GST 112

NIGERIAN PEOPLE AND CULTURE

 MODULE FOUR: NIGERIA AND
CHALLENGES OF NATION BUILDING

By
Hafsat Yahaya Yakasai PhD
Department of Public Administration
Bayero University, Kano
07030486501
[Link]@[Link]
 Introduction
The periods of colonial government in Nigeria witnessed
resistance by group of people called the nationalist, to mention
a few are people like, King Jaja of Opobo, Nana of Itsekeri,
Attahiru of Sokoto. These were Nigerian nationalist leaders who
resisted European control over their empires and kingdoms.
These groups of people formed the early resistance of British
imperialism. During colonial government in Nigeria, many
traditional rulers were dethroned and exiled from their native
people. The commonality of problems perpetrated by
colonialism promoted the need for nationalism among
Nigerians.

Nationalism is a feeling of national conscious of group of people

living in a geographical location who shared common interest
and destiny to gain independence because of the ruthless,
exploitative, oppressive and suppressive nature of colonial
government.
 Introduction contd…
How ever, certain factors necessitated nationalism in Nigeria.
These include:
•Formation of political parties: the activities of political parties
created awareness and become among the vanguard of
Nationalist movement for instance, Nigeria National democratic
party (NNDP) by Harbert Macauley, the Action Group (AG)
•The role of press: contributed immensely towards exposing the
exploitation of colonial government like Lagos weekly record,
daily news, the comet and the Daily Times.
•The activities of British labor party.
•The independence of other countries like ; India and Pakistan in
1947.
•The Atlantic Charter of 1941 which brought about Universal
Human Rights as well as the advocates for free environment.
Other factors that promoted nationalism in Nigeria were;
 Introduction contd…
•The West African Students Union,
•The defeat of Britain by Japan,
•World economic depression of 1930 among others,

These struggles culminated with other factors to secure

independence for Nigeria on 1st October, 1960. Between 1960-
1966, the country operated a multi-party system and practiced a
parliamentary system government which was modeled on the
British tradition. Nigeria had a ceremonial President representing
the Queen of England until the country attained a republic status in
1963, when the Queen of England ceased to be the Head of State
of Nigeria. However, the practice was not sustained for long as the
period witnessed much political turmoil causing its short life span.
 CHALLENGES OF NATION
BUILDING IN NIGERIA
Nation-building refers to a process whereby people transfer their
commitment and loyalty from smaller ethnic groups, villages or
petty principalities to the larger central political system. The
process of nation-building is the cultivation of a people of
political attitudes, beliefs and values (Almond, Powell, Storm, &
Dalton, 2014 and Smith, 1971).

Since independence, Nigeria has been saddled with a lot of

challenges to transform itself into a viable and functional nation.
Some of these challenges include: corruption, federalism,
resource distribution, ethno-regionalism, religion, electoral
violence, terrorism and governance among others. these
challenges paved way for military incursion into Nigerian
government and politics with the aim of nation building.
 MILITARY RULE IN NIGERIA AND ITS IMPACT ON THE SOCIETY

Traditionally, the Military are essentially meant to perform some basic functions
as follows:
1) Defend Nigeria from external aggression;
2) Maintenance of its territorial and security boarders from violation,
3) Suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order
when called upon to do so by the president and
4) Perfecting such other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the
National Assembly. These functions are discussed extensively under Section
197(1) of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.

The first military coup in Nigeria was that of January 15th 1966. Followed by that
of July 1966 in the same year. The third was in July 1975 when general Murtala
became the Head of State. In 1983 Major General Buhari overthrew the
government and became the Head of State. In 1985 Babangida toppled the
government of Buhari, in 1993 Late General SaniAbacha emerged as the Head
of State, Abacha died in June 1998 and General Abdulsalam took over. After a
prolonged period of military rule, the country returned to civilian government in
1999.
 Reasons for Military Intervention in Nigerian Politics
•The colonial legacy
Onuorah (2005) observed that the British policy of divide and
rule led to the regionalization of politics during the colonial era
which provided basis for the post independence politics of First
and Second Republics. This practice divided the country into
three regions deliberately drew the political map of the country
which made the emergence of a nationally accepted leadership
difficult as emerging political parties never had a cross national
outlook rather, they were formed on the basis of ethnic identity
of each region (cited in Edigin, 2010) The consequence was
ethnic and religious tensions over economic and educational
development especially between the Northern and Western
regions thereby accentuating National rivalries and ethnic
sentiments in the First Republic which warranted Military
intervention and also led to the eruption of the Nigerian civil
war in 1966.
•Electoral Crisis
Among the important cardinal principles of democracy is to hold free and
fair election so that the emerging government could be accepted and gain
wider popularity. Nigeria, however, is characterized by poor culture visible
in the citizens and politicians attitudes of intolerance to opposition,
corruption in electoral acts, nepotism, violence and other negative political
behaviors. This has formed the genesis for post electoral violence at
different historical periods in Nigeria, thereby serving as fertile grounds for
the Military to intervene. The assertion also corresponds to the second
theory which postulated that conflicts based on specific issues in the
society are reasons for military incursion in developing nations like Nigeria.

•Political Decay and Incompetence of Democratically elected Leaders

There is often claim by the military for their involvement in politics as a
result of decay in the political system. It is based on the assumption that
whenever the political system is about to collapse, the military is likely to
intervene and this has been the Nigerian situation.
• Corporate interest of the Military and its undue politicization
In a submission by Ikekegbe (1995), it was enunciated that the reasons for
Military intervention in politics is the desire to protect their corporate interest
from threats through reduced resource allocation, interferences and poor
welfare (cited in Edigin, 2010). He added that whatever the political background
of a coup d’ etat may be, when the army acts it does so for some reasons.
Therefore vested interest and personal ambitions of some officers cannot be
eliminated in the occurrences of coups. The Military counter Coup
masterminded by General Ibrahim Babangida in August 27, 1985 against his
colleague; General Muhammadu Buhari serves as a good example. Similarly, the
politicization of the Nigerian armed forces took its root from 1960 when they
were been called upon by civilian leaders to perform national duties.

•Economic Mismanagement
The military intervened in the politics due to the slow socio-economic
development of the country. The Nigerian experience is embedded in such
problems as social and economic crises, inflation and economic
mismanagement. Other reasons are tribalism and nepotism especially in the
recruitments, appointments and promotions within the civil service, failure of
the administrations to deliver basic services, wide spread poverty among others.
 THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR
•Civil war is a conflict that emerges within a particular society or state, it is an
internal crisis of a state, which may lead to loss of lives and properties.

•Most African societies faced problems of war within their societies; there was
in Sierra-leone, Liberia, and even in Europe for example the Spanish Civil War.

•The most tragic political conflict that occurred in the Nigerian political history
was the civil war, which was also known as the Biafran war, 6 July 1967-15
January 1970 was a war that was fought to counter the secession of Biafra from
Nigeria. Biafra represented nationalist aspiration of the Igbo people, whose
leadership felt deeply that they could no longer coexist with Nigerian federal
government.
Causes of Nigerian civil war
For the purpose of better understanding, the causes of Nigerian civil war are
classified into two, remote causes and immediate causes.
The remote causes were:
❑British divide and rule tactics
❑The British policy of indirect rule, the creation of regions, and separation of
these regions prevented the development of national consciousness among
Nigerians.
❑Unequal development between the regions:-There was unequal development
between the regions in terms of western education, industrialization, availability
of social amenities and these created intense competition between the regions,
the north and east wants to catch-up with the west, the west wanted to
maintain its leads, politicians in each of the region struggle to control the center.
❑The crises of 1965 western regional election:-This is one of the remote causes
of the war; the result of this election was absolutely rejected as there was mass
rigging and manipulation of the conduct of the elections.
❑Politicization of the Nigerian army e.g:- the recruitment, promotion and
dismissal of military were politically influenced rather than based on merit.
❑Economic exploitation:- the First Republic political elites were accused of been
mismanagement of resources and corruption which of course brought about
injustice, and tribalism in the distribution of the resources. Other reasons are:
❑Census crisis of 1962 and 1963
❑Lack of commitment to bring to book the plotters of the 1966 coup
The immediate causes of the war are as follows:-
➢The January 15th 1966 coup led by Igbo army officers which
resulted in the death of prominent Northern and Western political
leaders and senior military officers. This brought a series of
accusations by the Northerners that Igbos wanted to dominate
the country.
➢The July29th 1966 counter coup which clearly resulted to the
death of Ironsi and other Igbo military officers. The counter coup
was done in order to stop the Igbo from dominating the country
and avenge the death of northern political leaders and the
military officers.
➢The imposition of Gowon as the Head of State after the counter
coup of 1966 instead of Brigadier Ogundipe. Hence, the refusal of
Ojukwu to recognize Gowon as his leader created a crisis where
the Igbo break away from the country was unacceptable to the
rest of Nigerians, as a result of which series of conference were
held in search for solution in form of compromise, dialogue and
negotiation.
➢The creation of twelve states and the declaration of state of
emergency by Gowon on 27th May, 1967.
➢The declaration of total war on Nigeria by Ojukwu, the
Governor of Eastern Nigeria.
➢The discovery of oil in the Eastern Nigeria.
➢The federal government determination to crash the rebellion
and maintain the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
 Effects of the Nigerian Civil War

The positive Effects:

▪The civil war crisis led to the creation of more states in the
country.
▪The civil/Biafran war kept the country united as one entity.
▪It made Nigerian Federal Government became more powerful
against the States.
▪The war helped Nigeria to adjust and readjust its foreign policy
and made her to know its true friends in the international
system.
▪The war led to the preparation and adoption of new
constitution
▪Also the Biafran war led to the introduction of new formula for
revenue sharing and allocation.
The Negative Effects:

•The Biafran/civil war crisis led to lost of lives and properties

in Nigeria.
•The civil war crisis disunited the Nigerian Army as it became
divided along ethnic sentiment, which invariably recruitment,
promotion and punishment become politicized.
•It led to stagnation of economic activities in the country as
many industries collapsed.
•The civil war led to academic setback in the country as many
institutions of learning were destroyed while some were
closed.
•A number of families, groups and clans were displaced from
their villages.
RETURN OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA 1999
With the inauguration of the Fourth Republic on May 29,
1999, Nigeria began a democratic journey that has lasted
twenty (20) uninterrupted years. Great hope and
expectations greeted Nigeria’s return to multi-party politics
and civil rule in 1999. However, despite the conduct of six
consecutive general elections (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011,
2015, 2019 and 2023 there are still great doubts over the
health status of democracy in Nigeria simply because it is
yet to achieve the desired ends which prompted
heightened expectations in 1999.