Nigeria's Leadership (Research Paper Sample)

Nigeria’s social and economic problems
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Nigeria is Africa’s major producer of oil and second largest economy in the continent. Its estimated population of over 170 million citizens is roughly divided in two i.e. Christians and Muslims. U.S. political associations with Nigeria, which is often among the six suppliers of oil imports in the U.S, have improved since 1999 when the country made a transition from military rule to civilian rule, and is a major recipient of U.S. foreign relief. The state is also in the top contributors of troops to U.N. pacification undertakings (Birdsall et al 2006).
Despite its promises in the oil mining sector, it faces serious social and economic challenges that have potential to jeopardize stability for both the country and the surrounding region. Since independence, Nigeria has been under military rule. The first civilian president Obasanjo came to power in March 1999. The army had brought down federal public Nigeria to a centralized and authoritarian state. The Hansa speaking Muslims from the North dominated both the government and the Army. They suppressed the demands of other citizens in the country who are mainly Christians and ethnic Ibos and Yorubas (Falola, Encyclopedia Britannica Online).
The transition was not without its own challenges on the social and economic factors of the nation. Even though under the rule of Obasanjo there was improve in the living conditions, ethnic conflicts, friction between Muslims and Christians increased as some Northern and Central regions adopted the Islamic law. Fuels prices also went high a fact that caused nationwide protests over alleged exploitation by oil companies. Obasanjo was also faced with a dispute from Cameroon, a neighboring country, over an oil rich section Peninsula that lay on the border of the two countries where Cameroon was awarded ownership of the section (Falola, Encyclopedia Britannica Online)
Social problems
Nigeria faces numerous social problems due to the frequent shifts from military to civilian leadership. The biggest threat to the social state of the citizens in Nigeria is the presence of Boko Haram, an Islamic sect that was founded in 2002. After a quarrel erupted between the police and the military in 2009, the sect’s popularity grew. The sect members would attack police and government offices. To respond to the crisis, the government launched a crackdown on the members of the group. Shortly after the government embarked on the crackdown, the leader was captured and killed while in police custody as well as his followers. Boko Harams activities grew in intensity and more people were killed either by the government forces or the Boko Harams. Calls for negotiation could not make ease their attacks. The sect is still very active and continues to kidnap innocent civilians (Ploch, 2013).
Religious tensions and communal tensions rife in the country have also had a very adverse effect on the social aspect of the people of Nigeria. As many as 1400 people have been killed in the country since the transition of governance in 1999. Many people point the blame at the laxity of the government towards sectarian groups such as Boko Haram. Other security experts point to the increasing number of armed militias who are loosely organized along religious lines especially in central and northern Nigeria (Ploch, 2013).
Tensions between communities in Nigeria are both ethnic and religious. The fights emanate from competition on resources such as land, education and government jobs. Nigerian puts a very high emphasis on certification in the job market.
Nigeria is one of the largest oil producers in the world. Oil production has for long been a source political tension, demonstrations and crime in the Niger Delta region where most of the oil is produced. The social indicators in the region are low compared to nation’s national income. There is a very high rate of unemployment and several millions of liters are believed to have spilled. This has damaged the fragile ecosystem with resulting acidic rainfall among other environmental effects (Ploch, 2013).
The Niger Delta conflicts are marked by vandalism of the oil infrastructure and massive theft of oil often by politicians who use the money to fund their political campaigns. There are also several kidnappings of the oil workers for ransom and also public insecurity.
Another social problem in the region is human rights abuse by the military and the police. Nigerian government has been accused of doing very little towards mitigation of the abuse. A U.N Special Rapporteur in 2007 reported that torture is an intrinsic part of the law enforcing strategies used by the Nigerian forces. Even though in 2010, the Nigerian officials acknowledged the abuses by the security forces, little has been done and only a handful of prosecutions have been made (Ploch, 2013).
Economic problems
Nigeria is the second largest economy in Africa which is mainly attributed to its oil mining industry. However, Nigeria’s economy is characterized by several systems of alterations mostly, organizational, arising from impaired organizations and incentive schemes. Due to these distortions, its economy has stalled and for a long time has stagnated. Several problems facing the economy is the rapid growth of the population, rising poverty levels and the ever widening gap of inequality arising as a result of several factors such as unfavorable economic structure and adverse political conditions (Effiom et al, 2012).
The biggest problem is the failure of the Nigerian governance to provide a good and viable environment towards the development of a good economy in Nigeria. One of the most conspicuous problems with the Nigerian governance is the lack of democracy. Democracy in Nigeria has proven elusive as cycles of civilian and military government have had false starts and failed transitions resulting to a recurrence in the challenges of stability to the government. For instance, the very first parliamentary system after the British had left the country encouraged ethnic segmentation and regional competition for power. This regime succumbed to polarization and political conflicts. Subsequently, the military took over through a coup in 1966. The officers themselves were also vulnerable to the ethnicity leading to instabilities in the governance of the country. This was until 1979 when the then General Olusegun Obasanjo handed power back to the civilians (Effiom et al, 2012).
There then came a political regime modeled like the American System which barely lasted four years. The system was marred by massive corruption, embezzlement and violence which made it impossible for the political class to govern. Once again the military stepped in promising remedies. The military however proved to be no better at resolving the central challenge of building the state. The latest transition from the military to civilian rule was in 1999 when retired General Obasanjo, the general who handed power back to civilian two decades earlier, was elected president (Effiom et al, 2012).
The continuation of civilian rule has brought few developments in the economic sector especially because it bears the blunt of depredations of preceding rulers. There are huge debts, derelict public institutions and immense corruption. The first presidential system was largely inept and lacked capacity to address the country’s economic problems (Effiom et al, 2012).
Direction Nigeria should take
Nigeria cannot, despite the many failures in both economic and social aspects, be considered a failed state. There are numerous chances that Nigeria as a country to become a more stable country. Some of the few alternatives that the political class could follow are as follows.
The country has immensely benefited from the petroleum obtained at the Niger Delta region. In fact, it has become the single biggest generator of income to the country. However, it has been proven that there is a link bet...