Transcript CLUE Review Session

Nigeria’s Development in
Comparative Perspective
Nigeria was relatively backward in the 19th
Century.
 Nigeria has not succeeded in “catch-up”
development.

Developmental Outcomes in
Nigeria

Poor
 GDP
per cap $1,150
 Fully 45% of population lives below poverty line
 Only 57% of population 15+ years can read/write
 HDI rank 159

Only “partly free”
 Recent
elections marred by violence, fraud;
highly contested
 Historically, frequently alternations between
authoritarianism and democracy
Africa Faced Threat from the “West”

19th Century
“Scramble for Africa”
Berlin Conference 1884-85
Nigeria Faced Threat from the “West”


British Colonialism
Nigeria formally created as colony in 1914


Artificial construct created by British
Forced together distinct ethnic/political entities

State ≠ nation
Nigeria Faced Threat from the
“West”

Motivations for
colonial conquest
 Riches


Natural resources
Including agricultural
commodities, later oil
 Outlet
for investment
 New markets
1897 British soldiers loot art
British Colonialism

British in Nigeria
 Exercise


control
Rulers not
accountability to
Nigerian people
Indirect rule through
ties to particular local
elites
British Colonialism

British in Nigeria
 Extract

resources
Cocoa, palm oil, rubber
British Colonialism

Dominant role for state in economy
 Colonial
state control over export commodities
State marketing boards
 Monopsony—single buyer
 Artificially low prices for farmers


~50% of world market price
British Colonialism

British in Nigeria
 Develop

British penetration in
south



unequally
Lagos—port city
where commodities
shipped to Britain
Economic
opportunities for
southerners
Resentment by
northerners (HausaFulani)
Elite boy’s school, King's College Lagos in 1910
Explaining Developmental
Outcomes in Nigeria

Dependency
 Colonialism—under
British
 Neo-colonialism—role of MNCs, like Shell Oil, others

Statism
 Predatory state institutions
 Corruption
 Massive use of state offices for personal gain

Modernization theory
 Traditional values
 Reliance on ascriptive characteristics
 Lack
of “civic culture” values and attitudes?
Next topics in Nigerian case

Legacies of British Colonialism
 Politicization
of ethnicity
 Dominant role for state in the economy

Politics and economy in contemporary
Nigeria
 Failed
attempts to overcome politicization of
ethnicity through institutional design
 Overwhelming dependence on oil
Today: Interview with Chinua
Achebe (Ibo)

Look for themes related to
 Dependency

Colonialism (How does Achebe portray colonial experience)


Anti-democratic
Exploitative
 Modernization

Values (How does Achebe portray traditional values)

Pluralism, tolerance
 Statism

Nature of state institutions (How does Achebe portray them)

Corruption of state institutions in post-independence era
Only as a teenager,
after reading Chinua
Achebe's novel "Things
Fall Apart" and realizing
her people's own
stories were worth
telling, did she begin
describing the world
she knew.
Against the backdrop of
a corrupt, crumbling
state and society,
religious
fundamentalism plays
out against the animist
practices of tribal
elders.
Published 2003