Analysis of Nigeria: General Issues Writing Assignment (Case Study Sample)

Analysis of Nigeria
Name
Institution
Analysis of Nigeria
General Issues
The Republic of Nigeria is country located in West Africa. The country borders Benin on the west while on the eastern side it borders Cameroon and Chad. On the northern side, it borders Niger while on the south it borders the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. In 1963 the country was declared a republic, and it commemorates it on 1st October every year. Its capital city is Abuja which was developed in the 1980s. Abuja was named the capital of Nigeria in 1991 replacing Lagos. Nigeria government is that of presidential Federal Republic. The official language is English, and it is used in legal, business transactions and education. Naira is the official currency of Nigeria and is subdivided into Kobo. One hundred Kobo are equivalent to one Naira ("Facts about Nigeria | Nigeria Facts," 2016)
The current exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira against United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) is 85.833 Nigerian Naira is equal to one AED. The laws passed by the Nigerian government are available and can be accessed from the central website; the website is Nigeria Law Report website. The Constitution of Nigeria can also be obtained from the site. Nigeria Law Report website stores the judgment of the Supreme Court and the court of appeal (“Nigeria Law Reports,” 2016).
Special issues
The national assembly of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature. It was established under section four of the country’s constitution. The Senate consists of one hundred and nine members, whereas the House of Representative consists of 360 members. The senate’s head is the called the President of the Nigerian State. The house is led by Speaker of the House of Representative. The Senate president chairs any joint session of the two houses. The Assembly conducts oversight functions and scrutinizes bills. The assembly also performs scrutiny on government officials. Both houses must pass a bill and approved by the president to become law. In extreme cases, the Assembly can overrule the executive when it deems fit.
Nigeria has a federal government whereby the head of state exercises the executive power. The president is both the head of National Government and Head of the state. He/she is elected in a democratic process after gathering a majority vote. The office of the president is limited to two terms only for each president. The state governments are headed by the governors who are also elected by a majority vote. The Central Government supports the state governments. The state government allocates funds to the state governments so that they can run their internal affairs efficiently.
The judiciary interprets the law and upholds the law. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, High Court, Magistrate Courts and Sharia courts.
The legal system is a combination of statutory, common law of England, Islamic Sharia law and customary law. Local courts in Nigeria use Islamic and customary laws in their judgments. Statutory and common law are applied in the Federal and state courts. It has been noted that a lot of corruption is recorded in the Nigerian courts. Judicial officers receive bribes to influence decisions.
Currently, all government branches are headquartered in the city of Abuja. Some of the prominent officials in Nigeria include; President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osimbajo. The Senate president is called Bukora Saraki; the House Speaker is named Yakubu Dogara and Mahmud Mohammed who is the Chief Justice. Nigeria is a multi-party republic; thus there exist many political parties. Some of the major political parties include; All Progressive Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African People’s Alliance (APA).
Stability of the Nigerian government is very fragile due to some factors attributed to it. The first problem that destabilizes the government is the terrorist group of Boko Haram. This Islamic group has played a very significant role in destabilizing the government. The presence of a Muslim majority in the north of the country and a Christian majority in the south has also had destabilizing effects. The Muslims yearn to have their independent state alone which the government vehemently refuses.
Overreliance on petroleum revenues has had an adverse effect on the stability of the government. Lower prices of oil lead to deficits which the government is unable to meet due to lack of a diversified economy (Eze & Ogiji 2016).
Several changes have been initiated in Nigeria in the last 2-3 years. President Muhammudu Buhari won the presidency from Goodluck Jonathan. The government has tried to fight corruption to some extent. This has led to some top officials in government charged with fraud. The menace of Boko Haram has been dealt with by the Nigerian Army with help from the American Government.
The foreign affairs of the Republic of Nigeria ...