavages.

6. Cleavages: Region / North vs. South • In 1955, Nigeria was divided into Three Federated Regions. • These were the basis for setting election and legislative procedures and party affiliations. • The north is primarily Muslim, and the south is mainly Christian.

7. Cleavages: Region / North vs. South

8. Cleavages: Urban / Rural Differences • In Nigeria’s urban areas, political organizations, interest groups, newspapers, and electronic media sources exist. • Most organized protests take place in cities instead of in the rural areas.

9. Cleavages: Social Class • The division between the rich and ordinary people runs deep in Nigeria. • The wealth of the rich comes from control of the state and the resources of the country. • The elites harbor those who would like to transform Nigeria into a modern nation based on democratic principles.

10. Political Participation • Activities that are taking place in civil society are some professional associations, trade unions, religious groups, and others that are emerging. • Presidents have generally allowed a free press to exist and interest group membership to be maintained.

11. Political Participation:Patron-Clientelism (Prebendalism) • Particularly in rural areas, much participation takes place through the patron-client system. • The special brand of clientelism in Nigerian politics is known as “prebendalism”:a term borrowed from Max Weber’s concept of an extremely personalized system of rule in which all public offices are treated as personal fiefdoms.

12. Political Participation:Patron-Clientelism (Prebendalism) • Civilian official shave skewed economic and political management through large patronage networks based on personal loyalty. • Though a patron-clientelism system creates corruption and informal influence, it represents an established form of political participation in Nigeria.

13. Political Participation: Voting Behavior • Nigerian citizens have voted on national elections since 1959, but many have been canceled or postponed by the military and other have been fraudulent. • Political parties are numerous and fluid, so party loyalty is an imperfect reflection of voter attitudes. • Still, Nigerian citizens vote in large numbers.

14. Political Participation:Attitudes Toward Government • Most Nigerians are skeptical about the prospects of democracy and do not believe the elections are conducted fairly. • Transparency International: a private organization that compiles statistics about corruption in countries around the world. • Nigeria is usually ranked 142nd out of 146 countries, but that has recently risen to 134th in 2010.

15. Political Participation:Protests and Political Participation • When democracy returned in 1999, numbers of ethnic-based and religious movements have mobilized to address their grievances. • Many of those movements have been targeted to international oil companies. • A siege in July 2002 occurred when a group of unarmed Ijaw women occupied ChevronTexaco’s Nigerian operations for 10 days. It ended when officials agreed to provide jobs for the women’s sons and set up a credit plan to start business.

16. Political Participation:Protests and Political Participation • Due to many protests, production sites have been shut down and some companies have left Nigeria. • In 2010, protests were started in the north among people who believed that the informal rule of alternating presidents from the north and south was violated when Goodluck Jonathan had retained the presidency. • The BokoHaram carries out many shootings and occasional bombings to undermine Jonathan’s authority.

17. Nigeria- Population Chart

18. Freedom House Information Partly Free- • 170 million people • 1,280 USDGNI (PPP) • Internet: Partly Free • Press: Partly Free

19. Democratization in Nigeria • Nigeria has some difficult challenges in establishing democratic ties with the government. • Societal characteristics of Nigeria make democratization a challenge: • Poverty: almost 60% of all Nigerians live below the poverty line • Large gap between the rich and the poor: distribution of income in Nigeria is very unequal.

20. Continued • Health Issues: Nigeria is like many African nations, in that there are high rates of HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that 1 out of every 11 people with AIDS lives in Nigeria. The gov’t has not made AIDS a top priority, which is leaving a lot of the challenge to a small group of underfunded NGOs. The toll AIDS has made to Nigeria is immeasurable • Literacy: Nigeria’s literacy rate is 68%. The male literacy rate is at 75.7% while woman rate is at 60.6%

21. Ethnic Groups • There are 250+ tribe groups in Nigeria.

22. Ethnic Groups • There are over 120 languages, three main ethnic groups (Hausa-Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba) none of which has a majority of the population, and there’s a religious divide between Christians in the south and Muslims in the north in Nigeria. Over the past few years thousands of people have been killed in ethnic clashes. Current Event: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1971010,00.html

23. Nigeria- Civil Society • Several interest groups and informal in formal voluntary associations have actively sought to influence political decisions. • Some groups have strengthened, some serving centripetal forces, encouraging Nigerian Unity, and others creating religious lines

24. Civil Society- Continued • Example: Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People or MOSOP, founded by dissident Ken Saro Wiwa • This group has worked to apply national laws to secure financial benefits for the Ogoni in the Niger Delta and to hold foreign operated oil companies to environmental standards.

25. Civil Society- Continued • Example: National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG) has played an important role for workers in the all important petroleum industry.

26. Nigerian Women • The lives of middle class Nigerian women differ greatly from those of most western women. Since pre-colonial days women retained certain economic opportunities within the social system. In fact, before the middle of the twentieth century, Nigerian women traditionally played a more significant role in society than did western women. Traditional or tribal society in Nigeria expected women to be significant wage earner in the family. • They labored in farming, fishing, herding, and commerce (for instance, pottery, cloth-making, and craft work) alongside Nigerian men. In fact, women traditionally had the right to profit from their work, although the money usually served as a contribution to the family income. This economic freedom was much different from many western societies, where women had to fight for the right to work. These traditions still survive in modern Nigeria.

27. Women Continued • However, Nigerian men do not value the economic contributions of their wives. They do not view the woman's job and household work as especially taxing. For the most part, Nigerian men consistently take their wives for granted. Moreover, even with economic opportunities, Nigerian women lack certain rights. As a rule, men do not have any legal responsibility for their offspring, and they often abandon women, expecting them to carry the financial burden of the family.

28. Marriage in Nigeria • The Nigerian institution of marriage is unconventional by western standards. The traditional and Islamic systems of polygamy flourish within every social class. Women expect very little from men in terms of companionship, personal care, and fidelity. Their relationships exist without the emotional elements. • Polygamy is a crucial component of many women's lives. Women depend on the other wives of their husbands. The younger co-wives take on many of the household and financial responsibilities. As women get older they have the comfort of knowing that the burden of their marriage does not fall solely on their shoulders. • A woman's position in society changes vastly once they marry since she becomes a possession, with relatively no rights in her husband's family. In fact, the husband's mother and sisters have much more of an influence over him than his own wife. The wife resents this lack of control or even respect within their marriage.

29. Political Roles for Women • Today women play a minimal role in politics, although the 1979 Constitution guaranteed their rights. In pre-colonial Nigeria, women had a much larger position in politics. Unfortunately, the western influences restricted women's participation. Now, women have relatively little opportunity to become involved. The political parties do not look favorably upon female candidates. • As western values gained influence in colonial nigeria, women lost some of their traditional rights. For the most part, women in Nigeria have not attempted to rise in their male dominated society and patriarchy continues to thrive. But as time passes, women are beginning to demand some equality. Perhaps they will be able to reconcile the rights of the past with the freedoms of a modern age.