The federal government of Nigeria is composed of 3 district branches identified as the legislature, judiciary, and executive. The branches of government are like that of the United States of America. The executive is chaired by the president. The president is appointed through universal suffrage. He/ she acts as both the head of government and the chief of state as well as the commander in chief of the armed forces and rules for a 4-year term. The executive is divided into Federal Ministries all managed by a minister who is appointed by the president. It is a requirement that the president includes at least one minister from each of the 36 states in their cabinet in order to have representation for all the people of Nigeria.
The legislative branch has 2 chambers: The Senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives is headed by a speaker and consists of 360 members elected on four-year terms. The senate has 109 members and is headed by the President of the Senate, and each of the 36 states elects 3 senators who serve a four-year term and the capital city Abuja elects 1 to make the 109 senators. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts and other lower courts.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with 186 million inhabitants and has the 3rd largest population of youth behind China and India. There are over 250 different ethnic groups in Nigeria with the 3 most dominant being the Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba and religious wise the country is almost split into half between Christians who mainly occupy the southern part of the country and Muslims who mainly occupy the northern part of the country. This diversity in ethnicity and religion almost split in half possess challenges in the governance of Nigeria since each ethnicity and the two major religions want to see their interests catered to.
Nigeria has altered between democratically elected civilian governments and military dictatorships until 1999 with the election of Olusegun Obasanjo. There have been 3 coups:
• The 1966 coup: destroyed the political party system and the government structure.
• The 1975 coup: was responsible for the destruction of the civil service. Most people were dismissed from their jobs without due procedure. This had the effect of causing joblessness and seeding the roots of corruption since the lack of job security made many civil servants to loot public property in fear that they might lose their jobs at any time.
• The 1983 coup: Destroyed the democratic institutions and led to military rule and the stifling of democracy.
Institutional and civil checks and balances
The structuring of the government ensures that each arm of the arm checks and balances the other. Examples of checks and balances are the fact that the president has no power to fire judges, the legislature has the power to impeach the president, the president has the power to veto any bill from the legislature and the judiciary has the power to nullify presidential elections. Civil society plays an important role in acting as a watchdog for any abuse of human rights and highlighting the abuse to the international community as well as suing government agencies abusing their powers. Civil societies also monitor elections to ensure that the process is free and fair.
Accountability of the Nigerian government
Accountability is spelt out in Chapter 2 of the 1999 constitution and it is the implementation to ensure transparency and accountability in the governance that is still lacking. The government has tried to promote accountability by the legislature having the Public Accounts Committee which ensures that public revenue is properly used and also by appointing an auditor general to audit how the government uses finances.
- John, Idumange. 2012. “The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Promoting Good Governance”. Nigerian Voice. https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/95807/the-role-of-civil-society-organizations-in-promoting-good-go.html.
- Lamidi, Ismail. 2017. “Transparency and Accountability Are the Pillars of Good Governance – Ayine”. Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation. https://oaugf.ng/news1/156-transparency-and-accountability-are-the-pillars-of-good-governance-ayine.
- Luka, Binniyat. 2018. “How 1966, 1975 And 1983 Military Coups Destroyed Nigeria – Tanko Yakassai – Vanguard News Nigeria”. Vanguard News Nigeria. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/how-1966-1975-and-1983-military-coups-destroyed-nigeria-tanko-yakassai/.
