POLITICAL LIFE

Government. Nigeria is a republic, with the president acting as both

head of state and head of government. Nigeria has had a long history of

coups d'états, military rule, and dictatorship. However, this pattern

was broken on 29 May 1999 as Nigeria's current president, Olusegun

Obasanjo, took office following popular elections. Under the current

constitution, presidential elections are to be held every four years,

with no president serving more than two terms in office. The Nigerian

legislature consists of two houses: a Senate and a House of

Representatives. All legislators are elected to four-year terms.

Nigeria's judicial branch is headed by a Supreme Court, whose members

were appointed by the Provisional Ruling Council, which ruled Nigeria

during its recent transition to democracy. All Nigerians over age

eighteen are eligible to vote.

Leadership and Political Officials. A wealthy political elite dominates

political life in Nigeria. The relationship between the political elite

and ordinary Nigerians is not unlike that between nobles and commoners.

Nigerian leaders, whether as members of a military regime or one of

Nigeria's short-lived civilian governments, have a history of doing

whatever it takes to stay in power and to hold on to the wealth that

this power has given them.

Rural Nigerians tend to accept this noble-peasant system of politics.

Low levels of education and literacy mean that many people in rural

areas are not fully aware of the political process or how to affect it.

Their relative isolation from the rest of the country means that many

do not even think of politics. There is a common feeling in many rural

areas that the average person cannot affect the politics of the

country, so there is no reason to try.

Urban Nigerians tend to be much more vocal in their support of or

opposition to their leaders. Urban problems of housing, unemployment,

health care, sanitation, and traffic tend to mobilize people into

political action and public displays of dissatisfaction.

Political parties were outlawed under the Abacha regime, and only came

back into being after his death. As of the 1999 presidential elections,

there were three main political parties in Nigeria: the People's

Democratic Party (PDP), the All Peoples Party (APP), and the Alliance

for Democracy (AD). The PDP is the party of President Obasanjo. It grew

out of support for opposition leaders who were imprisoned by the

military government in the early 1990s. The PDP is widely believed to

have received heavy financial assistance from the military during the

1999 elections. The APP is led by politicians who had close ties to the

Abacha regime. The AD is a party led by followers of the late Moshood

Abiola, the Yoruba politician who won the general election in 1993,

only to be sent to prison by the military regime.

Social Problems and Control. Perhaps Nigeria's greatest social problem

is the internal violence plaguing the nation. Interethnic fighting

throughout the country, religious rioting between Muslims and

non-Muslims over the creation of Shari'a law (strict Islamic law) in

the northern states, and political confrontations between ethnic

minorities and backers of oil companies often spark bloody

confrontations that can last days or even months. When violence of this

type breaks out, national and state police try to control it. However,

the police themselves are often accused of some of the worst violence.

In some instances, curfews and martial law have been imposed in

specific areas to try to stem outbreaks of unrest.

Poverty and lack of opportunity for many young people, especially in

urban areas, have led to major crime. Lagos is considered one of the

most dangerous cities in West Africa due to its incredibly high crime

rate. The police are charged with controlling crime, but their lack of

success often leads to vigilante justice.

In some rural areas there are some more traditional ways of addressing

social problems. In many ethnic groups, such as the Igbo and the

Yoruba, men are organized into secret societies. Initiated members of

these societies often dress in masks and palm leaves to masquerade as

the physical embodiment of traditional spirits to help maintain social

order. Through ritual dance, these men will give warnings about

problems with an individual's or community's morality in a given

situation. Because belief in witchcraft and evil spirits is high

throughout Nigeria, this kind of public accusation can instill fear in

people and cause them to mend their ways. Members of secret societies

also can act as judges or intermediaries in disputes.

Military Activity. Nigeria's military consists of an army, a navy, an

air force, and a police force. The minimum age for military service is

eighteen.

The Nigerian military is the largest and best-equipped military in West

Africa. As a member of the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), Nigeria is the major contributor to the organization's

military branch, known as ECOMOG. Nigerian troops made up the vast

majority of the ECOMOG forces deployed to restore peace following civil

wars in Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone. Public

dissatisfaction with Nigeria's participation in the Sierra Leonean

crisis was extremely high due to high casualty rates among the Nigerian

soldiers. Nigeria pledged to pull out of Sierra Leone in 1999,

prompting the United Nations to send in peacekeepers in an attempt stem

the violence. While the foreign forces in Sierra Leone are now under

the mandate of the United Nations, Nigerian troops still make up the

majority of the peacekeepers.

Nigeria has a long-running border dispute with Cameroon over the

mineral-rich Bakasi Peninsula, and the two nations have engaged in a

series of cross-boarder skirmishes. Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad

also have a long-running border dispute over territory in the Lake Chad

region, which also has led to some fighting across the borders.