Nigeria

OIL-RICH NIGERIA is Africa's most populous country with an estimated 133 to 137 million residents from more than 250 ethnic and tribal groups. No census has been taken since 1960, some would say because of the decentralized, right-wing nature of the national government, which under a 1999 constitution has delegated political power away from the capital, giving extensive local authority and autonomy to its 36 states.

In 2003, 28 political parties registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to participate in the next election, and 22 of the parties were new to the political scene. Nigeria had not held successful elections under civilian rulers since independence from Britain in 1960, with attempts in the mid-1960s and in 1983 ending in violence and army coups. Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999. A peaceful transition to civilian government was completed with right-centrist and retired [Page 801]Army General Olusegun Obasanjo as president. In 2003's national balloting, Obasanjo was reaffirmed as president with almost 62 percent of the vote.

Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria, addresses the Millennium Summit of the United Nations.

What makes Nigeria unique is its almost even population split between Muslim and Christian, and what some would say is the army's role in ensuring that the poorer Muslim north has dominated the oil-rich Christian south. This was done by decentralizing power and giving ultimate authority to the outlying states.

Muslims make up a significant majority in the north, as opposed to a mostly Christian population in the south. The predominantly Christian Ibo tribe of the oil-rich Biafra region in southeast Nigeria tried unsuccessfully in the 1960s to secede, and was forced into submission during a brutal civil war by Nigeria's predominantly Muslim military. The forced starvation of at least 1 million Ibo men, women, and children is listed among history's worst genocides, ranking in the top 10 after Hitler's decimation of European civilians, Mao's purges during the Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot's forced evacuation of Cambodia's cities, and Menghitsu's starvation of an estimated 1.5 million Ethiopians. The result was that Nigeria retained its major source of foreign revenue, oil and gas, which provide 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product, 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings, and about 65 percent of the government budget.

The Ibos are Christian and have a strong entrepreneurial spirit. They are predominantly right-leaning, supporting a free-market economy and autonomous local government. They dominate Nigerian commerce and finance. However, Muslims have historically controlled the military. That power has been used to ensure the dominance of the north. Ibo support of strong local government instead of centralized power has protected their interests, but has also promulgated a growing and aggressive Islamist radicalism in the north. Local governors were given a free hand to institute state religion.

In 2004, 12 Nigerian northern states had officially instituted the official enforcement of Shari'a or Islamic religious law. This is permitted under the 1999 national constitution, which grants unusual autonomy to each state. Shari'a provides stern penalties for moral of-fenses, such as the cutting off of hands for theft and the stoning of “adulterous” women, which has occurred in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara. It is also used to enforce respect for Islam with severe penalties for conversion to Christianity, speaking against the authority of the Koran holy book, or making comments disparaging of the Prophet Mohammed. Another out-growth has been the spread of Islamist terrorism.

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