The Role of the Military in Nigeria Politics

Two futures for Africa are possible-one with a democratic and stable Nigeria, and one with a Nigeria stricken by autocratic rule, corruption, and intermittent coups. An entire continent awaits the result of the Nigerian experiment with democracy. Nigeria has the resources and can provide leadership to foster greater regional and international cooperation, leadership that many of Nigeria's neighbors need. A successful Nigerian democracy would provide hope for many of Africa's other burgeoning democracies.

Intrastate conflict has historically been savage and chaotic; nowhere have these descriptors been more fitting than within African civil wars. A legacy of colonialism, ineffective governance, and regional conflict scars the continent, resulting in regular political instability within its territories. The Nigerian civil war of the late 1960s cost the lives of an estimated three-million people- the majority of whom were civilians who succumbed to starvation (NWE 2015). This conflict has traditionally been understood to have been caused by ethnic tensions within the state, and justifiably so (Falola 1999, 125). The ethnic cleansing of the Igbo that occurred throughout September and October of 1966 in northern Nigeria undoubtedly played a

War was inevitable: ‘This simple and seemingly innocuous action broke the last thread and split the last institution symbolizing Nigeria's nationhood and cohesion which had been regularly tampered with by the politicians since 1962. The rift between the Eastern Region and the rest of the country was total’ (ibid). In a meeting convened in Aburi, Ghana, by Ghanaian general Gen. Ankrah, leader of the eastern region military Lt. Col. Ojukwu understood the real issues at hand and convinced attendees that the only way for Nigeria to stay together is that it has to break apart, effectively implying secession. After a breakdown in communication, a frustrated federal government passes Decree no. 8 of 17th March 1967, which split Nigeria’s regions into twelve states. This was seen by Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon as a pre-emptive, non-violence weapon against the east. The eastern region was split into 3 states. Lt. Col. Ojukwu unsurprisingly rejected Decree no. 8 and states that the Enugu, (capital of Nigeria’s eastern region) is headed for secession. On the 30th of May 1967, the eastern region of Nigeria declares itself as the independent sovereign state of Biafra. The Federal military fired the first bullet on the 6th of July 1967. Now this essay will turn to providing a background to the development of Realism as an analytical theory of International Relations.

Nigeria would soon become a prime example of the issues with arbitrary borders and the long term effects they can create. Nigeria would gain its independence in 1960 and would become a Federal Republic with three regions. This federalist republic would bring out regional rivalries and fears amongst the people. Violence against Igbo would erupt around the North and soon after `the Southeast secedes as Biafra. (Reno, pg. 2) A three year war would follow and illness and hunger within Biafra would prevail. Britain got involved in the issue and would aid Nigeria in pulling Biafra back in as a way to avoid a chain reaction. Eventually, the Southeast region would give in, and return to Nigeria. However, regional distrust remained an issue, and would take on ethnic and religious dimensions for years to come. In addition, there was a deep disregard to many of the institutions and practices that had already been set in place by the people.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Political Science

40% of sub-Saharan countries have experienced civil war largely because of differences in cultural and political beliefs. On prominent African civil war existed in Nigeria where after gaining their independence, cultural differences led the Ibo people to rebel against the government and declare independence as the Republic of Biafra. “A 3 year war ensued that left hundreds of thousands dead” (Ellis and Esler 1030). Similar wars existed in countries throughout the continent, greatly hurting Africa’s economic

Nigeria was having an internal war that the Muslims started with the Ibos. It started when they gained independence in 1960. They adopted the feudal systems and had to share power with Lagos, and three state governments in the north, east, and west. In 1964, the Ibos seized power and declared a central dictatorship. The Muslims of the north didn’t like the Ibos because they weren’t Muslim. So they sparked a war in 1967. The Ibos, after a group of northern officers obtained the government positions, created their own

The political and administrative arms of government could be identified as the power structures described within the case study. The political arm being responsible for the legislation and the administrative arm for advice and implementation. Without these power structures the impacts of the legislation may never have arisen. The issue is both an individual and societal problem, due to culture, behaviour and norms that have allowed these problems to arise and grow. The societal aspect is the bigger influencer here

The Republic of Niger, a poor, landlocked country, located in the heart of Sub-Saharan West Africa. Niger has seen its fair share of change throughout the decades; moving away from the control of the French Parliament in 1960, Niger formally declared its independence. Despite this bold act of independence, Niger would not see its first steps towards democracy until the early 1990’s, when they held their first open election as a free state. However, even with the empowerment of the people in a democratic government, Niger has seen itself nearly torn apart as a result constant coups, that have occurred as recently as 2010. Such instability has led to incredulous amounts of corruption and poverty, within the Niger government. This lack of stability and constant turnover in government, has been a driving factor behind the lack of resources available for education in Niger.

In this paper I will discuss Nigeria, a country that was created by European imperialism. Nigeria is located on the Atlantic Coast in West Africa and is border by Benin, Chad, and Cameroon. It is the largest country in Africa. Nigeria has three main tribes which are the Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo and other tribes as well. The official language of Nigeria is English although, the Yoruba, Ibo, and Hausa tribes represent the principal native language. Dance and music are a focal point in the Nigerian livelihood. The traditional Nigerian uses dance at births and deaths, on happy and sad occasions, and in worship. Nigerian music consists of many instruments. They are the trumpets, brass, vocals, percussion frame drums, kettle drums, double bass, flutes, and the electric guitar. Drums are considered very important to the Nigerian music and dances. In the Nigerian culture, art serves as a social or religious purpose. Nigeria is a celebratory country. Many holidays and festivities are observed by the Nigerian community to preserve their cultural heritage. Two of the most common are the National Day and The New Yam Festival. Traditional Nigerians have

Okeke,2014. Pressure groups and policy process in Nigeria: a case of fourth republic. Nigeria: Vincent Onyekwelu Su

The first was the weak sense of nationalism caused by all the ethnic groups where religion played a major part of the division. The main three ethnicities in Nigeria are Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo; the former is Muslim while the two latter are Christians. The second cause mentioned was the “divide and rule” which was a British tactic to employ ethnic groups against one another, and thus “helped ensure that ethnicity would be the main line of political cleavage after Nigeria became an independent country.” The third cause is the personal rule system based on “big men” and what this means is that Nigerian’s who worked for the British used their personal relationships to gain power and wealth, and in a certain way it is still used today in the Nigerian government. The fourth devastating cause was the “creation of an increasingly active and interventionist state during WWII and after until its independence in 1960, but that opened the doors to patronage, which would be used to gain political power and wealth. The past reveals the problems Nigeria has had for several decades, some of which have not disappeared but seem to get progressively worse. (CITATION)

     Nigeria has been a country in political turmoil for a long time. The country was created in 1914 under British colonial rule and at that time it was considered a protectorate. It was not until 1960 that Nigeria received independence from the United Kingdom. One of Nigeria's problems politically is that it has over three hundred different ethnic groups. The three largest of these are the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba. At the time of the independence of Nigeria it was split up into three states with each state being under the control of one of the major ethnic groups. The natural resources of the other 297 ethnic groups were exploited for the major three groups,

When Singapore 's state-run investment arm Temasek Holdings bought Thailand 's Shin Corp telecommunications conglomerate in 2006, its 73 billion baht (US$2.2 billion) acquisition of Shin Satellite was a strategic afterthought. Temasek was known to have purchased Shin Corp from

Eventhough there might be distortion in achieving government policy, which is sometime is cause by unavoidable external cause, the citizen are expecting Public Administration would be handle it in a way that would bring less impact to the society. In order to satisfy citizen’s almost idealistic expectations, Public Administration must have the sense of highest integrity. Government are entrusted with public funds and resources, and must adhere to the highest ethical standards. Honesty, integrity, propriety, and objectivity, These goals can only be achieved through a combination of individual proffesionalism, personal standards and rigorous control framework (Deloitte). These years, people are began to question government officials integrity and government are trying to promotes the importance of integrity to their officials as well as to the citizens. For example in Malaysia, the government had establish Malaysian Integrity Instituition and Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission, that would receive reports from citizens regarding the misbehaviour of government officials.