Comparative Politics Project, political science assignment help

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Running head: CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE How frequent shifts from civilian to military rule and back exacerbated Nigeria's social and economic problems Student’s name University affiliation Course Date 1 CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE 2 Outline 1. Title page 2. Thesis 3. Introduction 4. Main project body 5. Recommendations 6. Conclusion 7. References Thesis It is suggested that Nigeria’s economy has been in shambles. Even though there were some periods when the Nigerian economy was growing at a significant rate. During these periods the future looked very promising. However, during all these period Nigeria has not made any substantial steps which could improve and change the living standards of most of the citizens due to continuous shifts from civilian to military rule and back again. This paper will, therefore, discuss how recurrent shifts from civilian to military rules and back worsen Nigeria’s economic and social problems and the direction which Nigeria should take in future to prevent these problems. Introduction Nigeria is among the countries that have tried to transition from authoritarian rule to democratic rule, however, they have been faced with a number of challenges in trying to achieve this. Although there are positive signs for the Fourth Republic, as it has been discovered by CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE 3 political scientists in other countries, it still has a long way to go before we can be able to feel and be certain that it will endure the transition. How frequent shifts from civilian to military rules and back again exacerbated the social and economic problems of Nigeria. Nigeria’s economy in the past decades has declined intensely due to unpromising and uncertain future which is brought about by unstable political conditions resulting from continuous shifts from civilian to military rule and back to civilian rule. Typically Nigeria has an economy of a third world country, the majority of Nigerians live in poverty. Generally, the Nigerian economy is largely made up of export of unprocessed products and import of manufactured goods, investment capital, and some foods. This dependency on imported products makes Nigeria vulnerable because it relies mostly on imported manufactured products whose prices continue to vary in the world market. When the world market prices fluctuate Nigeria is largely affected as the prices fluctuate upwards, this means that Nigeria continues to spend extra money on the imported manufactured goods. Nigeria is a major exporter of oil and therefore its economy is expected to be among the best economies in the world, however, this has not been the case as most of the development which they attempted continued to fail. The economy started to decelerate in the mid-1980s and it has not fully recovered despite the adoption of several adjustment policies brought about by World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global financial institutions. These economic failures are reflections of the corruption and mismanagement of previous regimes both civilian and military rules (Achebe, 1983). The oil prices in the world market dropped in 1998 from about $21 to $14 per barrel in a period of six months, this decline cost Nigeria about a third of the total export revenues which it relied on to pay for its imported manufactured goods. During this period Nigeria had to reduce a CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE 4 number of goods which it imported thereby worsening the state of the economy. Strikes which arose due to Nigerian government attempts to raise the price of gasoline together with persistent violence around delta region that facilitated the shutting down of both Total and Shell for an extended period hindered oil production, the shutting down of both Total and Shell oil production activities was brought about continued threats of attacks on their personnel and facilities (Mowoe, 1998). The shutting down of these oil companies for a long period had a great impact on the living standards of the people as most people who were previously employed in these companies lost their jobs, they were not able to provide for themselves and their families. This led to the increase in crimes and deterioration of the economy which was not stable at that time. Both previous civilian and military regimes failed to create a conducive environment for both economic and social developments, the unstable and unsafe areas such as Delta region could not permit social activities such as the free interaction of people from different ethnic backgrounds due to fear of terror attacks, the recent being the Boko Haram threat. There are some areas where Nigerian citizens cannot move freely within their own country due to fear resulting from terrorist activities. Boko Haram kidnapped over two hundred school girls whom they held their hostages while they demanded the government to release some of their members who were arrested by the government. They denied these girls their rights to education and parental care, nevertheless, these girls were also assaulted, raped and physically abused. Most urban Nigerians prefer trading in the black markets making it difficult to determine the official value of Nigerian currency because it is not a good indicator of its actual value, the naira is thus worth a bit less than the standard market exchange rates. In the 1980s the value of naira dropped by about half and the trend continued throughout the 1990s, in the year 1999 the open market value of the U.S dollar was worth 95 nairas, while the approved exchange rate was CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE 5 50 naira for one U.S dollar. Military government insiders took advantage of this gap and bought naira at the lower official rate and sold them for a profit at the black market, this worsen the state of the Nigerian economy as the insiders of the military government enriched themselves while majority of the citizens continued to live in poverty where they could hardly afford even the basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and medical care. On the other hand, the military rulers and their families afforded good foods, better shelter, expensive clothes and excellent medical care some even were seeking for treatment overseas for simple diseases such as headaches which could be treated in hospitals within Nigeria (Dike, 1999). The inflation rate of Nigerian economy rose from twelve percent in the year 1987 to about fifty percent in the year 1989. Despite the reduction of inflation to between 10 and 12 percent after the year 2000, the unemployment problem was not solved. The unemployment rate is estimated to be not less than 30 percent, most Nigerians are affected by the high unemployment rate resulting from negative factors such corruption whereby in most cases for you to secure a job in most companies regardless of your academic or experience qualifications you have to give out bribes. Those people from poor families become the majority of the victims because they are not able to raise money to bribe employers, they, therefore, fail to get employment opportunities and continues to live in poverty thereby worsening their economic and social wellbeing. There has been an increase in economic inequality as adjustment policies generally provide few incentives and therefore the beneficiaries of the economic growth are not capable of dealing with poverty issues and other social problems. The refusal of Obasanjo to adhere to IMF demands also worsen the condition of the Nigerian economy as it complicated the adjustment policies which were meant to help in raising the Nigerian economy. Moreover, Obasanjo’s close CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE 6 connections with Babangida government officials complicated and delayed the privatization of most projects. The direction which Nigeria should take in future The current Nigerian government should use the democratic principles to advance the living standards of the disadvantaged group and re-incorporate those who have been excluded from the economic, social and political system by the military rule back into the society because the poor group who have carried the baggage for a very long time also deserves a break. When these democratic principles are properly implemented will help in solving Nigeria’s current economic and social problems which are brought about by recurrent shifts of civilian rule to military rule and back. Additionally, it will help in preventing Nigeria’s future social and economic problems which may result from the shifts of these rules (Awosika, 1999). Nigerians should also ensure that they only elect to power only those leaders with good leadership skills. A good leader is one who is capable of making things which would not have happened to happen. Good governance is another important aspect which Nigerian electorates must strive for (Hariman, 2006). Good governance will help in preventing future economic and social problems which may result from the recurrent shifts of civilian and military rules. Lastly, the Nigerian government should ensure transparency in its state activities to avoid any doubts that its citizens may have and reduce the level of corruption in Nigeria so as to prevent economic and social problems which may occur in future (Dike, 1999). Conclusively, it is evident from this paper that the people of Nigeria would be even better off if the country was to split up into three or more parts representing major geographic the ethnic divisions of the First Republic. Nigerian economic and social status have been affected CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE over the years by recurrent shifts in civilian and military rules, corruption, underdevelopment, ethnic strife, religion differences between Christians and Muslims which result to violence between the two. In order to prevent future social and economic problems, Nigeria should fully implement democratic principles to ensure that there are democracy and equality within Nigeria where each citizen have an equal opportunity to resources. In addition, Nigerians should also elect only visionary leaders with good leadership skill into office and the Nigerian government should be transparent to minimize the corruption cases. 7 CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE 8 References Dike, V. (1999). Leadership, Democracy, and the Nigerian Economy: Lessons from the Past and Directions for the Future. Achebe, C. (1983). The Trouble with Nigeria. Enugu, Fourth Dimension Publishers. Awosika, K. (1999). "A president’s responsibilities." The Guardian. Hariman, T. (2006). “Is There a Future for Democracy in Nigeria?” The text of Public Lecture Presented at the Department of International Development, Oxford University.
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Running head: CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE

Nigeria's Social and Economic Problems As a Result of Poor Leadership
Student’s name
Institution Affiliation
Course
Date

1

CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE

2
Outline

Introduction ………………………………………………….. 3
Main project body ……………………………………………..3
Recommendations ……………………………………………..6
Conclusion ……………………………………………………..7
References ………………………………………………1……..8

CIVILIAN AND MILITARY RULE

3

Introduction
Nigeria is among the few countries that have tried to transition from authoritarian rule to
democratic governance. However, they have been faced with some challenges in trying to
achieve this. Although there are positive signs for the Fourth Republic, as it has been discovered
by political scientists in other countries, the country still has a long way to go before its citizens
can be able to feel the effects of the transition. It is suggested that Nigeria's economy has been in
shambles for some time now despite there being some periods when the economy was growing
at a significant rate. During these years, the future looked very promising. However, in all this
time, Nigeria has not made any substantial steps which could improve and change the living
standards of most of the citizens due to continuous shifts from civilian to military rule and back
again. This paper will discuss how recurrent changes from civilian to military rules and back
worsen Nigeria's economic and social problems and the direction which Nigeria should take in
future to prevent these problems.
How frequent shifts from civilian to military rules and back again exacerbated the
social and economic problems of Nigeria.
Nigeria's economy in the past has declined intensely due to unpromising and uncertain
future which has been brought about by unstable political conditions resulting from continuous
shifts between civilian to military rule and back. Typically, Nigeria has an economy of a third
world country with the majority of the populat...


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