NIGERIAPart 1

• conflict in the Niger Delta– MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta)– goal: greater oil profits should go to people of the Delta states– methods: violence, kidnapping, siphoning, gun running– effects: foreign oil companies have left Nigeria or cut production– Army has attempted to contain the rebels, but violence continues

• structural adjustment– international oil prices fell in early ’80s, Nigeria developed

enormous debt, turned to World Bank, IMF– shock treatment:

• (1) restructure and diversify Nigerian economy, decrease dependence on oil

• (2) reduce government spending and privatize parastatals

– very mixed results

• Global economic crisis, 2008:

– good news:• successful bank reform initiative in Obasanjo’s second term

• debt actually reduced under structural adjustment

• agricultural production and prices remained strong

– bad news:• decrease in oil prices led to currency devaluation

• Stock Exchange declines, housing prices dropped, international tourism dried up

• inability to provide electricity privatization of power companies reversed

• “federal character”– federalism: desirable in theory

• power shared, representation enhanced, contact points with government increased, democratic rule achieved

– “federal character” in Nigeria: recognize people of all ethnicities, religions and regions, taking their needs into account

– Federal character embodied in Nigerian constitution• Electoral representation, regional thresholds

– Negative effects of federalism:• divide rather than unify• bloat and promote corruption within the bureaucracy• competition for government resources and political benefits

– demand for devolution• Niger Delta region demands for control of revenue• Northerners lack resources – support redistribution, oppose

‘true federalism’

• democratization:– change since Nigeria’s last military regime, 1999

• some privatization

• alleviation of poverty: public wages increased, some illegally diverted funds returned to state treasury

– some checks and balances between branches of government• Obasanjo’s bid to change constitution to allow 3rd term rejected

by legislature

– some judicial independence– revival of civil society– independent media

• has made it more difficult to hide electoral fraud

– peaceful transition of power

• intertwining of economic and political problems: main stumbling block to democratization