Political+and+Economic+Change

//Jenna Murdoch// =Pre-Colonial Nigeria (800 - 1861)= //Canoes on the Niger River, 1841 by William Allen//
 * Nigeria's geographical location has dictated its development since the beginning. The savanna areas allowed the Saharan Berbers to travel and easily trade with north Africa while the south remained isolated.
 * Change occurred through cultural diffusion (contact with and spread of customs of other people), particularly through the diffusion of Islam. This change occurred gradually until a Muslim group called the Fulani came to the north through jihad (or Islamic holy war) and set up a central government.
 * In 1808, the Fulani established a Muslim state called Soko Caliphate and took over the north, northeast, center, and some of the northeast of Nigeria.
 * The Caliphate traded with Europe, and by 1900, they had fallen under British rule. However, in spite of colonization, northern Nigeria retained the Caliphate tradition of strong government and Muslim influence.
 * Development of southern Nigeria was somewhat different. Most people lived communally and their close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean gave them earlier contact to European traders, who converted a number of southern Nigerians to Christianity even before the country went under colonial rule.
 * Southern Nigeria also became a major hub for slave trade. The Portuguese began sending people to the New World for slave trade in the 16th century, but the slave trade didn't reach its height until the 17th century, when Dutch, British, French, and Spanish traders joined in and began displacing people in large numbers. The practice continued for two centuries.

=The Colonial Era (1861 - 1960)= //The colonial flag of Nigeria.//
 * In 1860, the British imposed indirect rule over Nigeria by training natives (particularly in the south) to create a bureaucracy that mirrored European bureaucratic structure. The country was used as a trading outlet and the British took advantage of its resources and cheap human labor.
 * The north was less susceptible to change because they had already developed an organized political structure under the Caliphate and the British government left it mostly intact, but they did give more power to the political elites and created tensions between the north and south that would later lead to conflict.
 * Western-style education became normalized as well, and Christian missionaries set up schools subsidized by the British government. The first institution of higher education was established in 1934 and the first university was founded in 1948.
 * Though this did increase literacy, it created greater inequality because the educated elite became separated from the rest of the country and reaped most economic benefits. It also widened the rift between the north and south because educated southern Nigerians came to see northerners as uncivilized.

=Modern Nigeria (1960 - present)=

=Reactions to Political and Economic Change=
 * The British started preparing Nigeria for decolonization by educating them and training them to take positions in the bureaucracy. The country gained independence in 1960.
 * In 1966, the parliamentary government was replaced by a military dictatorship and started a trend of coups d'etat and political instability. In 1979, military dictator Olusegun Obasanjo stepped down for the democratically elected Shehu Shagari, but he was driven out of office in 1983 by General Muhammad Buhari. There were two more coups after this that kept the country under military rule until Obasanjo was elected as a civilian in 1999.
 * Every election since has been filled with violence and voting fraud.
 * Ethnic conflict has become commonplace as well, for the British promoted a heightened sense of ethnic differences. Battles for control of the country have become heavily based on ethnicity and tensions are only getting higher.
 * The current leader of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, was elected to office in 2011. Because many felt that it was time for a northern Muslim candidate to run, his victory was met with tremendous controversy and led to violence in the north amidst allegations of election fraud.
 * Nigeria's instability and corruption have once again provoked the "national question" - can Nigeria survive as a country?
 * A lack of government representation has led to widespread discontent and occasional violence (as seen in the 2011 election) in the north.
 * Some reactionary groups such as Boko Haram have worked to abolish the secular system of governance in favor of the establishment of Sharia law.
 * Though Nigeria's rich natural resources have allowed them to develop a strong economy, income inequality is still a major concern. 90.8% of the population earns less than $2 a day and the bottom 20% of the population holds only 4.4% of the nation's wealth (compared to the richest 20%, who earn 55.7% of the nation's wealth).
 * The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), an umbrella organization of Nigerian labor unions, has had a significant presence in Nigerian politics over the last decade. Their conflict with the government has largely resulted from energy policy and consequent rising fuel prices.

WORKS CITED: Nigeria packet http://www.nlcng.org/ http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/eco_cou_566.pdf http://topics.cnn.com/topics/nigeria https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html