Nigeria Civil Society

Question 1

What numbered republic is Nigeria on now?

Answer 1

Fourth

Question 2

Under what type of government did most of today’s young politicians in Nigeria come of age?

Answer 2

Military authoritarianism

Question 3

What two different worlds do Nigerians straddle in culture and politics?

Answer 3

Western (colonial) and traditional (pre-colonial)

Question 4

How do western and traditional elements conflict in Nigerian society?

Answer 4

Communal societies have been weakened by the individuality of Western culture but the modern state struggles to free itself from ethnic rivalries.

Question 5

What is missing from the relationship between the state and the citizens of Nigeria?

Answer 5

A fundamental reciprocity that there is a common interest that binds them.

Question 6

What religion dominates northern Nigeria?

Answer 6

Islam

Question 7

What religion dominates southern Nigeria

Answer 7

Christianity, mostly in the 19th century through missionary activity.

Question 8

When did north and south Nigeria combine?

Answer 8

1914 when it became a British colony.

Question 9

How have the different religions caused political conflict?

Answer 9

The secular character of the state.

Question 10

How do the two religions view Sharia Law.

Answer 10

Muslims view it as a way of life that transcends secular and state law. Christians view it as a threat to the secular nature of the Nigerian state.

Question 11

What is the proportion of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria?

Answer 11

evenly divided

Question 12

What are the Middle Belt states and why are they so volatile?

Answer 12

Geographic region through which cultural and religious fault lines run. Disputes that don’t have a religious origin can quickly become a religious conflict.

Question 13

What is Boko Haram

Answer 13

a violent fundamentalist group officially called the Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytization and Jihad.

Question 14

What does “Boko Haram” mean?

Answer 14

Western education is sinful.

Question 15

Where is Boko Haram active in Nigeria?

Answer 15

Borno and Yobe states in the northeast.

Question 16

Describe the state of the Nigerian Press.

Answer 16

Lively and irreverent. Sometimes regarded as captive to ethnic and regional constituencies which weakens their national influence and ability to resist attacks on their rights.

Question 17

When the political machinery was controlled by the military in the 1980s and 1990s how did citizens make their voices heard?

Answer 17

Through labor organizations, student groups, and women’s organizations.

Question 18

Who is the biggest employer in Nigeria.

Answer 18

The government.

Question 19

Since the government is the biggest employer, how does that affect the influence of organized labor?

Answer 19

Subject to reprisal by the government, but the potential affect of nationwide strikes gives them influence.

Question 20

Describe the Nigerian business community.

Answer 20

A long history of entrepreneurialism and development but also known for corruption. Many successful business people previously served in the military or sponsor politicians.

Question 21

How does student activism influence Nigerian politics and culture.

Answer 21

Student activism has long been an important feature of Nigerian political life. But they have also spawned violent “cults” that have cooperated with militias and extremist fundamentalist groups.

Question 22

How has technology impacted Nigerian politics?

Answer 22

100 million cell lines were added in 10 years. Nigeria’s service sector doubled in the same time period when the GDP grew by only 6% annually in the same period, signaling a small but rapidly rising middle class. Social media increasingly used to track election violations and organize protests like the ones against the removal of fuel subsidies in 2012, generally independent of ethnic, religious, or sectional elements – united, instead, by general frustration over government corruption.